Chapter 787. Might of the Gods (1/2)
In her duel against Naeduvis, Captain Orfan adopted an approach that mech pilots typically employed against heavy mechs.
While a heavy mech possessed enough power to crunch a medium mech in a single, powerful blow, the crucial requirement was that they needed to land a blow in the first place!
Laymen often thought that heavy mechs were ordinarily strong due to their incredible amount of armor and offensive power. Certainly, their high production and maintenance costs suggested that they sat at the top of the totem pole.
The truth was a lot more nuanced than that. Heavy mechs can be employed to devastating effects, but only when directed in a strategically advantageous situation.
Employing heavy mechs was like making a leveraged bet. If a commander managed to put them in a good position where they could employ their strengths to their maximum, then they won big.
However, if their opponents exploited their fatal flaw of low mobility, then the heavy mechs risked taken out with far too much ease, thereby wasting the expensive machines!
Therefore, most of the times, the military forces that could afford to field heavy mechs typically opted to employ them in ranged combat. It was safer and more convenient to keep the heavy mechs back as a strategic weapon platform that could output a lot of firepower from a protected position.
Heavy mechs generally made for very poor duelists, especially if they lacked any form of ranged retaliation.
Only heavy knight mechs saw regular use. Their formidable defenses made up for their lackluster offense and their heavy shields allowed them to act as mobile shields for more vulnerable mechs.
However, this did not apply to the current duel. While Naeduvis boasted a defense that enveloped its hide and even its beast rider from any external sources of damage, its enhancements did little to speed its body up!
Even as the fifteen crystals emitted more energy and enveloped the exobeast's body in a powerful antigrav field that lessened the effects of gravity upon it, Naeduvis simply couldn't escape the consequences of its bulk!
”It's a pipe dream for that exobeast to match the mobility of a medium mech that is optimized for melee combat.” Ves confidently stated. ”The mass of that creature is seven or eight times the mass of Captain Orfan's mech. That's almost an order of magnitude apart. So long as Naeduvis doesn't possess a form of ranged attack, the odds are low it can turn around its predicament.”
Perhaps their low mobility didn't matter as much if they dueled against the other lumbering exobeasts. While the ten exobeasts that stepped outside of the city all differed in size and mass, even the smallest among them still fell within the weight class of a heavy mech.
In addition, most of the other exobeasts hadn't been embedded as much crystals as Hokaz and Naeduvis. The natives had definitely put out their strongest two exobeasts.
”You annoying gnat!” Pirisa shouted as she remained strapped into her saddle. The beast rider didn't worry about being struck by Captain Orfan's spear at all as the protective energy field extended to her body. ”Naeduvis, summon your might and show these godless interlopers the might of your godhood! Summon the waters of life!”
Naeduvis stopped its tactic of trying to swipe the darting spearman mech with its maw or limb. Instead, it focused its attention on something entirely different. A low thrum escaped from its throat as the dark blue luster of its scales started to shine even brighter!
”Energy levels are rising!”
”Press the attack! The beast is a sitting duck!”
”Seismic sensors are detecting irregularities! We're detecting something massive approaching underground! It's covering a massive range!”
”The other nine exobeasts are plodding backwards as fast as possible!”
”Withdraw this transport and every mech by at least three-hundred meters!”
A huge surge of water sprung from the previously arid soil! Though they didn't surge up with too much pressure, the sheer scope of the area meant that Naeduvis managed to lift up so much water that it could fill entire mech arena!
”The water is being held aloft by a different energy field! It's not very concentrated, but it is extremely wide-spread!”
Naeduvis roared in exaltation as it summoned a small lake's worth of water from an underground source! Pirisa chopped her hand towards her opponent.
”Naeduvis, show them your godly might! Life Cutter!”
A portion of water slowly began compressing into large water balls half the size of mechs. Then those water balls began to compress into flat circular saws.
Those ominous-looking saws then launched towards Captain Orfan's mech with the speed of a thrown weapon!
Ves issued out a warning. ”Tell the captain to avoid those water saws at all costs! A single hit can cut through all of the armor layers of her mech!”
The spinning water saws that Naeduvis launched towards the spearman mech boxed in its target, leaving it with no possible angle to escape any damage. Captain Orfan gritted her teeth and decided to risk a blow to her frontal chest which boasted the thickest armor in exchange for dodging every other projectie.
Crack!
An awful sound occurred on impact! The spearman mech jerked back with an awful horizontal gash in its chest armor. It had mostly held up against the water saw, but it had lost all but one of the layers of armor plating adorning its chest!
If the water saw had struck somewhere less protected such as the arms or the rear armor, then the mech would have suffered a crippling hit!
As of now, the spearman mech really couldn't afford a second impact on the same area.
”The exobeast is expending a large amount of energy every second it keeps up this party trick.” Chief Dakkon reported. ”Calling upon and lifting up all of this water may look impressive, but nothing comes for free. Naeduvis won't be able to sustain this for long, especially if it tries to compress another set of water saws.”