The Archimedes Assassination
By Patrick Fairbank
It was a dark afternoon in the
Thomas More Community (1714). The
ULTIMATE (922) storm was besieging the
MadTown (1323) with
Juggernaut (1394) force. Amid skies of
Greybots (973) and flashes of
Lightning Robotics (862),
Gael Force (126) -strength winds had caused a
Hurricane (1941) CAUTION (1492) to be issued. Citizens and tourists alike had abandoned the sandy
BeachBots (330) and
iHOT (1414) water of
Argos (1756) Lake in order to hide from the
ELEMENT (4)s, the children leaving their toy
Devil Duckies (1266) still floating in their rush to escape.
While everyone else was huddling in their storm cellars,
The Midnight Mechanics (812), being
The Non Conformants (1654) that they were, continued working feverishly in their lab. Numerous
Toltechs (499) toiled relentlessly under the steadfast leadership of
Chief Delphi (47), trying to track down the
Entropy (138) -causing
Short Circuits (1743) that were preventing them from achieving the
Cold Fusion (1279) of
Element 945 (945).
“Pass me five
WashtenNuts (1549)”,
Edina (1816) called to a nearby
Roboto (447).
As the mechanical assistant moved to comply, a sudden series of
C.R.A.S.H. (999)-es disturbed the lab. A fusillade of
XQ RobotiX (1450) bullets flew across the room from a now-broken window, slicing through several high-
TeamVoltage (386) wires and destroying equipment.
“
EHT (1880) tu,
X-Cats (191)?” gasped Chief Delphi, before collapsing onto the floor.
“
ThunderChickens (217)!!!” exclaimed Edina, rushing to his side. “He's dead, and this was no
ACCident (1568): he's been shot in the
Lionheart (1302)!
Montclair (555), one of the lab-
TechnoWarriors (768), stepped forward. “You heard the Chief; this must be the work of the X-Cats Consortium, those
Red Devils (87)! Their group of feline
Mechanical Marauders (271) includes
Panther Robotics (1108),
PantherTech (292), and the
Positronic Panthers (486).”
“But we had
The Ultimate Protection Squad (1675) and their
Bionic Bulldogs (60) to
Hokie Guard (401) these premises, and they sure are
One TUFF Team (203).”
“Apparently, they wouldn't know an enemy from
Adambots (245),” Montclair replied tersely.
“What mayhem could they possibly have hoped to cause with this
Royal Assault (357)?” Edina wondered. “The damage is nothing the
Builders of Tomorrow (1610) can't fix in the morning, and surely the magic of our
ROBO WIZARDS (522) and
RoboWizards (1508) can bring Chief Delphi back to life.”
A shout interrupted their pondering. “Code
Blue Bear (1367) on the
Brazilian Machine (383)! No, it's worse – Code
Pink (233)!”
All eyes turned to the broken machine, and watched as the
RoboBees (836) that were contained within to provide power to the lab flew from it, heading out the broken window. The swarm of
Killer Bees (33) headed straight for a nearby menagerie, stinging the inhabitants and thereby infecting them with the
Robotic Plague (375).
“Head to the company vehicles! We'll be safe there from these
Monsters (308)!” Edina ordered. The lab crew, who were by no means
Warriors (585), were glad to comply and rushed out to the parking lot containing an eclectic mix of company
Firebirds (433) and
Explorers (468).
The result of the bees' zoo attack was bedlam.
Cobra Robotics (1184) were transformed into
Dragons (1595) while
Falcon Robotics (1626) became
Dragon Slayers (538), and they immediately set about fighting each other. The sounds and odor of
Exploding Bacon (1902) emitted from the zoo's swine section.
Eagle Engineering (1138) began preying on the
Gator-Bots (1250)'
Children of the Swamp (179), who were in turn plotting to overthrow their parents. A
HYPER (69)-centage of the
TEC CreW Hammerheads (226) planned and carried out a
Shark Attack (744) against the rest of their brethren.
As the chaos spun larger and larger, Edina began praying fervently for a
Bovine Intervention (686).
The Holy Cows (1538) must have heard her prayer, because the air was suddenly filled with
Metal-In-Motion (343). The
RoboRaiders (75) had arrived, and their combined forces of
The Blue Nights (1057), the
Northern Knights (296) and the
Scarabian Knights (120), all arriving on the backs of winged
Robotiators (888), were more than enough to subdue the zoological fracas caused by the X-Cats Consortium's master plan.
Alpine Robotics (159) and the
Arctic Warriors (174) arrived shortly thereafter in a severely misnamed
Viking (1803) boat known as the
Bedford Express (1023), and proceeded to freeze the bees past their minimum operating temperature.
In the time following these strange events, the X-Cats Consortium was tracked down with the investigative help of the
Cyber Wolf Corps (647).
The F.B.I. (1723) were unable to prove that the Consortium had assassinated the newly-reanimated Chief Delphi, or, for that matter, that he had even been killed, but arrested them anyways on charges of
Rocketeer (20)-ing.
*********************************************
And that's the story of the 85 teams of Archimedes.
Please let me know what you think of my story; it was a lot of fun to write.
My contribution from last year can be found
here.