Gear Breaker: Chapter One

The wind whistled over the husks of dead, burnt-out buildings. The wind flew through the ins and outs of the destroyed city like a bird, dragging itself along the chambers and nooks and crannies; blowing up a symphony of desolation. An old church stood alone, being built out of granite, it stood up well to the ages of time and the fires of war.

Inside, a pair of rats tussled over a dead bone, intent on fighting to live, only to die perhaps the next day.

A military boot crunched down on both of them, and marched to the exit. Wearing the boot was a suit, that carried a mask, that carried a gun. It scanned his surroundings, searching for immediate threats. Fingers tapped selections on the side of the helmet, and a scanner shone on the suit’s HUD. Two bogeys, moving southwest past his position, ETA two minutes.

The mask took a look to the sky, and spied the bell tower of the dead church.

The PREYs were lightly armed, agile, and swift scouting devices. They were shaped after long-dead raptors, and armed with the ability to leap and to claw anything in their way. These particular models were Type V preys, for velocity. Their purpose served to quickly harass and retreat against the individual Rubinians that was caught alone. In large groups, they were deadly.

The first V-prey leapt onto a pile of broken cinderblocks, and identified its target. A small farm that was placed in good location for maximum sunlight; it supplied food for an entire Rubine squad every week. Squawking at its partner, it took off at full speed to attack the target.

The suit set his gun on the windowsill of bell tower, taking careful aim at the screaming prey. As soon as it took off, he let it have it! 2500 rounds per minute cut up the air and cut up the V-prey like paper in a wheat thresher. It tumbled to the ground in a dozen different pieces.

The second V-prey wasted no time for surprise or regret, and immediately took off in the suit’s direction. It ducked under the recoil of the bullets and hit the church courtyard fast. With an impossible leap, it took off, flying straight at the windowsill. Time seemed to stop right before it hit its target. A finger squeezed a separate, smaller trigger.
A shotgun blast rang out in the abandoned city, taking the second V-prey with it.

Sighing with relief, the suit got up, and started back to base.

One step is all he took.



Rubine Combat Class


“Rhiem, pay attention.” Rhiem woke with the smallest of starts. He had been drooling on his desk for a while now. [i]“This class isn’t to bore you, it’s for survival. Pay attention now, and live a bit longer.” Rheim was in Combat Informatics class, surrounded by his fellow students and comrades. The Lecture Hall amplified the voice of the teacher, who was a 5 year veteran and retired due to a lost leg.

The teacher took back to his board. “These are called Avianous. They are medium-sized, bird shaped Wyviods that are comparable to our people’s humvees. It has no air combat capabilities, only fireballs and its massive beak are used for combat. It is meant to be used in large numbers for skirmishes. As of now, there are unconfirmed variations of Avianous that affect the battlefield differently” The teacher flipped the chalkboard.

A diagram of a large Wyviod covered the entire slate. The head was covered in carved spines, and the wings spread out like an eagle.
The body was that of a wyvern, covered in plated carapace and resistant shields.

“This is the Wrath LOS. The Wrath describes the type, and the LOS stands for Lone Operating System. Anything that has been classified by the Rubine Armed Scouts ending with OS is described as being extremely dangerous. You see, Wyviods like Avianous and Preys require no operator inside. But larger Wyviods like the WRATH and the GraV require an operator; a pilot by our speech. These contain a highly trained enemy, and should never be underestimated. Machines are only so powerful. These are humans.”

Teacher started pacing the room.

“Long have been the Archeries way, to be encased and empower themselves with these mechanoid beasts. They hide and build their machines in a crazed attempt to destroy us. It may have been that their mechas were based off of long extinct animals that lived once upon a time.”

The teacher turned full circle and faced his audience of students.

“and just like animals, they can be killed, or destroyed. Today I teach you how.”

The entire class, save Rhiem, sat up straighter. Teacher had been avoiding the secret to actually killing the Wyviods until now. He reached down, and opened a large chamber that was concealed under his podium. He pulled up a chain, and tugged hard on it.

With a crash, the head of a Avianous thudded onto the concrete floor. The neck had been blown off, wires and artificial tendons hung frayed out the open neck hole. The students closest to the head recoiled, and pushed back; the huge beak and the red eyes of the Avianous were still fearsome in death. “Pay close attention.” Teacher reached with thick gloves and pried open the sharp beak. At first, there was nothing to be seen, but Teacher pulled out a taser, and zapped something deep inside.

RAAAWKKK!

The scream of the Avianous shook the lecture hall, and the horrible sound lingered and echoed into the hall, making it sound as if they were surrounded.

Surrounded…so this is what Rubine Soldiers face if they are trapped by these things. Rhiem stared deep into the slowly dimming head. Inside…he could see…a Gear? The light of it was fading quick, and soon, the space inside the beak was covered in darkness once more. Teacher tossed the taser away.
“Did anyone see what was inside, deep in the beak of the Head?” Students slowly shook their heads. All of them were still in shock from hearing their first scream.

Rhiem kicked back his chair, and spoke up: “There was a Gear…a glowing red gear in the center.”

Teacher slowly turned to face Rhiem. Slight surprise marked his face.
“That’s right. It’s called the Soul Gear. Every large Wyviod has one installed somewhere on it. It controls the actions, the movements, and the ability of the Wyviod. It is literally the Soul of the Machine.” Teacher paused, and took off his glasses.

“You destroy the Soul Gear, and you destroy the Bot. As of right now, I’m not classified to tell you all the Gears upon every enemy model. But just remember…… the Gear flashes White when the Bot releases it’s final move.” Teacher pulled on the chain, and the clinking Avianous Head slowly pulled up into the ceiling. “That’s it. Class dismissed. Leave.”


Rhiem scooped the thick stew into his mouth. The warmth felt good with dead wind that was prevalent during the day. Inside, the cafeteria was packed with students from the Rubine Military Academy, as lunch break in the Fortress was on.

“Hey Rhiem.” One of Rhiem’s peers greeted him, and sat down. “You know, Gagam was found today. Burned to a crisp in the Rothenberg Church under a mountain of rubble.”
“….Hm” Rhiem got up “It hurts to hear that…People are dying every day, and I want to do something about it.”
………
“…Your first patrol is today, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You were always amazing. Three years earlier than everyone in our year.” The kid fixed Rhiem with a concerned look. “Don’t end up like Gagam, alright?”
“Alright.”



Rhiem gazed out at the dead landscape. The hill he was on overlooked the majority of the burned-out city. Tapping sensors on his helmet, he saw his designated patrol route.

It went right past the Rothenberg Church.

Cursing, Rhiem realized what the Rubine officials were playing at. They weren’t sending him there to scout, they were sending him to lure out whatever attacked Gagam. Rhiem was sure there were snipers in the surrounding building, waiting for him to be attacked. Waiting for him to die.

“Well,” He thought “They can go to Hell. I won’t die that easily.” He checked his Assault Rifle, and his Machete. The Rifle he had was bench made, capable of a thousand rounds a minute. The scope zoomed up to 10x magnification, and it unleashed bullets of .358 caliber. The machete was a machete, but Rhiem never trusted firearms. Unless he could feel the machine die, he wasn’t safe. His pace brought him to the burned out tower of the Church. He gazed up at the shell of decrepit wood and charcoal, making the top look more like a malignant tumor on what used to be a beautiful building.

In the distance, he could hear a faint roar. Slowly, Rheim searched the skies. Today, clouds of dust blotted out the sun, and darkened the earth.

The street seemed to swirl and laugh at his impending doom.

The roar grew louder…

…The clacking of claws and teeth could be heard now…

…The air pressure from huge wing beats brushed up against Rheim’s cheek.


Breathing heavily, Rheim calmed himself. It was in his head.
“Guph!” His foot caught on something, and he tripped. Tumbling, Rheim fell into a ditch at the side of the Church. Reaching out, he felt something warm. When he pulled himself up, he got a good look at what caught his foot.

It was a girl. She had pale skin and a silver sheet of hair that shone in the darkness.
“Wha?” Rheim felt the girl’s neck. Her skin was smooth, and warm. “Still alive?” A real roar shook the streets. It was the sound of impending doom. Rheim pulled the girl up, and he could feel her breath on his neck.
“Shit!” Rheim dashed along the side of the street, looking to the source. He had to get back! “Where are those snipers?”

The roar grew louder.

Rheim stopped. Slowly, he turned his neck. Perched on the top of the burnt-out Church tower, it’s poisonous tail wrapped around the sides, and it’s steel wings folded up against it’a body. Snapping, it locked onto Rheim. The Wrath LOS.

“Shit.” Rheim grabbed hard onto the girl’s sides, and sprinted as fast as he could down the old street way.

Where the hell were those snipers?!?

Rheim rounded a corner, and saw--a building, still smoking and blown to bits from the outside. He saw three or four more smoke trails listing into the air. He then realized that there would be no help. No more snipers hidden in the shadows. It only him, a comatose girl, versus a Wrath LOS. He set the girl down at the side, and drew his assault rifle. Screaming, he charged out.

But it was gone.

Rheim searched all around, looking for the Wrath. The air pressure to his right alerted him of the Bot. Rheim squeezed the trigger, sending bullets flying after the Wrath which was circling the skies. It shot out a solitary fireball, impacting a foot to the right of Rheim. He hurriedly grabbed the girl, and ran as fast as he could down the street. The ground exploded all around him as fireballs tore up the street.

Rheim screamed and screamed as he rolled into the next building. The abandoned office was filled with dusty, rotting desks and scattered ashes flooded the ground. Crouching under a dusty old desk, he looked into the doorway.

The Wrath LOS looked right back at him. Rheim saw the red, observing eyes, and the calculations that were going through it’s head to the Operator inside the thing.

He then saw it, the flash of the Soul Gear. And then he knew he was dead. The fire could be seen gathering at the mouth, a force that wished not to be contained. He unconsciously gripped the unknown girl tight, ready for his last moments. Then an explosion rocked the side of the Wrath LOS’s face. A second RPG hit the carapace, and the Wrath focused on the unseen savior. It retreated to the skies, roaring insults at the perpetrator.

Rheim looked down at the sleeping girl. She seemed at peace, even though the two had just gone through a form of hell.

He sighed.






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Wow...I like it. I'm eager to see where this story leads. Robot-monsters, mysterious comatose girls, and now with the power-packed taste of RPGs....

thanks. I need all the help I can get. Everyone hopped onto Leviathan'a just fine, but I'm not as famous, so I'll have that first stumbling block.

I really like the idea of Guns-Vs.-Robot-Monsters, although I think a Time-Space anomaly would have been better, bringing back the TRUE monsters (maybe an idea for later in thestory?) lol, jk about it being better.

That's not going to happen, but thanks for the suggestion. Anything I can improve?

Hmm....maybe a

1 Hour Later
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

to indicate differences in time, for example, a few hours later, or days, weeks, etc.

I'd surely include that if the time mattered.

I'll also try find a more dynamic way to bring the time into play.

Lol Hooray for time!!!


Well, everything else about this seems great, so keep it up.

Awesome!
Guns and Robot Preys are Amazing XD
Keep it up

Thanks slot, KoI.

Its good, very interesting way of interpreting MHF, with rebuilt monsters, i like it.

But.... It didn't kill the Wrath, it just made it retreat.

Oh. You mean Xtreme's suggestion.

No, it's not gonna happen.