by Briana Ervin
A large craft hovered into view on the horizon, rumbling toward us, and the drones picked up the pace. I penetrated their outer layers and scanned each small drone for any with captives, but the army was a thick mix of fighting drones, huddling closer and closer to the captors. They made obvious blips in the crowd, but they were hard to get to. I approached the first blip to the left and swung a turret to dismount several of the protecting drones, but the captor was quickly covered back up by neighboring comrades. I had a glimpse of the capsule though: not the right one.
I swerved to the right, heading for another drone mass, but drones were attentive. The ones covering the captor lunged at me, digging into my exposed eye. I spat angry trinary at them and wrestled with them with the arms of my retrieval panel, which much more fragile than the drones. One arm's tendons were snapped. I tried to fling the drone off me, jerking violently, glimpsing the capsule for only a moment before I was swarmed by more drones. Nothing!
Why all so tiny?! Why such a swarm?!
I batted at the drones, which inevitably slowed my speed. The sky darkened; we were now underneath the spacecraft. Beams of blue light punctuated the growing darkness, vacuuming up the drones that drew to them like magnets to metal filings. I felt a surge of hopelessness. I could miss Cyrii in one!
The drones struggling with me were no longer interested in the skirmish, heading for a blue beam. I ran toward the closest one, stomping over drones and fighting with larger ones, kicking and swiping them out of the way. I needed one of them...! Just one of them!
The beam swept right over me...
and I was alone.
I skidded to a halt, the scream in my throat instead coming out as a long whine, whipping around to watch the path of the beam. Sucking up drones like mad, and I couldn't go in, or stop it, or anything...! The drones simply slipped up into the craft, right where I couldn't reach them. Safe, high up in the sky, with their prisoners. I bolted over to the remaining parts of the horde, but I was too slow. One more pass with the beam and the machines around me simply disappeared.
It felt like everything happened in seconds. One minute, a drone horde. The next, the lonely badlands. The craft jumped up through the stratosphere before zipping away, a tiny dark dot on the horizon. I stared after it, devastated, my run dying to a feeble walk.
C....Cyrii... I breathed, no.......
No.............
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Thanks for reading!
Enjoy this book? Then keep an eye out for Book 2 of Rise of the Machines! This is just the beginning!
Now go enjoy yourself. Have a cup of ice cream or something.
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Encounters
For all of your “I need to refresh my memory” moments.
MECHS
-56 Pusher Model-
Height: 7.5 quli / 10 feet / just over 3 meters
Weapons: Two heavy-artillery turrets, one on either arm. Metal projectiles. Short, triangular bayonets. 4 inset laserheads around eye.
Defenses: Electromagnetic "ear" generators designed to draw fire. Heavy armor.
Other: Power-jumping pistons on the back of each leg.
Known Builds:
56-767; "Fiddlesticks"
-Pilot: Cyrii. Orange. Black Stripes.
-Colors: Umber-brown. Red eye with cyan iris. No pattern.
-Code: Orange
56-?
-Pilot: Stratien
-Colors: Brown, tan, earthy red. Green eye. Horizontal stripe pattern.
-Code: Orange.
-41 Support Model-
Height: 5.25 quli / 7 feet / ~2.13 meters
Weapons: None intended.
Defenses: Distress beacons, flares, and a dampening field generator (shield)
Other: All four arms can collapse into two. The right arm forms a pressure-based cannon. The left forms a thermal rod. When split, finger tools can be used. A floodlight is built into the pupil lights. Resource tanks are set behind the shoulders.
Known Builds:
41-562
-Pilot: Alesia. Piebald white/scarlet
-Colors: Purple-navy ombre. Multi-purple eye. Ombre pattern
-Code: Orange
-19 Sniper Model-
Height: 5.5 qul / 7 feet 4 inches / 2.24 meters
Weapons: Semi-thermal long-range rifle. Fires molten projectiles. Has backflow (don't stand behind it!)
Defenses: Fin-like blades along tail and short bayonets that travel along outside edges of arms. Hook hands.
Other: Specialized feet used for bracing. Can also traverse all terrain easily. Telescoping eye for far targets.
Known Builds:
19-332
-Pilot: Krysis. Painted black. White streak on face.
-Colors: Black, dark grey. Red eye. Cameo.
-Code: Yellow
-60 Assassin Model-
Height: 3 quli / 4 feet / ~1.21 meters
Weapons: Hook hands, axe blades on arms, short blades on feet and tail. All blades can sheathe.
Defenses: Powder bombs, stored internally.
Other: Defragmentation eye lens for spotting cloaking fields or similar obstructions. Hydraulic pistons in limbs for accelerated, snappy movement.
Known Builds:
60-389
-Pilot: Joleus. Dark brown. Has lime-yellow tattoos and hyperbands.
-Colors: Dull grey, rust-orange. Light blue eye. Accented pattern.
-Code: Orange
-36 Superiority Model-
Height: 6.75 quli / 9 feet / ~2.74 meters
Weapons: Six claws on each hand, hooked for capture-and-hold. Extensively-long micro-edged bayonets. Four wireless transmitters located around the face, stored internally.
Defenses: 10-foot-range EMP. Activation pulls the hull apart, causing brief vulnerability.
Other: Four wings mounted on the tail, six thrusters each, for temporary flight. Brace feet like a Sniper's.
Known Builds:
36-78
-Pilot: Garenede. Black-brown, yellow and blue. Skink markings.
-Colors: White. Orange/yellow ombre eye. No pattern.
-Code: Green
-71 Sniper Model [Banned]-
Height: 5.75 quli / 7 feet 8 inches / ~2.34 meters
Weapons: Energy-pulse long-range rifle with minor backflow (a vacuum is made instead of a wave of heat). Plasma-pellet rifles on arms. "Echo" system auto-fires on a target twice.
Defenses: Heavy armor.
Other: Telescoping eye. Brace feet. Good coils for higher jumps, but not as powerful as power-jumping pistons. Build is unstable and untested.
Known Builds:
71-?
-Pilot: Krysis. Painted black. White streak on face.
-Colors: None. Raw grey metal. Uncolored eye (grey pupil, white iris, black sclera). No pattern.
-Code: Red
-63 Pusher Model-
Height: 7.25 quli / 9 feet 8 inches / ~2.94 meters
Weapons: Two-barreled arms that can split into four with a barrel each. Metal projectiles. Two are a different caliber for precision.
Defenses: Emitters on the joints arc electricity to zap nearby targets. Heavy armor.
Other: None.
Known Builds:
63-?
-Pilot:Gilus. Brown. Mocha underbelly.
-Colors: Light orange-brown. Light red-orange eye. Sandy striped undersides.
-Code: Yellow.
-Suspected Superiority Model ???-
Height: 6.5 quli / 8.5 feet/ ~2.6 meters
Weapons: Strange, prototype-esque electrocution pads set in the palms. Causes rapid, chaotic thread termination.
Defenses: ???
Other: ???
Known Builds:
433
-Pilot: Supposedly Scaln. Brown with black stripes.
-Colors: Gold. Green eye. No pattern.
-Code: ???
-74 Pusher Model-
-Height:4.5 quli / 6 feet / 1.83 meters
Weapons:
Long-range shoulder-mounted barrels. Semi-thermal plasma cannon hands. Overheating the projectiles can cause unintended magma throwing.
Defenses: Scram-pistons built into the legs for quick movement, similar to the 60 Assassin model.
Other: None.
Known Builds:
74-199
-Pilot: Trista. Beige. Black stripes.
-Colors: Dark red-brown. Orange eye with flecks of red. Brown stripe/fade at points.
-Code: Orange
-49 Pusher Model-
Height: 8.7 quli / 11 feet 6 inches / ~3.5 meters
Weapons: Four arms sport sawblades. Laserheads encircle the eye; high power, low precision. Can be pulsed.
Defenses: Heavy armor, but not as heavy as a Tank's. Fragile shield emitters in arms create an energy barrier that deflects everything, including the user's attacks.
Other: None.
Known Builds:
49-438
-Pilot: Sirun. Dark grey and grey. Black stripes.
-Colors: Blue-hinted grey. Blue eye. Brown flare on face, arms, knees and feet.
-Code: Green
DRONES
-Charger Drone-
A large black box with legs and insanely-high defenses. Relies on weight and charging to attack. Can only be disabled from the inside. Should its armor ever be breached an EMF generator inside the drone can disable nearby mechs. Detects the exhaust emitted by mechs.
-Clamper Drone-
An airborne hovering drone shaped like a rhombus, equipped with many teeth and long-range thermal weaponry. Tend to attack in swarms. Detects infrared signatures and goes after them when associated with a non-drone pattern.
-Leech Drone-
A tiny drone used primarily in covert attacks. Has a flat, toothed head which is burrows into mechs' joints. Using tiny saws on it, it cuts into the electrical supply and redirects the current, causing paralysis. Very simple-minded, can be used on other drones as well. Detects movement and EMFs.
-Masses Drone-
As the name suggested, is used as filler for large-scale attacks. An average drone of four strong limbs framing an orb body. Are capable of most forms of movement and are very agile. Have a wide variety of equipment. Most advanced pattern recognition that allows it to single out a target by blurring other recognized patterns, preventing distraction.
-Mother Snatcher-
A much larger version of the Snatcher Drone, capable of swallowing even the biggest mechs. Same design, but significantly slower and reles on a shield generator for defense. Has no mouth; instead the tentacles have mouths that are oily and barbed on the inside to help swallow targets. Detects both emissions and infrared.
-Ravager Drone-
A very large drone with a "mouth" on its underside and a heavy, clubbed tail, used to mash up mechs caught in its wake. Relies on weight and beast-like attacks. Enough pouncing power to catch low-flying airborne targets. Reliant on sight but also detects emissions.
-Ripper Drone-
A canine drone that attacks in small packs, meant to harass and cripple mechs. Has multiple, inset spinning jaws that it uses to tear open hulls. Agile enough to dodge most melee attacks but won't ever go in the same direction twice. If forced to, the linear movement activates an orbital shield that absorbs incoming kinetic energy. Detects a wide variety of signatures, including radiation, making them useful for hunts and ambushes.
-Scatter Drone-
A highly-mobile orb suspended by many multipurpose arms, one of which is equipped by a saw. Built similar to mechs. Can pull its hull apart to flash emitters that force mechs to panic; this same mechanism can be accented with forced hallucinations. Is one of the few drones capable of surviving in water, radiation, burial, or heat for a long time. Can detect heat.
-Slicer Drone-
A miniature bladed drone similar to a Clamper Drone, except with no openings and two bare blades like a helicopter's that it hovers with. The blades spin fast enough to cut through metal and sever wiring. Extremely fragile but tend to attack in groups no less than ten and averaging in the thousands. Cannot see targets that do not move.
-Snatcher Drone-
Another rhombus-shaped drone, this time with eight multipurpose arms, two of which act as long tentacles. One end of the rhombus opens up as a mouth with sharp edges, and the eye is situated at the other end. Contains a gel-filled capsule that induces unconsciousness in biological entities it "consumes". Built to steal pilots from mechs. Sensitive infrared can distinguish heat sources next to each other. It also detects light in detail, which it sees as a target.
-Thrasher Drone-
A pyramid-shaped, slow-moving high-defense drone equipped with tons of barbed, wiry tentacles. It boasts a massive fuel tank, and stabbing allies allows it to supply them with its own enhanced fuel, like a jolt of adrenaline. The barbs on the tentacles allow the drones to capture, immobilize, and tear apart mechs. Detects EMF and emission signatures.
OTHER
-Measurements-
Quli / q = 1 foot 4 inches / ~40.64 centimeters.
NicroQ = 1/100th of a q.
AnoQ = 1/10th of a q.
NicroT = 10 q.
AnoT = 100 q.
CaloT = 1,000 q.
Thads = a measure of pressure similar to pounds.
Kerobyte = a measurement of digital data, similar to terabytes
Calobyte = a measurement of digital data, similar to gigabytes
-Intelligences and Factions-
Xinschi-uual = a sapient reptilian with a predominately erect posture native to Zirhon. Xinschi-uual have three large almond-shaped eyes, distinct wedge-shaped heads, two thumbs opposite each other on both hands, two fingers each and four toes each. They have stubby tails and distinct scales. Xinschi-uual are geovores but will occasionally eat plant products or discarded minerals (such as shells) from other animals. They are the dominate specie on Zirhon.
Empire = the socialist global dynasty-autoarchy that rules Zirhon. It is headed by the Xinschi-uual emperor Gryn II. His successor is Gryn III.
Apex Powers = a federacy of several interplanetary superpowers, which is at war with the IR. The Empire is allied with the Apex powers.
IR = the Intergalactic Republic. The Enemy that the Apex powers fight, but civilian Xinschi-uual don't know exactly why. Scaln seems to know something...
-Fauna References-
(Isthugumus) Kyl = a Zirhonian gliding lizard with a reputation for stupidity. Commonly used in insults.
Rodocron = a Zirhonian quadruped predator similar to a wolf. Known to be temperamental.
Gelustrik = a hydra-like serpent notorious for cannibalism. Often used to insult traitors.
Skillen = the equivalent of fish.
Grosc/Groschew = a Zirhonian herdbeast. The former is male, the latter female. Similar to bulls/cows.
-World-
Cryion = a yellow dwarf star in Zirhon's binary system. Appears larger in summer.
Kyaxeng = a blue giant star in Zirhon's binary system. Appears larger in winter.
Complex B3 Westward = the largest military complex within B3 Westward's territory. It's closer to the warfront, but far enough that it can safely manufacture its own resources.
City B3 Westward = a large city in the west near one of many warfronts, but not close enough to be in danger.
Alkinest = a high-security prison likened as a place of damnation and suffering.
-Society-
Jille = a gritty nutrient drink consisting primarily of blended amethyst. A common staple among the poor.
Sun Dance = a common dance displayed during the Sun Festival (Zirhonian New Year)
Spinapl = a cactus fruit pressed for oil.
Qit = 10 Xinschi-uual dollars.
AIPB = a mental condition where a pilot and its mech have bonded so closely they appear to be sharing one mind, so one is indistinguishable from the other. Tearing the two apart can result in severe mental decay. AIPB is detrimental to the health of the pilot and can be a gateway to othe
r medical and psychological problems, so is deemed a threat by the Empire.
-Language-
Zepholus = a genius Xinschi-uual His name is usually used in a sarcastic context, i.e. "thanks, genius".
Scalestout = an insult used to reprimand or tease others. The term was a name for those who didn't try to fix their bad behavior. Its severity is widely contextual.
Spill the Quartz = same as "spill the beans".
Gildfilth = an over-privileged, idolized, bratty, or spoiled person.
Fletchscale = someone who flaunts an unsavory appearance, reputation, or misinformation. Used as a harsh insult..
Glistenfilth = a crude term for overly-complicated, lavish, nonsensical, unnecessary, etc. things. Arose because of aristocrats and politicians always complicating things more than needed.
About the Author
I live someplace cold, have a weird ability to befriend all cats, and enjoy drawing, cooking and baking, and obviously writing. I also have a bad habit of planting my rear in one spot and playing a video game all day if it's something I haven't played before, and an even worse habit of letting things slip my mind. I also love building up fictitious worlds – in case that wasn't obvious, hah hah.
You can catch some art and the occasional sneak-peak on my website if you're looking for more to do. I have plenty of books I want to write, creatures to draw, and worlds to build. You can also shoot me an email at [email protected] if you have any comments or questions!
