Alan tapped on the display panel of the console to bring up the adjustment controls for the new mecha. The sizzling sound of Saru welding up metal armor plates on the giant mecha continued in the background. They were going as fast as they could and still do a good job, despite Alan stopping them every so often to calibrate the monster’s leg joints.

Sara was in her battle armor and strapped into the chest of the vattaux shaped mecha.

“Clear!” Alan yelled out in the Saru language.

The sizzling stopped and the mobile scaffold pulled back from the neck of the metal beast. The shop was huge and not far from the outside world. Alan glanced at all the loose cabling snaked all over the floor. In a human operation there would be huge fines by safety inspectors for having such a mess of cables. Alan glanced up at the ceiling and saw the welding smoke swirling in a pool. He kept forgetting to look for the air ventilation controls.

Rolling his eyes, he paused what he was doing and found the air control systems. The low rumble of machinery buried in the ceiling came to life. The pooled up smoke flowed toward central locations like water flowing into a drain. Cool fresh air began to circulate in low areas and cascaded upward taking with it fumes and smoke to the vents above.

Father had everything in place to run a shop safely. The Saru didn’t seem to get the necessity of those measures though. With Father being disengaged from Saru activities Alan noticed that things had been getting more and more disorganized. It made Alan think of the planetary defenses. A shiver ran up his spine.

“One problem at a time, Alan,” he whispered to himself. All the Saru working on the mecha had stepped away for safety. He toggled his radio. “Your clear, Sara. Try it out now.”

The right rear leg lifted up like it might take a step forward. It then extended backward like some cat stretching out. The leg moved again. This time it bunched up and rotated upward as the back hips twisted to give it plenty of elevation.

Several Saru pointed and giggled.

Sara got on the radio and was laughing hard. “I think we need a chemical discharge mechanism underneath. You know, for like marking territory.”

Alan rolled his eyes, “Ha ha. Very funny. Try the toe nails.”

The ringing sound of steel filled the bay as five thick hardened claw replicas shot forward, snapping from their hiding place into a locked in position. The head of the mechanical beast lifted up. It’s jaw opened up and an angry deep roar that rattled the equipment around him. Alan nearly pissed himself as his heart skipped a beat.

All the giggling had instantly stopped, replaced by room full of terrified creatures. Saru ran for cover, their tools clanking on floor as they were dropped. Some fell over backwards trying to scramble away. A few actually threw whatever they had in their paws at the beast before diving running for cover. It was as if the mecha had suddenly come to life, it’s weapons drawn to devour and destroy any anything in it’s way.

Alan’s mind flashed back to the vattaux that he and Sara had taken down. It was intense just seeing it on a video feed. Staring at this replica that he created, an image of being caught in the open and standing before a real vattaux played out in his head. Feelings of panic and terror were flooding through his veins.

“Alan?” Sara said. “Did something bad just happen? You all looked freaked out.”

Alan finally looked down and tried to regain control of his thoughts. It took him a hot minute to calm himself. “I forgot about adding the animation and vocal trigger to the claw deployment.” He swallow and took a deep breath. “I designed this thing with size, power, and fighting ability in mind. Mere cold hard facts used to solve a problem.” He looked back up at his manifested creation. “I never even considered the level of fear and terror this thing could invoke.”

“Sounds like a bonus to me. Assuming the Ustobo are capable of fear.”

“Good point. We still need to capture a few of those things for study. I really need to know what makes them tick. But, one thing at a time.” Alan completed the adjustment. “Go ahead and retract the claws and put the leg down.”

The claws clanked as they unlocked and snapped back into their hiding place in the foot. Sara set the hind leg back down into a resting position.

There was a long hesitation before anything really moved. At least half a dozen Saru had exited the room. He couldn’t blame them. The scaffolding eventually moved back into place and the sizzling of welding resumed.

Alan started another round of checks. He caught white furry movement out of the corner of his eye. A Saru was sprinting towards him.

“Alan! Alan! Alan!” the creature yelled. It ran right up the ramp to the control area where Alan stood. “Your creepy spy bugs are working! The bug handlers just sent these pictures!” It handed a large data pad to him.

Alan looked through the images and short video clips. The Ustobo never seemed to speak. Alan wondered if some sort of radio communications were embedded into their cybernetics.

The Saru was fidgeting hard core. “Looks like they are putting strike groups together to hit our patrols again. They have new machines we have never seen! Three other groups have mining equipment like we saw before. What do we do!?”

Alan tried hard not to roll his eyes. So impatient. He watched spider like mecha form up in ranks with the three attack groups. He wanted to swear. They weren’t ready for this yet. He took another deep breath. “Don’t panic for starters.”

“But our patrols!”

“I know,” Alan tried to keep his voice calm. New enemy mecha with unknown capabilities. Alan copied the data to his own device before handing the data pad back to the waiting Saru. “Go give this to Fight Leader Naju. Quickly now.”

The Saru smiled, took the data pad and ran. Alan pinged Naju as he sent copies of the files to Sara. Naju answered his ping and a holographic image of the Saru appeared above the console.

“Good morning Master Alan.”

“Good morning. I’ve sent a runner to you with images and video. It appears the Ustobo are staging to make another attack on our patrols, and try another resource grab. They have new mecha that I’ve never seen. We need to deploy the new mecha I designed for you guys.”

Naju stood up straighter. “But... we have only done target practice with them. We haven’t engaged in a real fight yet!”

“I know. I’m also coming with you in the vattaux mecha. We haven’t even taken it out of the shop yet.”

The Saru’s eyes got wide. “Are all your species this crazy? How did you survive to get to our home planet?!”

“We manage. Please get your crews ready to depart as soon as possible.”

The creature put it’s fisted hand to it’s chest in a salute. Alan nodded and the image disappeared.

“Are you seriously that much of a madman?!” Sara’s voice nearly made him jump.

Alan wasn’t sure how many more jump scares he could handle today. Sara had managed to get out of not only the vattaux, but her powered armor too without drawing attention. Not to mention she was up on the platform without him even noticing.

“We haven’t even taken this thing outside yet and you want to take it into battle? Are you serious?”

“You want to stay here while I take it out?” Alan regretted the words as soon as he saw the look on her face. He braced himself.

“Yeah, you should be smacked for that!”

He tried to turn it around. “Of all my designs I’ve put together and launched, how many have failed outright?”

She huffed as she searched her memory. She leaned her butt against the railing and crossed her arms over her chest. “You do have a solid track record. I’ll give you that much.”

“Absolute worst case, we have to fall back on our powered armor that we have proved works. Also, we are not going out there alone. We’re also taking all ten of the new Saber Cat mecha. Granted, they haven’t engaged in an actual fight yet but, the equipment is sound. Plus, we’ll also have the patrol mecha that we are hopefully get there in time to fight alongside of.”

She seemed to ease up a little.

“This kind of thing happens with war. It’s not ideal. War doesn’t always follow planned on timetables. It has a mind of it’s own. I’ve seen it time and again were new equipment got thrown into battle, even before it was fully tested. Sometimes... it makes the difference between a battle that is won or lost.”

She just stared at him for a few minutes. “Alright. When do we have to leave?”

Alan looked to the mecha. “It ain’t going to be pretty, but as soon as we can get enough paint slopped on that thing so we are not an obvious target from orbit.”

The next couple hours raced by as Alan and Sara got supplies together and did last minute checks. The welding that absolutely had to be done was finished, or at least finished enough to hold things together. Hopefully those sections wouldn’t take too much of a beating that they would loose the armor plating.

The paint job looked like a two year olds work. Dark browns and greens covered the body, and a lot of the floor. The red that had been splashed around the inside of the mouth of the mecha had spilled over the outside of the lower jaw, making look like it had just killed something. Fitting, Alan thought.

Alan had copied the technology that Father had used for the interface of the mecha. He was still getting used to “being” a vattaux. He had full control of all the movement of the mecha and just a couple of the weapons systems. Sara had a bulk of the weapons at her control. He kind of envied her.

The newly assembled fighting group raced their way through the forest. The Saber Cat mecha could easily out run the Vattaux mecha if they wanted too. They ran and leaped as the jumped up on boulders and weaved through the trees with graceful ease. They were slightly smaller than the ape like design Father had created.

The weight of the Vattaux mecha thundered against the ground as it ran in stark contrast to the Saber Cats. Alan actually knocked smaller trees out of the way that he couldn’t dodge. The steel beamed horn and the structure that held it in place took the stress of impact all in stride.

The radio interrupted his thoughts. It was Patrol Red 6 & 9. The strike force with the new Ustobo mecha were attacking. Alan could hear the panic in their voices. Alan and the Saber Cats were still 10 minutes away, at his limited pace.

“Naju! Run ahead and help them. I will catch up!”

Like natural cats sprinting in for the kill, all the Saber Cat mecha left the Vattaux mecha in the dust. There was a lot of yelling over the radio. Two of the Saru mecha had fallen. Apparently the new mecha the Ustobo brought had some serious teeth to them. Alan hoped that the new Saber Cats would be more than a match for them.

Another patrol pair reported coming under attack. The panic in their voices was palatable. Alan caused a small landslide as he brought the beast of a machine to a halt. Patrol Red 4 & 11 were closer, but opposite direction from the others.

“Damn it!” Alan muttered. His mini map on his HUD flashed red where the latest radio traffic had come from. Alan took off in the direction of the next newest patrol attack. “Naju, I’m headed to help the other group!”

“Yes, yes. Engaging here.”

Alan tried to look at the topographical mini map while trying to run. This is so much easier from a chair in a safe place, he thought to himself. He got enough of a look to see that he would have to crest a hill to get at the Ustobo below. The map magnified and lit up with data from the two patrols. The Ustobo had the patrol pinned in a hole they should never have wander in to begin with.

Alan’s mind raced trying to figure out how to gracefully engage in the fight as the battle drew closer by the second. His mind went back to the shop. Why did he have to be graceful about it? Scary might be more effective. Alan grinned.

He triggered a vattaux challenger roar. His radio sounded off with even more panic. The patrol believed another predator was coming at them. The Ustobo had stopped firing on them.

Alan crested the hill and leaped into the air. His jump was going to end up shorter than he hoped. He would end up landing just in front of the Ustobo forces. He trigger the claws mid flight and the limbs positioned to absorb the impact of hitting the ground. The neck lifted the head and roared.

Ustobo vehicles practically crashed into each other trying to escape. The Vattaux mecha hit the ground creating a small quake and sending dirt and stones flying. Sara deployed turrets out of the neck and shoulders of the massive creature. Blue laser cannon rounds spewed at the Ustobo.

Alan managed to move in and snagged one of the scorpion vehicles with one of the massive claws. He dipped the horn on the head down on the centipede looking troop carrier, hooked it, then tossed it with a whip of the head. Blue energy blasts coupled with rockets from a launcher in the hind leg made the vehicle explode and crumple into a flaming heap when it hit the ground.

The Ustobo were scattered. They attempted a counter attack anyway. They attempted to concentrate on shooting the head. It made sense, Alan thought.

Green rapid fire laser blasts hit the neck of the Vattaux mecha. The green blasts gouged the heavy armor plating. Alan turned expecting to see the Ungar there shooting at him again. The Ungar wasn’t there. It was the new spider like Ustobo mecha shooting that green wickedness. Alan charged at it. The thing jumped, high.

“AH... get it off! Get it off!” Alan yelled.

The spider like thing grappled to the back of the Vattaux. It’s green repeater weapon was trying to blast a hole into the beast. Alan thrashed around trying to buck the spider off his back. The spider’s ten legs continued to be anchored as the legs cushioned the violent movement.

“I can’t get an angle on it!”

“Stow the guns! Rolling over!”

The guns tucked back into there places just as Alan rolled the mecha like a trained dog. The spider exploded as it was crushed under the massive weight. The guns were back out and shooting until all the red laser fire ceased.

Sara had spotted another spider mecha that had climbed a tree. “Alan, watch it! Spider in the tree to your right!”

More green shots gouged the armor. Two of the armor plates on the top were starting to flop around. Sara focused her fire on the spider. It fell from the tree into a heap.

Columns of smoke, some from trees, others from destroyed Ustobo equipment drifted upward. The red lasers shooting back at the Vattaux were decreasing in numbers. The patrol that had been in the hole had made their way out and helped with cleanup of stray targets. Not a single Ustobo would escape.

As the intensity of the battle subsided, Alan caught back up with the communications. The Saber Cats had long since finished off the other attack group and moved on to the missing third. They were already wrapping up with that group as well. Moral over the radio had transitioned to jubilant and aggressive.

The Ustobo spiders were doing a hard number on the original Saru ape like mecha. All of the Saru patrols out here would have been annihilated if he hadn’t come out here and brought the Saber Cats with him. The fact the Ungar had sent new equipment out here bothered him. What would it bring next that might tip the scales of war in it’s favor? The thought put a damper on his sense of accomplishment with the Saber Cat.

Patrols spread out to find the three resource hunter parties. It didn’t take long to find them. Alan guessed the Ungar had planned on keeping the Saru busy with fighting and dying using the new spider like mecha. The time the Saru would have needed to put together a counter attack might be enough for the resource gathering groups to do their thing and be back before trouble came back around.

Alan and Sara, with the assistance of the two Saru patrol groups, helped take out one of the Ustobo resource hunters. It wasn’t even close to a challenge. The Ustobo practically climbed over each other to escape Alan’s mecha when he arrived.

Alan issued orders for everything to be gathered up. Nothing was to be left behind for the Ustobo to repair and put back into service. Once everything was gathered up to be dragged out. They moved back to the previous engagement with the spiders. Alan wanted those rounded up to be reverse engineered. Anything he could glean out of the wreckages to turn against the the Ungar would be a welcomed addition.