A Day in the Life of a Destroid: Phalanx

 

With a low electronic buzz the lights clicked on in Hanger 8.  This was my squadron’s hanger, a destroid hanger that housed my squadron of Phalanx's.  This was the home of the Long Spears.

 

"It's right over here chief."  I hated it when he called me that.  Elijah McGregor, or Dusty as we called him was one of the greatest mech mechanics in the history of the RDF.

 

"I have asked you not to call me that.  If anything I should be calling you Chief.  You are the one that does all the work around here."  I liked to butter him up.  It keeps him willing to do favors for me.

 

"Okay, okay Sir.  Is LT okay?  You know I hate 'Sir'."  Dusty said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.  "Ever since you got promoted I can’t figure out what to call you.  Hank?  Lieutenant Hubris?  Sir?"

 

"Well you know that off duty you can call me whatever you want.  Just don't call me Hank in front of the squadron commander.  Now enough with the chit chat man, where is my baby?"

 

"Its right over here.  You know, I should not be showing you this.  It’s still classified."

 

"I know but its classified 'need to know' and I need to know what they have done with my mech."

 

"Your mech?  You know, this isn't like a dog or gerbil.  This is a MECH.  One of the most beautiful creations of man kind."  Now he was getting weird.

 

"So what exactly have they done?"  I asked hoping to derail that tiny little train in his head.

 

"Well since we are in space and the Phalanx is on the hull of the SDF-1 all the time the engineers decided that the mech didn't need its huge spotlight.  So they replaced it."

 

"With what?"  Now I was curious.

 

"A TZ-VI gun cluster."

 

"You mean like on the Tomahawk?"

 

"Not quite.  That is the TZ-IV.  This is version six.  It's an ROV-10 twin barrel laser turret, dual 32mm auto cannons, and a flamethrower.  They figure this will give you a little bit of a defense against the Zentraedi that get in close."

 

"Not bad.  Lets see how it looks."

 

"Ya know mechs aren't built on beauty.  Its functional and that is all that counts."

 

"I know, but I want to see what kind of overhead clearance we have now."

 

"Bout the same.  It actually has a smaller profile than the spotlight.  This is however just a prototype.  Its test run is tomorrow at 0600.  Okay lets clear out now."  After looking at it for a few more seconds we turned and walked back toward the hanger entrance.

 

"Did they add any kind of electronics to it?"

 

"Well you have the auto-loaders for the cannons and they added the short range tracking and targeting module so you will be able to track close in targets instead of guessing if you have the gun pointed in the right direction."

 

"Sounds like it will be a pretty good improvement.  Hope the test run goes well.  Thanks again Dusty for showing this to me.  Take it easy."

 

"You can buy me a drink later LT.  Have a good evening."

 

I walked down the corridor refreshed from the view I just saw.  The Phalanx was normally defenseless against close in attacks.  Not any more.  I know that the gun cluster was not enough firepower to actually take on the Zentraedi but we could at least defend ourselves now.  I just hope the testing went well.  It gets rather dangerous when your squad has released all its missiles and has to turn and run to the reloading bays because they are defenseless.

 

I walked to the chow hall in hopes of finding some food and conversation but found a few scattered soldiers lounging around picking at their food.  I had to eat though so I went ahead and picked up a tray.

 

Not impressed by the chow halls selection of food I grabbed a ladle full of some sort of golosh and slopped it on my tray, grabbed some dinner rolls and a bottle of Tabasco sauce and headed for a table.  I had not been eating long when a tray slammed down beside me.

 

"This is my table.  Move." A scruffy looking soldier was hovering over me waiting for me to stand.  I noticed a tattoo of a Defender, or better known as a Raider-X, on his lower arm.

 

"I graduated form elementary school to many years ago to count.  Sit next to me or find another table but I am eating and I have no intention of moving."  I looked back down to my tray and began to eat.

 

"Guess your done then." He slid my tray from in front of me and pushed it right on to the floor.  "Why don't you go and eat in your re-loading bays.  You guys like to spend most of your time there anyway."

 

Okay now I was getting a little mad.

 

"What the hell is your problem?  Are you troubled by the fact that I pilot a mech that has a very limited ammo supply and have to keep going back to the re-loading bays.  You poor child, grow up a little will ya.  The Long Spears never run from a fight."

 

I began to brush him off to the side and get some more food when he grabbed my arm and flung me over the table.

 

"Get outta here.  I told ya we don't want you here."  By this time a few other mech pilots had congregated to watch the show.

 

"Guess you are going to have to deal with it chump.  Cause I am not leaving."

 

I stood up just as the Raider-X pilot lunged at me with his fist cocked back to take a swing.  I parried right ducking under his swinging fist.  Pivoting now to the left I brought the base of my hand across the back of his neck sending him tumbling into some near by trash cans.

 

"You mind taking that trash out with you when you leave?"  I said to him hoping to egg him on some more.  I was sick of other pilots thinking what he was thinking.  Its not my fault the Phalanx has such a limited payload.

 

The man leapt up and charged again.  This time stopping before he reached me and took another swing and followed it with an uppercut from his left and another jab from the right.  Shifting my weight from the left to the right avoided the first punch and the uppercut.  As he threw the last jab I pivoted to his outside and grabbed his extended wrist with my right hand.  In a dance move like motion I spun him out in front of me and whipped him back.  As he stumbled and tried to regain his footing I quickly snapped the backside of my right hand into his nose, which slightly lifted him off his feet and dropped him on his rear end.

 

Blood began gushing from his nose and he whined something about it being broken.  He cupped his nose like a baby.  Two others began to move in toward me when we were all started by a sudden yell.

 

"Hey!  What the hell do you boys think you are doing?"  I looked to see who it was.  I smiled as Jades Fire, a Tomahawk pilot, and Dillon, a MAC II Monster pilot, walked into the room.

 

"Its okay guys.  They were just complaining about the food."  With that I turned my back to them and walked out with Jade and Dillon.

 

"What was that all about?"  Asked Dillon.

 

"Boys just don't like the fact that our Phalanxes have to reload every once in a while.  Think we are hiding out in the hangers while they get all shot up."

 

"Well you do spend a lot of time in those hangers."  Jade said with a hint of sarcasm.

 

Dillon and I both turned our heads to give a hard stare at Jade.

 

"Just kidding, just kidding.  Gezz guys. Can't you take a joke?  You didn't do a bad job of handling yourself in their Hank.  I am impressed."

 

"Yeah well I am just about sick of it.  Hopefully though, it should all be a mute point after tomorrow."

 

"You talking about the new mod to the Phalanx?"  Dillon sounded surprised that I might have known.

 

"Yeah.  Why?"

 

"Well no one is supposed to know about it."

 

"Then how do you know about it?"  Jade asked again with sarcasm in his voice.

 

"Umm...  Hey Hank, you still hungry?"

 

"No way man.  Spill the beans.  Come on you have to tell us."  Jade pestered.

 

"Hey I aint givin up my connections to no one.  So how about some food?"

 

"Sounds good to me.  I didn't get much back there."

 

We headed down town and spent the next two hours making Jade guess who our sources were.  I did not stay out late though.  I wanted to be up for the test run of the new gun pod mod to the Phalanx.  I slept well.  Its not often that you get to take out your frustrations on one of the people that actually frustrate you.

 

I met my squad in the hanger early and pulled my squad commander off to the side and informed him of what happened in the chow hall the night before.  I didn’t want anything to snow ball him.  Keeping the people in charge informed was usually the best bet.

 

I took a seat up front with my squad as the test team set up a Zentraedi battle pod to use at the target.  It was not severely damaged so our salvage teams picked it up in hopes of using it for good target practice.

 

I watched as a test pilot climbed into my mech and began the start up procedures.

 

"Man that’s bad karma.  He probably won't even put the seat back."  I said with a smirk.

 

"They never do."  Another squad mate leaned over and said.

 

"Ladies and Gentleman.  Oh my what am I saying?  There are no ladies here. Hehehe.  Ahem... Okay.  This test run is of the SDR-04-Mk XII Phalanx.  The test item is the replacement TZ VI gun pod.  Our test target is a disabled Zentraedi battle pod."  I really hate lab geeks, especially ones that try to be funny.

 

"Okay.  Here goes."

 

I watched as the pilot demonstrated the flamethrower.  The announcer explained that this was mostly for anti-personnel.  Next he engaged the dual mounted lasers.  The lasers pierced through the pod with little effort.  The pilot then opened up with the auto cannons.  The sound was deafening as the twin 32mm auto cannons eat away at the battle pod.  Chunks of armor splintered from the pod and the pilot continued to fire.  When he stopped there was little left of the pod and our eardrums.

 

Another squad mate leaned over to me.

 

"Man I wonder what that sounds like from inside the cockpit."

 

"That’s gotta rattle you around like popcorn in a kettle."

 

The demonstration was successful but we were all anxious to look over the data recorded from inside the cockpit.  The test crews began the reload sequence for the auto cannons and brought the pilot down to the testing station.

 

People slowly filed out of the test bay and our squad was left there to discuss the new mod to our mechs.  Our squad was to be the first to test the new weapons bed.  If the combat run is successful then eighty percent of all Phalanx mecha will be modified.

 

The data from the test did not show any real problems.  The pilot reported high vibrations from being so close to the cannons but the reported noise level was nominal.  Now all we had to do was wait for a chance to test them in combat.

 

It did not take long for us to get that chance.  The SDF-1 was approaching the deserted Mars base and Captain Gloval had planned on setting down on the surface and attempt a re-supply operation.  MAC II's and Phalanx mecha were to provide long fire artillery and anti-mech missile support for the cargo caravan.

 

Everyone was busy prepping for the mission.  Pilots were polishing their controls and adjusting their seats.  Targeting system calibration was a high priority item too.  After everyone was done with there mechs we congregated into the briefing room and went over the suggested plan.

 

Monster and Phalanx mecha were to keep cover under the safety of the SDF-1 hull while the Tomahawk and Spartan mecha defended the caravan line.  We were to engage at the first site of the Zentraedi and immediately alert the on-guard patrols.  Veritechs would fly cover as usual and cargo vehicles would make there way to and from the supply hangers.  This was of course assuming that there were any supplies left.

 

When the SDF-1 touched down the patrol mechs and Veritechs launched while the transport vehicles began the drive to the supply hangers.  Our destroids dispersed in a defensive posture like planned.  We were paired up and staggered along the port side of the SDF-1.  After the perimeter was secured we began a long march along side the SDF-1 as she slowly thrustered to a closer landing position.  Once landed and the position secured the landing crews began the tedious work of transporting the supplies onto the SDF-1.

 

We were about half way done when all hell broke loose.  From out of nowhere battle pods swarmed the SDF-1.  The first wave descended upon.  A hell storm of fury unleashed upon the SDF-1 and the mechs defending it.  Explosions erupted from the ground and the hull all around throwing our mechs this way and that.

 

"Stand Fast.  Hold your positions and wait for the first wave of missiles to pass."  I shouted through the comm systems forgetting that I was only second in command.

 

"Lieutenant Hubris!  I am giving the orders in this squadron.  Everyone hold your positions and wait for the first wave to pass."  As he spoke the orders a cluster of missiles impacted the ground and his mech.

 

A pair of missiles scored on our commanders left leg rupturing the hydraulic link lines to the lower actuators causing him to loose all motor control of that leg.  The blast from the missiles on his leg and ground also destabilized his gyro causing him to topple onto his back.

 

"Four and six, help him up.  Okay Long Spears, conservative firing.  We don’t have ready access to any re-loading bays.  One missile pod, one volley.  On my command.  Steady..."

 

Missiles impacted all around us as the assaulting pods drew closer.

 

"Steady..."

 

Finally the pods broke the horizon and we could see them leaping toward us.

 

"NOW!"

 

A hell fury of death sprang forth from our mechs and streaked toward the oncoming pods.  Missiles began impacting the ground all around the pods.  Throwing some off the feet as the hopped into craters and nearby explosions.  Others hopped effortlessly through the barrage of missiles.  The remainder of the pods connected with the incoming missiles ripping the armor from their hulls and exposing them to the hellish fire from the explosion.

 

"Standby for second volley."  I gave them just enough time to regroup and form up for there assault.

 

"NOW!"

 

Again my squad launched their second volley.  This time joined by our squad commander, Four, and Six who unleashed both salvos to catch up with the rest of us.  The missiles scattered and streaked towards their targets.  Explosions covered the horizon as our missiles found their targets.

 

Veritechs were now engaging the pods that had broken through our missile barrage.  Pods swarmed mercilessly around the SDF-1 and her defenders.  Three more of my squad mates took some enemy fire.  Two of them were forced to eject from there mechs just seconds before they erupted in fire and exploded.  The third suffered minor damage and hindered motor control of his mechs lower leg actuators.

 

The radio cracked to life.

 

"A   l l  d est   od   n it s fal  ba k  o t e SD  -1.  Rep  et.  Al  toid un ts  fall ba  t o  th e SDF -- 1."

 

"Command this is Long Spear 2.  You are breaking up.  Please repeat."  I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.

 

"Lon Spea  2.  Fall back to  he  SD  -1.  I repea  .  Fall ba  to  the  SDF-1."

 

"Copy that command.  Okay boys.  Lets pull back to the SDF-1.  Long Spears 8, 9, and 10 hang back with me and provide cover for the damaged mechs."

 

"Here they come.  Commander get out of here."

 

As the rest of the squad began there retreat they let loose with another volley into the oncoming pods.  The range was to close for the missiles to be really effective but it gave us a good screen to start the retreat with.

 

Veritechs dove in and out chasing and being chased by pods.  Many of the pods still pressed their attack directly against the SDF-1.  Our other destroids laid down a suppressing fire to keep them away from the hangers were our supplies and mechs were being loaded into.

 

As we made our way along the hull to our hangers, the four of us that remained behind were rocked by a tremendous explosion and were startled by the remains of a MAC 2 Monster as it fell between us.

 

"Damn that was close."  We regrouped and continued on toward the hangers.

 

"Hey watch it Long Spears.  You have incoming at seven o'clock high."  It was Jade's Fire watching out for us.

 

"Copy that."  I spun my mech around in the direction given to me and loosed a fury of missiles at the incoming pods.

 

Four of the eight pods met their maker as their mechs were enveloped in a bright orange fireball.  The other four continued their approach opening up with their main cannons.  Hot energy ripped into my missile pod that had just been depleted, ripping it into shreds causing it to fall and dangle by wires and connectors.  Joined by the other three Phalanxes’ with me we opened up with our new gun pods.

 

The cockpits shook violently as the 32mm auto cannons fired away at the enemy.  Bullet holes riveted the incoming pods.  The lead pod lost control as the pod burst into flames.  We began to move out of its path but were not fast enough.  Long Spear 8 took the pod full center torso.  We could here him scream as his ejection seat ripped away from the exploding destroid.  We continued to fire into the remaining three pods.  My gyro stabilizer was hit knocking my mech back into the hull of the SDF-1.  It shook hard with the impact.  Two of my control panels, environmental and radar imaging, exploded to my side filling my cockpit with smoke.  I grabbed the emergency vent handle and yanked hard.  With a loud hiss the air was evacuated from my cockpit and replaced with fresh air from an emergency canister beneath my seat.  I righted my mech and squeezed the trigger again.  Two more of the pods were ripped to pieces by the hot lead being thrown from our cannons.  The last pod landed next to Long Spear 9 and let loose with its main cannons right into the missile pod.  Both mechs were enveloped in crimson fire and the missile pod exploded.

 

Long Spear 10 and I reached the hanger with no other close encounters.  Before getting onboard we turned and let loose with our last missile packs.  Four pods were disintegrated as our missiles found random targets.  As we entered the hanger we heard a "Tank’s Guys" come over the radio.  I smiled to myself and docked my mech in its reloading and repair bay.  As I began to un-strap myself the entire ship began to shake.  I could here the metal of the hull wine as the stress grew.  After about fifteen seconds it stopped and I flipped the switch on my comm system to try and figure out what was going on.

 

"Hey Hank you here that?  The enemy put our gravitic mines.  We are stuck."

 

"Damn.  Get your mechs re-loaded and get back out on the hull to provide support."  I hit the engage button on the re-loader sequence.

 

My mech did not take long to reload since I only had one good missile pod left.  As I walked by Long Spear 10 on my way out of the hanger I saw a flash of light come from 10's gun cluster, then a huge metallic thud.  I moved my mech to see what had hit the ground and saw the remains of my once dangling missile pod.  10 had used his laser to cut it free.

 

"Thanks."  I said and continued out of the hanger.

 

As soon as I cleared the hanger I saw a squad of Defenders getting eaten up by pods.  Thumbing the throttle I hobbled my wounded mech in there direction.  I watched my radar as the targets danced about.  A shrilling tone whistled in my helmet informing me that we had target acquisition.  I loosed a volley at the pods and watched as my missiles found their targets and lit them up in brilliant fire.  I hoped that that was the Defender squadron that the guy I fought was a member of.

 

Time seemed to tick by slowly as the number of pods lessened.  The pods began to withdraw and at the same moment the ship began to shake again.

 

"Now what?" I asked myself.

 

Slowly the ship began to lift off.  I watched over the bow of the ship as the Mars Base began to implode on itself.  What had they done to free us from the mines?  Oh well.  We were free and the Zentraedi had broken off their attack.

 

Nearly half our squadron had been destroyed or damaged.  It was going to take a while to fix all our mechs.  Man was Dusty going to be mad.  I docked my mech once again and climbed down from the docking ramp.  Joining my other squad mates and Commander we huddled together on the deck and said a short prayer for our fallen friends, then rejoiced in our recent victory against the Zentraedi.

 

The journey had been long and now we were re-supplied.  Now that we had left Mars orbit the thought and idea of Earth was back in people’s heads.  We dreamed of Earth and all of its beauty as we slept that night.  We were almost home and with a little luck, we would all live to see it again.

 

 

Next: A Day in the Life of a Destroid: Spartan