“I have targets!” Cora announced and sounded excited to finally have something to shoot at.
“Hold your fire. Wait until those Quadrupeds enter your range and fire on them.”
“Roger that.”
Her disappointment was palpable, but there wasn’t much to be done about that. They needed to make it still look like they were running away.
The Balthazars moved quickly and illuminated the area around them while Hammerhand continued to run. They were almost three-quarters of the way toward him when he finally turned again.
His initial reaction to activate his shield proved pointless when he saw they carried melee weapons. He turned it off immediately as a couple landed in front of him while the others pursued the retreating knights.
The two in front of him backed away when he activated his hammer, but he adjusted his weapon and tried to catch one of those that soared over him. It wasn’t a clean strike, but it catapulted away from its flight pattern and landed solidly.
“Targets in range,” Cora shouted.
“Fire when ready,” Hammerhand replied and waited while she acquired her targets among the Quadrupeds as they reached the bottom step.
The Raptor fired a volley that trailed plumes of white smoke behind and impacted precisely with the points she’d defined. The mechs themselves weren’t the target, of course, but the limbs. When the first two had all their limbs blown at the knee, the others were forced into a halt.
They were unable to move in either direction and instantly became sitting targets for additional attacks.
The people at the top realized this too and immediately poured from the top of the mesa.
Hammerhand’s hint of elation that their feint had worked, if somewhat delayed, was cut short when the Balthazars that had chosen to face him began to press their assault. They were quicker than his Excalibur, and the vibroswords they carried were more than enough to cut into vital functions on his mech.
More importantly, their airborne comrades rapidly closed on the Knights.
“Knights, cease the retreat and regroup! We have a fight on our hands.”
They did as they were told. The Balthazars were no surprise, but two of their group narrowly avoided being cut down almost immediately when the flying mechs drove into their line.
Windchime would show them a proper greeting.
“Tinker, get them formed up!” Hammerhand called over the comms, brought his Hammer about, and activated the rocket.
He caught one of the Balthazars and clipped it in the side with enough force to crush most of the armor and damage the fuel tanks. The other backed away quickly as the fuel caught fire, which surged into the tank.
The explosion was so powerful that he could feel it in his bones, and he backed away slowly as well. Beyond the blaze, his gaze settled on the full numbers of those who had been at the top of the mesa and now raced to join the attack.
Most of the FEMA troops had already reached the ground and pressed hard to try to reach the combat area. It was about time the Prophet appeared as well. What the hell was he waiting for?
“Fucking shit.”
With things as they were, Hammerhand had to trust that Windchime would be able to hold the Balthazars away from their front line long enough for the Prophet to get his shit together. While they waited, he would have to help the front line to slow the newcomers as best he could.
“I’ve prayed for a day in which there would be no end of enemies to fight!” he roared at them and raised his shield once the approaching defenders opened fire.
Tinker moved beside him, plugged in, and ran a rapid check to make sure no on-the-spot repairs were needed before he withdrew again. Hammerhand turned and brandished his shield.
The defenders would think they had the Knights bogged down in combat and that soon, the superior numbers would bring the victory. If the Prophet held his charge for too much longer, they would be right.
The Knights’ leader couldn’t help a twinge of pride in his team. Tactical plans made far from the field of battle tended to go out the cockpit in the moment when the fighting started. It was to be expected, but that didn’t mean the troop didn’t have the coordination to continue to fight when they needed to and to cover each other and give their enemies hell at the same time.
He couldn’t have coordinated it better himself, and because he was able to trust his men, he was able to focus on the part of the battle that required his attention.
His shield began to overheat and he put up the notification on the HUD of the mechs that took cover behind it so they’d know the moment when they would have targets to shoot at.
In the second when the shield fell, the volley decimated the front lines, which mostly consisted of Cinders trying to sneak in to where they would have the advantage. They had expected it to drop eventually, but they were too far out of their preferred range and he watched a number of them erupt in flames when their napalm tanks were pierced and ignited.
It slowed the charge somewhat as those coming behind needed to circle the group, but it also allowed them to move beyond his shield and gave them a clear shot at the men who took cover behind him.
A couple of the Auburn Lancers fell when superheated plasma bolts melted through the frontal armor plates under multiple direct hits. It seemed like the enemy had abandoned their attempts to disable him and instead, now focused on those who fired at them.
Hammerhand restored his shield to give the Knights cover out in the open. Windchime led a group forward to engage the attackers, and the Balthazars used their ability to fly up and away from the fight to try to harass those who broke from the Knights’ line.
Although that would never dissuade
