Still, the commander of the assault battalion began to develop suspicions. The opposition expended too much effort in stopping scout mechs from scoping out their targets.
When he ordered a mech regiment to bulldoze through the opposition of light and aerial mechs, the truth finally became clear.
“Advance!”
The assault battalion had to move quickly in order to prevent the defending side from accruing an even greater advantage!
This was where the real fight began.
Explosions rippled throughout the massive urban battlefield as ranged mechs and artillery mechs from both sides tried to eliminate each other.
The defensive battalion possessed an advantage in this aspect. It fielded more artillery mechs which were armed with weapons capable of indirect fire. This meant that their cannons and missiles weren’t hindered by the urban sprawl as they could be launched at a high angle only to fall down on top of enemy positions!
This presented the assault battalion with immediate difficulties as they encountered heavy shelling!
In response, the attackers brought forth their own auxiliary mechs, which mostly specialized in electronic warfare. They not only deployed arrays that erected heavy jamming fields, but also fired smoke grenades that threw up so much interference in the surrounding air that most sensors became scrambled!
Of course, the arena spectators still enjoyed a completely clear view. The arena utilized much more powerful tech to ensure the audience wouldn’t be looking at a smoke cloud all day.
The defensive side did not have access to that tech, though. Their landbound and aerial light skirmishers were no longer able to transmit accurate targeting data to their artillery buddies.
The only way for them to do their jobs was to get close and overpower the interference through brute force!
Many of the light mechs and aerial mechs belonging to the defending side pushed forward. They entered the interfering smoke clouds and took considerable risks to perform their duty.
The attackers heavily punished them now that they had become a lot more vulnerable!
This pattern continued for a few minutes as the assault battalion continued to endure heavy but more inaccurate bombardment.
Even if the explosions didn’t hit any mechs, they still cratered the surrounding terrain.
Any mech that fell in battle during this time became surrounded by strong energy fields. Many different safety measures ensured that the mech pilots would always be able to leave the arena alive.
Nonetheless, the battle had already turned tragic as the assault battalion lost fifteen percent of their number in order to get close.
Once the attackers reached the improvised fortification, the real battle had begun!
A grand melee ensued as mechs fired back at the advancing melee mechs.
The attackers dealt with the fortification in different ways.
Some attempted to circle around and put pressure on the rear.
Some launched head-on attacks and focused on breaching the walls before breaking through.
The lighter assault mechs that either possessed flight or jumping capabilities hopped over the obstacles in order to cause disruption from within.
It became clear that the defensive walls weren’t actually that good at stopping enemy mechs due to the hasty preparations and limitations of the construction materials.
Nonetheless, it was still a chore to deal with them, and they blocked enough ranged attacks to make the rifleman mechs of the attacking side less effective.
Eventually, the defenders managed to make good enough use of their fortifications to whittle down the assault battalions.
Though the latter’s melee mechs were hard to deal with up close, all of the walls in their way broke up their formation and prevented them from employing their most preferred tactical maneuvers.
Both Vincent and Raella kept reliving the most exciting moments of the massive arena match as the battlefield was being reset. All of the wreckage was being moved underground.
Meanwhile, the arena grounds morphed into a low-gravity moon environment that was about to play host to a smaller duel.
It turned out that the entire ground terrain consisted of extremely strong nanomachines. This allowed the arena to easily melt and rearrange all of the structures and terrain features into a different simulated battlefield!
As the pair of Larkinsons waited for the next battle to start, Vincent suddenly came up with an interesting suggestion.
“Hey, do you think it’s a good idea for us to fight in a setpiece battle like this?” He asked.
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Haven’t you noticed that the two mech battalions weren’t professional mech athletes? I just read up on them and it turns out that they’re part of different pioneering fleets. Any pioneer can volunteer their combat units to take part in matches like these!”
That did sound interesting, but when Raella thought of all of the mechs that wrecked during the battle, she became a lot less enthusiastic about Vincent’s suggestion.
“It’s too costly. Ves would never agree to take part in such a wasteful spectacle.” She replied.
“You can win prizes! Look, the top contestants can even obtain brand new carrier vessels if they score high enough!”
“What?!”
That certainly caught Raella’s attention!