12

Britannian Formidable-class land battleship Fortitude

Tobruk, State of Libya, European Union

"Affirmative White Knight One. Standby," an operator replied as data on the retreating VTOL was calculated and catalogued. The tactical screen now displayed the target icon, designated Victor One, as it began moving away from the battleground.

Augustus sniffed with contempt. It was just like a typical European commander to flee with his or her collective tails folded in, though he had expected more from a member of the 1st Panzer Army. Then again, if the intelligence collected on the man in question was accurate, then he wasn't a typical European to begin with, let alone a member of the European Army's elite African force.

I also suppose that really means he isn't present… Augustus thought with mixed feelings. He knew his liege was certainly disappointed at that, but if it allowed them to take Tobruk more easily, then so much the better. The last thing they needed now was that particular opponent showing up to unravel things. "Redirect any available fighters to…"

"No need for that," the general raised a hand, halting Augustus in mid-sentence. After allowing all eyes to all on him, the general smiled in his trademark devious manner. "We already have more proper, though somewhat excessive, means."

He then tapped a switch on the arm of his chair. "Juggernaut One, if you would please."

"Acknowledged," Dame Anya Alstreim, Knight of Six and Juggernaut of Britannia, lazily replied as she placed her hands back on her knightmare's control sticks. A moment later, the Hector rose back up from its kneeling position atop the Fortitude's bridge, where it then deployed its own factspheres to gather further data. Her target was a long distance out, moving further and further away at great speed, and above all else had a profile almost as small as a knightmare frame. However, even if it were in her ever stoic nature, Anya was far from worried. She had taken down far more difficult targets than that.

If anything, Anya was grateful to be doing something again. Ever since the battle had moved into the city, where the Hector's overwhelming firepower would have done more collateral damage than anything else, she had been stuck behind all the action, providing occasional long-range fire support when the opportunity presented itself, but otherwise just sitting in her cockpit with nothing better to do than update her Twitter account. Hardly the sort of thing people expected the Knight of Six to be doing when a battle was on. "Destroy or disable?"

"Disable," the general replied from the other end, his voice holding calm reassurance. Clearly he had no doubts toward Anya striking the target either. "We may need the prisoners."

"Very well," Anya answered once more in her usual bored expression as the targeting scopes folded over her eyes. On the outside, the Hector's two shoulder shields folded in front and merged into a single construct, with four barrels extending from within the maw. Residual crimson and black energy began to charge from those barrels as the assault knightmare's primary weapon came online, ready to fire.

But Anya didn't depress the trigger just yet. As an apparent sniper, she was patient, waiting for the target to move into the best firing position before she let loose her steed's stark hadron cannon. In this case, she allowed the VTOL to gain altitude and move further east in its obvious trek to flee Tobruk for Egypt. That way the resultant blast wouldn't cause too much damage to the city itself, or the soon to be Numbers within.

Breathing steadily as a habit, Anya's eyes remained fixed to the targeting scopes, completely entranced on the VTOL. Her target reticle was just left of the VTOL's tail - precisely where she wanted it be – and the VTOL itself was gaining further and further distance from the battleground. She just needed to wait a few second longer until…

"Firing," Anya sounded off before depressing her trigger. An instant later, the stark hadron cannon fired, sending a combined burst of crimson energy sailing into the horizon and over the city. Little more than a few second later, that beam surged directly behind the VTOL, its residual heat and energy striking the small craft like a tidal wave when the beam itself didn't, causing it to tumble through the air as its engines incinerated and its frame melt and bent.

From there, Anya watched as the craft spiraled into an emergency landing. Though the craft itself would never fly again, its passengers would be unharmed. Whether they survived the landing or not, however, was beyond the Knight of Six's control. "Target down."

"We see it," the general confirmed from the other end. And though Anya couldn't see his face, she knew a new smile, one of appreciation, had just folded over his lips. "Well done Anya."

And in spite of all her lacking emotion, Anya couldn't keep a tinge of red from emerging over her cheeks at her commander's compliment. "Least I could do."