Chapter 283 - Automations (2/2)
”Then why the hell did two of our group get in right when we got in?” Ruby asked, wondering.
”They were just really, really unlucky. Did you noticed how the other squads are moving from place to place while firing? My guess would be they avoided the light shot while running by and our guys got hit instead,” Laz said after thinking over what he had seen when they first came in.
”That... yeah. That sounds about right. Poor bastards...”
”Well, at least it taught everyone else to be more careful. And it proves the runes really are useful. But...”
”...If this happens a few more times, they will notice it too,” Ruby said, pointing out the issue.
”I have a solution for that... I think... But I don't think anyone will believe me.”
”What's that?” Ruby asked, amazed that he had come up with something so quickly.
”Stop shooting and let the little things run around for a bit, firing off their lights.”
”Isn't that just asking to be killed?” Ruby questioned back.
”Maybe. But currently, every time we go through a round of this, our threat level increases. See that sign up there? The bottom line, if I'm not wrong... is a threat meter. The faster we kill this things, the faster it fills up.” Laz told her.
”Is that why there are two of them now?”
”Yes. And because we took them out so quickly, it already jumped a level...” Laz noticed the problem. The jump was much bigger than what happened when they only destroyed one. And it wasn't just a double jump either.
”So is there going to be three of them now?” Ruby asked, looking around at where the other sheds might pop up.
Laz had that question as well. He also wondered why they didn't try to destroy the shed. But he then noticed blast marks across the first one and realized that they must have tried to and failed.
”THERE'RE COMING BACK FASTER,” one of the Captains called out just as the second squad got behind a bit of collapsed metal wall.
It was still two shed open lighting up and the tiny door on the front opened, letting loose two more automations. Seeing the size of the sheds, Laz got the feeling that the automations were being launched from somewhere underneath and the sheds themselves were just a chute of some sort.
”Shit.” Laz was now faced with a choice. The assault rifles weren't able to damage the automations normally and instead were just used as a distraction. Once they stopped moving, a well placed grenade would destroy it from the bottom. But that seemed to only work since the tiny robots had an exposed area thanks to their wheels. Once that was removed, there was no way to know if something else would take it out.
Laz knew the other groups had some rockets, but there was no telling if a direct hit to the plating on the outside of these things would do any real damage. That was assuming they could even hit them considering there small size.
But this was only a problem in terms of hiding themselves. Laz had no doubt that if he made a move, he would be able to crush those things in his hands without an issue. Of course there was the question of how dangerous that laser like light would be, but Laz knew he would have to test it out one way or the other. The two that had died to it before really were the weakest of the group.
For now though, Laz didn't have a choice as the other two squads would get decimated by the flyers if they kept doing the same thing.
”Everyone, cease fire,” Laz called out to his squad.
”What the hell?” One of the other squad captain's asked after hearing Laz give out the order.
”Captain, I can't tell you what to do one way or the other. Until the next group with the higher ranked officers gets here, we have to do things as we all see fit. And what I'm seeing right now is that these things are reactive. They are targeting those who are firing on them first. If we stop firing, they might just ignore us...” Laz gave his hypothesis.
”THEY MIGHT?!?!” The captain yelled back, pissed off at Laz.
”Yes. They might. They didn't attack when you first came in. They didn't attack until they were attacked first. If you want to blame anyone, blame that bastard who kicked the first one. But that won't solve the problem right now. As soon as those flying types finishing booting up, how the hell do you plan on stopping them... shit... it's active.” Laz noticed that the two flyers that had been hovering in place without moving, suddenly seemed to glow red under the white halo and started flying towards the two squads who were still firing at both them and the small, land based ones.
Seeing how things were going, the two captains shared a look from across the gate area and quickly made a decision.
”CEASE FIRE.”
”STOP FIRING AND GET DOWN.”
They both yelled at the same time, order there men to remain on standby and stay still. Their men, hesitant to obey that order that seemed more dangerous, still complied.
All firing ceased and this became eerily quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the small buzzing of wheels from the two ground automations and a strange whooshing noise from the two in the air.
Just when it seemed like it was working, a few more shots fired out from all four of them, causing the men to want to take action again as 4 of their comrades were hit and died.
”DON'T MOVE,” both captains ordered at the same time. They both realized that the four men who had been hit were the last ones to stop firing.
With a lot of swearing and grumbling, the men continued to lay there, quiet and sweating while looking on nervously. Laz and the other captains realized that if they were fired on again, the men would disobey orders and open fire with everything they had. This wasn't earth after all and there was no telling how many of them would make it back.
In contrast to the rest of the solders, Laz's team was quite relaxed as they looked on. Dwayne even popped out a cell phone that he had somehow smuggled over and took a selfie while Remi, the four Ivy's, and Jennia looked on in wonder at his lack of understanding of the situation.
Just when it seemed like someone was going to snap, the automations made one final run around the gate area and returned to their sheds that then retreated below ground. One of the ground units deactivated and took up a position right at the spot where the original one had been before it had been kicked away.
By the time it stopped moving, it looked like nothing more than a decoration of the gate area.
As everyone else took a deep breath to try to calm their nerves, Laz looked up at the blue screen still hanging there in the orange tinted sky.
As he predicted, the bottom line of wording disappeared, replaced by a single word which Laz would have sworn meant 'inactive.'