SWNOVELS Chapter CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Death of the Machines
Captain Manthey finally permitted himself to smile. Victory was within sight, for just ahead was the open clearing surrounded by the Ojibwe’s great hall and other buildings. He signaled to Jimmy, behind him with the mounted machine gun, to be ready to fire.
General Ron Williams gave the order to fire, and so all at once not only did huge flames gush forth from the lead drones, but rockets mounted on the ones just behind launched with a huge whooshing sound. Private Jimmy started firing, and bullets blasted towards the defenseless natives.
As this all began, newscaster Danny Roberts, appearing on the worldwide television cameras, took the liberty of taking a brief selfie of himself, broadcast worldwide at that moment, with a big “thumbs up” held in front of him.
The carnage was going to be terrific! Probably not a not a single tribesperson could possibly survive such an onslaught. Danny couldn’t wait!
Back in Chicago, Nora toasted a glass of champagne with her friends, the liberal ‘elite’ of the University of Chicago, and felt almost complete gladness. She actually found herself laughing, but it sounded much more like the witch’s cackle in The Wizard of Oz movie than that from a real woman’s throat-
Captain Roger Manthey was the first to feel his heart sink. His own light strike Growler vehicle, that had been running so strong and sure, suddenly just-froze. There was nothing gradual about it- it instantly stopped, throwing private Jimmy Patrick from his gun turret to the ground.
At the same moment, all of the drones stopped dead, and remained stock still, no engine sounds at all. More startling- the flames instantly died from the flame thrower weaponry, and the fast moving rockets not only stopped, they fell dead to the earth, impotent. Even the thousands of bullets shot from Private Jimmy’s machine gun, along with those shot from the drones so equipped, all just dropped harmlessly to the ground.
Suddenly, all Captain Manthey could hear were the sounds of the forest. Birds chirping, squirrels scampering through the trees, and the soft wind of summer amongst the pines. A woodpecker knocked on a distant tree- and that was all. Private Jimmy was unconscious on the ground, having struck his head on a tree.
“What the hell is going on, Manthey?!” demanded the angry voice of General Williams. “Where are the sounds of gunfire and explosions?!” ’And the sound of my presidential commendation?’ the General thought to himself.
“I’m not sure, General,” began Manthey. “All was going great, first blood was ready to be drawn with fire, when it all just- stopped!” And with that, the radio itself stopped working, along with every other machine of the white man.
There was no time to talk anyway, as a large group of tribespeople flowed through the trees, surrounding him and the unconscious Jimmy. The Ojibwe didn’t even look angry, they actually looked rather- happy. He recognized the gigantic form of Wulf ’the barbarian’ Gott, as the white youth kicked over a drone, and lifting another one up high above his head, smashed it to the ground. The Captain watched in disbelief, since he knew that drone weighed well over several hundred pounds, even without the missile launcher.
But, despite the incredible display of might by the Barbarian, only one figure truly dominated the scene. In the center of the village clearing stood a black man, or youth rather, dressed in native garb, and with glowing eyes of gold. Two eagles soared just above him, above the trees in the forest, and then the native black youth looked at him and gestured, and from his hand a golden beam of light shot into his eyes- and he knew no more.