ZAC 2042, March 18th
D-Day D+55, 0655 hours
Bareshia Bay, Helic Territory of the Central Continent
Bareshia Jungle (coordinates X 3.4, Y 4.8)
The rain was beginning to fade away…only the remains of the sky's tears still dripped from the palm trees above. And yet…as the evening turned into the shadowed night, a blackness began to creep up over the whole bay of Bareshia and the only source of light was the single circular…that shone with a dazzling and pure white, the moon which hung from the clouds above and provided a guiding light to the people in the jungle beneath…well, most of them at least.
All three Zoid units had their own headlights that literally blasted the darkness with their striking beams of illumination, special 26 million candelas powered lamp that were mounted on the Zoids, a by-product of human technology brought over from Earth. Several soldiers had decided to take a more defensive and hidden approach by sliding off the exterior armor of the Zoids and into the waters where their brown helmets kept them camouflaged in the murky waters of the swamp and their flashlights shone the way through the interconnected 'lakes' of mangrove waters.
What the f*** is wrong with this damned mist? Helios cursed in his head as he sat back in relaxed composure on his rather uncomfortable cockpit seat within the Seapanther. To worsen it was the bloody magnetic pull and they now had to rely on the traditional cartographic recreations of the area via satellite imagery. It was true enough that the headlights of both his 'Panther and the two Brachios' that followed them cut through the fog, along with the torches of the troops but still….the fog seemed the cloud everywhere where light did not shine through…a blind spot, or more a likely sot for an enemy ambush to occur and the words of Sharia came back to Helios, A soldier who cannot see the whole battlefield is a man who does not see the other sides of the argument and only his own.
From the monitor on his cockpit, Helios could barely make out the outlines of his hidden soldiers…some had even decided to put some leaves and foliage on their helmets. The tense atmosphere had just raised up another notch in the darkness….even the Brachios units had chosen to bend their limbs to submerge themselves further in the swamp waters. Any damn enemy could pop out of here while we're strolling through this motherf****** misty place…hell if there's a sniper up there, ready to shoot someone down.
As though his comment had triggered an idea in Fate's mind, high in the canopy of the jungle in a small hammock made from military-issue armor netting, two Helic scouts perched there. One soldier had a Helic-issue sniper rifle gripped tightly in his hand while the other soldier had a makeshift sling that hung from his neck and in it was a radio. The second soldier quickly plugged a set of headphones in and placed them on his ears before twisting the knobs and establishing a connection.
"Connection secure. Message encoded." The radio's female-like voice stated bluntly.
"Eagle Watch 4 to base, repeat, Eagle Watch 4 to base," the soldier called into the mike of the headphones, "We've located a squadron of enemy units advancing towards your location."
There was a brief pause over the intercom until the coordinator at the other end replied, "Copy that. How many?"
"Two of the new Zoids, sir…they appear to be based on Brachiosaurus-type wild Zoids, sir. There's also a single crab sort of Zoid," the soldier continued, "Sending coordinates right now."
Again, another pause in the conversation as the soldier typed on the radio's keypad and the coordinates were sent across the line. "Alright, coordinates received," the coordinator confirmed, "No infantry?"
The soldier tapped the sniper lightly on the arm, "Check with your scope if there are any soldiers."
"Alright," the sniper replied and wielded the precision rifle down below before closing a single eye and peering into the scope. Using the knob built into the handle for quick and efficient optics, he slowly zoomed the crosshair towards the swamp below and silently looked around carefully for any tatter tale signs of enemy infantry. Even in the darkness, the special nightvision scope could pick out any traces of movement. There has to be some…or else or those troops on the beach would be wasted. There! He quickly turned the rifle a little while his comrade asked him if there were any soldiers. The sniper zoomed in a little further more. Huh? No…I don't see any soldiers….
Putting the rifle down, he turned to the radioman, "Nope, don't see any sign of them."
"We don't see any infantry." The radioman concluded into the mike.
"Alright then, roger that. Wait until about preferably…twenty or so minutes from right now, then radio-in again for an aerial pick-up by one of our helicopters. I'll send the details regarding the LZ now."
"Roger that, Eagle Watch 4 out."
The radioman took the headphones off and shut the radio's connection. "Strange, isn't it…" he began, "There should be some infantry."
"Maybe they're at the beach waiting for reinforcements?" the sniper suggested.
"Could be…"
The sniper let the conversation hang there and leaned on the netting that composed of the hammock. Placing his fingers on the pouch that dangled from his belt, he unbuckled it and took out a water canister which he began to drink from. The water felt good…far better than the raging rainstorm that had taken the island earlier… After capping the canister back and slipping it into his pouch, he looked down and glanced at the waterproof digital watch, it's neon glow light flashing in the darkness of the jungle. Eighteen more minutes.
ZAC 2042, March 18th
D-Day D+1.10, 0710 hours
Bareshia Bay, Helic Territory of the Central Continent
Dallas Triangle Base
The final Whale Kaiser landed on the beach of the now abandoned Dallas Triangle Base…the once impenetrable 'Atlantic Wall' of the Helic Republic's military…until now. The huge Kaiser warship was bruised and battered, the sides of the thick armor clearly dented by incoming warheads. The huge mouth of the ship slid open as reinforcement Zoids began to pour out. Most of the reinforcement composed of Iguan units and the occasional Helcat.
Two Storches and three Saicurtis Zoid units had already landed on the beach. Colonel Sing got out of the cockpit of a Storch and was escorted by the pilots of the other Zoids, all of them soldiers in the Zenebas Air Force. Out of a Kaiser came Sergeant Dust and Brigadier Sergeant Pound. The two men walked up to Sing and her men as they gathered in the sand.
"Status report?" Dust began.
"We're not holding out well, sir," Sing replied, "Their Raynos units are dealing heavy casualties on our slower Saicurtis units…they've even managed to get an effective Salamander rolling out now. Sir, I'm requesting either reinforcements or at least partial retreat for the air force…we won't be able to hold out much longer."
"But neither will they…" Dust muttered.
"Sir, you might want to look at this," Pound said as he unrolled a sheet of paper with printed coordinates and sketchy satellite imagery printed on it, "The lookout on my Kaiser determined that the 'Lics aerial units always retreated to what appears to be a landing pad cleverly hidden on the side of the hill facing the mainland…our blind spot."
Dust's beady little eyes glanced down and frowned in frustration, "Hmm…interesting. We should strike that base soon…no doubt that's a reserve backup if the Dallas Triangle was broken through. We should consider that top priority, prepare to get a-" He paused for a moment. "Wait, where's Ross?"
"He already headed in with a large squadron into the jungle, aiming for a munitions base down in the outcrops of the mountain, sir." Sing informed.
Dust swore briefly before letting out a breath. He dug a cigarette and lighter out from his pouch, lit the cigarette and began to smoke on it. Taking a deep breath, he placed the stick off before letting out a poof of nicotine into the air.
"You're going to kill yourself with that, sir." Sing remarked.
Dust eyed her for a moment with an irritated stare before continuing, "Sing, get your reserves to pull back. Let them think we're going to bomb their places…I doubt they know we've sent mechanized infantry out there. Pound, I want you to take the Kaisers and circulate the peninsula with them and some of our dreadnoughts. When we give the signal, I want you to blast the mountain to hell to give us cover fire as we ascend it."
"And what about you, sir?" Pound asked.
"Me and the ground reinforcements will salvage the base for useful ammunition and provisions…and maybe finding some abandoned Zoids, painted Zenebas colors on them and then setting off to the jungle towards the outcrops where hopefully Ross has managed to destroy that base before sending out a signal for a major rendezvous to the other separate squadrons. Then, I want you, Sing, to launch your air forces for aerial support and then Pound, your guns come in, clear?"
"Roger that sir," the two officers said.
"Good soldiers," Dust replied as he walked up to the pilots who were gathering and talking to one another, "All of you! Get your asses into the base for some useful s***. Find any still-living soldiers, we need some POWs." The men quickly put down their flasks of rum and began loading their firearms as they huddled together in groups of three or so as they entered the pillboxes and doors of the airfield base.
"You think this'll work?" Pound asked Sing.
"This is only half of the mission…the main point is the reclamation of the Zenebas capital," Sing replied.
Pound looked around…saw the dead and scattered bodies of brave soldiers whose dissected pieces littered the beach, letting a crimson wave to bloody the sand that even in the darkness of the evening, could still be seen. "I mean…do you think this was worth it? All to recapture lost land?"
Sing gave a brief questioning glance to Pound. The hard-as-nails soldier had rarely been this moral before…perhaps war does this to you sometimes.
"No…I don't think it was worth it at all."
ZAC 2042, March 18th
D-Day D+1.17, 0717 hours
Bareshia Bay, Helic Territory of the Central Continent
Bareshia Jungle (coordinates unknown)
Even though Eiden was carrying the brunt of the load, Westing still felt sore. His arms and shoulders ached as he limped across the crinkled leaves that scattered the forest floor. It was probably only seven, though here on Zi the second moon had already risen and it appeared more like how nightfall would appear back on Earth. They had been walking for a long time now, with their paracompass completely useless with the strong magnetic force that was pulling down in the jungle. Each time Westing's foot lightly tapped on something, a sharp ache would jerk up his leg. This is almost like walking in hell…
"You alright?" Eiden asked, his face still coated with muck from the trench.
"Yeah…thanks," Westing replied drily. His lips, his skin, his throat and even his tongue felt dry. Their water canisters had been finished fifteen minutes ago. Walking in the forest for forty-five minutes tended to have this effect on people.
"I'm surprised you even managed to get up on the trench," Eiden commented.
"Hmm…" Westing replied wistfully, his ears still resounding with his uncle's voice, "…I wonder how too, myself. Here, I can walk now."
He tried to loosen his grip across Eiden's shoulder but Eiden tightly grabbed his arm, "No, let me aid you, it's the least I can do for you digging me out of the dirt." He replied as he wiped off a smear of mud.
"Actually you burst out on me like a zombie."
"A what?"
"Never mind…it's a-" Westing began.
"Are you human?" Eiden asked.
"Y-Yeah…" Westing replied, a little embarrassed.
Abruptly, Eiden stopped. Westing looked at the man as they stood there, huddled awkwardly in the forest. Eiden's face was now bland…his expression unreadable and yet, as Westing analyzed a little deeper into the man's complexion he could see a darker emotion in there…one he did not recognize but revealed through the pressure that was being placed on Eiden's lips to hide his gritting teeth. "Um, you ok?" Westing offered.
Eiden took a deep breath before continuing to walk. Westing was lugged along and he limply followed, puzzled by the man's sudden change in attitude. Finally, Eiden took the initiative and asked a question, "How was life back on Earth?"
Westing thought that the question was asked rather forcefully but chose not to state it out. "Much more different than here."
"How so?"
"For starters…we don't have such huge-scale wars…" Westing replied, saying it in a cautious manner."
"You do not have conflicts? That's unlikely." Eiden said, turning his head to Westing in a cocked manner.
"Sorry, I meant we didn't have such huge-scale wars before…usually between a few countries or so…"
"Countries?"
"Tribes, you would call it." Westing explained, "Not until much later before every nation, or tribe decided to go against one another in something we call the World Civil War."
"Is that not like our current Helic-Zenebas war?"
"No…this is a war of two distinct tribes related to one another, a war that began with a difference in visions for the planet." Westing began, "The World Civil War is just a mass-murder for the planet's dying resources."
"Huh?"
Westing sighed, "See, we can't evolve things from organic material like how you guys did with the wild Zoids. We don't have the same philosophy that you have of living in small settlements, small villages. In my world, a single 'settlement' alone would take up this whole peninsula!"
Eiden seemed utterly puzzled before prodding, "Go on."
"We don't have that much natural terrain as your planet…not anymore," Westing continued, "Our materials for building don't come from the planet's minerals…we use the trees and stuff like that. You guys are mostly vegetarian, only eating wild Zoids that can't be transformed into war machine but us…nearly every animal on our planet is in one culture or another, edible."
"You all believe in a single religion, your god and goddess is the First Moon and the Second Moon…we have over a hundred religions in our planet…we have so many cultures and traditions…it's so contradictory and during the point of desperation, when our planet was dying, and we had nothing to eat we turned to one another.
"Did you become…cannibals?"
Westing stared at him blankly for a moment before laughing. His loud and obnoxious laughter filled the jungle. Eiden stared back at him, apparently a little insulted before asking, "What?"
Westing had to calm himself down before he could reply, "Sorry, it's a human expression that means we attacked one another…not ate one another…"
Eiden nodded, apparently satisfied but Westing was not done, "The nations came to a standstill, finally and the religious groups decided to hold for a moment. It was decided that our planet was so ravaged by wars that we had to find a new home. Your planet has only taken a few conflicts, this being the first war. Earth has taken more than a thousand battles that have shaken the whole planet to its core. We had to find a new Earth and so seventeen interstellar ships were launched from our home planet and light-jumped to different star systems across the galaxy in search for a new home. Our ship, the Global 3 had an engine failure and so we had to make an emergency crash landing here on your planet…and so, you know the rest of the story."
Eiden did not reply at the moment, his head focused in deep thought, "And I thought we Zoidians were savage people compared to the humans and yet…"
"See, the difference is," Westing said, "Between us humans and you Zoidians…is the fact that not all of us are soldiers of war. Not all of us know how to fight. Our home, our society is one of peace. You live in a brutal planet, this one…where the settlements are so far away that help is hard to find."
"Are you saying Zi is a horrible world?" Eiden asked, his tone reaching a crescendo as rage filled him.
"No," Westing reasoned, "I'm just saying that not all of our kind are warrior people…look, we left our world to look for a new world…but we, the more unfortunate ones of the Global 3. We did not find a new world…merely a new war."
The two of them continued to walk in silence through the jungle. Neither of them spoke anything as they waded into a swampy marsh that reached up to their thighs. Reeds blew lightly in the wind and Westing could make out the loose rock and muck at the bottom of the swamp. The trees that hung across them appeared to be mangled, casting disturbing shadows across them in the moonlight. The waters of the swamp crept through his pilot suit's non water-resistant fabric and chilled the skin of the human…and yet also calmed and cooled his body down. After several more minutes, again Eiden decided to pick the conversation up once more.
"I did not want this war either," he began, "I was of the Sound Tribe. Inn the earlier days before I was born the tribe was under the leader Abilast Gheragon. He agreed to unite with the other forty-nine tribes under Helic Muroa to form the Republic. I was born after Helic II and Zenebas Muroa split into the Helic Republic and the Zenebas Empire. The east and the west. I was born in ZAC 2012, a few years before the Global 3's crash. It was around ZAC 2033 before I was enlisted to the Republic military. I actually did not want to fight…but then again, what choice did I have?"
"The sooner either Helic II or Zenebas dies, the better for all of us." Eiden concluded bitterly.
Westing was a little taken aback…this man had chosen to reveal himself so quickly… "It is a stupid war, though," he added, "A fight because two nations have ideological differences. Like the USSR and the Nazi…"
"The what?"
"Two nations back on Earth. The Nazi's leader, Adolf Hitler, had an issue with the order of government in the USSR, or the Soviet Union." Westing explained.
"Yet another leader who forces his people to war for his own personal issues." Eiden analyzed.
"I guess Earth and Zi aren't so different after all."
Eiden's lips broke into a smile, "I guess you're right."
"I didn't want to come here….I never asked for it," Westing said with a hint of sadness, "But I guess I have to make do with what I have now and at least help the Republic."
"You're….right, I suppose."
"I'm not usually this optimistic."
The two men chuckled, sharing a soft bond of brotherhood. Brothers, both from different planets in the same war. Fighting a war they'd never understand.
ZAC 2042, March 18th
D-Day D+1.30, 0730 hours
Bareshia Bay, Helic Territory of the Central Continent
Bareshia Jungle (ccordinates X -2, Y 7.6)
The Dimetrodon's vents twisted to another angle and air jetted out as the Zoid spun back before open firing its 20mm laser guns at the Command Wolf ahead who quickly leapt out of the way to avoid the earth-shattering beam that swayed across the Zoid and smashed into the hard floor of the ground.
Stupid magnetic pull…Ross cursed and he began to tap furiously on his console to adjust the polarity of the laser guns as the Command Wolf began to charge at him. Quickly, Ross sped the Dimetrodon behind a loose piece of debris to buy him some time as he finished adjusting the energy weapons in his arsenal. I'm not worried…Ross told himself as he smiled lightly, With the gunner on that Wolf dead, he's completely reliant on his melee weaponry…another foolish feat of engineering by the 'Lics…Using the debris as a barricade, he nudged it towards the Wolf with a bend of his Zoid's head before letting loose a volley of energy beams.
The Wolf continued to speed right at him, as though starting a banzai charge but barely made half the distance before the beams ripped right through the Command Wolf's feet, effectively immobilizing the Zoid which began to crash to the jungle floor, the cockpit shattering in the process. Surely the pilot would not be able to survive that. Now that that's been taken care of…Ross again opened the console panel and began to type, activating his sensory jamming systems. A new form of warfare…the humans call it 'electronic warfare….' I have to get that satellite up there.
The screen buzzed a bright green before a red flash and a huge sign which read 'SATELITE DISABLED' appeared on the screen. Now that all the satellites are destroyed, they won't be able to call for backup. He gazed across the base. His Dimetrodon was outside the main building…lots of early artillery support by the hidden Seapanthers further off had taken out a majority of the base's aerial support capabilities and cannon towers before the electronic jamming of the Dimetrodon had worked to their advantage by concealing them from satellites and radar, using the darkness of the evening to charge and blast through the gates while the Seapanthers had continued to blow the base apart.
With the Wolf down, the battle was almost over. He could see several of his soldiers capture POWs and resources being collected from the base. This particular base was huge but with Ross' ingenious strategy, had been taken down with low friendly casualties. Flanking was easy with less trees and vegetation around…it was an open piece of land directly at the foot of the mountain. Up ahead he could make out the treacherous and jagged steps of the huge hill.
"Sir!" a pilot of a Brachios cried through his cockpit, "We have incoming bogeys, about 36 of them in our direction!"
Ross glanced down on his panel and opened his satellite systems before rolling his eyes, "Calm down, soldier. They're on our side."
Several heads turned towards the jungle behind them as Iguans broke through the thick vegetation. On the ground, two Helcats uncloaked their cloaking devices and sleekly walked pass the base's broken debris. But the single Zoid that made Ross' jaw drop by about 3 meters was a huge Red Horn that paraded through the 10-meter tall trees of the jungle. "Sir?"
"Status report, Ross," Dust asked from within his Red Horn cockpit.
"Uh, yessir," Ross replied before glancing down at his typed-in statistics, "We've taken only about three KIA casualties, one being killed in a machine-gun outpost we took down on the way here. About four are wounded and only one majorly wounded. The whole base is taken down, we've recovered about one hundred and five pounds of provisions, about ninety tons of ammunition and twenty-five POWs."
"Not that great, Ross…but good enough," Dust responded and then opened the intercom to an Iguan unit next to him, "Bring the seriously wounded man back to the Kaiser…I want him to receive full medical treatment."
"Roger that, sir," the soldier replied as he descended from his clamshell cockpit.
"If I may ask, sir," Ross began, "How did you attain a Red Horn? Such an old unit from the 20s?"
"Ah…just like the ace Gambino, I earned my position from this particular Horn," Dust replied as he fondly tapped the Red Horn's console. The Red Horn let out a loose growl that sounded like a sheepish grin.
Ross' eyes grew large as he stared down at the Horn. Its red paint was slightly scratched and rust had gathered in several joints…there was even a faded Zenebas insignia…clearly it was an old Zoid, "You used to pilot this Zoid?"
Dust chuckled, "Yes, in those days when I was a Private." He slid the cockpit open and began to descend from is cockpit's zipline. Ross opened his Dimetrodon's cockpit too and walked down from the detachable ladder. The two soldiers dropped down to the floor of the jungle.
Three hours later, the two were gathered in an unaffected block of the base. From the crackled glass of the window, Dust could make out wounded POWs being shot. He turned away, quickly. The room was barren and empty…dead from years of aging, its floor cracked, the wallpaper stripped aside to reveal the ancient brickwork. "You know," Dust began and then took a sip of coffee before setting it back down on the table, "Back in my day…there was one battle that resulted in me being promoted two ranks above to your current rank…that one battle with my Red Horn will always be imprinted in my memory."
Ross smiled…the reminiscing and the old stories of Abel Dust's glorious career always drew crowds of eager men…Dust was known to tell of his younger days, entertaining his men in the gloomiest of situations. "Go on, commander."
Dust squeezed eagerly into his seat before continuing, "You know what my enemy was? It was around ZAC 2030…right when the small skirmishes became a full-blown war. At that time, the Gojulas was unbeatable. Yup, the Gojulas was my enemy in that single epic skirmish. The first…and the last time I ever met the Gojulas in battle. I hope I never do…that Zoid alone…it's a sign of Republican power. Back in my day, it shook the soldiers of Zenebas to their core. If there was a Gojulas, you got the hell away from the battlefield no matter how high your chances. Even when the Red Horn was deployed…still, the Zenebas soldiers struggled with that damn scary dinosaur until the Iron Kong came later on. Anyways, me and my group of soldiers…about six of us were patrolling in the Northern Deserts…Zenebas territory close to Nyx. There we met a single Goju with the new Godos units. Three of us had Red Horns…we killed all the Godos units but damn…"
"Its double-barreled heavy machine-guns sent shells striking all across our units; we evaded but couldn't seem to get near that huge thing while avoiding the bullets. In the end…" Dust leaned closer to the table right across to Ross and stared at him, "Do you know how I beat the Goju?"
Ross knew what was coming…the great climax of the story. He smiled before replying, "Go on, tell me sir. I know it's killing you."
He stared even closer to Ross, his eye focused directly on Ross' pupil, "I didn't."
He fell back in his chair and began to laugh loudly, his chuckling so rumbling that even the table shook and the coffee swirled. Ross smiled for a moment…and then burst open too. Surely if he had told this story in front of the soldiers, they would have burst open in laughter too. Dust wiped tears from his eyes and struggled to continue as he clutched his belly, "I didn't get promoted two ranks for that….just joking….but I was awarded a Medal of Bravery for holding up until reinforcements came and the Goju was forced to retreat. Lucky me, I guess."
The two stopped laughing and stared out at the gloomy night. The amusement had returned to its previous state…the heavy air of death lingered in the evening sky. "I wonder when my luck will run out…" Dust whispered.
Ross glanced at his commander in surprise. The man was slowly changing, it appeared. "So, sir…we have less than half an hour to pull this off…I've already got reports from a couple ten squads or so of successful destruction of major outposts."
"Get a signal out there," Dust replied, back in business mode, "I want all squads to rendezvous here before we set up to the mountain there."
"Up the mountain?" Ross asked in shock, recalling the jagged peaks, "Sir, that's madness…"
"Behind the face of the mountain that we're facing….the side that faces the mainland and isn't open to our eyes is what we believe is a huge hangar where their air force are deploying their aerial Zoids. Their air force is superior to ours…we have to destroy it to let Sing's division begin aerial bombing to clear up any leftover Republic forces that our ground troops haven't covered," Dust explained, "Send the signal out now, Pound should be ready for covering fire within a few minutes with his dreadnoughts. Also, send another encrypted message to HQ that we've finished phase one but need at least another hour or two before the Special Forces move in to retake the capital."
"Roger that," Ross replied and stood up. Before he exited the room he turned around and said, "You should tell that story to the troops sometime. Not every suicidal mission ends badly."
Dust only smiled faintly as Ross exited the room. I hope he's right. I hope we can get our land back. He closed his eyes.
I hope you were right, brother…when you said that a man's land is truly his castle.
ZAC 2042, March 18th
D-Day D+1.35, 0735 hours
Bareshia Bay, Helic Territory of the Central Continent
Bareshia Jungle (coordinates X 3., Y 6.9)
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Helios' eyes abruptly opened. The sound was coming from someone knocking on his cockpit. Bobby. F*** that irritating shrimp…Helios thought as he yawned and opened the cockpit before shouting, "WHAT?"
Bobby's annoying little smile lit up, "Sorry sir, did I disturb your beauty sleep?" He paused for a moment as Helios controlled himself from mangling his throat before continuing, "I just got a message…directly from Ross sir himself, sir." Helios wave of tiredness was suddenly shattered and he pushed himself to seat properly in his cockpit, "What?"
"The encrypted message said that we all, as in every single squadron, every single one to re-gather in a rocky outcrop. The coordinates were included." Bobby explained.
"Why?"
"They never said. Apparently Dust sir is there too…"
What the hell was going on? They were almost halfway there and now they wanted to make a detour all the way to the mountain. Well…it wasn't that far. Perhaps a half an hour at least to reach to that location but still… "Alright then, we're changing position, tell everybody we're getting our asses over to the location."
"Roger and relay," Bobby replied before smiling and shutting the cockpit down.
Helios banged back on his seat again. Dammit…here we go again. Why am I always in the middle of all these battles? The omnipresent voice of Sharia came back to him again, Never go against your orders…just memorize the exact words…and think your way…around it.
Helios smiled as he remembered a human story someone had once told him. Was it true? He'd never know. When you can't break a Wall of Jericho…you walk around it.
ZAC 2042, March 18th
D-Day D+1.36, 0736 hours
Bareshia Bay, Helic Territory of the Central Continent
Bareshia Jungle (coordinates X 3.4, Y 4.8)
"Alright, it's time, radio the helicopter now…" The sniper told the radioman as the two sat crouched on the netted canvas that slung from the trees above.
"Come on, we have to get down and head to the LZ." The radioman replied. The sniper nodded and he clicked a latched mechanism that began letting loose a rope. Putting on a pair of gloves to reduce friction, the sniper then slid down the rope before being followed by the radioman whose radio slung from his shoulder and clicked and clacked as they descended the 12-foot tree.
Halfway down the huge piece of flora, they heard two voices calling out to them. The sniper glanced down. What….two soldiers! Helic soldiers!
"Oi!" he called, signaling the radioman, "There are two friendlies down there!" The radioman looked down and saw Westing and Eiden flailing their arms in the air. The sniper slid down even further, followed by the radioman as Westing and Eiden began to run, or rather limp up to them. The sniper was first to land on the forest floor and he turned to the two, "How did y'all get here?"
The radioman shortly landed before glancing and then recognizing Westing, "Hey, space boy!" Westing's eyebrows tensed, "Um, hey Dote."
"Got in a nasty situation, eh?" Dote asked as he stared at Westing's broken foot.
"Shut up," the sniper commanded Dote before shaking both Eiden's and Westing's hands, "I'm Acting Commander Arbis Voter, we're on our way to be picked up by a helicopter to the mountain hangar."
"Great to hear that!" Eiden cried, "We were stuck in the trenches just when the Zenebas were moving in."
"Did you see any soldiers?" Dote asked eagerly.
"Yeah…we saw some soldiers moving in I think…" Westing replied drily.
Arbis placed a hand on his forehead and bit his lip, "No reinforcements?"
"Not that we know of," Eiden answered.
"Alright then, come on let's go to the LZ now." Arbis concluded.
The four men then again, began to walk though only three of them could properly walk. The last one, the black sheep of the three Zoidians glanced up to Zi's first moon and in his mind, whispered. The Lord is good.