Final Thoughts
By Gabriel Bell
Disclaimer: I do not own Robotech or any of the characters, mecha, situations, or plots trademarked by such. These are owned By Harmony Gold Ltd. I did create Lieutenant Alexander Larson and the other members of Thor Squad. I do not pretend to own, occupy or otherwise have control over the intellectual properties of others, although I do like to have a bit of fun with them every so often.
"Damn, where do these things keep coming from?" Alex shouted to no one in particular as he fired his gun pod at a maroon colored, crab like mecha that had just set down a block ahead of him on the street. His blast pierced its armor and shredded the internal components of the mecha, dropping it as a greenish fluid flowed from the scorched hole.
Lieutenant Alex Larson transformed his hover tank into tank mode and rode up the street to get to a better piece of cover to defend the hotel behind him, which was being evacuated in light of this new invasion. Once he got to the collapsed building section, he threw the switch to change back into battloid mode and immediately began to lay down suppressing fire on a trio of purple and gray mechs that were moving towards him. They fell, not even trying to dodge his shots. Four more took their place.
"This is Thor Leader, I need backup in front of Monument City Hotel!" He shouted into his radio. "Where in the hell is the rest of Thor Squad?" There was a moment of light static before a reply came.
"Thor Leader, Thor Two, Four and Five are tied up at the stadium." A female voice answered. "Thor Three and Six are en-route, but encountering heavy resistance. Thor Six reports his unit is heavily damaged. There is a wing of Logans in the area heading in for an air strike. Please give coordinates."
"Coordinates change by the second here." Larson answered as he ducked behind the ruined wall to dodge one of the few blasts of enemy fire he had seen. The enemy looked to be armed mostly with claws and numbers, but few ranged armaments and no missiles that he had seen. That gave him a little hope of winning.
"Do you have solid coordinates for a strike?" The woman said again.
"Yes, yes, Fifth and Fokker. Just blanket the damn area. There's no one here but invaders." Larson answered.
"Yes Sir, translating coordinates." The woman replied.
The lieutenant continued to fire into the mob of invading mecha, but every one he took down was replaced by two more. He remembered barely two hours before, when the call came in that there was an attack. He and the rest of Thor squad raced to their Spartas hover tanks to meet the threat head on. They seemed to come from everywhere, every direction, even from strait above. He had gotten ahead of the rest of the squad to get to his assigned defense sector, which was the hotel. From what he had heard, Odin Squad, whose job it was to defend the stadium, had been obliterated when the barracks were hit, just after Thor Squad left. He could look around and even from the ground tell that the city was in ruins.
Monument City had just recovered from the Robotech Masters and was looking forward to an era of peace. That peace would never come. He could hear radio chatter of other units fighting and dying all over the place. He looked up and saw a pair of Logans spiraling out of control and in flames as a pair of flying mecha still pummeled their charring remains with energy. He took a couple of more shots at the horde that now gathered on three sides of him. There was simply too many of the invader for him to deal with here.
"Transport One, how is the evac coming. I cannot hold." He asked over the radio.
"Good timing Thor Lead. We just got ready to move out. We would appreciate an escort." The pilot of the first of three transports replied.
"Right, head out and contact the rest of Thor Squad and tell them to meet en-route." Alex said as he put some blasts into a structure, trying to knock the building over in front of the enemy mecha units. "I need to block of some enemy mecha. I will be there shortly."
After receiving a positive reply, the Lieutenant fired more blasts into surrounding buildings, toppling them into the intersection. The enemy immediately began to either climb over or tear through with the vicious claws on their arms. He fired a few more shots as he retreated backwards then transformed back into tank mode and began driving furiously toward the transports, which were already heading down the street.
"Lieutenant, this is Thor Three. Deek's down and I'm going. We won't be able to join you. We're cut off. Sorry." It was Sergeant Allison, Alex's bunkmate and despite military regulation, girlfriend.
"Cass...where are you? I can make it to you. Just hold out a few minutes." He replied.
"No...You got a convoy to protect. You won't make it in time. Just keep yourself safe." She answered. "Goodbye Alex, I love-" There was the sound of an energy blast then static. Alex stopped the tank in its tracks and saw that the transports were almost home free. He closed his eyes and a tear rolled down his cheek.
"She didn't even get to finish saying she loved me...They wouldn't let her finish..." He said as he turned his tank around and pushed the throttle up to full to speed to the site where Thor Two and Six had gone down. He paid no heed to the call from the landing pad where the shuttles were berthed for evacuees or the transports, which were calling for continued support. He also didn't pay attention to what was in front of him, just barreling through whatever was in his way.
When he got to the site of Cassandra Allison's last stand, he immediately changed to battloid mode and launched several shots at the three purple trooper mechs that were continuing to tear the two hover tanks apart. When they were down, he looked over where both cockpits would be. His friend Derek 'Deek' Harrison got a merciful killing, which was apparent from the hole blazed through the torso of his Spartas. Cass hadn't been so lucky. Her cockpit was torn open and blood splattered the metal surrounding it.
He barely ducked in time to avoid the heavy blow of a trooper that had sensed the death of its fellows. The blow did strike his gun pod, cleaving it in two. Reacting out of instinct, he dropped the shattered weapon and began to release a flurry of punches and kicks at the mecha, bashing it to pieces. He then went to where the bloodied cockpit of Cass's hover tank was. He looked inside and could see nothing that was discernable as a part of her body.
Alex closed his eyes and tears rolled down his cheeks. He flipped on his radio and began calling out to units across the city.
"Thor Squad, sound off...Teresa…Mark…Shane…where are you guys?" He cried out, somehow not expecting a response. "Anyone in Monument City, please respond!"
"All units, this is General Greer." A male voice came over the communicator. "We need everyone to hold position. We cannot evac any more civilians but we can buy time for those we have gotten out and maybe some time for the rest to get out on their own. We did our best but we need to continue to do our best so that maybe there will be some of us left to fight. Good luck and Godspeed everyone." There were a horrifyingly small number of responses to the impromptu speech.
From what he could gather from the radio traffic as he picked up the gun pods from both of the ruined hover tanks, there was less than a squad of Logans, about two AJACKS helicopters, and maybe a dozen hover tanks left, fifteen out of hundreds of mecha, all in less than two hours. He hoped these invaders could hold out longer than Monument City had. He held a gun pod in each hand and his sensors chirped, alerting him to new contacts. They seemed to be swarming through the streets toward him. He looked down the street and opened a radio channel as he fired the guns of his mech.
"This is Thor Leader…I am making my last stand at the corner of Wabash and Lake…I can't take them all, but many will go to hell with me…"
All Alex could think about as he took down invader after invader was his squad. They began closing in on all sides and he could hear headquarters counting down the losses. Each shot that hit one of the melee mecha brought a flash of memory to him.
A shot hits a trooper, taking off its arm…
Derek and Mark playing cards, Mark losing badly…
Shot drills through center of a scout…
Teresa and Cass looking over dresses and calling him in as judge…
Two shots split a trooper in half…
A squad party with Shane drunk and hanging all over the two girls.
The first sign that he was slowly losing was when a different type of trooper appeared, this one with massive guns on its back, came around a corner, firing and shearing armor off of the leg of his mecha. He turned and took it down with three shots. A burst of gunfire splashed across his back. Alex turned up to fire at the two scouts that had come in and landed behind him, firing the guns they had been modified with. These were dispatched with multiple gun blasts.
The lieutenant looked over to the bloodied Spartas that had once contained his love and stood over it, holding his guns down each street of the intersection. He then began to fire indiscriminately into the crowds of mecha that were advancing on him. He was now receiving incoming fire and chunks of armor were now being torn off of his battloid.
Shoulder plate loosed by a trooper…
His first kiss with Cass…
A leg torn off by a trooper's claw…
A vision of his mother and father holding him as a baby…
A searing plasma blast burns through his cockpit…
Cassandra in a field outside her hover tank, welcoming him with open arms…