Star Force: Newbslayer (SF64) Read Online Free PDF Page B

walker had its own escorts alongside its thick bipedal legs, but
most of the Tango’s units had moved out to engage the Marauders, leaving only a
handful behind within the protective halo of the walker’s plasma.
    Brayden knew they were wearing it down, but his tanks
would come out of this with heavy damage at minimum. He just hoped he didn’t
lose any crew in the process.
    The mercenary commander swung the front end of his
triangular tank around and fired off a pair of red plasma orbs ahead of a group
of infantry that contained a few rocket launchers. The ground exploded and the
grass caught fire, scattering the troops as he accelerated towards the flames
and eventually pushed through, with his secondary gunner chipping away at those
infantry with the small turret on top of the tank.
    Just then another of the Tango fighters zipped by low
overhead, stitching the ground with plasma strikes, three of which hit the
tank. Its shield held up against the first two, but the third got through and
kissed the hull, followed by several hits from surrounding enemy tanks as they
focused on the single Marauder target…as Brayden had hoped. His wheeled tanks
were less resistant to weaponsfire, and in order to keep them operational he
needed to play bait with the more advanced units, and the best way to do that was
dive down the enemy’s throat and dare them to ignore him.
    If they did he could hurt them badly, if they didn’t
then they’d pour firepower into his tank leaving the others free to fire at
will. Every operational unit he kept in the game meant more firepower for his
side, and for that reason he didn’t mind his own armor getting hit and melted
off in spots. This was a messy fight, and they were going to have to fight
messy if they wanted to bag that walker. It was doable, otherwise he wouldn’t
have committed his forces against it, but if they handled this right they
should be able to kill it and keep themselves alive…but there was a narrow
margin of error there and as the Marauders’ commander, his place was in the
thick of it, taking out enemies and keeping his people alive.
    So that’s where he kept his tank, protecting his group
of rail guns as they peppered the distant walker with huge metallic slugs that
were slowly breaking apart the Type-5’s armor with concussive damage that their
plasma resistance didn’t affect. A few missile plumes would be seen going in
with the slugs, but most of them had been fired off already to take down the
shields as quickly as possible.
    The Marauders were having to fight a battle to allow
them to fight a second battle against the walker, making for an unusual mission,
but one that his men were more than capable of handling.
    Unfortunately they weren’t able to handle it cleanly,
for after another twenty minutes of fighting one of the other attack groups
lost a tank in the final stages that didn’t just go out of commission, but it
was blown apart by repetitive attacks that were more vengeance than tactical.
It was the last gasp of the Tangos on that part of the battlefield before they
retreated, leaving the now smoking and motionless remains of the Skarron walker
behind like a giant statue memorializing their defeat.
    The other groups, now free to turn their few remaining
rail gun slugs on the surrounding tanks, made quick work of those that
lingered, with about 20% of the counterattacking forces pulling out
successfully. Brayden had lost some 42% of his equipment, with tanks down all
across the burning plains, but it was that one vehicle that had got pounded
repetitively after it was down that he lost two people in. The rest of his mercs were able to be pulled out, and while some were
seriously injured they would all survive save for that unfortunate pair.
    He knew this was war, but that didn’t mean there had
to be a lack of honor. Once the tank was down it was no longer a threat, and
the same was true of the Tango’s tanks that he was now ordering his people to
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