Assault Bike
A group of motorcycles was pushing through the wilderness. Every single one of them was uniformly blue in color. They were armored with huge cowls that doubled as mantlets.
Their drivers fitted perfectly into their bodies and were completely protected from the front. Their handles were also equipped with knuckle visors.
The bikes had two front wheels and one rear wheel, which was rare. They were leaning multi-wheel bikes that possessed excellent ground contact and stability. They were perfect for running around in the uneven wasteland terrain of Planet Asia.
However, there were actually very few motorcycles in service on the Nemesis warfront.
There were a total of twenty bikes. Their riders were actually Silhouettes – Accipiters and Laniuses to be exact. A good number of armored four-wheel and half-track combat vehicles were trailing after them.
These bike-shaped auxiliary weapons were called Assault Bikes. They were created as auxiliary weapons and an alternative transport method for the Lanius models and other machines that were equipped with the armor muscle drive system.
They were armed with a mere 155 mm railgun as their main gun. Their total production cost was also quite low due to them not being equipped with electromagnetic armor.
They were inspired by the mortar-equipped military bikes that were used in World War II.
The Assault Bike was a support vehicle that was created as a result of considerations for the long-distance transportation of Silhouettes that does not rely on Familiars as well as the poor long-range shooting capabilities of the Accipiter and Lanius models.
「President, we’re about to enter the combat zone. I’ll take point.」
「Understood.」
There were only two Accipiters within the group. One of the Accipiter pilots was Kawakage, the company president of TAKABA.
The other Accipiter pilot who offered to lead the charge was his secretary, Chiba Yuzuki. She was a descendant of Chiba Shusaku, a famous master of the Hokushin Itto-ryu school of swordsmanship.
She was the former fiancé of Takaba Shuuji.
「Here I go!」
There was a group Quattro Silhouettes fighting Arachne-type Aberration Arms nearby.
Their captain was Palm, a fox-eared young man who pilots an Epona.
The Arachne-types possessed high combat abilities. The regular tanks and Silhouettes could not keep up with them.
Hence, the Quattro Silhouettes, which had excellent performance, had no choice but to respond instead.
「Attention, Quattro Silhouettes. Can you read me? We are the reinforcements from TAKABA. We’re heading in to support you all.」
「TAKABA? That means you guys are Kou-sama’s……!? Understood. Many thanks for your assistance!」
Yuzuki couldn’t help but smile wryly when she heard the address “Kou-sama”.
She was familiar with Kou because she met him through Shuuji. He was also brought to Planet Asia, and through a twist of fate, even ended up piloting Shuuji’s Unit 5.
「Kou-sama, huh? Well, if you are Kou-kun’s comrades, we have even more of a reason to help out.」
Yuzuki inwardly mused that Kou was probably uncomfortable with being called “Kou-sama”.
The Kou she remembered was a quiet, polite, and reserved young man after all. It was as if he was Shuuji’s little brother.
She immediately advanced forward to assist Palm’s Epona.
Yuzuki’s bike moved in to block the Black Widow’s weapons fire head-on and counterattacked with the Assault Bike’s railgun.
The bike drew a large arc on the ground, tilted to one side, and slid straight in front of the Arachne-type.
The Arachne-type was surprised by the sudden appearance of the bike. Yuzuki’s Accipiter quickly dismounted the Assault Bike, brandished its sword with both hands, and performed a lightning-fast slash.
However, the pilots assigned to the Black Knights were elites. The Black Knight pilot managed to react and tried to parry with the Silhouette’s halberd. But Yuzuki was even faster and slipped through her opponent’s guard, successfully slashing the Black Knight’s torso.
The Quattro Silhouette pilots turned speechless and gaped in awe of Yuzuki’s flowing strike.
「She’s one heck of a swordsman……」
「Ara? Kou actually learned swordsmanship from me as well you know?」
「Oooh……」
A commotion rose up among the Therianthropes.
「Alright, Chiba. That’s enough small talk. Let’s clean them all up.」
The TAKABA Lanius squad had also arrived and drew their swords one after another. Their chairman had a large influence on them after all. The company had more than a few skilled swordsmanship and kendo practitioners among their ranks.
This time around, the reinforcement troops were composed of those very practitioners.
Among them, Yuzuki was the only one who could serve as Hyoue’s opponent now that Shuuji had passed away.
「Forgive me for being the only one who fights at range.」
Kawakage’s Accipiter was quite different from the rest. It was equipped with a huge long bow that resembled a Japanese bow. The Accipiter immediately knocked an arrow onto the bow and fired a shot.
The arrow had a very fine wire attached to it. This will allow Whis to flow through the arrow even after being fired, similar to a wire-guided missile. The arrow will explode upon impact. Its range can easily reach up to 10 kilometers, just like an anti-tank missile.
It was a powerful Anti-Silhouette bow that was specially designed and made for Kawakage’s use in order to take full advantage of his prodigious mastery of archery. Hyoue, who was well aware of his friend’s skill and commitment to the bow arts, personally approved and supervised its production.
「We will support you from the rear!」
The Familiars under him offered to support Kawakage from the rear.
Kawakage actually lives with all of them. He was actually a really big animal lover, and was very compatible with Familiars as a result. Hence, many Familiars admired and followed him.
「We are, in a manner of speaking, Kou-sama’s disciples. And so, we cannot display a fight that would disgrace him! Everyone, charge!」
Plum’s way of speaking, that was already heavily influenced by Japanese culture, had become quite strangely archaic.
He made his Epona draw its arc blade that was provided by Arges and charged forward. His subordinates followed suit.
Their opponent’s morale suddenly got bolstered, and the Arachne-types began to be pushed back. The number of troops they had deployed to this location was thirty. If all of them split up into individual Black Widows and Black Knights, they would number sixty.
Their numbers advantage had been overturned.
The Arachne-types began to struggle against the renewed attacks of their enemies.
Even though their armor had made use of a new type of material, it wasn’t tough enough to constantly stand up against melee weapons such as swords. On top of that, they were facing enemies that excelled in mobility and long-range performance – a type that drove armed motorcycles and a type that ran on four legs.
Even though they had taken the initiative at first, they were gradually getting overwhelmed.
Seeing the Black Widows getting defeated one after another, the commander became convinced that the battle line would be pushed back.
「An allied force from TAKABA had joined up with the Quattro Silhouettes. They are pushing back the Arachne-types!」
「The battle for air superiority is still ongoing. I’m glad they were able to safely make it here.」
「Well…… They arrived here by traveling on the ground. It looks like they rode on Silhouette-use motorbikes.」
「Eh?」
Jenny was taken aback when she heard Ruth’s words.
「They made a bike? For Silhouettes?」
「It seems that TAKABA was an affiliate of a motorcycle manufacturing company back on Earth.」
「Even so, they actually made a motorbike to be used by a humanoid weapon. Well, if it works, it works, right?」
There was a bit of apprehension, but it was true that unlike Dragoon tanks, motorbikes didn’t require a separate pilot.
At this time, Barry was currently standing beneath the Lanius C. Unlike Kou, he didn’t have formal training in swordsmanship, but he had been fighting as a veteran mercenary pilot for many years.
「Commander Barry, the MCS has been replaced with yours. We’re done calibrating the weapon settings as well.」
The maintenance technician reported to Barry.
「Thanks. Alright! It’s been a while since I went wild in the field!」
He’s been stressed out serving as the commander for quite a while.
He received a transmission from Jenny right after he boarded the Silhouette.
「Hey, Barry. Lots of Laniuses came to reinforce us. Are you sure you’re gonna be able to make a splash out there?」
「What?! Well, I can’t let myself lose out to those guys then!」
「Mou, that’s just like you……」
Jenny ran her hand over the terminal to check the combat situation.
Barry proceeded to check his machine’s settings as well. The Lanius C was equipped with an arc blade just like Unit 5.
However, its current loadout focused more on ranged weaponry to suit its current pilot. It was equipped with the new AK3, which had a longer barrel and a bigger ammo capacity compared to the previous model.
It was also fitted with an under-barrel shotgun. It can use the S12 shotgun rounds.
「The Star Soldier and Yoania squadrons are deployed in the sky. The tank squadron, the rear support squadron, and the Assault Silhouette squadron are fighting on the ground.」
「Commander Barry, do you want to sortie with a Thunderstorm?」
「No need! I’ll just run through the battlefield at full speed with my own legs. Lanius C, let’s do this!」
The Lanius C-type launched out from the aircraft deck with a thunderous roar.
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