Dinochrome

Laumer, Keith. "Dinochrome" (vt. "Combat Unit"). F&SF as "Combat Unit" Nov. 1960. Coll. Nine by Laumer. Also coll. Bolo. New York: Berkley/Putnam, 1976.

"A Mark XXXI Combat Unit is the finest fighting machine the ancient wars of the Galaxy have ever known," and this one tells us in a first-person narrative: "I am not easily neutralized" (Nine by Laumer 74-75). He isn't, as we see—as the Narrator takes command (81) and leads his "brothers" back to consciousness, perhaps turning the tide in a war that has reduced the cultures of both side "to a pre-atomic technological level in almost every respect" (83). See KL's Rogue Bolo collection of stories on AI tanks. (RDE, 07/05/01)