It had been a good move, pre-emptively charging the Vortex Shield. Of course, it hadnât been fast enough to keep one or two rounds from carving neat gouges into VEGAâs arm, but he caught the other 15 rounds quite excellently. The 20mm ammunition swirled around in the vortex shield as all twelve target locks solidified and the Acolyte pods fired, disgorging multi-target missiles towards the enemy Legion.
In the split-second it took to consciously fire the missiles Douglas realized the Legion he was facing down had stopped firing; they were smart enough to realize the Vortex was a problem. That meant it wasnât going to be the Legion-countering tool it was against bad Pilots; of course, however, it was now a convenient ace in the hole to keep a long string of fire from coring VEGA out. The Pilot released the Vortex Shield, before grasping back onto the 40mm and beginning the followup exactly as predicted.
He didnât stop moving, though - VEGA continued to strafe to the side towards another set of buildings as he fired. Against any Ogre-type, mobility was your best friend. Sitting still was inviting the Reaper into your cockpit.
Oddly enough, the Apex pilot chose to tightbeam. Something about her voice was indeed recognizable as she mocked Douglas for having disabled VEGAâs Upgrade Core, but Douglas was too focused on the actual firefight to try and pick out exactly what it was. VEGA would probably record it; he could jog his memory later. For now, though, he was at least going to indulge this Apex in her banter.
VEGA knew not to transmit video, though. Just audio.
âIâve been trying to get it switched out, but itâs a damn shame you people make it so hard to do! You donât build Titans like you used to any more!â
Melissa immediately dodged to the right with a dash, though some of the rockets hit despite the sudden course correction. That left her shields down to half. Then he released the Vortex, spitting her initial mistake back at her and taking her shields down to 15%, the hexagonal patterns that emerged to block the shots turning red from the strain. The second he let go, however, she re-opened death with her Predator Cannon, opening up with the ever faithful Power Shot, before following with the torrent of lead that the Predator was designed for.
She strafed to remain parallel with her opponent, or at least try, given her slower speed. One 40mm shell was enough to break her shields, and her Gun Shield was up the second it impacted. While it blocked most of the incoming fire, there were two that managed to hit her minorly exposed left. Luckily, one was just a graze. She was grateful that she was only up against one Titan for now, she wouldnât have to worry about anyone sneaking up on her flank, which meant that keeping her front facing the enemy was a trivial task.
Credit where credit was due, though. This Pilot knew his way around countering an Ogre in a lighter chassis, if his movement was any indication. That Vortex Shield was going to be pesky, but she could work around that. And that multi-target system would take a while for him to reload a full salvo, which gave her time to regen her shields and Gun Shield once the latter ran out. Once he fled to the cover of the other buildings, she let up on the trigger, but kept the Cannon primed. She had 80 rounds left, enough to avoid the ever-vulnerable reload and hammer at him one more time if he exposes himself long enough.
Huh, the comm tag read 6-4, typical, those people couldnât even call themselves mercenaries anymore, more like vassals to the Militia at this point, sticking with them because of âmoralsâ. Sure the Apex Preds were mostly hired by the IMC, but thatâs because they pay more, not because of some ideological concern. Her feed appeared again on the top right of his HUD, her Titan tracking his movements as best it could as she replied. âTsk. You poor thing...â She opened with a mock tone. âBut youâre looking at the wrong person. Talk to Vinson if you have any complaints about your Titan. And hey... I thought we were playing fair here. Whereâs your feed at? At least let me see the helmet of the man Iâm going to have to kill! That is, if you even bothered to remember the thing. Come on Softie, indulge me.â