Chapter 27
Lander was surveying the aftermath of the battlefield. Broken and burning robot hulks littered a landscape that was even more obliterated and unrecognizable than before. There was no trace of the tree that he had used for his start line; it was almost as if it had never existed. Three of the ten laser towers were completely destroyed and another two looked to be heavily damaged, the one on their left was unscathed, fortunately.
“We have to do this nine more times?” Lander asked as he turned to Akiyama.
Akiyama didn’t say a word, but there was nothing for her to say; either they were going to be attacked nine more times or they weren’t, it was just that simple. She got up from her prone position and began to take apart her rifle to clean it.
“Lander, can you gather up any casings for me, please?” Akiyama asked.
“Yeah sure,” Lander said, and then looked around at the concrete floor of the tower.
Lander didn’t see many; most of them must’ve fallen off the tower somehow he supposed. He began picking up those that were around him, but he was finding more of the casings from his rifle than he was finding from Akiyama’s.
“Akiyama, here’s all I could find. Do you want me to go down below and …?”
Akiyama shook her head. “It’s okay, Lander. I can get them later.”
Lander nodded and sat down next to his spotter scope. He then grabbed his rifle propped up on the wall to his right and wondered if whether he should clean it or not. He hadn’t fired more than fifteen shots in defense of his hometown. He only got three kills and those were just Ones; two of which had gotten too close to the tower and another which was tangled up in the snag wire as it was retreating.
A heavy overcast had moved in some time during the battle. The air felt as though it were getting colder or at least it was the first time Lander had ever noticed it; he was too busy, to worry about how cold it was getting. The electric hum that never really left was becoming more pronounced than ever. The fading light was heralding in the night as the darkness set in under the overcast, smoke-choked sky. It must be close to sunset by now, Lander thought.
“Forty… forty-one… forty-two… forty-two bullets left,” Akiyama said as she counted up the bullets she had remaining and in addition to the ones Cross had brought up earlier.
“Can we make a call for more?” Lander asked.
Akiyama looked at Lander and shook her head. She looked as though she had been in similar situations before, but probably none this dire.
“I’ll have to be more careful with my shots. I missed ten that I shouldn’t have. Once a bullet is gone you never get it back. How many bullets do you have, Lander?” Akiyama asked as she stood up to stretch.
“I uhh… have four twenty-round clips left and one with five left in it, so about eighty-five total,” Lander said, feeling slightly guilty he didn’t shoot more.
“That’s good, we’re going to need every one of them,” Akiyama said, and then walked up to the edge of the observation tower and leaned over on the waist-high concrete wall; she was looking over the battlefield.
Lander stood up, and then leaned over his side of the wall to get a better look at the captured Mark Four stomping by to the rear of the line. Jones and Fischer were following close behind it as Jones controlled it through his hand-held Personal Combat Computer. Lander looked over at Akiyama to see if she was looking at the Four, she was still staring off to the south; she looked as though she were in deep thought.
“I’m going to have to get a laser sniper rifle soon, Lander,” Akiyama said, as she still gazed out to the southern horizon.
“Why?” Lander asked.
“I just can’t keep using my rifle anymore. I was at the QM-W, before we left for Grantsburg, trying to procure some more ammo and primers, so I can make some new rounds, but they were out, unfortunately. Fischer assured me they would have a supply depot here with fifty-cal ammo; the box Cross brought up was probably the only one they had left,” Akiyama said, and then turned around and leaned up against the wall with her back to the south, and then looked at her rifle.
“Will it be possible to get you a laser sniper?” Lander asked.
Akiyama didn’t respond for a second as she continued to stare at her rifle.
“Not by tomorrow. I also have a confession, Lander, I’ve never used a laser sniper rifle before,” Akiyama said as she turned her gaze to Lander.
“Oh… well, how much different can it be?” Lander asked; he really didn’t have any idea.
“I’ve used this rifle ever since I was old enough to fire it. My grandpa used to take me out shooting. Heh… He and I used to sneak out and go shooting even though my mom and dad thought I was too little. I was always finding excuses to cover up the bruises I was getting on my shoulder; I had even made a bully up and everything,” Akiyama said as she smirked.
Lander imagined his little girl trying to fire a giant gun like that. It seemed all a little too far-fetched to him.
“How did you keep from breaking your shoulder?” Lander asked.
“He had extra shock absorbers on the butt of the rifle; it still hurt badly though. My grandpa for the first few years would have to help me hold it and pull the trigger, but after awhile I became comfortable using it. He used to say I was a better shot than he was.”
“So where did you go shooting? I think there are age limits at most ranges.”
“My parents owned a vast sugar plantation on Maui before -- well, you know. My Grandpa would take me out to the old lava flow on our property faraway from the house or anyone else. He had constructed a little firing range there, kind of like the one you built earlier. I was fascinated by shooting. He would tell me some stories about the first robot attacks and how he made it out of Kuwait.”
Lander sat down and grabbed his rifle to clean it.
“You weren’t scared by the stories as a kid?” Lander asked as he began wiping down his rifle.
“Not really. Living in Hawaii at the time; the robot attacks were so distant. Looking back on it now, it was all really surreal. My grandpa seemed to be the only one concerned about them and he was the only one I knew who had actually fought them. I was sheltered from all of it as a kid; the private school I went to, all of the other kids who were just as bad or worse off than I was. My parents used to get on to my grandpa for telling me his war stories, but I was the one who used to beg him to tell me more, but even then he would only tell me the ones he was comfortable about me hearing.”
“It sounds like you and your grandfather were really close then,” Lander said as he looked down his bore; he wasn’t very surprised to find it relatively clean.
“Yeah, I never had any friends when I was kid; I was always something of a loner. I was an only child and my parents were always too busy with the day-to-day business of the plantation to really spend any time with me. My grandfather was the only real friend I had.”
“Do you still get to see him?” Lander asked without really thinking and then looked up when he hadn’t heard a response right away.
“No.”
“Oh… I’m sorry, Akiyama.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“Do you mind me asking what happened?”
“No. I was in school when the attacks came; fifth period I think. I remember some things as though they happened yesterday, but the rest of it is just a blur. The chaos was unimaginable. I remember watching the robots coming ashore at Kanaha Beach on the classroom TV. I remember my grandpa fighting through the mobs of terrified people to get me out of there. I remember hearing the electric hum for the first time, looking up to him and for the first time in my life seeing true fear in his face; it was as though he were back in Kuwait all those years ago. I also remember the utter sadness in his face as my parents and I boarded the company helicopter to leave for Hilo Airport.”
“Why didn’t he go with you?”
“I was never going to let him leave without me. Right before we got onto the helicopter, he ki
ssed me goodbye on the forehead and handed me to my dad. I cried and cried; begged him not to leave, but he told me he had to stay behind and fight. He was running back to the house when we took off; that was the last I ever heard or saw of him.
“Did he give you the rifle before you left?”
“No. It was five years after and we were living near Fresno; I had just graduated high school. My parents were overjoyed when I was accepted to NOU, but I wasn’t really. The week after graduation a large, heavy, beaten-up package was delivered to our door. I opened it up, and inside -- wrapped-up tight in tons of bubble wrap was my grandpa’s sniper rifle.”
“Wow, the very same one right there?”
Akiyama nodded her head.
“How?” Lander asked.
“I have no idea. There was no return address on the box and the tracking records had been lost by the delivery company. I’d like to think he’s still alive out there somewhere, but I know that’s not possible,” Akiyama said as she slid down the wall and sat down.
Akiyama and Lander remained silent for a little while; the enveloping darkness was making it harder for Lander to see what he was actually doing with his rifle.
“Is there a light in here?” Lander asked as he looked around for a switch of some kind.
Akiyama shrugged her shoulders and looked around too.
“It doesn’t look like it. I don’t even see a light fixture anywhere,” Akiyama said.
A few more silent minutes passed by and then the hatch for the stairs opened and up popped Private Jones.
“Oh hey, Akiyama,” Jones said nervously; he gave Lander a quick glance.
“Hey, Jones, what’s up?” Akiyama asked.
Jones hesitated for a second as he blankly looked at Akiyama.
“Oh… umm… Captain Fischer wants you to know that we’re going to have a squad meeting in fifteen minutes down in the hideaway bunker,” Jones said.
“Okay, I’ll be down there in a few minutes, Jones,” Akiyama said as she stood up.
Jones nodded and then stood there quietly for a few seconds, staring at Akiyama.
“Was there anything else, Jones?” Akiyama asked.
Jones hesitated again, and then blurted out “No”; he quickly turned around, and headed down the stairs.
“Should I come too, Jones?” Lander asked as Jones was going down the stairs.
“No, Captain Fischer wants someone to stay up here and keep an eye out,” Jones said from the stairwell. He then opened the metal door and exited the tower.
“Okay. So what’s up with him?” Lander asked as he looked to Akiyama.
“Jones is just socially awkward around new people. He’s a pretty nice guy though.”
“Well, he could probably do better working on his first impressions. I wonder why he or Fischer just didn’t call you in the first place.”
Akiyama shrugged her shoulders as she grabbed her back-pack and threw her spent casings in it. She then pulled out her night vision scope from her pack, removed the regular optic scope from her rifle, and then replaced it with the night vision scope. She then moved her rifle back into the firing slit at the bottom of the wall. She looked through her scope for a few minutes making some minor adjustments and sighting it in.
“Okay, Lander, I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone so here … take my headset and let us know if you spot anything. I’ll be back in a bit,” Akiyama said as she gave Lander a quick smile and then headed down the stairs.
Lander adjusted Akiyama’s headset and then put it on. The sun had fully set now, and thanks to the heavy overcast sky the only ambient light was coming from the burning laser towers. The tower to Lander’s right was burning brightly in particular. Save for the electric hum and the fires; the air was quiet. A slight cold breeze was coming in from the north and the temperature was dropping dramatically. The light winter gear they were issued wasn’t doing much for Lander as he tried to stay warm.
Lander switched on the night vision scope and peered through. He couldn’t see much of anything; just a faint glow on the horizon and that was it. Lander leaned back and propped his feet up on the wall. His breaths were being faintly lit by the laser tower fire; they looked like little wispy orange clouds.
The thought came into his head again as he sat there alone; the thought of getting back to his family. He didn’t think seriously about it, not like earlier. He thought about dropping down the tower; it wasn’t that far of a fall if he did it right. There would be no way of sneaking out though, there was just enough light and he would be spotted for sure. He then thought about helping gather supplies and then slipping out while no one was watching. Lander shook his head; it was just too much ground to cover and the MPs would be patrolling the area between the frontline and town heavily. The other problem facing Lander was; he had no idea where his family might be. Would they be at the shelter? Would they still be at home? There was no way for him to know for sure. If they were at the shelter there would be no way to get them out; it would be locked down and guarded for sure.
Lander let out a deep sigh and wished that the night sky was clear so he could have something to look at. Lander closed his eyes; he knew he would never fall asleep, the electric hum was too annoying and he was focusing on it without even realizing it.
Waiting is the hardest part.
Chapter 28
Fischer was out in front of the Mark Four they had captured earlier. It was in pretty rough shape as he looked it over with his flashlight. The back was singed by a plasma blast and its left laser cannon arm was completely inoperable, but the other arm was still fully functional and all of its shoulder missiles were still available. Jones had kept it powered up before he left, as he was concerned that powering it down might reset it; there was also the possibility of it never powering back up again.
“So do we have any idea why it was making that terrible foghorn noise?” Martin asked as he came up to look at it; Ellerby was just behind him, trying to catch up.
“I am not entirely sure, but Jones thinks that this is a new model of Mark Four with improved laser cannons,” Fischer said as he shown his light on the Four’s right laser cannon arm.
“It does look bigger than the last one and the blast -- Jesus,” Martin said as he shook his head.
Fischer glanced over at Ellerby who looked as though he were going to piss himself with fear.
“Are… are we sure, it won’t umm… switch back?” Ellerby asked.
“Dunno, this is only the second one we’ve managed to capture, but I believe we’ll be fine, Ellerby, don‘t worry about it,” Fischer said.
“O-Okay,” Ellerby gulped.
“So what’s the plan for tomorrow, Cap?” Martin asked.
“Ellerby, can you help out Sergeant Hartford? She’s currently gathering up more supplies by the bus,” Fischer said.
“Yes sir!” Ellerby said with an enthusiastic salute and then ran off.
“I spoke with General Williams earlier. According to the UMI, the robots are ‘reorganizing’ ten clicks to the south. It looks like they’re changing their attack strategy. I haven’t seen the sat images; if there were any available. We need to be on our toes tomorrow, Martin, there’s no telling what they’re going to throw at us,” Fischer said.
“Whatever they send at us we’ll be ready, Cap. What’s the rest of the battalion’s status?” Martin asked.
“We’re doing well so far. Rhodes and Harlan report that they and their units are at a hundred percent no casualties so far,” Fischer said.
“Any word from Rayne or Snow?”
“The Major said the Jackboots are back at Orion. He said he could get them out here as early as tomorrow evening,” Fischer said as he looked over to the re-supply area. It looked as though Ellerby had just dropped a box of supplies and Hartford was yelling at him.
“Martin, help out Hartford and then have everyone meet up in the hideaway bunker in about ten minutes. I’ll give everybody an update on our situation then.”
Martin saluted and then headed off to the re-supply area as Fischer walked to the hideaway bunker.
*****
Fischer went down the stairs to the hideaway bunker; Akiyama and Jones were already there. Jones looked to be tearing up a little.
“Umm… I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Fischer asked as he slightly turned back to the stairs.
“No,” Jones sniffled as he wiped his eyes. He quickly walked past Fischer and then up and out of the bunker.
“What was that all about?” Fischer asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it right now,” Akiyama said as she went over to one of the metal folding chairs by the radio table and sat down.
“You sure?” Fischer asked as he pulled up a chair and sat down on it backwards.
“I don’t know,” Akiyama said, staring blankly at the ground.
“So he finally told you then.”
“Why now?” Akiyama asked; it was the most upset Fischer had ever seen her.
“I’m not sure. Do you want me to have a talk with him?” Fischer asked.
Akiyama shook her head.
“I’ll talk with him when we’re back on Orion. I thought he just had simple crush on me, you know? I didn’t think he was going to pour his heart out, and during a battle no-less. Who does that?” Akiyama said as she threw her arms up.
“Are you going to be all right?”
Akiyama nodded sullenly.
“I won’t let this affect my shooting, sir,” Akiyama said, and then sat up straight, trying to hide her emotions.
“Is Sergeant Lander still up on the observation tower?” Fischer asked as he pointed to the tower door.
“Yeah, when Jones came by he said you wanted to see the squad for a meeting, and that you wanted Lander up in the tower.”
“Is that so? Well now, I’m definitely going to have to have a talk with Jones.”
Just then Hartford came down the stairs and entered the bunker.
“Is everything okay?” Hartford asked. Sanchez then came in behind her.
“Yeah,” Fischer and Akiyama said almost in unison.
Robot Wars: Thrown Into the Fray Page 18