The Second Renaissance:

Fire Base 134D

By: SilverDeath Note: I don't own the movie "The Matrix" I'm just a simple poor writer who has nothing worth of value to anybody, and besides if I did own the movie I sure as heck wouldn't be here typing out a fan fiction.

Another Note: This piece of fiction is set during "The Second Renaissance" the age where man and machine made war on each other and ended with the eventual victory of the machines. It is based on the anime short "The Second Renaissance", which is one of nine short flicks collected and stored on the Animatrix.

Access Zion historic archives number 4562-2D:

In the beginning, there was man and for a while it was good,

Then man, made machine and shaped it in his own image,

Little did man know he has become the architect for his own demise.

Firebase 134D, located on the outskirts of New York City, one of the last remaining centers of human resistance left on the earth.

The firebase layout was really three rings of trenches and bunkers surrounding a 10 meter tall steel fortress, inside are various buildings including: a hospital, barracks, armories, airfield, command center, various religious buildings, a power station, communication station and a host of other buildings around the base.

The machines are moving closer and closer to the base, most of mankind has already fallen. The sky has been darkened but to no real effect. Well, except now humans were being used as batteries.

The machines are all but unstoppable, nuclear weaponry is completely useless against the robots since heat and radiation has no effect on the strong steel body chassis.

Hope is all but lost, morale is low, suicide is commonplace and desertion is high.

"-And earlier today Firebase 245D has fallen to the machine menace, the city of Chicago is now in the hands of these mechanical beasts-"

Click

"The US 7th army has finally been overwhelmed by the machines at Firebase 45A despite a heroic effort to-"

Click

"Let us all pray to our lord almighty to deliver us from this plague, pray to him to strike down these steel daemons and let us also pray for the souls of the lost and-"

Click

"Damn, we're all going to die in the next few days and I can't even enjoy those last few days with television."

Private Jonathan Wilson stood up from his seat and turned off the television and exited the nearly deserted barracks and headed for the nearby pub.

Once there he took a seat at the middle section of the bar and ordered a drink.

"Hey, its Willie! What's up you crazy asshole?" came a shout next to John.

"Hey Fernandez, not much, you still beat your wife? Replied Wilson.

"Ha! Very funny John at least I have a wife."

The two exchanged a few more insults and then finally ended their fight.

"Aye John, we're both going to be dead in a short while. I want you to know that it has been a pleasure serving with you."

"You too old friend"

The two toast with their beers and drank all the liquids down their throats.

"ATTENTION ALL PERSONALE REPORT TO BATTLE STATIONS I REPEAT, ALL PERSONALE REPORT TO BATTLE STATIONS" Came a call from a speaker box inside the pub.

Immediately everyone in the room began rushing out.

"Let's go Fernandez," said John

Without another word the two friends rushed outside of the building as alarms are being sounded and everywhere, pilots, soldiers, tank operators and other personal were moving in every direction.

Wilson and Fernandez quickly entered their barracks and began putting on their battle dress. And picked up their various equipment and weapons. They entered another room inside the barracks where about 200 others were assembled around a large screen.

Then the room fell silent as a large and bulky man approached the screen.

It was the company's commanding officer, Captain Schuler. Long rumored to be one of supposedly 3 survivors in the battle on the outskirts of Vienna. In any case the "old man" as the troopers call him is a rough son of a bitch who is respected but not liked amongst his men.

"Good morning gentlemen. as you are all quite aware now, the machines are coming in a lot sooner then we had originally thought so you all get to die a lot sooner." The Captain said.

"The machines are coming in every direction and will soon arrive in about 12 hours." Then as if by magic the screen turns itself on and reveals the layout of the base.

"We will be located here." He points to a long trench line located in the first ring of trenches around to the east of the base.

"When the signal is given (Jonathan immediately thought of some idiot who goes insane and charges into the machines.) We will charge out and engage the enemy, if something goes wrong another signal will be given and we will begin a tactical withdrawal (Again Jonathan thought of a mass of troopers running madly trying to get into the base) Back into the 2nd or 3rd line."

"Any questions? Good, let's move out"

In the trenches Jon sat in the mud, it was raining so he put on his helmet but lifted up his face visor. He looked around there was the rest of his squad sitting with the rest of the company. He looked upon the faces of all the men in his squad, they all had a sad empty expression.

He stood up and looked above the trenches, he could see several tanks moving up to some position he did not knew or cared about. He can also see men assembling various artillery weapons and even some of those new electricity cannons, which had proved very effective against the machines by short-circuiting the machine's electronic components

Too little too late at this point.

He could see some troopers taking drugs while others sat crying into their hands.

He could also see a group of Muslims bowing towards what he supposed was Mecca.

He looked into his own trench and could see a group of Buddish monks conversing with a group of men.

And lastly he saw Christian monks going about hearing men's confessions and trying to calm down frantic troopers.

A Christian reverend walked into the trenches and began a long sermon while scores of men surrounded him and knelt in the position of prayer.

Jonathan had no religion, well he was more of an agnostic since he never found time for god, or for that matter his own family and friends.

He took out a picture of his girlfriend or rather his dead girlfriend. She was beautiful, curly brown hair, a small nose, tanned skin, a cheery expression and those kind eyes.

His friends had always said he was lucky, that he didn't deserve her. And he probably didn't, he always took her for granted those little things like kissing her goodbye or saying I love you. Well it didn't matter now anyways, she was gone like everything else in his life. After her death he joined up with the army or rather what was left of it. Full of rage (and alcohol) he actually thought or dreamed that he alone could stop the machines, that with him in it the war would turn and everything would be back to the same.

Now he knew better, now he knew that humanity will lose and death is not far away. Of course he knew there could be a worst-case scenarios like becoming a battery for the machines.

He put his picture away and looked at his watch, 10 more hours until they come. Jonathan sat against the trench wall and closed his eyes, thoughts of depression slowly slipped away.

9 hours later.

Something hit him. He woke up and found Fernandez staring back at him.

"Come on you ass the machines are coming get your gun and get ready."

Wilson sprang into action, grabbing his T-17 assault rifle and looked over the trench.

He saw a mass of metal heading towards them, and many small explosions from previously buried mines as well as concentrated artillery fire, missile attacks and bombing runs from aircraft.

He flip down his visor and turned on one of the special feature of his visor, he saw the metal monsters up close and personal. He saw the various different humanoid robots carrying old human weapons. Also amongst the robots were large spider-like robots called Spiders (Duh) there was also large floating pyramid like objects featuring large energy cannons. There were also swarms of sentinels.

And they were advancing closer and closer.

Then he heard a voice coming in his helmet.

"All units advance, I repeat advance on the machines."

With a great battle cry he hurled himself over the trench and charged into the mass of metal while firing aimlessly into the ranks.

And then battle was joined.

There was confusion and madness everywhere, John fought his way through the madness and can eye to eye with one of the metallic beasts themselves. He stared at it and it looked back with cold red eyes. With a surge of strength he plunges the bayonet attached to his rifle into the belly of the beast and then with a pull of a trigger bullets are sent through its body and rips through, destroying key parts and circuits. The robot slid off the blade and fell on the ground eyes still shining.

John stared at it a few moments when he heard explosions near him, and he turned to see the wreckage of a tank. The destroyer was on top of it, a sentinel, its many tentacles ripping through the tank and its laser fire melting the tank armor.

It turned towards him, its many eyes glared. Then it flew itself towards him.

John fired off round after round of bullets, taking out a few eyes and some electronic parts. The robot crashed into the ground mere meters away from him. The machine tilted its bulbous head towards him and looked with its one eye left.

Wilson aimed his gun at it and squeezed off 3 rounds into its head.

He quickly reloaded his weapon and looked around, he could see men trying to stop the machines, many getting torn apart, vaporized, or melted. He looked to the skies and sees a hoard of the "mechas". Piloted by humans encased in armor and with two large machine guns attached to the arms they flew towards their targets, taking out sentinels, humanoids and with a concentration of fire even a spider.

He saw trio of tanks blow of the head of a spider with a concentration of firepower.

He saw one of those electric weapons fire a beam of light and stuns a group of humanoids while another gun stuns a giant spider.

Suddenly he heard a loud splashing noise behind him, he turned around and saw a man being torn to pieces by a spider. Two troopers rush to help him but the machine turned its head towards them and fires off a beam of energy and vaporized both of them. Then, with out looking one of its tentacles heads towards John.

"This is it, I'm going to die."

He closed his eyes for the thing to hit him and he heard a loud crackling of bone and armor. He didn't feel a thing, when he opened his eyes he saw Fernandez laying in a pool of blood in a crushed position. A mecha flies near the said spider and begins firing against it, taking its attention away.

In that time John rushed towards his friend's battered body.

"Oh shit.you all rig-" Then he realized the stupidity of his question and shut up.

Fernandez smiles, coughs and finally his body seemed to "collapses". John stood there not believing it happened. He checked for a pulse and found none. Rage filled him, he wanted to slay this thing, even if it killed him, as long as he killed this thing himself he can rest in peace. He looked around for something that can stop it.

He found it, a rocket launcher.

With it he is invincible, like a war god born anew, he took it and aimed for the monster that had slayed his friends and comrades. It was busy opening up the mecha and had its "ass" up in the air.

"Haha. up yours."

The rocket flew from the tube and rips into its "ass", tearing apart electronic parts and wires. Then the rocket explodes and parts of the body and head fly in every direction. Then the creature collapses.

It is done. Now he can die in peace. He drops the rocket launcher and falls to his knees.

He looked around and saw his men being slaughtered. Tanks were burning, mechas being pried opened, troopers getting torn apart. He looks back at the energy cannons only to see them blown to pieces by one of those flying pyramid things.

"All is lost."

He looks up and sees another spider powering up its energy weapon and aiming it towards him he closes his eyes. a couple of seconds later he disappears under a beam of light.

The base is lost, the machines move in and every last human is either eradicated of being collected for use as a power source.

The End.

How'd you like it? Well please review. Please excuse any grammar mistakes and the like, thank you.