Chapter 169 – Where I Am Headed Is…

In the pitch-black void of space, just before the Seldia Vigilante Corps' vanguard and the Coroshe invasion force collided.

It happened at the very moment the enemy formation's points of light stood out sharply on the Seldia side's long-range detection sensors.

"Long-range artillery -- volley fire!!"

The sharp cry of Merry, the Corps' Vice-Captain, pierced the encrypted comm line.

At her signal, the Corps' long-range artillery unit under Merry's command pulled their triggers all at once.

From some ten Rudes refitted to a heavy-artillery configuration came dazzling beams of light from long-range photon cannons, along with swarms of missiles that filled the sky. They cut vividly through the pitch-black dark and poured into the Coroshe force as a barrage of overwhelming density.

Layer upon layer of ferocious explosions bloomed in the dark expanse.

Caught off guard, Coroshe's vanguard fell into utter chaos, and several older general-purpose machines and Grido that failed to dodge in time were turned to dust in an instant.

"The other side is firing back! Until Merry's team has finished clearing the way, we hold our fire! Concentrate on evasive maneuvers and close the distance in one go!"

Countless photon bolts came flying from the enemy lines as well, in the confusion, but Grain gave his orders coolly.

The Corps' Rudes, which Milea's Syn-Fibra engineers had all pitched in to refit extensively, showed superior mobility beyond their former performance. They dodged the incoming beams of photon light one after another with thruster work. A few machines took glancing hits, nothing worse than scratches, but the Seldia side pressed its charge without losing a single unit.

Coroshe's losses, by contrast, were not small. The suppressing fire from Merry's team's first strike had taken effect; the enemy formation was badly disordered, and damaged machines drifted here and there, having lost their thrust.

"Good, the enemy formation is broken! All units, don't let your ranks fall apart! We go in all at once!"

At Grain's voice, the Seldia Vigilante Corps split up by platoon and surged into the enemy lines like an avalanche.

"Where I am headed is... the enhanced-human unit! I shall break through those large machines!"

Letaria leaned her whole body forward and accelerated her beloved Arden to the limit. She raced in a straight line toward the pack of the eerily red-glowing large machines, the "Gordo."

◆◆◆

"As expected... the gap in the pilots' training and the machines' performance is large..."

In the cockpit of the blue-green Makina "Velle," positioned at Coroshe's rear, Carol gritted her teeth, watching the damage-status monitor turn her allied machines blood red one after another.

The distance between the two forces was already within a hair's breadth. A full-scale melee was imminent.

"Marei! I leave the enemy's main force to you! Show them your strength here!"

Carol sent a sharp rebuke over the comm to Marei, who piloted Acuitas.

"I know! Hey, you lot, if you drag me down I'll shoot you down from behind!"

Marei shouted roughly at the Gordo unit deploying as the vanguard, but from the machines carrying the emotionless enhanced humans there was no proper voice reply.

"Damn it... are these things really any use...?"

Marei spat the words out with a curse.

Hearing them, Carol fell to thinking. Findlay's words from a short while ago came back to her.

"R1 has clearly shown her will to refuse. It would be difficult to deploy her at this juncture. She will stand by."

"Even without R1, I will -- for you, Findlay... for you...!"

He had valued her above anyone else and given her important work.

Carol activated her own machine's "Imperative System."