Thousands of rifleman mechs entered the fray in earnest!
As the two fleets entered medium range, the hit rate of rifleman mechs shot up quite considerably! They were able to land hits on vulnerable ship modules and even distant mechs on a reliable basis.
This has caused the two fleets to incur damage at a considerably greater rate than before! While the amount of ships that were put out of action did not increase that quickly, many ships were still bearing a lot of new scars as the huge volume of fire steadily diminished their overall durability!
Of the two sides, the expeditionary fleet possessed a slight advantage.
Although the quality of the mechs of the Larkinson Clan was inconsistent, their superior numbers along with the survival of much of their artillery mechs allowed them to exert a lot of pressure on their opponents!