Robot Wars: Thrown Into the Fray

by Nicholas Haring

  Chapter 24

  “Wow… would you look at that view,” Lander said as he and Akiyama arrived at the top of the thirty-foot tall concrete observation tower that was just to the right of the hideaway bunker and about ten meters away from the frontline trench. To his left, Lander could see a mortar pit with Brookes and Samson inside; to the left of them was a Laser cannon turret manned by a couple of Regs. To Lander’s right - not too far away - was another Laser cannon turret; behind him the road leading to Grantsburg and in front of him a hellish landscape, that may soon become Grantsburg if they failed; the thought terrified him.

  “We’ll set up here, Sergeant Lander,” Akiyama said as she started to put her rifle together.

  “Okay, I’ll put the spotter scope - here?” Lander asked; Akiyama looked up and shook her head no. “Here?” Akiyama nodded yes, Lander set the spotter scope up, and looked through it, trying to gauge the range.

  “Sergeant Lander?” Akiyama said.

  “Yes?”

  “On the top of the scope, there’s a laser range finder,” Akiyama said, not even glancing up from her rifle.

  “Oh… yeah, thanks,” Lander said as he switched it on.

  “No problem.”

  “Hey, Akiyama?”

  “Yes?”

  “Are we going to be all right up here? This observation tower seems a bit exposed,” Lander said with a concerned tone as he looked around.

  “We’ll be fine, at least for awhile. The first half of the first wave will be roughly sixty-thousand-plus Mark Ones and about two-thousand-plus Mark Twos, so will be able to get in some target practice and find our range before the second half of the first wave comes in; that’s when we’ll have our first Mark Threes and Fours. The tricky part is destroying the robots faster than what they can come up; we won’t be able to do that with the firepower that we’ve got out here, even if the Phaetons provide continuous support. Around the third wave, if not sooner, we’ll have to fallback,” Akiyama said frankly.

  “Oh… so… what do you think our chances of saving the town are?” Lander asked as he looked at Akiyama; her eyes told him right away that the answer wasn’t to his liking.

  “We can’t worry about that right now; if we can work together well as a team we’ll improve our odds,” Akiyama said.

  Lander couldn’t help but think about it; it was consuming him. He thought about Deb and Carly, he hadn’t seen or heard from them since he had left the house. Lander thought about what he would be doing today if none of this had happened. He imagined taking Carly to school in the morning and lounging around the house on his day off. Taking Deb to lunch during her break, picking Carly up from school in the afternoon, and cooking spaghetti for supper; it all seemed so close, like it was happening just on the other side of a window. He could see it so clearly, but there was no way inside. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine himself trying to open that window, but the ever-present electric hum was preventing him; it was continuously reminding him of where he was, and it was getting louder and louder, closer and closer.

  “I’ve always hated that damn hum,” Lander said, mostly to himself.

  “I hardly even notice it anymore,” Akiyama said. She had just finished putting her rifle together and was inserting the magazine.

  “Must be nice,” Lander sighed.

  “Yeah … yeah … okay, roger, sir,” Akiyama said as Lander turned around to see who she was talking to.

  “That was Captain Fischer; the first wave will be coming into visual range soon. He wants us to keep our eyes sharp and scanning the horizon to the south,” Akiyama said.

  “Okay, got it,” Lander said as he looked through his spotter scope toward the horizon.

  The ground vibrations seemed to be intensifying, yet another sign they were getting closer.

  “Yes… certainly, sir, I’ll tell him,” Akiyama said into her headset.

  “Captain Fischer?”

  “Yes. We’re going to spot for Brookes until the robots get within range of my rifle, then Sergeant Hartford will take over spotting duties, and we’ll engage targets, until Fischer tells us otherwise,” Akiyama said.

  “All right.”

  Lander looked through his spotter scope, again to the horizon; the haze was keeping visibility to less than four kilometers. The sun hung in the southeastern sky just above the ridge. Lander looked behind him quickly and could see dark clouds moving in from the west, possibly a cold front. Lander glanced over to Akiyama on his left; she was peering through her binoculars to the south.

  The anticipation was growing in him; his heart was racing. He knew that if the haze was gone they would see them all. He knew they were there. He could feel them. He could hear them, as almost as though the electric hum were now attached to something and not just a disembodied, directional sound.

  Then Lander saw the haze grow darker and darker, until finally he could make out objects moving behind it, as though they were behind a gray shower curtain.

  “Captain, they’re here. Four-thousand meters at eleven o’clock and closing in, sir,” Akiyama said over her headset. “Get ready, Lander.”

  Lander saw the first line pop out from the haze. Lander’s heart slowed down considerably, almost to a stop, and then a strange sense of calm came over him. They haven’t changed at all, Lander thought as he saw the gray blocky shapes coming closer; even the electric hum sounded like it lessened somewhat as well; the wait was definitely over.

  The Mark Ones were still too far away to notice any individual detail on them, but their line stretched from one end of the valley to the other and they were getting more concentrated as it narrowed to the trenches.

  “Okay, Lander, judging from the Mark Ones’ speed we have about fifteen minutes before they come into firing range of the mortars, and then another thirty minutes after that before they get into a range that I can engage them. Time-on-target for the light plasma mortar at maximum range is twenty seconds, so just before the robots get to the three-thousand meter mark we’ll call in the fire order, got it?” Akiyama said as she looked up from her binoculars to Lander.

  “Got it,” Lander said as he went back to looking through his spotting scope.

  Lander found a mostly intact, burnt-out pine tree that was roughly three-thousand-and-five meters away; he would use this as the start line. The robots were getting closer as a seemingly endless amount of them were pouring out of the haze.

  “You said sixty-thousand in the first wave alone?” Lander asked.

  “No, sixty-thousand Mark Ones in the first half of the first wave; right now, I would say we have thirty-thousand that are directly visible,” Akiyama said as she continued to peer through her binoculars, scanning left to right.

  Lander could hear a roar coming from behind him, getting louder fast. He looked up behind to his left, and could see dozens upon dozens of Phaetons flying in to meet the robot horde.

  “They’re a little late,” Akiyama said with no surprise as she looked up too.

  The Phaetons immediately let loose a barrage of laser and rocket fire all along the robot line. It was an impressive display of force or at least it looked impressive. The first volley and pass barely made a dent in the gray metallic mass steadily moving closer.

  The Phaetons circled around for another pass as the Mark Twos at the rear of the mass took pot shots at them. The second volley went for the middle of the large gob, but from Lander’s vantage point it was unclear what effect they were having. The robots were getting closer still, almost within range of the light mortars, perhaps only a hundred meters away from the start line.

  The Phaetons, for their third pass began to go down the lines of robots from east to west; expending a great deal of their ordinance, but not really having the effect that Lander was hoping for.

  “They’re almost in range now,” Lander said as he focused on the burnt tree; the robots were close.

  Lander heard a few mortar shots coming from his right. The rounds landed short of the robots as they
were still out-of-range. Lander looked over to Akiyama.

  “Regs…” she said, with a slight scoff as she shook her head.

  The Phaetons started to peel off, and then headed north.

  “I guess they’re dry,” Lander said as he watched a few fly by.

  “That’s one way to put it,” Akiyama said.

  Lander went back to focusing on the burnt tree when a Mark One came into view. It had been scorched, possibly a survivor of a close explosion. It trudged along forward at a walking pace and was soon joined by others.

  “They’ve crossed the line, Akiyama. Let’s let them have it!” Lander said as he looked over to her.

  “Brookes … Brookes, they’re in range now, open fire,” Akiyama said.

  Lander looked over to the mortar pit and saw Samson put a round in the tube. It shot out, and then exploded mid-flight, just as the rest of the mortars were shooting off.

  “What was that?” Lander asked.

  “I think your squad-mate set the timer too short,” Akiyama said as Lander looked back over just in time to see Samson putting another round in the tube.

  This time the shot sailed into a small cluster of Mark Ones and blew them up.

  “Brookes, that’s a direct hit; shift your fire to the left by twenty degrees and decrease your range by five meters per shot, out,” Akiyama said on her headset.

  “Why not keep it at three-thousand?” Lander asked.

  “If we keep picking off the bots in front it will make it harder for the ones behind them; it will slow them down, but …” Akiyama said as she looked left and right down the line. “But, it looks like the Regs are just going for fire on mass; they’ll destroy a lot, but they won’t slow them down that much.”

  Lander looked down to the trenches up front; everyone seemed to be set in position. Lander saw Captain Fischer standing out in front of the trenches on a small berm as he peered out over the battlefield.

  “What’s Captain Fischer doing?” Lander asked, looking over at Akiyama.

  Akiyama looked over to where Lander was pointing.

  “Ugh… he’s in that mood again,” Akiyama sighed as she rolled her eyes.

  “Mood?”

  “Yeah, he gets in these ‘heroic grandeur’ moods sometimes; watch, Martin will come by and try to talk him back into the trench.”

  Sure enough, Martin walked over to Fischer. Lander then turned his gaze away from them and looked south. The robots seemed to be mostly unaffected by the light mortar fire and were closing on two-thousand-five-hundred meters, almost in range of the laser turrets.

  Chapter 25

  “Cap, what are you doin’?” Martin asked as he walked over to Fischer, who was standing just outside of the trench on a small berm. He was looking through his binoculars, surveying the effect of the mortar fire.

  “Just watching the proceedings, First Sergeant,” Fischer said as he began scanning left to right.

  “Okay, but I think we would all feel a lot better if you came back into the trench and did that,” Martin said as he motioned to Fischer to come back in.

  Fischer didn’t respond; he was still gazing through his binoculars.

  “What’s he doing?” Riley asked as Fischer began walking up to the magnetic snag wire.

  “He’s being Captain Fischer!” said the star-struck Ellerby.

  “He’s being Captain Fischer…” Martin said with an irritated sigh.

  Fischer was scanning the robot line. It looks like the first half of the first wave is about played out, Fischer thought. The explosions from the mortar rounds were kicking up huge quantities of dust; added on to the haze was now making visibility of anything beyond three-thousand meters virtually impossible.

  “Cap!”

  Fischer couldn’t see the Mark Twos yet, they were hidden by the clouds of dust being thrown up into the air. The Mark Ones were getting closer, almost in range of the laser turrets. The nice uniform ranks of the first few rows from earlier were now just patchy clusters of twenty or more, here and there.

  “God dammit, Cap!”

  Fischer couldn’t help but think that there was a certain beauty to all of this. The HRUOs could afford to keep doing this, simply to run them out of ammo. The Mark Ones were often overlooked, but it was possible they were the most dangerous of all. You could never ignore them; you could never let them get too close…

  “Cap!” Martin yelled as he hit Fischer on the back of his helmet.

  “What?” Fischer said as he quickly turned his head.

  “Remember when you told me to tell you when you were doing this again?” Martin asked.

  “Yeah, but it’s a magnificent sight, isn’t?” Fischer said as he spread out his arms.

  “I’d rather see a nice tropical beach than this shit. Come on, Cap, let’s get back to the trench,” Martin said as he motioned his head.

  “Just a moment, the laser turrets should be opening up any second now,” Fischer said, and sure enough, almost on cue they did all along the line.

  Red pulses of laser beams from the turrets cut through the Mark Ones, like scythes reaping wheat. The wheat, however, seemed to be growing faster than it could be cut.

  Fischer and Martin dropped down back into the trench.

  “Damn it, we need more artillery out here,” Fischer said.

  “Ammo too; I’m sure the Lieutenant will need more rounds soon,” Martin said.

  “Jones, come in; Jones, come in, over,” Fischer said over his radio headset.

  “Yes, sir?” Jones replied.

  “I need you to get ahold of HQ, let them know we’re going to need an ammo drop for mortar rounds soon, out.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Okay, everyone, gather around, you too, reservists,” Fischer said as they huddled around him. “All right, they’re going to be coming into laser rifle range here in about twenty minutes. Priority targets are the Mark Twos. Reservists, I need you to hang back and keep your heads down, your rifles won’t be very effective against the Mark Ones until they close within a hundred meters, so hold your fire ‘til then. Let’s see; Riley, I want you to stick with Hartford on the left; Porter, stick with Sanchez on the right; Ellerby, you’re with Martin in the middle; Thompson, you’ll team up with Kazir in the front bunker; Cross, I want you to stick with Jones in the hideaway for now. Everyone got it?”

  “Yes, sir!” Everyone said in unison, and then went to their stations.

  “Captain Fischer, sir?” Jones asked over the radio.

  “Yeah, Jones, what’s the ETA on the ammo?” Fischer asked.

  “Less than thirty minutes, sir,” Jones said.

  “Okay, let me know as soon as it’s in,”

  Fischer heard a loud report come from the top of the observation tower; it was Akiyama’s sniper rifle.

  “The robots must be in range,” Fischer muttered to himself. It was time for Hartford to take over spotting duties. “Take over spotting, Hartford.”

  “Yes, sir, I’m on it, Cap,” Hartford responded.

  “Everyone! The robots will be in range soon; pick your targets carefully, and try to make each shot count; we’re working on a shoestring budget as far as ammo is going right now!” Fischer yelled.

  The robots were closing in on six-hundred meters; their initial numbers being severely depleted by the laser turrets and mortar fire. The first half of the first wave was still a dangerous force if it got too close. We’re just not causing enough damage.

  Fischer was peering through his binoculars, searching for the Mark Twos; they were in the back of the mass. Another shot rang out from the observation tower and the head of a Mark Two that Fischer had just found exploded into a shower of sparks, the machine clumping forward. Another shot and another Mark Two fell by the wayside. Two more shots and two more bit the dust.

  “Looks like Akiyama has found her rhythm, Cap,” Martin said.

  “Yeah, now if we can only get her infinite ammo,” Fischer said.

  “Too bad I left my cheat codes ba
ck at Orion, Cap,” Martin joked.

  “Akiyama, how are you doing on ammo?” Fischer asked over his headset.

  “I have ten mags left, sir. I’ll save three for the Fours,” Akiyama replied.

  “Try to save more than that. I want you only to shoot Twos that are about to fire their missiles, understood?”

  “Roger, sir.”

  “Riley!” Fischer yelled.

  “Yes, sir?” Riley replied loudly as he ran up to Fischer.

  “Riley, I want you to start engaging the Mark Ones and Twos. Your marksmen’s rifle should be able to deal damage to them at this distance; target the Twos first, understood?” Fischer said.

  “Yes, sir! I’ll hit the Twos first and then move down to the Ones,” Riley said; he turned and headed straight back to where Hartford was.

  “I don’t think he’s going to be able to destroy any Twos with his rifle at this range, Cap,” Martin said.

  “You never know, Martin; he might get lucky,” Fischer smirked.

  The robots came within laser rifle range as everyone up and down the line opened fire. The robots started falling en masse. The Mark Twos began to launch their missiles in response, most heading to the fortifications; one flew over Fischer, just narrowly missing the observation tower. He aimed and fired at the robot which had just missed. His first shot grazed its right shoulder, and his second shot missed wide to the left destroying a hapless Mark One. He was preparing to fire his third when a shot rang out from the observation tower; the robot’s head disintegrated.

  “Got it,” Akiyama said over the headset.

  Fischer smirked as two more Twos fell in quick succession. The horde was melting away. There were only a few stragglers here and there from the first half and now Fischer could spot the second half coming in.

  “We’ve got the second half incoming, sir,” Akiyama said over the headset.

  “Yeah, I see ‘em,” Fischer responded.

  Fischer could make out the lone Mark Four in the distance it was still a ways off maybe two kilometers away. It was heading straight for the middle of the line like he had hoped it would.