M100
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While Bolt was committing small war crimes with spirits, Lilly was heading out. Her job was significantly more difficult. The jamming combined with other factors made it impossible to relay information quickly, and against an unknown enemy that was risky to outright suicidal. Mech combat was where the tech disadvantage really told as well.
Fortunately, this was actually one of the times when the Rat's low tech start was mildly useful. The veterans were quite used to the lack of radio and had already pulled back to the main entrance to coordinate and defend. The prevailing thought was mostly that they'd try to keep around the area and deal with the attackers once they had more information. They had a vague idea of positioning thanks to a few sensors that still worked, but the lack of instant updates made it rather unreliable.
Once Lilly joined them there was a very quick debate on what they should do. Full on defense with the shields up was theoretically possible, but that would be conceding the initiative. However attacking with so little knowledge seemed foolish as well. The discussion became moot shortly due to enemy action.
There was no warning. No sounds of challenge. Just suppressed gunfire from the distance that impacted several waiting mechs. Several went down immediately. Lilly was hit twice before she orientated on the enemy and moved with an expert's reflexes towards them despite the fact that they were all but invisible. Dowry pinged their forms as she got closer, but even then they were blurred.
Her damage was already severe at this point. It would have been life threatening in another mech. Dowry was not any other mech. Her internal factory roared with power and will. The resonance materials flexed, and liquid flowed out of the wounds almost like blood. Like blood it clotted. In less time than it took to get to the enemy, Dowry was fully repaired.
It did not help as much as Lilly would have liked. The mech was barely visible even this close and she already knew there were going to be problems. She identified the mech as a Second Rate immediately after it moved in an attempt to avoid her pursuit. She had to dodge a nearly visible knife and several shots before she got close enough to grip. By the time she'd grabbed it, one of the shots had hit her, going through her willpower enhanced defenses and shattering one of the armor plates. She managed manhandle it to the ground before more could be done, but it was a temporary victory.
The unfortunate fact of the matter was that her opponent's mech was better than hers in every way. These stealth mechs might have sacrificed nearly everything for their unparalleled stealth, but they were still Second Rate. Her throw was a temporary victory. The mech pilot was already shifting and flaring her boosters to mitigate the poor position she'd forced it into. Worse was that Lilly couldn't just shred it with Dowry's claws like she would a third rate. She was the underdog here by a serious margin. Which was nothing new.
Perhaps another expert might have fumbled slightly, caught off guard by the power disparity. Lilly found these circumstances familiar. Dowry found these circumstances familiar. She couldn't shred the armor, but she could pry open just a bit. Chunks of the enemy's armor were torn off and shoved into her mech's mouth, and then Dowry ducked and dashed away as the others attempted to encircle her. It was very apparent that she was considered the only threat.
Behind her bullets just barely missed as she juked unpredictably. Lilly's skill and ability surpassed her opponents even if the tech didn't. The armor went down Dowry's throat like a sharp blade and the resonant enhanced nanomachines started to grind against it. As she moved and dodged the enemy's deadly shots the claws started to shift and change as her mech adapted quickly and silently.
Instinct had blasting her boosters to dodge to the side as a swordsman came roaring down from above in an attempt to decapitate her. The two handed blade it wielded just barely missed, and Lilly hissed as she readied herself. She was in serious trouble now. The stealth mechs were dangerous but somewhat manageable due to their specialty. A dedicated fighter like this one would take focus that she couldn't spare.
Missile and laser fire from the distance even things up slightly. The rest of the Wrench Rats had rallied and begun offering fire support. The flame from the Hellfire missiles licked at the stealth mechs sides and disrupted the visual distortion significantly, robbing them of a large advantage and letting the other mechs focus on them. Furthermore, a few flares were giving the artillery mechs an area to focus on. This forced the stealth mechs to shift targets just to keep from getting brought down by just weight.
The damage quickly became devistating. Only the weight of Rat reinforcements was letting them keep up with the return fire. They were hemorrhaging people from every shot. It was giving Lilly time though, and she would not let their sacrifice be in vain.
Dowry was far from a perfect mech. She was a specialized hit and run monster. One on one against a prepared target was a delicate dance. This went double for the Second Rate swordsman she was fighting, because the thing was not a purist model. It had a pair of lasers mounted on the shoulders that traced melted large sections of Dowry's armor after each swing. No amount of dodging was going to keep her from being hit against such a superior technology advantage.
Lilly was forced to burn precious willpower to repair Dowry every second of battle. Her opponent didn't even need to hit her with the sword. Enough damage from the lasers and she'd die, and her opponent knew it. They were faster, stronger, and more dangerous. The disparity was almost too much. Almost, because at the end of the day this was just a normal pilot versus an expert. There was a reason experts were precious.
Every swing showed her how her opponent thought and was trained. Every second became just a bit easier to predict and anticipate. Lilly dodged and dodged and dodged as she mapped out what the pilot was doing and thinking. She could feel the brainwashing. Every part of this opponent had been focused and trained to hate the other. Something about it was disgusting. Everything about it was predictable. Too predictable. The sword swung again and Lilly stepped into it. Reflexively the enemy boosted to dodge her attack, but Lilly had already started up her own boost, knowing exactly how they'd move.
One of Dowry's hands shot forward then. The elongated arms did their work in offering deceptive reach. The newly modified talons caught at the seam of once part of the armor and ripped. A chunk of armor went flying and then the other hand slammed forward. The claws dug into the innards of the mech and then dug deeper still.
Mercy was not an option today. Without a flinch or hesitation Lilly had Dowry's fingers grab around the cockpit and it crumpled like a can to her complete surprise. The mech went still before Lilly pulled back with a small frown. A proper cockpit could have ejected before she'd reached it. It would certainly have resisted more.
In the distance, one of the stealth mechs went down. The rest were still firing at with all their might. The Wrench Rats were not doing well. Their mechs littered the ground Their Second Rate opponents were stronger, better, and faster. Only the Wounded Angels and the Bloody Berserkers were still up at this point, and the Berserkers just barely. Unfortunately for them, with Lilly's victory they were caught between two attackers now, and Dowry was practically built for the rest of the fight. They couldn't run either. They'd been damaged just enough that they could not escape easily, especially with Dowry on the field.
The remaining forces did their best to sell their lives dearly, but against an expert and the rest of the rats they didn't have much hope. The Wrench Rats were victorious before reinforcements could appear. That is if one called losing most of their mechs and more than a few pilots victory. The Second Rate mechs had not been shy about cockpit targeting, and their armaments had made it easy to penetrate the extra armor meant to defend the pilots. Lilly and the others couldn't even be happy about capturing them, because the pilots had suicided themselves with self destruct charges when it became apparent they'd lose. More than a few were bitter about that. They'd wanted better salvage!
Fortunately, this was actually one of the times when the Rat's low tech start was mildly useful. The veterans were quite used to the lack of radio and had already pulled back to the main entrance to coordinate and defend. The prevailing thought was mostly that they'd try to keep around the area and deal with the attackers once they had more information. They had a vague idea of positioning thanks to a few sensors that still worked, but the lack of instant updates made it rather unreliable.
Once Lilly joined them there was a very quick debate on what they should do. Full on defense with the shields up was theoretically possible, but that would be conceding the initiative. However attacking with so little knowledge seemed foolish as well. The discussion became moot shortly due to enemy action.
There was no warning. No sounds of challenge. Just suppressed gunfire from the distance that impacted several waiting mechs. Several went down immediately. Lilly was hit twice before she orientated on the enemy and moved with an expert's reflexes towards them despite the fact that they were all but invisible. Dowry pinged their forms as she got closer, but even then they were blurred.
Her damage was already severe at this point. It would have been life threatening in another mech. Dowry was not any other mech. Her internal factory roared with power and will. The resonance materials flexed, and liquid flowed out of the wounds almost like blood. Like blood it clotted. In less time than it took to get to the enemy, Dowry was fully repaired.
It did not help as much as Lilly would have liked. The mech was barely visible even this close and she already knew there were going to be problems. She identified the mech as a Second Rate immediately after it moved in an attempt to avoid her pursuit. She had to dodge a nearly visible knife and several shots before she got close enough to grip. By the time she'd grabbed it, one of the shots had hit her, going through her willpower enhanced defenses and shattering one of the armor plates. She managed manhandle it to the ground before more could be done, but it was a temporary victory.
The unfortunate fact of the matter was that her opponent's mech was better than hers in every way. These stealth mechs might have sacrificed nearly everything for their unparalleled stealth, but they were still Second Rate. Her throw was a temporary victory. The mech pilot was already shifting and flaring her boosters to mitigate the poor position she'd forced it into. Worse was that Lilly couldn't just shred it with Dowry's claws like she would a third rate. She was the underdog here by a serious margin. Which was nothing new.
Perhaps another expert might have fumbled slightly, caught off guard by the power disparity. Lilly found these circumstances familiar. Dowry found these circumstances familiar. She couldn't shred the armor, but she could pry open just a bit. Chunks of the enemy's armor were torn off and shoved into her mech's mouth, and then Dowry ducked and dashed away as the others attempted to encircle her. It was very apparent that she was considered the only threat.
Behind her bullets just barely missed as she juked unpredictably. Lilly's skill and ability surpassed her opponents even if the tech didn't. The armor went down Dowry's throat like a sharp blade and the resonant enhanced nanomachines started to grind against it. As she moved and dodged the enemy's deadly shots the claws started to shift and change as her mech adapted quickly and silently.
Instinct had blasting her boosters to dodge to the side as a swordsman came roaring down from above in an attempt to decapitate her. The two handed blade it wielded just barely missed, and Lilly hissed as she readied herself. She was in serious trouble now. The stealth mechs were dangerous but somewhat manageable due to their specialty. A dedicated fighter like this one would take focus that she couldn't spare.
Missile and laser fire from the distance even things up slightly. The rest of the Wrench Rats had rallied and begun offering fire support. The flame from the Hellfire missiles licked at the stealth mechs sides and disrupted the visual distortion significantly, robbing them of a large advantage and letting the other mechs focus on them. Furthermore, a few flares were giving the artillery mechs an area to focus on. This forced the stealth mechs to shift targets just to keep from getting brought down by just weight.
The damage quickly became devistating. Only the weight of Rat reinforcements was letting them keep up with the return fire. They were hemorrhaging people from every shot. It was giving Lilly time though, and she would not let their sacrifice be in vain.
Dowry was far from a perfect mech. She was a specialized hit and run monster. One on one against a prepared target was a delicate dance. This went double for the Second Rate swordsman she was fighting, because the thing was not a purist model. It had a pair of lasers mounted on the shoulders that traced melted large sections of Dowry's armor after each swing. No amount of dodging was going to keep her from being hit against such a superior technology advantage.
Lilly was forced to burn precious willpower to repair Dowry every second of battle. Her opponent didn't even need to hit her with the sword. Enough damage from the lasers and she'd die, and her opponent knew it. They were faster, stronger, and more dangerous. The disparity was almost too much. Almost, because at the end of the day this was just a normal pilot versus an expert. There was a reason experts were precious.
Every swing showed her how her opponent thought and was trained. Every second became just a bit easier to predict and anticipate. Lilly dodged and dodged and dodged as she mapped out what the pilot was doing and thinking. She could feel the brainwashing. Every part of this opponent had been focused and trained to hate the other. Something about it was disgusting. Everything about it was predictable. Too predictable. The sword swung again and Lilly stepped into it. Reflexively the enemy boosted to dodge her attack, but Lilly had already started up her own boost, knowing exactly how they'd move.
One of Dowry's hands shot forward then. The elongated arms did their work in offering deceptive reach. The newly modified talons caught at the seam of once part of the armor and ripped. A chunk of armor went flying and then the other hand slammed forward. The claws dug into the innards of the mech and then dug deeper still.
Mercy was not an option today. Without a flinch or hesitation Lilly had Dowry's fingers grab around the cockpit and it crumpled like a can to her complete surprise. The mech went still before Lilly pulled back with a small frown. A proper cockpit could have ejected before she'd reached it. It would certainly have resisted more.
In the distance, one of the stealth mechs went down. The rest were still firing at with all their might. The Wrench Rats were not doing well. Their mechs littered the ground Their Second Rate opponents were stronger, better, and faster. Only the Wounded Angels and the Bloody Berserkers were still up at this point, and the Berserkers just barely. Unfortunately for them, with Lilly's victory they were caught between two attackers now, and Dowry was practically built for the rest of the fight. They couldn't run either. They'd been damaged just enough that they could not escape easily, especially with Dowry on the field.
The remaining forces did their best to sell their lives dearly, but against an expert and the rest of the rats they didn't have much hope. The Wrench Rats were victorious before reinforcements could appear. That is if one called losing most of their mechs and more than a few pilots victory. The Second Rate mechs had not been shy about cockpit targeting, and their armaments had made it easy to penetrate the extra armor meant to defend the pilots. Lilly and the others couldn't even be happy about capturing them, because the pilots had suicided themselves with self destruct charges when it became apparent they'd lose. More than a few were bitter about that. They'd wanted better salvage!