by Jake Bible
Themopolous tossed the defibrillator on the ground. “Well what do you want me to do! He’s fucking dead Jay! I’ve been trying CPR for minutes! His brain is a vegetable by now!” the Doctor cried, slumping to the ground.
“T MINUS NINE MINUTES UNTIL NUCLEAR DETONATION”
The Chief Mechanic stopped his hacking, as did Marin and they joined Bisby at Jethro’s side.
“Goodbye friend,” Jay sniffed.
***
Bisby drew his sidearm and approached Jethro’s body. Jay stepped in front of him. “What the fuck are you doing, Biz?”
“You know what I’m doing Jay. Get the fuck out of my way,” Bisby snarled.
Marin grabbed Jay and tried to pull him away. “We can’t risk Jethro turning, not while connected to the mainframe.”
Jay sighed and stepped aside. Bisby put the gun to Jethro’s temple.
The room went pitch black, all equipment going dead.
“Um, I haven’t pulled the trigger yet,” Bisby said.
Everyone clapped their hands over their ears as Jethro’s voice boomed from the loudspeakers.
***
Everyone in the stronghold’s staging area cringed as Jethro’s voice raged at full volume. The external loudspeakers nearly shook from their anchors. The mech pilots clawed at their ears, trying to pull their coms out before going deaf.
“HOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYYY FUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!” Jethro bellowed then was silent.
Jay watched as the monitors flickered and reset and Jethro’s life support beeped back to life, indicating the mechanic’s body had a pulse again.
“Jethro?” Jay whispered.
“Jeezus fucking Christ! I highly recommend against a manual reboot when your body is hooked to the thing you’re rebooting,” Jethro said. “That shit hurts like a bitch!”
***
“Someone care to tell me what the fuck is going on?” Capreze ordered watching Stomper finish off the last few crippled dead mechs. “Status report now!”
“Sorry about that, Commander,” Jethro answered. “I got stuck behind a firewall and couldn’t get free. All good now.”
“A firewall? What the fuck are you talking about mechanic?” Capreze asked. “How do you get stuck behind your own goddamn firewall?”
“Well, sir, that’s the rub,” Jethro answered. “It wasn’t the mainframe. I was stuck behind something else.”
“You what?”
“Sir, I think I was in a satellite.”
“WHAT? There aren’t any satellite’s Jethro!”
***
“Hey. Jenny? Can you hear me?” the Rookie said, having stepped from his mech onto the train car and knelt next to the unconscious Railer. “Come on, please wake up girl.”
Jenny stirred and opened her eyes. “Rookie? What happened? Are we? Did we?” She shut her eyes tight again and tears squeezed onto her cheeks. “Oh, god. Daddy,” she sobbed.
The Rookie took her gently in his arms and held her tight as her body shook and hitched. “I’m sorry, Jenny. I really am.”
Jenny wrapped her arms about the Rookie’s neck and buried her face in his chest.
***
“Jay? What do you make of this?” Capreze asked.
“First I’ve heard about, sir,” Jay answered. “Are you sure Jethro?”
“Pretty fucking sure, Jay,” Jethro answered. “I had all kinds of foreign code flashing through my brain. The shit I saw. Holy fuck! It’s going to take me a bit to sort it all out.”
“Well, that’s going to have to wait until I am sure you’re physically stable,” Themopolous ordered.
“Doctor, do you understand the importance-?”
“Medical override, Commander,” Themopolous stated. “Jethro isn’t doing a fucking thing until I give the go ahead? Got it?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Capreze replied.
***
“Incoming transport,” Stomper stated.
Everyone on the battlefield turned to see the mech transport speed towards them and then brake to a halt. The ramp descended and Masters stepped from the vehicle. “Hey everyone! What’d I miss?”
“PILOT MASTERS!” Capreze shouted. “GET YOUR MOTHER FUCKING DESSERTING ASS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!”
Masters cringed and walked towards the Commander’s mech. “Now, sir, before you start going all court’s martial on my ass, you gotta understand-.”
“I don’t gotta understand shit, Pilot Masters,” Capreze said. “Or should I say Cook Masters?”
Masters blanched. “You wouldn’t?”
“Just did,” the Commander said, stomping away.
***
“Cook?” Stomper asked. “Will Pilot Masters no longer be my pilot?”
“Looks that way,” Harlow answered. “He fucked up pretty bad. He’s gonna be in the dog house for quite a while.”
“Dog house?”
“It’s an expression. It means he’s in trouble and will be for a very long time.”
Stomper processed for a moment.
“Who will be my pilot?”
“I guess I can be. You are the biggest, baddest mech around and I’m the biggest, baddest mech pilot. Perfect fit, really,” Harlow replied.
Stomper processed again. “So that means I get a Harlow.”
Harlow chuckled. “I guess you do.”
***
Mathew limped into the stronghold, waving off the Railer medics that approached him. “I’m fine. Back off.”
He looked around at all of the wounded and those attending them.
“She’s over there,” June said stepping up next to Mathew and pointing at a cot in the corner. “She’s still unconscious. Sorry.”
Mathew grunted and started towards Rachel, but stopped and faced June. “Thanks, June. I mean that.”
June nodded as Mathew continued walking to Rachel’s cot. June felt a small hand in hers and she looked down to find the Boiler boy. She swept him up and hugged him fiercely.
***
Jenny’s sobs slowed and she pulled her head back, her bloodshot eyes locking with the Rookie’s. “What’s your name?”
“Huh? My name?” the Rookie asked, taken aback.
“Yeah, your real name.”
The Rookie took a deep breath. “Dog.”
Jenny narrowed her eyes. “I’m sorry, did you say ‘dog’?”
The Rookie smiled weakly. “Unfortunately, yes. Boiler, remember.”
She laid her head against his chest. “I think I prefer the Rookie.”
“Yeah, I think I prefer that too,” the Rookie agreed.
Jenny began to cry again, but softer this time. The Rookie pressed her into him and rocked her back and forth.
***
Capreze surveyed the battlefield.
Broken mechs lay everywhere, their parts littering the ground. He looked at the Railer train with only four cars intact, seeing Jenny and the Rookie on one of them, a Railer in a Boiler’s arms.
He watched Stomper lower Harlow to the ground and Masters run to her. Harlow passed him by, her hand up, palm out. Masters chased after, and although Capreze couldn’t hear the words, he was pretty sure Harlow would make Masters repeat them for a good long while.
Capreze slowly, painfully undid his straps and sighed, exhausted. “Now the real work begins.”
***
“Jethro? I need an open channel,” Capreze ordered. “Boost the signal as high as you can. I want anyone still living and listening out in the wasteland to hear me.”
“Channel open, sir,” Jethro responded.
“This is Commander James Capreze. My pilots and I have taken the UDC stronghold. Any who would like to join us may do so and any that oppose us will die.” Capreze paused. “It is time to truly live free not as ghosts of the past, not as UDC puppets. We live as one or die apart. I want to live. Do you?… Capreze out.”
Epilogue
As soon as Jimmy stopped the mech baby Rachel began to cry. “Come on Baby Girl, you’re crushing me here,” He sai
d to his infant daughter. “Papa Bear’s gotta sleep or I’m gonna crash this hunk of metal.”
As soon as Capreze began walking the mech further into the wasteland Rachel quieted down. Within a mile she had fallen back asleep. Capreze wrinkled his nose. “Oh, God! How can something so foul come out of something so small and cute?!?”
Capreze shifted Rachel over and dug in the diaper bag, but with no luck. “Oh, you gotta be shitting me!”
***
Themopolous smiled as the Commander tossed and turned in the cot next to Rachel’s. “You are the dreamingest person I’ve ever known,” she whispered while she checked Rachel’s vital signs.
Everything checked out fine with Rachel, which is what puzzled the Doctor the most. There was no medical explanation for why Rachel was still unconscious. It wasn’t even a true coma, the brain scans showed too much activity.
Themopolous took down Rachel’s empty IV bag. Mathew came up next to her, handing her a fresh bag. “How’s she doin’, Doc?”
“The same, which is good, I guess,” Themopolous answered, hopeful.
***
“Is anyone out there?” a voice echoed in Jimmy’s head. “Hello? Can anyone read me?”
Capreze, sleepily realizing the voice was coming from the com, grudgingly came awake. “Hello?” he coughed. “Who is this? I can hear you.”
“Capreze? Jimmy! Is that you?” the voice asked.
“This is Mech Pilot James Capreze, who the fuck is this?”
“It’s Stan! Stanislaw! Man, I can’t believe you made it out also! Holy Shit!”
“Stan? Jeezus, I thought I was the only one left,” Capreze responded.
“I think we’re it, man.”
“Not quite, I got Rachel out with me.”
“Thank God for that.”
***
Commander Capreze came awake with a start.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you,” Mathew said, seated next to Rachel’s cot, his hand in hers.
Capreze ran his hand over his face, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “What time is it?”
“0700,” Mathew responded. “Everyone let you sleep in.”
Capreze glanced at Rachel and smiled. “Well, at least I’m not the only slacker around here.”
“If she can hear you, she’s gonna kick your ass when she wakes up.”
Capreze chuckled. “I look forward to that.” The Commander stood and stretched. “I’m gonna get cleaned up. Want some coffee?”
“Sure.”
***
“Hey! Stop locking me out!” Jay shouted at Jethro. “I’m trying to run a diagnostic!”
“I already ran it and fixed it, you’re just going to fuck it back up!” Jethro shouted back.
“Boys! Can you please stop bickering for one fucking minute!” Marin shouted, pinching the bridge of her nose, trying to ward off the immanent headache. “You two are fucking killing me!”
“Sorry, Marin,” Jay said sheepishly.
“Yeah, sorry Marin. Jay can be a real pain in the ass sometimes,” Jethro said.
“Me? You’re the fucking pain in the ass!” Jay shouted.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Marin cursed.
***
Capreze stepped into the stronghold mess hall, heading straight for the coffee. “Morning,” he said to Specialists Grendetti and Specialist Kafar.
“Morning, sir,” Grendetti answered, while Specialist Kafar nodded.
“I can’t thank you guys enough for getting this place in order,” Capreze said, indicating the mess hall.
“Well, after Jethro did a controlled fire purge of the place, it really was just a matter of scrubbing it down and hosing it off.”
Capreze lifted a cup of coffee to his lips and sipped, grimacing.
Kafar laughed. “We can’t wait until your girl wakes up. We’ve heard her coffee is legend.”
***
Capreze nearly ran into Marin as he left the mess.
“Excuse me, Commander,” she said, frowning.
Capreze eyed her carefully. “They driving you nuts?”
Marin sighed. “They’re like fucking kids!”
“How’s the data recovery coming?” Capreze asked.
“Slow to nil,” Marin answered. “Every time we think we’ve got something we find another dead end. Johnson was pretty thorough with his safeguards. We’ll be lucky to recover one percent of what was lost.”
“Too bad, that was the whole history of the stronghold.”
“Plus, detailed medical records and weapons research.”
“What about the satellite?”
“Jethro’s still trying to get back in.”
***
Mathew watched as the Railer mechanics worked on yet another new mech.
“Hey Matty,” June said.
“Morning, June,” Mathew responded. “They’ve done a great job. We’re gonna have more mechs than pilots unless Themopolous and Jethro can get the new Reaper chips ready.”
“Listen,” June said. “I’ve been meaning to apologize for a while.”
Mathew waved her off. “No apologies, June. I’ve already said that.”
“Just hear me out.”
Mathew nodded and June continued. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for making things hard on you and Rachel. It wasn’t fair. Okay?”
“Okay,” Mathew said smiling. “Unnecessary apology accepted.”
***
“Jethro?” Capreze called over the com as he made his way back to the staging area, two steaming mugs of coffee in his hands.
“Yes, sir?” Jethro responded.
“Any more info on that neurotoxin?”
“No, sir. I can’t find a trace of it stored anywhere. Johnson must have used the only supply.”
“Do you have any data on it at all?”
“A little from my analysis of the air samples from before the Special Ops people torched the mess. But, it’s sketchy at best.”
“Well, keep working at it.”
“Not a problem, sir. It’s on the priority list, trust me.”
***
Jenny taped the picture of her father to the train engine’s control panel.
“Systems are ready. We can depart at anytime,” a Railer engineer said next to her. “We’re just waiting on the mech.”
Jenny rolled her eyes. “I’ll hurry his ass up.” Jenny tapped at her com. “Hey Dog Boy! You coming or what?”
“Seriously? Is that going to be my nickname?” the Rookie complained.
“Only from me. You can kick anyone else’s ass that calls you that.”
“That’s a deal,” the Rookie laughed. “I’m all powered up and heading your way.”
“Good. We’ve got some wasteland to cover.”
***
Capreze stepped next to Mathew, handing him a mug of coffee.
“Thanks,” Mathew said.
“You won’t thank me after you try it,” the Commander warned.
Mathew took a sip and grimaced. “Yeah, I take that back. Masters make this?”
“He made it yesterday before he took off with Bisby, Harlow and Stomper,” Capreze answered.
The two remained silent for a moment before Mathew spoke again. “Doc says she’s stable and doing fine, she just won’t wake up.”
“I suggested we put her in a mech, she’d feel more at home, but Themopolous disagreed.”
Rachel’s men sipped at their horrid coffee.
***
“Mech coming through!” the Rookie called out.
Capreze and Mathew stepped out of the way of the battle machine.
“You all set?” Capreze said over the com.
“Yep, it took us a couple weeks, but the train, while a bit shorter, is running fine,” the Rookie responded. “Jenny just ran the final test and we’re good to go.”
“Be careful,” Mathew said.
“Will do. We’re just going to my old village and picking up those that want to leave. We’ll be back in a week.
”
The Rookie stepped his mech out of the stronghold and over to the Railer train.
***
Lieutenant Murphy watched Specialist Sol set the last pole.
“Perimeter is up, Commander,” Murphy said.
“Excellent, Lieutenant,” Capreze responded over the com. “I’ll alert Jay.”
“No need,” Jethro said. “I’ve already activated it and all frequencies are programmed and broadcasting. Any stray deaders will be toast if they cross the line.”
“I don’t like how he’s listening to everything,” Sol said.
“I heard that Specialist,” Jethro laughed. “I’ll stop, I promise.”
Sol looked at the Lieutenant and rolled his eyes. Murphy slapped him on the shoulder and grinned as the two Special Ops teammates walked back towards the stronghold entrance.
***
Mathew took another sip of coffee, a shiver of disgust shaking his frame. Capreze laughed. “You don’t have to drink it, you know.”
“Yeah, I better get used to it though,” Mathew responded. “You know, just in case…” He trailed off and stared out into the distance.
Capreze cleared his throat. “You ever find Shiner’s CPU?”
“Nope. We barely found any debris. Those plasma charges must have nearly vaporized him. Jay and Jethro are pretty pissed. They really wanted to study how he was put together.”
The two men each took another sip and each shivered, processing the month’s events.
***
“So,” Mathew broached cautiously. “You ever gonna tell me what the Hell you and Shiner were talking about on the battlefield that day?”
“Nope,” Capreze answered flatly.
Mathew furrowed his brow and turned his full gaze on Capreze. “Sir, if it has anything to do with Rachel I think I have a right to know.”
Capreze kept his eyes focused out, refusing to meet Mathew’s gaze. “No, you don’t.”
Mathew stared a minute then turned away. “Well, it was worth a shot. I know better than to argue with a Capreze when you’re acting like stubborn asses.”
Capreze smiled slightly.
***
“Well, he looks fine,” Themopolous said, lowering the boy’s shirt and making a couple of notations on her tablet. “He’s still a bit malnourished, but he’s starting to develop muscle tone and that’s a good sign. His back will never fully straighten, but he may be able to walk without a limp in the next few months.”