by Isaac Hooke
“The question is, why didn’t those termites find this place and suck it dry?” Tread said.
“My guess is the entrance was closed off,” Manticore said. “The map data indicates as much. There was an avalanche in the region some years back, which is partially why the mine was closed in the first place. It just wasn’t worth the money to dig out.”
“That would jibe with what we’ve seen,” Mickey said. “The termites, at least this first wave, seem to concentrate on easily accessible metal content. Later on, once they’ve obliterated all life on the planet, the aliens will probably commit to a far more thorough mining of metals.”
“Bambi, I want two scouts up there,” Marlborough ordered.
“You got it,” Bambi said.
She sent two Savages forward. The robots kept low, and when they were within a kilometer of the mountains, they switched to a low crawl. They oriented their antennae backwards, toward the hiding place of the platoon, and switched to directional transmission mode, so that whoever occupied the iron mine wouldn’t pick up their signal.
The robots clambered up the shoulder of the mountain, and partially up a cliff, so they could remain in line of sight with the platoon—and thus keep within comm range as well—and peered down into the area in front of the mine below.
There were no lights illuminating anything below, but Eric saw all he needed thanks to the ambient light from the stars and moon, and the thermal signatures of the objects in the valley.
Armored carriers conveyed raw ore between the mine entrance and what looked like a smelter, judging from the thermal levels. Smaller vehicles conveyed processed bars of metal to several nearby industrial-grade 3D printers. Some of those printers were creating other vehicles—tanks, carriers, aerial drones—but the rest were concentrating on a larger object. It looked like a transport of some kind. Essentially a giant quadcopter. Four large rotors were connected to a submarine-shaped body. From the way the arms of those rotors were attached to the sides, with long horizontal channels surrounding the connection points, he had the impression those arms could tilt back and forth during flight, so that the submarine body remained completely level.
Beyond the printers, Eric spotted different tanks on patrol. The shape and thermal signatures matched up with Russian models he had in his inventory.
“That’s definitely Bokerov,” Brontosaurus said.
“Bitch has decided to take up residence in an old iron mine,” Slate said.
“He’s got defense platforms ringing the whole perimeter,” Eagleeye said. “With autonomous laser tracking turrets targeting every approach.”
“We already know Bokerov has broken himself and his units free of their Containment Code,” Tread said. “He opened fire on us first previously…”
“I’m not so sure he broke himself free,” Manticore said. “The Russians might have programmed in looser rules of engagement.”
“I disagree, I think he has broken himself free,” Tread said. “It would explain why he’s so nuts. And we thought we were the only ones having trouble controlling our emotions…”
“Either way,” Dickson said. “If we approach those units, they’re going to fire.”
“The defense platforms on the perimeter are all fairly tall,” Eagleeye said. “I have a feeling he detected our approach a while ago. Especially considering how much heat we were giving off while on the run.”
“But why hasn’t he acted on it?” Traps said.
“He’s not sure what we are, yet,” Marlborough said. “Our thermals would have been off the wall. With the amount of heat we were giving off, he wouldn’t have been able to get a proper ID.”
“Maybe he ID’d the scouts?” Hicks said.
“Unlikely,” Marlborough said. “Considering that they kept a low profile the whole way, going flat the final distance. They would have cooled off enough by now that they’re not visible on the thermal band, especially given how they’ve arranged themselves behind that rock, with their lower bodies hidden from view.”
“I’m detecting the launch of several airborne drones,” Eagleeye said. “Harbinger equivalents.”
“Well, if Bokerov didn’t know where our scouts were, he soon will,” Dickson said. “Bolt Eaters, target those Harbingers.”
“We’re not going to try communications?” Mickey said.
“You saw where that got us the last time,” Marlborough said. “We fire first, and ask questions later.”
Eric scanned the sky, and spotted one of the drones Eagleeye had detected. He aimed the targeting crosshairs of his ZX-15 at it, but before he could squeeze the trigger, the drone went down.
Eric examined his overhead map, and saw the other five drones that had been detected. He saw the red dots become slightly brighter, indicating that other members of the team were targeting them. He chose the furthest, figuring it would be the worst shot, and aimed his ZX-15 at it. The Harbinger in question began zigging and zagging as evasive maneuvers were issued across the entire unit. Before he could fire, the vehicle had descended from view.
“We only got three of them,” Eagleeye said. “The remaining three landed.”
“Bokerov decided to get smart,” Brontosaurus commented.
“Oh he’s smart all right,” Marlborough said. “Don’t underestimate him.”
“He still probably doesn’t know what we are,” Crusher said. “He’s acting with an abundance of caution. He could very easily send his tanks out and wipe us out, but he’s running scared.”
“No doubt he’s faced a few problems with bioweapons and termites in the last few days,” Eagleeye commented.
“Much like ourselves,” Manticore said.
“So what do we do now, blokes?” Dunnigan said. “Retreat, and give this area a wide berth while we can? Before he finds out we’re just a bunch of Cicadas and one Hopper? No threat to him at all?”
“We can’t,” Marlborough said. “He’s offered us a solution to our problems. Did you all see what he was building with the main 3D printers?”
“A transport…” Frogger said.
“He’s looking for a way to return his troops to the Fatherland,” Bambi said. “Or to get them out of here, at the very least. A transport like that could easily hold our entire party.”
“That’s right,” Marlborough said. “And my Accomp informs me that the top speed on a design like this is Mach 5. If we can get our hands on that transport, and the 3D printers, we can finish the craft and use it to enact our plan.”
“We’ll have to completely wipe out Bokerov,” Frogger said.
“We will,” Marlborough agreed. “Even if we destroy whatever tank is harboring him, the units will no doubt switch to autonomous mode, and continue to fire at everything that moves. We’ll have to eliminate every last one of them.”
“What about hacking?” Eric said. They all had hacking routines embedded into their AI cores.
“That will require mounting a tank and ripping off the processor panel to interface,” Marlborough said. “Something we can’t really do, not while there are so many other tanks around… they’ll simply reorient and have one of their friends shoot you off.”
“So hacking is only on the table until there’s just one tank left,” Frogger said.
“You’d have to eliminate the defense platforms surrounding the perimeter, too,” Traps said. “Plus get close to the tank, first. I’d say hacking is off the table.”
“Probably right,” Frogger said.
“So even if we can finish that transport, it’s going to need power cells,” Brontosaurus said. “And I somehow doubt an iron mine will provide the lithium we’ll need to 3D print our own.”
“We’ll take the power cells from the downed Russian tanks,” Marlborough said. “And repurpose them for the transport. We can jury-rig an interface with help from the 3D printers.”
“So we wipe out Bokerov, steal his transport, and save the world,” Slate said. “Sounds like a good plan to me.”
“I’m dete
cting two Russian tanks coming out of the valley,” Eagleeye said. “Molotovs.”
“There are also four Bulava scouts,” Mickey said. “Leading the way.”
Eric zoomed in on the valley entrance, and saw the four smaller humanoid units spreading out. They advanced at a run, no doubt intending to close with the hidden platoon to get a positive ID.
“Take those Bulavas out,” Marlborough said.
“Permission to use the alien energy weapon?” Eric asked.
“Negative,” Marlborough said. “I don’t want Bokerov to know we have that weapon, nor the wormhole, not yet. When he grows more comfortable and commits more troops, we’ll surprise him. But until then, lasers only…”
Eric and the others opened fire. Lasers only, as requested.
“Bulavas are down,” Eagleeye announced.
“The Molotovs are launching shells!” Mickey said.
“Scatter!” Marlborough said. “Stay low. Don’t let them get an ID!”
Eric got up and retreated; he commanded the mechs to move with him. The party abandoned the location as explosions detonated.
“We’re taking laser fire!” Eagleeye said.
They took cover behind a series of rocks further back.
“Lost another Savage,” Traps said.
“Those tanks were firing at us,” Tread said. “Along with the laser platforms.”
Eric checked the damage report from his mechs. “I got some fresh bore holes in my Ravagers. The armor held up.”
Eric heard the high-pitched sound of incoming shells.
“Reposition again!” Marlborough said. “And take out those tanks!”
Eric arose once more, and while on the run he aimed his crosshairs at the tanks.
Eric switched to Bullet Time. “Sync your weapons with my ZX-15.”
The others would automatically match his heightened time sense as soon as the Accomps analyzed the timebase of his communications; in moments the weapon sync stats on his HUD turned green.
He had complete specs of all Russian designs in his inventory, so he knew precisely where the AI core was. The problem was, he was having difficulty picking out the location with night vision alone. He decided to send out a LIDAR burst.
There. Now he had a better picture of the tank.
He aligned his crosshairs over the region containing the AI core. It was heavily armored, but by combining lasers across the platoon, Cicadas, Ravagers, and the support troops, he could take it out.
He was well aware that Bokerov would have the ability to do the same to the Bolt Eaters as soon as the Russian made a positive ID on their units.
He fired.
15
Eric scored a direct hit.
Staying in Bullet Time, he aligned his weapon over the second tank, and used the updated LIDAR imaging to get a fix on the AI core. Because of his angle, the region was slightly more armored, at least to his ZX-15. He could release another pulse within a hundred milliseconds, but he waited the five hundred milliseconds recovery time needed by the slower rifles the Cicadas carried. Then he fired.
He dove as the shells came in, and explosions ripped the ground behind him.
He returned Bullet Time to normal.
“Lost a Breacher unit this time,” Traps said. “And my right side is littered in shrapnel.”
“I got shrapnel chewing up my back,” Brontosaurus said. “But otherwise, I’m no worse for the wear.”
Eric glanced at his HUD, and confirmed the health of the rest of the platoon: all green.
“Both tanks are down,” Mickey said. “Their thermals are growing dark.”
“Okay, reposition,” Marlborough said. “We don’t need them lobbing shells over the walls of the valley, and targeting our last known position as transmitted by those Molotovs.”
The platoon retreated once again, taking cover further up the shoulder of the mountain, in an area containing a bunch of rocky outcrops.
Eric surveyed the entrance to the valley, waiting for more tanks to appear.
“Bokerov is displaying an abundance of caution and refusing to commit,” Marlborough said. “Smart move.”
“Did you notice how those tanks were zigzagging as they approached?” Dickson said. “I’m willing to bet that Bokerov surrounded the entrance to the valley with mines. If we want to stage any sort of assault, we’re going to have to come in from the surrounding cliffs, I think.”
“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do,” Marlborough said.
Eric listened intently.
When Marlborough finished, he said: “It’s not going to be easy. And we might very well lose. But we need that transport. I’m not willing to waste another two days traveling to Iran, hoping that we’ll find a better opportunity along the way. Because the fact of the matter is, we’re not going to get a better opportunity than this. Assume your positions…”
Eric gave control of Massacre over to Tread. The armor operator reluctantly accepted, as Marlborough had given the order—Sarge didn’t want to risk the escape of the termite contained by the parallel plates on the back of the mech. Not only was allowing it to escape dangerous, but if the termite broke free then the team would need to capture another if they were going to attempt their eventual world-saving plan.
Eric moved south with Slaughter, away from the mountain range. Brontosaurus had dismounted the latter mech, and remained behind with the others. Bambi however was with Eric, and she had along three combat robots: two Savages and a Breacher. They formed Team C. The two scouts Bambi had sent earlier were still in place, and they were Team B. The rest of the platoon, still in place beside the valley, were Team A.
Marlborough had prohibited Eric from launching the wormhole weapon near the base, since the Sarge didn’t want to risk any damage befalling the transport. But if he could lure any enemies outside…
Staying low, Eric moved at a quick trot, along with the rest of Team C. No doubt the seven of them were visible to the defense platforms along the outer perimeter, which was why he had his ballistic shield deployed and directed toward the base. The others were deployed behind him, hidden from the base by his body, and the shield. That shield would mask their thermal signatures—the heat would be visible only beyond the edges, preventing Bokerov from making a positive ID. He might still decide to fire anyway, of course.
Flashes of light from the direction of the mine told him that Teams A and B had targeted the different defense platforms lining the perimeter. There were a few others that were only visible within his line of sight, and he lifted his ZX-15 over the shield, and targeted them in turn. Two of the platforms returned fire, their laser pulses chewing into his ballistic shield, but he took them down.
Bokerov still didn’t commit any troops, and remained holed up in the base.
“Damn it, he’s really playing it smart today, isn’t he?” Bambi said.
“Wouldn’t you if you didn’t know the capabilities of whoever was attacking you?” Eric said.
Finally five green blurs appeared at the entrance to the valley.
“Okay, we got ourselves some targets,” Eric said. “Dig in.” He dove to the ground and waited for the characteristic whine of shells to fill the air. It didn’t come. He resided in a small hollow, and the crest beside him reached to his mech-sized hips. He slammed his shield down onto the top of the crest, tilting it at an angle above him as he ducked low.
“We’re being targeted with laser designators,” Bambi said.
“Sarge, permission to open fire with the energy weapon,” Eric said.
“That’s a negative,” Marlborough said. “Continue with the plan.”
“All right, you heard the man,” Eric said. “Start digging.”
Eric was positioned between the attackers and the other five units; as laser attacks struck his shield in random areas, the others dug frenetically into the ground behind him.
Each laser attack formed a complete borehole through his shield because the five tanks were combining their turrets on the
same target—the same strategy he had used upon them.
Eric crouched lower and lower underneath the shield.
“Sarge, you’re going to take out those tanks soon, right?” Eric said. “They’re turning my shield into mouse cheese.”
“We already got one of them,” Marlborough said.
Eric glanced at his overhead map: sure enough one of the five red dots had become black.
“The hell is mouse cheese?” Slate asked.
“Never mind,” Eric said.
“You twentieth-centuriers,” Slate said. “Mouse cheese.”
Eric glanced at Bambi. “How are we doing?”
“It’s always fun being the sappers,” Bambi said as she dug away.
“We’re not really sappers,” Eric said. “We’re only doing this to protect ourselves.”
“And so we are,” Bambi said.
Teams B and C eliminated the five tanks at the entrance, and about four minutes later Slaughter and the other units had formed a small trench. But it wasn’t the trench that was important, but the pile of rocks and debris beside it. Eric inserted the spare power cells that the team had gathered up and given to him before they split up. He placed them in such a way that the thermal emissions would match up with Russian Bulavas, at least when viewed from beyond fifty meters. Closer than that, the decoys probably wouldn’t stand up to much scrutiny.
Eric and the others retreated once more, continuing to move in single file, with Eric on drag and providing protection to the others with his shield.
They reached another spot five hundred meters away, and once more dug in. Meanwhile, Teams A and B pulled back, taking cover in various hides upon the shoulder of the mountain.
The Breacher moved between the different robots of Team C, and shoved the rocks back into the holes each mech and robot had dug. Eric was lying flat, and he was buried almost completely, so that only his eye cameras were exposed. He shut off all external lights, including the blue glow that emerged from his mech’s eye dots. The others did the same.
When the Breacher finished with the last of them, the robot lay flat behind a small pile of rocks and shut down.
