Free Mechanical by Bruno Flexer

dagger-like fingers ready. Then, the Serpent pounced the thirty feet separating it from the Hummer. It landed right in front of the vehicle and actually hissed, making Tom recoil.
                Next, Tom felt nothing but admiration for the Hummer's driver, invisible inside the Hummer's reflective windows. Instead of ducking down, hands on head and whimpering, like Tom himself would have done had he found himself confronted with a black machine monster standing in front of his jeep and ready to tear it apart, the driver gunned the engine and the Hummer sprang straight at Ramirez.
                Tom thought he heard one surprised grunt coming from Ramirez before the Hummer crashed straight into the Serpent. With a deafening screeching of metal, the Serpent was thrown on its back, and the Hummer drove straight over it to the accompaniment of an incredible cacophony of tearing noises and a shower of sparks.
                An instant later, the Hummer drove on and Ramirez slowly rose, his Serpent smeared with black machine oil and dirt. Ramirez immediately took off after the Hummer but the truck had too big an advantage. It finished its circle and returned to its starting place before Ramirez's Serpent. It even greeted the Marine Corps lieutenant upon his return with three cheerful honks.
                If I were the Hummer's driver, I'd watch my steps back inside the base, thought Tom, seeing the look Ramirez threw the Hummer. But Tom also envied Ramirez a little. The Marine Corps lieutenant’s control and integration with his Serpent was much better, judging by his first pounce.
                "I'll give this another try, Sir," Ramirez whispered.
                "No, Lieutenant. Each of you gets one shot at a mission at a time," Captain Emerson said.
                Tom had been busy testing the black fingers of his Serpent's right hand. It had taken quite a beating in the tumble, and now Tom folded and opened the fingers one by one. The long black fingers, each tapering to a sharp point, worked flawlessly. The wrist joint seemed unharmed as well, turning and allowing the hand to revolve without a hitch. The elbow, too, seemed undamaged, allowing the arm its normal range of movement. Every motion was accompanied by the precise humming of the electric motors inside the Serpent, their subtle working noise perfectly synchronized.
                Tom focused his sensors on his right arm, making them traverse the surface inch by inch. Though covered by dirt and superficially scratched, the black armor was unharmed even though the right hand and arm had borne the brunt of Tom's tumble, taking on the weight of the one-thousand-five-hundred-pound personal battle tank and showing barely a scratch. It’s impressive.
                "Lieutenant Riley, assume position."
                Tom touched the diagnostics icon on the diagnostic computer. A schematic drawing of the Serpent appeared. Tom flicked through several schematics showing structural integrity, power conduits, engines status, sensor operability, and life support status. Everything was green.
                Tom snapped his head up. The Hummer had just now returned to its place, honking one long mournful note.
                "Lieutenant, keep your mind on the mission and not on the Serpent's computers."
                "Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir, it won't happen again." Tom said, a little taken aback. It wasn't like him, to ignore a mission, even if it was just a training mission.
                "You failed the mission by default, Lieutenant Riley," Captain Emerson said without a trace of anger. "Sergeant Jebadiah, you're up."
                "But—" Tom guiltily watched Sergeant Jebadiah run. A little wonderingly, he noticed he could hear a high-pitched whine slowly increasing in volume. Sergeant Jebadiah's power core, Tom