Chapter 9: Down Mexico Way, Part 8
"So…Doc, is it?" Herc asked as he, Rosenda, Thom, Simmons, Doc, and Grif walked through the utility tunnel.
"That'd be me," the purple-armored mercenary replied. "What can I do you for?"
"Out of curiosity, what's that pistol-shaped doohickey you're carrying?"
"Oh, that? Medical scanner– just a little something from my old job, you know?"
Herc cocked an eyebrow. "What does it do?"
"Diagnoses illnesses and injuries."
"Anything else?"
Doc bit his lip. "Well, if you overload the power cell, you can use it as a sort of one-shot taser. Of course, there's also the chance it could overheat or explode or just burn out the hardw–"
"Sorry to break this enlightening chit-chat," Rosenda bluntly said, "but I've got something on my tracker."
"How many contacts?" Thom asked, drawing his weapon.
"One. Distance is 15 yards and cl–" his teammate began, only to be rudely cut off by the sound of heavy footsteps coming down a nearby side corridor, followed by a flat "Intruders detected".
"Please tell me that isn't what I think it is," Grif nervously said as the footsteps drew closer, seemingly picking up in pace with each step.
Rosenda snorted. "Probably just a MECH knockoff of one of Destro's robots. Just aim for the chest and you'll be f–"
The words died on her lips as a humanoid figure in a brownish suit of what looked like Unit:E battle armor barreled down the side corridor, fists raised and heading right for her.
"Son of a–"
Before she could finish her sentence, the figure picked her up like a ragdoll before casually flinging into the wall.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Grif asked in a panic as he brought his rifle to bear.
Almost as soon as the words had left his mouth, the figure turned around and picked him up like it was nothing, its head moving up and down as though it were looking him over. In his state of panic, Grif banged his fists on its shoulders and kicked against its torso, earning little but the sound of something banging against metal for his efforts.
"Either one of our people gone rogue or some kind of robot!" Thom replied. "And judging by the clanging, I'm inclined to say it's the latter!"
"I don't care what it is! Just shoot the stupid th– AAACK!" Grif screamed before being cut off mid-word by his captor's foot slamming into his groin like a battering ram, followed shortly thereafter by him being flung right into Thom.
"Um, Doc?" Herc piped up as the machine turned its focus onto him and Simmons. "Remember what you said about turning your medical scanner into a one-shot taser?"
"What about it?"
"Do it and fast before this thing takes us apart!"
Nearby, a dazed Rosenda groaned as she staggered to her feet. "Anybody get the number on that truck?" she slurred.
"Less talking, more shooting!" Simmons yelled, hands shaking as he aimed his rifle.
Herc and a now-upright Thom each gave a silent nod before leveling their respective weapons at the robot and opening fire, with the former's bullets pinging harmlessly off the machine's chest while the latter's seemed to at least stagger the thing.
"Hey, Doc– how's it coming with that scanner of yours?" the geologist asked as he ducked a swipe from his attacker.
"Just finished!" the medic replied.
"Great! Now fire the damn thing!"
Without saying a word, Doc raised the modified tool and pulled the trigger, sending a burst of energy hurtling towards the robot. A mere faction of a second later, it hit its target, and the machine crumpled to the ground like a marionette that'd had its strings cut.
"Holy mother of mercy…" a recovering Rosenda whispered, crossing herself as she eyed the fallen form on the floor a mere few feet in front of her. "What do you think's running that thing?"
"Probably some pre-installed programming," Simmons replied.
"Then why'd it throw her across the room and kick me in the nuts instead of just breaking our necks or something?" Grif retorted as he lay on his back on the floor. "Or for that matter, why'd it wait before dealing with me when it had me dead to rights?"
"Maybe it's– no, not even MECH would be that wasteful as to put an AI into some random robot," Gauntlet Team's engineer piped up as he rose to his feet. "Though come to think of it, maybe we could have a look at it once we get back to HQ. Just need someone to carry it is all," he continued, his gaze drifting towards Doc.
"So, why do I have to lug this thing around?" the purple-armored mercenary asked as he schlepped the inactive robot on his back.
"Because you're the only one who doesn't have a weapon," Rosenda bluntly replied. "Now shut up and keep walking."
From his position near the back of the group, Simmons could swear he saw one of the seemingly disabled machine's hands twitch ever so slightly. "Um, guys?"
"What?" Herc snapped.
"That thing we fought earlier? I'm not sure it's entirely offline."
"Don't let them get near the stockade!" a MECH trooper screamed as Sarge, Cole, and the rest of their respective units (sans Jun, who was still sniping from atop one of the canyon walls) advanced out of the main building and towards the boxy concrete structure that the remains of the facility's garrison had decided to hunker down in and around. "I repeat, don't let them get n–"
The trooper's order was unceremoniously cut short by a short burst from Jorge's machine gun, followed in turn by a blast from Sarge's shotgun.
"You just got Sarge'd!" the red-armored mercenary jeered as he stood over his fallen opponent.
"LAME!" a nearby Church piped up.
"Oh, yeah? Tell you what– if and when you manage to hit the broad side of a barn with that sniper rifle of yours, then you can make your own snappy one-liners!" came the retort.
And here I thought the Carmines were bad. Cole thought as he fired at a nearby sharpshooter on the building roof.
Once again, thank God for small favors. Herc thought as he and his cohorts slipped into the main research building seemingly undetected, with Doc somehow managing to set down the deactivated robot on his back without raising any significant noise. Now if only we had any idea where we were going.
"So now what?" Grif moaned, still limping from the kick to the crotch he'd sustained earlier.
"Same thing we did last time– access the local network, pull up the building map, and then go from there," Rosenda replied. "All we need to do is to get to a terminal."
Just then, a staticky noise came from the robot's speakers, and it began to get up, seemingly oblivious to the guns being pointed at it.
"On my mark…" Rosenda said, her weapon aimed directly at the machine's head.
"Dejen sus armas." (Put down your weapons.)
Gauntlet Team's intelligence officer blinked. "What was that?"
"Dije, 'dejen sus armas'." (I said, 'put down your weapons.)
"Give us one good reason, you walking piece of junk!" Grif shouted.
"Concozco la distribución del edificio."
"What's it even saying?" Simmons asked.
"Something about it knowing the layout of the building."
"No soy un 'eso'. Soy Lopez la Pesado." (I am not an 'it'. I am Lopez the Heavy.)
Rosenda frowned. "Hablas inglés?"
"Usted amigo morado frió mi chip de voz con su pistola taser. Entonces no." (Your purple friend fried my voice chip with his 'taser'. So no.)
She groaned. "Okay, 'Lopez'. Can you tell us where they're keeping the prisoners?"
"Ayer trasladaron a los geólogos a la empalizada, pero hay otros dos hombres aquí." (The geologists were moved to the stockade yesterday, but there are two other men here.)
"What're their names?"
"Dominic Santiago y Derek Bright. Uno de ellos es mecánico y el otro es ingeniero de minas." (Dominic Santiago and Derek Bright. One is a mechanic and the other is a mining engineer.)
"Can you take us to them?"
"Sí."
Several minutes later
"Aquí están los hombres de los que te hablé," (Here are the men I told you about) Lopez flatly said as the party stepped into a corridor lined with what looked like prison cells with glass doors.
"Okay, which one's which?" Grif asked.
"Guy in the third cell on the left is Doctor Bright," Herc bluntly said, gesturing at a fair-skinned man with a mop of curly brown hair atop his head.
"And you know this how?" Rosenda asked.
"I was there when he got abducted, that's how. Now let's focus on getting him and that Dominic guy out of here."
"And while we're at it, see if we can't find your medic a replacement power cell for that scanner doohickey," Thom added.
"Obtendrás más que eso," (You'll get more than that,) Lopez replied before turning around and walking off.
As his mechanical footsteps slowly faded into the distance and the adrenaline began to wear off, a pregnant silence settled over the rest of the group.
Sarge was, for once, silent as he took in the scene in the front room of the stockade. There, standing before him and the rest of the assault team, were at least seven or eight MECH soldiers with their hands in the air, their weapons on the floor, and terrified looks on their faces.
"Just what in the name of six pound eight ounce baby Jesus do you all think you're doing?" he asked.
"Surrendering," one of the soldiers replied. "I mean, given everything that's gone down thus far is anything to go by, it's not like we can turn this around now."
Cole sharply exhaled. "Gauntlet 4, see if you can't find some handcuffs or something."
"Yes, sir," Ben replied.
"Doctor Armstrong, would you mind explaining who these people are?" Bright asked from behind his cell door, gesturing at the assembled Gauntlet/mercenary team.
"Just some new friends of mine," Herc replied. "It's a long story, but all you need to know is that they're on a mission."
"And that mission is?"
"None of your business," Rosenda bluntly said. "Now, mind telling us why MECH was so interested in a mining engineer like you?"
Bright took a deep breath. "Ever hear of galvacite?"
"Not until just now. Mind explaining?"
It was Herc's turn to take a deep breath. "It's a recently discovered mineral that demonstrates high electrical conductivity," he said. "Thus far, it's only been found in relatively small quantities in waste rock collected from particularly deep mineshafts, so you can imagine how slow research on the stuff's been going."
"Perhaps for normal scientists," Bright said, "but MECH's researchers recently found some purer deposits a little closer to the surface around here, thus giving them a leg up in that regard."
"And what'd they learn?"
"To say it's highly conductive would be the understatement of the century."
"No way," Simmons gasped.
"What we're looking at is a naturally occurring room-temperature superconductor. Unfortunately, since the only appreciable galvacite deposits seem to be deep underground, reaching them would expose any miners to extremes in temperature and pres–"
"So they needed someone to design protective suits for those miners, and that someone was you," Grif interrupted.
"Save the chatter for when we're on the way back home, people!" Rosenda barked.
"Okay, so how're we supposed to get all these guys back across the border?" Church asked as he undid the lock on the last of the stockade's cells. "I mean, it's cramped enough in the truck– assuming it still works– and I'm not sure Gauntlet's got enough room in their ride either."
"We'll handle the prisoners, and you can handle those scientists," Cole snapped.
"So, how are you feeling, Mister Santiago?" Doc asked as he opened the cell opposite Bright's.
"Just call me Dom," came the reply. "And to answer your question, I feel like crap."
"How b–"
"Let's just say the only thing on the menu that was anywhere in the vicinity of palatable was the water. And even then, I'm pretty sure I'll still be tasting iodine for who knows how long." He sighed. "So, how much longer do we have to wait around?"
"Just until a friend of ours gets back from picking up a few things."
"Usted llamó?" (You called?)
Everyone looked off to the side to see Lopez standing there, a spare medical scanner on his hip and a small bag of power cells slung over his shoulder.
"Well, that was quick…" Grif said under his breath.
"You said it," Simmons replied. "Now, let's check in w–"
"Simmons!" his commlink blared.
"Oh, Sarge! We were just talking about you! What's the occasion?"
"We're leaving, that's what. We found the rockhounds, Gauntlet's got some prisoners, and now all that's left is for their pilot to blow this pop stand sky high."
Simmons bit his lip. "What about the tr–"
"Should be able to get us to the border. Of course, you're gonna have to keep pace in the other one we just found."
"Sir?"
"One of Gauntlet's prisoners was very cooperative and told us where the motor pool was. And seeing as how many VIPs we're gonna be bringing home, it was only natural we take one of their trucks for the job."
"Anything else we need to know?"
"Yeah– Gauntlet's superiors are going to want to talk with us once we get back stateside."
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
If you get the impression that this chapter was kind of a rushed conclusion to the arc, then you'd be right. Anyways, before we go onto the epilogue, a quick rundown on some of the more important persons and things introduced in this chapter…
Lopez the Heavy: A character from the Red vs. Blue web series, Lopez, like his counterpart here, is a robot that speaks exclusively in (badly translated) Spanish owing to a damaged speech unit, with one of the main running gags on the show being that since nobody else can understand him, he frequently exploits the language barrier to insult them.
Derek Bright: If you've read my earlier works from 2014 onward/are familiar with Hasbro's more obscure properties, then you'd probably know who this guy is, why he's in this section, and realized just what's possibly in store for this take on LuisJM's "TFP: Season 3" universe (assuming you didn't figure it out when Herc Armstrong showed up or when Rosenda and Simmons were looking over the power armor designs).
Galvacite: A reimagined version of the mineral of the same name from the same source material as Herc and Bright; almost assuredly going to be one of the driving forces of The MECH Chronicles going forward.
Dominic Santiago: This universe's reinterpretation of the character of the same name from the first three Gears of War video games; might be showing up again if or when I do some kind of Gauntlet Team-focused spinoff.
As for the next arc, let's just say that we're going to get a better look at the cause of Church's antipathy towards Herc's employers– more specifically, a cause with a foul temper, daddy issues, and a future career in showbiz. Finally, if you're wondering as to who or what "Unit:E" is, that's covered in both the original Transformers: Prime series and in LuisJM's fics, but the short version is that they're a similar organization to the Earth Defense Command from the various iterations of G1 Transformers or N.E.S.T. from the live-action movies.
