Chapter 170 – I Have No Time to Waste on the Likes of You!

The Seldia Vigilante Corps and the combined Coroshe-Argria force finally collided head-on, with ferocity.

The dark expanse of space, which until a short while earlier had been ruled by stillness, was transformed in an instant into a savage battlefield of desperate combat, where tracer rounds, high-mobility missiles, and thousands of beams of photon light flew in disorder.

The Argria mass-produced machines "Grido," the backbone of Coroshe's strength, came pouring rapid Photon Rifle fire with sharp drive roars.

But Grain, piloting his black-and-white Riese, dodged that fierce barrage with minimal braking and no trouble at all. As they crossed, he fired his Photon Rifle, the "Arcian."

The converged bolt of photon light pierced the Grido, which burst violently apart in space.

Grain paid no heed to the flames, keenly watching the panoramic monitor, and pushed his machine in the direction of the enemy's enhanced-human unit -- the "Gordo" -- the true target.

Then, slipping through a gap in the melee, three general-purpose machines of the Coroshe Autonomous Forces closed in on him.

He checked the surrounding situation at once. The battlefield had already tipped into a tangled melee, and the distance to his allied machines had grown large. The Corps members were each surrounded by enemy units and locked in desperate fights all over.

"We're outnumbered...! I'd like to hit the enhanced humans as quickly as possible, but... if you get in my way, I'll show no mercy!"

Grain declared it and firmly readied the Arcian gripped in Riese's right arm.

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Meanwhile, in the thick of the Seldia force that had cut sharply into Coroshe's flank, three machines were showing exquisite coordination.

Aland's Rasta, "Enomeil"; Retta's custom Rude, "Baris"; and Steshia's Rasta, "Flode." Somehow the three had not lost sight of one another, and were pushing through the gaps in the enemy lines as a single cluster.

They had slipped through the fierce fire of the Coroshe Autonomous Forces and Argria, but in the confusion they had been completely cut off from the main members -- Grain, Ethan, Letaria, and the rest.

"Retta, ahead!"

Aland's urgent shout leapt over the comm.

Aland saw that a single Grido, having slipped through suppressing fire, had planted itself directly in front of Retta's Baris.

The Grido unloaded a downpour of machine-gun fire at point-blank range, and Retta skillfully tilted the shield on his left arm to deflect and turn it aside. In the gap created by that minimal motion, he drove a counter shot from the Photon Rifle in his right arm.

The precisely fired flash of photon light pierced and destroyed the rifle the Grido was holding, dead on. The internal energy detonated violently, and the Grido's left arm and shoulder were blown off together. From the intense impact and recoil, the enemy machine lost its thrust and fell completely silent.

"Abandon your machine, now!"

Retta pressed no further. He thrust the glowing blade of light of his Photon Saber to a halt right in front of the enemy cockpit.

After several tense seconds, a small drive sound came from the resigned Grido, and an emergency escape pod was launched into space.

Retta watched the escape pod recede.

"...Retta, aren't you being too soft? Doing that on a battlefield, someday you're going to be tripped up yourself."

Over the comm, Aland cautioned him in a tone that was somewhat exasperated, but worried.

"I know... but I can't help it."

Retta had just given a troubled, wry smile in return, when--

"Mr. Retta! Mr. Aland! Above you -- the red ones are coming!!"

Steshia's warning rang out.

Looking up, they saw two large machines, "Gordo," painted a menacing blood red, bearing down from the darkness overhead, radiating a tremendous sense of menace.

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"Ngh... there are too many enemies...!"

Letaria set Arden leaping, firing the Photon Rifle in harassing bursts as she drove into the heart of the enemy lines.

She did not force her shots on the enemy machines that dodged so nimbly. Instead she deliberately slipped into their very midst in an instant and, with a single stroke of her shining Photon Saber, swiftly cut off the enemy's arms and delivered a powerful kick that sent it spinning away through space.

"Damn it...! What is that machine... too fast...!!"

The scream of the enemy pilot, who had lost both arms and was completely out of the fight, came over the open channel.

"I have no time to waste on the likes of you!"

Letaria did not so much as look at the disabled enemy machine and accelerated Arden further ahead.

"That girl -- it is not Rofi... but this sensation... they are Coroshe's 'enhanced human' unit...!"

What stood in Letaria's line of sight, in the black of space, was the red large machine, the "Gordo."

Its heavy form closely resembled the machine the raiders had once ridden, and the machine Rofi had piloted in the neutral zone.

The next instant, Letaria sensed an intense killing intent unleashed from the Gordo's waist.

Left side...!

Judging the danger in an instant, Letaria slid Arden straight sideways.

A moment later, a round from a linear gun fired from the Gordo's waist, at a speed so great it seemed to warp space, scoured through the very space Arden had occupied an instant before.

Without a pause, the Gordo aimed the large three-barreled Photon Rifle held in its left hand at her and fired thick beams of light in wild bursts.

"It is fast...! But do not think something like this can stop me!"

Dodging the incoming barrage of photon fire, Arden closed the distance to the Gordo in a single rush with an ultra-low sweeping maneuver.

Swinging up to the right as she formed her Photon Saber, Letaria sliced across.

At the same time, the Gordo too brought down a large Photon Saber formed on its left arm with brute force.

In the black of space, the two blades of light collided violently, scattering dazzling sparks and flashes of plasma.