"That's her?"
"Yes."
"Is the equipment ready?"
"It is."
"Then let's proceed."
Masked faces hovered over her, glaring down at her from behind featureless goggles. An overhead light bathed the room, wherever it was, and its occupants in green, giving them an odd, almost sinister look. She could see equipment in the room, but had no idea what any of it was. Where was she? She thought. What's going on? Who are these people?
A hand reached over, a mask in hand. The mask descended over her face, blocking out her vision. Everything went black.
"Begin the operation."
oOoOo
Red Claw
oOoOo
Althiea sat up in bed, breathing quickly as if she was in shock. She looked around for a moment, taking in her surroundings. It was a room, rather plain and unadorned. Weak, early-morning light came in from a single window, currently covered by curtains. It was her room, she realised. Her room in the home she shared in her town.
"It was just a nightmare." She said to herself. "Just that same one again."
She'd had that particular nightmare several times before. Each time it jarred her awake with shock and fear. Why, she couldn't say. She had no idea what it was meant to be about and why it frightened her so much.
She glanced over at the clock by her bed. Nearly time to get up anyway, she thought. She stepped out of bed, her long grey nightgown almost reaching the floor. Padding quietly across the small rug and onto the cold floor, she went over to the mirror to check herself as she had a habit of doing after that nightmare. A part of her just wanted to reassure herself that everything was normal.
She looked fine. A slim attractive face framed by long, black hair and dark brown, almost black eyes that contrasted with her pale skin. No, she thought, everything looked normal. Why do I always get so worried after that nightmare, she wondered. What is it? Who are those people? Should I know who they are?
A knock on her door snapped her out of it. "Ali? Are you awake?" It was Sarah, her housemate and best friend. While less then ten years older then Ali, Sarah had taken her in and looked after her after her parents had died ten years ago. Althiea had been only ten at the time, Sarah a bit over twenty, yet she'd managed to take care of her and bring her up.
"Yes." She replied. "What's up?"
"Mr N'Buta is here." She began.
"Oh!" She'd forgotten what day it was. "Tell him I'll be out in a minute."
oOoOo
Five minutes later she stepped out of the room. Dressed in a long, loose-fitting charcoal-grey dress with her hair tied back into a pair of long braids then bound with a pair of cloth bands. Adding her mother's pennant around her neck (a small, dull-green stone that had been cut into a smooth oval), she was trying to look as presentable as possible. "Sorry to keep you." She began nervously.
Sarah stepped into the small living room, a mug of hot tea in each hand. "Don't apologise to me", she began as she handed Ali one of the mugs. Of average height, blond haired and blue eyed, she couldn't have looked too much more different from Ali. "Apologise to him."
Ali turned to see Adam N'Buta sitting on one of the chairs in the living room. He was a solidly built man in his mid fourties with dark brown skin and short hair. One of the oldest men in the town, he was also very strong and fit by anyone's standards. "Good morning, Ali." He began. She'd known him for years, becoming his student of sorts. Today was going to be a very big day for both of them.
"I'm so sorry, Mr N'Buta." She stammered out. "I should have been ready."
"No need to worry." He said. "I'm a bit early, actually. Sit down, please." The three of them sat around the small table in the middle of the living room that was usually used for meals. "I've got your application with me here." He said, patting one of his shirt pockets. "I'm sure that they'll be interested in it."
"Thank you again for this opportunity." She replied. "I don't know what I would have done without you." Ali had a fascination for all things mechanical and electronic. Adam, the town's top mechanic had taken her in as an apprentice of sorts, teaching her a lot of what he'd known He'd been surprised at how quickly she'd picked the basics up, and soon she was his partner, helping him with all manner of jobs. There was only one thing that she wasn't allowed to help him with, and she hoped that after today, that would change.
"Not that I'm criticising your fashion sense, Ali." Sarah began. "But do you really think that a long, loose dress is the best thing to be wearing for repair work? Especially today."
"She won't be actually doing any of the work." Adam explained. "Rather she'll be watching what we're doing, learning by observation. That should impress the other techs enough for them to consider her application."
"Ah." Sarah replied. "So today you stand around and look beautiful. You've got that much covered." Sarah smiled. It was their little joke.
She sipped her tea. "Do you think they'll have a full technical team with them?"
"Probably." Adam replied. "They've been speeding up the maintenance jobs of late. Apparently, they want to have as many towns as possible ready to defend themselves if needs be."
"Any reason?" Sarah asked. "It's not like we're close to any borders."
"There's been a rise in bandit activity nearby." He replied. "And several of the independent city states have been rather reluctant to do anything about them."
Ali nodded. "So the pressure falls on us because we're in the front line."
"We're well out of the way of where the attacks have been mostly occurring." He continued. "But it's good to make sure." He finished off his tea. "You ready to go?"
oOoOo
The town of Sun Hill was pretty typical of small towns in the region, hot and dry, but far from uninhabitable, it was primarily a farming community built near a steady, reliable water supply. Like most towns in the area, it had only existed for about fourty years. Most of the buildings were originally built out of prefabricated components giving the town a rather bland and uniform look. later owners had addressed the situation somewhat by decorating their homes, trying to give them some degree of individuality.
One particular building stood out amongst the others. As big as a large house, it stood separately to all the others. Made form reinforced concrete, one of its walls consisted of a large metal door. Unlike so many other buildings in the town, it was featureless and unadorned.
Althiea and Adam stood outside the building, waiting patiently. Under normal circumstances, only a handful of people had access to this building. Ali had never been inside, but knew what was inside there. "I've been looking forward to this for some time." She began, nervously. "I'm glad you chose me for this."
"You've been a great help to me over the last few years." Adam replied. "Given time, I think you could be a better technician then I ever could."
"Me?" She said.
"That's right." He replied. "That's why I wanted you to be here. If they're impressed with your technical knowledge, and it would be hard for them not to be, then you could be in line for a good job with the Imperial army."
"The Imperial Army?" She replied. "That would mean a lot to me."
A lone figure approached the pair of them. He was tall, with a build that could be described as 'lanky', with short red hair, blue eyes and a face that seemed to be a mess of freckles. The ornate red uniform he wore added some much needed bulk to his frame that otherwise seemed to consist entirely of knees and elbows. "Good morning." He began, nodding to Adam. He then noticed Althiea, and hastily stammered out another "good morning."
Ali nodded to him. Like her, Gary Shea was in like for a job with the Imperial Army, but as a warrior rather then a technician. A native of Sun Hill, he had joined the army and somehow made it past their physical exams. Now he had returned to his home town as its officially designated Protector as a form of in the field training before becoming a full-blown Knight of the Empire. This hadn't changed him much from the spindly, shy youth that she'd known, however. "How are you today, Gary?"
"G-good, thank you." He managed to get out.
"Althiea is applying to the Imperial Army as a technician." Adam began. "She'll be watching today's inspection."
Althiea nodded, then turned towards the western edge of town. A trio of huge shapes had appeared on the horizon, slowly moving towards the town. "That looks like them now." She began.
oOoOo
On a ridge overlooking the town, another woman watched the town through a pair of binoculars. She zoomed in on the hardened concrete bunker in the middle of the town. It was exposed and open, and would be rather easy to get to from any approach into the town. She was of average height with a muscular build, with olive skin, dark eyes and short black hair. She was wearing a grey dress uniform, consisting of a jacket and slacks, with white striping on the sleeves and pants legs.
A communicator earpeice beeped, indicating an incoming message. "Jenice here." She began. "What is it?"
"It's Towne." The woman on the other end replied. "The convoy is approaching the town on schedule."
She turned towards the plains to the west of the town to see three shapes were moving along the road. Bringing up the binoculars, she quickly identified them. "Garius, Elephantus, Tank... And what looks like a personnel carrier unit. So the information was right." She'd been planning this operation for a while now. While she could have done it on a day when the Imperial forces weren't there, she had wanted to wait until they were. That way she could send a message.
She puled out a larger palm-top communicator. "Okay, listen up men. Drake, I want you to take out the Tank on my signal. Bart, wait for me, then advance into the town on my signal. Towne, Gwen, wait on standby if I need you."
"And what about us, boss?" A guttural voice came across the communicator.
"You two will remain in position until I signal you." She replied. "And I will need you."
"Heh." The voice replied. "You sure know how to make us happy."
That's because you're greedy, stupid and easily to manipulate, she thought. She knew her men well, knew what they were like and what they were capable of. She turned to look back at Zoid waiting behind her. Soon, she thought. Soon we will show them.
oOoOo
Even though she'd seen them several times, Ali couldn't help but be impressed by the approaching Zoids. The Garius was tall and slender, with a vaguely humanoid shape offset by its long tail. The Zoid carried a long spear in one hand and a shield in the other, the empire's crest emblazoned on it. The Elephantus walked on four legs and had large ears, indicative of its ancestral Elephant form. A pair of beam cannons resembled the tusks, while it also carried a manned gun platform on the back. The Tank didn't resemble any form of animal; instead it had a rectangular body that rode on four board wheels and a long neck. It was towing an armoured trailer behind it.
The three of them stopped short of the building, the Tank puling up ahead of them. A single man stepped out of the tank, wearing an elaborate red and blue uniform with a polished silver chest and shoulder armour and helmet. "Captain Pieter Vander, third Imperial Grenadiers." He began, and saluted.
"Squire Gary Shea, Protector of Sun Hill." Gary answered, saluting back.
"Good to see you, boy." The captain replied. "I can see you're doing a great job of looking after this place. We'll make a proper knight out of you yet." He stepped past him and over to Adam. "Good to see you again, Adam."
"You too, Pieter." Adam replied. "This is Althiea, my apprentice that I was telling you about." He took a letter out of his jumpsuit pocket. "This is her application."
He took the letter, examined it and then put it in his pocket. "Pleased to meet you." He extended a hand to her. "Adam has told me a lot about you."
"Thank you, sir." She replied. "It's an honor to meet you."
"Right." he began, turning back to the hanger. "Let's take a look at this thing."
Adam opened up a smaller door in the main hanger door. The four of them stepped inside, into a large, open space. A Spiker filled most of the hanger, the huge Zoid's head near the roof. Alithiea had known about the town's Zoid, but had never seen it up close before. Its insectoid design was strange, almost alien compared to the Garius and Elphantus that she was more used to seeing. She'd read a lot about the different Zoid types used by the various powers in the Shelflands, becoming familiar with their designs and capabilities. However, she had seen very few types in person.
"She looks to be in good shape." Pieter began. "You've obviously taken care of her. But, well, official rules and all."
"Sure thing." Adam replied.
"If you'll excuse me for a second." Pieter stepped outside of the hanger. Althiea knew what was going on here. The Zoid was technically the property of the Imperial army. Every month they needed to inspect it to make sure that it was in full working order. Additionally they would check its logs to make sure that there had not been any unauthorised use of the Zoid. All use of it was normally logged by the pilot, so if anyone else had used it, the Zoid's data would show that use.
Pieter returned a few minutes later, followed by a trio of technicians. The three of them moved over to the Spiker and began work on it, inspecting its various systems. "I want you to watch them closely." Adam began. "Take note of everything they do. You can learn a lot from them."
Ali nodded, then turned to watch the Sinker's maintenance in progress. From what she could see form the various opened maintenance hatches, it was a far more complex machine then anything she'd ever seen before. At the same time, however, she was already getting some idea of how the Zoid worked. I think I can manage this, she thought as she watched them work. Its just another machine, albeit bigger and more complex.
Pieter's personal communicator beeped. "Just a second." He began as he picked it up. "Go ahead" He began. "What? You're sure?" He looked around. "Here?" There was a brief pause. "Very well. I'll tell him." He put down the communicator and turned to Gary. "The Tank has spotted an unidentified Zoid approaching the town at high speed. It's not responding to our requests to identify itself. I want you to suit up and join the others."
"Me sir?" Gary asked, nervously.
"Yes, you." He replied. "You're the protector of this town. It's your task to defend it from attacks." Pieter laid a hand on Gary's shoulder. "Besides, this will be a great learning experience. You do want to be a Knight of the Empire, don't you?"
"Yes sir!" He snapped off as he saluted. Suddenly enthused, he scrambled up the access way and leaped into the Zoid's cockpit. The Technicians moved away from the Zoid as he activated its systems. As soon as the door was open, the mantis-like Zoid walked out, joining the other two.
"You two stay here." Pieter shouted. "It's the safest place in the whole town right now."
As if to prove him wrong, a high-pitched whistling noise came out of the sky. A pair of shells struck the side of the hanger, sending chunks of concrete flying in all directions. "I'm not staying in here!" Althiea shouted over the sound of the blast. "Maybe they won't attack anything else!"
"Wait-" Adam began, but before he could say anything there was another explosion that shook the building, knocking them both over.
Picking herself up, Althiea ran out the opened hanger door without thinking about what she was doing. All she knew was that she had to get away from there as quickly as possible. She didn't have any idea where she was going, so long as it was away from the explosions. As she ran, she heard another blast behind her. Stopping for a moment, she could see that the shelter had been holed, something inside it burning.
The Tank Zoid rolled away form the shelter, trailing the troop transport behind it. Suddenly the Zoid rocked on its wheels, a gout of flame and smoke coming form its side. The other three Zoids stood surprised for a moment, before they started running, scattering away from the disabled Tank.
She glanced around, looking for some sign of the attacker, but saw none. "A sniper?" She asked herself. There were specialised sniper Zoids, but they were relatively rare. What would one be doing all the way out here, she thought.
"Look out!" Somebody shouted as they ran past her. Turning, she could se another Zoid entering the town. The new arrival was far larger than any of the others, and had a quadruped frame. Its shape was suggestive of one of the Liger or Tiger designs, but its configuration was completely unfamiliar to her. The armour was bright red with a white trim, and its canopy "eyes" were a bright green colour, with a large green dome on top. A pair of large shields covered most of its forelegs, while a pair of large beam cannons rode on its back.
She watched, fascinated by this strange new Zoid as it charged towards the town's defenders. The Elephantus, the closest of them, opened fire with its chin and back cannons. The shots bounced off the Liger's leg shields as the Zoid charged, replying with its dual back cannons. The shots hit the Elephantus, tearing into the lightly armored Zoid. The two legs on the right side were torn apart, the small Zoid collapsing on the ground.
No sooner was the Elephantus down then the Liger turned to the Garius. The smaller Zoid bravely stood its ground, holding its shield across its body while sticking the spear out in the hope of catching the Liger on its charge. The Liger leaped at the smaller Zoid, its claws glowing a brilliant golden colour as it went. The claws sliced straight through the shield and spear, then tore the Garius' body in half. The Liger landed behind the Garius, already running as the other Zoid's mangled wreckage hit the ground.
Seeing the destruction of the other two Zoids, the Spiker broke into a run, it's long, slender legs trying to carry it away from its opponent as quickly as possible while still firing. The shots hit the Liger's flank but didn't do any apparent damage. In response, the Liger turned towards the Spiker, snarling at it.
Althiea realied that Gary was inside the cockpit of the Zoid. He must have known that he was facing a far more capable opponent then him, as the Spiker turned away form the Liger and broke into a high-speed run, trying to get away as fast as possible. The Liger chased after it, clearly much faster. Ignoring the Spiker's efforts to take it down, the Liger leaped over the cannon fire and bought down its armoured paw on the Spiker's head. The whole Zoid tipped forwards, the head crushed under the weight of the Liger landing on it.
"No!" She shouted. She was hoping that somehow, Gary had survived that, even though she knew it was clearly impossible. The Liger turned to look at her, as if it had heard her shout.
oOoOo
Jenice looked at the wreckage of the Spiker, and then at the other two Zoids. Now the town was defenseless, she thought. Perfect. She checked over the Zoid's status board, checking the damage indicators. Everything looked to be fine, save for a small amount of armour that was lost to the Elephantus and Spiker's beam guns. It was nothing substantial, and could be easily ignored for the moment.
She activated her communicator. "Bart, move in." She began. "I'll meet you outside the library."
"Sure thing, boss." The voice on the other end began. "What do you want me to do for salvage?"
"Take the Tank, it's mostly intact." She replied. "If you have the time, pick up the others for parts."
"Heh... you really know how to make a mess of 'em, boss." He replied. "I'll be there in a moment."
Looking out of the viewscreen, she could see the empty streets, leading back to the ruined hanger. The streets were deserted, save for a single woman in a black dress. "Well, if she's not smart enough to run to cover, that's her problem." The Liger broke into a run, heading straight down the street. Abruptly, it stopped right in front of the woman.
"What?" She shouted. "What are you doing?" She pushed the Liger's throttle, but the Zoid refused to movie, and instead roared angrily. "What's wrong with you?"
oOoOo
As she watched, the Liger turned towards her and then came charging down the street. She looked around for somewhere to hide, somewhere to run to, but couldn't see anything. The huge Zoid charged at her, then abruptly stopped.
"What..." She began. "What's happening? What's it doing?"
The Liger snarled, then roared out loud, shaking its head around. Then, as abruptly as it had stopped, it turned to the right and leaped away from her, heading off down a side street.
Althiea watched it as it ran, heading towards the center of town. It was then that she noticed a second Zoid approaching the town from the same direction that the Liger had come from. It was a Gustav, with a dark red shell and a yellowish-green body. One of its two trailers was an open flatbed, the other one looked to be a transport like the one used by the Tank Zoid. The Liger stopped outside the town library, waiting for the Gustav to join it.
Curious as to what they were doing, and determined to find out more about these attackers, she ran after the Liger. As she approached, the Gustav pulled up next to the Liger and stopped, the rear of the transport module opening up. She ducked behind a building, watching cautiously from around a corner to see what was happening.
A squadron of soldiers ran out of the Gustav's trailer. They wore simple desert-coloured fatigues and helmets, the lower halves of their faces covered by cloth masks. The squad entered the library, then the Gustav moved on. Determined to find out what was going on, Alitheia slipped into the library through a rear entrance.
Glancing around nervously, she could see a number of soldiers going through the records section. For the most part they were ferreting though draws or in the case of the few digital records available, quickly scanning the contents of the disks and discarding the ones they didn't want. What are they after, she wondered. What's so important that they attacked the town and the Imperial knights for?
"Over there!" A soldier shouted. he swung his bulky snub-nosed rifle at her and opened fire. The shots went wide, tearing up the shelf next to her in a cloud of splinters and shredded paper. Desperately trying not to panic, she ducked out the back door of the library again. She could hear voices inside shouting, with someone trying to give orders over the rest of the confusion.
The door creaked open as a soldier, presumably the same one that had spotted her earlier, stepped out of the library. Before he spotted her, she grabbed him and swung him around, shoving his face into the wall. He dropped his rifle and stumbled back from the wall, clutching his nose. Seeing her chance, she kicked at his calf, tripping him up.
As he went down, she grabbed his rifle and pointed it at him. She'd never held a gun before, let alone pointed it at someone. The weight and bulk of the rifle made it heavy and uncomfortable in her hands. "Who are you?" She shouted. "Why are you here?" She hoped that he wouldn't try anything too rash.
"Don't shoot!" He replied nervously. "I- I don't know anything! I was just told to come here and look for stuff in the library."
"What were you looking for?" She asked, angrily. "And who sent you?"
"Maps!" he said. "Geological survey maps and things like that. I don't know why! I'm just new at this!"
"Who sent you?" She shouted again.
"We're a gang, sorta. More like an army!" He shouted. "Look, a guy asked me if I wanted to make some money fast." Looking at what she could see of his face, he looked young, probably younger then she was. "He took me to a warehouse where there was a whole bunch of other guys. They told us that we were in a private army, the Red Claw or something like that."
"Where was this?" She said. "Where did you come from?"
"Freedom." He replied, hastily. Freedom was a large independent city-state in the empire's south-eastern provinces. Situated in the middle of nowhere, it was supposed to be a completely self-sufficient, with no need for anything from the outside world. "Look, I've told you everything I know."
Ali stepped back form him. "Go now!" She shouted, then leveled the gun at him. "Go on!"
The soldier nervously got to his feet, then ran back to the library. Realising that this may be a good time to leave, she took the rifle's clip and then dumped the rest of the weapon in a waste bin.
oOoOo
Jenice sat in the cockpit of her Zoid, drumming her fingers on the control panel. As far as she could tell, there was nothing wrong with its systems. The Zoid had simply not wanted to go any further down the street, regardless of what she told it. Why, she couldn't tell. Maybe it had decided that it didn't want to kill the girl in the black dress for some reason, but she couldn't think why. As soon as they got back to base, she'd have to give it a thorough examination.
"Commander!" A voice on her communicator grabbed her attention. "This is Parkes. We've found the information you were after."
"Excellent." She replied. "Wait for the Gustav to return, then we'll move out." She closed the channel and opened up a new one. "Bart, what's your status?"
"Well," he began in a slow drawl. "I've loaded the tank and the mince of the others. I'm ready to roll as soon as you are."
"Good. Pick up the troops and then get out of here."
"Sure thing, boss." He replied.
Switching channels again, she opened up al ink to her reserve troops. "Harry, Malcom, listen up. As soon as we're clear of the town I want you two to open fire. Cover our retreat and give the Imperial troops something else to think about rather then pursuing us.
"Heh." Came a guttural voice on the end. "Sure thing, boss."
"Just do it." She replied.
oOoOo
The Gustav, now carrying the wreckage of the Tank and the other three Zoids on its trailer, trundled out of town. The Liger walked behind it, protecting it from any potential pursuers. For a moment after they left, it was quiet. Then there was a high-pitched whistling sound, the same one as she'd heard earlier. She realised what it must have been. Artillery. Somebody was firing on the town!
The shells struck the library behind her, blasting apart the building, the shock sending her sprawling to the ground. Waiting for a moment, she warily opened her eyes. The Library was burning its roof collapsed by the force of the blast. However, she seemed to be fine. She was about to get to her feet when she heard it again. A high pitched whistling, followed by an earth-shaking explosion. A nearby building erupted into flames as another shell struck the town.
Althiea ran from the burning library, heading back towards the ruined shelter. Even though the roof was partially caved in, it was still one of the strongest buildings in the town. Another pair of explosions went off nearby, seemingly randomly targeted. They're not trying to take out anything in particular, she thought. So why are they continuing to fire? They have what they want. A nearby explosion knocked her off her feet, the world going black as she hit the ground.
oOoOo
"...proceed with the operation."
Althiea blinked awake to find herself staring at an unfamiliar wooden ceiling. Looking around, she could see that she was in a large hall and that she was lying on a mat on the floor with a blanket over her. There were people all around her, all lying on similar mats. She could see that most of them were bandaged.
What happened? She asked herself. Then she remembered. The attack on the town. The mysterious Liger. The shelling. There had been an explosion and... She rubbed her forehead. There was a bandage around it. She must have been hit by something, maybe debris or shrapnel from a blast, and knocked out.
Pulling back the rest of the blanks, she could see that she was otherwise unharmed. She slowly stood, looking around for someone, anyone, who knew what was going on. Spying a blonde woman with another patient, she quietly walked over to her. "Excuse me." She began.
The woman turned around. To her surprise, it was Sarah. "Ali, you're-"
Before she could continue, Althiea threw her arms round the other woman. "Are you okay? What happened here? Where are we? What's going on? What's-"
"Calm down." Sarah replied. Althiea quietly backed off. "You took a bump on the head form a chunk of flying masonry. Fortunately, it wasn't bad. You were knocked out but someone found you and bout you in here." She gestured to the room. "Here, incidentally, is the community hall with is about the largest building still standing."
"What about you?" She asked. "Are you-"
"I'm fine." Sarah replied. "I'm a trained nurse, actually, I volunteered to help out." She looked around. "Its worse then it looks, actually. You and the people here are the lucky ones."
She looked around. A lot of people here looked anything but lucky. "Were there a lot of casualties?"
Sarah nodded. "And many more badly injured in the shelling."
She looked around for the moment. "What about Adam? Is he-"
"He's alive." Sarah replied. "However, he was badly hurt in the attack."
"Can I see him?"
Sarah nodded. The pair of them walked through the hall to a different room. Here there were fewer people, but they were further apart and resting on proper beds rather then the mats she and the other's were using. Sarah quietly directed her to one that Adam was lying on.
His forehead and one of his eyes were covered by bandages, while one arm bandaged and folded over his chest. The rest of his body was covered by the sheets, but she suspected that there was far more underneath. "How is he?"
Sarah shook her head. "He was badly injured, but his condition is stabilised." She explained. "Right now he's resting. He should be all right in the long term, but..."
"But?" Althiea spoke up.
"He lost two of the fingers on his right hand, and the muscles were badly damaged." She explained. "Which means that he may loose a lot of the use of his arm."
"I see." She realised the full implications of what Sarah was saying. Adam relied on having full use of his hands and arms in order to do his job. His injuries could cost him his livelihood. "The attackers, do we know where they went?"
"They fled to the South-west." Sarah replied. "Well, say 'fled', but they weren't running form anything. But the shelling began before anyone could try to pursue them."
She thought about the attackers for a moment, considering the mysterious Liger. She still had no idea what it was or where it had come from. Nor did she have any idea about who was piloting it and, most interestingly, why it had stopped in front of her. She got the distinct impression that its pilot hadn't been completely in control of that situation. A part of her wanted to know why.
"Sarah, I'm feeling fine now." She said. "I'm not doing anything here, and you can use the space or the sheets for someone who needs it more then me."
"You sure about that?"
She nodded. "The town's probably a real mess outside. I want to see what's happening out there and see if I can help out. I'm not doing anyone any good lying around in here."
Sarah glared at her for a moment. "All right." She said. "But if you feel weak or dizzy or anything like that, you come straight back here. You understand?"
Althiea nodded. "I will." She replied, then turned and left.
oOoOo
An hour later she was standing outside her house, which had been left miraculously untouched in the attack. Sarah's jeep, a battered and elderly vehicle that was older then any of the buildings in the town had also survived, which was perfect for her. She had spent the last half hour packing supplies into it and planning.
"And what do you think you're doing?"
She turned around to see Sarah standing behind her, glaring at her. "Can I ask why you're loading your belongings into my jeep?"
She walked over to where her friend was standing. "I have to go after them." She began.
"And do what?" Sarah asked. 'You can't stop a Liger, a Gustav and god alone knows what else with just a rusty jeep."
Althiea shook her head. "It's not that." She explained. "Sarah, there's a lot I don't know about myself and my past. My parents died when I was young, and even before then they told me very little." She looked her friend straight in the eye. "I don't even have a last name. They never even told me that."
"But what will this achieve?" Sarah asked. "What will this tell you?"
She looked over the desert, into the setting sun. "Something." She replied. "When that Liger was standing over me, I felt something a... a presence of sorts." She turned back to Sarah. "As if there was some connection between me and that Zoid."
Sarah nodded. "I'll admit that I barely knew your parents when I took you in." She began. "I wish I could tell you more about them and about you."
"I understand." Althiea replied. "But I have to do this. At the very least, maybe I can lead the Imperial forces to their base of operations or something." She considered what she'd seen of the Liger in action against the three Imperial Knights. She somehow doubted that even an Imperial Paladin would have fared any better.
"I understand." Sarah replied. "You take care of yourself, okay?"
"I will." Althiea replied. "Thank you, Sarah, for looking after me and all you've done for me."
She nodded. "Yeah..." She said. "You probably should go before they get too far way." Althiea could tell that she was holding back, but she didn't want to push it.
"Thank you. I'll come back soon, you'll see." She climbed into the jeep and started the engine. She looked back at her friend and the wreckage of her former home. Nodding to herself, she put the jeep into gear and drove off.
