by Greg Sorber
Ajax had to get Angel functioning, and he needed to do it before Zeta IX recovered. He cranked the power flow to full capacity and flooded power into the unmoving mech. He waited, hoping for a sign, some miniscule change. The indicator on the battery pack flashed red. It was depleted.
Something hard slammed into him and sent him tumbling. A screever, but which type? He relaxed his body and didn’t fight the momentum. The mech suit’s inertial dampeners protected him from harm. When he came to a stop, he hopped to his feet, weapons ready. He didn’t have as many weapons on his mech suit as Dennis and Misty. He designed his for repair, but he still had a large shotgun mounted to each arm. He couldn’t fire fast, but whatever he hit would go down.
Doc jumped in front of him as a sprayer unleashed its deadly acid. Both Doc and the mech suit were protected by Dennis’s protective coating, so he wasn’t sure why Doc did that, but then realized he’d left his faceplate open while working on Angel. If Doc hadn’t taken the brunt of the acid, it would have sprayed inside of his faceplate. That would have been the end of him. Ajax slammed his faceplate shut.
“Thanks, Doc.” he said. “That was a close one.”
“Anytime, young one,” Doc said. “Pay attention though, you’re in the middle of a battle.”
“You got it. Now get over here and let me spray that acid off of you.”
Ajax adjusted a nozzle on his suit and used an extra tank of Dennis’s concoction to rinse any lingering acid off of Doc. They didn’t want any of that seeping in to any gashes suffered during the battle.
Doc lunged forward, slamming into him. Ajax caught his friend, looked down, and saw a metal spike protruding from Doc’s chest. Doc looked at him straight in the eyes. The light in his ocular sensors flickered as a ripper tore apart his torso.
“No!” Ajax cried as Doc’s body fell to the ground. Ajax raised his arm and fired his shotgun, demolishing the ripper that had just killed his friend. He turned and fired again and again, taking out a shredder and then a buzzer. When there were no more screevers within range, he dropped to his knees next to his friend’s remains, and cried.
Ajax wasn’t sure how long he stayed there. He should pay more attention to what was going on around him—Angel. He had to see if he could get Angel back up. He reached back for the power cable. The acid had damaged it and the battery pack no longer functioned. He put his head down over Doc’s body and shook his head. “I don’t know what to do, Doc,” he muttered through sobs.
An inky-black leg appeared next to him. Was it Zeta IX? No, too small. It was human-sized. He felt a metallic hand on his shoulder. “This one is dead,” Sly said, pointing to Doc. She turned and pointed to Angel. “We can still help that one.”
“How?” Ajax asked. “My battery pack is empty.”
“How much power did you give him, and how quickly?” Sly asked.
Ajax estimated the amount of power and the time.
“That was too little power over too long of a time,” Sly said. “If you wish to wake him up, you’ll need to send him a lot of more power in a shorter amount of time.”
“How’re we going to do that?” Ajax asked.
“Leave that to me. Run back to the main group, there are others who need your help.”
Ajax nodded to the screevers swarming in the area. “Do you want me to take care of these before I go?”
“No. Leave the bots to me.”
Ajax ran, though he risked a glance over his shoulder. Sly was kneeling next to Angel’s head. Screevers rushed in to attack the infiltrator mech. Sly grabbed Angel’s head and released an electrical charge that fed into Angel’s body. As it did, it also radiated out in all directions. Screevers in a twenty-foot radius stopped functioning, their components fried from the electric shock. Angel’s body lurched. Ajax hoped it was enough.
Chapter Seventeen
Excerpt from Archivist Louis De Robinet’s response to Archivist Singh’s address on Pax Machina and Mechhaven
Before mechs, robots and other less autonomous artificial beings performed basic functions and services. While useful, such machines were limited. Thus, humanity didst grant mechs sentience. In yond act, we didst act as gods. ‘Tis our obligation to honor yond act and alloweth mechs the same freedoms of choice we giveth our owneth people. ‘Tis mine own position yond Pax Machina and Mechhaven art worthy of more than a footnote in the Archives.
Archivist Louis De Robinet
Arcturan Monarchies
Zeta IX’s attack obliterated the Legion’s wedge formation. Legionnaires and Villagers alike lay strewn about the battlefield. The shock wave was unexpected, but Gladius was the first to recover. He helped his soldiers to their feet, shouting orders for any others who could to do the same. The fight wasn’t over yet, but if they didn’t pull themselves together, it would be. Without the shields and discipline of the Legion protecting everyone else, the battle would become even more of a massacre.
The Reaper was a mech constructed from nightmares. Most of his frame was black, but his ocular sensors blazed a bright orange, like the fires of Tartarus. He looked like a demon from ancient lore. During the war, Gladius had heard rumors of such a mech, but one of his station wasn’t privy to the details. The Alliance’s Archangels inspired their often outnumbered forces, but the Imperium’s Reapers instilled fear and dread. If the Imperium designed them to destroy the Archangels, then no doubt Angel had met his end.
Gladius found it disconcerting, seeing Imperium technology attacking legionnaires with such impunity. There was no hesitation, no thought given to former allegiances. No, Zeta IX designated him and his brothers-in-arms as enemies, no questions asked. If that were the case, then so be it. He and the Legion would do their best to make sure Zeta IX didn’t leave the field of battle, either.
Brutus rose and followed orders, helping others near him to get back on their feet. The unmistakable buzz-thwump of a plasma cannon firing at close range filled the air. Zeta IX walked through the fallen ranks of legionnaires and dispatched them like animals. First to fall was Tertius, then Septimus, and Decius. Gladius readied his sword and shield, but Brutus screamed a challenge and charged the Reaper.
“Stop! You fool!” Gladius shouted at his second-in-command.
Either Brutus didn’t hear or chose to ignore him. This was a time for discipline, not heroics. One-on-one attacks made them easier to vanquish. They needed to attack in coordinated fashion. Gladius shouted more orders at the recovering Legion. Zeta IX side-stepped Brutus’s charge. He thought that was the end of his second-in-command. Instead, Zeta IX backhanded Brutus, sending him flying. He couldn’t hear what Zeta IX said to the downed mech, but he turned his arm and aimed his cannon at several other mechs. Before Zeta IX could fire, Lancer charged into the Reaper at full speed, throwing off his aim.
Lancer just saved legionnaires when he could not. Gladius couldn’t let that stand. He must make sure this monster doesn’t destroy the Arcturan. Gladius sprinted towards Zeta IX, who was now targeting Lancer. He picked up as much speed as he could, raised his shield, and crashed into him at full speed.
With his aim spoiled again, Zeta IX roared and focused his attention on Gladius. Standing at the ready, Gladius was unsure whether he could defend against a full-blown attack from Zeta IX. Either way, he would face the monster like a true soldier of the Imperium. He didn’t have to. Connie slid under Zeta IX and sliced at his legs. A moment later, Zeta IX, struck by a metal beam wielded by Bastion, was sent flying from the center of the defenders.
Misty struggled to her feet. Dennis shouted, trying to bring some order to the chaos caused by Zeta IX’s attack. Ajax and Doc ran towards Angel’s fallen form. If they could get him operating again, that would help so much. Zeta IX’s shock wave generated so much force that without their mech suits and their built-in inertial dampeners, it would have killed her and the oher humans outright. To the mechs, though, the attack confused and disoriented their sensors. Zeta IX was toying with them. What other attacks would he unleash upon t
hem? They needed to end this battle.
The screevers were unrelenting: they zipped in and out, attacking where they could. Some mechs fought, others were cut down. The brutality of the screevers was unimaginable; acid spray; flamethrowers; slicing blades; shredders; piercing and pulling—and that sound. The sound was maddening. It made it difficult to communicate, plan, and even to think. That was their design, and they functioned as intended.
A nearby mech staggered as a blinder executed its flashing attack right in its face. The mech stumbled around, trying to find a point of reference. It was Juno; she was an attaché mech that had served the Patrician class of the Imperium, and one of the two caught in the collapsed tunnel just days before. Half a dozen screevers changed direction and targeted Juno. No one else was nearby to assist. Misty didn’t have time to think. It was time she got involved in the fight. She’d hoped to conserve her ammunition until later in the fight, but if she didn’t act, there wouldn’t be a later.
Misty may not have been in direct combat during the war, but she was familiar enough with power loaders, which she’d used daily at the logistics base where she’d been stationed. Her mech suit was based the on the same design, but with added weapons and armor. She put her mech suit into motion and jumped in front of the blinded mech. Three screevers were zooming in to attack Juno head on, so she aimed the shotgun affixed to her right arm and fired at the buzzer as it swooped down. The blast tore it apart, and it fell to the ground in pieces.
A ripper lurched forward, but Misty batted it aside and finished it with another blast from her shotgun. She knocked Juno out of the way of an oncoming shredder, and from her left arm fired a grenade launcher that blew the shredder to bits. Misty didn’t see the sprayer coming in until it was already within range. She braced herself for the acid spray that should hit her. She prayed there were no damaged sections of her armor that the acid could get past Dennis’s protective coating. Before the bot could spray its deadly acid, Therapy arrived and smashed into it with an oversized metal hammer. It looked ridiculous, but he carried it as if it were second nature. He nodded to Misty.
“Thank you!” Juno nodded to both Misty and Therapy. Juno picked up her fallen weapon, a legionnaire’s knife. Since she was human-sized, though, it functioned like a short sword.
“Stick with me, and let’s put those weapons to use,” Misty said. She pointed at several other mechs coalescing into a larger group to better defend themselves.
Therapy and Juno followed Misty to the nearest group, which included Titus, Secundus, Quintas, Sparky, Ash, and Cinder. The three legionnaires, Titus, Secundus, and Quintas, used their shields to protect the others. They pushed forward to catch up with Lancer, Connie, Bastion, and Gladius. Zeta IX was nowhere to be found after being batted away by Bastion.
A short distance away, she saw that Dennis had joined up with Wavelength, Luna, Flint, and Sextus. They’d already merged with another group of legionnaires. Other groups formed, but through the chaos of battle, Misty couldn’t determine who was in them. Misty’s heart broke from what she could see of the battlefield. Too many mechs fought on their own, and far too many had already succumbed to the screevers’ savage onslaught.
Dennis picked up a fallen sword. Designed by the Legion, for the Legion, it was a heavy, well-balanced blade. Without his mech suit, he couldn’t have lifted it. About as long as he was tall, it was very heavy. He had little training in using a sword, but he wasn’t fighting others trained in swordplay, he just had to destroy screevers. That much he could manage.
He was with Wavelength, Sextus, Luna, and Flint. Sextus used his shield to ram and scatter any screevers coming at them, while the others covered their flanks. Mechs were down to melee weapons only, and with the little ammunition he had left, he was saving for Zeta IX.
The screevers acted less coherent, as if they were back on automatic mode. He assumed that meant that Zeta IX was no longer focused on controlling them. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. If Zeta IX wasn’t controlling the screevers, then that meant he was concentrating on mechs.
In the distance, Misty was with Juno and Therapy, rushing to join up with a larger group, including the Pyro Siblings. Good. That’s where his group was going, too. After that, they could find Zeta IX and put the explosives the Pyro Siblings carried to work. So far, they’d showed tremendous discipline, having not used them already. But first, all the smaller groups needed to get back together. That made them a larger target for Zeta IX, but at least a larger group could better defend against the screevers.
As the multiple groups merged, Sextus rallied the legionnaires present to reform a shield wall. Flint, too, though not as tall as or as strong as a legionnaire, hefted a shield and sword and stepped forward. He wasn’t a legionnaire, but there wasn’t time to argue in the middle of the battle.
Luna reunited with her friend Juno. The two hugged in a very human-like show of emotion. They made the journey from the Imperium together. Along with Therapy, they fought as hard as any mech, using their smaller size and speed to their advantage. Though they were much faster and stronger than the humans, they still couldn’t sustain the amount of damage a larger mech like one of the Legion could.
Dennis, Misty, Therapy, and Wavelength followed the Pyro Siblings, and the reformed group advanced towards Gladius, Brutus, Lancer, Connie, and Bastion. Those were their best fighters, and if anyone could stand against Zeta IX, it was them. Only by working together would they be able to defeat the vicious mech, but having suffered a beating by Bastion and the others, he wouldn’t be an easy target when he emerged again.
Ajax had joined up with Rocky and Bear, but more than a dozen screevers pursued the trio. Dennis, Flint, and Wavelength were ready to take out the screevers. It was sweaty there for a moment, but everyone escaped without major injuries.
“Where’s Doc and Angel?” Dennis asked.
Ajax lowered his head. He explained the fate of Doc. Misty tried to hug Ajax, but with the mech suits on it was awkward, and just didn’t have the same effect. If not for the somber news about Doc, it would have been funny. That just meant they all needed to pay more attention to avoid any more tragedies.
“You left Angel with Sly?” Misty asked.
“She had a plan and there was nothing more I could do for him. Last I saw, she was unleashing some sort of electrical charge into him. The charge also destroyed about twenty screevers in the area. If that didn’t bring Angel back, I don’t know what else could.”
The reformed group caught up with Gladius, Lancer, Connie, Bastion, and Brutus. The five mechs stood back-to-back, fighting off incoming screevers. To the five of them, the screevers posed little danger, but they kept their ocular sensors scanning for Zeta IX. They’d lost track of him when Bastion had knocked him away. Dennis’s group helped defend the others so they could concentrate on finding the monstrous mech.
Lancer and Connie, in her hover cycle form, were the fastest, so they scouted the immediate area for Zeta IX. Everyone agreed that even though Bastion had hit Zeta IX hard and may have injured him, he should still be within range. If he was injured, they’d find him. If he wasn’t, that meant he was moving. But if he was moving and they couldn’t see him, that meant—
Zeta IX struck hard and fast. Instead of attacking the larger group, he targeted individual mechs distracted by screevers. His speed was astounding. He attacked one, and before they’d finished falling to the ground, he was on to the next. He was the Reaper; it was time to cull the herd.
He attacked at close range with his plasma cannons, blowing holes through mechs. Others he attacked with his bare hands, ripping them apart and leaving them defenseless for screevers to finish. Too many legionnaires and Villagers alike had fallen to his attacks. The legionnaires, Octavius, Servius, and Quartus, died inglorious deaths. Rocky, Shocker, and Bear attempted to defend against Zeta IX, but he slaughtered them, too. Other Imperium mechs, Cassius and Salacia, died without a fight. Dennis shouted warnings, but they went unheeded. No
one could hear him over the screevers’ sonic bludgeoning. Several mechs sprinted toward Zeta IX.
“Stay together!” Dennis said. “It’s our only chance. If we break into smaller groups, he’ll take us out.”
“We’ve got to do something!” Misty said. “He’s slaughtering them.”
“I know. I know. We need to get his attention and draw him to us.”
“Draw him to us, are you crazy?” Misty asked. “Can’t you think of anything better?”
“I don’t care for it either, but it’s the only way. We have the best fighters in this with us. It’s now or never.”
“Do it,” Misty agreed.
“Everyone get ready!” Dennis shouted, pointing to Sparky, Ash, and Cinder. “Pyro Siblings! You’re up. Show us what you’ve got!”
Inferno class mechs didn’t have the facial mechanics to enable them to smile, but Dennis was sure they were beaming. Ash and Cinder pulled a giant elastic band between them, while Sparky placed an explosive in the center, then stretched it back. They aimed and flung their explosive at Zeta IX. It was a direct hit and exploded on contact. The explosion engulfed Zeta XI in flames, giving the mechs he was targeting a chance to get away. Valiant and Boomer took the opportunity to run away as fast as they could.
With Zeta XI distracted, the Pyro Siblings aimed and launched again, lobbing another explosive toward the mech. This one fell short, hitting the ground, but its flammable contents splattered on Zeta IX’s legs, increasing the flames. As a bonus, the splattering explosive gel set the surrounding screevers ablaze.