Chapter 32 You Made Me Do This
"Fire." Ajax commanded.
As one, a thousand heavy laser cannons flared and released thick, fist-sized laser beams which punched through the keep walls like a hot knife punching through butter.
BOOM! BOOM!
Several explosions sounded from within the keep as some of the laser beams found unwilling victims.
"Connect." Ajax barked out another word.
The laser beams immediately moved and sought to connect the hole they just made with others made by their comrades. Huge gashes immediately appeared on the keep walls as the thousand laser beams moved chaotically and connected with each other.
BOOM! BOOM BOOM!
More explosions sounded as the laser beam's erratic movement took many of the gathered defenders by surprise.
Ajax was definitely an experienced besieger. He knew how to squeeze maximum effect out of the tools and weapons he had on hand. Even though he could have easily ordered a full charge immediately which would have worked just fine, he opted to soften the enemy with a laser barrage first.
Such an act served two purposes.
One was to weaken the keep walls' integrity which would allow the heavy mechas much greater ease when they physically charged at the walls to bring them all down later on.
The second was to create chaos within the keep, which would break the defensive formations of the defending mechas and lower fighting power which would make it easier for the heavy mechas to clean house.
Not that they needed the additional edge.
They were a thousand heavy mechas going up against two thousand medium mechas. Unless all the Chinese Mecha Pilots suddenly died and the heavy mechas became sitting ducks, victory was practically assured.
Still, Ajax wanted a perfect mission completion without any casualties. He would take any advantage he could get his hands on.
After an entire minute of carving the massive keep walls, the heavy cannons finally ran out of juice.
The fact that the keep was still standing even with the numerous gashes running through its walls bore testament to how well the keep was built. But it was all for naught. The best built keeps had no hope to keep out a thousand heavy lancers on the charge.
And charge they did.
"Go." Ajax's voice sounded out heavily one final time.
VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
A thousand thrusters erupted with extreme power and propelled the insanely heavy mechas to maximum speed within a few seconds.
CRASHHH!!!! CRASSSHHH!!!! CRAAAASHHHHHHHH!!!
The keep walls collapsed like a house of cards under the ferocious charge of a thousand heavy mechas.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Intense sounds of battle erupted from the keep and reverberated all throughout the area as almost two thousand medium mechas fought for their lives. The cornered rat is the most dangerous rat in the world, and the remaining European Mechas truly made that quote come to life that day. However, they fought not like rats that day, but like lions.
Even though they were ridiculously overpowered, they fought with everything they had and managed to forestall the inevitable for many more long minutes, much longer than Ajax had anticipated, judging by the constant stream of curses that only grew filthier and filthier as the seconds ticked by..
Ajax had remained in the air, content to let his men gain some experience fighting a life and death battle. If he had planned to participate in the battle, then there wasn't even a need to bring the thousand heavy mechas in the first place.
From his vantage point, he could only see the peripheries of the fighting. But judging by how quickly the red dots were flickering out on the second screen, the battle was going pretty well for the Chinese.
Within minutes, the intense sounds of fighting slowly transitioned into wails and death cries.
A scream. Cut short.
Then another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
The battle was over.
The massacre, on the other hand, had merely begun.
The old man was a vicious and fearsome man who loved his family, especially his youngest granddaughter, with a ferocity that would put the fiercest tiger to shame.
His eyes gleamed with cold fury as he watched his men butcher all of the European Embassy workers.
In his eyes, every single member of the Embassy was guilty by association. There were no innocents, only criminals whom he had sentenced to death the moment he found out that William Leon was the one who organized the kidnapping of his beloved granddaughter.
The room was utterly silent as each member watched the red dots in the second screen disappearing one by one until only the star and several red dots around him remained.
And soon, even they flickered and disappeared.
"You made me do this, Father." Isabella whispered with tears running down her face as she realized that her husband was no more.
Her intense grief had probably driven her to madness.
For an old man, his instincts, reflexes and speed were definitely top notch. He had immediately understood what was about to happen and had burst into action even before Isabella finished speaking.
But it was still too late.
"Gaghhhh.." Jason gurgled as blood seeped out of his mouth.
BAM!
The old man's palm smashed onto Isabella's arm and broke it instantly, causing her to let go of the dagger that was stabbed into Jason's chest.
"Ahh!!" Isabella cried out in pain.
A mere second later, one of the two guards that was standing at the ready behind the old man reached Jason and injected a bluish liquid into his body.
The other one had gone for Isabella and quickly dragged her away from the scene. He immediately gagged her and cuffed both her hands and feet.
"FATHER!" Jeremy shouted in horror.
"NO!" Next to him, Julie, his younger sister, also cried out in shock.
James, Jason's youngest son, merely sat there with his mouth open.
"Jason!" The old man caught his son's limp body and cradled him.
Jason's face was frozen in shock and blood continued to flow out in copious amounts from his mouth.
"The Cryostasis Fluid has been successfully administered, Sir! I have also requested for a Grade One emergency medical support." The bodyguard reported. "They should be here within one minute."
However at that moment, before anybody could react, Catherine and Elizabeth burst into action as well!