MTs - Chapter Three (PG)

He left his quarters in costume and reached the landing pad as the ship arrived. It opened and poured MTs on to the hard surface. Gendrone after gendrone found its spot in formation and stood at attention. The clockwork precision of his warriors gave him great satisfaction. When every trooper was in place, MT-01 hurried over to the Sarvos imposter.

"All present and accounted for," MT-01 stated.

"Very good. Take them to the squad bay for repairs and cleaning," he replied as he studied his subordinate. The featureless battle helmet revealed nothing. "Make sure the M.A.I.M. Troopers are prepped for redeployment. We have work ahead of us."

The gendrone turned about and resumed command of the unit. The beat of their synchronized steps was all consuming as they marched away. When the last row was out of sight he walked up the large transport's ramp and into the cockpit. His hand opened to expose a tiny data card that he quickly inserted in a slot under the controls.

MT-01 watched from afar as his leader rushed out of the ship and towards the main base. He suspects something. Recalibrating his image receptors for standard distance, he joined the troopers in the service area. MT-01 gestured to MT-02, who nodded and repeated the motion to MT-03. In turn, MT-03 passed it along to MT-04. This continued until the last gendrone had received the signal.

Back in his room, he downloaded the information from the data card. On his way out of the spacecraft he noticed that the thrusters on two of the fighters glowed red from use. There was no documentation of their activity in the flight log he copied, however. It has been erased! MT-01 can no longer be trusted... He sprung out of his chair and into action, anxiously gathering the materials he required.

A small band of MTs stole down the hallway and silently approached the sealed hatch with phase arms drawn. The lead gendrone keyed in the code. It slid open and they stormed into the space, weapons blazing. Blast after blast tore into their creator until he was nothing but scrap metal scattered across the floor. The troopers methodically inspected the debris. The Sarvos suit was empty.