by Greg Sorber
Mechs rallied around Connie to defend Ajax and Bastion’s body. Ajax activated a display screen in his mech suit and searched for any schematics they had for Bastion. Thank goodness for the Imperium’s penchant for documentation and Therapy’s insane attention to detail. The obsessive mech had somehow secured a complete set of technical schematics and manuals for Bastion’s model. That was no small feat, considering only a few dozen Behemoth class mechs ever produced, and Bastion was the last of them. But all the documentation that Ajax needed was available. The problem was, he didn’t have time to read and absorb all of it amidst a battle. He’d have to do this quick and dirty, but he didn’t want to risk damaging Bastion’s memory core. If he didn’t extract it following the proper steps, then any hope of saving Bastion would be shattered.
The first thing he needed to do was identify the location of the memory core. Humans instinctively think it would be in the head, since they store their memories in their brain and that’s in their head. Mechs designed for battles risked taking damage to any of their extremities, so their power and memory cores were usually located deep inside their torsos and surrounded by heavy armor plating. Bastion, as large as he was, had even more armor and protection. Getting to his memory core with a fully equipped Repair Module nearby would be challenging. Accessing it on a battlefield would be next to impossible.
Ajax found the memory core on the schematics and used the heads up display on his mech suit to overlay it on Bastion’s body. He had to trust the others were watching out for him, because he was one hundred percent focused on finding the memory core. He did a quick fist pump when he found its location. Then he realized just how deep it was within Bastion. His head drooped. His small cutting torch wasn’t strong enough to cut through Bastion’s thick armor.
After a few moments of self-doubt, he found a gaping hole in Bastion’s side. A sprayer’s acid had eaten through the metal plating, and a ripper was tearing its way deeper inside the giant mech. Ajax grabbed the ripper from behind and pulled with all his mech suit’s strength, then threw it backwards, away from Bastion. The ripper hit the ground, stunned. Then flipped back up on its multiple legs and scurried towards its new target: Ajax.
In hindsight, his action wasn’t the smartest. His shotguns were out of ammunition, and his mace wasn’t within reach. He supposed that’s where his story would end. There wasn’t anything else he could do—the pondering of his own demise was interrupted when Connie sliced the ripper in half.
“What are you standing there for?” she asked. “Get back to work.”
“I can’t fit in there with my mech suit.” Ajax said. He pointed at the hole. “And I don’t have time to cut through his armor plating.”
“You’ll need to leave the mech suit behind. I’ll watch your back. If another screever gets in there, Bastion’s done. But I’m still receiving a signal, so hurry.”
Ajax made the adjustments to exit the mech suit, grabbed the HUD tablet, removed the cutting torch, and stepped into the hole in Bastion’s side. He needed to be careful. His mech suit had Dennis’s protective coating applied, but he did not. The acid had dissipated, but there were areas where acid dripped into small puddles. He found the spot he was looking for and, aside from the gaping hole caused by the sprayer and the ripper, there was no further damage. Bastion was large, but the spacing inside him was still too tight for a full-grown human to walk through. For the last section, he’d have to crawl.
He checked the schematics and found there were several cables he needed to disconnect before removing the memory core. Once removed from its power source, the memory core’s internal power source could only maintain itself for a brief time before it failed. He’d have to find another power source to plug it into as soon as possible.
Ajax removed the cables and pulled the memory core from its housing. He wriggled his way out of Bastion’s side and found his mech suit was no more.
“Connie! What happened to my mech suit?” Ajax asked.
“Sorry about that. A sprayer got a little too close. When I dodged, it got your suit.”
Ajax sighed. The outside had Dennis’s protective coating, but not the inside. He’d left the cockpit open. The acid had eaten it from the inside out. Now he had no way to get the memory core off of the battlefield.
Ajax held up Bastion’s memory core. “I’ve got to get this to the Repair Module and hooked into another power source ASAP.”
Connie converted into a hover cycle. “I’ll be your ride. Let’s go.”
Ajax hopped into the seat she’d created for him to sit on. He held Bastion’s memory core tight. He wasn’t going to let it suffer any more damage.
Connie sped away from battlefield with Ajax and Bastion’s memory core in tow. Perhaps there was a way to save him after all. Misty hoped that was the case, for Connie’s sake. Angel was holding his own against Zeta IX. She hoped that the fabled tales of the Archangels were true. But Zeta IX was a formidable opponent. That was a battle best left for mechs, and the further the humans stayed away from it, the better. With Ajax off the battlefield, she needed to coordinate the rescue efforts and help direct any mechs too damaged to fight off the field.
“Therapy, escort anyone unable to fight off the battlefield and set up a new triage area near the Repair Module!” Misty said. “That way any damaged mechs will be closer to where Ajax can do the most good.”
Gladius, Brutus, and Lancer fought as one. They destroyed any screevers within the range of their weapons. Dennis worked with Boomer and Valiant doing the same. There were a handful of others still fighting, but not enough.
With Angel occupying Zeta IX’s attention, the screevers operated in automatic mode once again, so their attacks were no longer coordinated. There were still so many remaining, but it felt as if they’d finally started to make a dent in their numbers. Thank goodness Angel and Sly had disabled the Planet Cleanser. If they hadn’t, the fight would have been impossible to win.
Misty helped several mechs to their feet and directed them to assist each other back to the Repair Module. Ajax would have a long line of mechs to work on once this battle was over. She and Dennis would have to pitch in to help, but at least those mechs were still alive. Far too many hadn’t survived.
After sending Vigilant on his way, holding his own severed arm, Misty spotted a small cylinder underneath some wreckage. She choked up for a second as she realized it was parts from what little remained of Sparky. But beneath the remains, she found an unexploded bomb. She wasn’t sure how it had survived the explosion that took out the Pyro Siblings or Zeta IX’s death ray, but it couldn’t be a complete dud. It might be useful, so she tucked it away into a compartment in her mech suit.
Angel was determined to stay a moving target; movement was the best way to avoid being hit and create opportunities to take offensive action. He’d deployed an energy shield from his left arm and absorbed a tremendous amount of energy from Zeta IX’s attack, but his shield required an almost equal amount of energy to maintain. He still needed more energy in his power reserves to activate the Lightbringer Protocols.
Zeta IX switched to using weaker, more direct attacks. Angel feared the Reaper was catching on to his strategy, so he avoided attacking. He didn’t want to give Zeta IX any additional power to use against him. Technologically, the two were evenly matched. That was unfortunate, because if it came to hand-to-hand combat, he feared the larger mech would be too much for him in a one-on-one fight. His only chance would be if Zeta IX made a mistake.
Angel caught an energy blast on his shield, and a new option in his Archangel Protocol menu system became accessible. He activated it, and a sword of pure energy formed in his hand. He swung before Zeta IX could react and sliced a gash in the mech’s side. Angel rejoiced; he finally caused some actual damage!
His triumph was short-lived. As he prepared for his next strike, Zeta IX called a unit of blinders to his aid. They jumped in front of Angel and unleashed their strobe attacks at the same time. The sudden surge of brig
htness overwhelmed his ocular sensors. They blinded him, but he held his ground, shield and sword at the ready. But since he couldn’t see, it would only be a moment before Zeta IX finished him.
When his sight returned, Angel realized Zeta IX hadn’t destroyed him. Standing between him and his enemy were Gladius, Brutus, and Lancer. On their own, they were no match for the Reaper. Together, they were a force to be reckoned with. Once he joined them, they might have a chance for victory.
Zeta IX didn’t like the odds. He summoned his own spear of energy, similar to Angel’s sword. He advanced on the three mechs. Brutus blocked the first attack with his shield. Sparks scattered everywhere. He countered with his sword, but Zeta IX dodged, slipping around Brutus to avoid an attack from Gladius. As Zeta IX rotated around Brutus, he slammed his spear through Brutus’s back and shoulder and sliced through his sword arm. The sword and arm fell to the ground. Brutus turned around in time to block another attack with his shield.
“You’re no good to us now!” Gladius shouted. “Retreat, before he damages you any further!”
Brutus cursed and unlike earlier in the battle, followed orders and retreated. Angel rushed to take Brutus’s place. Gladius and Lancer traded blows with Zeta IX. Angel joined them, and the three of them attacked.
They’d never fought together before, never trained together, but their experience and their fighting subroutines meshed well. They took turns attacking and retreating. Those retreating checked for and dealt with any screevers. With three attackers, Zeta IX couldn’t maintain control of the menacing bots, but his metal minions attacked at random intervals, so had to be accounted for.
With combat programing as advanced as Angel’s, and the length of his energy spear, Zeta IX held off the three attackers. But with three against one, it was only a matter of time before they hit and damaged the Reaper. Angel detected the gash on the mech’s side had started to self-repair, but it was healing slower than he would have expected. The more they pressed their attack, the less focus Zeta IX could dedicate to healing himself.
Instead of taking a turn retreating, as had been the pattern, Angel charged at Zeta IX. He sliced across Zeta IX’s arm, then leaped backwards, avoiding the deadly spear. He raised his shield in time, as Zeta IX converted his arm into a cannon and blasted Angel at close range, sending him flying backwards.
Gladius pressed his attack but found himself outmaneuvered, similar to Brutus. However, before Zeta IX could stab him through the back, he rotated just enough to redirect the blow. Off balance, he took a punishing kick to the knee, leaving him unable to stand. He rolled away, avoiding another spear strike.
Lancer charged and impaled Zeta IX with his spear. Zeta IX backhanded him into a swarm of screevers. Lancer kept a hold of his spear and righted himself. He crushed the surrounding bots with his legs. He lashed out and skewered several with his spear, but stumbled as a shredder tore apart one of his legs. Off balance, he stabbed that one, but the bot’s grinding blades trapped his leg. Unable to move out of the way in time, a horde of screevers swarmed over him.
There was no time to mourn. Angel rushed back in. Gladius, limping because of his damaged knee, did the best he could. When they were within striking range, Zeta IX released a wave of energy and light. The devilish mech cackled in delight. Every screever in the area turned, and instead of emitting their horrendous sound in all directions, they focused it on Angel and Gladius.
With their sensors overwhelmed, Angel and Gladius fell writhing to the ground.
Chapter Twenty
Head-Archivist Dante Singh on the Battle of Mechhaven
I, too, received word of a battle on Mechhaven. Details are minimal, yet one can only assume the casualties will be high considering the mechs are disarmed. We shall suspend our discussion of the Pax Machina and Mechhaven until we receive a full account of the battle.
Head-Archivist Dante Singh
Alliance of Independent Systems (AOIS)
Dennis turned a fraction of a second before a blinder flashed its strobe at him. He avoided being blinded and continued turning and grabbed the blinder before it could jump away. Using the enhanced strength of his mech suit, he tore the blinder’s head from its body and flung both at an attacking shredder. The shredder didn’t care what it destroyed. It shredded the blinder into unrecognizable metal bits and scattered the remains over the battlefield.
He dodged the shredder and let its momentum carry it past him, but a ripper was close behind and scurried in even closer. It popped upward, piercing spear-point, headed straight for him. He deflected the attack, and it flew beyond his reach. As it hit the ground, the screever steadied itself and made a return attack. Dennis prepared himself for its second pass when he slipped on a piece of rubble. His unexpected movement threw the screever off its trajectory, but it adjusted its course, still intent on ripping him apart.
Dennis didn’t have time to think. He used some of his limited ammunition to blow the ripper to bits. He spun around to make sure there were no other immediate threats and was immediately assaulted by a blinding light and the sounds of thousands of screevers focusing their sonic attacks on a single point.
In the distance, he spotted both Angel and Gladius on the ground. They appeared to have taken the brunt of the screevers sonic drubbing, combined with whatever light attack Zeta IX had unleashed. Dennis felt bad for the two mechs, but was relieved he wasn’t on the receiving end of the focused attack.
Zeta IX gloated over his fallen enemies. The screevers had stopped attacking and gathered around the evil mech. Zeta IX was going to let the screevers destroy Angel and Gladius. Dennis flagged down Misty, who was already heading in his direction. They’d designed their mech suits to give them a chance if they ever had to fight a standard mech. They were no match for the speed or armaments of Zeta IX. But if they didn’t save Angel and Gladius, they might as well just lie down and let the screevers take them.
There was no time for subtlety or to rally anyone else. Dennis pointed at the scene, and with an acknowledging nod from Misty, they ran straight for Zeta IX, weapons firing. It only took a moment before they got his attention.
“Humans dare to attack me?” Zeta IX asked. The maniacal sound that followed could have been interpreted as a laugh, but was much more sinister. “Are those inferior mechanical suits supposed to threaten me? I just took out your two most capable fighters, so what do you think you can do?”
The Reaper launched himself into the air. Dennis and Misty didn’t even think about what was coming next. They knew he was fast, so they broke apart, heading in different directions. Zeta IX smashed into the ground where they would have been, but he hit only empty terrain. They had to keep moving; they were still well within his attack radius. He shifted one of his arms into a multi-barreled rotary machine gun and aimed at Misty.
Dennis slid to a stop and grabbed a sprayer facing in the opposite direction. It started spewing its deadly acid as soon as he picked it up, but Dennis held on to it like the Pyro Siblings had with the flamebots, and directed the jet of corrosive fluid at Zeta IX. He drenched the Reaper with acid until the sprayer was empty. No longer any threat, he threw the depleted bot to the side. Dennis assumed that Zeta IX would have similar built-in protection against acid as Angel had, but if there were any damaged sections where the protective coating was weakened, perhaps—Zeta IX screamed.
Acid had found its way into somewhere important. Dennis didn’t expect Zeta IX’s quick counter-attack. Still dripping with acid, Zeta IX slammed into his mech suit. The force of the impact stunned him, but it was the dripping acid from Zeta IX that sloshed onto his own mech suit that worried him. There were multiple areas that had sustained damage, and it was only a matter of time before the acid bypassed his protective coating and seeped into them. Once that happened, there would be problems.
Dennis didn’t have time to worry about the acid. After another brutal impact, he was sailing through the air. The only problem was that he hadn’t designed the mech suit to fly, or to l
and. He hit the ground hard, landing on his back, and tumbled across the landscape. When he came to a stop, all systems were offline. He was a defenseless target for the screevers. An unprotected human on a battlefield with screevers and mechs was a less than ideal situation, but it was better than being stuck inside a mech suit that didn’t function.
He needed to find cover fast. Luckily, he landed in the correct orientation to eject. He yanked a manual egress cable which initiated the ejection sequence. With the power of a built-in rocket, he was thrust up into the sky and away from his mech suit. A small parachute deployed. There would be only a few seconds to react before he came crashing back to the ground. He landed with a thud. Dazed, but still conscious, he disconnected from his seat and ran for cover. He no longer had any armor or acid protection to speak of, and only his two sidearms as weapons. They might stop a screever or two, but they wouldn’t do anything against Zeta IX.
Zeta IX aimed at Dennis as he ran for cover. Misty charged at the Reaper, crashing hard into him. She wasn’t trying to damage him. That would be a futile effort. She only wanted to throw off his aim. He fired a barrage of rounds but missed Dennis by a wide margin. Dennis squirmed his way between a mound of enormous boulders and, as long as he avoided any screevers, should remain safe for a while.
Angry that Misty had thwarted his aim, Zeta IX smashed his fist into her mech suit. The force of his punch threw her backwards. Her breath was knocked out of her as she slammed into the ground. Zeta IX followed up the punch with a blast from his plasma cannon. Rolling as quick as she could, she avoided the shot. Misty struggled to her feet and kept moving. She wasn’t sure how long she could last, but she would go down fighting.
There was a gash in Zeta IX’s side that Angel must have sliced open with his sword. Seeing the opening gave Misty an idea. It was just about the right size. If she could just get close enough—Sparky’s unexploded bomb—it might work. She opened the storage compartment in her mech suit’s leg, withdrew the explosive. She just had to figure out how to get close enough to put it in the gash. It wouldn’t be easy, but she had to try.