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...
