Chapter 221: Crushing the Enemy
The first wave of interception occurred at the edge of the abandoned industrial zone leading to the urban area. A squadron of Arasaka main battle tanks, utilizing dilapidated factory buildings and stacked shipping containers as cover, attempted an ambush.
When the Secutarii phalanx entered range, the tank cannons roared in unison. High-explosive and armor-piercing shells trailed smoke as they shot toward the pale gold shield.
The result was no different from before.
The shells smashed into the shield, erupting into dazzling fireballs. The shockwaves kicked up surrounding dust, but the shield merely rippled violently before stabilizing again.
The phalanx's pace didn't even falter in the slightest.
Ignis didn't even order a formation change; she simply raised the Arc Lance in her hand.
In the next moment, dozens of thick electrical arcs shot out once more.
Like living thunder serpents, they drilled precisely behind the tanks' cover.
Steel was melted through instantly. Ammo racks detonated. Continuous explosions lit up the entire abandoned industrial zone as if it were day.
The ambush position was turned into a sea of fire after just one volley, leaving only burning wreckage and molten metal.
The Secutarii phalanx passed through this zone of death unharmed and continued their advance.
Chaos erupted in the Arasaka command channel.
"Their shields are impenetrable!"
"Our attacks are ineffective!"
"Requesting retreat! Repeat, requesting retrea—"
Communication cut off amidst a burst of intense static interference.
The subsequent battle turned into a one-sided, highly efficient slaughter.
Arasaka tried various tactics.
Realizing that long-range firepower was completely ineffective, Arasaka Command quickly adjusted tactics, attempting to find defensive loopholes in this mysterious force from multi-dimensional angles.
First, they deployed a formation of attack helicopters.
Several gunships swooped in from low altitude, using the cover of building ruins to launch a surprise attack.
The rotary cannons under their noses spat tongues of fire first. Tracer rounds lashed at the pale gold shield like fiery whips, splashing dense energy ripples.
Immediately following, air-to-ground missiles mounted under their stub wings screamed out trailing white smoke, diving at the phalanx from different angles.
However, all of this was futile.
The missiles were deflected and detonated the moment they touched the shield, failing to shake it even a bit.
Almost simultaneously, the Secutarii on the ground reacted.
They performed no evasive maneuvers. Several Hoplites merely raised their Arc Lances calmly.
Without an aiming process, spear tips micro-adjusted. In the next moment, several blinding blue electrical arcs shot upwards in near-straight trajectories like living thunder serpents.
Before the helicopter pilots could even make evasive maneuvers, their aircraft disintegrated in fireballs blossoming mid-air. Burning debris rained down onto the earth.
With the aerial strike thwarted, Arasaka immediately committed elite "Onimusha" power armor squads, attempting high-speed close-quarters raids utilizing the complex environment of the urban ruins.
These experienced pilots used broken walls for cover, approaching rapidly in highly agile zigzag routes, attempting to tear apart the opponent's formation with the power armor's formidable melee capabilities.
But the reaction speed of the Secutarii far exceeded their imagination.
Just as the "Onimushas" rushed out of cover and entered sprint distance, the Mag-Inverter Shields on the left arms of the front-row Hoplites lit up with a ghostly glow.
Short, lethal electric pulses burst out in a fan shape, weaving an invisible web of death.
The few power armors charging at the very front were instantly entangled by multiple arcs. Their heavy armor rapidly glowed red and melted in the blinding electric light. The pilots inside were carbonized by super-high temperatures within a hundredth of a second, turning into charred sculptures along with their mechs.
Occasionally, one or two units managed to break through the electric interception relying on outstanding mobility and penetrated to extreme close range, but what awaited them was even more precise and cold strikes.
Arc Lances struck out silently like vipers. The destructive energy gathered at the tips didn't simply penetrate; it instantly evaporated the hit area—be it the cockpit or the power core—leaving only a hole with molten edges.
After successive failures, Arasaka deployed its final resort stationed at the edge of the city.
A complete self-propelled artillery battalion conducted a frantic saturation bombardment.
Deafening cannon fire rang out continuously. Dense shells tore through the sky, falling with the shriek of death.
In an instant, the area where the Secutarii phalanx stood was completely swallowed by continuous explosions and columns of smoke and dust rising into the sky.
Scorching heat waves rolled; shrapnel and shockwaves tore madly at everything within range.
This storm of steel, lasting for several minutes, was enough to thoroughly erase any conventional combat unit.
However, when the artillery fire finally ceased and the pervasive smoke and dust slowly settled in the breeze, a scene of despair emerged—the pale gold joint shield was still flickering steadily, its light not even dimmed in the slightest.
Beneath the shield, fifty-one steel giants maintained a strict formation. The rhythm of their steps had not been disordered in the least; they continued to push forward at that constant, unchanging speed.
It was as if the fierce artillery fire just now, sufficient to level several city blocks, was merely a harmless dust storm passing by.
Barghest and Lazarus troops, under Colonel Hansen's orders, followed cautiously several kilometers behind the Secutarii phalanx.
They were responsible for clearing up sporadic Arasaka units routed but not fully destroyed by the Secutarii, and ensuring the safety of the rear supply lines.
All coalition soldiers watched this war they could not understand with a mix of awe, fear, and disbelief.
"This isn't fighting a war at all..." A young Barghest soldier murmured to himself as he watched the pale gold dome advancing steadily through the hail of bullets. "This is like... weeding."
Colonel Hansen observed all this through binoculars, his single eye filled with complex emotions.
He had seen the cruelty of the Unification War and experienced countless street fights, but he had never seen such... efficient destruction.
These fifty tin cans were demonstrating to the world what irresistible power was in the most direct way possible.
A clear trail paved with burning wreckage, molten metal, and charred corpses was left on the path of the Secutarii's advance.
Any Arasaka unit attempting to block them—be it tank, aircraft, power armor, or infantry—was thoroughly destroyed within an extremely short time after contact.
Their advance held no hesitation, no tactical evasion; it was a straight road of death pointing to the target.
Arasaka's will to resist began to collapse gradually under this irrefutable display of force.
Many units, upon receiving interception orders, chose passive avoidance or even staged small-scale routs.
They would rather face the sanctions of the military court than face those steel giants who looked like avatars of the Reaper.
Finally, as the afterglow of the setting sun dyed the sky blood-red, the Secutarii phalanx arrived at their destination—Arasaka Waterfront.
(End of Chapter)