Raid on Kahamba (10 page)

Well-
coordinated l
aser flashes
filled the air
even before the missiles began
racing
down.  The firing came
from
the point defenc
e lasers mounted on the shoulders of each of the alien mech
a
s. 
M
issile after missile explode
d, but
over the short distance they were traveling, the
64 missiles
made a
storm of incoming warheads.  At the last moment the alien mech
a
s
tried to
dodge and throw off the
incoming missiles. 
Large e
xplosions
bloomed on
the bodies of the alien mech
a
s
when the
missiles
struck
. 
O
ne alien mech
a
collapsed when six missiles struck it, blowing multiple holes in its armoured back
.
Billowing black smoke rose high into the air.  Another mech
a
was hit almost as badly by four missiles. A smoking hole on its upper torso and a missing leg indicated it had been badly damaged.  The third
mech
a
had taken a couple of hits with deep pits
gouged on its armour, but seemed
otherwise
unaffected.
 

The HARM units were
moving
right after the missile launch. 
The Newt beam weapons had a longer effective range than the coilguns and they would need to close in to negate that advantage.  An enemy spider
-
mech could be killed by a coilgun hit at a distance less than two kilometres
, but coilgun projectile power increased
at shorter ranges
. 
On the other hand, a Newt beam cannon was equally effective at all ranges under two kilom
etres so the alien mech
a
s
preferred to stand off
.

Only twenty percent of the mass
ed
missile attack had hit the targets.  Joshua had hoped that it would have taken out all three mech
a
s, but Newt missile defences had obviously improved
too
.
“One enemy mech
a
destroyed, one damaged. Three enemy units remaining,”
X announced. 
“The third unit is closing rapidly.”
 

Wildlife, led by birds flying off, were scattering off in all directions
from
the explosions
that
had interrupted their morning routines.  The mech
a
s were fighting in a fairly flat wooded area. 
There wasn’t any significant cover
since
they were taller than most of the tree
s
. 
Joshua picked the intact mech
a
for
his target and closed in.  Penny designated the
remaining
damaged mech
a
.
  Both HARM units fired as they ran, their coilguns stabilized by
AI directed arm adjustments
. 

Bang!
  Joshua’s
coilgun recoiled as the
hypersonic
penetrator
shot
towards the intact mec
h
a
. 
At the
point of impact
,
massive amount
s
of
kinetic
energy
were focused
to
create
a small blast of vapourizing armour and
extremely dense
,
depleted
uranium.   A deep gouge left behind indicated it had only struck a
glancing blow off the alien
molecular
armour
.  The alien mech
a
fired the
beam cannon
held in its arms
at Joshua’
s HARM.  The cannon flashed and the cracking sound of explosively heated air
near
Joshua’s mech
a
indicated it had just missed.   The cannon flashed again and this time, a chunk of the side armour on his HARM exploded away in a blast of vapour and armour fragments.

“Left side, minor damage,”
X called out.
“Systems fully functional.”

Joshua changed direction, the feet of his HARM unit digging deep into the
ground
and throwing up huge clods of earth.  There was a lot of mass in a running HARM unit, but he had to throw off the alien mech
a
’s aim.  His coilgun recharged and he fired again.  This time the alien mech
a
had
a
chunk of its torso
armour
blow off between the first arms and the forelegs.  The alien mech
a
was staggered
,
but it kept moving
and maneuvering
.  The beam cannon flashed again, missing Joshua’s mecha. 
Joshua
was rapidly closing the range
,
which
his
HUD showed
at 9
8
8 metres.  He dodged again, changing his direction.  Another laser blast scorched his armour. The coilgun
indicated it was
charged.   Joshua aimed again, dead center of the alien mech
a
, and
squeezed the virtual trigger
.  The alien mech
a
moved, but not fast enough.  This penetrator hit dead on, punching through alien armour plate and deep into the torso.  Staggered by the hit, the alien war machine lurched sideway
s
, then crumpled into a rolling ball of wreckage, its beam cannon and an armoured limb thrown off as it bled off its momentum against the
ground
. 

“Enemy unit destroyed.”
Joshua’s AI
confirmed
. 
“
Penny is engaging the t
hird enemy mech
a
.”

The
third
mech
a
was damaged, but
still very lethal. Unable to run with a leg missing
,
it
still
continued to move and fire
. 
Wham
! It took a second
hit from Penny’s coilgun
;
smoke
rose
from another
spot on its armour
, but the damage was minor
.  
Penny dodged her HARM unit off to the side
as a
nother laser blast flashed by. 
H
er mecha’s left
elbow joint
had been
damaged
from an unlucky hit
early on
and wasn’t moving like it should.
 
She
closed the distance some more and fired again. 
This time, the shot was true.  The penetrator struck downwards near the base of the torso, broke through the front armour, and
went into the power plant. 
All
of
the energy from the chemical fusion plant was released
in the form of a
massive fireball
that
blew the enemy mech
a
apart
.

Penny’s HARM didn’t stop running after the kill.  Her tactical display showed that the
fourth
mech
a
had entered engagement range.  Her mecha was to the right of Joshua’s and slightly ahead.  Her duel had
been quicker than Joshua’s
and she had been able to close in faster against the damaged mech
a
.
  “Engaging the third mech
a
,” she called out.  This was going to be her kill. 

“Flanking,” Joshua called out.
  He increased the lateral distance between Penny’s HARM and his
own
to come at the enemy mech
a
in a
slightly
wider arc. 
The enemy me
ch
a
was two kilometres
away
and
trying to maintain
its distance.
  Odds had favoured the aliens at the beginning, but they had now shifted towards the humans.

The last enemy mech
a
played
it smart
,
since
it was now two on one.  Its pilot knew that keeping the range long worked to its advantage
due to the superior effective range of the
alien beam cannon
.
  The alien mech
a
fired its beam cannon,
aiming at
Penny’s
closer
mech
a
.  Penny fired her coilgun again, but her aim was slightly off and the penetrator missed.  Firing on the move was the only way not to be hit, but
her mech
a
’s
damaged arm wasn’t stabilizing
its
gun as well.  Joshua fired.  His penetrator glanced off the armour of the last mech
a
.  They needed to get closer.

Both HARM units continued to close in.
 
The distance to the enemy mech
a
was
1
8
00 metres.  Both sides
continued shooting
but
were
missing or not hitting well.  The Newt pilot
had
proven
itself
to be very good.  A chunk of Joshua’s shoulder armour was missing and Penny’s mech
a
had a hole burned along
its
upper
chest.
  The enemy mech
a
had three
impact divots
on it from penetrator hits, but none h
ad done serious damage.

“
K
akatte koi yo!
” Penny yelled
at
the remaining mech
a to bring it on
.
  She lined up her shot, stabilizing it just a little longer than she normally would.
  The enemy mech
a
was
also
lining up its beam cannon.  She fired.  The enemy laser flashed.  Coherent light is faster than a projectile. Molecular armour heated instantaneously
and
was unable to keep up with the massive energy directed at a single point. Layer after layer of composite plating
shattered then
vapourized
as the beam burned it to gas.  A
brilliant explosion
tore the head off Penny’s HARM unit.
  The headless
mech
a
pitched sideways in mid-stride and crashed into the earth, plowing through dirt and trees until it stopped
front down
.  Another gouge appeared on the enemy mecha’s shoulder where her penetrator struck and glanced off.

“Penny!”  Joshua couldn’t believe his eyes.  Penny’s mecha was dead on the ground and billowing smoke.  “Respond!”

“Unit two is offline.”
X called out. 
“Pilot may have survived.”

Joshua jerked his HARM off to the side
as
X spoke.  He had lost focus on the last Newt mech
a
for just a moment, but not long enough to be a predictable target.   A flash of laser li
ght missed his mecha.  “Bastard!  Y
ou’re going down!”

“Range is 1700 metres,”
his mecha’s AI
announced as his mecha continued to close.

They were getting closer.  Joshua could tell that the enemy pilot was very, very good from the way the Newt mech
a
was being piloted.  He couldn’t get a clean shot
at the evading mech
a
.  The enemy pilot
was
becoming more aggressive, sniping at him and no longer retreating.  It was one on one and both pilots figured they had a good chance at a kill.