The bullet-like mass of metal and flesh didn't slow down one bit, even as it endured sustained from all angles! Not even the powerful kinetic impacts from the ballistic and gauss rounds were able to slow its advance!
Maximiler frowned as he quickly shuffled through his memories of the few scuffles he had experienced against the mantis through his service in the United Starbridge Defense Corps. Throughout his time as a mech pilot, to a ship rating, and his time spent climbing through those ranks, he had experienced over two dozen battles against the mantis. It wasn't until he became the commander of the Nova Krakov, and was given the mission to transport the Great Reboot Protocol to the USC Headquarters that he finally left the border of USC claimed space.
After a few moments, and thanks to his enhanced cognitive functions, he was able to narrow down a couple of tough battles he had against the mantis where they had used special means to breach the hulls of a couple frigates and destroyers.
The humans dubbed this special means 'The Drill bit Shot'.
The mantis sometimes equipped their ships with these 'Drill bits' and shot them at the human ships. These Drill bits were extremely durable, their tough metal and flesh exterior having been designed to withstand a lot of physical abuse. Their only weakness was heat, or energy damage, although they weren't immediately helpless when exposed to heat.
Maximiler quickly opened up a private transmission to Roman.
"Max? What's wrong? Can't you see I'm busy?" Roman's mech zipped around, dodging several beams of green laser energy. The small round shield in its left hand had been scarred by numerous rakes of hot laser beams. It would only be a while more before the mantis entered into melee range, and then he could unleash his pent up wrath on them.
"I know the weakness of the Drill bit." Maximiler didn't waste time, telling Roman what he knew straight away. "Physical rounds don't do much damage against it. We need to use our energy weapons to heat it up and cook it from the inside."
"And how do you know this information?" Roman was curious.
"It doesn't matter all that much right now. We might as well try out my suggestion and see the results. It's wither that, or we can just wait for it to get close enough to show us what it can do."
"Fine, but I'm holding you responsible for anything that happens." Roman grumbled before closing the private transmission.
A couple seconds later, his voice came through on the public line. "Everyone switch over to whatever energy weapons your mech is equipped with! I just got some intel that that thing is weak to energy attacks."
"Yes sir!"
The shots coming from the Storm Buster unit suddenly seized for a single moment, drawing the attention of the higher ups and fellow mech pilots. Calls began coming in to Roman's mech, demanding to know what the problem was. Roman ignored it all as he instructed his men on what to do.
"When I give the signal, everyone fire on the left flank of that thing. We need to wear down one side first, before we can do any other thing... On three. One, two... Three!"
A volley of bright red beams shot out and struck the left side of the Drill bit that was sailing towards them, causing an explosion right in the center of the area where the shots had dug in the most. The Drill bit swerved to the side, loosing control for a moment before regaining its original direction.
"Dammit, that wasn't enough. Do it again!" A second volley shot out, digging even deeper into the side of the Drill bit. Another explosion rocked the large contraption, but this one was more muted than the first. The Storm Busters didn't let up, firing volley after volley until the barrels of their weapons were glowing red in the dark expanse of space.
A mighty explosion shook the entire Drill bit after the latest volley, making its thrusters sputter and go out, bringing the Drill bits journey to a premature end. Upon seeing the Drill bit being put to a stop, them men were about to cheer, but a sharp, firm voice suddenly cut them short.
"Don't celebrate just yet. That was just the first phase. Now, we need to fend off what comes out from within." Maximiler's cold voice cut through the general open transmission channel. Even the officers that had been stationed back on te space station to monitor the battle from behind had drawn back, shocked at the interruption.
Maximiler's warning brought them back fro the temporary high that had nearly enveloped their minds, though. Everyone focused on the still mass of flesh and metal, only for it to display signs of movement moments later!
The bullet like tip of the Drill bit split open from the top and down the sides, like someone peeling a banana. From this split came two large mechs, even larger than the ones that had been gunned down.
The only thing that stood out from these large mantis mechs wasn't just their sizes. Even their exterior and weapons looked different from what everyone had seen before! Each of them bore what looked like a firm, biomechanical sword, and a biomechanical rifle along with the sword. The swords were strung along their hips, while they held their rifles in firm grips.
"We've got some elite units on our hands!" The voice of the general overseeing the battle from back on the space station came through the general transmission channel. The mech pilots could all pick up the slight edge that was present in his voice.
"Ready your weapons, men. Because this fight is only just about to start." The general spoke up, trying to stoke the burning fire that was in the hearts of the mech pilots.
Maximiler swallowed thickly as he gazed upon the frames of the two enemy elite units. An elite mantis unit never spelled good news.