Chapter 2:
The truck and the rest of the cars arrived at a disused oil field, driving through clusters of pipes and odd looking old industrial structures until they reached an entrance to a warehouse. The doors opened at the sound of the vehicle's horns while approaching the rusted building, revealing a road descending down into an underground tunnel, which led to a large underground base, run by a group called the PRC; The Planet Rejuvenation Collective. The group had been operating in secret for several months. Hidden underneath an empty oil foundry, the area is kept under heavy guard. As of now, many species of plants and animals have been rescued and nurtured. Even unarmed refugees are welcomed with open arms to keep them safe from the STRI-KRs and other barbaric marauders that still prowled the landscapes.
Much of the militia was formed from the brave individuals that stormed the STRI-KR base in 2109. Many of them wanted Slayer to take charge of the entire operation, but he insisted that he wanted to be a general for the militia's troops. Since then, he had been joining patrols every day and night, even forgetting to charge himself up on occasion. This was just one of the many water hunting patrols he assigned himself to. Each patrol bore less and less fruit as the weeks passed, with this one being worse than the previous ones. The vehicles came to a stop inside the hangar, as some of the crew got out immediately and tended to the pump truck. Slayer jumped out of the sixties interceptor. "Get that water pumped out!" he ordered his comrades. A few seconds later, a marauder from one of the gangs that battled in 2109 walked up towards Slayer. His name was Lieutenant Bone.
"Afternoon, general! Glad to see you're in one piece!" he called. "Too bad we can't say the same for the others." Slayer responded. "STRI-KRs?" asked Bone. "They got us at the last minute." Slayer said. "At least you saved the tanker!" Bone continued. "How much water did you find?" Slayer said nothing, then turned towards the tanker where they were emptying the water from the small pond they found. Bone watched with worry, he could tell something wasn't right. Only three and a half five gallon buckets had been filled with fresh water, nowhere near enough to last even another few hours. "That's it?" he asked. "Eight hours of burning petrol for that!" Slayer replied angrily as he headed through the vehicle hangar towards the exit to the main sanctuary. "You'll have to break the news to the senator," Bone told the robot. "Where the hell do you think I'm going?!" Slayer snapped.
Slayer soon made it to the senator's office and discussed the dilemma. "We'll prepare another water hunting squad for later tonight," said the senator. "Oh yeah, waste more gas and lose more good men and women?!" shouted Slayer. "We can't keep doing this forever!" "General, we have no other choice!" the senator argued. "This bickering is utterly pointless!" The two were soon interrupted by one of the marauders. "Senator, we have a visitor. He's eager to meet you." "Have you checked him for weapons?" asked the senator. "He's clean" responded the marauder. "No weapons or other offending devices." "Send him in then." The senator ordered.
The marauder led the visitor in along with two guards close at his sides, ensuring that he wouldn't make any moves against the senator or anyone else. He was dressed in what looked like old lab clothing, dirty, scorched and torn at every angle. He bore a symbol on the left of his chest, which looked identical to the plant symbol for Operation: Cleanup. Slayer knew the origins of the symbol and didn't hesitate to unease himself with his plasma rifle. "You wanted to see me?" asked the senator. "Yes sir," the man spoke. "My name is Professor Darrin. I have been looking for your base for some time now. I was with a much larger group, but the rest were ambushed before we could reach you." "I apologize for your loss." sympathized the senator. "What is your reason for coming?" asked Slayer skeptically. "We have heard stories of the brave individuals here," explained Darrin. "Especially about you, Slayer, the robot who led the armies in The Battle Of 2109." "Enough with the pleasantries, just state your business!" Slayer demanded with hostility in his voice and his hands still gripping his rifle. "Don't mind him," the senator assured Darrin. "He gets keyed up about that Buy N' Large logo easily."
Darrin continued, feeling a little uneasy. "After hearing of your base, we wanted to offer you our reservoir for use in restoring the lives of plants, animals and people you've managed to save." The word reservoir caused Slayer to quickly lower his rifle and perk up in surprise. "We used to be biologists for Buy N' Large, but later rebelled after we discovered their agenda," Darrin continued. "After the starliners left Earth's atmosphere, we discovered a spring containing the freshest of aquifers, enough water to last for another millennium! We kept it under heavy guard afterwards, but we're getting weaker as we speak. Myself and the rest of the researchers felt it was our duty to make sure someone who will put it to good use gets this reservoir."
"Your timing couldn't have been more perfect!" exclaimed Slayer. "We've been having trouble searching for plenty of water to keep this base in operation!" "This story sounds too good to be true. How can we trust you?" the senator asked in a very cold manner. In response, Darrin placed his round water canister on the senator's desk. "That water right there came from the spring," he said. The senator glanced at the canister yet didn't take a single sip. "Where is this spring?" the senator asked. Darrin pulled out a map. "Just north of Thunder Bay in Canada," he pointed out on the map. "That's going to be quite the journey," the senator noted. "That's hostile territory!"
Just then, one of the men working on the water reserves ran in. "Senator! Senator! We have a problem!" Slayer and Darrin turned around as the man ran in. "Our water reserve is about to dry up! We only have three days of fresh water left!" he said frantically. The senator's eyes looked down to the floor. "The day I feared has finally come." he muttered. "All the more reason to believe the professor here!" Slayer replied. "General Slayer, you must understand, even with the given circumstances, this spring sounds too good to be true!" the senator argued. Slayer slammed his fist against the desk and pointed to the water reserve worker. "Did you not hear a word that guy just said?! Our reserve is gonna dry up in three days!" barked Slayer. "This is a risk we're gonna have to take! If we don't, the possibility of plants, animals and refugees dying of dehydration will increase significantly! We fought too hard for all this to go to waste!" The senator looked to the floor, the gears turned in his head as he thought of an answer. Slayer stared at him, anxious for a response, as the senator looked back up to the robot. "Alright," he said quietly. "Assemble your troops immediately!" Slayer backed down off his desk. "Thank you, sir," he said. He then turned to roll out the door. "Darrin, if you'll come with me please" he ordered. "What was his deal?" Darrin asked as they walked out the door. "Don't mind him, or me either for that matter," Slayer replied. "But could you blame us? We gotta stay firm if we're gonna achieve our goals in this trash-filled hellhole."
—
Miles away from the cities, a mass of former Wall-E trucks converted into STRI-KR transports were gathered around, forming a small campsite which acted as the STRI-KR's new base operations at least until they regrouped. Inside one of the trucks, one STRI-KR was working with a radar-like device. Behind it, was another STRI-KR, but this one was very different from the others. This STRI-KR was designed by General Victor Hammer before the Battle of 2109. It had no left-arm rotary machine gun like the others, as they were installed into both arms and were much smaller so they could retract. On the tops of both arms, were small compartments, where retractable katana-like blades were housed. The new model sported blood red eyes and a similar colored stripe down the middle of its body, and was known by the others as Alpha.
"Gone." said the STRI-KR operating the radio. "We lost the signal of a few more extermination squads." Alpha shook his head slightly in disbelief as he looked at the radar. "They're far too clever," the STRI-KR pointed out. "A human is like a cockroach," corrected Alpha. "And you are some of the worst exterminators I've seen." Alpha turned around and floated out of the truck, with the STRI-KR following behind. Alpha stood there, watching the rest of the large campsite as they tuned up their transports and themselves, preparing for deployment.
Alpha sighed. "I just can't believe it," he said. "Believe what, sir?" asked the STRI-KR. "I can't believe that a single robot, a Wall-E above all, could cause the destruction of most of our kind!" Alpha answered. "It's unfathomable." "None of us were expecting such an onslaught, that was the problem" the STRI-KR explained.
"Yes," agreed Alpha, "and you all were weak! Your designs were rushed to meet a deadline for a time long forgotten. You all were not programmed with strategy and dexterity in mind." The STRI-KR felt discouraged. "However, I aim to fix all of that," Alpha assured. "Just as Hammer intended." Alpha floated further away from the truck to check up on his troops. Another STRI-KR approached Alpha. "Sir, squads four through six are ready for deployment." "Where are they going?" Alpha asked. "Just a few miles north from Chicago's 'A' Sectors," the STRI-KR responded. "I'll go with them," said Alpha. "I want to see with my own eyes how you all are performing."
—
An hour later in the main vehicle and aircraft hangar of the Earth Rehabilitation Base, the Thunder Warriors were fixing their planes and helicopters, while six modified cars were being given some minor repairs. Darrin was watching all the action around him while Slayer was talking to some of the pilots who were fixing three C-130 Hercules planes. "How long until these birds are ready?" Slayer called. One of the mechanics removed her welder's helmet and looked down at Slayer from on top of one of the C-130's wings. "Hard to determine," she called. "These bad boys are in pretty rough shape, it'll probably take a few days to get them running again."
"Great, there goes our easy mode of transportation," Slayer sighed. "Why don't we just go by road?" Darrin inquired. "We have no other choice," Slayer replied. As Slayer began rounding up troops, Darrin took a look at the vehicles his marauders were driving. They were all covered in armor, spikes and various types of weaponry. Each one fitted with their own unique qualities in both style and engine strength. Darrin was impressed, but still wasn't too convinced. "You won't make it far with those cars alone." Darrin warned. "I'm lucky I even made it here! I can't even begin to describe what those vermin did to the rest of my group!"
Slayer heard him but didn't respond, and soon gathered up the base's strongest of marauders for briefing. "Listen up everyone, we only have three days to reach this reservoir," Slayer began. "We're going to shoot straight for Thunder Bay. The areas are crawling with STRI-KRs and other gangs according to Professor Darrin, so we'll have to be extra vigilant through the wastelands. Don't lag behind for any reason, because we won't stop for you during daylight. Understood?" The crew agreed to the plan and everyone prepared for the journey.
"You won't make it with just these cars alone," Darrin repeated. "We'll be fine," Slayer reassured. "Besides, we have a little trick up our sleeve." Slayer pointed ahead in the hangar, as Gatecrasher, the heavily armored semi from the Battle of 2109, approached them. The truck had been repaired and was now fitted with extra firepower and a new, strong, custom V12 motor that roared like a vicious monster. The truck stopped by Slayer and Darrin, as Bone hopped out of the cab. "She's all ready to go, sir!" Bone called. "The new V12 is the duck's guts!" "See, professor?" Slayer said to Darrin. "We'll be ok." Darrin was amazed by the truck, now he was convinced. He came to the right people.
Slayer and Darrin jumped into the Gatecrasher along with the gunners and other marauders. As the Gatecrasher roared back to life, the other vehicles started up behind it. "Let's ride!" Slayer said. The group of vehicles drove their way out of the underground hangar. The sun shone through the gate as the vehicles drove out of the tunnel leading outside. After passing through the oil field, they headed north towards Canada, vanishing in a cloud of dust.