Chapter 2679: The Hunted (1/2)
Missing a limb was not a fatal impediment to a mech.
In spaceborn combat, it was much more important to keep the flight system intact. As long as the mech was able to fly, it was often able to fight.
Yet as soon as the flight system mounted to the rear no longer worked, a mech could do little but drift in space on a ballistic course!
Of course, most spaceborn mechs possessed secondary thrusters and boosters that were situated elsewhere onto the frame.
While they represented weak points, they added a small but considerable amount of maneuvering capabilities to the mech. At the right times, they could mean the difference between life and death!
It was with the help of these secondary maneuvering systems that the Jeanne D'Arc managed to evade the Sword of Lydia generated by the Swordmaiden battle formation.
Yet the strange sword was still sharp enough to cut straight through two of its limbs, which Venerable Foster found completely absurd!
Even if the Jeanne D'Arc was not in its best shape, a small group of standard mechs should still be unable to cut off the limbs of the mechs.
That this happened at all was very abnormal and caused Venerable Foster to become a lot more vigilant.
The Larkinsons appeared to be very confident in their swordsman mechs. Their artillery mechs no longer directed their firepower at the Jeanne D'Arc.
The Swordmaidens insisted on finishing off Venerable Foster themselves.
For this reason, the remaining Transcendent Punishers directed their firepower towards the Trost. The surviving Garlaner expert mech presented a much greater threat to the expeditionary fleet!
The previous clash between expert mechs had not consumed the Trost too much. The expert hybrid mech's armor integrity, ammunition levels and energy reserves were still in good shape.
Due to its greater power, stronger expert pilot and considerably greater destructive potential, the Trost had to be taken out before it managed to reach the Jeanne D'Arc!
At this moment, the Jeanne D'Arc fought back hard against the prime mech. Even if it had lost a substantial amount of strength and maneuverability, an expert mech was still a force to be reckoned with no matter its condition.
The expert mech was physically stronger and still possessed an edge in mobility.
As Venerable Dise quickly discovered, the force of a serious swing was already strong enough to overpower the guard of her weaker mech. In the first few exchanges of blows, the Jeanne D'Arc already managed to slam its sword against the shoulder of the Bright Sword Prime!
Unexpectedly, the Venerable Foster's powerful attack failed to slice through the shoulder and impair the sword arm of her opponent.
Just like almost every prime mech, the Bright Sword Prime was almost fully covered by Unending alloy. The Jeanne D'Arc may be able to slice a Princess Jecka in half, but its strength was not enough to dent Unending alloy!
Her attack merely bounced away the Bright Sword Prime, teaching Venerable Dise a profound lesson on the gulf between the strengths of the two mechs.
The former Swordmaiden Commander did not dare to tarry any longer. Though she wanted nothing more than to fight Venerable Foster in a sacred duel, she could not afford to underestimate an expert mech.
Besides, the greater battle was not yet won. The Trost could still do a lot of damage as long as it managed to outpace the slower Amphis.
”Commander Sendra!” She called her successor.
”Our blades are ready.”
”Harass Venerable Foster's mech. Threaten its back and attack its flight system whenever possible. Don't take any risks. We will not give this woman the satisfaction of killing another Swordmaiden today. Just use your numbers to your advantage in order to constrain her actions.”
”We understand.” Commander Sendra grinned as she quickly passed on some instructions. ”Let's wear her down just like we tackle the most dangerous exobeasts.”
The duel had turned into a hunt. The Jeanne D'Arc may still be a vastly superior battle machine, but it was injured and all on its own! The Swordmaidens did not believe they would fail this challenge!
The Swordmaiden mechs attacked the Jeanne D'Arc with great coordination. The Bright Sword Prime still faced the damaged expert mech, but Venerable Dise no longer dared to engage into any contests of strengths.
Instead, the Bright Sword Prime became more elusive. It danced at the edge of the Jeanne D'Arc's range and used the extended reach of its greatsword to launch cautious but safe attacks.
”You craven rats!” Venerable Foster cursed as she came under heavy pressure all of sudden.
If the Jeanne D'Arc was facing the Bright Sword Prime alone, then she was confident she could destroy opponent within a minute!
However, the weak swordsman mechs that her expert mech should have been able to squash with ease were constantly targeting the flight system of her mech.
Naturally, the flight system of an expert mech like the Jeanne D'Arc was a lot more condensed and harder to destroy. It took more than a couple of hits to cripple the mobility of a powerful machine.
Yet the constant attacks added up. Despite Venerable Foster's skill, it was too difficult for her to fend off the Bright Sword Prime while at the same time defend against multiple attacks from the rear.
What was even worse was that some of the swordsman mechs had the gall to attack the amputated sections of the Jeanne D'Arc! The insides weren't as durable as the exterior and could easily sustain greater damage that further slowed the mech down.
”Fight me like a warrior!” Venerable Foster roared as her indomitable will spiked further!
A resonance shield briefly reformed around the Jeanne D'Arc, but it only lasted for a few seconds before a handful of Swordmaiden mechs successively attacked the bubble and forced it to pop!
Another wave of swordsman mechs swooped in from another angle and struck the rear of the expert mech.
The attackers did not dare to fly too close. Many of their greatswords missed the mark or bounced off the rear armor of the Jeanne D'Arc.
However, one lucky Swordmaiden mech pilot managed to score her blade over a small component that caused the Jeanne D'Arc to lose even more maneuvering power!
Venerable Dise gained more confidence as her prime mech cleverly evaded the swings of the opposing mech before attempting to cut off the Jeanne D'Arc wrist.
The attempt failed, but it kept the expert mech busy and opened it up to even more attacks from the rear!
No matter how many times Venerable Foster turned around her mech to attack the other Swordmaiden mechs, her opponents were too sharp and cautious. They instantly turned away as soon as the Jeanne D'Arc began moving.
This was an incredibly frustrating situation! Foster became more and more frustrated by her inability to pass through a blockade of weaker mechs.
She gradually realized what her opponents were doing. The Jeanne D'Arc was dying by a thousand cuts. The enemy swordsman mechs actually weren't that impressive, but their mech pilots were very skilled at dismantling a vastly powerful enemy.
”I need to break this game.” Foster realized.
The Jeanne D'Arc no longer followed the rhythm of its opponents. It completely ignored the attacks of the Princess Jeckas and instead focused its sights on the Bright Sword Prime.
As long as the ringleader mech was taken out of the equation, the Jeanne D'Arc could easily wipe out the rest!
”I'll take you down first!”