On fast approach, four contacts moved as one towards the Cybran beachead. They skimmed over the ground, two breaking off to continue their inbound vector, kicking up spray as they circled into the waters. In their wake, a distant contact was deploying, readying for its part in the assault. Dark Rain was with the Avorian response, and they had decided to send top of the line units as their response.
Armored Intelligent Mechs (A.I.M.s), all, the two approaching on direct vectors were Wildcat and Dragon Furor. Wildcat, a Rifle-class A.I.M., carried a long, menacing rifle in its hands, slit optics glowering as it began to paint targets, readying to fire. Dragon, Claymore-class, was its larger cohort, a quad mech, thus far relying on its thrusters to move the heavy, intimidating bulk of the mech, stylized after its namesake. Wildcat began to lag behind Dragon, the latter beginning to extend the heavy barrels of its cannons. The Rifle turned its head slightly, catching sight of the other pair. With both, munitions prepared to cut the air downrange.
Sparrow was a mass of blades, sharp edges gleaming the light reflected off the spray in its wake. Wakizashi design, it was almost skeletal in size, weaving circles around its partner, Fisher Hawk. Moderately armored, the aptly named Saber A.I.M. held in one fist a gunblade, keeping focused on the target. Missiles slid to ready position, almost as if eager to begin the killing.
And in the distance behind them all, hydraulic rams slammed into the earth to anchor the bulky, boxy form of Wizel. From its blocky body, very long barrels extended in mass, like a small stand of tree rising to nearly 40ft in the air. Smaller, hovering nodes detached, floating off on counter-grav drives to move to locations around the target zone with startling speed. These fed data right back to the Lancer, its multitude of very long range howitzers adjusting for windage, range, and targets. Siloes began to open.
All five seemed to be waiting for something, holding their fire and their fury.
And then eight beams lanced the air like a second sun, throwing a blinding glare into the sky. At their origin in the Astral Sea, steam plumed hundreds of feet in the air, vacuums caused by the passing of the titanic bolts were rapidly filled by water, hiding once more the lurking behemoth of the Apophis. The octad of shots pierced the air and the distance between the surface of Terra and the ships in orbit in all but a second, delivering crushing blows of 50 gigatons/second into the vessels launched from the Cybran base. Designed to simply shatter shields and pummel through armor like paper, the mighty bolt of the Abyss cannon was a force to be reckoned with.
And as one, the thunder began. Wizel began its long range bombardment, slamming shell after shell of hyperkinetic fury downrange to deliver heavy, 50mm tungsten slugs slamming into the larger structures and vehicles of the Cybrans. In their wake, dozens of missiles began to rise, splitting into smaller and smaller micromissiles until dozens became hundreds, all targeting points of congestion of troops and materials. Wildcat, Dragon, and Saber began to fire off, the former pairs heavy rounds simply aimed at concentrations of targets, screaming sonic booms as they hurtled from railcannons at Mach 8 speeds, each adding more to the payload of missiles as they launched splitter torpedoes from their internal magazines. Sparrow rammed its thrusters up several notches, sprinting inwards and weaving a dextrous dance of evasion, sparks flying from its bladed form as is sought to enter the fray with flashing blades, roaring short range guns, and sprays of blood and bodies.
However, the rounds fired missed the lone figure by substantial margins, striking for vital targets with uncanny precision. For each of the pilots were engaged in a simultaneous neural link with each A.I.M.s onboard AI, forming a union of man and machine that communicated instantly between each unit, and possessed the reaction times of the AIs involved in the attack. The only limiting factor was each A.I.M.s own functional capabilities, and they were designed to be the most mobile, agile, and armed mechanized strike unit in deployment.