We scanned the expanse of the ancient military base, looking for our next target. They all came in so many shapes and sizes, but one thing was clear. The soldiers who had stayed here were very fond of green. The color was everywhere, painted in every possible shade of it, often in blended tiger stripes and swirls.

It was unappealing, certainly not the color that I would have chosen. Still, I wondered if maybe they helped to protect the buildings in some manner. Despite the years of neglect, most of them were still standing. And as evidenced by the terminal, their insides were prime as well.

Elli stood beside me, visibly excited, while Sir Alain’s gaze flitted from building to building, almost certainly assessing their danger.

“We need to find another important place to loot,” he said. “A command post or tech-smithery would be good.”

I glanced at Elli.

“Any guess which building might have the tech-smithery?” I asked, curious if she had any insight.

Elli tilted her head thoughtfully.

“Well, if I were making a base, I’d probably put it near the heart of the space. Somewhere well protected,” she suggested, shrugging.

Sir Alain scratched his head, staring.

“Not sure what that would look like from out here, but I’m tempted to hit the central keep,” he added, pointing ahead.

I gazed at the building, marveling at its complexity. The structure was massive, its exterior clad in weathered concrete and steel. From various points in its still solid roof bristled metallic spires, and large, dish-like devices, from the center of which protruded long blunt spear shafts of plasti-metal. The walls looked a bit haphazard, with clunky looking plates of thick metal bolted onto its surface, and I wondered if it hadn’t been put into place during their siege with the Torians.

The fact that they hadn’t taken the time to remove the armor unnerved me. It made me think they had left in a hurry, leaving defenses in place. The strange bulbous hulks along the building’s upper edges vaguely resembled miniature versions of mechs. Their bulky arms looked like they had been cobbled together from multiple pipe-rifles, forming a menacing cluster.

I wasn’t afraid of pipe-rifles. The rounds they fired were rarely accurate and ineffective against decent body armor. But I had a feeling those weapons up there, if still active, would pack a punch comparable to a Toxotai ballista.

Sir Oswald pointed, grinning.

“Look at that! Well, those certainly don't look friendly. Think they're just for decoration?”

We followed his gaze, eyes sliding past shattered and cracked windows to an old, weather-beaten flag, tattered and discolored. It had been hanging limply from a pole near the front entrance, but now a long and hard burst of wind had it fluttering proudly. There were red and white stripes, and in one corner was a field of blue sky filled with white stars. Past the flag, above the main doors, I saw the cracked relief of an eagle clutching arrows in one set of talons, and an olive branch in the other.

There was lettering as well, but not much of it was still legible. US Mil Comd.

“A command center, then?” Sir Eadric commented, glancing at the sign.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a building scream LOOT ME as hard as that one right now,” I said. “But, I’m not sure about those things on the top. They might be a security system of some sort.”

Elli smiled.

“How much do you want to bet that, if they are still working, they wouldn’t shoot on the training mech?”

We all turned to see her eyes shining, and her face lit up as bright as the day around us.

“If the systems are still working, they’d be deadly. But if they are still working and firing, they’d have to be automated. Unless those lizard-mutes understand how to run them.”

Sir Alain nodded.

“Which they won’t. It’s not a hard walk back, but we might just be adding a step to our journey. Is there any way we can find out if they are running?”

Elli put a hand up to her ear, cupping it.

“I don’t hear the mutes. Do you?”

I laughed.

“Good point. I’ll run the mech. Could probably cram two of us in if we try, so I can bring us all across one after the other.”

CD’s voice crackled through the TUNI link.

“Well done, apes. I was half expecting you to charge, loin cloths fluttering in the winds, as the weapons of your ancestors turned you to paste.

I growled, feeling a slight chill. From the sounds of things, CD wasn’t as protective of me as I would have wished.

Sir Eadric nodded. “Better safe than sorry. Let’s not assume anything is deactivated.”

I nodded to Sir Eadric, and we began the walk back to where Sir Conrad stood guard at the gate with the Toxotai. The path through the base was another eerie walk of shame past reptilian whispers of “Intruuders” and “Thieeeves” alongside a new muttering that sounded a lot like “Compaaact brooken.” None of them ventured out to fight us, however, and we walked through it all to the gate, saluting Sir Conrad and his Toxotai as they came into sight.

“Everything clear?” Sir Conrad asked, his voice lightly pained as it echoed through the comms.

“Clear enough,” I replied, glancing up at the Toxotai's imposing ballistas and remembering the massacre of the night before. “I’m sure if it weren’t, you’d fix things up fast.”

He chuckled through the comms. “Yeah, no doubt. What can I do for you?”

“Just passing through,” Sir Eadric said. “We’ve got traps to spring, and the training mech is the one to spring it. Will be by in no more than two turns of the minute glass.”

Sir Eadric and I moved on through, entering the code for the door to the mechbay and heading on in. Crossing the bay at a jog, I climbed into the cockpit first, and Sir Eadric and I tussled and squirmed until his own massive frame was inside as well.

We weren’t going to be able to close the cockpit all the way, but we were both in the mech and Elli seemed pretty sure that the automation of the system wouldn’t fire on one of their own. We called it good and flipped the necessary switches, starting the mech up and marching out. The clunky controls of the fully-human operated mech were twice as hard to manage now due to all of the knight that was in my way, but I was still able to get it on path and heading for the target.

“Keep an eye out,” I called to Sir Conrad as we marched on by. To my surprise, he popped open the top of his cockpit and managed to wave a salute with his arm before shutting it back up properly.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

There was a rhythm to the mech, and the terrain was mostly paved despite the bits of debris, allowing me to adjust myself to its sway and strange mannerisms. By the time that we arrived back at the meeting point, I felt like I had it all figured out.

Elli, Sir Alain, and Sir Oswald waved as we arrived, and I popped our hatch open all the way.

“Hey, Sir Eadric, got any last words?” I asked him.

“Nah. Had too many words in life. Might be better to head off to death silently,” he responded and winked, grinning.

Elli frowned.

“Take it slow and easy. I think a measured pace, non-threatening, with a base vehicle will be safe. But if I’m right and those things are still active, turn and run as soon as they start shooting, Al. Ya understand?”

I nodded.

“Turn back as soon as there is trouble. Got it. Unless those things kill me first.”

We turned and advanced another hundred meters before the bulbous objects perched on the building’s upper edges began to swivel, tracking our movement. Their motion was smooth and precise, I couldn’t help but wince when I saw their bundles of pipe-rifle arms begin to spin in a circle.

Fortunately, they didn’t fire, and after a moment, a tinny voice boomed over the courtyard between where we stood and where the entrance lay.

“Submit vehicular passcode or be neutralized,” the voice commanded, cold and mechanical.

Inside the cockpit, a small light turned red and began to flash. Without hesitation, I slapped it and watched as the light changed from a contemplative orange to an accepting green.

“Passcode accepted,” the voice announced.

CD's voice echoed in my head.

“The systems must recognize military codes. That’s a good sign. It means they might still be running on old protocols. Which means that you apes might actually have a chance at controlling them.”

I didn’t have time to reply, though, as the turrets smoothly swiveled away from us, their turrets still rotating. For a moment I wondered if it hadn’t decided Elli and the others were threats requiring neutralization.

When the turrets opened fire, I stopped the mech and turned, the word “NO!” launching unbidden from the very depths of my lungs. Flames burned from the tips of the many barrels, very much identifying them as something far more powerful than the rifles they resembled. It was then that I noticed that they weren’t aimed in the direction of our party, but had instead targeted one of the reptilian mutes, an individual that had apparently decided to try and sneak across the field while the defense systems were focused on us.

I felt a small bit of empathy for the creature as it was torn asunder, shredding into bloody meat and entrails that flung hard across the lawn and arced into the wall of another building.

“All of Hell’s Angels,” Sir Eadric muttered, bowing his head in a quick prayer.

We paused, taking in the scene, the smell of weapon’s powder and blood hanging in the air. The security devices swiveled and returned to their original state, shrugging back down into themselves with audibly rusty clicks and whirs, the threat neutralized.

“I don’t understand it,” I muttered as the mech stomped us right up to the front gates of the complex. “They had all of this power. They still have all of this power. Where did they go?”

Sir Eadric shook his head wordlessly, and I brought the mech to a stop right next to the flag pole. Eadric got out first, staring at the defense devices warily as he did so, but moved more smoothly once he saw their lack of reaction.

“You go back and get the others, Alaric. One at a time. And carefully.” A shudder ran through his body on those last words, and his eyes cast over to where the creature had been slain not long before. “Very carefully,” he repeated.

I slid into a more comfortable position now that the cockpit wasn’t so cramped, and marched back across the killing field, first taking Elli before collecting Sir Oswald and finally Sir Alain. Reunited, we examined the front part of structure.

The main entrance to the complex was imposing, framed by a pair of massive, heavy-duty doors crafted from reinforced metal. I walked to them and rapped appreciably upon their surface. It was hot, the allow a dusky black matte mix that existed nowhere in the cities we built for ourselves in our modern world.

“No nicks, no scrapes; it could have been forged yesterday,” Elli said from over my shoulder. I peered back at her, and noticed the other 3 knights standing behind her by the flagpole still, watching our perimeter while chatting in a more relaxed manner.

I wasn’t surprised that they felt unthreatened. Not with those death machines guarding our approach.

The plates bolted to the original structure told a different story, however, revealing the signs of battle. Deep gouges, cracks, and craters indicated heavy bombardment, and given the strength of these structures, I didn’t doubt it represented years of fighting as well.

Maybe even decades.

I turned my attention back to the doors, and saw the tell-tale sign of a plug-in port. Taking our hacking device, I plugged in and set about running code. It took a few tries, but after I got it, the system beeped, the doors groaned, and they opened up like a clergyman’s arms on festival, welcoming us to its embrace.

“Too easy,” CD said. “All of these codes. I suspect, before the humans began to fall into barbarism, there was some attempt to dumb everything down for their apish descendants. They saw what was coming and probably knew someone as ape-ish as you would come knocking.”

“They predicted our fall?” I whispered incredulously.

“I would hazard a guess that they didn’t predict it, but rather experienced it. Scans of the area indicate this city may have been in continuous battle for over a decade. The manpower requirements of such a glorious conflict would have been legendary.”

As the doors swung open, we were treated to the sight of unimaginable old tech. It looked to be a kill zone, a series of clear plastic walls with holes through which to fire weapons while staying protected from return attacks. The doors to these were closed, and secured by a series of green pads with the outlines of hands upon them.

MirTech Amalgamated, the words on one side read. Biometric Scanner the words on the other said.

“Sir Alain? I don’t know what these are. Could you come up and tell me if you’ve experienced them before?”

The knight stared a second, said something to the others, then all three of them came forward, weapons and shields at the ready.

Sir Alain walked over cautiously, his eyes narrowed in concentration. He inspected the unfamiliar devices with their glowing green pads, the outlines within them shaped like hands.

“I've seen a lot of old tech in my time, but nothing like this,” he muttered. Sir Oswald and Sir Eadric joined him, their faces reflecting the same confusion.

The knights exchanged uncertain glances. Sir Oswald stepped forward, bracing himself against one of the clear plastic walls.

“Maybe we can force it,” he suggested, planting his feet firmly. Together, the three knights pushed against the barrier with all their might, their armored bodies straining against the structure. The walls didn't budge; they might as well have been made of solid steel.

“It's no use,” Sir Alain panted, shaking his head. “Whatever this is, it's beyond our strength.”

CD's voice crackled in my mind.

“Biometric scanners are security devices that use biological data—like fingerprints or handprints—to identify commanders and important individuals. They were common in high level security areas among humans and Torans.”

I relayed CD’s explanation to the group.

“It's a scanner. It reads your handprint or something similar to decide if you can pass.”

The knights looked at me, baffled.

“But who would have access?” Sir Eadric asked.

“The Knight Commanders, like Sir Alain. Lords, Dukes, anyone who they needed to service their chambers or help in their planning I’d guess,” I answered.

“That’s about right. Well done!” CD praised.

“That’s not going to work for us here,” Sir Alain muttered, frustration creeping into his voice. “All the original people are long gone. Whichever great commander or lord ran the place is in the ground, or scattered to the wind.”

I sighed.

“Exactly. Nobody living could possibly have access. The system’s locked to the past. We might as well have never found it.”

“Think the Cataphract could crack it open?” Sir Oswald asked.

Sir Alain turned to look at the defensive devices, cocking his head with a calculating eye.

“I don’t know if it’d survive the trip.”

As the knights began to discuss further possibilities, Elli leaned closer to me, her voice a low whisper.

“Remember what CD said about the security codes being made easier?” She paused, her eyes lighting up with a hopeful spark. “What if these biometric scanners were adjusted the same way?”

I peered at her suspiciously.

“How could something so complicated be made easier?”

She grinned.

“I was thinking about that, and I think I have the answer. They might have made it so any human can unlock them.”

I blinked, considering her words. It made a certain twisted sense; if the system had been set up to function for a broken remainder of humanity, that actually was the only possible answer. It was either that, or the place was shut forever.

“There’s only one way to find out,” I said, stepping towards the nearest pad.

I hesitated for a moment, then placed my hand on the scanner, holding my breath. The surface was cool to the touch, and for a moment, nothing happened. Then, the pad glowed brighter, a soft chime resounded as the mechanisms within clicked and whirred.

We all stood in stunned silence as the door before us unlocked and slid open with a smooth, eerie hiss. The air from inside was dry and stale, but also artificially cool, and I could hear a slight humming sound as I stepped inside.

“Halt! Stop!” The cries came almost immediately, the eyes of our knight protectors drawn to useus as the lights of the interior blinked of their own accord.

“Stay here with Eadric,” Sir Alain said, his boots clomping as he jogged past us, Sir Oswald at his side. “We’ll check it out and get back to you. Oh, and hey, nice work,” he added, shooting off a knightly salute before stomping off through the next set of doors and into the unknown interior.