Old-model Unit Upgrade Program — Heavy Armored Plan
The Ant Worker-types performed recon and found some tanks.
As a result, Ant Commander-types and Mantis-types were set to ambush them.
However, the ones that ended up getting blown away were the Ant Commander-types.
Silhouettes appeared and charged at them.
The situation turned into a full-on engagement.
「Hehe. We can’t let ourselves lose to you small fries.」
The mercenary piloting a Bear fired the smoothbore cannon slung on his machine’s shoulder while laughing fearlessly. Although the Bear was treated as an old model machine, many were still in active service.
It was endorsed that the Metal Iris Bears undergo an upgrade program in order to match the next-generation combat environment. The Heavy Armored plan was particularly popular among the pilots.
An additional electromagnetic armor kit was added to its chest and torso, and it was equipped with high-powered firearms, making it fully capable of taking to the frontlines.
The prevalence of mercenary pilots using old models was quite high. That’s why various upgrade plans have been prepared. It became quite a profitable business.
The main machine used by Metal Iris was switched to the Lanius A1-type, and many second-hand models in good condition were available for cheap.
Fortress Area P336 was also a heavy industrial complex, so there were plenty of upgrade options the pilots could choose from.
Those who joined Metal Iris in the early days also steadily gained experience while performing patrol missions in the garrisons that were established.
The training environment prepared by Kou that was likened to a newbie village in an RPG was able to produce soldiers who could serve in actual combat.
The mercenary Silhouette pilots who couldn’t apply for the upgrade program straight away were advised to go on resupply missions.
80% of the personnel and equipment serving in the main fighting force were also involved in logistics.
「Rifles are convenient, but smoothbore cannons are pretty convenient too. It would have been perfect if the ammo cost was cheaper though.」
「Let’s just do our best until we can switch to railguns.」
For mercenaries, managing costs was a matter of life and death. They weren’t provided with supplies unlike the personnel directly working under Metal Iris.
Their main armament was a large caliber 120mm smoothbore shoulder cannon. A 150mm smoothbore cannon was also available as an option, but the 120mm was more popular due to its higher ammo capacity.
This smoothbore cannon was more effective against machines equipped with high-dimensional projection armor such as Ant Commander-types and Mantis-types compared to a Silhouette rifle.
It was originally designed for engaging enemy Silhouettes. Due to the spread of electromagnetic armor, half-baked ammo could no longer penetrate most Silhouette’s defenses.
Due to this, the standard caliber of guns was increased.
However, a 120mm cannon was difficult to wield as a handheld weapon like a rifle.
That’s why it became a shoulder-mounted smoothbore cannon that was held by both hands when firing. It has a high ammo capacity similar to a rocket launcher and a relatively wide selection of shells that can be used for different combat situations.
The long barrel made it difficult to handle, but it was well-suited for heavy machines such as Bears and Grizzlies that have given up mobility for greater power, defense, and stability.
Aside from Bears, Grizzlies also opted for the Heavy Armored plan.
「Well done, everyone!」
The Familiars piloting the tanks expressed their gratitude as they participated in the attack.
「Don’t mention it! Let’s blast these guys to smithereens!」
The Silhouettes were over 7 meters tall. Due to this advantage, they managed to discover the Ant Worker-types first.
Due to the artificial sun’s effects, it was currently quite difficult to make use of radar.
Hence, visual confirmation was currently of great importance.
The disadvantage of humanoid weapons was that they could be easily spotted from a distance.
Even if they weren’t serving as frontline observers, conducting patrols was still important.
「We have to earn more money quick so we can buy new machines!」
The mercenaries who directly entered Metal Iris can go through official channels in order to get supplied, and the mercenaries who just recently participated in the operation can also get new equipment as long as they paid for them.
Those with weaker machines were generally assigned to missions at the rear, but those who wanted to earn combat merits opted to get deployed to the front lines.
「Makes you wanna ask for seconds!」
A great number of Murders appeared, seemingly in response to the mercenary’s quip.
However, the tanks fired their railguns from beyond the enemy’s range, and the Mantis-types that were trying to close in were eliminated by the Silhouette’s smoothbore cannons.
「They’re here! Get wrecked, bastards!」
The Murders tried to take down the Silhouettes first, but the tanks moved in to shield the latter. As long as the Silhouettes crouched, the tanks could serve as effective cover.
The Silhouettes and tanks coordinated with one another and steadily defeated the Murders that were invading in waves.
「How’s the Ate?」
「It’s advancing as the flagship of the ground forces.」
Barry projected the Ate’s position on the radar.
It was heading straight for their position.
「Fuyuki, how is it on your end?」
「We’ve already taken countermeasures. We’ll make our move together with Voy-san’s Drill squad.」
「As expected, we’re gonna use drills again huh……?」
It’s said that those who control the drill will control Asia.
After all, the decisive factor that led to the first successful rescue of Asia was the drill.
「Don’t say something so weird with a straight face, you.」
Jenny displayed a wry grin.
「Commander! It’s an emergency! There’s an emergency transmission from the recon unit. They were taken down, but the last footage they managed to send is……」
The Therianthrope operator reported in a tense manner.
「Put it up.」
A compound image was reflected on the screen.
Gradually, the image became clear.
It was a giant Murder.
A giant Murder that Metal Iris had encountered for the first time.
The footage must have been taken from quite a distance.
The orbital elevator was visible in the background.
「This was included in Astraea’s report…… The enemy’s trump card.」
「Yeah. It’s Eris, the first 100-meter-class giant Murder to be created. It’s modelled after a hornet. The behavioral patterns of all subsequent Murders were derived from it.」
Eris. The Ancient Greek goddess of strife and discord.
Its name was included in Astraea’s report regarding the possible Murders the enemy might deploy against them.
「It should be accompanied by a lot of flight-capable Murders. They really activated it.」
「Astraea said that the probability of it appearing was 50/50, but it looks like they really deployed it together with the Ates.」
「Low-flying Hornet-type Keres huh? They’re equivalent to anti-tank helicopters. How troublesome……」
「The most troublesome matter is that thing’s gigantic body. That mock-tail stinger is apparently a plasma ram. It can easily destroy any kind of armor currently available with its power and the plasma’s extreme heat.」
Another transmission came in. It was from Robert.
「They really sent that thing out huh? Good thing we’re on standby.」
「Yeah. The Ate and Eris will launch a two-pronged attack from both air and ground. Dammit. And our air power’s still mostly sealed.」
「Our forces are probably still in the middle of mopping up the remaining Murders. I’ll leave the sea to you. We’ll do something about the ground force.」
「We’ll fly over to assist depending on the situation.」
The three ships currently stationed along the coast were capable of flight.
However, the possibility if a trap was high. And since launching escort aircraft wasn’t possible due to the artificial sun, the situation was quite dangerous.
「The ground forces are being intercepted smoothly.」
It was a transmission from Rick. He’d been commanding on the front lines the whole time.
「A reinforcement unit composed of 1000 tanks that was sent by Ulysses just arrived. It’s centered on Familiar-piloted MBTs.」
「Yunlan-san huh? He did say he’d send help. That’s quite a substantial force. We really owe him one.」
Tanks played a vital role in land battles. They couldn’t be felled even if the Ant Workers attacked them in swarms. When combined with the Silhouettes of the supporting mercenaries, they are able to display considerable combat strength.
The mercenaries also felt relieved since they didn’t need to bear the brunt of the enemy assault with just their Silhouettes.
The ground support units were also considerable.
「Let’s leave the Ate and Eris to the two of them.」
「Understood. Fuyuki, let’s go. We’ll decide this battle in a flash.」
「Right. We’ll match the Ate’s advance. The Eris will probably arrive in a few hours while flying unhindered. The showdown will be in an hour.」
Robert and Fuyuki confirmed their courses of action with one another. Robert will handle the sky. Fuyuki will carry out the operation against the Ate.
A simultaneous operation against giant weapons of war was about to begin.
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