Chapter 3 - Termination of MarsH2-3(3) - Blink
Awkwardly turning the rifle at an angle to look down the scope, he quickly centered the dot on the pink fleshy mass.
*Pop*
Shining light blue plasma spurted out the end of the rifle splattering on the pink and grey mass of flesh. It punctured a hole as bubbles formed in the grey blood that trickled out.
The smell of burning flesh filled the air as the vessels running along the ground began to pump more grey liquid to the damaged mass. Sprinting through the basement he could feel tiny needles on his skin from the eyes staring at him as he ran across the basement and up the stairs.
As he reached the entrance of the mansion he raised his foot and kicked the metal handle and bolt through the wooden door. The door bounced twice before coming to a stop at the other end of the street. The man looked around before beginning to sprint towards the closest trolly.
As he ran, he popped shots at the passing balls of flesh creating puddles of grey blood behind him. A trail of two green streaks followed him from the sleeping boy’s eyes.
He skidded to a stop in front of a trolly terminal and tapped on the floating hologram. A buzzing sound played as the hologram started disbursing and breaking up. The man looked down at the terminal and saw the control panel had a hole in it. A pool of liquid coolant was trickling out of the hole as wires spilled out of it.
Ripping off some of the wires from the back, he tied the boy to his back between the two rifles to free up his left arm. As he did so, he felt the ground start to quake. Looking up he saw two green humanoid dots sprinting towards him. He cursed under his breath, “Shit. Goblins already?”
They humanoid figures were like a pair of trucks, each figure towering five meters tall and two meters wide. Each step seemed to let out the sound of a gunshot as the metal supporting the road bent under the force of each footstep.
He took the red rifle off his back and pulled back a red safety lever on the reactor locking it into the rifle with a satisfying click. The man smirked, “That sound gets me every fucking time. Ha haa!”
Red light started pouring out the front of the rifle as the reactor spun up. A holographic targeting panel appeared on the side of the rifle and the man knelt stabilizing the rifle on the trolly terminal. A shrinking sphere appeared on the targeting computer as the goblins were outlined in red.
As the sphere passed over the goblin on the left, the indicator flashed green.
*BAM*
The man’s boots left two black skid marks on the ground as his right shoulder sagged from the impulse. He shook his arm out, “Gah, hurts like hell no matter how often I do it.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Squinting down the road, he saw a large red explosion as green and grey blood sprayed out painting the floor a sickly dark green. The remaining goblin continued sprinting with newfound vigor after his friend had been dismembered, vaporized, and dispersed all at the same time by a mini fission bomb.
The man pulled out the small white cylinder from his left chest pocket and stood up. With his numb right hand, he inserted two of the power cores into the sockets in the armor plates on his shoulder blades. Looking down at the screen on the back of his forearm, he tapped on the two circles on the white silhouette.
The cores started humming as light blue light streamed out the circular lines. The whir of mechanical parts inside the armor plates resonated with the whole suit as a panel appeared in front of the man.
He looked up and saw a percentage, “Twenty percent. Huh.”
Breathing in, he pinched the top of the cylinder and whipped it to the left rapidly extending a folded blade coated in a thin layer of plasma. Dragging the blade against the ground, he stepped a few meters from the terminal and crouched down in a running stance.
Picking up the sword with both hands, he held it parallel to the ground and breathed in, “Let’s see if I still got it. Hang in there kid.”
Blink
The man’s eyes flashed red as the world seemed to slow down. The goblin who was rushing towards him seemed to be as still as a rock. Red particles started radiating out of his nose and mouth as the word blink echoed in his mind like a splitting headache.
The sword turned a dark bloody red as the two cores on the back of the man’s shoulder blades began to accelerate faster and faster.
The man’s eyes were wide open as the blood vessels in his eyes started making audible popping noises.
The man blinked.
When he opened his eyes, grey and green blood was raining from the sky and a vaporized black pile of ash was left on the ground a hundred meters behind him. A two thin black skid mark from the pile of ashes could be seen behind him. The man smirked, “Still got it. Hah!”
The mechanic clasped his hands over a small silver necklace of a snake eating itself. Raising his head, he waited for the synthetic machine in front of him to follow. The machine knelt down and opened up its back.
He peered into the computer of a large humanoid machine. The mechanic wondered how these robotic machines were made. Pressing a button on a panel, a large steel rod ejected out the back of the machine and clattered on the ground. The machine’s head turned a full 180 degrees, “Thank you for conducting maintenance.”
The mechanic nodded, “It’s my job.”
The mechanic stared directly into the two red dots that the machine had for eyes and could swear that he saw the robot’s mouth curl up into a smile. He looked away, “Remember to get your lubricant redone in a week.”
The two-and-a-half-meter tall machine nodded, “Noted.”
The mechanic watched as the large box of metal walked out of the workshop without making a single sound. A chill ran down his spine as he thought of what could happen if the machines fought the empire. He paused his thoughts as his phone rang in his shirt pocket.
Flipping it open with a wrist flick he put it up to his ear, “Hello, this is workshop one. How can I help you?”
“Hm, yes?”
The mechanic glanced at the Sentinels and swiped his hand across the top of one of their heads.
“Hm. So you need twelve pods?”
The mechanic walked over to the janitor’s storage room and picked up a duster.
“Give me ten minutes. I’ll need your clearance code.”
“Orders received. Please stand by for planetfall.”
The mechanic flipped the scratched black flip phone close and slipped it into his shirt pocket. Looking at the wall he sighed. On the wall were hundreds if not thousands of deactivated war machines. Each one containing multiple weapons of mass destruction. Walking over to the drop pods, he brushed his finger across the top wiping away a thin layer of dust.
Pulling the hood of his robe over his head, he smirked, “Funny how one has dust and the other doesn’t.”