“Jones, come in, over,” Fischer said over the headset.
“I’m here, Captain, what do you need?” Jones asked.
“I need you to get ahold of Rhodes and Harlan; ask them how they’re holding up and let them know we’ve got the second half coming in. I also need an ETA from Haggardson on when we can expect some air support, over,”
“Roger sir! I’m on it, out,”
There were about fifty Threes spread evenly out in ten groups of five all down the line. Taking them out would have to be the priority for right now. Their armor was too thick for Akiyama to engage and they needed to be closer for Kazir to attack them. The Laser Turrets were busy dealing with the Twos and Ones, and there were plenty of them to deal with. They needed air support and they needed it now.
“Captain, Lieutenant Harlan reports she is holding strong and her unit is currently engaged on sweeping the left flank clear. And Captain Rhodes is reporting that he’s setting up his AR launchers and preparing to fire on the Threes, sir,” Jones said over the headset.
“Good. What about Haggardson?” Fischer asked.
“Umm… Captain Haggardson reports that General Williams has ordered his squadron and the 19th to cover Sherman and Leesville respectively, sir,”
“Damn. Jones, we have a Mark Four incoming, get your PCC ready. I’ll need you out here as soon as I give the order; try not to disable the leg servos this time, okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
“No air support, Cap?” Martin asked.
“Looks like we’re on our own here, Martin,” Fischer said.
“Not for long, Cap, the robots will be keeping us company soon enough,” Martin said as he pointed to the last half of the wave coming in.
The Mark Four was getting closer now. It was almost within Akiyama’s range. It seemed to be marching along slower than usual, as though it was biding its time, letting everyone get a good look at it. The Master Blasters fired their AR missiles, knocking out the group of Mark Threes closest to the Mark Four. The Mark Four then let out a terrible noise; it sounded similar to an old foghorn on a ship. The sound echoed through the valley and ringed in Fischer’s ears.
“What the hell?” Martin yelled as the sound went off again, louder this time.
“Holy shit!” a frightened Ellerby exclaimed.
The Mark Four raised its arms and fired a shot from its laser cannons, destroying one of the laser turrets near the Master Blasters section of the line. It made the horrific noise again, turned to its right and fired another blast, destroying the laser turret to the right of the observation tower. A large billow of flame erupted from it; the screams of those inside cried out for less than a second. The sound was getting louder now as the machine moved faster. It was getting closer and closer. The other robots were nearing the snag wire; it wouldn’t hold them for long.
“Akiyama!” Fischer yelled; he tried to order her to hurry up and fire, but it was all he could blurt out.
Akiyama fired and her shot missed, the bullet ricocheting off its head, just below the PPDL. The Mark Four blared its noise again, just as a plasma blast exploded right behind it. The Four fired, its shot impacting just short of the observation tower; the shockwave throwing Fischer up against the concrete wall of the trench, and knocking Martin and Ellerby flat.
“Akiyama, get out of there!” Fischer ordered as he picked himself up.
“Negative, sir. I still haven’t hit my target,” Akiyama said calmly. She fired again, her shot missed wide, hitting a Two behind the Four.
“Dammit, Akiyama, you and Lander need to get outta there, now!” Fischer ordered frantically. The line looked to be collapsing in several points. He could see groups of Regs to his left running north.
“I think we should issue the stop code, Cap!” Martin yelled over the noise of the foghorn. The Mark Four’s shot missed the observation tower again. Its targeting systems might be damaged, Fischer thought. Fischer shook his head; he was going to give Akiyama one more shot to knock out the PPDL. Akiyama fired and this time the PPDL on top of the Mark Four exploded into sparks.
“Jones, I need you up here ASAP!” Fischer yelled over the Four’s noise.
Jones had arrived no sooner than Fischer had finished giving the order.
“The situation is bad, sir! One of the Battalions from Colonel McGregor’s Regiment is retreating back to town. They’ve got Threes and Twos all in that part of the line. The Red Hats are doing their best to hold them off, for now,” Jones said.
“Jones, I need you to hack that Mark Four; its defense laser is down,” Fischer said.
Jones and Fischer peered up above the trench; the Ones and Twos were close, no more than fifty meters away, tangled up in the snag wire, but the Mark Four was about two-hundred beyond that. Jones looked at Fischer and shook his head.
“Kazir, I need you to clear away some of those robots and make a path for Jones!” Fischer ordered.
“Roger, sir!” Kazir responded and then opened up with a concentrated burst of laser fire from the front bunker.
Kazir’s fire gained the Four’s attention as it let out another deafening noise. Kazir paid no heed as he and Thompson continued to fire. The Four’s shot exploded in front of bunker, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.
“Kazir! Are you and Thompson okay?” Fischer asked.
“Yeah, we’re good,” Kazir coughed. “I’m running low on ammo, but I’ll have that hole open though, sir!”
Kazir and Thompson began to fire again; the hole was almost open. The Four let out another blare and looked to be targeting the front bunker again. Before it fired, a missile high from the right came streaking in and impacted the Four on its left arm, disabling it. The Four, recoiling from the impact, fired straight up into the air. Three Phaetons at high speed flew past it, and then turned around to strafe the Ones and Twos in front of it. The Diamond Aces had arrived.
The way was clear for Jones now. The Four’s attention was now diverted to the Phaetons and there were no robots in the immediate vicinity between them and the Four that Fischer could see.
“Go, Jones, go!” Fischer helped Jones over the trench wall and he ran as fast as he could, jumping onto an out-of-action One that had fallen onto the snag wire. Fischer watched as Jones ran from blast crater to blast crater. A Two popped up from the last crater Jones was running to; its head exploded instantly as he ran by it; Akiyama was providing cover.
Jones got into hacking range and quickly went to work.
“Cross, get on the radio let everyone know we’re hacking the Four!” Fischer ordered but there was no reply. “Cross?”
“Can’t right now, Cap. We’ve got Ones behind us in the access trench, sir,” Cross responded.
Chapter 26
“What’s that noise?” Samson asked.
Brookes had been hearing it too. It sounded like an old foghorn from a ship. It had been blaring loudly and repeatedly for a little bit now.
“Hartford, what is that?” Brookes asked through her headset.
“It’s the Four!” Hartford yelled over the noise. “It just destroyed the laser turret to the right of the observation tower!”
“Shit, what’s its current position?” Brookes asked.
“Grid coordinates are - Whiskey… Indigo… Nine… Five!”
“Roger!”
Brookes glanced quickly at the map on her PCC; it was only five-hundred-and-fifty meters away now. She began adjusting her mortar.
“Samson, five clicks!”
Samson nodded, grabbed a round and turned the dial five clicks, pulled it out, and dropped the round in the tube. The mortar shot at the same time the Four let out its terrible noise. An explosion from the direction of the observation tower shook Brookes and Samson in the mortar pit.
“Hartford, what happened?” Brookes asked.
“You impacted just behind the Four. You knocked its shot off, Brookes, you saved Aki!” Hartford excitably exclaimed. “I’ve got a new fire order for you. We’ve got about fifty Bravos s
pilling over the snag wire at grid - Whiskey… Echo… Seven… Two!”
Brookes swung her mortar to the left and adjusted it. She signaled to Samson that she needed three clicks. Samson nodded and dropped the round in. The shot went out as the Four roared once again.
“Direct hit, Brookes, however, there’s now a hole in that section of the snag wire; I’ll keep an eye on it,” Hartford said. “Okay, next target… we’ve got a Mark Three closing in at one-hundred meters away! Grid - Whiskey… Hotel… Eight… Four!”
Brookes began to notice that all the new targets coming in were getting closer to her minimum firing range. She fixed her mortar onto the new coordinates and signaled to Samson, one click. Samson nodded as the Four blared away again; the ground quaking with another intense explosion. The mortar round slipped out of Samson’s hands and fell to the ground.
“Oh shit!” Samson exclaimed as he stared blankly at Brookes in terror.
Brookes without saying anything grabbed the round and hurriedly dropped it into the tube.
“I’m so sorry, ma’am,” Samson said, his head hung low.
“Shake it off, Samson; you’re doing fine,” Brookes said though she knew that was a close one.
“That’s a miss! Brookes, it’s heading for that gap in the snag wire!” Hartford yelled.
Brookes hurried and adjusted the mortar, and then signaled to Samson. He nodded and dropped the round in. The Four sounded once again. Brookes looked up and saw a powerful red laser beam skyrocketing into the sky above, piercing a hole in the overcast clouds.
“You got it, Brookes!” Hartford exclaimed. “Brookes, the Phaetons are back they disabled one of the arms of the Four and Jones is moving up to hack it!”
“Yes, way to go!” Brookes happily exclaimed.
“Lieutenant, ma’am, we only have three rounds left,” Samson said as he pointed to the nearly empty ammo box.
“Okay …” Brookes said as she nodded and took off her headset. “Okay, Samson, I want you to stay here while I go get some ammo, there should be some more by now.”
Brookes handed her radio headset to Samson and got off her sore knees; once again she forgot her knee pads. Samson, holding Brooke’s headset put it on and looked at Brookes. The look in his eyes was a combination of uncertainty and scared.
“Don’t worry, I won’t be long,” Brookes winked.
Samson nodded. It looked as though he were about to say “I’ll go.” but he backed away and turned around as Brookes went down the access trench.
*****
Brookes was almost to the main access trench near the hideaway bunker when she heard what sounded like Samson yelling her name. Crap, I probably should’ve shown him how to adjust the range on the mortar, Brookes thought. She also noticed something sounding like clanking metal nearby. Quickly turning to her right, she went into the main access trench, and immediately saw it.
It was a Mark One for sure. It was slightly taller than her, its featureless face only had it small, crimson-colored, thermal sensors. It made no sound as it stood there in the main access trench, and then it started coming for her. Using its long metal arms, it quickly took a swung at her, hitting the wall next to her, and causing her to fall backwards. She landed on her back and rolled in order to dodge the next attack.
“Oh shit, we have a robot in the trench!” Brookes yelled out. She quickly glanced at the hideaway bunker as she scooted back. The robot swung its arms again and just barely missed Brookes as they struck the ground in front of her.
She crawled backwards into the mortar pit access trench. The robot was now between her and the bunker, and it was coming closer. The robot continued to not make any noise as it took a swing at her again. She rolled out of the way and got back on her feet and tried to reach for her pistol, but it wasn’t there; she couldn’t find it.
“Samson! Samson!” Brookes cried out, backing away from the One, staying just out of its attack range. “Grab your machinegun, Samson … Samson!”
Just as Brookes was about to turn and run, and grab Samson’s gun; Brookes heard a laser shot. The robot froze in place and then made a powering down noise as it collapsed forward; its back had a nice smoking hole right in the middle.
“There are some robots behind the line, Lieutenant,” Cross said, holding her laser pistol.
“Thanks, Cross. How many are there?” Brookes asked.
“Not sure. I got three earlier. I suppose you will want your pistol back,” Cross said as she tossed Brookes her laser pistol. “Are you hurt?”
“No, just some scrapes,” Brookes said as she checked herself. “Do you know if the mortar ammo has arrived?”
“Not sure. Do you want me to come with you to the resupply point?” Cross asked.
“No -- well actually, I think it would be a good idea to stick together,” Brookes said as Samson came running out of the mortar pit.
“Lieutenant! Lieutenant, we’ve got robots behind the line!” Samson yelled, breathing heavily as he came running.
“Calm down, Samson, I want you to stay by the mortar. Have your machinegun ready and keep an eye out,” Brookes ordered as Samson nodded and ran back to the pit. “Let’s go, Cross.”
Brookes came up to the corner of the access trench; Cross was right behind her. The chaos of the battle was intense now. There was no telling what was going outside of the small space that Brookes and Cross were occupying. She could tell that the Laser turret to the left was still going at it and Akiyama was still shooting from the observation tower so things couldn’t be too bad.
“Ready, Cross?” Brookes asked as Cross nodded.
Brookes and Cross jumped the corner with their pistols drawn.
Nothing.
“All clear, let’s go,” Brookes said.
Brookes and Cross slowly made their way down the trench toward to where the bus was and where the supply drops were suppose to be. I just hope everything is still there, Brookes thought. A couple of Phaetons quickly buzzed by overhead; one Phaeton in the distance was smoking. Suddenly, a missile streaking toward it from behind, hit it, and knocked it out of the sky. Brookes shook her head as it fell and disappeared from her sight.
The trench gradually became smaller until they were out of it. The bus was still there, somehow without a scratch. A pallet’s worth of supplies and ammo boxes was strewn on the ground as though they were kicked out of the back of a speeding truck.
“Heh… I guess this is what happens when you have UNPS deliver your supplies,” Brookes said jokingly.
“That’s why you purchase parcel insurance,” Cross said without the slightest hint of sarcasm.
The two gathered what they could. Brookes lifted up two boxes of ammo and felt the strain in her knees. Cross gathered up some fifty-caliber rounds that had spilled out of their ammo box -- for Akiyama -- and some energy ammo.
Before going back into the trench, Brookes tried to look for the Mark Four she had been hearing, but she couldn’t see it. The battle looked more chaotic then ever; jets of flame from the Mark Threes lit up multiple places all along the line. Laser blasts and missiles were being shot every which way filled the air. Phaetons buzzed to and fro, strafing clusters of robots here and there. Brookes was frozen in awe for a moment, and then without even realizing it she was already down in the trench heading to the front.
*****
“Thanks for your help, Cross,” Brookes said.
“You’re welcome. I need to get these bullets to Akiyama; I don’t think she has many left,” Cross said as she headed down into the hideaway bunker, which also had an access door to the observation tower.
Cross had just disappeared from Brookes’ sight when she heard the painful foghorn noise. Her natural reflex was to cover her ears, but she was carrying the mortar rounds and couldn’t free her hands. Then the realization that the sound was close set in and it filled her with terror. She looked up from the direction of where the terrifying noise came from.
She saw it staring at her; the red eyes. Brookes w
as paralyzed, as though not moving would help her evade its detection somehow. She stared at it and it seemed to stare back at her. The moment, which seemed to take a lifetime, finally ended when the machine turned to its right and fired. Something exploded close by, but Brookes wasn’t sure what it was, not that she really cared at this point. To her this was just the opportune time to escape, and she immediately headed down the access trench back to the pit.
“Thank god you’re back, Lieutenant, ma’am,” a joyful and scared Samson said. “I fired the last three shots.”
“Here’s the ammo. Can you hand me my headset?” Brookes asked as Samson nodded and took it off.
Before Brookes even put it on, she could hear Hartford, supposedly calling in another fire order.
“I’m back, Hartford. What did I miss?” Brookes asked as she painfully knelt down next to her mortar.
“We’ve beat back the first wave, Brookes!” Hartford excitably exclaimed. “Jonesy captured a Mark Four in working order, finally!”
“Awesome! So what’s the next fire order?” Brookes asked, relieved that the Mark Four was under their control.
“Well, I did have one, but Jonesy took it out. The robots look to be retreating back south and we don’t have any visual confirmation of the second wave,” Hartford said.
“So we won? Is anyone hurt?” Brookes asked.
“I’m not sure on both of them. I think everyone is fine here. The Cap looks cheery enough, but I don’t know about the other units,” Hartford said.
“Okay, thanks, Hartford,” Brookes said as she let out a deep sigh of relief and sat down up against the wall across from Samson.
Brookes and Samson sat there silently for a bit as the background noise of the battle slowly faded to a low ambience.
“You did good, Samson. Except for the first round and the one you dropped; you did good,” Brookes said, and then smiled.
“Really?” Samson asked.
Brookes nodded and Samson lit up, proud and confident. Brookes was starting to wonder if mortar assistant wasn’t right up his alley. Maybe.
Robot Wars: Thrown Into the Fray Page 17
