As the first new funnelweb finished construction, a sense of pride swept over me. The giant spider-like robot lumbered forward, a blue, hazy shield surrounding it. I ordered a team of five welders and two minotaurs into the bubble of protection.
No, it wasn't perfect, but it would have to do. They moved forward, maintaining the same speed.
Good luck, you miserable robot bastards. I wheeled toward the tank factory to assist in production. The only Koda Commander in the galaxy, I needed to make my clan proud.
The alarm went off as sounds of the frontline battle came over comms. Should I take control of the units and try to get the most value for them or let the new funnelweb design do its best? I decided on the latter, turning my attention to another matter. My opponent would be expecting more tanks or even heavier ones. That meant I would go amphibious. Imagine the other commander's surprise when a Grizzly surrounded by seven scallops appears on the horizon. The diversion would be very helpful.
"Koda Commander, this is Funnelweb One. Do you copy? Over."
"I'm busy, dammit. What's wrong?"
"Nothing, sir. We're sitting pretty, reclaiming, repairing, and protecting as we go. Those minotaur boys know how to grind down the porc."
"Keep it up. Report back if you see anything surprising. Make your way west toward their firebase, but don't engage yet. I have a surprise coming."
"Roger that, Koda Commander. Funnelweb One out."
With the amphib factory almost complete, I queued orders for seven scallops and a grizzly. Then an idea hit me.
"Funnelweb One, how are you looking on scrap metal up there?"
"There's a debris field nearby, but we're just about past it."
"Stop and scrape it up. I need all the metal I can get right now."
"Roger that. Sucking up the reclaim. Over and out."
I threw in an order for one Djinn then ordered the welders back to home base. The factory finished, and construction on the new units commenced. As I waited, I scanned the battlemap. Things were looking good, but I didn't want to get cocky. The ravaged wasteland could be tricky to navigate, even with teleportation. I scouted the area around our forward firebase to ensure we wouldn’t have any surprises with fleas.
The grey goo masses still appeared on the battlefield occasionally, even with our new technology to decloak them better. I didn’t want a swarm of them descending on my grizzly trap. Surprise would be everything.
I stopped assisting the amphib factory and began constructing a cornea. After making the device mobile, I would send it to the firebase to help with my master plan. What’s even worse than a grizzly? One you can’t see.
When the djinn walked off the assembly line, I told the welders to escort it to the forward firebase where Funnelweb One waited patiently while doing its thing. To help them make it safe, I sent along an escort of five blitz tanks.
“Firewalker!” Funnelweb One shouted over comms. “We need help! Now!”
“It’s on its way. Calm down. You’ve got this.”
“My shields don’t protect from the fire. Everything’s burning!”
“Keep it cool, Funnelweb One, or I’ll reclaim you and be done with it.”
“No! Please don’t! It’s burning. So hot! Need help!”
I sent the group of blitzes forward, hoping they could hunt down and take out the pesky firewalked. While they pushed the fiery artillery back, the welders and djinn arrived at the firebase. The latter set-up its teleport beacon just outside the amphib factory while the former buried the bot below the surface.
“Koda Commander, this is Djinn One. I’m in position. We’re ready to pop.”
The last of the scallops waddled out of the factory, and work on the massive grizzly started. I sent the shotgun wielding warriors through the teleporter. They appeared within the distance firebase, spreading out to protect the perimeter.
“Koda Commander, this is Scallop Leader One. We’ve got jacks incoming.”
“Jacks!” Funnelweb One screamed a bit too dramatically.
Had we fried the AI on that bot-type by pushing it to its limits? Only time would tell. I pushed all available build power at the grizzly. The jacks wouldn’t stand a chance between that and the scallops, but I needed to get it there in time.
“Throw up a newton!” I ordered.
Several welders began work on the gravity beam turrets, hoping to keep the jacks at bay long enough for the grizzly cavalry to arrive.
“Jumping jacks! Jumping jacks!” Funnelweb One screeched.
The grizzly lumbered off the assembly line just in time. As it disappeared into the teleporter beacon, I pulled up a mini-map of the entire battlefield. Our left flank would fall soon which would make our firebase even more susceptible to attacks.
Zzzzt. The grizzly’s thick beam began melting a jack while it slowly plodded forward.
“Scallops, attack!”
The janky sound of their shotguns filled my ears as they moved forward to confront the jacks. Why didn’t they have backup with them? Is the enemy planning something else? What am I missing? I pushed the thoughts back as I concentrated on the moment.
Zzzzt. A jack went down, giving the others pause. They stopped beating the outer pickets of the firebase with their huge metal pipe and retreated. About damn time. The war wasn’t over, but the new funnelweb had done its job in protecting the firebase and keeping everything repaired long enough for the grizzly to arrive.
I suddenly remembered the improved missiles for ducks. What the hell. I ordered a swarm of three dozen. Previously, up to a third of them might die from friendly fire. Would the changes to their algorithm help or hinder their performance? Only a fight would tell me for sure. I watched as they waddled into the teleporter beacon one after another. When the cornea finished transforming to an iris, I also teleported it forward too.
“Funnelweb One, move forward! Iris, do your thing. Protect those ducks!”
“You got it, Koda Commander.”
The strider spider would be just enough armor. With them thinking the Funnelweb was the main part of my play, I could spring a horde of ducks on them out of nowhere. They wouldn’t kill each other with the new arcing rockets if I got lucky. With ducks, you could never tell.
“Everyone in position? Let’s do this!”
“Koda Commander, this is Koda Four, you’re not gonna like this.”
“Spit it out, we’re about to hit the fringe of their main base.”
“I’ve got a two Dantes heading due east toward you.”
“Not now,” I muttered. “Thanks for the update. Stay safe out there.”
“Already hiding in some nearby trees to heal up. Koda Four out.”
I glanced over at the Strider Hub assisting the amphibious factory. Time to pull out the last ace up my sleeve. A new ultimatum or two would make life for those dante’s tough if I could get them close enough. Their faster speed and higher damage just might do the trick.
While the strider hub build the tiny but destructive robots, I began upgrading myself.
A shock rifle would come in handy right about now. I’ve got some dante’s to kill. The metal would slow down the ultis, but I had more than enough time with the duck surprise unfolding.
“Quack! Quack! Quack...Quack?”
“Stop speaking duck!” I yelled.
“Apologies, Koda Commander. We’re busy, and that’s the easiest way for us to communicate and avoid--Aaargh.”
The explosion came through loud and clear. Another duck down.
Rest in pieces, buddy. I turned my attention to the ultimatums, pushing all my extra build power into their construction.
“Koda Commander, this is Minotaur One. We’ve cut a hole into their defenses.”
“Head for the nano-pads. We need to stop them from throwing up more striders.”
“On it, commander. I’ll report back.”
“Can someone let me out of this hole? It filled with water.”
“Who is this?” I barked, not having time for nonsense.
“Djinn One. I can’t get out of this hole!”
“Stop trying. You’re doing great. Stay put.”
I felt a twinge of guilt at burying the bot, but it would be better protected that way. The first ultimatum completed as two slow moving blips appeared on the outer edge of my radar.
Here comes trouble. I ordered the first ultimatum away, hoping to set-up an ambush before the dantes even got close to anything important. Then I remembered the Djinn.
“We’ve got a pair of dantes incoming,” Welder One announced.
Their peashooters were no match for the hell unleashed by the big bots. Should I order the minotaurs back? Hope the blitzes could stave off the attack long enough for the ultis to arrive? The battle raged on.
--End (UNEDITED) Transmission--
Thanks to everyone who’s had a part in this game over the years!
I appreciate your hard work and dedication to this game. Keep it up!
Much love and respect.
