Ch.320Side Story. Steam and Colony (3)

It was, enormous.

An ordinary Steam Knight. At least twice the size of a typical Steam Knight that stands around 8 meters tall, this massive bipedal war machine had a form different from regular Steam Knights—large and beautiful.

Unlike Steam Knights, which are humanoid but far from actual human proportions, this machine appeared somewhat bulky yet unmistakably human-like. Even at first glance, it seemed to be built using technology on an entirely different level from Steam Knights.

Steam Knights have their internal precision components partially exposed—steam-emitting pipes, signal transmission wires, gears and cogs covered by armor plating.

Unlike those Steam Knights, this machine, painted entirely in red and white, was thoroughly protected by well-crafted armor plating. Its joints, power units, and other potential weak points were reinforced with additional armor to enhance durability.

There were other features too, like luminous parts emitting red light throughout its body, but… more noticeable than all these was undoubtedly the weaponry this machine carried.

First, both arms below the elbows were transformed into massive cannon-like structures. From their muzzles, connected to what appeared to be energy supply hoses, beams of light were fired—incredibly enough.

These beams possessed enough power to penetrate several meters of fortress walls and still have enough energy left to easily pierce through Steam Knights wrapped in magically treated armor.

And the weaponry wasn’t limited to just the arms.

From the wing-like sections of the machine protruded one mechanical arm on each side, equipped with enormous multi-barreled weapons resembling oversized Gatling guns, complete with ammunition belts.

In other words, this machine—which could confidently be described as lacking nothing in both offensive and defensive capabilities—made its spectacular entrance by easily demolishing a Steam Knight and—

[…Target, eliminate.]

After declaring this through a mechanical voice from its head section, it aimed its weapons and began unleashing merciless firepower upon Britannia’s suppression forces.

-KWAAAAAAAAANG—!!!!!

Naturally, its priority targets were bipedal war machines like Steam Knights and Walkers. Each time the cannons on its arms emitted light, one Steam Knight would evaporate.

-KWAAAAAAAAANG—!!!!!

The unidentified giant machine fired another shot, destroying one more Steam Knight. For the remaining Steam Knight, it deliberately waited for it to approach, then kicked it with its leg and struck it with its cannon barrel, reducing it to a pile of scrap metal.

Meanwhile, the machine guns mounted on the mechanical arms on both sides of its back continued to spew fire without pause.

-WEEEEEEEEEEENG—TUTADADADADADADADADADADANG!!!!

Against this tremendous firepower—direct-firing shells of caliber comparable to decent field artillery of this era, and at a rapid rate—there was no way to respond.

As dozens of trucks exploded and Redcoats were slaughtered in an instant, the commander shouted loudly to his soldiers:

“Dismount and advance!! Enter the fortress interior!! Then it won’t be able to rampage freely!!”

Indeed. The firepower of the equipment mounted on that giant bipedal war machine could only be described as truly tremendous, and therefore, if they could somehow enter the urban area, the machine wouldn’t be able to rampage freely due to concerns about friendly fire.

Proving that his colonel’s rank wasn’t won at poker, the moment the colonel shouted his countermeasure, the Redcoat soldiers—disciplined by at least 100 lashes of the whip—immediately began rushing toward the interior of the fortress…

“Enemy, enemy! Enemy infantry coming from inside the fortress!! Spread out and engage!!”

The Redcoats rushing into the breached fortress walls recognized a group of soldiers coming from inside, and the appearance of these rebel(?) infantry was bizarre enough to make the Redcoats flinch.

These individuals, presumably having stolen the red coats from colonial garrison troops, were all wearing worn and tattered red coats, but over them, they had attached bizarre mechanical parts as if much of their bodies had been replaced with machinery.

Below their knees, their legs had been cut off and replaced with mechanical prosthetics consisting of steel frames and hoof-like feet. Wires and pipes leaked from their seemingly enlarged breastplates, connecting to their entire bodies.

On their heads, they wore strange metal masks and helmets reminiscent of gas masks, with round blue glass resembling camera lenses implanted where eyes should be, giving them more of a mechanical than human impression.

Additionally, from the rather large backpacks mounted on their breastplates came sounds like some kind of machinery running, and decisively, their arms visible through the red coats had long since been transformed into machines.

Even though the development of magical-steam engines had dramatically advanced prosthetic limb and artificial body technology, it was rare to find people who had replaced their bodies with machinery to such an extent that they barely looked human, unless they were those transcendentalists…

Moreover, prosthetic technology was relatively less developed at this time.

In this era, prosthetics required tearing flesh and physically connecting nerves to wires, and such connected prosthetics not only caused pain but also easily led to metal poisoning—tetanus or heavy metal poisoning symptoms.

Despite this, they strangely responded slowly or sometimes didn’t respond at all, and though sturdy, they easily broke when handled roughly—these were the defective metal prosthetics of this era.

Yet the beings before them now were so extensively modified with machinery that the commander was confident his forces could overwhelm them in infantry combat.

The durability of such precision devices like prosthetics was quite low, and even with power from backpacks, they couldn’t move heavy steel limbs that nimbly.

Moreover, his Redcoats were known as the world’s strongest infantry and numbered over 1,000.

With the confidence that they couldn’t possibly fail against these mechanized infantry numbering only 200-300, the commander-colonel, who had drawn his saber and pistol for the first time in a while, ordered his soldiers:

“Fix bayonets!! Charge!! Free fire is authorized!!”

-BANG!! TABANG!! BANG! TADABANG!!

Following his command, the soldiers charged with their breech-loading rifled muskets with bayonets already fixed, while firing loaded bullets at the mechanized (bodily) infantry to reduce their numbers as much as possible before close combat…

-TANG! CHAENG!! CHAENG! TAEDAEDAENG!!!

The problem was that the durability of those mechanized (bodily) infantry was far more robust than the commander-colonel had anticipated.

Their limbs, replaced with metal, were unaffected by bullets, and their torsos and heads were protected by thick metal armor that easily withstood mediocre gunfire.

Additionally, the thick red woolen coats they wore, while not completely stopping bullets, at least reduced their power enough for the armor to block them. Consequently, the mechanized (bodily) infantry, who had been taking the enemies’ attacks head-on, soon aimed their own firearms.

As they pulled the triggers of their steampunk-style weapons—made of brass and cast iron with energy conduits connected near the trigger-holding right hand—

-KWAGAGAGAGAGAGAGANG!!!

With an explosion like gunpowder detonating, what flew from the guns aimed by the 200 mechanized infantry was an infantry version of the weapon that bipedal war machine had been firing earlier.

The beams from the muzzles, though thinner and naturally less powerful than those tremendous beams from before, were incomparable to mere gunpowder weapons in terms of individual firearm performance.

With the ability to fire 2-3 rounds in succession, about 100 Redcoats fell bleeding after just a few volleys, and during this time, the mechanized infantry were somehow firing light beams again without reloading.

“This is, this is, this is….”

It wasn’t even war—just one-sided violence and hunting. The colonel, who had some experience as a hunter but was experiencing being prey for the first time, stood dumbfounded at the scene.

-THWACK—!!

A mechanized infantryman who had somehow approached from behind the colonel mercilessly struck his head with the butt of his weapon, causing the colonel to gradually lose consciousness and completely pass out.