by Isaac Hooke
Eric waited ten minutes until he was sure the Breacher had stopped emitting thermal energy, then he activated the transmitter he had hidden within the power cells. It was a recording of a Russian distress signal, and the device was set to transmit three hundred and sixty degrees.
“You think he’ll fall for it?” Bambi said over the comm.
“Bokorov will be curious at the very least,” Eric said. “He’ll wonder why the Bulavas aren’t communicating on the standard encrypted comm band. He’ll definitely send some units.”
Eric picked up the distress signal and listened to the translation.
“If you’re reading us, this is the final transmission of the forty-seventh,” the voice said in Russian. “There has been some sort of alien invasion. We’ve been attacked, multiple times, by micro machines, and what appear to be bioweapons. We’ve been trying to return to the Fatherland to search for survivors. But we’ve been held up near the mountains, next to an old iron mine. We thought at first we had found our comrades, but the units failed to respond to our communications, and instead sent airborne units to attack us. We eliminated the units, and destroyed the tanks they followed up with. But the enemy has us pinned. We believe these units are under control of the aliens. They will very likely destroy us. To any nearby: heed this warning, and avoid these coordinates. I repeat, avoid these coordinates.”
“Tanks are showing up at the valley entrance,” Marlborough said. Team A had oriented their antennae toward Team C, so they could continue to communicate via directional transmission mode, while avoiding detection. Eric and Team C had similarly oriented their antennae. He could still communicate with the rest of the team, because he kept one antenna facing backwards, and running in non-directional mode.
Shells promptly rained down on the site Eric and the others had prepared, destroying the hidden power cells and the transmitter.
“Well, guess he didn’t fall for it,” Bambi said.
“Wait,” Eric said.
He glanced at his overhead map, which was still receiving data from Teams A and B. A red dot appeared, marked as a Harbinger equivalent. It emerged from the valley and moved back and forth across the sky, searching for them. It hovered low over the blast site, no doubt making extensive scans. Then it spiraled outward, searching for anyone else. It passed right over Eric and his team, but they were buried, along with their thermal signatures.
The Harbinger turned around and retreated, and then made a run over the hills and outcrops next to the valley where Teams A and B were hiding. It crossed the valley opening, and then searched the other side, before returning to the mine. It hovered above the valley, continuing to scan the area.
Several moments passed, and no other signs of activity came from the valley, except of course for the Harbinger that remained in place above the entrance. Bokerov was only willing to risk the one, which was probably a good idea at least on his part.
“Well, that was a waste of time,” Slate commented.
“Wait,” Marlborough said.
Five more tanks had appeared at the entrance. They moved outward in five different directions, and occasionally paused at set intervals along the way.
“Minelayers,” Eagleeye said. “Apparently Bokerov isn’t too happy with the existing minefield he has, and wants to expand it a ways.”
“Should we take out those tanks?” Eric asked.
“Negative,” Marlborough said. “Let Bokerov grow comfortable.”
One of those tanks is headed straight for the line between our directional comms,” Mickey said. “I’d recommend shutting down communications with Teams B and C for the time being.”
“Terminate communications, Team C,” Marlborough said.
“Roger that,” Eric said. “Going dark.”
He reduced the range of his directional antennae and swiveled his eye cameras so he had a bead on the tanks. He watched the start-stop of the different tanks for several minutes, until he realized that one of them was coming straight for his position.
16
Eric watched the tank slowly approach. It was possible, maybe even likely, that the tank would detect him. However, if it placed a mine above him, he’d have a little trouble extricating himself.
He directed his cameras toward the valley, and saw more tanks at the entrance. They were also expanding outward, moving between the paths of the previous minelayers. No doubt laying mines themselves.
Eric waited until the tank was nearly on top of him, and then he switched to Bullet Time. He shoved his body out of the rock that buried him, just enough to expose his energy cannon, and then he fired, allowing it to charge for only a half second.
The weapon slammed into the front hull, sending out a shockwave that was reflected by much of the ground around Eric. He’d retracted his cameras to avoid damage, and redeployed them now.
The impact had eaten away the entire front quarter of the tank. Because of the timing, and the nature of the attack, Bokerov would have no idea what hit him.
As expected, the remaining tanks froze.
“Bokerov’s going to be thinking we mined the entire entrance to the valley right under his nose,” Bambi said. “You know what that means, right?”
“Yup,” Eric said.
On cue, the sound of shelling filled the air. Bokerov would be unloading most of his arsenal in an effort to detonate any mines, targeting the spaces between his minelayers, and avoiding those spots where the layers had previously placed the bombs.
Some of those shells would be targeting Eric’s position.
It was time to act.
Eric commanded Slaughter to rise. The Ravager lifted from the surface, and aimed the wormhole weapon a hundred meters away, in the center of the tanks.
Eric fired the weapon a little above the ground.
The bolt erupted outward, and before the shells could hit, the tear in spacetime formed.
A crater formed underneath the wormhole as the earth was sucked away. The shells plunged into the rip in reality, detonating as they did so, their flashes lighting up the night sky. The tanks were also drawn backward—they all drove their shovels into the ground, halting themselves. That’s right—tanks had shovels. They used them to dig holes in the ground, so they could create hull-down positions over relatively flat terrain.
But the crater slowly enlarged as the edges were sucked away, and one by one the tanks were lost as the ground underneath them vanished. The wormhole flashed as more shells from the tanks in the valley arrived. The rip in reality sucked the next wave up. A Harbinger was among that wave.
Eventually, the crater stopped enlarging, leaving four tanks on the outskirts. Eric aimed his energy launcher at their shovels in turn, and fired four times. In moments the tanks were gone.
He fired the dispersion bolt from the wormhole weapon on Slaughter’s back, and a second later the wormhole receded.
Flashes appeared in rapid succession inside the valley.
Eric couldn’t help but smile. Teams A and B were doing their part.
He truly loved it when a plan came together.
“All right, Team C, get ready to move up!” Eric said.
The Eric known as Frogger low-crawled toward the edge of the valley, along with the rest of the team. The Harbinger equivalent remained hovering above the valley entrance; meanwhile, the five minelayers moved outward across the plain, pausing at intervals to lay their bombs.
Eric took his place and aimed down into the valley below. Team A had moved higher up the mountain than the scouts of Team B, and from there were able to get beads on the remaining defense platforms that surrounded the perimeter.
“Link up with Massacre,” Marlborough said.
Each of the Bolt Eaters in Team B synced their laser fire with the mech named Massacre, so when the Ravager fired, all lasers across the team would target the same point.
Eric watched his muzzle subtly bend to match the aim of the big mech. Massacre didn’t fire, of course. They were awaiting the signal from Scorpion before they attac
ked.
Ah, Scorp. Don’t ever think I’ll get used to the fact that you’re me.
“He’s not you,” Betty replied inside his head. “Your personalities are subtly different. For example he keeps his Accomp shut down for the most part. Unlike what you do with me.”
Not everyone likes to have conversations inside of their heads, Frogger told Betty.
“But you do.”
Of course. I’d be lost without your bitching…
Scorp’s signal wouldn’t be one that came over the comm band, as the Bolt Eaters of Teams A and B had ceased all communications with Team C. No, the signal would be a more overt one.
An explosion momentarily drew his attention to the south. Molotovs within the valley erupted, sending a barrage of countless shells into the air. Their trajectories indicated random targets on the ground outside the valley, between the tanks.
“Ha!” Slate said. “Bitch thinks we’ve laid a shitload of mines!”
“There’s our signal,” Marlborough said. “Open fire.”
Eric and the others promptly shot out the remaining defense platforms, concentrating their fire on each platform in turn. Then they turned their weapons skyward, and took down the Harbinger that still hovered above the valley.
Eric felt the wind pick up as a wormhole opened on the plains below, but because of their distance, he and the others didn’t have to dig in—the pull wasn’t that strong, at least not yet. The robots inside the valley below were similarly unaffected, and the 3D printers continued to work on the transport.
Actually, unaffected wasn’t the right word. Bokerov had directed several of the tanks to flee toward that horizontal swath of green light that formed the entrance to the main mine in the mountain. The remainder accelerated forward, along with several smaller support robots, including Bulavas and mechs, and formed a V-shaped defense at the valley entrance. They dug in as the pull from the wormhole began to exert itself. Molotovs rammed shovels into the ground, combat robots and mechs punched their feet through the surface.
Massacre fired at those tanks that retreated toward the cave entrance, still concentrating the team’s fire. Bokerov would likely be among one of them.
They were only able to take down three of the tanks before the rest had vanished inside.
The wormhole promptly vanished—Eric knew because the wind ceased.
Tread had Massacre aim at the vanguard near the front of the valley instead, and began taking out the mechs and tanks.
The two remaining Russian Harbingers took to the sky, but Massacre promptly felled them.
“Bitch is panicking,” Slate said. “He knows we have him.”
“You’d panic too if you faced a weapon you’d never encountered before,” Eagleeye said.
“Actually, I wouldn’t,” Slate said. “I remained calm, if you’ll recall, when we first discovered these weapons.”
Some of the tanks spun their turrets around, no doubt intending to unleash hell upon the areas where Teams B and C were hiding, when a bright flash erupted amid the units below.
Scorpion was unleashing the energy weapon.
Three tanks fell in rapid succession. Mechs ran forward, as Bokerov had no doubt determined that Scorpion was the greater threat at the moment. The remaining tanks also swung their turrets back toward the forefront of the valley; meanwhile, the smaller Bulavas kept their laser rifles aimed at the edge, and were firing at Teams B and C, trying to keep them pinned.
Bright flashes continued to come from the valley as the energy weapon relentlessly took down the vanguard.
“Switch to individual firing mode!” Marlborough said. “Take out the smaller robots!”
Eric’s gun released from sync mode, and he began to aim at the smaller robots that were hiding between the tanks below. He took down three in rapid succession. A tank beside one of the robots melted away as the energy bolt struck it, and the shockwave sent the Bulava flying away before Eric could fire.
There you go stealing kills from me again Scorpion.
“It’s not stealing if it benefits the whole team,” Betty said.
Hey, we talked about this, Eric thought. You’re supposed to remain quiet when the shooting starts.
“Sorry.”
“The smaller robots are down!” Marlborough said. “Sync up with Massacre again. It’s time to get rid of the rest of their tanks.”
Eric synced with Massacre, and the Ravager began to unleash hell upon the remaining units below. By then, Scorpion had shot out about half of the forty tanks, so only twenty were left. However, they must have pinned him and his team with their laser turrets, because Scorpion had stopped firing his energy launcher.
Well that was fine, because with all their turrets pointed forward like that, it meant Massacre could pick off the others with ease.
Some of the tanks below began to divert their aim upward again, but once again beams of energy began to strike them.
That was enough to break the tide, and with the combined attacks from Team C below, and Teams A and B above, in moments no enemy tanks or mechs were left standing.
The industrial grade 3D printers continued to work, receiving a stream of fresh ore from the smelter.
“I’m getting a transmission from Bokerov,” Mickey said.
“Connect me,” Marlborough said.
“Surrender, or I’ll destroy the transport,” Bokerov sent in Russian.
“Damn,” Eagleeye said over the private line. “Are we that obvious?”
“You think he’s bluffing?” Manticore said.
A shell erupted from inside the cave entrance that harbored the main mine, and it struck the side of the under-construction transport, breaking off a small section.
“Apparently not…” Brontosaurus said.
“Surrender, or I destroy the transport,” Bokerov repeated. “I know you want it.”
“What are the terms of your surrender?” Marlborough asked, his linguistic processor translating his words into Russian.
“My surrender?” Bokerov said. “You mean your surrender.”
“Fine, ours,” Marlborough said.
“I will give your team the transport,” Bokerov said. “When it is finished, I will recall the printers into the mine and seal blast doors. Your team may retrieve the vessel. When you are gone, I will create another for myself. See, I am a reasonable man. Benevolent, even.”
“And what do you want in exchange for this ‘benevolence?’” Marlborough asked.
“The alien weapon, of course,” Bokerov said. “And you. You will stay behind, Sergeant First Class.”
“You can’t agree to that,” Crusher said. “He’ll torture you. Kill you.”
“Most likely,” Marlborough said over the private line. Then over the public channel: “Unacceptable. We have no reason to give up any of the alien technology. Go ahead, destroy the transport, we’ll just print another after we drive you out of the cave and destroy you.”
Two more shells erupted from the wide tunnel: one bomb broke off another section of the transport, while the second destroyed a 3D printer.
“All right,” Marlborough said. “Stop.”
“You agree?” Bokerov said. “Like I told you, it is a reasonable offer… I spare your entire team in exchange for you, and a small bit of technology, and I give you a transport.”
“Yes,” Marlborough said. “We agree to these terms.”
“Good,” Bokerov said. “I will await your arrival. You have two minutes, or I will completely destroy the transport, and all the 3D printers below.”
Marlborough disconnected.
“Let me assume your identity, Sarge,” Brontosaurus said. It was easy enough for different members of the team to impersonate each other—it was just a matter of changing their public profiles. The Russian certainly wouldn’t know the difference.
“No,” Marlborough said. “I don’t want any of you to do this.”
“But you can’t go alone,” Bambi said.
“I won’t go alon
e,” Marlborough said. “Bokerov wants the energy cannon. Scorpion, you’ll join me.”
17
The Eric known as Scorpion stood near the entrance of the valley. He leaned past the edge, sweeping his gaze across the far opening to the main mine. He zoomed in, the crosshairs from the energy launcher passing over the bright green blur of that main cavern. He detected digger units, and armored carriers hauling container beds. The latter were idling inside, waiting to strike. There were also deeper tunnels whose entrances were illuminated with lights, no doubt placed to make the mining easier. Bokerov and his collection of personal guard Molotovs would be inside one of those caves.
Eric approached, hugging the valley wall. He used the wreckage of the tanks for cover, keeping them between him and the entrance at all times. Meanwhile, on the overhead map, the blue dot representing Marlborough was climbing down.
Eric reached the edge of the cover, and moved inward instead, ducking behind one of the destroyed tanks. He peered over the edge and switched to the visual band; the light from the caves silhouetted various defense platforms that were situated some distance inside the opening. He realized there were smelters inside the cave—those were responsible for the remaining illumination, thanks to the molten metal they produced. There were also more 3D printers.
Eric oriented his antennae toward Marlborough and emitted a directional signal.
“He’s got more printers inside,” Eric said. “It looks like they’re building more 3D printers.”
“Of course he does,” Marlborough said. “That’s why he was able to scale up so fast. He’s got a bunch of printers dedicated to duplicating themselves…”
“Also, I think I’ve spotted the platforms he’s been using to fire at the transport and the outside 3D printers,” Eric said.
“Do you see any of the armored carriers he’s been using to transport ore in and out of the main mine?” Marlborough asked.
“I do,” Eric said. “They’re armed with laser turrets. They could be used to attack the transport, too.”
“You’ll have to take them all down,” Marlborough said. “Wait for my signal. Don’t show yourself. I have a feeling they’ll fire on sight.”
