The Zeus

by Arthur Browne

   Stop shaking me. I’m awake. The alarm took care of that. Hey, I’m in a real bed again. It isn’t a big bed. Our eyes popped open. The bed was rocking. Am I on a ship? Rise and shine, asshole. Let’s see what we’re dealing with. 

   Lt. Deslin opened his eyes and sat up. He shut off the alarm clock and climbed out of his rack. He was excited to get to play with his new toy.

Oh, sweet. I’ve heard about these things but I’ve never even seen one. That’s it. Keep thinking about it. Tell me all about it. 

   The deck lurched gently from side to side as Lt. Deslin dressed. He was proud to be a crewmember of the first Zeus to be used in combat. It was a shame that Command was only going to use it to defend the main airbase just outside of the capital instead of in an assault support role as it was designed to be used. But it was an expensive piece of machinery, and this was the first time it had been deployed in a combat area. Maybe the rebels would attack the capital again, and the mech would be able to show what it could do.

I have a feeling we are going to find out exactly what it can do very soon. And maybe what it can’t do.  

   The offloading from the special cargo ship had gone smoothly, the lieutenant recalled as he walked the short distance to the command bridge, the mech standing from its crouch and stepping out of the ship like a man emerging from a bathtub. He opened the heavy, armored hatch and ducked to pass through. He checked his watch and noted that he had a few minutes before he had to relieve Lt. Chalmers at the weapons and control console. He went and poured himself a cup of coffee from the dispenser and stood before the armored glass of the main viewports.

This is fucking awesome, dude.

    The airfield they were tasked with guarding was just coming into view. It had taken all night for the war machine to walk from the port, through city streets, through two rivers, out of the city and into the suburbs, and in a giant loop around the outskirts. Walking within the city had been a tricky business requiring great care to cause as little damage as possible.

I would have liked to have seen that. 

   The lieutenant watched as the metal behemoth stalked alongside the main highway. He could see the column of support and protection vehicles strung out along the road. There were few houses here, and the jungle in some places came right up to the two lane thoroughfare. There was a large stretch of jungle in front of them at that very moment, but the juggernaut didn’t even slow down. It would take larger trees than this to slow its pace. And they didn’t have to worry about damaging the jungle.

This is the coolest thing ever.

   It was while the Zeus was in the middle of this large patch of jungle that the enemy struck. It started with the radio calls saying that the airbase was under mortar and rocket attack. This was followed immediately by reports of bombs going off all over the capital. The lieutenant could see black smoke rising in the distance from multiple points. The communications officer turned up the volume as a steady stream of calls for help poured out of the speakers. Rebel mercs were attacking government buildings. Cruise missiles hit the command center. There were even merc airstrikes against positions around the city. The lieutenant began to get edgy.

No sense worrying your pretty little head about it. 

   Something rocked the metal titan. A ball of red and orange flame rolled up and over the armored view port just as the lieutenant began to turn away to take over his station. Thick armor plates slid up to cover the ports and the real view of the outside world was replaced by images from exterior monitors that were projected onto the glass of the ports themselves. Alarms began to sound.

Well, this should be interesting. 

   “All stop,” yelled the Captain. “Initiate defensive measures.” Infrared scanners intensified their sweeps of the surrounding jungle. The top portion of the mech swiveled to point the main blasters at the largest concentrations of attackers. These must be mercs working for the rebels, the lieutenant realized. They had been hiding under thermal cloaking blankets, popping out at the last possible moment. They were too close, well inside the optimal defensive perimeter. Not that the Zeus was helpless. The twin arm-mounted laser canons were better suited as long-range weapons, but they could be used effectively for close in fire. Brilliant beams flayed the jungle into two huge cauldrons of vaporized trees, plants soil and rock.

Very interesting indeed. If you have to die anyway… 

   The upper portion of the mechanical creature began to rotate again to bring the main weapons to bear on more enemies on their left flank. There were other last-ditch defenses as well. Automated flat-mines covered with steel ball bearings were stuck in rings like anklets around the lower legs of the mech. Sensors set them off when targets were spotted. A small missile of some sort slammed into the armored port cover on the left side. The shaped-charge warhead blew through the armored panel and the armored port itself. Lt. Chalmers at the weapons and control console took the brunt of the spray of torn wreckage that flew into the cabin. He and the console were obliterated. Lt. Deslin felt sick. He had been on his way to relieve the man. The communications officer was also down on the deck, missing one arm and most of his head.

… it might as well be interesting. 

   But the weapons were not reliant on the human who sat at the destroyed console. Deep within the mech the well-protected electronic brain of the beast realized that no more orders would come from the tiny humans that rode within it, so it set about defending itself. Again the two arms seared the surrounding jungle. But as fast as the hellfire consumed the spread out men attacking them others rose from under their concealment and launched their portable missiles. These missiles must be something new, thought the lieutenant desperately. They shouldn’t be able to punch through the armor like that.

We just keep inventing new ways to kill each other, buddy. That’s what we do. 

   I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, Lt. Deslin agonized. My duty station is gone. He glanced at the mess on the floor that was once two men. He fought down vomit.

Hey, they went quick. Sometimes that’s the best you can hope… 

   Another missile struck the side of the command cabin. A thin jet of blue-hot flame punched through and across the bridge, incinerating the top half of the Captain. The man didn’t even have time to scream. The cabin began to fill with smoke.

I don’t want to burn… again… 

   Lt. Deslin was alone now. The last two crewmembers hadn’t yet reported for duty. Somehow the young Lieutenant knew they never would. More detonations rocked the big machine. One of them must have crippled a leg because it began to topple over towards the left. Deslin grabbed the captain’s chair and hung on.

Maybe we’ll be squashed like a bug. That would be nice and quick. And stop screaming. You think that’s going to help? 

   The Zeus smashed trees and then smashed plants and then smashed damp soil. Lt. Deslin’s grip was torn from the chair and he slammed into the communications panel, shattering his left hip and thigh as well as the shoulder on that side.

Oh, that fucking hurts. 

   The lieutenant lay bent at an awkward angle across the console. Without moving, which he was pretty sure he couldn’t do anyway, he could look out of the gapping hole in the view port and the armored panel. There was nothing outside to see except tangled vines and splintered trees. And thick, black smoke.

This sucks.  

   The cabin was also filling with smoke. Choking gray smoke that reeked of burning plastic and metal and other dangerous things.

I don’t want to burn again… 

   Flames became visible in the mass of torn, tangled vegetation outside. The lieutenant figured they must have fallen close to one of the craters burned into the jungle by the heavy lasers. The flames crept swiftly closer.

Ah, shit… 

   A new alarm sounded and there was a whooshing sound. The fire suppression system had activated, filling the cabin with an inert gas, displacing the oxygen to choke out the fires somewhere close at hand. The lieutenant tried to shift his good arm to his back where a small emergency rebreather hung from his belt. He couldn’t reach it. Breathing became difficult. The flames outside drew nearer.

Oh fuck me. It’s a race between suffocation, toxic smoke inhalation, and burning. 

   The flames reached the hole in the armored port, and licked the jagged opening. But they could find no purchase on the inside of the cabin. The gas blowing slowly out of the hole kept it at bay. And enough oxygen was coming in through other holes against the flow of the gas so that the lieutenant could still breathe, even if the smoke was poisoning him. And he knew it didn’t matter anyway. The blood leaking from his leg where the broken bones had torn through his flesh would kill him in a matter of hours. He realized that if he didn’t move he would die one way or another. With a violent roll he shifted himself off the console and fell painfully onto the bulkhead that was now a floor.

Oh, that hurt. 

   The lieutenant reached his good hand out in an attempt to drag himself forward. The tiny, young, lime-green pit viper that had slithered through the hole in the view port to escape the flames was startled by the finger that brushed his tail. It struck from pure instinct and fright.

It took us a long time to die.