This is The Orphan Rebels, Part Two.
The Rust Bucket groaned through space like a mechanical whale. Every few minutes, something would clank, hiss, or make a sound that no spaceship should ever make.
"Is that normal?" Brock asked as a particularly loud bang echoed from the engine compartment.
"Define normal," Griff replied cheerfully, tapping various gauges that stubbornly refused to move. "The good news is we're still moving forward."
Leesa was in the cargo hold, running through combat drills with her plasma pistols. The sound of her practice shots echoed through the ship - zap, zap, zap - followed by her muttering about target accuracy.
"Six hours to the asteroid belt," Griff announced, checking his rigged navigation system. "Give or take a few hours. Or days. Time is really more of a suggestion with this old equipment."
Brock had spread the mining colony schematics across every available surface, studying corridor layouts and security checkpoints until his eyes burned. "What if she doesn't remember us?" he said quietly.
"What?" Leesa called from the cargo hold.
"Alice," Brock said louder. "What if the control collar has... I don't know, erased her memories or something?"
Griff looked up from rewiring a control panel. "The collar controls behavior, not memory. She'll remember us."
"But will she be able to show it?" Brock wondered.
"She already did," Leesa said, appearing in the doorway with her weapons holstered. "Think about it - when she made that heart gesture on the news feed, she was looking right at the camera. Like she knew we'd be watching."
"You think she was trying to signal us?" Griff asked, pausing his tinkering.
"I think Alice is a lot smarter than those mining jerks realize," Leesa said firmly. "She raised us, didn't she? She knows we'd come for her."
A proximity alarm started beeping, jolting them all from their thoughts. Through the viewports, the asteroid field spread out before them like a vast cosmic graveyard - chunks of rock floating in the darkness, some no bigger than pebbles, others the size of buildings.
"There," Griff pointed ahead to a massive asteroid bristling with industrial structures. "KM-7. Alice's prison."
The mining facility was bigger than any of them had imagined. Massive extractors drilled into the asteroid's surface while processing plants belched smoke into the vacuum. Docking bays carved into the rock held cargo ships, and they could see the tiny figures of robots moving in formation across external platforms.
"It looks like a metal infection," Leesa said grimly.
"An infection we're about to cure," Brock replied, but his voice wavered slightly as he took in the sheer scale of the operation.
Strategic Landing and Reconnaissance
"Whoa, whoa, hold up," Griff said suddenly, pulling back on the throttles. "If we get much closer, the REDS will send fighter drones after us faster than you can say 'space junk.'"
"So what do you suggest?" Brock asked.
"We find a hiding spot and do some reconnaissance first. It'll be hard to sneak around in the Rust Bucket - she's not exactly built for stealth - but we can try."
Griff maneuvered them toward a cluster of smaller asteroids orbiting KM-7. "There! That one's got a nice crater we can tuck into."
The ship settled with a series of concerning thuds and scrapes. Through the crater's edge, they had a perfect view of the mining operation while remaining hidden in the asteroid's shadow.
"Okay," Brock said, activating the ship's optical scanner. "Let's look for security gaps, patrol patterns, anything we can use."
The scanner's display showed the facility in enhanced detail. REDS units moved in predictable patterns around the perimeter, their red forms easily distinguishable from the gray worker robots.
"Guard rotations every twenty minutes," Brock observed, tracking the patrols. "And look - there's a maintenance dock on the far side with lighter security."
Leesa was studying the defensive positions. "Those weapon platforms have overlapping fields of fire. They've got the main approaches locked down tight."
"What about ventilation shafts?" Griff suggested, enhancing different sections of the facility.
"Too small for us, and probably monitored anyway," Brock replied. "We need a different approach."
"Well what then?" Leesa asked, frustration creeping into her voice. "We can't exactly knock on the front door."
That's when Griff adjusted the scanner's focus, zooming in on an area near the facility's edge. "Wait... what's that pile over there?"
The enhanced image revealed something that made all three of them fall silent. A massive heap of twisted metal and broken components - robot parts scattered like a mechanical graveyard. Arms, legs, torsos, and heads thrown together in a careless mountain of discarded machinery.
"No," Leesa whispered, her hands clenching into fists. "They're just throwing them away like garbage!"
The horrible reality hit them all at once. These weren't just broken machines - they were the remains of sentient beings, robots who had once had personalities, memories, maybe even hopes and dreams. Now they were nothing but scrap metal, tossed aside when they could no longer work.
Their Alice - who used to hum lullabies while tucking them in, who always knew exactly what to say when they had nightmares, who painted that little red heart on her chest because they'd drawn it there with finger paints when they were seven.
"That could be Alice someday," Brock said, his voice tight with emotion.
"Not if we have anything to say about it," Leesa snarled, her earlier strategic thinking completely forgotten. "Forget sneaking around. Let's go in there and show these REDS what happens when you mess with our family!"
"We can't just save Alice," Brock said, straightening up with newfound determination. "We have to save them all."
"All of them?" Griff squeaked. "That's like... hundreds of robots!"
"Then we save hundreds of robots," Leesa declared. "Nobody deserves to end up in that pile."
The stealth plans they'd been discussing suddenly seemed useless and small. How could they sneak around when there were hundreds of innocent bots down there
Griff was frantically scanning the facility with his modified equipment, his fingers dancing over the controls. "Wait, wait, I think I've got something here!"
"What kind of something?" Brock asked, hope creeping into his voice.
"The control collars! They're all linked to a central command system!" Griff's excitement was building as data scrolled across his screen. "Look at these signal patterns - every collar is receiving commands from the same source."
"Meaning what, exactly?" Leesa asked impatiently.
"Meaning it's not hundreds of individual control systems," Griff explained, his words tumbling over each other. "It's one master computer controlling all of them! Like a puppet master with hundreds of strings, but if you cut the puppet master..."
"All the strings go slack at once," Brock finished, understanding.
"Exactly! If I can hack into their main control center, I can shut down ALL the collars simultaneously!"
Leesa was already checking her weapons. "Where's this control center?"
Griff enhanced the facility's central structure, highlighting a heavily fortified section deep within the asteroid. "Right there. In the most defended part of the whole place."
The control center was surrounded by multiple layers of security - weapon emplacements, REDS patrol stations, and what looked like blast doors thick enough to stop a meteor.
"Of course it is," Brock sighed. "They wouldn't keep their most important system somewhere easy to reach. Shen that's where we're going," he said with finality.
Griff breathed in through his teeth. "Just to be clear, that's the most dangerous, most heavily guarded part of a heavily guarded mining facility. The place where they definitely don't want visitors."
"Good thing we weren't planning to be polite visitors," Leesa grinned, spinning her plasma pistols.
"Forget sneaking," Leesa declared, her eyes blazing with determination. "Let's make some noise!"
"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Griff asked nervously.
"I'm suggesting we show these REDS bullies what happens when you mess with our family," Leesa shot back.
Brock looked at his friends, then at the facility where Alice was trapped, then at the horrible pile of discarded robot parts. "Griff, fire up the engines. We're going in hot."
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but..." Griff's hands moved to the controls with new resolve. "Ramming speed!"
The Rust Bucket roared to life, engines screaming as they broke from their hiding spot. Alarms immediately started blaring across the mining facility as the battered cargo ship hurtled toward the main landing platform.
"Incoming REDS fighters!" Brock shouted, watching three sleek patrol craft launch from the facility.
“I’m diverting all power to the engines! Hang on!” yelled Griff. The three checked their harnesses, making sure they were all strapped in. Griff flipped a few switches and the cabin went dark as all power systems shut down and every ounce of energy was sent tot he engines.
The ship thrust forward at speeds it had likely never reached in it’s entire life. As safety alarms began sounding Griff steered them straight and just as they reached the closest entrance he cut power to the engines and hit the reverse thrusters.
The Rust Bucket slammed into the landing platform with tremendous force, crushing two REDS patrol units that had been moving to intercept them. Metal screamed against metal as they skidded across the platform, finally coming to rest in a shower of sparks and debris.
"Everyone still in one piece?" Brock called out.
"Define 'one piece,'" Griff groaned, but he was already unbuckling his harness.
The ship's doors burst open and the three friends charged out, weapons blazing. Leesa's plasma pistols fired in rapid succession, her shots finding their targets with deadly precision. Brock's laser rifle swept the platform with controlled bursts, each shot carefully aimed.
The REDS guard bots were each eight feet tall with blasters embedded in each hand. They had thin yellow slits for eyes and, while they kind of looked old fashioned and clunky, they were very dangerous.
But it was Griff's modified weapon that truly shone. The strange beam it emitted didn't destroy the REDS - instead, it seemed to slow their movements, making them sluggish and confused.
"It's working!" Griff shouted. "The current disruptor is scrambling their coordination systems!"
With the REDS moving at half-speed, Brock and Leesa were able to pick them off easily. Within minutes, the landing platform was secure.
"The control center's three levels down!" Griff called out, consulting his scanner while running toward the facility entrance. "Follow me!"
They blasted through the main doors just as facility alarms began screaming. Red emergency lights bathed everything in an ominous glow, and they could hear the mechanical sounds of more REDS units mobilizing throughout the complex.
As they ran through the corridors, they caught glimpses of the working robots - dozens of them, all wearing those horrible silver collars, all moving with the same mechanical precision. But when the robots saw the three kids fighting their way through, something amazing happened.
Some of them stopped working. Just for a moment, their movements became less rigid, more... hopeful. A few even turned to watch as the rescue team fought past, and Brock could have sworn he saw recognition in their optical sensors.
Seconds later though, each one was zapped back to work by their collars.
"They know we're here to help!" he shouted over the chaos.
"Then let's not disappoint them!" Leesa replied, blasting another REDS unit that tried to block their path.
The three turned a corner and nearly opened fire on a pair of worker bots carrying cases of raw stellarite.
These bots were general labor bots, often kept in homes and businesses to do light lifting and mechanical work. They were all gray bots, about the size of a full grown adult, with hardened steel arms and legs and powerful hydraulic joints for managing heavy tasks.
“Drop the boxes!” shouted Leesa.
“No! Set the boxes down gently! Gently!” corrected Griff.
The bots gently lowered the stellarite cases to the floor.
“What’re you doing?” Brock asked Leesa.
But he quickly figured it out as he watched Leesa holster a plasma pistol and reveal a throwing knife. The bots stood stunned, unable to run away or defend themselves due to the collars.
Up close the collars were clearly heavy. A hoop of metal panels covered dense electronics. Small green lights flashed on each collar. Leesa slid her knife in between two panels on one of the collars. She turned her knife and one panel popped off.
“Griff? You know how this works?” Leesa turned to Griff, hoping he could work his hacking skills to free these bots.
“Maybe. Let’s see.” Griff stood on his toes to get a better look. He reached into the opening Leesa had made, grabbed a handful of wires, and pulled. The collar sparked and trembled, the little green lights turned off and the collar came apart at the joints.
“Very technical.” Leesa said sarcastically.
They broke the other collar as well and both robots remained frozen.
“Are you still… controlled?” Brock asked.
“It appears not.” one said.
“We’ve got a ship out front. If you can…” Brock began, but stopped, realizing something important for the first time. “They can’t all fit in the Rust Bucket… Our ships not big enough.”
The bots quickly assumed what was happening. Three humans with weapons, alarms blaring, having their collars hacked. They could tell this was a rescue mission.
“The stellarite transport ships are massive.” said one of them. “One of them could fit us all.”
“Okay then so we’ll steal one of their ships but first could we please get to the Central Core and turn off all these collars?” Leesa argued, looking back and forth down the hallway. “More REDS are gonna be by any minute!”
They fought their way deeper into the facility, following Griff's scanner readings toward the central core. The two freed robots followed behind them, moving with newfound purpose now that their collars were gone.
"One level down!" Griff called out, checking his scanner as they descended a maintenance stairwell. "Signal's getting stronger!"
More REDS units appeared around every corner, but the team had found their rhythm. Griff's current disruptor slowed the enemy bots, while Brock and Leesa picked them off with precision shots. The freed robots helped by pointing out shortcuts and warning them about security checkpoints.
"There!" Griff pointed ahead to a massive blast door marked with warning symbols. "Central Command Core - that's it!"
But as they approached, the corridor filled with the heavy footsteps of something much larger than the standard REDS units they'd been fighting.
A massive Guardian unit rounded the corner - easily twice the size of any REDS they'd encountered, with thicker armor and weapons that hummed with deadly energy.
The top of this massive Guardian unit was was like double-sized REDS guard bot. But once it got to the waist, that part rested on treads like a tank. It was an oversized REDS guard tank and it was covered in laser weapons. They were gonna have to fight an actual TANK!
"Warning," it announced in a voice like grinding metal. "Central command is restricted. Unauthorized organic life forms will be neutralized. Lethal force is authorized."
The Guardian's weapons began powering up with an ominous sound that seemed to vibrate through their bones.
"That thing's built for war," Brock said grimly.
Leesa grinned, spinning her plasma pistols. "Good. I was getting bored with the easy ones."
Griff nervously adjusted his weapon, adding one final modification that sparked. "I really hope this works on something that big..."
"Only one way to find out," Brock said, raising his rifle.
The Guardian's weapons finished charging, bathing the corridor in deadly red light.
"Neutralization commencing," it announced, and opened fire.
The three friends dove for cover as energy blasts scorched the walls where they'd been standing.
It blasted holes in the floor and walls. The kids and their two new bot friends scattered and ducked down different hallways, wondering how they were going to stop a bot-tank from blowing everything to smithereens.
THE END