Another Strategy

 

Three Silhouettes faced a single Teutates.

Depending on the situation, it could be four. Any more than that, and their own movement became too restricted.

They wouldn’t use firearms. LD rifles and railgun shells didn’t do much. Teutates were built from interplanetary-war–era materials, and their armor was vastly thicker than even Antique Silhouettes—tank-like plating, through and through.

「Kuh!」

A pilot who’d let the distance close on instinct raised his LD rifle.

The instant he fired, the Teutates closed the gap even further—blades unfolding from its arms as it launched a slash.

Another Lanius cut the strike down in a flash.

「Don’t shoot. They’ll take the hit if it means they get to cut you.」

「Sorry. I… just reacted.」

Pull back and shoot—normally the obvious move. But it didn’t work on the Teutates.

Even alone, a Teutates was high-performance. But its true threat was the seamlessness with which they cooperated with the surrounding Barbaroi—no, interlocked with them, leaving no openings