Metal and Ash (Apex Trilogy) (15 page)

No one disagreed.

***

Stomper decided to save his ammo and just use brute force. He didn’t want to run his guns empty and need them later. That was what Harlow had taught him. If you could smash the fuck out of your enemy then there was no need to even think of drawing a weapon.

“I implore you all to think this through,” Stomper bellowed over his loudspeakers. “We are all mechs here.”

The minis didn’t listen. Ten went right at Stomper, their guns firing at his legs, aimed right for his hydraulics. Stomper leapt into the air and came down hard leaving only three minis operational. He did what his name implied and then there was only one mini, but that guy was less than functional.

Unfortunately, Harlow’s tactics were for head-on battle. She never thought to teach him about the bait and switch.

When the full size mechs blasted the backs of his legs, Stomper felt half his hydraulic capabilities go out.

“Oh, dear,” Stomper said. “This is not good.”

***

“How many are going to get through, Jethro?” Lt. Murphy asked as the team watched RPG after RPG and missile after missile fly at the attacking mechs. “More importantly, how much damage can this thing take when they do get through?”

“I’ll keep them back,” Jethro said.

“Anyone else a bit claustrophobic right now?” Kafar asked. “Is it just me? I mean this thing feels like a coffin with legs.”

“Shut up, Kafar,” Sol ordered. “Keep your shit together.”

“Oh, I got my shit, Sol,” Kafar laughed. “My shit is tight. Just making an observation before I die.”

“I’m with Kafar on this one,” Grendetti said. “I sure would rather have boots on dirt right now.”

“Not happening,” Murphy said although she was right there with her men on that one. Even running across the barren valley was more appealing than being trapped in an armed tin can. She should have known that even as a Hybrid, mechs were for pilots. Freedom was how her team worked.

“I’m giving you one chance, Jethro,” Murphy spoke up. “The first hint this bucket is going down and I’m getting my team out of here.”

“There’s nowhere to go, Lt,” Jethro replied.

“That’s why we’re called ‘special’, Jethro,” Murphy said. “We make places to go, we don’t wait for them to appear.”

“Got that right, Lt,” Grendetti said. “I say we bug the fuck out now.” The first RPGs got through and started to impact against the Hybrid’s armor. “Or we could stick around for a while. I’m good with that.”

***

Stomper kicked out and crushed the front frame of a full sized mech. It’s cockpit caved in and the thing toppled over backwards. Alarms blared as Stomper’s pressure gauges began to spike. He could see that he would lose his right knee hydraulics in less than five minutes.

“I must improvise,” Stomper said. “Do not rely on what I can do, but focus on what the enemy cannot do.”

Having Harlow for a pilot for the past few months had paid off for the giant mech.

Three full mechs converged on Stomper from different sides. He knew he couldn’t take all three at once, so he picked the one he perceived to be the strongest and attacked.

One thing the unlucky mech couldn’t do was leap out of the way of Stomper’s extensive reach. It brought up its guns, but was too late. Stomper gripped the mech in its hand and then turned and tossed it at the mech right behind him. The two machines collided in an explosion of metal and fire.

“Hot damn!” Jethro shouted. “That’s using your nuts and bolts, man!”

“I do not believe this is the time for vulgarity, Jethro,” Stomper said as he focused on the third mech.

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Jethro protested. “Oh, never mind. Just crush that fuck!”

Stomper attempted to do just that, but the third mech proved to be much faster than anticipated. A quick scan showed the mech’s hydraulics to be bunched and coupled in a way that Stomper had never seen.

“I am sending analysis back to the Stronghold,” Stomper said as he took an RPG in the mid-section. “Chief Mechanic Jay Rind may be interested in the design of this mech’s leg systems.”

Academic and engineering interest aside, Stomper realized he had to disable the mech’s mobility or he would not survive long. The thing was fast and was landing too many shots to Stomper’s critical areas.

Stomper stood to full height and watched the mech leap and land, leap and land. On the next landing, Stomper timed a stomp and the valley floor shook and shuddered. The mech landed on unstable ground and faltered. Stomper didn’t waste time. He scooped up the mech and twisted the thing into two parts, sending both parts flying deep into the wasteland.

As proud as Stomper was of his tactical analysis, he didn’t have time to gloat, even if his AI was capable, because the next wave of minis hit him low and hard.

***

Far below the battle on the valley floor, Mitch Masters was faced with a dilemma.

“Promise to stop with the silent treatment,” Masters said as he stood over a pissed off Harlow strapped to a lab table. “That’s all I’m asking.”

“Goddammit, Mitch!” Harlow spat. “I don’t know where the fucker went! He could be back any second! Stop fucking around!”

“My gut says that the only thing the Great Maker is great at is running and hiding,” Mitch said. “I’m sure he’s ten caverns away by now.”

“MITCH!” Harlow roared.

“No more silent treatment,” Masters said as he casually swung the broken strut back and forth. “Just say it.”

“I haven’t been giving you the silent treatment,” Harlow hissed. “I have spoken to you every single day.”

“Oh, I’m not talking about those lips,” Masters grinned.

“You son of a bitch,” Harlow shouted as she strained at her bonds. “Cut me the fuck loose or I swear you will never, ever, as long as I fucking live, get one fucking glimpse at my pussy again! EVER!”

“So what youare saying is night sex is cool as long as the light’s off?”

“Not even if you were the last cock standing, asshole.”

“Okay, that’s kinda the opposite of what I was talking about,” Masters said. A clang and thump from deep in the cavern made Masters hurry to the table. “Just kidding. Seriously. All just a joke.”

Harlow had to keep herself from kicking the shit out of Masters as soon as she was freed from the table.

“You do know I was joking, right?” Masters asked as he watched Harlow arm herself with her two long blades that had been tossed on a scrap pile against the wall. “Oh, Jeezus, I’m so gonna die.”

“Shut up, you fucking baby,” Harlow said. “I won’t cut your nuts off until we get back to the Stronghold. Too many people would pay to watch. Not gonna waste that opportunity.”

“What people?” Masters asked as he watched Harlow sprint further into the cavern, headed towards the clang. “Where the fuck are you going? The way out is back that way!”

***

Nothing illuminated the cavern as the Great Maker sprinted around bend after bend, his eyes seeing all. He counted his way, knowing the maze of twists and turns like the back of his metal framed hand. His destination was just in reach.

“MAKER!” Harlow yelled from way back in the cavern. “I’M COMING FOR YOU!”

“You’ll never make it,” the Great Maker snarled as he came to his proudest creation. “Not in a million years.”

Couplers were disconnected and geothermal steam hissed throughout the cavern. Quick tests showed hydraulic levels and vital fluids to be optimal. The smell of rotten death was everywhere and the Great Maker breathed deeply, savoring the aroma of his creation.

He climbed aboard into the central space designed just for him. He had known the day would come when Capreze’s people would find him. They were vermin of the wasteland and all vermin found a way in eventually.

As the Great Maker settled himself into the pilot’s space, hose threaded out and twisted into ports in his legs and arms. Bolts whirred their way into the tips of his fingers as cables stretched and connected. His entire head was encompassed in metal, connectors pressing into his red eyes, finalizing the integration with the machine.

The one story, eight-legged machine crawled its way out of the cavern, stretching its legs and gaining height as the cavern widened around it.

***

Harlow skidded to a stop and held her hand back. Masters nearly impaled himself on the blade she held, but stopped in time.

“May want to give a heads up,” Masters said. “Little dark in here you know.”

“Shut the fuck up, Mitch,” Harlow whispered.

“Is this how it’s gonna be from now on?” Masters asked. “Because you have to know how sorry I am. Seriously, I-.”

“Shhhh!” Harlow scolded. “Listen!”

A clanging sound echoed through the cavern’s serpentine path and Harlow took off after it.

Masters sighed and struggled to keep up with her. “Jeezus, does she have fucking night vision?”

***

“Fuck you!” Bisby shouted as One Arm closed on the Hybrid. “I’m not letting you take down my people!”

“There is no way to stop me,” One Arm replied. “I have command of all systems. You are not strong enough to override my AI.”

“Hey, Biz,” Jethro said over the com. “How’s things?”

“Bite my dick, Jethro,” Bisby said. “Not the time.”

“Well, I think it is the time,” Jethro said. “There is a way to override the AI.”

“I will fry his cerebral cortex before he can even try,” One Arm stated.

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Jethro said.

One Arm was only paces from the Hybrid. The mech lifted his arm, ready to slam the new machine into the dirt, as the Hybrid was too busy with the mini-mechs surrounding it to see the danger.

“Hey, Stomper? Got a second?” Jethro called out.

“Not at this particular moment,” Stomper replied as he danced and dodged about the mini-mechs attacking it. The smaller mechs were like scavengers fighting for their piece of meat. There was no coordinated attack, just pure, violent chaos.

“I just need you to tell Biz how Masters overrode your AI,” Jethro said. “Any pointers would be helpful.”

“He was Mitch Mother Fucking Masters,” Stomper said. “That was all he needed.”

“You got that, Biz?” Jethro said. “You can do it.”

“My AI will be fully operational in minutes,” One Arm said. “At that time you will not be able to stop me. I will burn your brain from your skull.”

Bisby concentrated, but it was like pressing his balls against a wall of needle sharp nails. The pain was excruciating and threatened to knock him into unconsciousness.

“No go, Jethro,” Bisby said, gasping for air. “This fucker is too strong.”

“Okay, well I tried, Biz,” Jethro said. “It was good knowing you. We’ll be sure to keep the fact you gave up off your memorial plaque.”

“Fuck you,” Bisby snarled. “Your bullshit psychology is not helping.”

“No, no, of course not,” Jethro said. “There is nothing that can help. The metal won, Biz. You got taken down from the inside by a deader. I am sorry.”

Bisby knew exactly what Jethro was doing. It was so blatantly childish. But being taken down by a deader? Images of Stanislaw being eaten by the very machine Bisby was in pushed to the front of his mind. Thoughts of all the destruction the deader had wrought on survivor pockets across the wasteland. He couldn’t just roll over.

“One Arm,” Bisby said. “I’ll give you one chance to end this.”

“I do not need your chance,” One Arm said as it sent its fist into the Hybrid, buckling the machines legs under it.

“Fair warning, bitch,” Bisby said as he closed his eyes and dove into One Arm’s AI.

***

The howl that spread across the wasteland almost stopped the battle in its tracks. Even the mini-mechs hesitated as the scream of anguish and pain echoed from One Arm’s loudspeakers. But the hesitation of metal lasted only a millisecond, not long enough for any of the humans to register.

“Shit balls,” Grendetti said as the Hybrid recovered and lumbered to the side away from One Arm. “That doesn’t sound good.”

Jethro opened up with the 50mm guns on the mini-mechs coming at the Hybrid. He aimed at the legs, strafing the hydraulics until the things were having to pull themselves forward with their fists. Most of the mechs were already out of ammo, their supplies having been short from the start. Jethro realized that and pushed forward, sending everything the Hybrid had at them.

A large mech made it past Stomper’s defenses and clambered up its leg, punching mech fist-sized holes in Stomper’s exoskeleton. The huge mech fell to its knee and reached down for the mech, but the thing leapt away, rolling in the dirt until it gained control and came up firing.

Round after round peppered Stomper as the mech tried to swat the attacker away. The accuracy of the attack became alarming as system failures across the board started to set off alarms.

“Stomper?” Jethro asked. “I’m not liking what I’m seeing here.”

“I am not liking what I am feeling here,” Stomper replied. “This one has more firepower than the others.”

The mech, Hollow Eye, circled about Stomper, concentrating all weapons on weak points and structurally vulnerable areas.

“Get out of there, Stomper!” Jethro shouted. “Just bail, man!”

Full system hydraulics failed and Stomper could no longer stand without worry of snapping struts throughout its legs. When the firing from Hollow Eye stopped, Stomper thought it may have a chance to retreat, but the mech was on it in a flash, its hands ripping at cables and connections as fast as it could.

While all may have noticed when One Arm started wailing, none noticed when it stopped. Everyone was too busy keeping themselves alive to worry about a pained mech.

“Hey,” Bisby coughed as he stood behind Hollow Eye. “Get off my friend.”

The mech whirled about in time for Bisby to punch the one metal arm he had through Hollow Eye’s midsection. Bisby opened his massive metal fist and grabbed anything and everything he could then yanked his arm back out.

Hollow Eye fell off Stomper and stumbled about the valley floor for a moment before collapsing to its knees. Bisby walked over to the fallen mech and pulled his arm back. His head felt like a thousand deader teeth were ripping at his brain, but he had One Arm subdued and that was all he cared about. Except for ripping Hollow Eye’s head right off. He really wished the mech had a head.