Empire Builder 4: Breed, Populate, Conquer, page 28
“That’s… that’s pretty impressive,” Zito said. “Have to admit.”
Melody’s eyes flashed. “If we don’t do something right freaking now , you’re going to be blasted apart by missiles while you stand there impressed, dummy!”
The Mecha took a few steps forward, then aimed its arms into the air. As they stood, a series of red marks appeared on the ground at their feet. Steam plumed out of the mecha’s arms, and it didn’t take Ben long to realize what was going on.
“All of you!” he shouted. “Move!”
Right after he spoke, several compartments on the mecha opened, a barrage of rockets firing into the air and leaving curling contrails behind them as they arced, hit their apogees, then began careening back toward the ground.
Ben and his party hurried out of the way, rushing to the other side of the roof just in time to watch as the rockets crashed down where they’d been standing only moments before, a chain of small explosions erupting as they detonated.
“The old man’s right,” Rox said, adjusting his goggles as he took in the sight of the powerful mecha. “That thing’s impressive .”
“I’d be more impressed if we could find a way to take it down,” Ben said, holding his blade at the ready. “Something tells me we’re not going to be able to dodge missiles and machine gun fire forever.”
“Here’s the good news!” Rox shouted.
“There’s good news?” Shrike asked.
Right as she spoke, another series of red targeting marks appeared where they stood.
“Run!” Ben yelled.
The group took off, rushing as quickly as they could to the other side of the rooftop. However, more targets appeared on the ground at their feet. The mecha launched its barrage of rockets, and Ben soon realized what was happening.
“He’s splitting the payload between two spots! Hurry!”
The group ran away from the targets, the rockets from one arm landing at one, the rockets from the other blasting into the other set of targets.
“You can’t run forever!” the Genius shouted. “I only need to get lucky once—you all need to get lucky every time!”
Ben knew he was right. It was only a matter of time before a misstep cost the life of one of his party members—or all of them.
“Anyway, goblin,” Shrike said with a wry tone. “You were saying something about good news?”
“Uh, right,” Rox replied, his confidence clearly shaken by the last missile barrage. “The fact of the matter is that he’s piloting a machine—and machines can be broken. Trust me, I’ve broken more than a few of them in my time.”
“Then tell us how to break it,” Ben said.
“You see those parts at the joints?”
Ben looked where Rox indicated with a point of his small, green finger. Sure enough, there were gaps in the armor of the mecha at the shoulders and upper legs—much like a suit of medieval armor. In the gaps were pistons that appeared vulnerable.
“Sure do.”
“We attack those spots, and I’m sure we’ll bring him down. Only problem is that—”
Zito flourished his blade, a confident smile on his face. “Sounds easy enough. Stand back, kiddies.”
He let out a cry, rushing toward the mecha, the silver length of his katana gleaming under the sun. Zito moved with surprising speed, preparing for a leaping attack against the mecha. Before he had a chance to make his move, the Genius activated another weapon in the mecha’s arms, aiming them down at the ground in front of him.
A whoosh sounded, blue flame shooting out in front of where Zito ran. The old man let out a woah! as he realized what was happening, stopping himself just in time to avoid running right into the fire. Once he was clear, he did a backflip, turning in midair and rushing in the direction of Ben and the rest of the group.
As he drew nearer, Ben could see that the flames hadn’t totally missed him. The ends of Zito’s white mustache were singed black, a wide-eyed expression on his face.
“OK,” he said. “So, my first mistake was that I didn’t expect the fire. But, man! Imagine if I’d been able to actually hit that thing! Could’ve taken that arm off with a single blow.”
Ben turned his attention back to the mecha, the flames still burning in front of where it stood.
“No one run off like that again,” Ben said. “If we’re going to take this thing out, we need to do it as a team .”
No one argued.
“We need to see what kind of armor that machine has,” Rox said. “If you guys can provide a distraction, I can launch a few explosives at him.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Ben said. “Everyone, split up and keep moving. Don’t let him draw a bead on you. Move!”
The group broke apart, and as it did the mecha raised its arms one more time. Several more red targets appeared on the ground, Ben getting the impression that the Genius was anticipating their moves and spreading his missile barrage as widely as possible.
Missiles shot into the air. Ben and his companions pivoted and ran to avoid the blasts. Once the barrage was done, Rox pulled out his cannon, quickly loading and aiming it. A thwoop sounded as a blast shot across the battlefield, hitting the mecha dead-on in the middle of the torso where the Genius was seated. When the smoke cleared, Ben realized to his dismay that the shot hadn’t done a damn bit of good.
“You think goblin weapons are going to take me down?” the Genius asked, disdain in his voice. “Those primitive toys of theirs won’t do a damn thing.”
“What the hell are you calling toys ?” Rox asked, anger in his voice. He quickly loaded another shot, taking aim and firing. This one, just like the other, arced into the air and blasted into the mecha—this time on his upper leg. Unfortunately, this attack made it all the clearer that nothing was going to be penetrating the armor around the machine.
“Shoot!” Rox quickly packed up his cannon as the mecha prepared to take aim again. This time, red sight lasers like those on a gun activated.
“He’s going for a Gatling gun attack again!” Ben yelled. “Stay down!”
The Genius unloaded with a barrage of Gatling fire, the group diving to the ground as the bullets whizzed by overhead.
He’s got cool-down times for his weapons , Ben realized as the gunfire subsided. He can only fire them for so long.
“Not bad so far,” the Genius said, “but let’s see you dodge this!”
The mecha hunched over, forming into something like a ball. As it did, electrical energy coursed over the machine, growing more and more intense by the moment. When it reached its peak, the mecha covered in blue electricity, it burst up into a standing position, throwing its arms open wide and sending a dome of crackling electrical energy over the battlefield.
While there wasn’t a single place to hide, the electrical dome moved slowly enough for the group to have a bit of time to figure out what to do next.
“Ben!” Melody shouted. “If you and I both use our lightning powers, we might be able to disrupt the field!”
“Lightning powers? I thought I took all of them?”
“I still have a few spells remaining, as well as my wand.”
Ben nodded, the idea seeming as good as any. He reached into his bag and pulled out a chunk of mana stone, tossing it over to Melody so she could catch it. She did, taking it down with a couple of quick chomps. Once her mana was up, she pulled out her wand and held it into the air.
“We need to connect our bolts!” she said. “Angle your shot and cast when I say so!”
“Whatever you two are doing, you need to do it fast!” Zito said. “Unless you want to turn into a group of charred skeletons!”
Ben knew he was right. The dome crawled closer and closer toward them by the moment, and he estimated that it’d be on top of them within no more than ten or so seconds.
Ben held up his hands, preparing to cast.
“Ready when you are!” he yelled.
Melody nodded. “Now!”
Together, the pair cast their lighting spells. They zapped toward one another, colliding and turning into a massive sphere of crackling electrical energy.
“Ball Lightning!” Melody shouted with a grin. “Just like I hoped!”
The crackling orb of electricity hovered in the air, the dome inching toward it. Ben watched, waiting for them to touch. When they finally did, the ball exploded, light flashing as it did. When Ben opened his eyes, the electrical dome was gone, along with the Ball Lightning. The plan worked.
Even from across the distance of the battlefield, Ben could make out the angered expression on the Genius’s face—he wasn’t pleased that his attack had been countered. He raised his arms, a tube coming out of the bottom of each forearm. Red energy gathered at the end of each tube, scarlet beams shooting from them that reminded Ben of the beams that had separated the room only a short time ago.
The group did their best to dodge the beams as they cut through the air, and within a short time, they died down, relief taking hold of Ben as they did. He took the moment of respite to give another look at the joints of the machine, trying to find some sort of way to attack that wouldn’t result in him or his allies being incinerated.
“Guys! Down!” Rox’s pointed up as he called out.
Ben and his companions turned their attention to the skies, watching as a line of goblin flyers made an approach. Rox quickly pulled out his cannon, setting it up with incredible speed and firing off a shot. The launch hit its target, the blast enveloping the rider and sending him spiraling down toward the jungle battlefield.
“Got an idea!” Melody said.
The fliers opened fire, Ben and his crew taking cover. As they approached, Ben had the idea to try out his new spell, Sonic Boom. He summoned his mana, gathering the magic in his hands and preparing to cast.
When one of the goblins was near, he unleashed the spell. A boomerang of pure yellow energy took form, spinning in a circle and screaming toward the goblin. It hit, slicing right through the goblin like a sawblade, the top half of the goblin falling clean off and the bottom half, along with the flyer, careering into the roof and crashing into a heap. The rest of the fliers took off, continuing down toward the jungle battle below.
Ben grinned at his new power, the attack reminding him of Guile’s in Street Fighter .
An idea occurred to him as he stood watching the mecha prepare for another missile barrage.
Bet anything those are heat-seeking. Lucky for us, we’ve got the hottest target imaginable .
“Shrike!” he called out. “When those missiles shoot, I want you to ignite!”
She seemed confused by the command but nodded anyway. “Whatever you say, Ben!”
Missiles blasted from the mecha’s arms. Shrike ignited as soon as they did. Just like Ben had hoped, the red targets zipped over to Shrike, drawn to the heat.
“Now!” Ben shouted. “Run over to the mecha and draw the missiles!”
She nodded again, taking off as quickly as she could toward the massive machine. The missiles curved in the air, following Shrike as she changed course. The Genius began another flamethrower barrage, but the attack did no good against Shrike in her ignited form. The missiles screamed toward them, Shrike leaping out of the way at the last moment.
Explosions rocked the mecha, one after another as the missiles hit.
“Hell yeah!” Ben shouted, pumping his fist as the damage hit.
When the smoke cleared, however, Ben realized that the missiles hadn’t been enough to finish the job. The mech lurched back up to a standing position, its armor charred black, a few small cracks in the protective glass between the party and the Genius.
“Nice try,” the Genius said, “but you’re going to need more than a cheap trick like that to bring me down, you ignoramuses!”
Ben turned to Zito. “Thinking we’re going to need to do this the old-fashioned way.” He pointed toward the joints with his blade. “We both move in, attack him at the shoulders.”
Zito nodded, his eyes fixed forward on the mecha. “Sounds good, kid. Only one problem.” He pointed to the singed ends of his mustache. “Not crazy about the idea of this happening again.”
Ben gritted his teeth, knowing that Zito was right. If they were to move in again, they’d risk getting roasted with the flamethrowers.
“Guys!” Rox shouted. “Got an idea!”
“Let’s hear it!” Ben replied.
“There’s a tank on the back of the mecha, right under the shoulder armor plating—that’s the coolant. If you can give me a clear shot at it, I can blast it open! That stuff sprays out, he won’t be able to do a damn thing with that flamethrower!”
Melody stepped forward and nodded. “Leave it to me!”
With the sort of incredible speed that only a catgirl was capable of, Melody rushed forward on all fours. Her movement immediately caught the attention of the mecha, the Genius turning his body to keep her in his sights. When he did, Ben caught a glance at a silver canister underneath the shoulder blades of the mecha—he had no doubt that was the coolant.
The Genius opened fire with his twin lasers, Melody leaping through the air and doing incredible acrobatics to avoid them. As she did, Rox took aim with his cannon and fired. The shot arced through the air, and Ben watched with eager eyes as it arced toward the coolant container. A boom sounded as the attack hit its target, the canister rupturing and spraying light blue liquid all over the mecha.
“Now!” Rox shouted. “Now’s your chance!”
Shrike ran for cover as another barrage of missiles blasted into the air, taking the heat off Zito and Ben. The pair rushed toward the mecha, the machine preparing for another roar of flame.
“Hope this works!” Zito shouted. “Otherwise, we’re toast!”
Right as the fire would’ve shot forward, a sputter of flame came out instead. Ben grinned as he leaped into the air at the same time as Zito, each one landing on a shoulder. Ben raised his blade and brought it down hard, smashing it into the gears and pistons in the mecha’s shoulder.
The attack worked, sparks flying into the air as the blade cut through the machinery. Ben attacked, again and again, each strike breaking through more of the mecha’s inner workings. A glance to his left revealed Zito laughing like a madman as she sliced through the other shoulder.
They didn’t have time to cut all the way through, however. The mecha rose, the Genius letting out a cry of frustration as he shook the pair from his form.
“You… you’ll pay for that!” he cried out.
Ben and Zito landed on their feet, watching as the mecha stood tall. But the damage had been done. Oil and broken parts spilled out of the shoulders, a great creaking sounding from both sides as the arms came loose and fell to the ground with twin crashes.
“Hell yeah!” Ben shouted.
“Get down, you two!”
Ben looked back to see Rox readying his weapon. “Got the munitions exposed now! Might want to take cover for this one!”
Ben glanced up at the sliced-open sides of the mecha. Sure enough, a battery of missiles on each side was visible.
“I’d say ‘think twice before you mess with goblins again,’ you prick,” Rox called out, “but you’re about to be dead, so it’s not like that matters! Eat shit!” With that, Rox launched one more cannon shot at the mecha. It arced overhead, a look of panic appearing on the Genius’s face.
“Hey, Zito?” Ben asked.
“I know exactly what you’re thinking, kid. Let’s move!”
The pair ran as quickly as they could, Shrike and Melody catching up with them as they tried to put as much distance between them and the coming explosion as possible. Right as they reached the other side of the roof, the shot hit.
Ben turned to watch the attack ignite the missiles, a massive explosion erupting, the force of the shockwave nearly knocking him off his feet. The blast caused the mecha to lurch, the enormous machine soon losing balance and falling backwards off the tower.
Ben hurried over to see it fall down into the jungle, the mecha growing smaller and smaller until it landed with one more massive explosion far down below. The orange blossom grew, then faded.
He grinned. It was done. The rest of the group came over to join them, watching with satisfaction at the small fire down below.
“I don’t care how smart you are,” Zito said, “you’re not gonna think your way out of that one.”
Ben didn’t get a chance to respond before something strange happened.
“Look!” Melody shouted. “The fliers!”
He turned his attention to the hundreds of goblin fliers that had been strafing the jungle down below. All at the same time, as if a plug had been pulled, they dropped toward the ground. Tiny explosions rocked the jungles here and there as the aerial army fell to its doom.
“Just what I thought,” Rox said. “This whole army was linked to that Genius prick. He was the brains of the operation. Without him, this army’s done for.”
“That means…” Melody began, clasping her hands together in excitement. “That means we won!” She let out a squeal, jumping into the air with a smile on her face.
Ben kept his eyes on the jungle, watching as more and more fliers dropped out of the sky. He wasn’t entirely sure, but he thought he heard the sounds of cheering erupting among the tribes down below.
He put his hands on his hips and looked out over the land. A smile formed on his lips. The territory was his—and more than half the entire continent.
Chapter 28
It took a little doing before the group figured out how to lower the ceiling back into the tower.
“It’s so quiet in here,” Melody said, Ben and his allies stepping onto the main floor of the factory. “Crazy to think that only a short time ago this place was filled with the sounds of battle.”
The hallway was littered with goblin mechas, the machine-beings slumped against the wall or laying in heaps. Just like the goblin fliers, they’d turned off when the Genius died. Footfalls sounded up ahead, coming around the corner.
“Get ready!” Ben called out. The group obeyed, taking out their weapons and preparing for whatever might face them.
