Black Market Merchant

Not a single unnamed unit budged. They all were pre-painted in realistically mirrored camouflage specifically for the desert and laced in heat dampening materials that prevented thermal sensors from spotting them from the front or sides. Then with the addition to being underneath the bridge the ICADs had no way of knowing they were there. The element of surprise was still at hand.

Hawkins kept a strict eye on the feed coming from A-14 as his finger lingered above the ‘Send’ command button on the control panel. A-14’s video feed was the most central of the unnamed units on the window screen and thus easiest for him to keep watch on the situation. The transportation truck was the only wheeled vehicle on the bridge and as such it would be unable to get away easily once fully on the bridge. It was at that moment when he would send the command.

“Gentlemen.” Hawkins announced as he then pressed the button. “Begin the assault.”

…

A-1 was designated with the ‘Leadership’ roll amongst the other units and was the first to lead the ambush. Leaping sideways to briefly grasp the creeks craggy rock wall A-1 took aim at the closest ICAD 18 that was positioned on the right of the truck. The ICAD’s sensors spotted and responded to engage the A-1 unit but it was too late, A-1 had already blasted the ICAD with a laser straight into its visual cortex for a headshot.

Following the lead of A-1 the rest of the unnamed units climbed or jumped out from the creek bed to surround the bridge. As they made their move the unnamed units shot at the ICADs in silence, neither themselves nor their laser rifles made any sound. All the other ICAD 18s were instantly put onto alert as the connection to one of their own was cut off and responded with a hivemind mentality to engage the rising unnamed units. Likewise, the ICADs and their own laser rifles made no sounds.

Red lasers lashed out between the two sides striking at key points in their defenses. These included limb joints, fittings in between armor plates, sensors scattered about their chassis, and heads where the visual cortex and central wiring harness were most vulnerable. Shooting any of these places required fast processing AI systems to deal with a hostile moving target while also being on the move.

It was a strange battle to witness. The two robotic sides fought and died with the only sounds being their feet clanking on stone, their metallic bodies collapsing with heavy thuds as their systems failed due to the damage they sustained, and the lasers striking targeted robots and the surrounding rocks. There was no blood, no screams, and no orders being verbally issued. Everything was done digitally within their closed systems by the AIs that ran them. In essence it was a battle between AI systems and their adaptive software processing speed.

Even though the ICADs were twice the size as the human sized unnamed units, they were outnumbered two to one and being ambushed the ICADs were defeated within moments. In fact, the entire battle lasted only thirty seconds. Within that time frame the transportation truck tried to reverse and return towards the way it came. Its efforts were dashed as A-14 shot out the back three left tires supporting the trailer and sparks flew about as the backmost axle grinded into the pavement. Being driven by an AI the transport truck emitted an emergency signal to alert the Moab City defenses of the attack and its inability to move.

Without a moment’s hesitation after disabling the truck movements, A-14 proceeded to the back of the trailer. Where the unit discovered a number lock was preventing the doors from being opened. Using its robotic hand, A-14 began to hack the number lock by connecting to a USB port. Being a simple system, the lock was soon overridden, and the doors then were opened manually by two other unnamed units that had joined alongside of A-14.

Hawkins had already submitted the list of materials that the unnamed units needed to collect from the truck, and he had even submitted the order of which the items they observed going into the truck was in. So as A-14, A-2 and A-8 entered the trailer they knew what to collect first. Most objects of interest were loaded into aluminum backpack like containers attached to the backs of these particular units.

Meanwhile, the rest of the unnamed units gathered up their allies that had fallen to the ICADs and in total there were seven disabled units. Additionally, four of the unnamed units began launching smoke grenades on and around the bridge. The smoke also contained thermal inhibiting components to keep outside AI’s from observing them. The collection of the materials, gathering of the disabled units, and some deployment lasted one minute. This was all the time they could afford to lose because the Moab City defenses were already responding to the ambush.

Rather than trying to save the materials being transported Zacharia gave the command to the nearby defending artillery units by the Hoard Mothers corpse to bombard the bridge. Rockets rained down on the smoke covered bridge, flattening anything left there into burning rubble. Following closely behind the barrage came the three attack helicopters to assess the area. The unnamed units, however, were able to all escape into the creek bed and began making their way back to the extraction point.

…

“Those are some slick robots.” Zacharia muttered before yelling at a Moab City soldier. “Order the helicopters to split and search the creek in both directions asap. We need to find them right away and engage.”

“Sir!” Another Moab City soldier called out from nearby. “Swarm drones are armed and ready to be launched.”

“Good, as soon as the invaders are spotted send all of them at once.” Zacharia replied.

“All of them?” Mayor Bakersfield said raising an eyebrow. “Surely it would be less costly to send just enough to disable those robots.”

“The cost of losing those valuable samples to an unknown enemy would be far more.” Zacharia retorted. “I am not sure of all that was in that transportation truck, but it clearly contained something of great enough importance to warrant such an attack. If they can discover or utilize properties of the Hoard Mother before us, anything we might learn will no longer be considered a tactical or economical advantage.”

Mayor Bakersfield rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. “I guess you are right. It's just those kamikaze drones cost us too much to manufacture…”

“Targets spotted.” A third soldier called out. One of the monitors on the circular display above changed to show a camera angle from the attack helicopter. “Eighteen enemy forces are making their way northward within the creek bed. The helicopter is hanging back at a manageable distance, but we might lose a visual of them soon. Permission to engage?”

“Granted.” Zacharia replied promptly.

…

“Sensors are picking up movement from behind.” An AFR soldier on Hawkins’s right announced. “By the looks of the pings getting picked up its Swarm drones.”

“Those f******.” Hawkins seethed. “Get the units from B group ready to provide cover fire. Those suicide drones are more than enough to stop the units from escaping. We can’t lose now that we have the supplies.”

Hawkins quickly started typing out commands to send to the unnamed units. “I need rearguard units engaging the incoming drones now. Two of you men start a manual Override Dive now to get a clear picture of the situation.”

“On it.” Two soldiers replied eagerly, and they activated their virtual reality goggles to connect to the units A-4 and A-5.

“I have a visual on the incoming Swarm drones.” The Assistant Observer called out from behind. “Numbers exceed a hundred and more are being launched from a pursuing helicopter. Running scan software now.”

“Permission to disengage from harassing the city defenses.” IO Gill asked while pushing back his chair from his monitor.

“Granted. Have those units return via autopilot back to the LZ and set up a secondary defensive line.” Hawkins replied while continuing to update the commands being issued to the unnamed units. “Once you do that prepare to make an Override Dive too.”

“I too have a visual on the Swarm drones.” One of the soldiers in Override Dive announced. “They are within range and coming at us from above and within the creek bed.”

“Open fire!” Hawkins shouted.

Looking up on the window screen Hawkins could see the rearguard unnamed units and the two manually controlled units were firing at the oncoming Swarm drones. The red lasers ripped through the air at full auto to strike the flying onslaught. Every time a drone was struck a mini explosion resalted due to the explosives packed in them. Despite being struck down; the Swarm drones were still closing in and getting dangerously close.