//------------------------------// // Opening Day Jitters // Story: The Iron Lady // by Chelis //------------------------------// The mecha rolled out of the hanger in a rushed fashion, but slow enough that there would be no sudden jerks when it stopped, potentially knocking over the robot and damaging it. It was sitting on the flatbed, looking to the dark sky of the early morning. It was a few hours until the sun would rise, which was the time Celestia gave until she was to up the ante by sending in her military to destroy the creature “by any means necessary”. "So that's why we have to end this as soon as you can, Sunset. The fate of the city is on you… No pressure," Twilight said as she checked the monitors for any anomalies from the robot's systems. She kept looking at the gauges, the television showing the monster still squatting over her nest, and the live shots from within the city. The evacuation was calm but hurried to get people off of the island. The roller began to move the robot, making the robot stand. It was a slow process in order to prevent any chance of the machine tipping over while setting it up straight. "So how am I supposed to get this thing there?" Sunset asked, still unsure of the controls other than to move it on the ground and to fire. "Leave that to me, Sunset. I am going to give the autopilot its exact coordinates. I don't want to accidently drop you on top of a building, now do I?" Twilight smirked, her fingers working to the bone to finish her part of the plan. Sunset’s many television monitors were also telling the story as well. Troops were mobilizing on the mainland, ready to storm the tunnels, bridges, and ferries to destroy the creature. It was also announced that the military had until sunset to destroy it or else the Strategic Warfare Command would be called in for their opinion-- this meant that the nuclear option was still on the table. Sunset felt a jolt, and a sound she remembered as the sound of a jet engine or maybe two. She looked at the palms of the robot’s hands to see them spitting fire. Above her were the sound of jet-propelled drones with ropes hanging off of them, programmed to latch themselves to the robot and take the robot where It needed to go. Once the robot’s jets allowed it to hover mid-air, the drones did their job, dragging Machinka where It needed to go. "This beats the hell out of the Stantrot Island ferry," Sunset thought aloud. * * * The first to see the machine reach the Manehattan airspace was the Rainbooms, who had an hour of fuel left before they were to head back and prepare for a bigger, nastier attack. "Well, I’ll be," Rainbow said as she observed the machine being guided along through the air below them. They had their eyes glued on the machine, which was as tall as a medium-sized skyscraper. "Yea, I think it’s big enough to beat it," one of her pilots commented. "Don't say that I wanted to finally kill something for once!" Rainbow replied. Over at the war room, Soarin and Spitfire watched with the rest of the world as the robot made its way in, carefully navigating the city streets. Even with that thing headed to the monster, they still made the call for all available fighter pilots to treturn to base to prepare for an all-out attack against the monster should the giant robot fail. "Well, this is going to be good," Spitfire commented. "How so?" Soarin asked. "Well, when I was a kid, I used to watch mecha shows like it was nobody's business. Hell, I even collected Gundams. I had a dream that I would pilot a mecha one day, much less see one. Well, here's to a dream coming true… Where is the Highland cream liquor? I think adding it to my coffee would be enough of a toast for this moment…" Soren smiled as he walked back to a small filing cabinet in the room. After fishing his keys, unlocking the metallic box and reaching inside, he produced a small glass bottle. Spitfire giggled as Soarin poured some of the white, milky cream in her coffee. "I wonder what your girlfriend would think if she saw you giving me some booze?" She asked. "You're drinking for yourself, I'm drinking for Dash. A bit of a good luck toast," He said as he poured some cream into his own coffee. * * * It was when the robot approached the park that Sunset first saw the creature. She saw it on the television screen like everyone else, but it was the first time she saw it in person. It looked bigger, uglier, and dirtier. She felt a repulsive urge towards the creature, watching it hiss and growl at the robot as it sailed over it, out of reach of its claws. "Once you land, you are on your own. Good luck!" Twilight encouraged as she started to look for places to land the machine. She found a spot on the other side of the park. A few ticks on the keyboard later the drones pushing the mecha along changed their course, moving in a different direction. They stopped at the entrance of the park, and they began the delicate dance of lowering the robot. As the drones kept their positions, the jets on the robot’s arms began to lose power, causing the machine to slowly lower itself to the ground. The jets abruptly shut off ten feet off the ground, dropping it to the floor in a soft manner. Sunset enjoyed the stomach churning feel of vertigo. When the robot dropped, it attracted the creature. It got up from the hole it made and crept its way to Machinka, crouching as If it was a hunter stalking its prey. When it got close enough, it screeched at it and charged. "Alright! Go!" Twilight hollered. Sunset grabbed the first gauntlet and raised her fist, ready to fight. But something went wrong. The fists of the robot would not respond. "What?!" Sunset freaked. "What's going on?!" Twilight asked. "I can't move this damned thing! It's stuck!"