The Sleeping Army Awakes

Part 51 Looking down on things

Luckily for Karlov and Elektra, Sir Percy had been oblivious of the whole affair unfolding below him with the tanks. He was flying above the scene in the helicopter and revelling in the automated destruction going on below him, fascinated as if it were some vast model construction set. Down below them, he felt that the robotic ravagers were sculpting a level and barren canvas to paint a new tomorrow onto.

The area already bore no resemblance to the unspoilt majesty of the crags when they had arrived. The tree lined lower slopes of the hill were already irrevocably scarred. In places they were already stripped completely naked and forlorn; in others the brightly coloured robotic lumber cutting machines still hacked and tore voraciously at the trees. The machines were inexorably felling, destroying everything in their path as if ripping the beating heart out of the forest. Most of the lower forest had been cleared, apart from the stumps, and the robot pyrotechnics team would normally shortly be removing these by blasting.

The once proud and noble felled pines were grabbed by knuckle-boom cranes as soon as the cutters were clear. The trunks were guided to the mouths of stripping machines and sucked into a ring of rotary cutters one by one, to be stripped of their branches. The stripping machine quickly spat out the resultant lumber. Another crane stacked the wood on trailers so that the load could be driven away to the sawmills. 

There were still several trains of trailers that were empty and were waiting to be loaded, but at the rate that the tree fellers were working, it wouldn't be long before they too, were pounding down the main road.

The branches of the trees had been piled into several huge pyres complete with the remains of any nests but, thankfully, minus the birds and squirrels that had once inhabited them and it was too late in the season for there to be any chicks left. Damp heavy smoke filled the sky. Several pyres were already burning, or trying to burn the damp branches after the previous day's deluge.

Spencer's Dudat squawked with Sir Percy's voice.

"Note to the Kapitán of the guard Butler. Electric or whatever the Fredding man's name is. Ensure that none of the charcoal gets stolen from those piles. If my tenants want charcoal then they should pay for it. If necessary post a squad of guards to shoot anyone trespassing." Sir Percy said as the Sikorsky flew above the scene of desolation, "We can't have grubby little pests invading our territory can we?"

"Indeed not sir." Spencer replied, "There are however sir, two pairs of Skidges operating in this area and they seem to do an admirable job of keeping trespassers out and they are far less expense than extra guards."

"Well leave it to the what do you call ems then!" Replied Sir Percy, who was always keen on reducing manpower if it meant saving money.

"Indeed Sir! Skidges Sir. They are Shoot to Kill Drones for the Gamekeeper." Spencer answered. "They are made by the Zeli Corporation and have a video link to the Gamekeeper so the identity of the intruder can be established."

Sir Percy liked the sound of shooting to kill.

"And will these ...?" Sir Percy had already forgotten the name

"Skidges Sir!" Spencer prompted.

"Will they be operating while I am fishing!" Sir Percy asked.

"I will ensure that they are confined to barracks for the duration as it were.... before Sir takes to fishing!" Spencer said.

"Do it now!" Sir Percy.

"No sooner asked than arranged sir!" Spencer said totally contradicting his previous order because if the Skidges weren't flying then they could not protect anything. As soon as Sir Percy dropped the connection Spencer contacted Kelp on his Dudat.