Chapter 8
Hundreds of thousands of STRI-KRs, both regular and heavy classes, began guarding the perimeter of the entire base, each and every single one of them charging their rotary guns and standing in position. "They must be crazy in the head!" said one STRI-KR. "There's a bunch of them," said another STRI-KR, "but they'll retreat once they realize their mistake!" Hammer was still up in his watchtower surveying the group marauders, who had taken up the entire horizon from where Hammer was looking. "Can we get at least one launcher ready?" asked Hammer. The STRI-KR choked "I don't think so, sir-" "Well then try, goddammit!" barked Hammer.
Slayer hung from the left side of the battle semi with his rifle locked and loaded. The rest of the warriors had begun revving their motors. While still hanging from the left side, Slayer reached for the horn wire and pulled it, causing the truck to let out a massive honk. Other cars and trucks began beeping and honking as they revved their engines. Bikers revved their motors and let out their war cries. All the noise culminated into a sound that could be heard from miles away. The sound sent shivers down some STRI-KRs' circuits. General Hammer's snarky attitude soon began to fade as he listened. He knew this was a time to be extra serious than he used to be. He took it upon himself and grabbed a special plasma pulse machine gun that he had stashed away for some time and made his way out of his watchtower office.
Slayer pointed his gun up to the sky, spun his arm around for a while, and threw it down, pointing the gun towards the base. "CHARGE!" he bellowed. Every single vehicle shot off towards the base with the riot control semi leading them, letting out their war cries in the process. The STRI-KRs remained still, ready for the incoming attack. The Thunder Warriors soon came flying straight above them. As they began drawing closer, the STRI-KRs began firing their plasma pulses at the wave of attackers. The battle truck, receiving zero damage, ran over and blazed through the STRI-KRs guarding the first mile of the gate along with hundreds of other vehicles. A good half of the warriors stayed behind fighting the STRI-KRs outside of the base. The area erupted in billions of plasma pulses from both sides as blood and machine parts flew through the air. Cars ran down STRI-KRs until they exploded, motorcycles ran off ramps on trucks and dropped bombs over the heads of STRI-KRs. Some fighters up in the skies rained pulses towards groups of STRI-KRs with little to no humans present to assist the others.
Meanwhile, the truck was speeding at a hundred and twenty-five miles an hour and aimed right at the gate. "Brace for impact!" called Bullhide. STRI-KRs behind the gate quickly zipped out of the way. "It's not gonna stop!" yelled a STRI-KR. The armored truck crashed through the gate, followed by hundreds of other vehicles, including several carriers. The truck along with some of the cars stopped and everyone inside ran out and began firing at the STRI-KRs. Some marauders tossed guns at the prisoners and they began joining the fight. Several security watchtowers fitted with guns on the perimeter of the camp were shot down by the planes. STRI-KRs began flying out of the hangars towards the Thunder Warriors' fighters and began trying to shoot them down. In a matter of minutes, the entire base and the surrounding area was now no-man's land.
Slayer, Rusty, Dynamo and Captain had jumped out of the armored truck and began towards the main entrance to the base. Dynamo was carrying a bag full of chargers, ready to be planted and armed. The four took quick refuge behind the camp's barracks, shooting every STRI-KR that stood in their way and around the corners. Slayer looked at the main entrance door that was not too far away, which was locked. "Gonna have to find a quick way to get that door opened," said Slayer. "It's too out in the open to work on breaking into" replied Rusty. "How are we gonna get in?!" Their answer came sooner than expected. One of the cars that had stormed in with the truck, a turbocharged armored four-door sedan, was shot at and set ablaze by the STRI-KRs. The driver was killed and the vehicle was out of control. With the gas pedal being held by the dead weight of the driver, the flaming car crashed into the main entrance, leaving an opening for the four. "What fucking luck!" laughed Dynamo. "Hell yeah, perfect timing! Let's go!" replied Slayer as the four rushed inside the building.
The four ran through each corridor, blasting away STRI-KRs they spotted. "They're keeping the missiles and launchers in a hangar" called Slayer. "It's gotta be around here somewhere!" A few seconds of running later, Captain spotted the entrance to the hangar Slayer was talking about. The four rushed in and looked all around. STRI-KR transport trucks were lined up on the ground, with some hanging from ceiling cranes. Slayer got a glance of the same trucks, but with the Wall-E livery, several were in the middle of being repainted into the STRI-KR livery. "Those rotten bastards," Slayer muttered furiously. "There's the missiles!" exclaimed Rusty, pointing to stacks of them by the launchers. Dynamo was preparing one of the chargers.
As they got close to the launchers, Captain noticed something. "Something doesn't feel right here" Captain pointed out. "Yeah, why aren't they being guarded?" asked Slayer. Loud plasma pulse gunshots rang through the building as Captain was shot in the back and killed from above. Dynamo, Rusty and Slayer scrambled behind one of the transports. "I knew you fuckers would be going after the missiles!" bellowed General Hammer, standing on top of one of the broken transport trucks. "I got you all by the balls so don't even try going near them, assholes!"
"Who the hell is that, the general?!" asked Rusty. "Who cares, as long as it's just one guy!" replied Dynamo. The missiles were just in sight. "We're gonna have to sprint for it" said Slayer "Dynamo, focus on getting to the missiles and setting up the chargers. Rusty and I will try covering you!" Dynamo nodded and all three began rushing towards the missiles. Before Slayer and Rusty could fire, Hammer shot Dynamo right in the head, knocking him to the ground. "Dynamo, no!" shouted Rusty. Hammer then shot Rusty in the shoulder and torso. Rusty fell forward behind another transport along with Slayer. Dynamo's body was in the open, and still holding the bag of chargers. "Rusty, are you ok?!" Slayer asked. "I-I'm fine" Rusty replied, gripping his torso then his shoulder, not knowing which hurts the most. Slayer tried helping him up. "Let me try helping you up, we can still make it-" "No!" Rusty interrupted. "I'll only get in the way if you do! I'll draw that guy's fire towards me so you can grab the chargers!" "No, I'm not losing another friend!" Slayer argued "Don't argue with me, dammit!" Rusty said. "Just fucking go or you'll be dead too!" Slayer had no other choice. As Rusty got up and limped out into the open, he began firing at Hammer, only to miss. Slayer rushed towards Dynamo, grabbing the bag and heading back for cover as Hammer shot Rusty more until he was dead on the ground.
Now Slayer was the only one left. "First my brothers, and now my closest human friend?!" Slayer thought to himself as he hid behind another truck. His anger began fueling itself once again, while still focused on the task at hand. "So you're that little rogue the STRI-KRs reported?" said Hammer. "You impress me. I thought for sure you would've been picked off in at least a day." Slayer jumped from his spot and both him and Hammer tried shooting at each other. They both missed as Slayer moved behind another truck closer to the missiles with the chargers in hand. Hammer jumped down from where he was and began approaching the launchers.
"And you, I guess, are the one who calls the shots for the STRI-KRs?" Slayer replied from behind the truck. "You impress me too, being that you're human." "An alpha" Hammer corrected. "I'm more than a human!" Hammer turned a corner and fired several shots, missing as Slayer rushed past a few more trucks and hid behind another one, almost getting lost in the maze of transports. "A delusional one too!" Slayer continued "You're nothing but a puppet!" Hammer laughed. "You don't understand, little one! I've already cut those strings! The world is mine now! Buy N' Large is out of the picture! Parasites like you still stand in my way!" "What's the point of being in control of a world full of nothing?" Slayer retorted. Hammer didn't respond, and just kept quietly chuckling like a psychopath.
Slayer quickly checks his gun to ensure it is fully charged. The gun was completely out of charges, and he had no more ammunition. He decided to hang off the rear view mirror of the truck and held his gun by the grip with the butt of the gun facing up. The second Hammer turned the corner, Slayer unleashed a powerful, skull splitting swing. The butt of the gun busted Hammer on his face, breaking his nose and causing his forehead to begin bleeding. In extreme pain, he drops his gun and grips his bleeding face, trying to stop the blood gushing. Slayer grabs his heavy assault rifle and runs towards the missiles, arming ten chargers on the missiles in the middle of the arrangement. Hammer was shouting and roaring like a deranged animal by the pain as Slayer rushed into him, knocking him to the ground with one tread on his chest and the barrel of the gun pointed between Hammer's eyes. Slayer paused for a second. He began to think about Wall-E #1467, and how Slayer had to put him out of his misery. Hammer and Slayer locked eyes as Slayer turned the gun, got off his chest and shot Hammer's left leg. Hammer got up and gripped it in pain.
"You're not gonna die like my brothers." Slayer told him. "I'll do something more 'special.'" Hammer just looked at him. "You got approximately three minutes to disable all ten of those chargers. Good luck!" Slayer said as he sped off out of the hangar and back to where he came from. Hammer tried getting up, limping on one leg and leaning on the side of a transport truck. All he did was laugh like a genocidal maniac. The laugh echoed through the hangar and the corridors leading to it.
Slayer rushed back out to the battlegrounds. "Retreat!" he yelled. "Everybody fall back!" The humans heard this and quickly scrambled to their cars and rushed out of the campsite, along with many of the surviving prisoners in the carriers. Slayer jumped back into the semi along with Bullhide and began racing out. The rest of the marauders, including the fighters, outside the gate soon followed, until all the outlaws were out of sight. The STRI-KRs began following a little, but stopped just a few feet from the gate. One of the lead STRI-KRs began to laugh. "They're running off!" "What did I tell you?!" laughed another STRI-KR. Soon, the other STRI-KRs laughed and cheered at their supposed victory. The lead STRI-KR got on its com-link. "General Hammer, they're running for the hills!" it said. There was silence on the other end. "Sir, do you acknowledge?" the STRI-KR asked. The laughter and cheers quickly died down as the lead STRI-KR desperately tried getting into contact with its general. "General Hammer, are you alright?!"
Before anyone could react, the entire base exploded in a million fiery infernos. The combustions decimating and burning everything in the area, melting structures, rupturing gas tanks, and incinerating all the STRI-KRs in and around the base. Hammer's watchtower office collapsed into the hellfire along with other taller portions of the base. The battle truck continued racing away along with the thousands of other warriors following behind. Slayer looked back at the explosions, his brothers had been avenged and the humans now had a second chance at making things right.
The story of the battle had very quickly spread throughout the majority of the Americas, inspiring other road warriors to start collaborating and annihilating other STRI-KR bases. The humans now had a new goal; To purify the Earth, but not with blood like many others believed. With Slayer by their side, plans had begun to begin preserving still existing plant life, water sources, placing surviving animals in a sanctuary, and providing refuge for the humans who remained vulnerable. STRI-KR presence still remained even after the bases were destroyed. While the numbers remained low, they would soon begin to increase once more as the newer models began to be shipped out. The war for the future has only begun.
