“And my weapons?”
“Excalibur is mostly a hand-to-hand combat type Avamech, but has been outfitted with some assault weapons and a long-range bullet-firing gun has been mounted near the left shoulder.”
“Hmm,” Uther thought. “Could these Avamech use other weapons? Think of the devastation one could dole out with a power blade.”
“Yes.” Merlin’s voice showed no amusement. “Think of that.”
When this war finished, and it would be quickly, Uther had many plans for the great Avamechs. They would be feared and respected and all who piloted one would be as well. Perhaps a special school for Avamech pilots would be in order later. That would give him an army of elite soldiers with special skills. They could even be crossed with Avalonian DNA for faster healing, training, and other enhancements. That way, if the Avamech were like Excalibur, piloting them would be simple. The psychic meld to a machine would have to be explored though. He wasn’t sure what to expect once he finished. Would this kind of thing take a toll on his physical brain?
Either way, he had plans for Camelot and Excalibur that would make no one question his leadership when the time came.
Finally, in the distance and the dim glow of the rising sun, Uther spied Vortigern’s palace and the small city of elegant homes around it. Already he had amassed himself D.R.U.I.Ds to build for him and the people from his ship had not abandoned him.
“These people are traitors,” Uther said to his army. “They knew full well of Vortigern’s betrayal and yet did not turn away from him. Everyone is an enemy. We are attacking to take the capitol, the building that was once his ship. Do not hesitate to kill. Once the capitol is taken, find Vortigern and take him hostage.” No one would be permitted to kill Vortigern. Uther wanted that honor himself.
“Everyone, sir?” Lot’s voice asked.
“Everyone, love,” Morgause answered for him.
Vortigern’s army roared, ready to fight, but not ready to engage with Avamech. The army advanced when it heard war machines approach, but froze on their tera-bikes and vehicles when they saw the army of giant armored robots that fell upon them. A flood of laser fire and some bullets showered the Avamech, but the shields were too strong for simple weapons.
“Move in,” Uther commanded. “They can’t hurt us.” Manic glee set in. It was too easy and it was delicious.
His men did not move until he did. Walking the Avamech across the flooded battle field meant squashing men underneath their feet. This made some of the battalions stop and wait. When Uther charged ahead, they all followed. Using Excalibur’s martial-arts-like precision and balance, Uther easily kicked through the walls of the city and punched a hole for his men to assault the city through.
When they were this close, the wounded army of men and vehicles far behind and bloody, the power-turrets on the battlements began to fire on the Avamech. This was the only hard defense they had. The anti-aircraft weapons blazed and shattered the sound barrier as they fired at the charging Avamech. At last, a small delay daunted Uther’s otherwise unstoppable army if only weakly.
Delight filled him as he picked up audible signals from Vortigern’s army. The men were panicking and screaming for a retreat. They had planned on Uther’s army to be small and perhaps not quite as strong as they; man against man. Behind him, the field turned red, smeared with the squashed bodies of the pathetic human army.
“Let’s make them really scared now, men!” he called. “Destroy the walls.”
The assault Avamech and the power-based ones rushed closer in and began to level the city as its citizens scrambled for cover. Merchants, farmers just discovering their land, and craftsmen screamed and fled. Destroying the walls came as easy as breaking open an ant hill: wherever the Avamechs stepped, a slippery crunch became unavoidable. Once this was underway, Uther marched right up to the capitol, but had not prepared for what waited for him there.
On a balcony, high above everything, stood the armored form of Vortigern. He looked tiny and miserable compared to Excalibur, standing with his legs apart and a massive power-gunblade in his hand. With a smirk, the older man lifted it to his shoulder and fired at the Avamech, knowing Uther piloted it.
Uther thought blocking it would be simple and flicked out his hand to stop the strange missile from hitting him. The shock of the explosion erupted painfully in his hand, burning it and causing his whole body to shudder. Pain screamed up his arm and the vibration rattled his skull. In a reflexive moment of weakness, he cried out in pain.
“Didn’t expect me to have Avalonian weaponry as well, I see,” Vortigern laughed. “I’m just the preliminaries. Wait until you see what else I have. There are planets outside of Camelot, Uther, who know me already. You should have risen your gaze to the stars and not just on this earth. Your defenses are near-sighted.”
“You’re a traitor, Vortigern!” Uther shouted, his voice now released from the cockpit to the outside on psychic command. “You killed my brother when you saw he would lead these people. Did you kill my father too?”
Vortigern laughed and hoisted the blade-gun onto his shoulder to aim. “No, Uther, I didn’t kill your father.” He pulled the trigger. “But I should have!”
Excalibur leapt to the side and rolled away from the new barrage of missiles from Vortigern. Where had he gotten such a fantastic weapon? Uther landed and stayed crouched as he scanned the battlements and balconies for Vortigern. He seemed to have just vanished, nowhere in sight.
“Face me, little coward!” Uther yelled.
“Little coward?” a smooth, deep voice asked.
Uther wheeled Excalibur around to face a new foe. A tall, female-detailed Avamech stood before him, arms crossed and her feet pointed elegantly to the floor. Colored black with iridescent purple detailing, it glinted in the violent light. The colors and the voice told Uther who lurked inside.
“Mab,” he chided
