2
Firing the plasma beam at this point was a matter of keeping his fingers touched to a few specific keys long enough for the cannon to fully charge, then releasing once the purple bar on screen was filled to fire the shot. The weapon would then go into cool down mode upon discharge, which left the Scarab open to attack for five long seconds before it could be charged up for another shot. It worked remarkably similar to the "Onager" MAC sites the humans had tried to defend so many of their worlds with. Mar briefly wondered if they would suffer the same fate here.
Up on the top deck, Itan and the wounded Imp were busy at work. Silvery blue, high powered beams punched holes in the enemy ships while green globs of concussive goo took them out of the air entirely.
Mar decided to test fire the weapon. His first targets were a pair of wraiths that sat on the cliff providing cover fire for the advancing aircrafts. The Scarab's mouth cannon gave a loud, high pitched whine as the plasma charged and gathered at its tip. He released the keys and a green laser shot forth. Mar then gained manual control of the cannon itself and pivoted it to the left and right in sweeping motion. He sent two Phantoms that had gotten caught in its path down in flames and obliterated the Wraith tanks as though they were made of styrofoam. Mar breathed a quick sigh of relief. Those mortars had been getting pretty close. If one had struck one of the Scarab's skyscraping legs, it may have brought the whole thing tumbling down into the water.
He charged up another shot and cut another two Phantoms down, but the Banshees just weren't worth the plasma. They were just too quick and elusive to catch in the green ray. The green goo globs and silver beams from his teammates were far more capable of demolishing their sleek metal frames. He'd leave the Banshees to them.
Where were these Brutes earlier? Mar absentmindedly wondered. He would have gladly welcomed this challenge after the pathetic interceptors he, Madiba, Rtol, and Ziro had made a mockery of before meeting up with the Arbiter.
But now he was out of his Banshee and down here with his back against the wall, and the Brutes were circling overhead like vultures ready to claim their prize. Life can be funny that way, Mar thought with a shake of his head. And not funny ha-ha.
The Phantoms were really close now, coming in for a deployment drop. Mar charged up another blast, probably his last, and lined his aim to strike three in a row. He fired. The leading Phantom saw the weapon charging and wisely banked to the side at the last possible moment. The ray screamed across the gulf and skewered two troop carriers behind it.
Damn!
There was no stopping it. The plasma beam was in cool-down. He felt rumbling explosions thumping and shaking the Scarab. Then the pounding of feet above him. They were being boarded.
He activated the Scarab's external speakers and barked, "Fall back! Fall back!"
If they could make it, he'd seal off the entrance with the double-layered energy security door. The Brutes would have a tougher time getting through that than if they decided to just burrow down through the main deck. All Itan and the Imp had to do was just make it...