Chapter 2169. Easy Pickings (2/2)
The premium rifle models in the hands of premium ranged mechs hit incomparably harder. This was especially so because the new mech generation introduced several innovations related to directed energy weapons technology!
The cheap, second-hand mechs of Davy's Ghosts endured a lot of terror. Some mechs fell apart after suffering only a dozen hits. Others lasted longer, but the constant barrage of high-powered laser beams steadily chewed through their armor!
”Focus fire on their officers!”
When the range grew close enough to reliably target individual mechs, the ranged Sentinels suddenly shifted their fire to the pirate mechs that presumably led the pirate mechs!
A lot of sensor data recorded by the Larkinson mechs were being transferred back to the ships of the task force. The Scarlet Rose, the Princely Jackal and many other vessels collectively analyzed the data and rapidly came up with informed guesses on which pirate mechs hosted the leaders!
The analysis not only focused on the quality and condition of the mechs, but also looked out for the transmission of data.
The accuracy of these guesses were very high! As soon as the Sentinels knew which mechs to target, they systematically dismantled every mech piloted by a leader or sub-leader!
Panic began to spread among the pirates! The swarm grew less cohesive and less united as their officers were put out of action in quick order! Without any leaders, the horde of pirate mechs already showed signs of falling apart!
”Haha! Without their bosses to take charge, the pirates are easy pickings!”
”Don't underestimate them! Coordination or no coordination, they still outnumber us by quite a margin!”
As the distance rapidly decreased, the ranged mechs of both sides subsided down and flew to the sides. Both of them fired at each other and the ranged mechs that rapidly closed in on each other.
In truth, because the goal of the Sentinel mechs was to intercept the pirates and block them from advancing further, they had been accelerating in the opposite direction for a while.
If they did not do so, they would essentially perform a very rapid drive-by confrontation and rapidly zip very far away shortly afterwards!
The mobility of the Sentinel mechs wasn't good enough to swing around and catch up to the fleeing pirate mechs without wasting lots of time. The Sentinel mechs all had to modulate their flight systems carefully in order to stick to their enemies!
Shortly before the melee mechs speared against each other, a sudden change happened in the Sentinel formation.
”Avatars, change course!”
The Bright Warriors that basked every Sentinel mech in the vicinity with the Golden Cat's glow suddenly shot upwards and departed from the main formation!
The rookie Sentinel mech pilots quickly lost the psychological support provided by the Larkinson Clan's exclusive mechs. It was as if they all lost confidence. The absense of the glow came so abrupt and without warning that the Sentinel mech pilots became too distracted to maintain a tight formation.
”Get yourselves together! The enemy is right on top of us! We can still defeat with or without a glow!”
No sound traveled in space, but the collision of so many mechs would have caused a huge number of crunching sounds!
Spears thundered through chest plating, swords sliced off entire arms and legs, shields bashed against the entire frame of lighter mechs, causing their entire to rattle.
Sheer violence at its most primitive and brutal form had commenced!
Though the pirate mechs that clashed against the more solid and resilient Sentinel mechs all sustained serious damage, there were plenty of other pirate mechs that escaped the initial clash unscathed!
They swiped their weapons at the Sentinel mechs from the front or from the flanks. Some even swung around in order to attack the vulnerable rear of their opponents!
The Sentinel mechs desperately tried to finish off their opponents at the front in order to defend against attacks from the rear, but they didn't always succeed!
”I thought these pirates are leaderless! Shouldn't these cowardly scum be running away as fast as possible?!”
The behavior of the mech pilots of Davy's Ghosts didn't conform to their expectations. Amazingly, even without a pirate officers issuing any orders, the cruel and selfish pirate mech pilots still banded together and chose the correct strategy that made the most out of their advantage in numbers!
In truth, the Sentinel mechs and mech pilots should have been good enough to chop up some of the pirate mechs without wasting too much time.
However, the sudden disappearance of the Bright Warriors along with the pressure exerted by the pirates caused many of the rookie mech pilots to panic or forget portions of their training.
Without any veterans or blooded mech pilots in their midst to rally them or restore their confidence, the Sentinel mechs started to suffer serious damage!
A lot of clansmen observing the battle began to drop their anticipatory smiles. The thorough pirate thrashing that all of them had expected did not arise.
Instead, the rookie Sentinel mech pilots began to falter against their desperate pirate counterparts who litterally fought with their lives on the line!
Soon enough, the first Sentinel mechs started to fall. Cockpits suddenly ejected from the fallen silver-coated machines. Some of the ranged pirate mechs even started to target the cockpits!
”No!”