by Clyde Jones

In the final decades of the 19th century, the serene belief that Man was the supreme being in the immediate solar neighborhood was shattered by the onslaught of Martian civilization and it’s war like “people”. Following the “defeat” of the Martians by “Mankinds little friends” the leaders of the surviving populace began a program of analysis, reconstruction, and revenge - aimed at taking the War back to the Martians. The first step was to replicate the Martians War Machines with local technology and materials to defend the Earth in case of another Martian attack.

After several years of intense work, the Red Bot began operational trials in both the American Southwest and several European areas. It included in its design a sealed shell to protect the human operator from the Martians war gasses and heat rays, as well as a compacted “heat ray generator” using an ingenious modification by Nicola Tesla which increased the weapon's range while reducing it’s size. Indeed the ‘Green Ray of Death’ that resulted was rather superior to the Martians' original.

Due to the limitations of Terrestrial technology the Red Bot uses five legs rather than the Martian’s preferred three. This provided easier control, as well as redundancy. (Several Martian Tripods were destroyed by Spanish Cabeleros using hand grenades tied together as ‘bolos’ which together were capable of destroying or severely damaging a leg of a Martian machine.)

Trials continue, as of this writing.

The Model

The model evolved from a plastic egg, a fishing float, 5 left legs from AT-STs, lots of spring ‘cables’, parts from portable games, and 5 ‘jewels’ from old time christmas lights. Included are several LEDs, a giant Green one for the ‘Death Ray’, red and blue for - er - sensors, and others flickering in different colors for marker lights on the ‘test vehicle’. The paint is “Screaming Red” car paint from a rattle can.

Image: Lights on

Image: Right side