Outpost 1

Dance of the Ninja

       There was heavy fighting in the hall as the Raiders tried to hold their ground in the office area.
        One of the wounded Mercs dashed into the Control Room looking around frantically for the new leader.
       "Commander Baxter we've lost contact with our snipers and someone has spotted a second crew attacking us from the outside. They appear to be androids." he reported.
         "Androids? Where did they get androids? How do we even know it's androids?"
         "The MG crew called it in. They said they were having a tough time killing one just before we lost contact with them."
Moving to the big screen Baxter started flipping through the different cameras screenshots until he found the one with a view outside the Gas Compressor Building. He panned the camera to the left then zoomed in on the smoking remains of what remained of the machine gun nest atop of the roof. A large shredded image of metal and flesh all covered in black soot was all he could make out.
Panning the camera further he searched the grounds outside the now open warehouse until he saw the shattered remains of a robotic soldier sitting on the ground immobile obviously destroyed. A slight glow still evident in its eyes even as its body was clearly broken into 2 separate pieces.
Beside him stood Aaron Macanese who leaned in as he studied the insignia stamped into the androids breastplate on the screen.
"I know what those are Commander."
"What are they?"
"I recognize their plates they are what we used to call tin men. They stopped manufacture of those on Earth decades ago. They're supposed to have remote control ability.And I think I know their weakness. We can stop them."
       "Well lets have it then what's their weakness?"
"Comm links. Tin men are completely dependent on a strong signal. If you can get one of your comm men to disable that then they can be stopped."
"Just take two of my men find those links and kill them however you can."
"But I'm not a Comm guy I don't-"
"GO! JUST DO IT! I'm too busy already. And Aaron, if you fail- don't even bother coming back cause I'll shoot you myself!" He muttered under his breath.
"Taco get ahold of Crusty and Winer we need their reserve units in the main building before we start to lose ground. Just who's group is that anyway?" He asked as he pointed out the fighting visible on monitor 4.
      "I think the officer with the sword is Capt. Jan Beans. The tomahawks are the trademark weapon of Miller's Raiders. They're kind of legendary." Taco replied.
"WELL THEN MAYBE WE CAN GIVE THEM A LEGENDARY DEATH!",Max Horice said as he opened the door , banging it against the wall as he walked in. Behind him stood 2 of his younger officers.
"Max! Your just in time did you bring some men?"
"Yes I heard all the commotion. I brought 20 of my seasoned mercs. Where do you need them?"
"Right now just protecting the area outside this control room. We've got to advance on the Raiders once Crusty and Winer show up with some of their men. There's androids to deal with now."

       Leaning into the equipment cabinet Major Dome could tell that someone had messed with the switches and that it would be out of synch with the other sensors. Quietly he tinkered with the settings. Behind him stood Trevor and a secondary guard.
       Turning to his fellow guard he casually mentioned,"Go check out the lockers. I think he'll need some tools to fix this. I saw some over in hallway 3 I think."
       "Alright I can look. You got this?" he asked nodding towards the prisoner.
       "I got it." He emphasized raising his disruptor rifle.
       The door closed with a click as the guard left.

       "So what's going on?" Major asked Trevor.
"Red Lands sent a group to rescue your crew but somehow they must've found out. That's all I know. There's fighting in the office area last I knew."
"We need to do something or Baxters going to kill my techs."
"Take this and we'll have to play it by ear. We won't have much time. I can hear someone coming." He said passing him a pistol with a silencer.
       Major slipped it into his pocket just as the door opened. The other guard came in carrying a large heavy tool bag and laid it by the open cabinet. Looking inside the bag Major took out the smallest pocket screwdriver. He stooped down and tweaked 1 adjustment screw a quarter turn. He then stood up stretched his back and closed the cabinet door.
"My work here is done! " He announced with a smile. Handing the 20# bag of tools back to the surprised Merc. " You can take the tools back now."
The doubtful rebel was about to protest when Trevor jumped into the conversation. "You heard the man. Get the tools stashed where they came from and I'll get the prisoner back in the hole."
        Seeing the look of doubt in the guards eyes he shoved the rifle into Majors back and motioned towards the door. "Lets go! I got better thing to do than babysit you!"
        Going through the Control Room they were stopped by Baxter along the way.
        "So what was the problem ?"
        "Just needed a little calibration. It was a little offset." Major replied.
"Taco go back there and see if the GSP-34 is up and if the error message is gone"
"Just turn it on and the screen should update instantly."
"Why?"
"Don't ask why. I know Major Dome from back in the day and I suspect he didn't fix it at all." he said standing in front of the door.
"He made some changes I saw him do it." Trevor said hoping to get out of the room quickly. But Baxter raised his hand stopping them in front of him.
"Well then Taco will be back with good news then. And if not ......... I guess I get to try my new toy." He said pulling out an electronic shock baton. Pulling the trigger a foot long electric arc jumped out and danced on the metallic surface of control panel.
"Is that an actual weapon?" Trevor asked.
"It's a tool but I plan on using it a little differently than the manufacturers instructions recommend."
Seeing the door open they saw Taco coming into the room shaking his head.
        Smiling Baxter turned a knob on the handle raising the intensity of the arc he could create. "I guess you will be the first guinea pig Major. You know Major from the very first time I saw you I knew I didn't like you. Any last words?"
        "Yeah. The feelings mutual." He replied as he pulled out his pistol and fired at Baxters head at point blank range. He died instantly and his dead  body fell backwards before slumping to the floor in a bloody heap.
         Taco hit the floor trying to take cover then scrambled back into the Comm Room and smashed the card reader to keep them from coming in after him.
         Looking down at Baxters body Major asked Trevor, "Was he a friend ?"
         "No, no not at all. Matter of fact most of us hated his guts."
         Leaning down he grabbed an orange encoded bracelet from Baxters wrist and picked up the baton also.
         "We'll need this to get your guys out." Trevor reminded him.