Jerome was keeping a close eye on the robots, and he was surprised to see that both of them were looking directly at him. Cutter had started walking toward him while Battleship was raising its arm and aiming one of its many cannons at the naval base. Jerome cursed out loud. “Damn it, they know that we are here.” He started to change into Garudasaurus when he saw Battleship fire two shells toward him. Jerome was in mid-transformation as he leapt into the air to avoid the blast. The shells exploded beneath him and tossed him even higher than his half-transformed legs had been able to carry him. Jerome had reached the apex of his ascent and was starting to fall when he completed his transformation into Garudasaurus. The kaiju screeched and then he flew toward Battleship.
Garudasaurus was flying toward the heavily armored robot as it continued to fire shells and bombs at him. The air around the flying kaiju was full of explosions and shrapnel, but Garudasaurus was managing to avoid direct hits from the mech’s attack. The kaiju circled around the robot as it continued to fire at him. When the monster had completed two circles around the robot, he had managed to gauge the robot’s timing. The kaiju waited for the robot to fire another shell, and the moment that it did, the monster dropped in altitude and then flew directly at Battleship.
Garudasaurus slammed into Battleship’s torso and he knocked the robot to the ground. Rather than trying to outright destroy the robot, the kaiju used his claws, talons, and beak to damage or break the numerous cannons on the robot. He had just managed to tear off the last of the mech’s long-range weapons when he looked back toward the naval base to see Cutter attacking what remained of the building that Thomas’s team was in. Garudasaurus was suddenly knocked off Battleship when the robot struck him in the face. The kaiju tumbled off the mech, but rather than re-engaging the robot, Garudasaurus took to the sky and flew in the direction of Cutter and the naval base. Battleship stood and then it began walking in the direction of Garudasaurus and the base.
Deep within the bowels of the naval base, Thomas’s team was sifting through rows and rows of file cabinets and their contents in search of the location of the detonators. What seemed like an eternity had in reality only been a few minutes when one of the volunteers screamed, “I have it! The detonators are in Building 3, 2nd floor, Room 215!”
Thomas yelled to his team, “All right, let’s move!” Thomas led the group outside and he cursed when he saw the massive form of Cutter waiting for them. The robot reached down to grab them, but the group scattered, causing the robot to grab nothing but a handful of pavement. Thomas, Brian, and several others were running toward building three when Cutter turned in their direction and started chasing them. The mech had almost reached the humans when Garudasaurus landed in front of them. The kaiju screeched at the robot, and as Thomas and his team ran between the kaiju’s legs, Garudasaurus reached out and grabbed Cutter.
The monster and the robot grappled for several seconds before Garudasaurus was able to overpower the mech and toss it into the parking lot. Cutter was picking itself up off the ground when Garudasaurus threw a shoulder block into the mech that caused it to tumble farther away from building three. The kaiju delivered two quick roundhouse punches to the mech when he was suddenly struck from behind and sent falling face first to the ground.
Garudasaurus rolled over to see Battleship standing above him. The mech had lifted up its foot to stomp on Garudasaurus, but the kaiju quickly reached out and grabbed the mech’s foot before it could bring it down. Garudasaurus twisted and pulled the mech’s foot, causing it to fall to the ground. Garudasaurus stood just in time to find himself face to face with Cutter.
Cutter punched Garudasaurus in the ribs and the were-monster responded by throwing a jab into the mech’s face. The monster and the robot exchanged several blows as Battleship was making its way back to its feet. When Garudasaurus noticed that Battleship was standing, he quickly pushed Cutter away from him. The kaiju then spun around and hit Battleship with a hammer strike to its right shoulder. The kaiju followed up the hammer strike with a kick to the mech’s midsection that created some space between himself and Battleship. Garudasaurus tried to take to the sky so that he was no longer trapped between the robots, but he had no sooner left his feet than Cutter grabbed his wings and slammed him back into the parking lot.
Garudasaurus was lying flat on his back as both Cutter and Battleship stood next to him and reigned down blows on his body. The kaiju did his best to protect his face and torso, but the robots’ attack was relentless. Garudasaurus tried to grab Cutter’s foot in order to trip the mech when he saw Bearadon rear up behind the robot and then wrap her powerful arms around it. Bearadon sank her fangs into the robot’s shoulder then spun it around and tossed it to the ground. Bearadon climbed on top of the downed robot and began to tear it to pieces.
Battleship was still kicking Garudasaurus in the ribs when Leviathan stepped over his fallen friend and pushed the mech, causing it to stumble backward and fall into a sitting position. The second the mech hit the ground, Chagon wrapped her body around it. With the robot trapped in her grasp, Chagon swung her face in front of the mech. She hissed at the robot and constricted her body. The sound of metal bending and breaking could be heard throughout the naval base as Chagon crushed Battleship.
Chagon slithered off the defeated mech and crawled back over to the other members of her team. Garudasaurus stood and then he heard a shouting sound coming from Building 3. The kaiju turned around to see Thomas’s team loading the detonators onto Captain Okafor’s TR-3B and informing them that their mission was a success. Thomas waved briefly to the kaiju as he climbed onto the TR-3B and shut the hatch. The craft then slowly lifted into the air and flew toward the Pine Barrens to retrieve the nuclear warheads located there.
Garudasaurus started to change back into his human form, and the other members of the Kaiju Corps followed his lead. When all four members of the team had reverted back to their human forms, Miki looked at Jerome and simply said, “Cape Canaveral?”
Jerome nodded. “Cape Canaveral.” With that, they ran toward Captain Granderson’s TR-3B.
Chapter 21
California
Captain Williams made his first drop in the woods of northern California. The drop was quick and easy. Brian Linke and the first volunteer ran out of the TR-3B. Brian quickly reviewed with the man how to arm the warhead and set off the balloon, then he reviewed the contingency plans with the man should he be attacked by a giant robot. The entire process took less than three minutes. Brian quickly reentered the TR-3B and then Williams pushed his TR-3B as hard as he could in an effort to reach Australia and set the next warhead.
Baltimore
Captain Richards and his wingman flew several large circles around Baltimore prior to attempting to engage the robots in the city. After losing nearly half of his force in the battle for Toronto, Richards was determined to not be caught by surprise again. Once he was convinced that there were no drones waiting to distract them in the middle of the battle, he motioned for his wingman to follow him into the city. With Baltimore being so close to Annapolis, Richards was concerned that they would run into more robots constructed from military parts and machinery.
Richards and the last remaining TR-3B under his command flew high above the remains of yet another ruined city. Richards was trying to see what type of robots they would be engaging when they dropped down and started their attack. Richards looked down to see three robots that were clearly constructed from Cyclone-class patrol ships. Richards nodded, thinking to himself that with the naval academy using large numbers of Cyclones in training exercises that they most likely had a plant nearby that manufactured the boats. The pilot quickly designated the robots as Cyclone 1, Cyclone 2, and Cyclone 3. The good news was that while the robots did possess high-powered machine guns, they were not nearly as heavily armored as they could have been had they been constructed from the parts of other warships. One thing that puzzled Richards from his sweep over Baltimore was the apparent lack of any of the battle
robots that they encountered in every other city.
Richards circled around back toward the city in preparation to attack the Cyclone robots and the other TR-3B followed him. As they were diving toward the city, a large shape emerged from the sky above the TR-3Bs. The robot had the appearance of hundred-foot-tall metallic pterosaur. The robot had been the partially completed project of one of the students in the military research and development program. It was an advanced drone based on the pterosaur because of the ancient reptile’s proficiency at high speeds for long distances and because of the student’s love of dinosaurs and other ancient creatures.
When the Signal took over the computer systems at Annapolis, it found the half-completed project. When the Signal started to receive information that the TR-3Bs were destroying its robots, it modified the robotic pterosaur to serve as one of its battle robots and increase its presence in the air. The pterosaur, named Pterodrone by its creator, initially possessed stealth technology and was equipped with rockets that could help the robot attain supersonic speeds. The Pterodrone was designed predominantly as a spy and scouting drone, but the additions made the by the Signal had turned the robot into a killing machine. The Pterodrone was equipped with surface-to-air missiles and machine guns for long-range attacks and its beak, teeth, and talons were constructed from titanium and powered by hydraulic presses that were capable of crushing a tank.
The Pterodrone flew in behind the TR-3Bs as they were preparing to attack the Cyclone robots. Even if the TR-3Bs had their radar capabilities they would not have been able to detect the oncoming robotic pterosaur.
Captain Richards quickly looked to his right to see Pterodrone swooping down on his wingman. He screamed in vain as the flying robot latched its claws onto the TR-3B. Richards watched helplessly as the pilot did his best to shake the robot off its hull, but Pterodrone’s titanium claws held fast to the craft. Richards watched in horror as Pterodrone bent its head down and tore off the roof of the TR-3B. The robotic terror then reached into the cabin of the TR-3B and pulled the entire cockpit out of the craft including the pilot. Pterodrone bit down into the cockpit, crushing and killing the pilot in a single move. The now pilotless TR-3B fell to the earth as Pterodrone disengaged from the craft and turned its attention toward Richards’ TR-3B.
Richards swerved to his right and away from the robot. He felt that he had to engage this robot at a high altitude because he was sure that if he flew too low above the city that the Cyclone robots would open fire on him. Richards had no idea of the exact capabilities of the robotic creature, but he doubted that it was a match for a TR-3B piloted by a man with his skills.
Pterodrone was closing on Richards when the pilot quickly increased his altitude at a nearly impossible forty-five-degree angle. The Pterodrone followed Richards into the ascent and then it fired two sidewinder missiles at the TR-3B. Without radar or any of his other external computer systems, Richards had nothing other than his experience in combat to warn him that he was being fired upon. The moment that Richards started his ascent, he thought that if he was pursuing a craft that had made such a move, he would have fired on it. Figuring that the robot might make the same decision, he quickly dropped several hundred feet in altitude and banked hard to the left. He then looked overhead to see Pterodrone’s missiles streaking past his craft.
Richards briefly saw the back of Pterodrone as it followed him in his dive. He was starting to wonder if the robot was able to match the maneuverability of the TR-3B. Richards leveled out his craft, and he was immediately bombarded by a machine gun fire. He heard the bullets bury themselves inside of the hull of TR-3B and quickly veered to his left, increasing his altitude in order to move out of Pterodrone’s line of fire. Richards then cut hard to the right and increased his altitude even more. The robotic monster again followed Richards, firing bullets at him. Richards swerved to left then dropped his altitude as Pterodrone was still trying to follow him in his previous ascent.
Richards had finally managed to maneuver himself into a position where he could attack the robotic creature, and he didn’t hesitate to open up on the mech with his own machine guns. He hit the creature several times, but his bullets didn’t cause much damage to the mech. He had considered using his sonic cannon, but the weapon was much more difficult to operate than his guns were. He decided that it would be best to damage the mech with some of his other weapons in order to slow it down to a speed where he could successfully use the sonic weapon.
Pterodrone shifted its flight pattern down and to the left in an attempt to move out of the TR-3B’s range, but the pilot was able to match the robot’s maneuvers. As Richards watched the robot move through the air, he developed a plan to defeat it. First, Richards lifted his craft slightly above Pterodrone and then fired a volley of bullets at its left side which forced the robot to pull to its right. As soon as the robot started to pull to the right, Richards fired two of his incendiary missiles followed by one of his magnetic missiles at it. As Richards suspected, Pterodrone detected the missiles coming toward it and it shifted its body down and to the left. When the robot started to shift, the magnetic missile activated and pulled the incendiary missiles toward it, causing them to explode near the robot. Pterodrone avoided the worst of the blast, but the shockwave from the explosion caused the robot to lose control of its flight pattern.
With Pterodrone tumbling out of control in the sky before him, Richards armed his sonic cannon and fired it at the mechanical beast, cutting it in half. With Pterodrone destroyed, Richards turned back toward the city below. When the Cyclone robots came into view, it was clear that they were aware he had destroyed Pterodrone because they were all looking up at him with their guns at the ready. When he was within range of the robots, they opened fire on him. Richards easily avoided the robots’ bullets and fired a magnetic missile that struck Cyclone 2 in the chest, crushing the robot’s torso and CPU.
Richards flew over the other robots, and when he cleared the city, he circled around to renew his attack. Once more, the robots were waiting for him and firing at him. Richards set his sonic cannon on continuous fire then he aimed it first at Cyclone 3. When the sonic blast hit the robot, it utterly destroyed the mech within seconds. Cyclone 1 had managed to hit the TR-3B with a few bullets, but the damage to Richards’s craft was minimal. Richards aimed his cannon at the last robot, and then he destroyed Cyclone 1 as well.
With the last of the robots vanquished, Richards brought his TR-3B into a slow hover over the city. He played the message for people to report to the Inner Harbor where members from Horsemen would meet them to help them establish a settlement. The loss of the last of the TR-3Bs under his command was slightly offset when he saw what he guessed to be over one thousand people heading toward the Inner Harbor.
After he had finished playing his recording, Richards set a course for Washington DC, and he silently uttered a prayer that Granderson and the other TR-3Bs were successful in their missions and that they would meet him over DC because he doubted that he would survive another battle with the robots without additional support.
Argentina
Captain Okafur landed his TR-3B at the base of Mount Aracar in Argentina where Thomas quickly helped a civilian volunteer unload his warhead, detonator, and weather balloon from the craft. Just as he had for the man at the drop point in Brazil, Thomas quickly reviewed with the man how to arm the weapon and send up the balloon. His last command to the man was that if he saw a giant robot coming toward him before the designated release time was that he was to release the balloon and then to do his best to make his way north where the TR-3B would return to look for him. The man didn’t reply verbally, but instead simply nodded. Thomas quickly shook the man’s hand then he ran back to the TR-3B to continue their mad dash around the world.
Chapter 22
Atlanta
Captain Granderson had two TR-B3s with him as they flew over the border between Florida and Georgia. He had just dropped off the Kaiju Corps a few miles outside of Cape Canaveral. Jer
ome thought that it was best if the TR-3B not risk being attacked by Blackbolt, and he felt that the time it would take his team to walk to Cape Canaveral would also give them time to discuss strategy. Given the brief conversation that Granderson had heard between the team members, he thought that they might have a little more to discuss than simply how to the best attack the super robot who they expected was waiting there for them.
The other two TR-3Bs had briefly escorted Captain Okafur to the underground nuclear silos in the forests of New Jersey. After helping Thomas and his team to load the warheads onto Okafor’s TR-3B, they flew south where they rendezvoused with Granderson over the Atlantic Ocean. With the speed of the TR-3Bs, Granderson only had to circle over the Atlantic for a few minutes before the other craft found him. Once the three craft were united, Granderson took point as he led the other craft toward Atlanta where they would attempt to clear what remained of the city from the giant robots who had attacked it.
As Granderson expected, Atlanta was a wasteland much like the other cities that had endured several days’ worth of siege by giant robots. Not a single building was left standing, and Granderson guessed that if anyone was still alive within the city that they were likely still hiding in the subways or sewers.
Granderson and his wingman circled the city to see what they were up against. Atlanta seemed to be following the blueprint that the Signal had utilized in the other East Coast cities with two humanoid kill-and-collect robots and one less-conventional battle robot. The two humanoid robots were made from many of the tool-and-steel manufacturing companies found in the city. Both of the robots were long and thin. Their arms and legs were constructed from steel girders that were typically utilized to create the frameworks of buildings. Their torsos were constructed of several layers of steel girders that formed a make-shift ribcage for the robots that held their CPUs and the rubber that insulated them. The robots had no heads which gave them the appearance of decapitated skeletons. Granderson estimated their height to be roughly one hundred and seventy feet tall. The robots’ offensive capabilities stemmed from the rows of wielding torches that were attached to their arms. Granderson figured that the torches didn’t have much range, but he was concerned that they could damage the hulls of the TR-3Bs if they flew too close the mechs. He named these two mechs Blowtorch and Acetylene respectively.
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