Precision Shooting
「Kuh. The indirect fire has become quite intense.」
「I’d really like some air support right about now.」
The tank unit was struggling with all its might, but there were just too many enemies.
Many of the enemy Silhouettes centered on Armadillos were equipped with howitzers on both shoulders and were focusing on indirect fire support.
「Did you say air support? Then here you go!」
A shadow loomed from above.
It was cast by one of the most battle-crazy units among the Familiars – the Kanonenvogel (Artillery Bird) unit.
「You guys! I told you to wait!」
Yasuyuki screamed in frustration. That’s because they would be nothing more than prey for fighter planes while piloting such slow attack aircraft.
「It’s because there are tanks over yonder! Alright, let’s do this! Let’s go, everyone!」
「Ou!」
It was a classic Heino response.
While maintaining low-altitude flight which fighters were not very good at, the Artillery Birds began providing air support for Kou and his troops.
Even so, one plane had already gotten shot down. After all, it was still a pretty risky endeavor.
「Kou, I’ll also provide support. Let’s go ahead and defeat that thing quickly.」
Blue also sent out a transmission. It was from her newly repaired Canary. She rushed to Kou’s aid while riding on a Dragoon tank.
There was also a large number of half-tracked armored combat vehicles following after her. It was the high-speed strike unit. They were capable of reaching the battlefield much faster than tanks.
「Right!」
「Also, aren’t you going to protect me as well?」
Blue asked in a bit of a sullen tone. She felt like she was being left out.
「Is that something to ask in a situation like this? –I’ll protect Blue as well, of course. But I’ll leave my back to you. I’m counting on you for backup!」
「Good! Let’s go.」
Satisfied with Kou’s answer, Blue’s lips formed a rare smile. She was proud to be treated as a trusted partner.
Aimer, who was listening in on the transmission, brought down the brim of her admiral’s cap to hide her eyes. It’s to make sure that no one could see them.
And then, she bit her lip in frustration.
「Man, that’s tough. Looks like it’s no good.」
Heino grumbled. The land battleship had fairly thick armor.
It seemed that it was wearing multiple layers of electromagnetic armor. It was difficult to deal meaningful damage to it with just a 155 mm railgun.
「Tch!」
If he kept dillydallying, the enemies would lock onto him. In fact, several of his wingmen have already been shot down.
The Artillery Bird being piloted by Heino possessed excellent turning performance at low speeds, but its acceleration and maximum speed left a lot to be desired.
As if spotting its prey from above, an enemy fighter fired its anti-aircraft missiles.
Most of them were blocked by the electromagnetic barrier, but several still managed to hit Heino’s aircraft directly. Even though it suffered direct hits, the Artillery Bird was still combat-capable thanks to the electromagnetic armor.
As Heino braced for another salvo, the enemy fighter suddenly exploded.
「Do you read me, Heino? This is Blue. I’ll cover you.」
「So it’s Fairy Blue! What an honor.」
「We’re still about 100 kilometers away. All I can do is snipe the enemies flying in the sky.」
「You’re telling me you’re sniping supersonic fighters at that distance!?」
Even though they were flying at combat speed, the enemy planes were still high in the sky. At that altitude, it was possible for them to switch to supersonic speeds.
「They are mostly flying in a straight line, so it’s possible to hit them as long as I pay attention to the trajectory and flight deviations. Anyway, please take good care of Kou.」
「Yeah. But this thing’s pretty tough.」
「What are you saying? It has a glaring weak point only you can target, right?」
「A weak point? Huh? Aah?!」
Heino understood what Blue was trying to say and yelped in shock.
The enemy ship’s giant main gun. Specifically, its muzzle.
It was certainly a big weak point to target. And if it was taken out, it would ease the burden on Astraea considerably. The huge main gun was also a siege weapon after all.
「Don’t be ridiculous, Fairy Blue! The target’s not a tank. It’s a damn land battleship y’know?」
「But it’s indeed a tank. Just a really big one, right? I’m sure a tank killer of your caliber can do it. I’ll support you.」
「You sure are good at egging people on. As expected of a radio DJ. –That’s right. Since its running on land with tracks, it’s definitely a tank. I’m gonna do it.」
Before his intentions were noticed by the enemy, the Artillery Bird soared high into the sky once more.
On the ground, Unit 5 was cutting down the land battleship’s escort machines one after another.
Heino had flown up higher into the sky. It seemed he had come up with some sort of plan together with Blue.
In addition to regular Silhouettes, the enemy escorts consisted of anti-aircraft vehicles and Aberration Silhouettes.
But then, half-tracked armored combat vehicles rushed and formed around Unit 5.
「This is the High-speed Strike unit. We’re transitioning to final protective fire!」
A cat-type Familiar sent a transmission to Kou, and the armored combat vehicles fired a continuous barrage from their howitzers.
The Aberration Silhouettes were quickly downed by the heavy fire.
However, half-tracked combat vehicles didn’t have particularly strong defenses against heavy firepower. They were hit one after another, and their numbers gradually decreased.
The newly developed half-tracked armored combat vehicle Lurcher was front-wheel drive capable. Even if the rear tracks got destroyed, the front wheels would still allow it to move. And if the front wheels were the ones damaged, the tracks were capable of picking up the slack.
Therefore, they kept running despite everything.
「Don’t push yourselves too hard!」
「We can handle this much.」
A rabbit-type Familiar replied to Kou in a cute voice.
「We need to at least attract the enemy’s attention away from Heino!」
A hamster-type Familiar evaded enemy attacks one after another while drawing the attention of enemy tanks with his vehicle’s wire-guided anti-tank missiles.
He continued to attack with multiple machine guns that were also capable of serving as anti-aircraft guns.
The enemy fighter planes finally realized what Heino was aiming for and headed for him, but they were shot down one after another. It was due to Blue’s accurate sniping. Her accuracy was steadily increasing as she came closer to the battlefield.
「Please sit down properly! Shooting from a kneeling position on top of a tank is just plain ridiculous!」
The dog-type Familiar driving the Dragoon tank complained loudly.
「I’ll leave the driving to you.」
「You’re making me do something ridiculous too, Fairy Blue!」
Even so, the Dragoon tank kept running on top of the rough terrain with as little shaking as possible. Blue continued to provide support via sniping.
The Yoanias and Aellos have also come to assist Heino. The Argoforce fighter pilots who didn’t want to die needlessly decided to focus on aircraft other than Heino’s.
And at that moment–
Heino’s craft suddenly began to dive.
Heino had only one target. The muzzle of the battleship’s giant main gun. There was only one chance. That’s because he wouldn’t be able to properly control the aircraft due to recoil.
「There!」
It was an unerringly precise shot. The Artillery Bird’s railgun shell went straight through the main gun’s barrel and directly hit the turret.
A huge explosion occurred, and everyone present witnessed Heino accomplish a miracle.
「This is Heino! I’ve successfully destroyed the land battleship’s main gun!」
「Well done, Heino!」
Unit 5 pushed its way through the enemy machines and approached the land battleship.
「You really did it, Heino. But the land battleship is still operational. How should I go about neutralizing it?」
Its function as a mobile base and the rest of its powerful artillery still remained intact.
Its thick armor plating provided it ample defense against tank guns.
When Kou looked up, he saw Silhouettes descending one after another from the hatches on the hull on top of the gigantic tracks.
It seemed that they discarded the battleship’s function as a tank carrier.
「Hm? That’s it.」
Kou seemed to have realized something and headed straight for the land battleship at the center of the enemy formation.
Unit 5 sped away while kicking up a trail of dust.
The troops following after him became flustered. He had pulled away from them without warning.
However, what Kou was planning was better suited for a single machine.
「I’ll leave backup to you!」
「What are you doing?! Please stop being so reckless!」
The young male Nereid Lanius A1 pilot complained in a panicked tone.
「It’ll be fine! But I’m gonna discard the railgun. I’ll need another weapon later……」
「Leave that to me then!」
A chinchilla rabbit-type Familiar took on the job.
「Got it. Let’s go.」
As Unit 5 approached, the enemy machines also gathered to intercept it.
It slashed the joint connecting a tank’s turret to its frame. This was enough to incapacitate it.
However, since the tank was taken down in one blow, it attracted the attention of the rest of the enemy force. Countless enemies locked onto Unit 5.
After being pelted with concentrated fire, Unit 5 resorted to purging its Ground Combat Spec extra armor. It accelerated to maximum speed for a few seconds and successfully escaped.
The remains of the extra armor exploded, but Unit 5 jumped out of the resulting smoke.
Utilizing the momentum from the sudden acceleration, Unit 5 slashed through another tank’s turret. The turret tumbled backward with a high-pitched metallic sound.
Unit 5 moved without delay and slashed yet another tank’s gun barrel.
The Lanius kicked off the ground and accelerated even further.
「What happened?!」
The Lakedaimon commanding the land battleship cried out.
「It appears that an enemy shot managed to run through the barrel of our main gun and land a direct hit.」
「It can’t be! A mere autocannon wouldn’t be able to cause such damage! It needs to be a missile at least.」
「But the attacker seems to be an attack aircraft equipped with a tank’s railgun.」
「Huh? Are you messing with me? As if there’s an attack aircraft like that! Put it on the monitor!」
Footage of the Artillery Bird was put on screen.
Its familiar-looking 155 mm railgun was indeed the main gun used by Metal Iris MBTs.
「What in the world are these cretins? That’s simply messed up……」
The land battleship still had many powerful secondary weapons.
It also had powerful missiles onboard. However, the loss of the main gun was still quite unfortunate.
「Captain!」
「What is it this time?!」
「A monster is heading for us!」
The said monster was displayed on the main screen. It was recognizable at a glance. What appeared was the Lanius that wielded a sword and had unusually high combat strength.
The Lakedaimon captain wondered if it was an ace machine. It wasn’t painted in distinctive colors. Nor did it have any identifying markings. It looked the same as any other Lanius, but at the same time, seemed completely different. He found it repulsive.
The figure of Unit 5 cutting a tank’s turret clean off its body was displayed. It was evidently heading for the land battleship.
Along with the enemy forces trying to stop them.
「That thing is no good! Focus on it and eliminate it quickly!」
The battleship’s numerous gun ports took aim at the Lanius.
「This equipment’s nearing its limit already anyway. Alright, here I go.」
A barrage was fired.
Dust flew up along with the flames caused by the explosions, and the Lanius’s figure disappeared.
「Did we get it?!」
「No, it’s not there!」
「Just where……」
The last pilot to speak wasn’t able to finish his words.
Unit 5 purged its extra armor meant for ground combat. The Lanius C High Mobility Type swooped down from above and swung its tachi, splitting the Armadillo clean in two.
It continued to accelerate and slashed off another tank’s turret, and then another.
Although it appeared similar to the other Laniuses, its combat strength was absolutely monstrous. Everyone present was overcome with utter terror.
「Hurry up and take it out already!」
The Lakedaimon captain hoarsely screamed his orders to his troops.
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