Deadly Airstrike (IV)

Another explosion boomed. Oliver piloted his Ranger mech around the craters in the ground and happened to see a massive red twin-engine fighter dive down again, pouring a hail of fire onto the spot Duwa had occupied moments before, enough to tear apart its outer armor.

The fighter was abnormally huge, its wingspan nearly equal to its length, and it carried a terrifying array of weapons—some Oliver recognized, while others were utterly mysterious to him.

In his understanding, no matter how a weapon of the same type was modified, its general appearance should never differ too greatly. Products of industrial manufacture were always astonishingly alike.

Yet these Ork fighters seemed as though no two were the same. It was like three entirely different fighter models flying in formation. Apart from their signature red paint and absurdly oversized engines, they had virtually nothing in common.

But that did nothing to diminish their lethal power.

Boom!

Though the Knight mech's footsteps were heavy, Oliver did not believe his enemy had noticed his arrival.

He diverted power away from nonessential systems and prepared to attack. From this angle, he could try to predict the enemy's flight path, then...

Boom boom boom!

But the fighter that had been hounding him earlier came diving down again like a ghost that would not leave. Oliver opened fire at the same instant his enemy attacked.

Nearly all the beams he fired struck empty air, only tearing a chunk off one of the enemy's tail fins.

The enemy's return fire slammed straight into the Ranger mech's chest, smashing through its last defensive shield and ripping open its armor.

Molten armor plating cascaded from the shell like burning scraps of paper. Shrill alarms and wildly flashing warning lights heralded the destruction to come.

"Damn it!"

Pain as deadly as