Episode 46 - Regroup

Takeshi heads down to the old Sentai fortress.  It seems an age ago when this place was what he called home.  Before the mountain split in two and the beginning of the war with the robots.

His Grand Titan has all of the Golden City's data regarding Martians but Sentai Mountain has had more recent contact with the colonies in the past.  It's time to do some data scavaging.  It's a long trek down but his mecha makes it a lot easier than on foot and the added rocket packs lets him leap and hover past many of the obstacles.

It's nighttime as Takeshi approaches his old home and academy.  There is a sense of sentiment in seeing the old place but the soldier in him puts his feelings aside as there are more pressing matters at hand and he doesn't want to wait a moment loner than he has to.  Previous experience has taught him that any unnecessary delay encourages mishap.

Hmmm.  Multiple target locks.  And they're all on him.  Takeshi thinks that maybe this is one time when haste may not have been the wisest choice.  The Grand Titan has already detected danger and has readied itself for battle stations.  All weapons charged and ready, XS style.

Friendlies detected.  Six targets acquired, all friendlies.  "Takeshi?  Is that you?".

Takeshi recognised the voice of his friend and colleague, Ha-Ya-To.

Six mechas emerge from the shadows, all Gate Defenders that have been designated "Falcons".  "What are you doing piloting one of those?",  Takeshi assumed Ha-Ya-To would be in a Aero Booster.

Ha-Ya-To sighs.  "Long story.  I guess we have time as we should lay low in the darkness."

Takeshi follows Ha-Ya-To and his pilots to the docking bays.

Meca One was attacking.  That much you know.  We were holding back his Sonic Condors.  It was bizarre why they were attacking forces that outnumbered and outgunned them.  I was assigned a reconnaissance mission by Sensei Keiken to spy on Meca One.  There were six of our Falcons (Ryo's Gate Defenders that were modified for agility and manoeuvrability) and two White Lightnings as escorts. That's when it happened.

Devastators infiltrated the command centre and sent a virus that turned our Golden Guardians, Sky Guardians and Blade Titans against us.  All the Golden Tower mechas were affected aside from the Cyclone Defenders.  They just all shutdown.  Then they were disintegrated.

"No, I think they were teleported".  Takeshi interrupted.  "Martian technology".

That's not right, that's not what happened.  It was Meca One.  He created another Striking Venom.

That sent a shiver down Takeshi's spine, the Striking Venom took down virtually every mecha sent up against it.  It was his Grand Titan that eventually stopped it but not before it was fried to a crisp.

This Striking Venom was improved, it's weaknesses were removed and it was equipt with a new weapon that disintegrated everything in it's path.  It took out all the stationary Golden Tower mechas, then the MDTs and our aerial forces.  My White Lightnings couldn't escape it's beams of energy, only the agility of our Falcons managed to escape by fleeing down the mountain out of it's reach.  I assume it then proceeded to wipe out the ground forces which would have only consisted of the few Grand Titans and Uplinks/Cyclone Defenders which would have been easy pickings for Meca One's own army if he didn't decide to disintegrate them.

Takeshi takes a moment.  "It can't just be us.  There was no wreckage and I can't believe that everyone else was taken in just a couple of hours."

Hi-Ya-To ponders, "Why do you say they were taken?".

"Because that's the analysis L.01 gave me, and I trust Ryo's inventions like I would trust our friend himself.", Takeshi was adamant.  Hi-Ya-To could see this and took faith in his comrade.  "Then let's go look for them.".

Ha-Ya-To leads Takeshi to the acadamy control room.  "Power's low but we have enough to search the computers.  Tashi!".  Ha-Ya-To calls one of his pilots.  He looks at Takeshi.  "Well, we haven't got all night and I'm about as good with computers as you are!".

Lt Tashi analyses the sensor arrays from the Sentai Fortress.  "There is a lot of teleport activity that matches the data from Grand Titan L.01 at the beginning of the attack, then there is a new energy signature mixed in with the old.".  Tashi looks to Takeshi, "We need to run this against your mecha for further data, sir.".

Takeshi nods, he leads them to his Grand Titan XS and feeds in the data chip.  "Energy signatures suggest a two phase execution".  There's silence, L.01 picks up on this and adds: "A teleportation beam directed at the Golden Gateway would suggest sending the target through the portal.  The number of total energy signatures completed from the Striking Venom suggests that no more than 20 mechas escaped."

Twenty!  That means perhaps upto another thirteen mechas escaped.  We need to regroup.

In all likely hood, the only mechas that could have escaped the Striking Venom would have to have been aerial unless one of the wall defence squads of uplinks, cyclone defenders and MDTs decided to abandon posts and run.  Ryo would have likely been at one of these posts or the command centre with Sensei Keiken.

"No.  Ryo was examining the Devastators that broke into the city."  Ha-Ya-To says.  "He would have been in his lab.  He was examining the Devastators that infiltrated the Golden City.  If he saw the Striking Venom attack he would have weighed the consequences of joining in the fight or retreating.  We just don't know what he would have chose.".

If, assuming the majority of those that escaped were pilots of flying mechas (like the Falcon section) then there should be Stealth Hunters and perhaps even Ha-Ya-To's detail or Aero Boosters - but where could they be hiding?  That's a lot of hardware that needs maintenance.

"Sensei Keiken showed us some Golden City outposts, most were still functional but one had been abandoned by the original inhabitants of the Golden City long ago.".  Takeshi turns to Ha-Ya-To, "Didn't you and Hikaru use that as a training base and refuel depot?".

To be continued...

Episode 45 - Vanished

Three hours.  It's been three hours since Takeshi fell asleep and now his alarm is ringing.  Except he didn't set his alarm. This is a red alert.  Takeshi gets up and looks outside his room to see what the commotion is about but there is no commotion.  The alarm is ringing but there's no one there.  He wanders out into the courtyard, it's deserted.  He does a sweep of the compound and it's empty.

The alarms have been ringing for over an hour, Takeshi is a heavy sleeper but even this is bad for him.  Over 24 hours on a training exercise cleaning up robot wreckage is pretty mundane work.  No, it's boring, really boring.  And he was up giving lectures on mecha strategy for the whole afternoon just before that.

What happened in the last hour since the red alert?  His rookies have gone and so have their Grand Titans.  Whole squads have disappeared, it looks like they were in a hurry from the tripped over chairs and mess they left behind.

Takeshi finds his own Grand Titan in a recharging point.  It still needs it's ammunition replenished but it's fully powered up.  Everything's quiet so Takeshi reloads his mecha's armaments. So quiet, perhaps this is how Ryo felt when he was all alone on the other side of the wormhole.  No.  He knew there were no humans there with him and he still built this mecha up to be stronger and faster than before.  He had a survival instinct about him, Takeshi would never dishonour his friend by underestimating his resolve.  His own situation is not the same.  Not quite.  There should be humans nearby, Takeshi just needs to find them or at least find out what happened to them.

Stealth may be the better option for now, Takeshi removes the beam rifle from his mecha.  Time to go exploring on foot, his Grand Titan is on standby and tracking his location.  Just in case.

This is eerie, the Golden City is just like when they first discovered it.  Standing proud but desolate, a city abandoned generations ago dating before the great disaster that isolated Sentai Mountain from the other tribes of mankind.  The further Takeshi wanders through the city the less sure he is that is was actually abandoned.  Only a mere hour or so ago this city was bustling and well defended.  What could have happened in less than a hundred minutes while he slept?  This city was alive and busy, now it looks as it did after being empty for decades.  Abandoned, except he knows his comrades would never have abandoned their posts so easily or quickly.  Perhaps the original inhabitants of the Golden City didn't abandon this place either.  We're they captured?  Unlikely.  A surrender couldn't have happened so quickly, and the alarms were still ringing when he awoke.  Takeshi wishes he wasn't such a heavy sleeper.

It's been three hours now.  Takeshi has wondered through the city and there is nothing.  No sign of activity.  No sign of life.  No sign of anything.

What would Ryo do?  Probably tinker with something and use his knowledge of electronics and mechanics and come up with something to help him.  Takeshi doesn't have Ryo's skills, but he realises that he does have one of Ryo's inventions.  One of his best and newly modified with all the latest improvements.

Takeshi boards his Grand Titan, his Grand Titan XS.  What to do?  His friend Ryo knows he's not technically gifted, lets try talking.

Takeshi speaks to his mecha, "Where is everyone?".  The console illuminates and a light blinks.  "No life forms detected.  Area identified as The Golden City, population depleted cause unknown.  Scans indicate residue tachyon particles.".  Takeshi was able to keep up with what was said until the last bit.

The console blinks again, almost as if it detected an uneasy pause.  "The source of the residue radiation may be attributed to the use of a teleport rather than wormhole activity.".  Thank you, Ryo!

A teleport.  A mass teleport.  Hundreds of thousands of people gone in such a short amount of time.  The robots don't have this kind of technology.  Who has?

"Arghhhh!  Who has this kind of technology?", Takeshi shouts at himself.  He is so annoyed with himself for not even knowing where to look.

"Martians.  The Martians and the Human Martian Colonists have compatible technology, but it is unknown whether they have scaled up to this capacity.", the Grand Titan's console blinked again.

Takeshi pauses.  It's a starting point, Takeshi thinks. Thank you again, Ryo my old friend.

Since many generations ago, Sentai Mountain has isolated itself from the rest of the world.  It started with the great disaster that shook the world.  Since the aftermath, the old civilisations either disappeared or they rebuilt themselves from scratch forming tiny pockets of humanity all across the world.  It has been a long time, some of these pockets must have thrived like Sentai Mountain.

The Martian settlements were from the time of the Golden City, Mars was not affected by the great disaster but communications with those colonies have been lost since then.  No contact has been made for generations.  It's not even clear if those colonies survived without help from the home world, although transmissions have been sent there from Sentai Mountain none were ever received.

The old Sentai Fortress seems a good a place as any to start looking for answers.

To be continued...

Episode 44 - Under Attack

The North wall is under attack.  Airborne robot mechas bombard the defences from above and heavy artillery mechas attack from below.  A platoon of Golden Guardians are deployed under the command of Hikaru.  With their numbers greatly diminished, why are the robots attacking now?  Counter-measures have been put in to detect covert robot infiltrators, and a frontal assault with just 2 squads of air and ground mechas will offer little threat against the humans.

Ryo is concerned, Sensei Keiken is also a little perplexed as to why the attack is happening when there is no chance of success.  A diversion?  Overly cautious and prepared for a covert attack, Ryo organises squads of Uplinks and Cyclone Defenders to patrol the streets and portals for any signs of a breach.

Takeshi and his rookies have returned from the Golden Gateway, he wants to join in but he knows his squad is exhausted and doesn't want them to put others in harm's way.  They're fresh out of the academy and are not yet combat hardened, and they've been up and operating for over 24 hours.  Hikaru seems to have everything under control.

More robot mechas, Iron Condors - none of these were reported on the other side of the wormhole, supersonic mechas designed for aerial attack.  Meca One's squadrons are more or less intact and they are lethal.  Sky Guardians will need to be deployed to counter, but good pilots of that calibre are in short supply.  Hopefully, the half-dozen Mobile Defence Tanks inside the Golden City can help keep them at bay.  Hikaru knows that his platoon of Golden Guardians will be out manoeuvred in the air, they have firepower and shielding but their flight capability was not designed for high speed dogfights.  Ha-Ya-To joins in on his Aero Booster and manages to surprise an Iron Condor, ripping it's wings off and cutting through it's fuselage like it was paper.  He is followed by three Sky Guardians, but more importantly another MDT has arrived to ward off the Iron Condors or at least threaten them to keep their distance.

Meca One is giving a show of strength.  We must not under-estimate this robot.  Sensei Keiken talks to his granddaughter about deployments.  Ryo tells Takeshi that something has been reported in south-eastern sector, nothing threatening but would Takeshi mind having a look on his way back to barracks.  His squad of Uplinks and Cyclone Defenders are inexperienced and he would be more comfortable if Takeshi would perform a reconnaissance of the site.  Why not.  His squad is not best prepared against airborne enemies and Hikaru is a good commander and aerial tactician, he has just been reinforced and is more than capable of holding the fort.

Takeshi summons his two rookies and gets them to follow him back to the barracks with their mechas.  They take a short diversion to the location in the south-eastern sector that Ryo specified.  The Uplink and Cyclone Defender pilots have kept their distance and have held a perimeter.  Sewer access has been breached.  Suspicious, but Takeshi thinks it'll be good for his rookies to get their mechas dirty.  Literally.  He certainly doesn't want to wade through sewage.  Before Takeshi can give out his orders there are Devastators on the edge of his sensors, hiding behind nearby buildings.  A sudden firefight erupts from behind, they are being fired upon!  Turn, return fire.  Ten Devastators are detected now.  One wide spread EMP blast from Watabi and it's over.  Good reactions thinks Takeshi, and smart enough to lower the power so it wouldn't penetrate the active shielding around their Grand Titans.  They are all Devastators, and no Iron Drones.  This must have been important to use Devastator's as ground troops.  Unheard of, even.  Hopefully Ryo can get some information from these deactivated Devastators, assuming their circuits haven't been fried beyond repair.

All of a sudden the attack subsides, the robot forces retreat from the North wall and airspace.  Curious.  Just what exactly happened here?  Takeshi reports in and gets a clean-up crew to take over.  He and his rookies are exhausted.  Whatever's been going on will just have to wait until he gets some sleep.  So much action all around in the hour since they returned from the wormhole, Takeshi doesn't like missing out but he's sensible enough to know he's useless to his friends in his present state.  He heads back to barracks.

To be continued...

Episode 43 - Rookies

It has been 2 months since Ryo's rescue from the other side of the wormhole.  Sensei Keiken has forbidden all travel through the Golden Gateway and sensors have been vigorously working to detect any presence of a wormhole opening up from the other side.

Ryo has been working hard supervising upgrades on all the mechas, and overseeing the production of new mechas.  All have been fitted with triple redundancy circuits and safeguards and shielding against EMPs.  They have been upgraded with better targeting and communications systems and an excess of power and batteries.  Stealth Hunters have been rolling off the production lines as have two new advanced Silent Strikes and a quartet of Aero Boosters, the former two being retro-fitted with a massive bombing arsenal.  Meca One's armies have been badly beaten and air supremacy is necessary to keep it that way with Sky Guardians providing aerial support for the bombing raids on the robot factories.  Uplinks have been retro fitted with better networking but Ryo has decided to concentrate on Cyclone Defenders in the new production line as general purpose mechas for construction and civilian defence within the city walls.  The other remaining Golden Tower mechas have been upgraded but have not been mass produced as their parts are somewhat more difficult to manufacture without the original machinery and resources have been allocated to other areas of manufacturing.  Ground war is going to make use of EMPs against the enemy which will affect the robot pilots even if their mechas offer some active EM shielding so Ryo's plans for his modified Grand Titans are being implemented, albeit slowly as there is a plethora of Golden Guardians which defend the perimeter of the Golden City along with an attack force of Blade Titans and the airways will need strengthening before any ground assault force can be assembled in any great numbers.  Sensei Keiken's team of specialised mechas are always prepared for jungle reconnaissance as they are well adapted for stealth in that environment, but any major advance on Meca One will likely be more direct than covert.

Takeshi has been making use of both Grand and Blade Titans, although his L.01 designated Grand Titan is the only one so far fitted with thrusters and additional beam rifle plus extra EMP power to overcome any passive EM shielding of less than 5 metres thick or active shielding that would require more than the output of a power core.  Battle training has been fun, leaping tall buildings and taking down flying targets, but Takeshi has been getting restless of late.

Sensei Keiken has decided it is time to return to the other side of the wormhole to perform some clean-up operations.  Takeshi is to lead a team of newly qualified pilots on Grand Titans through the wormhole along with Ha-Ya-To as reconnaissance in his Aero Booster.  Great.  Rookies.  Supply of pilots are an issue.  Robots can be manufactured en masse but humans must be trained.  Meca One has lost most of his mechas but manufacturing Devastators and Iron Drones as pilots is easy compared to the mechas that they pilot.  With humans the problem is the other way around, numbers of mechas are now being steadily built up but the pilots needed to work them require time intensive training.

Takeshi prepares his Grand Titan XS, as Ryo affectionately calls it. L.01 will lead L.04 (which Formed part of Ryo's rescue party all those weeks ago) and L.07 (one of the completely new upgraded Grand Titans to roll off the production line), the latter two Grand Titans will be piloted by Takeshi's rookie lieutenants.

The Golden Gateway is activated and the gate party are assigned clean-up duty to destroy and catalogue as many enemy robots and mechas they can find within a 24 hour timeframe.  Ha-Ya-To flies into the wormhole, his upgraded Aero Booster speeds up and cuts out just before entering.  An analogue sensor detects the EMP generated by the wormhole and when this subsides it mechanically restarts the Aero Booster mecha's systems less than a second after it reaches the other side.  Ideally, Takeshi would follow suit with his Grand Titan's thrusters and enter the same way but no other Grand Titan has been fitted with thrusters and he needs to show his rookies how it's done on foot.  He accelerates his mecha towards the wormhole and leaps in, Ryo's upgrades have included an active EM shield that covers all of the Grand Titan's vulnerable systems (made easier as this mecha was designed specifically this way) but as an extra safeguard the detection of the wormhole in it's immediate forward vicinity will trigger the mecha to switch off while in mid-air jump and mere milliseconds upon exiting on the other side of the wormhole Takeshi's mecha is fully on and starting to scan the surrounding area.

Next through is Lt. Kura in L.04.  A good landing on both of his mecha's feet, he proceeds to march forward.  Then Lt. Watabi in L.07.  Where is he?  Suddenly a Grand Titan falls head first through the wormhole and lands on it's front.  Lucky there are new reinforced bull bars protecting the cockpit.  The mecha unceremoniously picks itself off from the ground.  A move that Takeshi thinks this rookie has practised often.  A misjudged leap.  Takeshi remembers falling flat on his mecha the first time he went through the wormhole, but that was before the upgrades, he did land on it's feet on the other side but lost balance and his footing while trying to boot it back up.  These upgrades to the circuitry has done more than add resilience, these mechas feel so much faster and more responsive now.

Regroup!  Up on high ground, 200 metres magnetic North from here.  Ha-Ya-To performs a fly-by before scouting the area, his Aero Boost sonic booms in a northernly direction.  He will go as far as a half-day's walk for the Grand Titans and then scan the radius of the wormhole.  One day is not a long period of time for an operation, but this is a training exercise and a chance for him to try out his improved Aero Booster's scanners and firepower.  Takeshi thinks it would have been more tactical to bring Hikaru and a Silent Strike, but he is busy leading an assault on Meca One's base of operations.  Still, right now listening to all those sonic booms he thinks that at least bringing a Silent Strike or Stealth Hunter woud have been a good idea.  His scanners detect faint interference a kilometre to the north of thir position, he tells his rookies to prepare for a run in double-time.

There is a sign of a battle here.  Takeshi remembers this.  It's where Ryo fought off two Fire Vultures.  There are parts of an Iron Drone under some wreckage, but it's not complete.  Head and chest parts are missing, removed.  There is also just one Devastator here among the ruins of a single Fire Vulture which also looks cannibalised.

Be on alert.  There is a crash site not far from here where there should be several dozen deactivated Iron Drones.  Hopefully still deactivated.  Time to alert Ha-Ya-To, he needs to keep a lookout.  That's if anything within 20 kilometres of him hasn't been frightened away by his sonic booms.

No signs of activity, all of Hikaru's wreckage sightings have been confirmed and another three sites have been unearthed.  Unearthed?  Yes, actually excavated.  We are not alone here.

Keep within network coverage, that's about a kilometre and a half.  Spread out and destroy the designated targets shown on your HUD.  Keep your eyes peeled for any robot activity, we don't want to take any chances here.  The two lieutenants move out and begin to sift through the wreckage, using the dragon fang claws of their mechas to crush any power cores and to slice the head sections of any Iron Drones or Devastators.  Large battle mechas nod vehicles may be destroyed with appropriate firepower.

They work through the night.  There's a lot of ground to cover and this isn't going to be completed overnight.  The spillage fom the initial wormhole covers a section of almost 15 kilometres radius through desert and mountain terrain.  A slice of the pie has been mapped out for this excursion, and even that seems tight given the time they have.  Only an hour left before they rendezvous with the wormhole, Kura has finished and is ready to head back to the rendezvous point but Watabi is behind so he decides to go over and help.

There have been legends of the Golden City for many years, even when the city was discovered and everyone was relocated to it mystery surrounded it.  Who were the original inhabitants?  Where did they go?  Does the Golden Gateway show where they disappeared to?  If it did, then what happened and where are the descendants of that great civilisation?  So many questions and Sensei Keiken is trying to unravel the mystery but the war with the robots isn't over yet and there are other priorities.

Sensors pick up so much static from this orange sand, we've cleared our quota so let's head back.  Kura leads the way.  Ha-Ya-To is flying over the spill area and taking more readings and aerial pictures.  Takeshi is destroying a deactivated Thunder Fury but his Grand Titan is flight capable so he should reach the rendezvous point before the rookies.  Watabi collects samples of the sand, it's a good idea Kura thinks.  Watabi thinks he has so much of it in his cockpit from falling over, he may as well put a positive spin on it.

It's been an uneventful training exercise.  No combat, but that's not a bad thing.  At least the Grand Titans have been put through their paces across rough terrain and the rookies have become more fluent with their handling of their mechas after sitting in the cockpit working and sleeping for a whole day non-stop.  Everyone's tired now.  Next time Takeshi thinks a camp will need to be established for a longer training exercise.

A wormhole opens up at the expected coordinates at the correct time.  It will be a relief to get back home and relax out of the cockpit.  One moment into a golden light in what seems like mere seconds is actually not even that before the team in their mechas appear back inside the Golden Tower.

Systems restarting.  Wait.  What's the commotion.  A little disorientated, Kura see people running around frantically.  There is a whining sound.  No, not whining.  It's the alarm.  He can now hear explosions outside.  We're under attack.

To be continued...

Episode 42 - Rescue

Fire Vultures!  At least two.  Ryo races towards the robot mechas, but doesn't see anyone in harm's way.  Except perhaps himself.  Was this a trap?  It doesn't matter now, a confrontation is inevitable.

One Devastator seems to be holding his ground, raising the claw of it's mecha in a halt position.  Puzzling.  Flames.  The other Devastator attacks.  Ryo knows that these mechas are dangerous at close quarter combat, it's best to keep his distance.  He aims his main guns and returns fire.  The mecha falls.  Now the other mecha begins to hover and there is an Iron Drone nearby, but it is unarmed and cannot harm his Grand Titan.  The fallen mecha rises, both pounce at the same time and trap Ryo.  It's the worst case scenario, a bad tactical error to be caught out like this.  Ryo hopes his upgrades can help him now, his servos have more power surging through them than ever but his reserves are low.  This needs to end quickly.

He holds onto one Fire Vulture by it's primary weapon, the flame thrower.  He squeezes and crushes it, as he swings away he rips the arm off the mecha and slices it back into it's body as he rotates full circle.  The other Fire Vulture's pilot is smarter and has his Grand Titan held from behind.  One enhancement Ryo has learnt fom the Golden City is that land based mechas need not necessarily be so, this one has had thrusters added to it.  A quick boost and he is airborne, taking the Fire Vulture with it.  It's grip loosens and Ryo turns and fires his guns, grounding the Fire Vulture.  It falls into a motionless pile on the ground, right on top of the Iron Drone.

Ryo lands his Grand Titan.  Power reserves are now at minimum, enough to move but not enough to fight in any effective manner or even to finish what he has started.  There is a bright light appearing behind, this could be it for him.

Another Grand Titan!  Unmodfied, but a sight for sore eyes nevertheless.  That is until it falls flat on it's face.  There's a Stealth Hunter as well, but it's falling fom the skies.  No, not falling.  Gliding erratically, it skids along the ground a few hundred metres away leaving in it's wake a huge cloud of orange dust.  Is this a rescue party?  If it is, Ryo is glad he has dispatched the two Fire Vultures beforehand.

"Ryo!", it's Takeshi.  The Grand Titan powers up and lifts itself up from the dirt.  It walks up to Ryo's own modified mecha.  "I see you've been busy." says Takeshi, "And good job on the robot mechas.".  Takeshi looks at the tangled mess of metal smouldering nearby, then he looks at Ryo's modified work of art.  "What did you do to my old mecha?  It looks... grander!".  Takeshi was never very good with his adjectives.

Hikaru climbs out of his mecha, "It's good to see you, Ryo".  The feeling was most definitely mutual.  "Now we've found you, we have a mission to carry out.  I hope you're prepared!".  Well, so much for niceties.

The three friends move their mechas to high ground, by the side of a mountain where a large cavern has formed.  They talk, it's a time for catchup and food rations.

Since Ryo's disappearance through the Golden Gateway's wormhole, Meca One's forces have been greatly reduced.  Those few that didn't disappear through the wormhole with Ryo were quickly defeated by the humans.  Since then, Sensei Keiken has ordered bombings of the robot factories now that they offer little resistence from their fewer numbers.  Our own mechas have been modified and produced in quantity for new pilots to prepare for a great offensive.  The worry though is that those robots that survived the wormhole's EMP may recover technology from the Golden Tower that was also sent through.  As was evident, Sensei Keiken's worries were justified as some robots had survived.  There are no mechas left in the Golden Tower, any undiscovered technology will be on this side along with the bulk of Meca One's armies.

Ryo realises the gravity of the situation, although victory may finally seem possible back home.  It all rests on destroying any Golden City technology here and ensuring that any and all robot machinery remains deactivated or preferably, destroyed.

Hikaru decides to do an aerial ordinance with his Stealth Hunter, it's nighttime and his mecha's scanners will perform much better in the cold darkness of night.

"Takeshi, Happy Birthday.", Ryo says.  "It's not my Birthday, that was a couple of weeks ago.", replies Takeshi.  Ryo smiles and says to his friend, "This is your old mecha, it's now yours again and it's crammed with Golden City technology as well as our own.  I've hand-built it with more care and attention to detail than possible from any production line.  I half-expected it to be my only friend in this desolate place but you, my brothers in arms have rescued me".

Takeshi is lost for words, he is extremely happy to have is old Grand Titan (whom he thought was destroyed beyond repair) back, but more than that with all that has been lost in the war Takeshi is happy to find his comrade alive and well.  Ryo is just glad they now have a way back home, a scheduled rendezvous with the Golden Gateway.  Ryo cannot wait to upgrade his own Uplink package, he prefers smaller more manoeuvrable mechas.  The radio crackles.

It's Hikaru as he reports back on the radio.  More than 90% of Iron Drones have been accounted for and all have been destroyed by the EMF (save the one encountered with the two Fire Vultures).  80% of all known robot vehicles are accounted for, land mechas are all deactivated and in need of serious repair with pilots either deactivated or shutdown.  They will have to be dealt with, one by one.  Flying mechas are all in various states of damage with 60% of their pilots destroyed either by the EMP or by the subsequent fall from the sky.  EMP and fall damage means that none are currently able to take to the air.

Takeshi interrupts.  "Do you hear that?".  It's a humming sound, but robot mechas don't hum and this sound is coming from above.

A flash, like lightning.  An explosion.  Ryo and Takeshi are alright, the Grand Titan took the brunt of the impact.  Hikaru homes in on the sound and fires.  Smoke and dust, he hits the side of the mountain but doesn't seem to have hit his target.

"We have a rendezvous with the Golden Gateway in 3 minutes!" Hikaru shouts.  "Where?" Ryo shouts back.  "Here!"' Takeshi replies, "We can't let whatever's attacking us go through!".

Ryo takes charge, "Hikaru, setup some flares and light this place up!  Takeshi, use the Grand Titan XS's local area network to link with Hikaru's Stealth Hunter and hone in your sensors.  Aim your EMP for a wide burst.  Set coordinates for your missiles to fire once the EMP settles."

Both comrades do as they are told.  Takeshi thinks to himself, can this mecha actually do all that?  Sure enough, his mecha links to the Stealth Hunter and before he can utter a gasp the EMP activates and there is no more humming.

Missiles launching, target locked.  Wormhole detected, it's only going to stay open for 20 seconds.  "Hurry, run!" Takeshi says to Ryo.

Hikaru lands his mecha towards the wormhole, shutting down systems before entering and preparing himself to glide down on the other side.  Ryo jumps into the Grand Titan, it's a little crispy but fully functional.  He makes for the wormhole and powers down to a standstill just before the event horizon.

Ryo has really good instincts, he knows what his teammates will do before they do themselves.  Thinks Takeshi.  He runs towards the wormhole and a second before it closes he makes his mecha jump and activates thrusters taking both Ryo and the other Grand Titan through, just as his own mecha automatically shuts itself down.  "Nice." Takeshi thinks, as his missiles strike home and they all disappear within the wormhole.

To be continued...

Episode 41 - Awakenings

Darkness.  Everything is dark.  Then, a blip.

The attack on the Golden Tower was a success.  The robot army had broken through the barricades and under direct orders from Meca One, an all out attack on the workshop was in progress.  Hundreds of Iron Drones penetrated the inner sanctum followed by dozens of mechas and assault vehicles.  And then, there was the light.  A golden light that spread like a sheet of pure sunlight, but this light bought darkness with it.

The Iron Drones stopped in their tracks as they were enveloped by the light, but still they marched on into it.  The mechas halted and fell from the air as they were lit up, those Devastators that realised something was amiss shut themselves down.  Those that were smart also shut down their mechas.  This Blue Devastator was especially smart, and experienced.  One of the first Devastators created by Meca One himself, ruthlessly efficient with an eye for detail.  Unlike other Devastators, this one did not go out of its way to pursue and terrorise the humans but it performed the tasks asked of it and it did it well.  Exceptionally well.  However, Meca One's desire to strike terror in the hearts of the humans meant that later Devastators were modified to take on the human threat beyond just following orders.  They would be programmed to over achieve their mission to strike terror.  This led to a conflict of interests as far as this Devastator was concerned, obeying the objective and performing arbitrary tasks was inefficient and it is this Devastator's efficiency that concluded the best course of action in this situation was to power down the mecha as well as it's own systems.  This Devastator was especially smart, though.  It also initiated a power discharge to comatose itself and ready it's body for a solar recharge.

Blip.  Critical systems restarting.  Solar energy recharging power reserves.  Sunlight.  The Blue Devastator awakes, it's weak.  It's gamble paid off.  Whatever happened to it and wherever it fell, it was not buried and the sun shone to wake it up.  Sunlight alone will not recharge this unit completely.  It's just not that efficient at converting solar energy, but it will allow it to move and assess it's current predicament.

It's mecha (a Fire Vulture), is badly damaged.  It's operational, but there is serious structural damage.  It must have fallen from quite a height to end up in this condition.  The Devastator itself is undamaged.  It summarises that it's fellow Devastators must either be in a shutdown state or destroyed by what seemed to be an enormous electro-magnetic pulse.  Location is unknown, the Fire Vulture's scanners do not recognise the terrain but then it's just a medium range targeting system for the shoulder mounted beam rile.  This mecha is a weapon for close combat with it's slashing, grappling claw and a napalm flame thrower, all of which is working but damage means this mecha is not mobile or is going anywhere in it's current condition.  Other Fire Vultures may have met a similar fate, perhaps salvage from another unit can repair this one.  That's if anything else is nearby.  Power reserves are minimal, but enough to rise up and connect to the mecha's power core for a full recharge.

The sun rises high up in the sky, the landscape is lit up but all the Devastator sees is interference from the minerals reflecting off the surface of the orange sand.  There seems to be more interference to magnetic North so that's where it heads.  Almost a day's trek takes it to a plain where it finds wreckage, that and a field full of deactivated Iron Drones.  The wreck consists of a Sonic Phantom and two Fire Vultures.  The pilots of the Fire Vultures managed to shut themselves down before the EMP hit, which is more than the pilot of the Sonic Phantom or the plethora of Iron Drones managed.  Unfortunately, the Fire Vulture pilots suffered critical damage from the fall as their mechas fell entwined with each other.  The Blue Devastator sees that there are enough useable parts to repair it's own mecha.  The Iron Drones are all scrap, but perhaps circuitry from the fallen mechas can be used to repair a couple.  Their strength will make carrying the salvage that much more easier.

All through the night the Blue Devastator works, showing skills beyond it's remit as a mecha pilot.  Finally, out of dozens of Iron Drones just a single working unit is repaired and operational.  It is reborn.  It needs direction.  Meca One's whereabouts are unknown, it's own location is unknown.  Everything is unknown.  This Blue Devastator was programmed to obey orders direct from Meca One, being an early model it was not hard coded with a desire to inflict harm to all humans.  It was built to obey Meca One's orders and the last objective was to lay siege on the Golden Tower.  That objective was met, with devastating results.  There have been no more orders since.  It's time to return to base for further instructions.  This Iron Drone will be initialised to obey this Blue Devastator's orders.

It has taken another day to return to the first crash site and to repair the Fire Vulture.  Granted, days here seem shorter than back home which leads it to suspect that it is now offworld.  With a fully operational Fire Vulture it's time to perform an aerial survey of the area.

More Iron Drones are scattered across the desert, there is another Fire Vulture by the side of a mountain nearby.  It's damaged but not as badly as the previous mechas it found the day before, and there is another Devastator inside.  The second Blue Devastator is shut down, but it is intact.  Initiating startup.  "Destroy the Human forces!  Grind them into the ground!".  This is a later model, and it is confused.

"We are off-world.  Primary objective is to return to base to await further instructions.", the Blue Devastator says.  The second Blue Devastator is agitated but reassesses itself and agrees.  First order of business is to repair another Fire Vulture.  It takes just a few hours to complete this task, the second Blue Devastator pilots it's Fire Vulture.  It's 100% operational even though some improvisation was required on the flame thrower assembly and mecha's arm.

Nightfall, radiation is detected from the East and it's not residual heat from the day.  The Blue Devastator keeps it's mecha's scanner trained on the radiation source, it's best to wait until daylight to investigate.  There's too much interference from the ground to rely on scanners at nighttime.  The second Blue Devastator decides to test it's mecha's weapons systems.  Beam rifle!  Napalm!  A huge explosion can be heard.  This Devastator is obviously not a fan of subtlety.

The radiation source is moving!  It's approaching the camp, and at a rapid pace.  The noise and explosions have attracted attention.  Perhaps more Devastators have assembled and are looking to regroup.

No.  It's looking unlikely and the news is not good.  Morning has broken and the second Blue Devastator can see something approaching.  It's big, it's red, it's not a robot design.  It resembles a human designed mecha, but it's heat signature is massive and it looks different yet familiar.  A Grand Titan?  Yes, a Grand Titan, but it's been modified.  And what a heat signature.

To be continued...

Recap & Episode 40 - The Golden Gateway

Recap of episode 39.

EXO-FORCE episode 39 ends with Meca One torturing Sensei KeiKen, scanning his creator's mind for the location of the Golden City Outpost where he was created.  Hitomi in is left in command to defend the Golden City and the EXO-FORCE set out to free their leader in their new mechas.  In their battle with some new robot mechas in the jungle they deploy their new mini-robots which set about assisting their main mechas by attacking the enemy from all sides.  Unfortunately, Meca One has already scanned this secret from his creator and has devised his own mini-robots inside of his Devastator's mechas and this evens the battle and in effect neutralises the human's advantage.

What happens next...?

Well, episode 40 was never published as the online comics (still available on the internet) stopped there when demand for LEGO's EXO-FORCE series declined and didn't pick up.  A shame.  I have only recently discovered these great models as I researched into LEGO for my own children, when I last played with LEGO there were no mini-figures as there are now.  At least not with articulated limbs!  Just the same head design usually with a cap, but with a one piece torso attached to a one piece lower body.  Not nearly as impressive as the EXO-FORCE mini-figures and certainly nothing as advanced as those 2006 model mechas that were engineered with parts of LEGO Technic.

Where did it all go wrong for what began with a promising venture for LEGO?

Well, we can speculate but the bottom line was the decline in sales.  The 2006 models were pretty cool with manga style mini-figures (check out the hair designs on those mini-figures) and the larger mechas use a light brick with a fibre-optic cable that lit up as a power core channeling light to a blaster or flame thrower.  The sucess of these models led to an extended range in 2007 that (unfortunately) decided to omit the light brick, and the construction and design of these models lacked the innovation to make up for it.  They weren't terrible, but they just didn't sell as well.  By the time the 2008 models were due, the number of sets were cut (one was even killed at a late stage just before production so you can see there were more human mechas then corresponding robot mechas).  The real shame was that these 2008 designs showed the innovation and imagination that should have emurged a year earlier.

Limbo.  I suppose that's what happened to the storyline of the EXO-FORCE and their human/robot conflict.  I like the idea of a fan-based ending to give the series some sort of resolution, although being LEGO models (albeit from a line that is discontinued) there is never a real ending as these wonderful toys are always redesigned and modified by their owners for more play.

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Episode 40.

The EXO-FORCE are matched by Meca One's Devastators and their new mechas.  Meca One has located the site of the Golden City Outpost and now has access to much of the Golden City's technology thus neutralising most of the human's technological advantage.  An attack on the Golden City is underway by Meca One's Devastators and Drones.

Hitomi orders all hands to prepare for the onslaught, they still have a tactical advantage in the city but under seige she doesn't know how long they can hold out.  Meca One is after the computer and factory in the Golden Tower, a secret lies within that has not yet been discovered by the humans.

Ryo is told to return to the City to help and see if there is anything in the Golden Tower that can help the humans.  He seperates the Hybrid Rescue Tank and races back to the Golden City while the rest of his team take on the new robot mechas.

By the time Ryo reaches the Golden City the robots have broken through.  Ryo races to the Golden Tower where Hitomi and her forces barricades him in, Ryo needs to find something or anything to help before the humans are defeated by superior numbers.

Ryo searches the main computer, but this time instead of researching into mecha design he ponders a question that has been niggling in the back of his mind - whatever happened to the original people of the Golden City?  Ryo delves into the archives of the Golden City and discovers something called the Golden Gateway, and it's hidden inside the Golden Tower itself.  With the barricades breaking down Ryo manages (by luck or accident) to activate it.  A powerful wormhole appears in the Golden Tower workshop, Ryo jumps into the damaged Grand Titan lying nearby and the whole workshop is enveloped just as the robots break in.  The Golden Tower is offline, and everything inside the workshop has disappeared including Ryo.

Outside in the Golden City many of the robots and their mechas have disappeared and the humans reorganise and defeat the confused, remaining invading forces.  EXO-FORCE manage to evade the new robot mechas and find Sensei KeiKen in the Golden City Outpost, the older mechas there prove no match and are dispatched.  Meca One has already retreated to his base and is preparing new upgrades to his robot mechas with some of the data he downloaded before the Golden Tower went offline.

Sensei KeiKen and the remaining EXO-FORCE return to the Golden City and assesses the situation in the Golden Tower.  There are no more new mechas, everything has disappeared through the wormhole.  The only way to survive is to use the existing technology they have and to modify and innovate.  It will be difficult without Ryo.  The EXO-FORCE team want to go after Ryo, Sensei KeiKen reassures them that a rescue party will be sent once he learns how to control the wormhole.

In the meantime, Ryo awakes in a barren landscape.  He uses parts that have come through the wormhole with him (scattered across many kilometres) and he painstakingly rebuilds the Grand Titan from the inside out, but he improves it with what he has learnt since the Golden City was discovered giving it more auxillary power and even more shielding.  These last years have been hard, it's been fight after fight for survival and he hasn't afforded himself the luxury of enjoying what he loves most and that is his engineering.  The Grand Titan was a truely well thought out piece of engineering, almost unbreakable from the outside and equipt not with strong offensive guns and missiles.  It also had the ability to cripple anything electronic with the electro-magnetic pulse generation housed in it's claw, it was a master of power absorbtion too.  So many details that were missing in later mechas that used advanced technology from the Golden City.  It's hard work, but satisfying as Ryo modifies his mecha using the best of everything from the workshop.  He works at a fast pace but he is not rushing himself.  Although he is in unknown territory, he knows he needs to be prepared to the best of his ability for what may come.

Ryo remembers robot mechas breaking in before the wormhole activated and doesn't know if he is alone or not.  The EMP claw may come in handy as nearly every electronic device that was activate now seems to be burnt out by an EMP initiated by the wormhole, perhaps this is what happened to the robot mechas he saw in the workshop (maybe they should have developed this weapon instead of rely on Golden City technology alone).  The workshop spares were powered down so remained undamaged and Ryo uses everything he can find to pump up the power of his mecha.  Unfortunately the Grand Titan's power core is low on power so he needs to find a source to recharge it, he's using several auxillary batteries recharged by solar energy to power the Grand Titan now but the main weapons are either offline or low on reserves.  There are explosions across the distance, he hears the familiar sound of fire and flame throwers.

A new adventure begins.  Rescue.  Modified mechas.  New civilisations.  The old threat.  It's up to you, now.

To be continued...