Their worst fear happened. Once the 50 Collision mechs entered the purple gas cloud, they lost contact with base. Little Rock, who was in charge of communications, reported this anomaly the moment he noticed it. The news caused the atmosphere in the meeting room to turn dreadful.
It was now obvious that the purple gas cloud could block electromagnetic signals. This meant that mechs that entered the purple gas cloud would no longer be as combat effective. The world inside the cloud was not suited for battles using mechs.
What was within this purple gas cloud? Could there be more of the mysterious creatures?
No one had an answer to that. However, they were under no illusion that the investigative probe into the purple gas cloud was going to be easy. An enormous swarm of menacing creatures had just emerged from within the gas cloud. Who knew what else was awaiting inside?
In fact, Ye Chong and the Sang Tribe members in the meeting room back at their base were not the only ones who were interested in the investigation squad that was sent into the purple gas cloud. The frontline reporter had also noticed their movements.
"Oh! After that extraordinary scene earlier, there's now new movement from the mysterious and powerful organization. We can see here that 50 odd looking full-skeleton mechs had formed into squads of five and entered the purple gas cloud. I believe this must be scouts they were sending out. What could possibly be inside this purple gas cloud? More strong unknown lifeforms? And what about the black spherical thing we saw just now? Is it still there? Truth be told, even I am feeling an urge to enter this mysterious purple gas cloud to investigate further!" The reporter's voice was still a little unsteady, but he was otherwise back to normal.
Everyone's attention was on the rapidly expanding purple gas cloud on the holographic screen.
Minutes passed, but no Collision mech flew out.
The people in the meeting room at the base were feeling more anxious by the moment. Everyone was worried. They
knew that with each passing second, the odds of survival for the 50 Sang Tribe members would worsen by a little more.
After three minutes, the purple gas cloud expanded even more, but they still did not see any Collision mechs coming out. A sense of foreboding was heavy in the room. After all, Collision mechs could travel up to Mach 20. Even if the purple gas cloud was a few times larger than it was now, the time elapsed should have been enough for the mech pilots to make a few roundtrip flights inside the gas cloud.
It was quiet in the meeting room. No one said a single word.
Five minutes passed. By now, almost all the laser beam guns they had set up were consumed by the crazily expanding purple gas cloud, as shown on the holographic screen. From Little Rock's side, they learned that all communications with the laser beam guns were lost. Hopelessness spread in the meeting room. They feared that the worst had happened.
The second attack squad had arrived on the scene. Two battalions with a thousand Collision mechs each skirted around the edges of the purple gas cloud, one following the other. It was a marvel to see how they managed to stay in formation throughout their flight. Every turn was made in perfect sync. It was a graceful performance.
Just as the second attack squad was completing half of its circular circuit about the purple gas cloud, a Collision mech suddenly emerged from within the gas cloud, flying erratically like a candle fire dancing in the wind. It looked like its engines would give way at any moment.
"Ahh!" There was a uniform gasp in the meeting room, and the people inside stood up almost simultaneously.
The Collision mech was bruised all over. It must have just survived a terrible fight. The four skeletal blades on the mech were all broken. Only half of the colliding spear on its frontal tip was still attached. The main body of the Collision mech was covered with damages.
"Assist the mech! Quick!" Sang Pu
Pu could no longer keep composed as he roared his orders into the comms channel!
There was no need for his orders. The second attack squad had noticed the Collision mech that came out of the purple gas cloud almost instantly. A hundred Collision mechs abruptly accelerated and left formation, tracing a hundred beautiful arches in space. Their target was the heavily damaged Collision mech.
"Comms is on! We're linked to the mech." Little Rock's announcement was like music to the ears.
"Be … Beware …" The mech pilot's voice came through intermittently, sounding tired and forced. The brief words were followed by a series of coughs and heavy breathing.
A sense of dread overcame the people who were listening. They were all experienced fighters. Of course they could deduce that their comrade was heavily wounded, and in a very dangerous situation!
Before they could think on what he was warning them about, something drastic happened on the holographic screen!
Suddenly, dozens of figures slipped out of the purple gas cloud. Their target was the damaged Collision mech.
To assist the heavily damaged mech, the Collision mechs that were approaching it had all slowed down. This sudden turn of events had caught them off guard. The mechs that were at the frontlines were in immediate danger due to their deceleration. Collision mechs relied on speed. If they lacked the velocity, things would not look good for them!
The unknown lifeforms moved quickly. Just as the two sides were about to clash, the Sang Tribe demonstrated their excellent coordination in the battlefield once again!
The Collision mechs that led the assist made a very steep angled turn towards the side and backwards, leaving an empty space of 25 meters across in their wake.
Before the audience could make sense of the maneuver, the Collision mechs from behind charged forward without slowing down!
Mach 22!
The next 20 Collision mechs in the formation charged ahead like 20 bullets, flying so very close to one another to squeeze past the 25-meter opening, and straight on towards the unknown lifeforms.
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lifeforms.
In that short instant, the leading mech pilots and the second wave of attacking mech pilots never spoke through the comms. They did this completely out of battle instinct and the spirit of coordination! Moreover, the Sang Tribe members displayed their top notch mech piloting skills. Even at Mach 22, they were to execute such a tough maneuver. Even the most critical mech pilots would be impressed by them.
Both sides clashed into each other with loaded momentum!
Blood and flesh exploded everywhere! Skeletons and armor broke into pieces! It was not exactly a magnificent moment, but it was disturbingly brutal.
The 20 mechs collided head on against the 20 unknown lifeforms.
On the holographic screen, severed limbs and chunks of flesh exploded outwards. Skeletal fragments were scattered around the battlefield.
Everyone in the meeting room felt a sharp tug in their hearts.
There was no sound, only a live feed of what had happened. A battle in space was done in complete silence.
To the average layperson, everything was over in an instant. They could barely react to the incident, and most people could not even make sense of what had occured. However, in the meeting room at the base, Ye Chong and the Sang Tribe members, all veterans of combat, had seen everything clearly.
Shock … Disbelief … Dread … These emotions colored the expressions of the people in the meeting room.
"How could this be?" Someone finally cried out.
Their emotions were to be expected. The clash had ended with all 20 Collision mechs destroyed completely. None of the mechs survived intact. Some of the mechs lost all but one of its skeletal blades, with the last one dangling precariously from its mother body. Some mechs fared even worse, showing a deep gash that cut from the tip all the way to the tail. It was a miracle that these mechs did not explode right then.
Collision mechs were a symbol of indestructibility for the Sang Tribe. Now, they had met their match! The enemy was able to cause this degree of damage with of damage with just their bodies. They must have incredibly tough bodies to achieve this.
Ye Chong was also shaken to the core. As inventor of the Collision mech, no one understood the Collision mech better than he. Archipelago's skeletal material were as strong as metal alloys. However, even such a strong material could not hold against the unknown lifeforms. Aside from the few mechs that Ye Chong did not completely understand, he believed that these creatures could fatally damage every other kind of mech in existence.
Ye Chong stared at the unknown lifeforms that came out of nowhere on the holographic screen, his expression guarded despite the growing turmoil in his heart.
These creatures were about 12 to 15 meters tall, the average height of most mechs. They had a light gray exterior that had with a metallic shimmer, suggesting tough skin. The creatures looked muscular, with lower limbs that were far thicker than their forelimbs. The feet had claws that seemed to be made of metal too.
The head was a conical shape, long and sharp. The narrow, long eyes in dark red were chilling to watch.
Behind the creature was a thick tail, its main tool of offense. Ye Chong saw that at least 15 of the 20 Collision mechs were damaged by the tails. The tail was about 15 meters long, looking thick and strong, with a black glistening surface. However, the most terrifying bit was the tip of the tail, light red in color, looking like an arrowhead but with longer blades that pointed backwards at the sides.
On its back were dozens of black colored armour plates that shined like polished alloy armor plating, an obvious means of defense. The chest, however, was smooth and bare. There was nothing there except for the muscular lines.
The Sang Tribe watched the unknown lifeforms on the holographic screen unblinkingly. They were awed by the destructive power of the creatures' tails, and found their agility in outer space hard to believe.
Unlike them, however, Ye Chong was entirely focused on the hands of these mysterious creatures!