Mitchel squirmed in Max's
grip. "Let me go!! Babe's still
out there!!!!!!!" "SETTLE
DOWN!!!!!!!!" Max shouted at
him. "He's
too close to the battlefield. Look, the
tanks just broke through. Wait until
we've secured the city, then go to him.
Until then, stay here, where we need you!" Mitchel scowled and
jerked out of Max's grip. He sat back
down and started working on the rocket launcher again. "I
don't WANT to help now. I wanna go to
Babe... I'm the only one who knows how
to fix him..." This time Max
laughed. "That won't be true once we get inside that city, Mitch. I'm willing to bet that nearly everyone
living in that city knows how to build a robot." "Not Babe! I changed him!!!! No one else knows how to fix him!" Mitchel hurried
with the launcher, thinking of Babe as he worked. With it done, he glanced back through Max's
binoculars. "Why can't I go now? There
isn't a tank left outside the city!!!!"
"What the--" Max grabbed his binoculars
back and looked through them. "I told them--trained them to never do
that! There should always be at least
ONE tank standing guard, no matter what." Max set his binoculars down and picked up his
communicator. "Chris, what the HELL are you thinking?!! Where's the guard?!!!!!" Chris' voice didn't answer. Max called him again, with no response. "Damn
it Chris, answer!" "S--sir?"
It was Anthony's voice. "Sir, no one can take guard duty. They all--" "What happened, Anthony?!" "I--don't know sir. I was the guard, but Chris called me inside. Said that he needed me in there... I can't find anyone here, sir. They vanished." "Damn it, what happened?" Max mumbled to himself. He spoke into his communicator. "Anthony,
are the tanks still there?"
"No sir. There's nothing
left. I can't even find a
building!" Max, after hearing
this, looked through his binoculars. He gumbled and went back to the communicator. "What
are you talking about?! I can see
ROOFTOPS just fine!!!" "So can
I sir. That's
the ceiling. It's like the entire place
is just a huge dome... What? Sir, I think I just saw Chris' tank! I'm following it now." Anthony told them what he was doing as he
followed Chris' tank. He repeatedly
tried to contact it, but he never got an answer. "Sir,
this doesn't make any sense. Chris keeps
running off, it's like he's leading me somewhere... What the--a ROBOT!!!!!!! Augh! Sir, they've gotten inside the tank!! I can't hold them!!! It was a trap--" Anthony
screamed over the radio. There was the
sound of gunshots, then a scuffle. The
radio was switched off during the fight.
When next it came on, Anthony's voice sounded weak. "Sir,
I'm dying... They've been taking
us. I saw Chris. He's a robot now..." Something collapsed inside Anthony's
tank. Mechanical sounds followed, then the radio went silent.
A written letter was sent over to them through the special printer they
had in their radio. Mitchel
watched as Max read the sheet of paper.
Greg's eyes went wide as he watched. "They
took the bait! Damn!!!!!!" He jumped over to his radio and contacted
HQ. "RC 1? This is Greg from Factory
7. The entire tank regiment from Max's
army has just fallen into the ammunitions trap." There was a surprised gasp on the other
end. "None
made it out?" "I've watched
the factory for an hour sir. Every tank
went in, and none have come out since." Someone cheered on the other end before he
was answered. "Affirmative, Greg.
Congratulations!" Greg
smiled. "Thank you sir." He switched off the radio and busied himself
with repairs while Steve came back.
Steve came in shortly after another hour had passed. "It
seems that the renegade is stronger than you thought, eh Steve?" "Shut up. Just get me back out there. I won't rest until I've gotten him once and
for all." "Right. I watched you fight Steve. I have never seen anything more careless than
what you did out there."
"What's that supposed to mean?!!" "You wasted every other robot out
there. THAT is the type of thing no one
that controls you can stand. Don't do it
again." "But I was
just--" "You led practically
all of that robot army to destruction!
Don't give me any excuses!!! Now
get on the table so I can fix you."
Steve meekly laid down. "But
he--" "Shut up and turn yourself off so I can work." Greg began working as soon as Steve shut
down. "You are damn lucky, Steve.
Next time you might not make it back."
"What?.. Mitchel, is that you?"
"Hold still Babe. You took a
lot of damage out there. I had to rewire
your optics. I'll be done with them in a
few more seconds..." Babe held
still and waited as Mitchel worked on him. When he could see again, he noticed they were
back in the welding shop. "Mitchel, did
we get the city?" "No." His voice was flat, without emotion. "They
got us." "What do you
mean?" Somewhere in the room,
he heard Dana's voice. "We have the citizens here, human and
anthro. They've been showing Max and
others how they've been communicating with other robot cities. The city still stands..." "Then we won?" "Not neccessarlliy. Mitch, how close are to finishing?" "Stop rushing me! I don't want to make him
malfunction!" Max's voice came
from over an intercom. "Mitchel, I'm
sorry, but you've only got five minutes." Mitchel
sighed. "I can do it that fast, but I need more time to make sure he'll be
fine..." "Mitchel,
what happened?" "Every single
tank except yours is in the hands of robots." "WHAT?!!!!" Dana came over to him in a wheelchair, still
wearing her cast. "Babe, the city was a trap.
We already found out how they managed it, but every tank driver, along
with their tank, belongs to the robots now." "But--but Chris--Anthony--we can't let
them--" "Quiet Babe. I'm almost done here." Mitchel leaned back
and closed Babe's chest. "They've been making me hurry. You and Max are going in alone." "But we need--" "We don't HAVE anyone else. I've been working on you for over an hour now
just so you can protect Max. The two of
you are going to destroy that death trap of a city." Babe sat up.
"How many fighters do we have
left?" "Well, we have enough
to replace every tank officer we had, but they're all still training. for anyone else, we
didn't lose a single person."
"But the tanks were the main part of our force!" "Exactly. That's why you and Max have to destroy the
city. If the humans get a hold of those
tanks, they could beat us back easily!
We don't have the defenses we used to." With that, Babe walked to the door. Max was just about to knock as Babe opened
it. "I'm
ready Max. Let's go."
Max briefed him as they walked to the last remaining
tank. "Then you've been told the situation?" "Yes." "Anthony was the last to be taken. Before he died, he sent us this." Max handed Babe the paper. "It's
a map he drew as he drove deeper into the trap.
He was able to send that sketch, but as you can see, he didn't finish
it." Babe nodded. "This
is the same layout as the factory I destroyed by myself. Anthony was led to the main chamber, where
the process of turning an anthro into a robot starts. I can take us to the main core of the entire
building with this." "I was
hoping you'd say that. But we have to find
and destroy each tank they have before we go after the building itself. They can't be allowed to have access to
those, especially with all of the improvements Mitchel
made." Max stood by Babe's
tank. "Babe, will there be enough room for both of us in your
tank?" "You drive it. I can fly fast enough." Max glanced at Babe, surprised. He opened the hatch, gasping when he saw the
inside. "Babe, what are these?"
He pulled out a small metal bomb.
Babe barely looked at it. "One of Mitchel's bombs. They are designed to make
robots short curcuit.
Throw it as hard as you can, or I'll be hit too." "No you won't." Max pulled out a note next, smiling. "This
note's from Mitchel.
It says these bombs won't hurt you in the least. I think he made some modifications to you,
Babe." Babe studied the
bomb. "Well... How'd he do
that?" Now Babe smiled. "I'll
carry some. You need as light a load as
you can have if you want to move fast, Max.
Mitchel's doing pretty good, huh?" "I'll say. That kid thinks of things I haven't even
noticed. He's an observant boy." "Yeah... I'd bet he's the next Billy Brown. That boy knew how to rebuild me!" Max stopped going deeper into the tank. THIS was DEFINATELY something he hadn't
considered! "I hadn't thought of that..." Max shook his head and dropped the rest of
the way into the tank.
----
Babe scanned the area, then spoke
to Max through the radio. "Max, stop the tank. There are robots crawling all over the
place. If you stay in there, they'll get
you exactly like they got Anthony."
Max's voice came out through his wrist.
"Okay. Just make sure I won't get ambushed." Max stopped the tank and slowly started
getting out. Babe kept his eyes peeled
for any movement. The robots he detected
barely moved. "Max, they aren't moving.
Every single robot I can see is waiting for us to come in." Babe watched Max as he thought of
something. "Babe?"
"Yes?" "Throw in
one of the bombs. Let's test these
things out." Babe nodded,
activated a bomb, then threw it in. His sensors seemed to die for a second as the
electrical blast took him, but he came back online almost instantly. The robots that had been caught in the blast
weren't so lucky. "We're clear, Max. We can
go in." They started walking
through the strange maze of halls and corridors. As they rounded another corner, they found
Chris' tank turned off and sitting there.
Max laid a hand on the tank. A
strange look passed over his eyes, like he was remembering. Babe waited for him to finish. Both jumped when they heard an
explosion. Babe turned in its direction
and scanned the area. "Max, our tank is gone. We have to take one of these if we wanna get
out of here." Max shook his
head. "No good. I'll bet ANYTHING
that the tanks are all bugged or booby trapped.
We'd have to dismantle the entire thing before we got back to the
village, if we got back at all. No,
we'll think of something when we have to.
Right now we have to destroy this tank." Max stepped back as Babe took aim. It took three blasts before the tank
exploded. Fortunately for them, the
explosion had been small. They went
deeper into the maze, soon relying only on Babe's new vision to find where they
were going. Right before they would have
reached the spot Anthony's map had shown them, Babe turned. "Max,
the main core should be this way."
"Lead on." They
kept moving through the halls, twisting and turning in so many ways that Max
was lost before they reached the room.
All thoughts of trying to find their way back left them when they walked
in the room. There was blood everywhere,
spattered over the entire room. The core
had a red light to it, making the blood seem all the more threatening. A tank lay, turned off, by the core. When they went to look inside it they found
the remains of two tornado wings. "Anthony..." Babe backed away from the tank, grateful that
he had almost no real stomach. If he'd
had, he knew he would've retched right there.
"He was juxt
a kid... Barely able
to fight... Now he's a..." Max said in shock. Babe was relieved when Max didn't try to
finish. Max went to the far wall, away
from the tank, while Babe destroyed it.
It took an extra blast to make the tank explode. The heat from the tank's explosion seemed to
do something to the core... "Damn!
Max, we have to find where they put the rest of the tanks! We've only got minutes before the core
explodes!!!!!" Babe shot
through the halls, shouting at Max as he zoomed ahead to keep him on the right
path. They came to the point where
Anthony's map had ended. "Max, take as many bombs as you can and
head for the exit. I've found the
tanks." Max started for the
room. "Good. Then let's get the
tanks and go!" "MAX!!!! You go and let me do this. You won't make it out fast enough
otherwise!" Mechanical noises
sounded somewhere in the distance. "Damn it Max, MOVE! Hurry up before they get a big enough army in
here to take us both out! They've got
enough as it is!!!!!" Max shook
his head. "No Babe. I want to see
each tank destroyed myself. I HAVE to or I'll never be sure we didn't
miss one." He pulled out a gun
Babe hadn't seen on him. It was the
rocket launcher that had saved Babe when he'd rescued Jesse. "We
don't have much time. C'mon." Max walked, determined, into the next
room. Babe followed him in. It looked as if every tank was there, so much
useless scrap without a driver. The
mechanical noises drew closer. Max
turned to Babe. "I'll hold off the robots.
Use the rocket launcher if you have to." He tossed Babe the launcher. "It
has five rockets in it. MOVE!!!!"
Babe nodded and started destroying each tank, starting with the ones
farthest away, hoping for a chain reaction.
It happened once, destroying three tanks before the chain ended. Warning. Energy levels depleted. Switching to secondary
source. Babe jerked at the
new message that flashed in front of his eyes.
He hadn't known about that! Five
tanks remained. He shot a rocket into
each one, firing once with his arm cannon afterwards to make sure the rocket
did its job. He glanced back at Max when
there was one tank left. MAx looked like he was doing fine... Babe destroyed the last tank and flew up by
Max. "C'mon! There isn't much time!" Max was grimacing and holding a blooded
arm. He had a terrible limp, and it
looked like part of his left wing was blown away. "Get
moving Babe. I did what I set out to
do. I can't make it." "What the hell are you talking about,
Max? I can carry you!" "No, I'll just slow you down. Get going before you trap yourself in
here..." Babe started talking
again, trying to convince Max to come with him.
Max scowled and screamed, throwing a bomb at him. Babe dodged it to see Anthony, in robot form,
get short-curcuited by the device. Babe's curcuits
went offline, then came back as the explosion engulfed
him as well. Max had turned around,
throwing more bombs at an oncoming hoard of robots. Babe could recognize Chris in the
tangle. "Max, let me carry you!"
"I told you to MOVE! Get out
now!!!!!!!!!!" Max reached for
Babe and shoved him. "They need you more than me!" "But--" "GO!!!!!!!" Max pulled out another gun and shot at the
ceiling, making it fall between them.
Babe tried to dig his way through, but there wasn't any time. He flew out of the opening and back to the
village right as the place collapsed, weighed down with another death on his
hands.
Jesse puzzled over the message. "Max,
are you sure?" "Yeah. I made Babe leave without me. You're in charge now, Jesse. I wouldn't--have lived anyway." Max's voice was sounding weaker with each
message. "I'll miss you guys."
Jesse half jumped in his bed as the radio suddenly crackled with no
signal. Max had turned his end off. "Max? MAX!!!!!" Jesse signaled him over and over again,
trying to get a signal he was fast fearing wasn't
there. A huge explosion, followed by a
low rumble, gave proof to Max's demise.
The robot city had just collapsed on itself. Max would be buried now if he wasn't with
Babe. Almost as if brought on by the
thought, Babe's metallic form appeared in the sky. Jesse strained with his binoculars to get a
closer look at Babe. Babe's head was
hung low, his entire body spoke of defeat, sadness, despair. He looked even worse up close. "Babe,
will you be alright?" Babe
didn't look up as he spoke. "Shut the hell up, Jesse." Babe walked past him, tears falling gently
off of his face. Jesse found himself crying
as well. "Babe, did Max?.." "No.
Shut up." Babe walked
down the stairs of the lookout tower.
Jesse could hear him talking. "Excuse me, you're Anthony's
mother?" "Yes..." She said, unsure of the robot who was talking
to her. "Maam, I--I have some good news and some
bad news. Both concern your
son." "What... What happened to him?" "He died. The robots weren't able to use him
though. I'm sorry." Jesse could hear Anthony's mother gasp at the
news. A door slammed; Babe had left,
leaving Anthony's mother to her sobs.
----