The fight just became a lot more dynamic now that the Nelerat Mark I's unexpectedly shifted its strategy!
The defensive rifleman mechs huddled inside their makeshift fortification for a long time. They showed great willingness to let their deployable armor construct absorb a lot of enemy fire on their behalf.
It was not until the temporary fortification withstood so many fire energy beam attacks that it had essentially crumbled apart that the Nelerat Mark I's shifted gears.
They did so in a dramatic fashion.
Despite being categorized as defensive rifleman mechs, the Nelerats were quite fast and light when they weren't weighed down by so much excess armor.
Of course, the defensive rifleman mechs still flew a tad bit slower than traditional rifleman mechs. The Nelerats were not only weighed down by armor, but also had to carry many other components such as energy shield generators, energy cells to keep the former running and a lot of spare ammunition.
