Ace felt tears stream from his eyes, as Slender-bot helped him to his knees. Ace attempted to sigh out his sadness, hearing Manglanosa shouting orders in Portuguese. That didn’t matter right now. Not to Ace. His whole world had been turned upside down. Pinkie was dead. Their child was dead.
‘And it’s all Manglanosa’s fault.’
To his right, Ace saw a pistol dropped by one of the mercenaries. He took it in his hand, and checked it for ammo. Seeing that it was loaded, he stood, a burning hatred in his eyes. Ace turned to leave, what was left of his robots following. As he left, he saw a man whose legs were trapped under the rubble. Trying desperately to get out, the mercenary looked up at Ace, his eyes begging him for mercy.
A single gunshot echoed out from the control station.
*****
A shell from a tank cannon exploded, creating a ball of fire around it’s target. However, when the smoke cleared, the magic shield Spark Plug had cast was still up. He seemed to be straining to deflect the amount of stray gunfire away from himself, John, and Rainbow.
“But we can’t leave them!” Rainbow argued, a shocked expression looking at John.
John shook his head. “I’m not saying we should, but Ace is the only one who has any idea what the fuck he’s doing here!” A grenade went off right next to the shield, the explosion sending a shockwave over the shield. “Look, Rainbow, we can’t stay here, or else we’re gonna get killed!”
“Hate to disagree with you, angel, but John’s right!” Spark Plug chimed in. “It won’t do Pinkie or Ace any good to get us killed!”
As if to drive his point home, another round from a Leopard I collided against his shield. Spark Plug was sweating bullets now, as he struggled to maintain his shield. Rainbow gritted her teeth, before she folded. “Fine! We’ll find somewhere to hide, but I’m not leaving this base until I know both of them are safe!”
John nodded, looking around for a place to hide. He spots what looks like the entrance to a bunker, heading into the ground. John waved a hand towards the door, gaining the attention of the ponies. “Over there! Follow me and for fuck sake Spark, don't drop that damn shield or we're all dead!”
The trio arrive at the entrance. It was a security door that had been smashed open. They didn’t give any second thoughts to the state of the door, being more concerned with the gunfire outside, so they descended down into the depths of the bunker. What they found seemed like a cross between a morgue and a holding cell for animals. Cages were stacked up to the ceiling against one wall, and in the center of the room, there were autopsy tables with leather straps attached to the sides. The entire room was dark, save for the light from the lamps dangling over the tables. The gunfire echoed from outside, but seemed so far away in this room. “This place gives me the creeps...” John said, a shiver running through his spine.
Spark looked over at a pair of beady red eyes in the shadows. He wondered if one of Dr. Sorou’s bots made it down here, so he cautiously walked over to it. As he got close, the eyes leaped toward him. Instinctively, Spark threw up a shield, deflecting the lunge of a pony sized creature.It looked like a rat, but was clearly monstrous in form, snarling and lashing out at the trio. “And with good reason!” John shouted, raising the gun he was still carrying.
The monster leaped at John, who jumped out of the creature’s way, rolling to his knees. He pulled the trigger of his SMG, unleashing a hail of bullets down upon the creature. The bullets peppered it all over it’s head and back, but John could only watch as the wounds began to close. “Damn it all to hell!” Shouted John. “And I thought Ace was a crackpot at times!”
As John blocked another pounce from the creature, throwing it over his head, the monster’s back claws raked over his SMG, cutting it to shreds. John got to his feet, looking for a new weapon as the creature recovered. On the wall, there was a long pole with metal prongs at the end. The switch along the pole clinched it. He rushed for the pole, grabbing it just as the monster faced him. John ducked just as the monster leaped toward him. He backed away, pointing this strange weapon at the rat monster. “You don't scare me you overgrown rodent!” He shouted. “I've faced losing everything and everyone I love!”
John stabbed at the creature, pressing the switch as he did. The rat monster yelped in pain as an electrical spark surged through it. Suddenly, a bolt of electricity lanced towards the creature, blasting it back. Spark Plug galloped over next to John, his horn lighting up.
“Thought you could use some help.” Spark explains, his horn giving a small crackle of electricity.
John smirks. “Now I know why they call you Spark Plug.”
Spark gave John a deadpan stare. “Shut it. I got enough of that in school.” They both faced the rat creature, as Rainbow joined them. The monster snarled at the trio, as both parties prepared for a clash. “Let’s take this thing down.” Spark said, before the groups charged at each other, both ready to do what it takes to win.
*****
An enormous metal fist propels forward, only to be caught by a massive hand covered in chitinous scales. Pyro-bot tries to force his hand forward, but Da Rocha’s enhanced strength is doing a good job of holding him off. Da Rocha had obviously got a hold of Dr. Manglanosa’s serum, and used it on himself. That put him on an equal level with Pyro-bot, the machine easily going toe-to-toe with the monstrosity. “Designation: Abomination.” Pyro-bot taunted, as he caught Da Rocha’s counter punch in his free hand. “Conclusion: Exterminate.”
Da Rocha grins, as the speaker on his neck sounds. “Of course a simple machine like yourself would mistake an Aryan for an Abomination.” He says, headbutting Pyro-bot, and knocking him back. “It just goes to show how faulty your master programmed you.”
Pyro-bot didn’t respond, except by opening a secret compartment on his chest. The barrel of a weapon appears, and from it, a huge gout of flame erupts, spewing fire at Da Rocha. Da Rocha stops, and jumps out of the way at the last possible second, the flames singeing his skin. Da Rocha looks up, smiling. “You think you have me beat with your weapons?” He narrowed his eyes at the bot. “Do you want to hear a secret?”
Suddenly, Da Rocha opened his mouth, and a cone of sonic energy blasted forth from it, launching Pyro-bot through the air, and sending him through the wall of a concrete structure. “Doutor Sorou’s robô are just as pathetic as he is.” Da Rocha said, sauntering over to Pyro-bot, who was recovering from the attack. “Machines were made to support humanity, not replace them. Which is why my mercenaries will best your master in the end.”
As Da Rocha raised his fist up to finish Pyro-bot, a watery tentacle lashed out, and smacked Da Rocha a good distance away from Pyro-bot. Da Rocha got up, and looked over at his assailant. He saw the form of a watery goo with a small device in the center. Hydro-bot had come to aid her partner. Hydro-bot sprouted more tentacles from it’s central form, as Pyro-bot’s cannons armed themselves.
"Two-on-one?” Da Rocha harrumphed, wiping his face. “I suppose now it's a fair fight." He mocked, getting up.
*****
Ace stormed into a large chamber, finding a group of mercenaries who had just been captured by a unit of Doc-bots. These men were defeated, unwilling to continue fighting, especially seeing as the surprise attack had devastated their company the worst. When the bots demanded they throw down their weapons, they were quick to comply. One of the Doc-bots came up to Ace, saluting. “Report: Master, we’ve captured a number of mercenaries. They surrendered in exchange for their lives. Query: Where should we transport the prisoners?" The bot asked.
Ace looked down at the men grimly. "What prisoners?" He asked.
The Doc-bot cocked his head. "Confused Explanation: The prisoners here in this room, Master. The ones we just finished reporting."
Ace looked back up at the Doc-bot, anger painted on his face. "You need your photoreceptors checked, Deebee-forty seven. The only thing I see in this room is a pile of corpses."
As the Doc-bot processed this information, the mercenaries began to panic and tried to escape, but they were cut off by the other vigilant bots in the room, subduing them. The Doc-bot’s eyes flickered for a moment. "Donning realization: Oh, I see, Master.” It said, a darker tone taking over it’s voice. “Joyous exclamation: I believe we've all awaited the day when you would come around! One pile of dead meatbags, coming up!"
As one, the bots began executing the mercenaries, ending their lives without a second’s worth of consideration. Ace looked on with a grim and enraged expression, lowering his goggles to cover his eyes. As the last man fell, Ace turned to leave, calling out for every bot to hear. "Deebee-forty seven, find Manglanosa’s family, and bring them to me alive. If you acquire any more prisoners..." Ace turned back, and stated two words in a cold, emotionless tone. "...Kill them." Ace left in silence, feeling nothing for what just transpired.
*****
John sat atop a burnt corpse of a rat, as he dressed a wound on his arm. It must not have been that bad, as he was smiling. “Rentokil, eat your hearts out.” He joked to the other ponies, sharing a laugh with them. As the laughter died down, they looked around the chamber nervously.
“To be honest, I’d rather face those mercenaries than whatever else is in here.” Rainbow admitted, rubbing a hoof behind her head.
“Well, maybe it’s safer out there, anyway.” Spark offered, tilting his ears up to catch more sound. “I think the bots are winning. The sounds of gunfire are dying down.”
John stood up, as if to make a big announcement. “I think I speak for all of us when I say...” He paused for dramatic effect, before pointing at the door. “Let's get the fuck out of this place.” The two ponies nod, and get ready to head out.
*****
Pyro-bot shot out his particle beam, creating a trench to try and trip the charging Da Rocha. The colonel jumped over the new hole in the ground, drawing out a large Anti-materiel rifle, and aiming it at Pyro-bot as if it were a pistol. He fired off three rounds, destroying Pyro-bot’s particle beam and heat ray, and causing him to take a knee. “Damage: Significant.” It stated. “Retreat: Necessary.” As he said this, Pyro-bot stepped back, as a field of water covered his escape.
Hydro-bot was next. She attempted to trip Da Rocha as well, flooding the area around his feet so as to cause unexpected drag and mud. Da Rocha slowed to compensate for the change in terrain, and targeted the small sphere with his rifle. He fired several times and reloaded, but the bullets kept missing. Not only was there a large layer of water between him and the small bot, but the size of Hydro-bot made her next to impossible to hit. Hydro-bot then splashed her water over him, and attempted to drown the mercenary. This turned out to be an error, however. She had to close the distance between herself and Da Rocha, which meant that as soon as he was close enough, he was able to fire his rifle as the steel sphere without any hinderance to accuracy. The shot grazed the small bot, but it damaged her enough to make her drop the field that contained the water. As sparks shot out from the damaged area, the bot began speaking in a feminine tone. “Defenses damaged. Halting combat and returning to base.” Da Rocha smirked, watching the diminutive bot fly off. He turned around, ready to assist his soldiers further.
Suddenly, an unseen force lifted Da Rocha up in the air, pinning his arms and legs to his body. He struggled to free himself, but found that this force was too powerful to resist. The squid-like machine, Grav-bot, appeared in front of him. The several eyes on Grav-bot looked Da Rocha over, as John and the ponies came out. “Advanced technology detected.” A decidedly male voice spoke from Grav-bot. A blue scanning beam went over the Colonel soon after he spoke.
“Let me go, you mindless machine!” Da Rocha demanded, as the beam finished scanning him.
“Technology archived.” Grav-bot replied, before Da Rocha’s limbs shot out in an X. “Eliminating Target.” There were popping sounds heard from the man’s body, as his limbs were stretched to their limit, and his neck was stretched as well. Da Rocha couldn’t say anything, but the agony on his face was apparent. Da Rocha tried to scream out another attack, but his voice was too late, as his head and limbs were ripped from him, the torso falling to the floor.
The group of friends gawked at what they just saw, unable to grasp what happened at first. It was the most gruesome thing any of them had ever seen. Still in shock, John turned to the ponies, and shrugged, trying to rationalize the bot’s actions. “It's not pretty, but since is war ever glorious?”
*****
Manglanosa scanned the base, seeing his forces dropping left and right. Ace’s bots were more than a match for the mercenaries individually, and the bots currently held a numerical advantage. The battle was lost. “Som do retiro.” Manglanosa said calmly to the soldier beside him. The soldier nodded, taking his radio. “Todas as forças. Retirada. Retirada. Estamos deixando.” As soon as he said this, Manglanosa’s men began running, some covering their escape, before running themselves. They did a leapfrog retreat, trying to put some distance between them and the bots. Manglanosa begins leaving along with the last of his mercenaries.
Ace stepped outside into the morning sun, seeing Manglanosa’s men retreating. He scowled. He wasn’t about to let Manglanosa leave. Ace tapped a few buttons on his PDA, issuing silent orders to one particular robot.
As the mercenaries ran, the ground began to move, and shake. Some stumbled and fell, Manglanosa included, as the shaking got worse. Suddenly, out from the ground, a huge machine shot. It was big, bigger than most houses. In fact, it was bigger as Ponyville town hall when it shot out of the ground. The bot fell, squashing part of the mercenary forces, and cutting Manglanosa off from the rest of his mercenaries, along with a small detachment.
The bot that cut him off held the shape of a worm with thin legs sticking out it’s side. It seemed to extend forever out of the hole in the ground, and could easily be mistaken for a bullet train. Several small guns on the side of the bot aimed down on the mercenaries as Ace’s other forces moved to surround Manglanosa. The Doctor sighed, throwing down his weapon, and putting his hands over his head. His mercenaries followed suit.
He wasn’t expecting what Ace was about to do.