With each minute that passed, the oppression that the Olympus Mons exerted on the expeditionary fleet increased.
Despite the immense distance at this time, everyone felt as if they were being chased by an indomitable bear that kept gaining on them. As long as the powerful monster finally caught up, their bodies would easily get torn apart by just a single bear slap!
Of course, the running humans did not give up their chances of survival. While they were fleeing, some of the humans started to fire their weapons at the looming threat. Even if the hide of the bear was too thick to suffer any damage from these attacks, there was always a chance that it might help!
This was what happened right now. While the Golden Skull Alliance was preparing its faster ships to escape ahead of time, the ranged mechs of the Larkinson Clan had already begun to fire back at the approaching threat!
It was extremely difficult to achieve a high hit rate at this distance. Energy weapon discharges such as laser beams exhibited the highest degree of accuracy while physical weapons such as gauss rifles were much less reliable at extreme ranges.
Even so, of the Transcendent Punishers, Eternal Redemptions and Bright Warriors armed with ranged weapons dared to slacken off too much. Ammunition and energy cells could easily be replenished later on. Lives could never be restored once they were lost!
Commander Melkor of the Avatars of Myth, Commander Chancy of the Penitent Sisters, Commander Cinnabar of the Battle Criers, Commander Casella of the Living Sentinels and so on were all exhorting their own subordinates to shoot at the closing dwarven ace mechs as if they were in the middle of an apocalypse!
“Don’t get paralyzed by fear! Just shoot as fast as your weapon systems can handle. That enormous resonance shield projected by the ace mech looks impressive but probably costs the ace pilot a huge amount of effort to maintain. As long as we drain its energy, the ace mech won’t be as scary anymore.”
“So what if we’re about to die? Our deaths will have meaning as long as we achieve an important goal! Right now, we must buy enough time for our civilians and other clansmen to evacuate from this star system. This dwarven frigate can’t chase all of our starships, especially if we split up. Most of us might not make it out of this star sector alive, but our clan shall definitely live on due to our valor today!”
Resisting against a single ace mech was the greatest challenge that every mech pilot in the clan had faced up until now. They were so horrified that hardly anyone thought they could get out alive!
Fortunately, they were trained and disciplined enough to maintain their composure. They clung onto their duty like a lifeline and did their best to fire their weapons if possible.
Even the melee mech pilots such as the Swordmaidens prepared themselves for a suicidal charge. No matter how invincible the opponent seemed, they would never give up without a fight!
“Our sacrifice will have meaning!”
“Fight not for your lives, but for the lives of our fellow clansmen. We are soldiers. This is the time for you to discover what it truly means to serve!”
Though General Verle was glad that the Larkinson Army held up so far, he feared that this was only a temporary condition.
Once the Olympus Mons came close enough to envelop its opponents into its domain field, it would be hard for any mech pilot to remain brave when they were being crushed by the ace pilot’s enormous will!
When Verle took a look at what the other mechs in the fleet were doing, he began to frown.
“Why are you hesitating?”
So far, only the mechs of the Larkinson Clan opened fire!
The Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan had yet to take action against the approaching dwarves. The roughly 10,000 mercenary mechs that guarded the outer perimeter of the fleet did not take action either.
During his emergency discussion with the other leaders of the alliance, Ves couldn’t help but bring up these points.
“From what I’ve heard so far, the domain fields of ace pilots are almost impossible to overwhelm through massed regular attacks, but it should still be possible. If you guys join in on the attack, we stand a better chance at overwhelming the Olympus Mons.”
Neither Marshal Ariadne nor Patriarch Reginald provided an immediate answer. It was clear to the both of them that the surprise dwarf enemy was primarily interested in attacking Ves and maybe his clan. They were the primary culprits behind the Vulcan Empire’s rapid collapse.
As for them? They were accessories as worst and bystanders as best. There was no way the Vulcanites held the same degree of animosity towards them as Ves. Their prospects of survival were actually much greater as a consequence, provided that they split up immediately and distanced themselves from the Larkinson Clan right away!
Ves’ mood darkened as he saw this response. Though his allies hadn’t said no, they were considering it. He had learned a long time ago that times like these tested whether he could truly count on his friends and allies.
This was also why he held high respect for people like the Swordmaidens. They had faced these kinds of circumstances with the Larkinson Clan before and always stayed true to their oaths and loyalties. His trust in them was ironclad.
As for the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan, it appeared their willingness to share the misfortunes of the Larkinson Clan was not as absolute!
Professor Benedict decided to enlighten Ves about an important detail. “The mercenary organizations that you’ve hired to defend the fleet against attackers will not act this time. A standard mercenary contract stipulates many exceptional circumstances where the contractors are not obliged to fulfill their normal duties. Squaring off against a hostile ace mech will definitely trigger a force majeure clause. There is absolutely no way that mech pilots for hire are willing to die for something as trivial as money.”
“Damnit!” Ves gritted his teeth. “You can never count on mercenaries when you need them the most!”
Even the larger and more powerful mercenary organizations still shared the same flaws as their smaller cousins. None of their mech pilots were truly willing to die for a cause that was greater than themselves. They only truly cared about earning as much money as possible while keeping their lives intact. As long as either of these conditions could no longer be met, they could no longer be counted upon to perform their services!
Ves did not bother to ask Shederin to persuade the mercenaries to help the expeditionary fleet out for this reason. No matter how much money the clan was willing to throw at them, nothing was more important than preserving their lives and company ȧssets!
He let out a deep sigh. “Then what about you two? Can I count on the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan to abide by their commitments?”
Patriarch Reginald was as direct as ever. He did not agonize over the decision. “The Cross Clan shall always meet its commitment. The Larkinson Clan is our ally and our comrade in arms. We have fought against ace mechs before. The Olympus Mons shall have to resist our fire as well if it wants to destroy the Larkinson Clan!”
Of course, the last time the Cross Clan fought a proper battle against an ace mech, Saint Hemmington Cross was still alive back then! The Crossers were far from being able to resist another ace mech now that they were only a shadow of their former glory!
That made Ves appreciate Cross Patriarch’s decisive commitment even more. Expert pilots were difficult to work with on some matters, but there were times where their honor and their decisiveness worked out in his favor.
It was not for nothing that high-level expert pilots made for awful politicians.
Ves grinned. “Thank you, Patriarch Reginald. Your willingness to share our pressure is much appreciated. Our clan will certainly remember this favor and hold your people in higher regard.”
The Cross Clan was undoubtedly placing a bet on the Larkinson Clan, but Ves didn’t mind. Their relationship would certainly grow closer as long as they were able to survive this disaster.
Seeing that Patriarch Reginald made such a reckless but potentially rewarding choice, Marshal Ariadne could not continue to stall for time.
She needed to make a split-second choice while taking various interests into account. She not only needed to choose what was best for Gloriana, the Wodin Dynasty and the Hexadric Hegemony, but also her own troops.
“The Glory Seekers are Hexers.” The older woman said with a sardonic smile. “We have never shirked our duty. Our people have fought and died against plenty of overwhelmingly powerful opponents in the Komodo War. We are no strangers to fighting against impossible odds.”
“Thank you, Marshal.” Ves sincerely expressed his thanks. “The ȧssistance of your troops is much appreciated. I owe you a favor as well. I am quite aware that I’ve been dragging you into a danger of my own making once again. Strictly speaking, you don’t need to help my clan, but your willingness to do so warms my heart. I will definitely repay my debt to you both!”
The two allies acted quickly now that their leaders gave their word. The ranged mechs of the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan opened fire at the distant enemy.
Their entry into this heavily lopsided battle not only raised the morale of the Larkinsons, but also gave everyone a greater illusion that they might be able to fight their way out of this crisis!
As for the mechs deployed by the mercenaries, they distinctly distanced themselves from the Golden Skull Alliance. While the mercenary vessels still matched the pace and heading of the expeditionary fleet, their current pattern of behavior made it clear that they would not do anything to hinder the dwarven ace mech from completing its objective!
Whether the addition of the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan made any difference, Ves didn’t know. All he could do was to hope that the additional weight of fire would cause the Olympus Mons to crumble before it reached its objective.
While the Golden Skull Alliance did its best to chip away at the defenses of the enemy ace mech, the emergency meeting moved on to analysing its combat capabilities.
Ves briefly smiled. “Our intelligence analysts have gathered additional data on the Olympus Mons, most of which is public but some of it is not as obvious.”
He projected rare footage of the Olympus Mons back when it was still in service in the Uriborn Province.
As an aggressive state, the Vulcan Empire loved its parades. It frequently used these events to strengthen the national pride of the dwarves and reinforce their sense of superiority over the tall folk.
Ves displayed a short clip that had been recorded more than a decade ago where the Olympus Mons demonstrated the might of an ace mech in front of an audience of high-ranking provincial dignitaries.
The capital ship was only 1.9 kilometers long and was built in the early days of the Vulcan Empire. By the time of the recording, the dwarven fleet carrier was already hopelessly out of date.
Though the decommissioned military vessel could have been sold to the private sector for a lot of hammers, the grand regent decided to employ it for a more worthwhile purpose.
Saint Yila Mayorka resonated with her powerful ace mech. Her strong and unique bond with her partner machine allowed them both to evoke a much stronger version of true resonance.
An entire sphere around the ace mech became enveloped with light and pressure, causing the audience of provincial officials to gasp!
The Olympus Mons raised its hammer. Though the heavy maul looked large enough to smash any mech to pieces, it was still hopelessly small compared to the size of a 1.9 kilometer long fleet carrier!
Yet as the famed Mountain Hammer kept resonating more and more with her mech, this enormous hammer began to glow brighter and brighter in orange until a large energy manifestation ballooned from the physical weapon!
Soon, an enormous orange energy hammer had emerged above the Olympus Mons! The weapon stretched for over a kilometer long and looked far more threatening and powerful than any of the energy manifestations evoked by the Larkinson Clan’s battle formation!
“SHIPBREAK STRIKE.”
The giant orange hammer struck the fleet carrier, transferring an enormous amount of kinetic energy and creating an impact that was no less than getting rammed by another capital ship!
The entire fleet carrier’s side not only caved in, but the rest of her strong and sturdy metal hull cracked and shattered as if she was a broken vase!
Tons of metal debris flung out in each direction as the broken, bent and utterly ruined hull of a military capital ship drifted away from the Olympus Mons.
At the time, this display was explicitly meant to reinforce the power of the grand regent over the provincial governors.
Now, it gave the leaders of the Golden Skull Alliance a pretty good impression that nothing in their arsenal could withstand the dwarven ace mech’s mountain blows!
