Detonation Cord
「Captain was done in!」
There were now only two remaining members of the Argoforce Sniper Unit.
They had clearly lost the ability to hold the line.
「Fairy? Are you kidding me? More like “Elven Archer”. Shall we fall back?」
「Can we though?」
「Well, what choice do we have but to try? The allied troops should be arriving soon. We should have a chance as long as we don’t engage that woman directly.」
The two remaining Argoforce snipers were having trouble deciding on their next course of action.
The two of them had cautiously advanced into the forest while keeping about a 5 kilometer distance between them.
Looking overhead, they could see a small patrol helicopter flying in the distance.
「They’ve launched a recon copter. We already cleaned up eight of those, but they still keep coming.」
「At this rate, it’ll only be a matter of time before we get completely cornered. I’m gonna go for it.」
「Okay, I got it. I’m with ya.」
The Khameleons started advancing faster and quickly disappeared into the forest.
But then, a small explosion occurred.
「Wha–!?」
The Khameleon dodged to the sides in panic. Another explosion went off.
「A type of detonating cord? It’s that Mine Shop guy’s trap again!」
Before they knew it, detonation cords had barred all paths of retreat. They weren’t just ordinary steel wires. They were explosives.
「You can’t escape from here anymore, sniper squad.」
A voice declared from the open comm channel.
A stealth-type Silhouette similar to the Khameleon appeared before the two remaining Argoforce snipers. It was the Caledonia Crow. Fuyuki’s workhorse. Just like the Canary, it was also developed from the latest Lanius model.
「You won’t be able to escape this detonation cord barrier. Just surrender quietly.」
The Silhouette-use detonation cord. It was a versatile tool that was favored by combat engineers. And the cord used by the Caledonia Crow didn’t function as just a detonator for explosives. It made use of the Caledonia Crow’s metallic hydrogen generation reactor to serve as an effective explosive itself.
「You wish!」
The Khameleon took out its spare machine gun and fired.
However, not one bullet reached the Caledonia Crow. They all ended up hitting the stretched-out detonation cords and were blown away by the resulting explosions.
「The cord’s acting like a barrier!?」
「I can also do something like this.」
Fuyuki’s Caledonia Crow simultaneously threw out ten detonation cord strands from both hands.
The Khameleon’s right hand was instantly severed.
The Caledonia Crow’s detonation cord can be used in a variety of ways, such as a wire blade for cutting, and a pressure bomb for blasting. It was a very versatile tool created to cater to the different needs of combat engineers when out on the field.
The explosive power of the Caledonia Crow’s detonation cord can be adjusted accordingly by changing the amount of metallic hydrogen injected into it.
It can entangle enemies, bind them, hang them up, and even cut their armor.
It was also a weapon that only skilled combat engineers can use effectively.
「H-Hiii–!」
There was no way the Khamelon, whose mobility was inferior, would be able to escape the detonation cord attacks.
Snipers have been priority targets since ancient times. Whenever they were caught, they were often killed on the spot, and the Nemesis warfront was no exception to this.
But even so, the Khameleon pilot still chose to turn tail and attempt to escape. This was the first time he encountered a machine like the Caledonia Crow, but since it was piloted by a famously skilled mercenary, there was no way it would be anything ordinary.
「Like I said, there’s no escape.」
The Khameleon pilot experienced a premonition of his death. The detonation cord strands stretched around the fuselage of the Khameleon and entwined it in one go; tying and lifting it up into the tree tops.
「W-Why do I have to die like this…… Gyaaah……!」
The binding tightened up and the cord strands quickly ate into the Khameleon’s armor. And then, they finally exploded.
The cord strands exploded in succession, and the Khameleon was completely torn apart by the resulting blasts.
「Thanks to Blue, the most troublesome fellow had been dealt with. So, I have to do my part as well. Just one more to go.」
The Caledonia Crow started advancing in the direction of the remaining Khameleon.
「Sorry, man. But with this, my chance of making it out of here alive has increased.」
The other machine seemed to have been done in by Mine Shop. The last remaining Khameleon doubled its efforts to escape.
The pilot had been hearing ominous rumbles in the ground for a while now. Perhaps it was due to explosive traps being triggered, the pilot thought.
But then, the Khameleon pilot suddenly felt that he and his machine had fallen over.
No, to be exact, they fell straight down.
「A pitfall? Why is something like this all the way out here?!」
The pilot couldn’t help but shout in shock and confusion. Silhouette-sized pitfalls weren’t that uncommon, but they were certainly not present when their unit first arrived at this place.
「Cuz borin’ holes on the ground is actually my specialty.」
A voice echoed out from the open comm channel. It was Voy’s.
In front of the Khameleon was something shaped like a huge fan. But then, it suddenly transformed and became a giant drill.
「Uwaaaah!」
The pilot instantly realized what the drill was about to do and screamed in fear.
「Too late bud. After all, if you wake up a hibernatin’ bear, you’re gonna end up dead.」
Voy displayed a sleepy smile and made his drill tank advance forward.
The Khameleon fired his spare machine gun, but the bullets were all deflected by the high-speed rotating drill.
The pilot’s face paled. There was no way to escape at the bottom of the pit.
The drill tank charged head-on and slammed the Khameleon straight into the pit’s wall. The poor Silhouetted was pierced helplessly.
When the drill penetrated halfway through the Silhouette’s body, the struggling Khameleon finally stopped moving.
Voy made the drill pierce all the way through.
「Yo, Fuyuki. I’m done on my end as well.」
「It looks like I didn’t manage to make it. You sure work fast, Voy-san. Your new drill tank sure is brutal.」
「That’s because this baby’s a specialized combat drill tank! Kou finally made it for me.」
Voy’s new weapon. It’s a jet-propelled Dragoon drill tank that was basically a modified version of the tunnel excavation armored vehicle. It was a combat tank equipped with a battlefield-use high-performance drill.
The recently arrived Caledonia Crow straddled the drill tank like one would a motorcycle. The Crow got covered by part of the tank’s armor from above and got completely integrated with the latter.
Although it was large and normally not suitable for direct combat, the drill tank was given the capability to transport a Silhouette underground by making it into a Dragoon tank variant, and a derivative weapon specialized for combat was born.
The drill tank dove into the ground once more. Its compatibility with the Combat Engineer corps was outstanding.
「Wouldn’t it be faster to just travel aboveground?」
「Going underground is safer. We’re short of hands after all. It would be big trouble if I ended up getting you killed here, Fuyuki. It would also be faster to take the underground railway back to the Fortress Area.」
「Thank you for the consideration, Voy-san. Underground railway huh? Reminds me of Japan.」
Voy chuckled heartily in response to Fuyuki who was bowing down on the other end of the MCS screen.
「P336 to Fortress Area defense forces. Elimination of the enemy snipers is complete. Redeploy the defense net immediately.」
They had to hurry and shore up the defenses of Fortress Area P336 once more.
The real deal was just starting after all.
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