First Light of a New Age

Chapter 133: War Beast vs War Machine

Third Civilization Zone, Forest Edge, Outside the City of Virelay

1st Year of God, Friday, 3rd Week, Month of Father.

Crewman First-Class Noel Tadeo gently eased the twin joysticks of the MAW-02 forward with the kind of care only a soldier-turned-mechanic could muster.

The multi-legged war machine, nicknamed “Redback” by its crews, moved with mechanical grace with its six legs stepping high to clear gnarled roots that burst from the forest floor like ancient veins. Each footfall landed with a hydraulic hiss and a muted thump, the rhythm becoming almost hypnotic as the spider mech stalked its way through the underbrush.

The scenery before him hadn’t changed for hours, just trees, more trees, and the occasional startled normal animals moving away from the convoy. The monotony dulled Noel’s senses, and his eyelids started to dip despite the gentle sway of the mech’s cabin and the soft noise of the reactor behind him.

Then the machine slipped as one of the forelegs stepped against the slick bark of a thick root, sending a brief but sharp tilt through the mech’s hull. Thankfully, the mech was stable enough that a slip barely made it fall as the auto-gyro stabilizers kicked in instantly, correcting the lurch before it could even throw him out of his seat.

From the back compartment came the unmistakable sound of a boot slamming into the bulkhead.

“What the hell was that!?” Sergeant Lopez cursed as his gravelly voice was filled with irritation and suspicion.

Noel straightened in his seat and flicked the comm switch. “Just terrain, Sarge! Slippery root but the gyros caught it.”

A moment of silence. Then, his Sarge grudgingly responded. “Keep it steady, I don't want my ass bouncing around back here.”

“Yes, Sergeant,” Noel muttered, hiding a grin.

Outside, the convoy advanced in a slow march. The road they followed wasn’t a real road yet, more like a rough trail gouged into the forest by construction drones and engineer battalions weeks prior.

It was meant to be a highway connecting the nearest military post to the growing outpost town of Virely deeper in the jungle interior. Work had been stopped temporarily after reports of magical beast migration began pouring in, creatures disturbed from their hibernation cycles by the warming season and by the ever-expanding reach of human progress.

On his rearview monitor, Noel could see the rest of the column. Two other MAW units followed closely behind, Unit 01 and Unit 03, moving in perfect formation. Behind them came a line of armored trucks and support vehicles with their wheels chewing up the churned soil and crushed ferns. The convoy looked like an armored centipede crawling its way through primeval land.

Each of the spider mechs kept their stub cannons aimed in their designated sectors. Noel’s Unit 02 covered the forward arc with its squat 3-inch cannon scanning for movement among the trees. Unit 01 had its gun sweeping lazily across the right flank, while Unit 03 took the left.

The stubby barrels looked unimpressive compared to long-range artillery, but they were built for close-quarters jungle warfare. The short length allowed full turret rotation even in tight foliage, and while range and accuracy were sacrificed, it was a necessary trade-off to avoid having a gun barrel get stuck between two trees mid-fight.

The mech’s sensor suite pinged softly in his earpiece, a false alarm, just a squirrel.

He sighed and adjusted his grip on the controls. The warmth inside the cockpit and the lull of the steady stomp threatened to drag him back into drowsiness.