Author: Dan Upton
Commander Davis surveyed the base he had been assigned to construct. A Core scout force had been destroyed by a group of patrolling Brawlers, and the enemy had been traced back to a large base behind a mountain. An entire fleet of peepers had been destroyed in the scout mission; high command declared the base a threat to Arm control in the region and dispatched Davis to start a defense.
Davis stepped out of the large commander suit and flipped sweat out of his close-cut black hair. It was a chilly morning on the Deestex, and the shade of the trees and the mountain protecting their base wasn't helping warm anything. Defender Missile towers were now in two staggered rows all around the base, and Flash tanks, PeeWees, and Rockos patrolled the perimeter. The occasional explosion rocked the countryside, but for the most part, the morning was quiet.
Commander Davis turned as a Jeffy pulled up, followed by a string of KBots he didn't recognize. They were much shorter than most KBots--barely knee high to the PeeWees escorting them. A Construction aircraft flew over the procession and began repairing damaged PeeWees. The cockpit on the top of the Jeffy opened and the driver emerged, followed by a red-haired woman with a blue trenchcoat and clipboard.
"Commander Davis!" the woman shouted in a soft voice that still commanded attention.
Davis walked over to her. "I'm Davis."
"I figured you'd be in your suit. What if Core wanted to just steal it?"
"No worries. They aren't going to get a Valkyrie in here to pick it up--haven't you seen my defenses?"
"Uh-huh. Anyway, I didn't come to berate you. I just came from the research facility!"
Research facility? Davis thought. He didn't remember being informed of one when he was assigned. "Care to refresh me?"
"Oh, I don't guess you'd know, would you? We found a metal deposit a few months ago that you couldn't match if you were on an all-metal planet like Core Prime. High command sent several energy vessels to get us a fusion plant and some basic defenses to get started. All that metal and energy helps us develop things more quickly." She gestured at the KBots following her. "Like these Fleas."
Davis took a second look at the bots following the woman. They had four legs and a back-mounted cannon, like the Fido, but they were much smaller. They looked quicker and more mobile, too; smaller legs with more joints than he expected and a smaller body meant they could travel more easily over bad terrain. "How are you controlling them? Nobody could fit into those suits."
"Well, you're right about that." A mischevious grin played across the researcher's face.
Davis turned sideways to her and made a fist behind his back, knowing he still couldn't hit a woman. "You didn't pattern people into them, did you?"
"No! Of course not!"
About that time, an Atlas dropped off a crate next to the commander suit, then landed a few feet away. The crate opened, and several men walked out, wearing goggled helmets and silver suits and carrying small control panels.
The researcher pointed at them. "They're the backup control. We leave them in a bunker or some other protected location, and they see through the Flea's eyes. The main control comes from an extremely advanced AI, which can be overridden or shut down from those control panels. They can also take control of any Flea by selecting it's ID number from a radar-gained list of those active."
Davis nodded. "I'm impressed. So what kind of capabilities do they have?"
"Naturally, they can travel somewhat faster than other KBots over rough terrain. They're smaller, so they may can be used for scouting, even in large groups--under cover, they are hard for radar to detect." She motioned for one to come over, and it sped to where she was standing. Davis wasn't sure if it moved via AI or human control. "On it's back is a rapid fire laser cannon. It's probably the weakest weapon of all our forces, but it fires quickly--more quickly than the enemy A.K.'s cannon, which is similar to this one--and Fleas can be quickly and cheaply produced, allowing them to swarm."
Another explosion rang out behind the hill, and a construction aircraft took off to reclaim metal.
Davis nodded. "Well, let's take them out for at field test, shall we? Is there a limit on the control panels?"
The researcher shook her head. "No, they could control them from the research base. I sent for them just for your sake."
Davis climbed into his commander suit and called for the Fleas to follow him. Once they fell in line, he called for two Advanced Construction Aircraft to start building a Bertha cannon on the mountain south of the Core base. Moho Mines and two Fusion plants were hard at work producing metal and energy, so Davis set his factories to making Brawlers, Flash tanks, PeeWees, and Fidos. The panel on the inside of his suit showed a sharp drop in the surplus, but he knew his generators were still making more than he was using.
When Davis climbed the mountain, the aircraft already had the Bertha's framework put together. He activated his building arm and put together two Laser Towers before adding to the Bertha. The Fleas paced as they waited for further orders.
Davis heard the Laser Towers open fire, then heard the familiar sound of an explosion. He smiled inside his suit until he saw a plasma ball fly at him, barely missing his suit and instead hitting the Bertha. Now seemed as good a time as any. "Fleas! Attack!"
There was no audible reply, just the sound of two dozen sets of Flea legs moving, then laser cannons rotating. Davis turned to look and saw a Pillager rolling back down the hill. Enemy artillery? How had it gotten this close? Why had it come this close, that was a better question. He realized it probably couldn't shoot very far up the hill.
The Fleas mostly attacked from behind, but some circled around, flanking the Pillager, and a few even managed to work around in front of it. The Pillager lowered its cannon, attempting to blast the Fleas--which undoubtedly couldn't take more than one blast from the artillery piece's plasma cannon--but was unable to get a low enough angle to hit them, sending all of its shots beyond the furthest attacker. All at once, 4 dozen laser blasts hit the enemy Pillager, and it exploded, leaving a largely useless metal husk.
Commander Davis inwardly celebrated, then looked up. The Bertha was finished, and all the energy he was spraying at it now was just wasted. He cut off his building arm and headed back to the base as construction aircraft built missile towers. "Come in Tratow Base," he called into his radio.
"This is Tratow Base, over."
"Commander Davis. We'll return within the hour. Bertha completion successful. Send a Peeper squadron with some Freedom Fighters to scope out the Core base. We're gonna win this one yet."
"Will do, Commander. Tratow out."