Chapter 2654: Ever Forward! (2/2)
Just as Lieutenant Corsica succeeded in felling yet another combat carrier together with his comrades, the enemy artillery mechs that possessed clear firing lines all fired their primary armaments at the same time!
”What?!”
Over 800 positron beams and gauss rounds hit over a dozen different points along the hull of the Forward Momentum with practically no deviation in aim!
The attacks shouldn't have been able to shake a capital ship, yet the deep strike fleet carrier somehow vibrated just enough to affect Edmund's artillery mech's aim!
Shortly afterwards, the cooling fluid being sprayed onto the mech ceased to flow!
”What happened?!” He demanded.
”The enemy salvo managed to pierce through the hull of the Forward Momentum! Several sensitive compartments and power lines are damaged. We are doing our best to restore the knocked-out systems, but it will take time!”
Just as the mech lieutenant pondered over the coordinated strike, the enemy artillery mechs unleashed yet another devastating salvo with their kinetic weapons!
This time, Lieutenant Corsica flinched as numerous kinetic rounds slammed into the bunker above his artillery mech!
What was remarkable was that the rounds all hit the port where his third primary gauss cannon was poking out. While half of the powerful gauss rounds cratered into the solid surface of the bunker, they nonetheless created an opening that just happened to allow another gauss round to rip right into the barrel of his third gun!
”Ahh!”
The Destiny Hammer artillery mech jerked as both its third and fourth gauss cannons were instantly knocked offline due to the direct attack!
”Impossible! How can they be so precise all of sudden?!”
Lieutenant Corsica wasn't able to ponder this question too much. The earlier attack had just blasted apart an entire weapon mount, causing his mech to incur significant damage to a side!
While his mech was too big, tough and heavy to let the damage affect the functioning of the rest of the mech, Edmund still felt concerned!
”Why didn't they fire their positron beams?”
Just a second later, the enemy responded!
Over a dozen beams struck the gap in the bunker! Just like before, a number of hits went slightly wide as there were too many variables at play.
Yet despite all of these conditions, at least five full-powered positron beams managed to thread the needle, causing them to hit straight onto the already-damaged portion of Edmund's mech!
”Ahhh!”
More portions of the stricken mech incurred heavy damage! What was even worse was that the heat levels of the machine rose rapidly, causing the mech to lose its ability to fire its cannons and slowing down its responses.
Lieutenant Corsica's heart beat faster and faster. Once might be a coincidence. Twice was deliberate. What if the enemy artillery mechs fired a third time?
”Damn! I need to withdraw back into the ship while waiting for my mech to cool down!”
He quickly asked permission to withdraw from his captain, which was granted right away.
”Pull back and stabilize the condition of your mech.” His superior told him. ”Emergency repair bots are already on their way, lieutenant!”
”Roger that!”
While Edmund tried his best to withdraw his mech as quickly as possible, this was not exactly a quick process. Due to the extensive anchoring between his artillery mech and the bunker, it normally took at least 20 seconds to lift the legs of the mechs out of slots built into the deck.
In fact, the mech lieutenant estimated it would take twice as much time due to the damage sustained by his mech as well as the extreme heat affecting the performance of many components.
”Too slow!”
Barely seven seconds passed after Edmund had begun the laborious withdrawal process before the enemy artillery mechs struck yet again.
This time, over two-dozen gauss rounds and positron beams precisely struck the damaged and partially-damaged roof of the bunker.
The previous attacks that failed to enter the gap had weakened the structure just enough for the third and final salvo to collapse the roof entirely!
Even if heavy mechs were notoriously famed for their ability to keep going despite sustaining a lot of hits, the enemy attacks weren't light at all! The positron beams softened up the surface layers of the exposed mech while the gauss rounds slammed through and transferred an immense amount of destructive kinetic energy onto their target!
Lieutenant Corsica was unable to think any longer. He didn't even have time to cry out the battle cry of the Vanguard Army, nor think about his two young sons that he was leaving behind.
His life passed in an instant as the attacks collapsed his cockpit, crushing his body into bloody mush!
In just three salvos, the Larkinson artillery mechs managed to fell 20 percent of the Destiny Hammers taking part in this battle!
The Forward Momentum bore dozens of scars as various bunkers and surface components were blasted apart. More critically, a lot of maneuvering thrusters had been struck as well, thereby impairing the fleet carrier's ability to adjust her course and make it difficult for enemies to target specific sections!
Despite these sudden setbacks, the Destiny Hammers did not back down. The surviving mechs fired their weapons just as intensively as before. They were determined to pay back their losses tenfold!
”Ever Forward, men!”
”EVER FORWARD!” The surviving Destiny Hammer mech pilots echoed!