by Isaac Hooke
“Protect the tanks!” Eric said.
Another group of Red Tails approached another tank. Along with that particular tank, Eric and the others unleashed their laser weapons against the group, and took most of them down. But then one Red Tail emerged from behind the others, this one carrying a spear—it had used those in front as a shield. It promptly leaped onto the tank and smashed its spear into the unit. Sparks went up from the tank, and it went offline.
Eric immediately shot down that creature, but another Red Tail behind it took up the spear. Eric shot that one, too, but then lost sight of it as more Red Tails dashed in front and into his line of fire.
A bright blue light drew his attention to a different area of the herd, where a larger bioweapon loomed above the others. It was essentially the same shape as the other creatures, except its bulbous tail was black, rather than red, and it carried some sort of glowing cannon on its back. A cannon that was growing brighter with each second.
It was aimed toward the fleeing Bolt Eaters.
Eric considered trying to fire at that unit, but that cannon could release any second.
“Scatter!” Eric transmitted instead.
He activated his jumpjets, as did other mechs around him. The tanks, meanwhile, randomly swerved to the left and right, thanks to Tread and Hank. The other Cicadas and support robots also spread apart.
The weapon became blindingly bright, and released a stream of concentrated energy directly at the fleeing Bolt Eaters. It landed where the tanks had been concentrated only a moment earlier, and carved a large crater into the ground. Rocks were sent flying into the air by the resultant shockwave.
“The hell!” Slate said. “They got energy weapons? Frickin’ aliens got energy weapons!”
Eric landed, and lined up his two crosshairs over the larger Black Tail in question, aiming at the weapon it carried on its broad back, and fired. A small half circle of light flashed into existence, a few meters in front of where the laser was supposed to have hit. There was some kind of energy field protecting the creature from the attack. He was reminded of the invisible dome he had seen back at Malibu base, which had kept the Red Tails penned. That same technology could be used to protect them, apparently. Or some of them.
“I can’t shoot the Black Tail harboring that weapon,” Eric said.
More Red Tails had closed with the trailing tanks then, and Eric diverted his aim to help stave them off. The other units remained in their scattered positions, in anticipation of that energy weapon firing again.
“Neither can any of my units,” Tread said. “It’s surrounded by some sort of energy shielding system.”
“Figures!” Slate said. “Energy weapons. Energy shields. Why do aliens always get the best tech?”
“Bro, that’s because they’re aliens,” Hank said. “By their very nature, they’re going to have superior weapons. If they have the technology to fly all the way to Earth, and to cause a nearby star to collapse and release a targeted stream of gamma rays toward Earth along the way, I’d hazard a guess that their technology is far superior to ours in general.”
“And yet the aliens are dumb enough not to include lockouts in their weapons?” Slate said. “Allowing us to scoop up their spears and use the tech against them, for example?”
“Hey, these are aliens,” Mickey told him. “We can’t know what they’re thinking. It’ll be completely foreign to our own. For all we know, allowing us to use those spears was intentional. Maybe it’s all part of their grand game: taking over a planet has got to be immense sport for them. It would be for me if I was conquering a lesser species. When I was a kid, I used to kick big holes in anthills, and then take a leak onto the ants that rushed to the surface to attack their intruder. I’d watch as the ants, soaked in my piss, struggled in vain to find their attacker. Sport, people.”
“Thanks for that image,” Crusher said.
“Somehow I doubt these aliens have the minds of children,” Marlborough said. “But your point is taken. Evasive maneuvers!”
The energy weapon glowed a bright blue once again.
Eric began zig-zagging, to decrease his chances of getting targeted, as did the other units.
The energy weapon came in, striking one of the Abrams. The unit melted to the rocky ground, becoming a burned out husk that was ripped apart a moment later by the resultant shockwave produced by the impact.
“I’ll handle that thing,” Eric said, slowing down.
“You sure?” Marlborough asked.
“Someone’s got to do it,” Eric said.
“Buddy system,” Brontosaurus said.
Eric was about to ask what he meant, when he noticed the blue dot representing Brontosaurus closing on his position.
“Bronto…” Eric said. “Maybe a mech might be a better buddy.”
“I won’t have it,” Brontosaurus said.
“What about you, Frogger?” Eric asked on a direct line to his mind twin. He had expected Frogger to be the one volunteering to join him, considering their shared background.
“If you really need my help, I’ll come,” Frogger replied. “But like you said, I think a mech would be a better buddy. I’ll just get in the way, especially with Bronto joining you already. He’d take offense if I intervened now.”
“All right,” Eric said. He realized he probably shouldn’t have said anything. If Eric fell, Frogger would only feel guilty, especially with the Containment Code gone.
Well, it’s only right that he feel guilty. I’m the closest thing he has out here to family.
Eric realized that wasn’t necessarily true. He considered everyone here his family by this point.
A proximity alarm sounded, and Eric instantly switched to Bullet Time. He moved his viewpoint to his eyes, instead of his weapon scopes, and spotted a spear hurtling toward him. One of the Red Tails had thrown it.
Eric swiveled his body to the side, and narrowly avoided the impact. The spear landed rattling on the ground harmlessly behind him.
Eric returned his point of view to his weapons, and aimed the crosshairs over the Red Tail he figured was most likely to have launched the spear.
Then he returned his time sense to normal and fired. He took out its legs, and it toppled.
He realized he could use Bullet Time more often now that he was inside a mech with a greater power supply. So as he waited for Brontosaurus, he occasionally utilized the increased time sense to more readily line up shots.
Brontosaurus reached him and leaped onto Eric’s back above the jumpjets.
“All right,” Eric said. “You might want to hang on.”
Eric heard a clunk, and realized Brontosaurus had released one of his heavy guns, attaching it to Eric’s back via a magnetic mount. Brontosaurus then leaned over Eric’s shoulder and slid the alien spear from the mech’s bicep via the black haft.
“What part about hanging on did you not understand?” Eric asked his friend.
Brontosaurus returned to the back area. “I’ve latched on with my magnetic mounts. Do your worst.”
Eric folded the ballistic shield into his left arm, keeping the ZX-15 pulse cannon in his right, and weaved his way between the bioweapon vanguard. He took out their glandular tails whenever he had a clean shot, otherwise he targeted the leg joints on one flank, or simply bashed them aside with his shield when they came too close.
Brontosaurus meanwhile fired his remaining heavy gun at point-blank range, but that usually wasn’t enough to stop a bioweapon unless he hit the red sac, as the leg joints could stand up to quite a lot of punishment from the smaller guns, even from the heavy versions.
Sometimes a Red Tail would attack from one of the flanks. Brontosaurus was always there to strike out with the alien spear, which felled any attackers without fail, enveloping the stricken tango in a stream of sparks.
Eric encountered a few more spear-wielding Red Tails along the way. They didn’t throw their weapons like that one creature had; he deftly dodged their attacks before taking them d
own. He smashed the tail of one such bioweapon, and retracted his shield to scoop up the body in that hand, to use as a bludgeon against the others in his path. The dead ragdoll still clung to its spear, and whenever the metal touched one of the other entities, the bioweapons became covered in sparks and fell. He kept firing his ZX-15 with his other hand.
The Black Tail unleashed its energy weapon a few more times at the platoon behind him. As Eric got closer, the Black Tail steered the weapon directly toward him. It began to glow.
Eric switched to Bullet Time as the glow intensified, and fired his jumpjets a moment before it fired. As he flew out of the way, he restored time to its normal pace, and below him the energy beam smashed into one of the Red Tails, melting its body entirely. The beam hit the ground and released a shockwave that tore apart other nearby bioweapons, sending their body parts scattering.
“We gotta get our hands on that weapon,” Brontosaurus said.
“That’s the plan,” Eric said.
Eric carved his way through the smaller bioweapons that surrounded the Black Tail, bashing and firing his weapon at their legs at point blank range, while Brontosaurus whacked them with the alien spear.
“Take that, bitch!” Brontosaurus said. “Who’s your daddy?”
“Throw the spear!” Eric said.
Brontosaurus did so. Before it could strike, a Red Tail leaped into its path, and took the killing blow.
Eric reached the Black Tail, which was a little taller than his mech, and fired his jumpjets. He swung the ragdoll that held the spear, hoping it would penetrate, and aimed for the neck. But the creature shot out an arm, passing it right through the limits Eric had recorded for the energy shield; the oak-like arm hit the dead Red Tail, arresting its momentum.
Eric continued forward, his body heading toward the armored back of the centipede region, and the energy cannon it held. But before he could touch it, he hit what felt like a solid wall: the energy field. It flashed in a convex pattern where he struck, about two meters in front of the creature, absorbing all his forward momentum. He began to drop.
The creature released the dead Red Tail, and flung out the two thick arms on that side of its torso. Its fists passed through the energy field, striking Eric. He switched to Bullet Time, and released the ragdoll to latch onto those arms before they could withdraw, and it drew him inward. As he struck the energy shield, once more he was halted, and the bioweapon wrenched its arms from his grasp.
Eric completed the drop to the ground.
Other bioweapons rushed forward, obviously intending to trample and pin him. He was still running on Bullet Time, so he reacted faster than the aliens. Moving quickly, he shot out the joints of the three aliens that were coming for him, then he picked up the alien ragdoll in his free hand and once more swung it toward the Black Tail.
The spear yet gripped in the hands of the dead alien struck the dome and penetrated. The creature tried to react, but was too slow, and the spear hit it in the neck. Sparks enveloped the Black Tail and it promptly collapsed. When the large creature thudded to the ground, its black glandular sac erupted, spreading a pool of black goo that encroached upon Eric.
He had Bullet Time still activated, so he leaped onto the back of the fallen bioweapon to avoid the spreading goo. Meanwhile, all the bioweapons nearby were caught by it. That would give Eric some time…
As other Red Tails raced over the bodies of those trapped by the goo, Brontosaurus ripped the spear from the Black Tail’s neck.
“I’ll watch your back!” Brontosaurus said, his voice sounding normal despite the Bullet Time—Brontosaurus had matched Eric’s time sense. That was easy to do via remote syncing: Eric had given Dee permission to share his time sense with his platoon at all times. “Try to make it quick!”
Eric studied the cannon for a moment. It was a cylindrical thing, with blue panels arcing up and down the left and right flanks, hinting at the power it contained. The tip seemed to be embedded directly inside the base of the Black Tail’s neck.
Eric rotated his ZX-15 mount out of the way, so that both of his hands were freed, and then wrapped his fingers around the thick cannon and began to pull. His servomotors groaned in complaint, but he refused to let up. Instead, he increased the power output.
Finally he felt the cannon beginning to give, and he continued pulling. It was like trying to yank off an integral part of one’s body, for example an arm or leg.
In moments he ripped it free entirely, along with a good portion of the Black Tail’s brain and spinal column in the process. And a whole lot of black blood.
“So they keep their brains in their carapaces after all,” Brontosaurus commented.
Eric flung the cannon and its dangling neural tissue over one shoulder, then restored his time sense to normal and retreated.
“One alien weapon, secured,” he transmitted.
3
Eric rotated his ballistic shield into his left hand, while he hung onto the prized cannon on his shoulder with his right, and bashed his way through the noose of Red Tails that had appeared around his position.
“You got magnetic mounts in your storage compartment?” Brontosaurus asked.
“I should,” Eric replied, taking out the legs of the latest Red Tail. “Why?” A proximity alert sounded, and he narrowly dove out of the path of a thrown alien spear.
Brontosaurus attached his second unmounted heavy gun to Eric’s back, then shifted, swiveling over to the front of Eric’s body, using the rungs for support as Eric ran and bashed. Brontosaurus opened the storage panel, retrieved a couple of magnetic mounts, and then climbed back to the shoulder region.
“What are you doing?” Eric asked.
“Hope you don’t care about the Hellhawk launcher on your right shoulder,” Brontosaurus said. “Because you crushed it into submission with that cannon.”
“Yeah, not much I can do about that,” Eric said.
Brontosaurus applied the mounts to the cannon, attaching the alien weapon to Eric’s shoulder and thus freeing up Eric’s right hand once more.
“Your heavy laser is back in play,” Brontosaurus said.
Eric experimentally lowered his arm, and when he was satisfied the cannon wasn’t going to fall, he swiveled his ZX-15 back into place, and used that to take out the legs of the next three Red Tails in his path.
“See if you can figure out what makes that thing fire,” Eric said.
“Since you were kind enough to keep much of the bioweapon’s brain intact,” Brontosaurus said. “I can trace the different neural pathways by sending voltages down each one. I’m sure it’s just a matter of finding the right ganglia necessary to trigger the weapon through the brainstem… at least, that’s my theory. I’m hoping to brute force it.”
Eric was completely swallowed by the vanguard of the herd at that point, but as he made his way to the fore, the Red Tails in front of him began to fall thanks to the laser barrage of the platoon.
According to the overhead map, the Bolt Eaters had reached the next cave already, and the tanks were firing constantly. Or as often as they could, taking into account any overheating.
Without warning the energy cannon began to glow a bright blue.
“Uh, I think I found the trigger,” Brontosaurus said.
“Shut it down!” Eric said. He was running straight toward the cave, and the cannon was pointed directly at them.
“Can’t!” Brontosaurus said.
Eric swung his torso to the right as he continued to run forward.
The weapon fired.
It passed through the right half of a nearby Red Tail, and impacted the rocky ground behind it. The ground exploded, and a close cluster of about ten Red Tails were ripped apart in the process.
“Nice one,” Brontosaurus said.
Eric swung his torso back to the front, and continued his approach to the cave. The slope here was a little steeper than the previous land, and he was forced to slow down.
“How long will the neural tissue last witho
ut a body providing the usual sustenance?” Eric said. “You know, via a working blood stream.”
“These neurons are interesting things,” Brontosaurus said. “They seem to be self-sustaining. With chlorophyll in the actual cells as a backup energy system.”
“This explains why the aliens are able to keep coming at us, even when we fill them with laser holes,” Eric said. “I’m guessing it only works in the sunlight, then? When it gets dark, or we enter a cave, will the neural cells still function?”
“I think so,” Brontosaurus said. “The cells all contain mitochondria, and other storage sinks, which could be used to store any excess energy produced from sunlight.”
“Will the brain die if we exhaust the energy store?” Eric said. “Rendering the cannon useless?”
“Don’t think so,” Brontosaurus said. “Does a tree die at night? Just like Earth plants, it can store enough energy to last through any doldrums. As long as you don’t fire it all night or something, we should be okay.”
“Bioengineering…” Eric said. “It creeps the hell out of me.”
“You and me both,” Brontosaurus said. “Especially when it’s done by aliens, and with DNA harvested from our own flora and fauna.”
“Can you link the appropriate ganglial trigger in the brainstem up to some kind of remote sparker?” Eric asked.
“I got just the thing,” Brontosaurus said. Eric glanced at his rear view mirror, and watched as the heavy gunner retrieved a small box from his utility belt and shoved the ganglial tip into it. “Try accessing this remote interface.”
Eric dismissed the video feed and bashed away the next Red Tail. For the most part, the path ahead was clear all the way to the cave entrance, thanks to the efforts of the platoon, who kept the shoulder of the mountain free of the vanguard. For now.