THE FALLEN EMPIRE
The flowing Mercury pushed them both down the prison corridor where they slammed against the rear wall of the ship.
Conner and Elise fell into a heap and the liquid held them there.
The liquid did not feel at all right against Conner's skin, it felt like millions of tiny feet were hitting his flesh, it gave him Goosebumps and he shuddered.
The liquid retracted back into Unum. The man then reached down to Mach and the liquid fed itself between through the panel gaps on the robot's body.
Unum stared into space as if concentrating on the liquid hand he had pushed into Mach’s body.
He then smiled and tore from within the robot a small orb.
Bits of metal and wiring flew out of the robot's chest.
“Conner he’s taken out Mach's personnel teleporter,” Elise said, she tried to sit up from her prone position on the floor but she was aching too much and slipped down again.
Conner also tried to stand, but he too was weak from hitting the wall. His knees gave way and he fell forward.
“To Rome,” the centurion said, and he disappeared in a flash of light.
Conner and Elise struggled up and limped towards Mach.
The only hint that Mach was operating was a dim glow behind his eyes.
“How do we switch him back on?” Conner asked.
Elise looked a the mess in the robot's chest that Unum Decimus had left behind.
“I don’t know he might had just destroyed Mach,” Elise said.
Conner looked over the robot's body for some sort of switch. He didn’t really expect to find one, what was the point of a Guard Robot that could be switched off so easily by its prisoners.
“Wait do you remember when he first crashed here?” Elise said.
“How could I forget,” Conner replied.
“Well we managed to set him right by reloading those discs back into his head.”
Conner went for the head.
He tried to lift it, but the robot was too heavy.
Elise joined him and they both struggled to raise the head off the floor.
The robot's head came off the ground a few centimetres, but then Conner and Elise had to let it go, the robot was too heavy.
“He weighs a ton,” Conner said.
Blog at that point came squirming forward, resting on Mach’s chest and looking down at the robot.
“Sorry boy,” Conner said.
Blog then moved to Mach’s head and squashed himself as flat as he would go until he could fit underneath.
Blog then started to expand and the pressure of his expanding goo like body started to raise the head off the gound.
“What’s he doing?” Elise asked.
“He’s helping us,” Conner said.
He waited with his hand poised behind the head for Blog to give him enough room to open the hatch on the back of the robot's head.
Blog had manged to push Mach’s head a foot off the ground.
Conner then opened the hatch, found a disc and took it out he then pushed it back in firmly.
The disc restarted the robot and Mach’s servos in his waist immediately made him sit bolt upright.
He starred into space then reached around and pulled Blog off his head like he was removing a piece of chewing gum from the floor.
He patted Blog on the head and the blob of goo smiled.
“We are in trouble,” he said.
Conner and Elise moved around to face the robot.
“Why,” Elise asked.
“Unum Decimus is the most dangerous prisoner I have on this ship,” Mach said.
Unum Decimus was standing on top of a crumbling monument. It was all that remained of the Basilica Julia, a grand building built by his commanding officer and mentor, Julius Caesar. This building was once the centre of the empire.
Now the only thing that remained was a rotten, weed infested pillar.
It had once formed part of the Forum Romanum, an area in the centre of the city crowded with important monuments and civic buildings.
Parades, trials, speeches and gladiatorial combat had once been held here to the glory of Rome.
Now it was a ruin.
Unum Decimus was angry at what had happened to his beloved empire.
As he looked down he saw people admiring the ruins dressed in odd clothes and holding strange alien devices that flashed as they were pointed at the fallen buildings.
Much had changed, maybe too much. Wherever he looked he saw unfamiliar sights. Chariots that raced through the city without horses to guide them. Little black boxes that people talked too while holding them to their ears. Buildings made of glass and oddly dressed people admiring broken down walls where once decisions had been made that effected the entire world.
A God that seemed far more powerful than his own gods had taken over the city. He didn't see anyone who seemed to remembered the days of the empire, celebrated them or behaved as though they were a citizen of Rome.
There was no hope of rebuilding the empire, only avenging its destruction.
Suddenly there was a flash of light from behind him.
He turned and saw a boy smiling oddly and looking at him. The boy pocketed an orb just like his. He was wearing glowing green gauntlets on his arms.
“Hello, I’m here to help you, I'm Luke,” the boy said.
Unum frowned.
“Pardon?”
The boy sighed. “You know who Snorflag is yes?” the boy asked.
Unum did know who Snorfalg was, a creature made by Vulcan himself, a being of fire and molten rock.
“He brainwashed me into helping all escaped aliens from the Guard Robot’s ship,” Luke explained.
“I’m not an alien boy I come from Earth,” Unum replied.
“But you are an alien to someone somewhere,” the boy pointed out and waved his hands into the heavens.
Unum was taken aback by the boy’s logic, but he was right. Maybe he could be useful.
“Well then boy, first thing is first who is responsible for the fall of Rome?”
The boy blinked and rocked back on his feet, it seemed like that was a question he never expected to be asked.
"Well we studied this when I was in year five of school, Mrs Woodrow said it was the Gauls, Saxons, Arabs, Goths and barbarian tribes. Rome was sort of surrounded and attacked basically,"
Unum Decimus stood tall, breathed in and said, "well then it appears my enemy is the whole world."
Conner and Elise fell into a heap and the liquid held them there.
The liquid did not feel at all right against Conner's skin, it felt like millions of tiny feet were hitting his flesh, it gave him Goosebumps and he shuddered.
The liquid retracted back into Unum. The man then reached down to Mach and the liquid fed itself between through the panel gaps on the robot's body.
Unum stared into space as if concentrating on the liquid hand he had pushed into Mach’s body.
He then smiled and tore from within the robot a small orb.
Bits of metal and wiring flew out of the robot's chest.
“Conner he’s taken out Mach's personnel teleporter,” Elise said, she tried to sit up from her prone position on the floor but she was aching too much and slipped down again.
Conner also tried to stand, but he too was weak from hitting the wall. His knees gave way and he fell forward.
“To Rome,” the centurion said, and he disappeared in a flash of light.
Conner and Elise struggled up and limped towards Mach.
The only hint that Mach was operating was a dim glow behind his eyes.
“How do we switch him back on?” Conner asked.
Elise looked a the mess in the robot's chest that Unum Decimus had left behind.
“I don’t know he might had just destroyed Mach,” Elise said.
Conner looked over the robot's body for some sort of switch. He didn’t really expect to find one, what was the point of a Guard Robot that could be switched off so easily by its prisoners.
“Wait do you remember when he first crashed here?” Elise said.
“How could I forget,” Conner replied.
“Well we managed to set him right by reloading those discs back into his head.”
Conner went for the head.
He tried to lift it, but the robot was too heavy.
Elise joined him and they both struggled to raise the head off the floor.
The robot's head came off the ground a few centimetres, but then Conner and Elise had to let it go, the robot was too heavy.
“He weighs a ton,” Conner said.
Blog at that point came squirming forward, resting on Mach’s chest and looking down at the robot.
“Sorry boy,” Conner said.
Blog then moved to Mach’s head and squashed himself as flat as he would go until he could fit underneath.
Blog then started to expand and the pressure of his expanding goo like body started to raise the head off the gound.
“What’s he doing?” Elise asked.
“He’s helping us,” Conner said.
He waited with his hand poised behind the head for Blog to give him enough room to open the hatch on the back of the robot's head.
Blog had manged to push Mach’s head a foot off the ground.
Conner then opened the hatch, found a disc and took it out he then pushed it back in firmly.
The disc restarted the robot and Mach’s servos in his waist immediately made him sit bolt upright.
He starred into space then reached around and pulled Blog off his head like he was removing a piece of chewing gum from the floor.
He patted Blog on the head and the blob of goo smiled.
“We are in trouble,” he said.
Conner and Elise moved around to face the robot.
“Why,” Elise asked.
“Unum Decimus is the most dangerous prisoner I have on this ship,” Mach said.
Unum Decimus was standing on top of a crumbling monument. It was all that remained of the Basilica Julia, a grand building built by his commanding officer and mentor, Julius Caesar. This building was once the centre of the empire.
Now the only thing that remained was a rotten, weed infested pillar.
It had once formed part of the Forum Romanum, an area in the centre of the city crowded with important monuments and civic buildings.
Parades, trials, speeches and gladiatorial combat had once been held here to the glory of Rome.
Now it was a ruin.
Unum Decimus was angry at what had happened to his beloved empire.
As he looked down he saw people admiring the ruins dressed in odd clothes and holding strange alien devices that flashed as they were pointed at the fallen buildings.
Much had changed, maybe too much. Wherever he looked he saw unfamiliar sights. Chariots that raced through the city without horses to guide them. Little black boxes that people talked too while holding them to their ears. Buildings made of glass and oddly dressed people admiring broken down walls where once decisions had been made that effected the entire world.
A God that seemed far more powerful than his own gods had taken over the city. He didn't see anyone who seemed to remembered the days of the empire, celebrated them or behaved as though they were a citizen of Rome.
There was no hope of rebuilding the empire, only avenging its destruction.
Suddenly there was a flash of light from behind him.
He turned and saw a boy smiling oddly and looking at him. The boy pocketed an orb just like his. He was wearing glowing green gauntlets on his arms.
“Hello, I’m here to help you, I'm Luke,” the boy said.
Unum frowned.
“Pardon?”
The boy sighed. “You know who Snorflag is yes?” the boy asked.
Unum did know who Snorfalg was, a creature made by Vulcan himself, a being of fire and molten rock.
“He brainwashed me into helping all escaped aliens from the Guard Robot’s ship,” Luke explained.
“I’m not an alien boy I come from Earth,” Unum replied.
“But you are an alien to someone somewhere,” the boy pointed out and waved his hands into the heavens.
Unum was taken aback by the boy’s logic, but he was right. Maybe he could be useful.
“Well then boy, first thing is first who is responsible for the fall of Rome?”
The boy blinked and rocked back on his feet, it seemed like that was a question he never expected to be asked.
"Well we studied this when I was in year five of school, Mrs Woodrow said it was the Gauls, Saxons, Arabs, Goths and barbarian tribes. Rome was sort of surrounded and attacked basically,"
Unum Decimus stood tall, breathed in and said, "well then it appears my enemy is the whole world."
