The hallway echoed with the sound of heavy leather boots, as a man in a lab coat tried to keep pace with a well suited gentleman, as they passed door after door of Facility 13’s countless numbers for labs. The gentleman kept a strong and quick pace, the scientist losing his breath as he tried to speak.
“Sir…a-are you really sure about this? We put so much work into this project, it’s too late to shut it down now…” he finished quickly, fixing his thick rimmed glasses on his head, nearly losing his footing on the smooth marble floors.
The stout gentleman huffed, his big belly ripping in waves under his maroon vest “Quite sure…” he bellowed, in a gruff and stern voice “The last test failed entirely and you are already a-thousand pounds over budget…” he grumbled indignantly “The Company cannot afford to have such time wasters,”
The scientist eye’s looked hurt as they entered the front lobby of the facility. Oil lanterns illuminated and flickered in the room, with only the moonlight shining through the large front windows, touching up the pristine walls of the lobby “We are not time wasters!” he snapped at the gentleman, stepping between him and the entrance door “We have had set backs! There were problems with the plasma core brackets and therefore the weapon blow up! You…you antediluvian miscreant!”
The gentleman turned violet in the cheeks, his eyes enraged, spitting at the scientist “Get out of my way, you infertile oaf!” he yelled, picking his walking cane up in his hand, threatening to club him with its brass end. He swung the cane at his side, but the scientist seized it in his hand, both grappling with the cane.
The gentleman rammed and the scientist shoved, throwing their weight around to beat the other, the gentleman thrust all his weight upon him, the scientist buckled at the knees, shaking under the weight of the gentleman. He gritted his teeth, yelling out “Go spontaneously combust!” before the blink of an eye, they found themselves flat on the floor, the doors of the lobby blown away and splinters of glass and wood and brass scattered around them.
They looked in shock at the gaping hole that once was the door, as the sound of clunking gears and hissing pistons drew closer to the door. A gruff voice then yelled out from the smoke “Sorry ‘bout the doors, lads, it was locked!”
Neither the gentleman nor scientist dared move, as three hulking beasts of brass and copper lumbered in, pistons hissing form their limbs and boilers bubbling from their backs as they advanced onward. The largest creature looked to the gentleman on the floor, his face covered by a thick helmet of metal.
“You the chump that owns this place?” the gentleman slowly nodded, shivering in terror of what they would do if he moved too quickly, the gentleman’s eyes flinched to the copper cannon where the machine’s left hand would be.
The leading contraption turned to the others “Alright, let’s move…” they passed the gentleman and scientist. Valves attached to a tube of plasma released and allowed the energy to follow through pipes leading to the machine’s hands, bolts of lightning began arcing between the fingers of his brass tipped gloves, the gentleman scrambled to his feet and grabbed his walking cane, the brass end folded down like a handle with a trigger and the tip fanned out, revealing a rifle barrel hidden in the cane.
He aimed the cane right for the plasma tube, squeezing the trigger slightly “Go to hell you metal demons…” he muttered, there was the click of the trigger, but before the blasting cap triggered the powder, the cane fell into two pieces. The gentleman looked to his side and retreated back as a lesser sized solider eyed him, a katana ready in his hands.
The third of the first three turned back to them “Come on Hades, leave the poor fellow alone…” it said with a gentlemanly tone, Hades spun the katana around in his hand, then slid it into a leather hold on his side, using his other hand as a guide, before leaving the gentleman and joining the other three at the door to the labs “Did you get the door codes?” the same machine asked Hades.
Hades looked to him and nodded without a word, he walked past the other two and began working at the type writer keys by the door, the gentleman started stepping back towards the door, but tripped over the lab coat and boots the scientist had on, the leading machine looked over as he heard him land on the floor.
“Yes, sorry about killing your leading man, sir…” the leader said politely, looking to the door as the heavy latches released their hold and the doors swung open, the larger machine stuck his arm cannon in and looked around the facility’s main building, then lowered it as the leader walked past him with Hades and the third one.
They wondered on deeper into the facility, passing labs and large open workshops with abundant experiments, all quiet now from the day before. The large machine gazed to the third “So…where is this ‘weapon’ Cronus told us to grab, Apollo?” they asked, looking around at the vacant labs.
Apollo lowered his rifle and lifted up the front of his helmet, the aperture lens of his machine eye piece adjusted “just through the next doors…where the major projects are conducted…”
“Ah, so we are messing with the big toys,” the large one grinned almost devilishly under his helmet, as they approached the door, Apollo lent his ear against it, tapping it with his knuckle, he listened as the sound echoed on the other side.
“5 inches of solid steel plate…12 locking pins on all four sides and…” he sighed, looking to their leader “A glass relocking system…they thought of everything…”
The larger machine cracked his neck, steam hissing from his boiler to his cannon arm “I love a challenge.” He raised his arm and was about to fire, but their leader stopped him.
“Glass locking means if you hit it hard enough we are not getting in, Ares…” Ares looked to their leader beside him, lowering his arm with a huff of his pistons.
“Aye, aye sir…” he said, turning back down the hallway to cover their rear.
“How do you propose we get in, Zeus?” Apollo asked, stepping back and looking over the height of the obstacle that was the door.
Zeus did the same “Well, we can’t blow it open…” his eyes looked back at Ares “no matter how much he wants to…” he said with a slight grin. Ares ignored the comment, but the heavy hissing of his control valves said otherwise.
Apollo looked from the door to Zeus “So, how do we…” he paused, as there was a clunk and a grind of the door lock motors, sliding the pin bolts out of their slots. Zeus recharged his lightning gloves and Apollo lifted his rifle’s hilt to his shoulder, just as Ares turned back around, his cannon arm ready. The bolts stopped and the door slid slowly open, the three of them tensed, but looked rather surprised when Hades poked his head around the door. The three of them lowered their weapons.
“How in Blue Blazes did you get in there?” Ares humphed, lowering his cannon and releasing the firing steam out a valve in his elbow.
Hades pointed up to the air vent above the door. The vent’s grills were stretched out with a gap wide enough for a person to crawl through. Ares looked from the vent to Hades as they continued through “Show off…” Ares muttered, purposely saying it as he passed Hades.
Hades joined the three of them just a few steps inside the darkened room. There were no lights, no windows, nothing to light their way. Ares crossed his arms “Well, this is entertaining…” he said sarcastically.
Apollo took a quick glance around of what they could see, finding no light switch near them, he turned to Zeus “Sir, could you give us a little light?” Zeus lifted his hand as a ball of pure energy formed, enlightening a small part of the room.
Apollo looked up, the light didn’t even reach the roof “Whatever they are working on here it must be a leviathan of sorts…” He looked ahead as they all slowly walked forward, Hades drawing his katana sword and Ares readying his cannon once again.
Zeus stayed two steps ahead of the others to light the way, all watching around for any signs of a threat. Zeus stopped dead in his tracks, swaying his arm when he saw the shine of a metal object. Apollo turned his attention from the room to what Zeus could see.
“Is that a…claw?”
Before Zeus could answer, the door to the room slammed shut, causing the glass plate to shatter and sealed them in. All of them readied themselves for a fight. A second tube along Zeus arm’s filled with plasma for a power boost. Hades turned a handle on his chest plate, his pistons releasing more steam for added speed, as he looked around, keeping vigilant with every moment that passed.
Ares and Apollo stood almost back to back with Zeus and Hades. Suddenly, there was a hiss and a groan as the claw moved out of the light. The four of them looked up as fire-orange eyes lowered from the gloom and enormous steel teeth flashed from steam filled jaws.
“I’m going to need a bigger gun…” Ares said with near terror, as the monstrous machine of gears, chains and pistons roared, lifting up its giant mechanical taloned paw, bringing it down on the four of them. They all jumped in different directions as the paw crashed into the floor, cracking the stone from the impact. Zeus slid a few meters before raising both his gloves, charging balls of lightning in both palms, bombarding the length of beast, revealing its true image.
The creature spun about, batting Zeus with its thick tail, throwing him across the room and into the wall. Hades vaulted over the tail, grasping onto its armor plating for dear life. He clambered up to the crest and started heading up its back, towards the head, dodging steam from the limb driving pistons.
Ares ducked under its rear foot to its belly, he eyeballed around to find a weak spot. He spied an open ball socket near the throat and charged towards it, the valves in his arm freed the steam to pressurize his weapon tank. He dropped, sliding onto his back and aiming up at the spot.
“Take this beastie!” The cannon released the steam from the tank to the weapon and fired the cannon ball in the barrel. The big brute shifted its attention to Apollo an instant before it stuck, missing completely and crashing into the roof.
Ares watch as he slid out from under the machine, looking to the roof as he snapped his fingers. He didn’t see where he was going, but found out when he crashed into a wall on the other side of the room, letting out a hush “ow…”
Apollo ducked and rolled away from the beast jaws, as it tried to engulf him. He swung and pointed his rifle to the eye, the steam discharged into the breach, launching the ball bearing out. There was a clink and then a colossal crack as the monsters glass eye broke apart. It screeched in pain, rising up off it front paws, throwing Hades of its head before it blasted through the wall Zeus was stuck in, out into the streets.
Zeus hauled himself out of the rubble of the wall, as his team ran over to the hole. All of them watched as the mechanized reptile started rampaging along the street, crushing houses and bowling over the gas lamps, causing piles of hay and wood to burst into flames.
“I am not cleaning that up…” Ares jested, loading another cannon ball into his cannon, the tank humming as it filled up with steam.
“What do we do now?” Apollo questioned, jumping down to the stone street level by Zeus.
Zeus watched the people as they started scattering from their homes, two blocks in either side. Some people were in such a panic that they passed ahead of the creature, its jaws opened and a flash brighter then the sun blinded and blurred the solders vision. Their eyesight slowly cleared. The civilians that that had been in front of the beast were gone and all that was left were piles of ash.
Apollo looked stunned “I would guess that’s what we are looking for…”
“The Solaris Cannon…” Zeus muttered, turning to his troopers as Ares and Hades joined them “Alright, Hades, you head along the roof top and see it you can get on top of that thing…” he ordered, pointing to the roofs on the left side of the machine.
Hades nodded in his silent tone and instantly bolted for the ruined homes, vaulting over fallen walls and skidding under wooden beams, using a crate to lunch himself onto the roof.
“Apollo, Ares...” Zeus shouted over the beasts roar “See if you can get that thing to head back this way, I’ll charge up pulse and see if I can bring that thing down!” they both nodded and changed out onto the cobblestone streets. Hades jumped onto the beasts back and started sprinting along its back, looking for a way inside.
Ares stuck his thumb and first finger under his helmet and whistled, it echoed around the buildings, amplifying it to a deafening tone. Apollo covered his ear closest to Ares as he bellowed out “Oy! Ugly!” the giant lizard stopped in its path and turned its long neck around to look at them both. Apollo recovered from Ares blast and aimed his rifle for one of the goliaths limb pistons
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