Erich leaned his 'mech into the impact of the two gauss rifles, silently counting himself lucky that the enemy mechwarrior seemed to have the accuracy of a child flinging mudballs, even as the fourth gauss slug fired at his battered 'mech smacked into the Awesome's right thigh, exploiting earlier damage and causing the myomer bundles that made up the assault's right thigh to be severed and explode outwards, steaming from the heat of the Assault's constant fighting, and leaking coolant.<br/><br/>The punch towards the Awesome's head hit hard, tearing into armour and barely missing Erich as the 80-ton 'mech bobbed downwards from the impact, slashing open the Assault's small laser from the blow. Erich simply toggled his 'mech's loudspeakers, putting on the thick germanic accent he had ingrained into him during his youth on Odessa. "Vat a Coward Godot is. Waiting for one's back to be turned, and attacking only those who are damaged? You fill your name with shame. You are Schwein, undeserving of piloting anything, much less a 'Mech."<br/><br/>He punctuated his commentary by firing all of his weapons at the same time, the decoherent wash of charged particles exploding outwards from his PPCs, not having had time to focus into the characteristic Helical beams due to the closeness of the two Assaults. His eyes flicked towards the status display as a Cataphract made itself known at a distance, the 70-ton 'mech firing its PPC in a searing scar across the left side of the Awesome's back, hitting the PPC housing deep in the Awesome's chest, causing the weapon to shut down due to battle damage, even as another Heat sink exploded from the electromagnetic fedback caused by the raw impact.<br/><br/>Even with the destruction of one of his weapons, Erich smiled as the Pillager took the brunt of the damage on its right flank, three PPC bolts savaging the armour plate just below the aperture of the Gauss Rifle, while the fourth one, dropping as the damage from behind added up, carved a glowing furrow down the Pillager's left leg, stopping just below the knee. Swinging his damaged 'mech forwards, Erich exploited the leg damage with a sharp, harsh kick, the Awesome's massive foot shearing into the armour plate covering the Pillager's knee, and into the joint, temporarily causing the Pillager's knee to snap backwards for just a moment, overbalancing the 100-ton assault 'Mech.<br/><br/>The combination of losing well over three tons of armour, along with the boot to the knee by the slightly shorter 80-tonner, would have caused almost any 'mech to simply collapse from its gyros being overloaded, and unable to compensate for the sudden redistribution of weight. Probably the only thing that kept the Pillager from an ignominious faceplant into the ferrocrete at the Awesome's feet was a nearby warehouse wall, and the skill the pilot claimed to have. Erich, meanwhile, slowly began circling his 'mech around the staggering Pillager, his sensors momentarily clearing enough to allow him to send a burst message to Alroy's Crab, which was still within the Research Base's walls. The message was short and simple, allowing it to cut through the interference just enough to reach the Crab's battle computer. <100, 2 GR. Nd Sppt, ASAP.><br/><br/>Gasping for air as he positioned his 'mech against a wall, protecting the Awesome's back from another potshot from the Capellan heavies, Erich leveled his PPCs at the Pillager, preparing for a second round of firepower to be exchanged among the two pilots. Wincing, he felt the wetness against his side, knowing that shrapnel from the Pillager's punch had gone right through his cooling vest and deep into the muscle just above the hip; even if he survived the battle, the coolant poisoning might just kill him anyhow.