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    Zero 5.0: Mech. Chronicles, #5
    Zero 5.0: Mech. Chronicles, #5
    Zero 5.0: Mech. Chronicles, #5
    Ebook241 pages3 hours

    Zero 5.0: Mech. Chronicles, #5

    By Adam Moon

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    About this ebook

    When the Reds betray the mechs, Zero must find a way to protect his home from an enemy he can't defeat.

    On a barren planet he discovers a long lost line of heavy mechs left to rot for centuries. With no hope of escape they've grown unstable but they have information that could lead Zero to an alien race strong enough to help him vanquish the Reds.

    They find a stone covered ship that's been traveling the cosmos for hundreds of millions of years, bringing them one step closer to the elusive race, but when they finally meet the plan to unite backfires.

    When nothing goes according to plan, Zero relies on luck to save the day, but luck may not be enough to survive what's coming.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAdam Moon
    Release dateApr 16, 2015
    ISBN9781513013282
    Zero 5.0: Mech. Chronicles, #5
    Author

    Adam Moon

    Adam Moon was born in California, grew up in Scotland, and currently lives in Wisconsin with his wife and two young sons. His oldest son wants to grow up to be the first American President who is a space-ninja sniper-robot from the future. His youngest son likes to punch things and say bad words. His long suffering wife just wants some peace and quiet for a change. Adam writes science fiction and horror. You can visit his website at: www.moonwrites.com

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      Book preview

      Zero 5.0 - Adam Moon

      Zero 5.0

      (Mech. Chronicles, Book #5 - Galactic Conflict)

      ––––––––

      Adam Moon

      Zero 5.0 Copyright © Adam Moon 2015

      All rights reserved

      ––––––––

      If you haven't read the previous installments, you can find them here:

      Table of contents:

      Chapter 1: Planet Harbon

      Chapter 2: An Uneasy Peace

      Chapter 3: The Destroyer

      Chapter 4: The Stone Ship

      Chapter 5: The Bone Yard

      Chapter 6: Exodus

      Chapter 7: Larko the Beetar

      Chapter 8: Pilot

      Chapter 9: Chasing a Ghost

      Chapter 10: Pinwheel Galaxy

      Chapter 11: Lucky Jackson

      Chapter 12: Sabotage

      Chapter 13: Flight

      Chapter 14: River Boat

      Chapter 15: The Reds are Coming

      Chapter 16: Disaster

      Chapter 17: Befriending the Insane

      Chapter 18: Battleground

      Chapter 19: Mind Swap

      Chapter 20: Temporary Peace

      Planet Harbon

      Zero and River sat before the monitor, waiting for Earth to open a link to them. They were both battle robots designed by the nearly-extinct Beetars a long time ago. They were driven by human consciousnesses. Zero’s real name was Jack and River’s was Henshaw, but neither of them had used their human names in a long time.

      They were on their adopted planet, Harbon, far from Earth, but they were hardly the most exotic life on the planet. The Beetars had transplanted humans to Harbon to grow them as pilots for their mechs, but then, when the mechs turned on them, they abandoned them. After several generations, the humans learned how to fend for themselves, without Beetar help. During the wars with the Beetars, humans, and the Reds, several species were left homeless, so the mechs picked up survivors and gave them refuge on Harbon. There were Dosians as well as the dregs of the Beetar civilization. The Cogmores had volunteered to stay and help even though their home world was intact. The Arcons were the strangest of them all. There was just one mating pair left after the Reds destroyed their planet. They were lucky enough to be found and saved by the mechs. The male was small but the female was monstrous. Their tech was flawed and weak but they had developed a method in which she could control it with her mind. That meant she could act as the command hub for an entire fleet of fighters, controlling everything with just her thoughts.

      There were also a handful of powered-down red mech warriors, built by the Reds, which were bigger and stronger than the Beetar-built mechs. They’d been sent by the Reds to wipe out Harbon and had failed in their mission.

      River refused to dismantle them despite objections that they might come back to life at any moment. He said, The Reds surrendered to us. If we can’t trust them to refrain from activating their mechs for attack, then maybe we need to rethink the truce we’ve established.

      Zero let it go despite the fact that everyone knew the truce was tenuous at best. He’d been very lucky to find a glitch in their programming whereby he was able to take command of their entire race, but he had serious doubts that the Reds would always look upon him as their master. He knew that sometime in the future, he’d have to face them once more when they found a way around the faulty coding that enslaved them to him.

      He compromised with River, insisting that the big red mechs be latched to the walls of the research facility for safety until they could be studied.

      Because of their surrender to Zero, the Reds could call Harbon home they refused to come landside, opting to patrol in orbit instead. They were mechanical and therefore unaccustomed to life outside of their ships. On Zero’s orders, most of them had been sent on exploratory missions throughout the Milky Way.

      Even though the Reds might someday turn on them, the imminent danger was that Harbon would fail unless they intervened on its citizen’s behalf. Because there were so few members of each species on the planet it was clear that inbreeding would lead to their demise. The Dosians didn’t have anything to worry about as their individual genes were remarkably similar, which probably meant that they were all the result of ancient inbreeding that their ancestors had somehow survived. How they’d survived it, no one knew; not even the surviving Dosians. Mankind had a history of inbreeding but not enough for them to be immune to its curse. Mating pairs of humans on Harbon numbered in the dozens so it was inevitable that future generations would become sterile or worse. The Beetars did not have the numbers to ensure a gene pool varied enough to avoid mutation. The Arcons would fare even worse, with just a single breeding pair. The fate of Harbon was sealed unless something was done to change it.

      River made it his mission to somehow enable mating that might circumvent the inevitable inbred mutations. He’d begun to look at Dosian DNA hoping to discover how they’d survived their own ancient inbreeding, but each time he started to make progress, he was interrupted by yet another attack by an alien force dead-set on wiping out the mechs or planet Harbon, or both. The most recent attack had come from the Reds and the resultant damage had set his research back by months or years. Once the dust settled, he knew he had to start making strides once again or the grand experiment that was planet Harbon would fail miserably.

      He hoped that the recent peace they’d found would last long enough for him to find a solution.

      An Uneasy Peace

      The humans finally opened a link to planet Harbon to speak to the mechs.

      Commander Abbott said to Zero and River, My people need clarification that you’ve got the Reds under control before we venture into space.

      Zero said in exasperation, They surrendered to me. Nothing has changed since then.

      It had been almost a year since the mechs defeated the Reds through pure luck. More and more it seemed like dumb luck was Zero’s greatest weapon.

      But just because the Reds had surrendered didn’t mean they were trusted. They were a warrior race of non-biological beings who had wiped out one planet after another. There was no way the mechs were going to blindly trust them. Zero had made it his mission to unlock as many secrets as he could about their makeup and the capabilities of their tech, all while playing along as their ally. Unfortunately, he had been unable to find out much of anything, probably because the Reds were on to him. It made for an uneasy alliance, but a necessary one if the galaxy was to be spared from Red aggressions.

      Abbott said, We’ve got a dozen jump ships ready to fly. The leaders of Earth have asked me to seek assurance that we will not come under attack when we use them.

      Our deal stands. But if you send any of them against us you will get a metal robot boot up your asses.

      Abbott chuckled. How are you doing, Zero?

      My planet’s doing well. We bounced back well after the Reds attacked. How is the Earth doing these days?

      "We took a beating but we managed to bounce back too. But I was asking you how you are doing."

      Zero smirked. I’m always great. And now that I have the entire Red fleet at my fingertips, I’m feeling like the king of the robots.

      What do you mean?

      Zero sighed. You already know the story. I sent a transmission to Earth as soon as the Reds fell.

      Remind me. I want to hear the unofficial story.

      Alright, but it’s no different from the official version. He cleared his throat. It turned out that the Reds were some type of ancient but advanced robots who were sent out on covert missions by their masters. But while they were out on those missions, the race that controlled them perished. That was two hundred thousand years ago.

      Then why did the Reds keep following orders if their masters were dead?

      They refused to go back home because if they ever got confirmation that their creators were in fact gone, they’d have to face the fact that they were no longer necessary. They chose to avoid the truth so that they could continue believing they had a purpose.

      That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.

      I know, but it worked in my favor. I triggered an automatic recall of all of the Reds’ ships to their home world and when they were faced with the truth, they gave up. Now they answer to me.

      Why you?

      I conquered them, so to speak, so they follow my orders now. Without me, they have no leader and therefore no purpose.

      Abbott smiled. He had heard parts of the story, as had the rest of humanity, but it was reassuring to hear it from the horses mouth. Those poor, doomed fools.

      Hey, I’m a responsible king. They’ll be just fine in my capable hands.

      River put a hand on Zero’s shoulder and said to Abbott, We sent most of the Reds far away from here, partly to save them from Zero’s irresponsible rule.

      Zero brushed River’s hand away and faced him. Do you want to fight, old man?

      River pulled a huge laser cannon out from a sling on his back and aimed it at Zero’s chest. Bring it on, you rusty piece of shit.

      Zero chuckled but on the monitor, Abbott was stricken. Let’s all just calm down.

      River saw Abbott and realized the man didn’t understand their ways. He put the rifle down and said reassuringly, We’re just goofing around. You humans need to lighten up.

      Abbott shrugged and pulled on his collar as he regained his composure. We’ve been through a lot lately. Those red robots that attacked us made us paranoid. We’ll relax as soon as we’re sure the Reds will leave us alone.

      Zero asked Abbott, Why is humanity still so concerned about the Reds? They pose little danger now that they report to me. He only half believed his own words but he wanted to set mankind’s collective mind at ease.

      They sent their mechs against us to try and wipe out our race. Of course we’re concerned, especially now that we’re about to join them in space.

      Alright, if it makes you feel better, tell your people to avoid crossing paths with them and I’ll issue an official order to them to leave you and your ships alone if they encounter you.

      Abbott nodded slowly. I’ll make them understand. It was good talking to you. I’m commanding one of our ships so I’ll keep in touch.

      Zero watched the monitor blink black and then he said to River, Those idiots still don’t trust us after everything we’ve done for them.

      Abbott does, but I doubt he has the clout to change all of their minds about mechs.

      I guess it doesn’t matter. As long as they leave us alone, they can believe whatever they want.

      Yeah, who cares about them? We’ve got better things to talk about. Let me show you the star maps I’ve updated. The Reds that are on missions of exploration are coming back with all kinds of interesting stories. I think our next step is to make contact with all of the intelligent races they’ve found.

      That’s risky. Not all advanced life forms want to be discovered. It makes some of them edgy.

      You can ask the Reds which planets seem the safest.

      I think I will. This comes at the perfect time. The crew was starting to get restless.

      Butt-hole

      Zero teleported up to Butt-hole’s ship. His name wasn’t really Butt-hole, that was a nickname Steven had given him when he was being held captive, but Butt-hole had yet to offer a better alternative so everyone just called him Butt-hole. He was the Red liaison, mostly because the mechs were more familiar with him than the others.

      He met him in his command room, which incidentally was the same room Steven, and then Zero had been held inside.

      Butt-hole said, I have updates for you, if you want them.

      That’s why I’m here. Let’s hear it.

      We’ve made some progress in asking for forgiveness from those we’ve wronged.

      I don’t care about those missions. Let me know about the exploratory missions.

      Yes, those are going well. We’ve come across several planets and a handful of anomalous objects for you to consider.

      Go on.

      Shall I start with the cases within this galaxy, or do you want the broader report?

      I’d prefer to stay close to home, for now. Their own galaxy was so large that sometimes just thinking about it made Zero’s head spin. The idea of exploring other galaxies was too much for him to fathom just yet.

      On the opposite side of the Milky Way, a dead planet was found with evidence of a long lost civilization. We’re reading some faint electronic signatures, but nothing that indicates that life might still be hanging on. The signatures are remnants if they’re anything at all. We also discovered a large planet with single cell life forms across its oceans but nothing that would constitute intelligent life. An ice planet was discovered with bioluminescent life swimming beneath the icy outer shell.

      Have you found any existing intelligent life?

      Not in this galaxy but we’ve only scratched the surface. We did come across a rather odd rocky object the size of a large asteroid.

      Complex life can not call an asteroid home.

      Well, it turns out that it isn’t actually an asteroid. The surface was accreted over the course of hundreds of millions of years so it just looks like one.

      What the hell does that mean?

      The original object was an ancient ship. As it crossed the stars, space dust and debris collected on it. It traveled for so long that the dust formed a crust that has only been added to over the epochs.

      What have you found within it?

      We have yet to explore. My people are standing by for your instructions.

      Let’s see what’s inside this stone ship of yours.

      I’ll have them drill into it.

      No, not yet. Give me their coordinates and tell them to wait for me. I want to see what’s inside a ship that started its journey hundreds of millions of years ago.

      They’ll wait until you arrive.

      The Destroyer

      The mechs aboard the Destroyer were exuberant about the idea of the ancient stone covered ship. Space ships seemed to be a fairly recent invention to them, so the notion of a hundred million year old relic held a particular fascination. But the question all of them wanted answered was, why had the ship been drifting for so long? And why hadn’t anyone come looking for it?

      The only one of them with any reservations was Jackson. What the hell are we doing, Zero? When we were warriors, I understood that. And when we were protectors, that made sense too. But what are we now?

      We’re exploring. We’re just trying to find our place in the universe.

      Our place is here, protecting planet Harbon.

      Harbon can defend itself.

      I think you’re full of shit. I think you’re pulling missions out of thin air because we no longer have a purpose. Maybe we’re not so different from the Reds after all.

      Eve stood up angrily so Jackson put his hands in the air and backed off. I shouldn’t be attacked just because I’m the only one of us with the guts to question him.

      Zero stood between them. No one is attacking you, idiot. Just shut up and play along. Otherwise we’re going to go crazy from pure, relentless boredom.

      That’s exactly what worries me. What happens when we no longer have distractions? What happens if we do find our place in the universe, and it’s not to our liking?

      Zero stared him down. There’s only one way to find out. But if you’re not interested in finding out what’s inside a hundred million year old spaceship, then by all means, stay behind.

      I’m not saying that.

      I know what you’re saying. We’re all thinking it so you might as well shut up. Peaceful times do not agree with us. That’s why I want to spice things up a little. And you know how this works, anyway: as soon as we get complacent, the universe will notice it hasn’t screwed with us in a while and some new threat will come our way.

      Jackson cocked his head to the side and a smile crept across his face. So we’re just wiling away time until we can find a fight? I like that.

      I knew you would. But let me be clear on one thing; as much as I love a good fight, I don’t want to have to kill again. I’m willing to take the chance that fighting is not all that we’re good for. I wish you would open up to that possibility too. If exploration is more enriching than slaughtering, I want to change directions for good.

      I see. I’m with you then. Sorry for arguing.

      Don’t be sorry. You have every right to question me. I’ve made some terrible decisions. I even decided to stop the Reds from killing you. If I could only take that back...

      Jackson laughed. You didn’t save us. Dumb luck saved the day like it usually does."

      Zero shrugged. Jackson was gruff and he was argumentative but he wasn’t wrong very often.

      Eve sat back down at her controls now that Jackson

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