Penguins of Anarchy

Twenty

The sparkle on the water vanished as an enormous shadow swept across it, nearly a mile long and double as wide.  Beneath the shadow of the helicopters, the battleships and aircraft carriers surged forward toward the seemingly infinite horizon.  Birds rushed away from the thousands of rotor blades, and the fish leapt alongside the hulls of the ships, as if to follow them into battle.

On the top deck of the aircraft carrier flagship, the Deliverer, a group of penguins gazed upon the line of penguin-shaped steel figures, brandishing assault rifles and practically blinding the group with the sun reflecting off their bullet-resistant armor plating.  They appeared to be metal penguin skeletons shielded along the arms, legs, and torso by thick steel casing.  Their heads were shaped like a penguin's, but their photoreceptive eyes glowed light blue.

"Those are some fine-looking robots," Drake stated.

"They're just prototypes, but they should do their jobs," an officer told him.  "We managed to keep them secret during the Martial Alliance's occupation.  I doubt the Alliance would have used them anyway, though, since their soldiers derive so much pleasure from killing penguins themselves."

"Have they ever seen real battle?" Fragnile asked.

"No; we didn't get the chance to activate them before the Martial Alliance took over and confiscated our weapons."

"Well if they're as resilient and agile as they look, they should prove very useful," Dreemo said.  Upon boarding the ship, he was amazed at how much advanced military technology he had been missing out on during the duration of this war.  He and his comrades were being provided with much more advanced utilities than they had been used to.

"The weapons we used to use--those were toys," Sam said, staring at the assault rifles the robot legion sported, featuring a thermal sight that was similar to infra-red vision, a second chamber under the barrel for launching grenades, and an electromagnetic pulse emitter that knocked out any electronics in the forward area when activated.

"Col. Terasane, I can't thank you enough for providing us with so many resources and allies," Drake told the officer that they had been speaking to--the leader of the Antarctican Islands Army.

"It's the least we can do for all you've done for this country," Terasane replied.  "I hope once the Martial Alliance leaves and we free General Waff, he'll want us to begin manufacturing legions of these robots immediately."

Terasane paused.  "We lost many officers during the occupation.  You are the only general left besides Waff."

Drake shook his head.  "I don't deserve the title of General.  I'm not worthy to lead this force, which is why I left it to Col. Fragnile and you.  When we win--and we will win--it won't be because of me."

"Now that's a lie," Sam put in.  "You've led us this far.  Maybe you're not up to the task of commanding an army this size yet, but I wouldn't have wanted anyone else to lead us against the Martial Alliance forces back on the islands.  Oasis of Antarctica, Navigator Isle, Leopard Seal Cove--all of the Antarctican islands are free because of you."

Drake was deeply moved by this statement, but he knew that it wasn't just him who had freed those islands.  "No, it's because of us; because of Task Force Anarchy; because of the Navigator Isle soldiers that went off on a limb and followed us into battle without hesitating.  Antarctica will be freed today, and it will be because of all of us, as well as the penguins who have already died fighting for this nation."

"Well said, General," Terasane said, applauding his superior.  The Penguins of Anarchy clapped as well.

Dreemo looked past the others at the small white line slowly appearing across the horizon.  His eyes widened; his breath stopped; fear struck him like a hurricane.  "We're here," he said weakly, but everyone heard him.  They all looked ahead at the coast of the main landmass of Antarctica, the enormous landscape of ice that dwarfed the islands to microscopic size by comparison.  They all knew what fate could await them.