SIX

ESCAPE FROM THE BEAST

Note: This chapter contains graphic violence. Reader's discretion is advised.


Somewhere in The Desert,
Eastern Continent, Planet Zi,
January 25, 2128

The Hover Cargo was based on snail, and as its base animal, it moved at leisure pace. The engine vibration was non-existent, a sign that it operated well below its optimum capacity. And despite having the capability to move fast, the Hover Cargo was not intended for speed. Load capacity was of the more important feature than pace.

But for the past few days Saskia could sense that the Hover Cargo had been moving at an uncharacteristically faster speed. The engine vibration was amplified tenfold, and stops between runs became scarcer. They were moving a lot. As a result, work inside the Hover Cargo declined, and captives like Saskia spent the better part of the day just idling, rolling their thumbs. Food and water came less; instead of the usual 3 meals a day, the captives only got 2 meals a day.

The sudden change got Saskia thinking: what was happening out there? Fat Bob had never run from anything. His caravan was a virtual rolling fortress in its own rights, relying both on stealth and firepower. Saskia had seen Fat Bob's arsenal. He had his own mercenaries guarding the two Hover Cargoes. But this sudden running seemed to go against Fat Bob's norm that she was accustomed to, as if his sneakiness, the toughness of his fortress, and the fury of his thugs didn't mean anything anymore.

So the question was: What was Fat Bob running from?

The answer came as absurdly as the situation change. It was just another gloomy night, and Saskia was lying on her uncomfortable cot, dozing on and off, alternating between reality and her dreams, when she heard some loud thuds. They sounded like a heavy bag of potato being dropped on the floor. There were some cacophonies after that, followd by more thuds. Then everything went silent.

Saskia stayed still in her bed but she followed every sound with great intent. A few other captives started whispering with each other. Saskia faked her sleeping until she heard a loud clang from the door. The metal door burst open, and somebody burst into the room, going straight at her. She turned to see who it was but the flashlight blinded her, forcing her to shield her eyes. The guy grabbed her wrist and forcefully yanked her out of bed.

"Saskia?" a man's voice boomed through baffling babbles.

"Who are you?" Saskia tried her best to figure out the man, but the light hurt her eyes.

"Save formality for later," the man said as he tugged her arm even harder. "Guards are fast on feet to seal this Hover Cargo. We have but a minute to get out!"

"Get out? Get out where?" Saskia protested but the man pulled her so hard she just had to follow. She went on her feet and ran behind the man until they past the door. The room immediately broke into chaos as other captives tried to follow Saskia and the mysterious man to escape. But the man turned around and locked back the room, much to the dismay of all the captives, including Saskia.

"No, no, no, he'll kill them!" Saskia tried to help the other captives. "Fat Bob will kill them. Please, have a heart and let them go…"

But the man slammed her onto the door, grabbed her jaw and forced her to look into his eyes. The hallway was dark and only the reflection of Zi's two moons revealed a bit of the face of the man, but Saskia could see the ice-steel cold in his eyes. "You will follow me absent complaint, or see yourself back in cage!"

Saskia didn't know where this escapade was going. Who was this man? Why did he single her out from a bunch of captives? What did he want from her? And she watched the hopelessness in others' eyes, including the slender girl that betrayed her, whose name still escaped her. They wanted what she got: a shot at freedom. But she could understand the man's decision to lock everybody back up. He couldn't save them all, and of all the captives, Saskia was the healthiest and in the best shape. She was the only one that could match his stamina, should their escape necessitated physical endurance.

So Saskia ran behind the man through the corridor. A couple of guards lied on the floor, with their necks twisted far beyond their normal arc. Their fighting with the mysterious man was supposedly the ruckus Saskia heard earlier. She stepped over the bodies and followed the man toward the ladder. A gunman arrived from the door but the mysterious man, as quick as a lightning, grabbed the gunman and put him in a headlock. The gunman squirmed, but the man jerked his head upward. A loud crack echoed through the corridor, and the gunman slumped to the ground with his tongue extended far out of his mouth. Saskia covered her mouth to keep her from screaming. The man retrieved the gunman's submachine gun, slung it on his back, then continued his way up the ladder, with Saskia two steps behind.

Up on the hangar level, half a dozen guards with submachine guns blocked the bay door as zoid pilots started mounting two Sinkers. The mysterious man sprung out of the ladder hole and blasted his submachine gun, spraying bullets at the unsuspecting guards. As the gunmen screamed and tumbled, the man tossed the empty submachine gun and ran toward the door bay. More guards came, and bullets showered the man with murderous intention. But the man somehow made it to the door bay unscathed. He flipped the switch under a hail of bullets, and the door bay rumbled open.

Saskia was still hanging on by the ladder, and for a moment it looked like their attempted escape would end in another disaster. More guards coming into the hangar, forcing the mysterious man to cower behind a barrel. Bullets flew from every direction, and soon the barrel was punctured. She didn't know what else to do. The hangar bay was wide open, but there was no way she could run past the bullet rain. All hopes seemed to fade away.

The guards moved in toward the barrel, and just when they were inches away from the man, a couple of beam strands lit up the hangar, and the Sinker closest to Saskia exploded in brilliant color. Saskia yelped as the shock wave threw her toward the wall. Tongues of fire trashed everything in sight, and the guards screamed in mortal agony as their bodies seared under the intense heat.

The remaining guards were still in awe when another pair of shots torched the other Sinker. The hangar turned into a furnace, and the surviving guards opted to jump off the Hover Cargo to avoid the heat. Conduits burst, spilling chemicals inside the hangar, creating choking smogs. Fire extinguishers fought vainly to contain the fire, but the fire retardant only made things worse.

Saskia hadn't seen this kind of carnage since Aspencade Fortress 5 years ago. Her head was still throbbing and her ears ringing from the first explosion when the mysterious man grabbed her hand and, once again, forced her to stand. He was battered and bruised. His clothing was torn barring a black cloak on his shoulder. His face was soaked with blood. But he was alive and in high spirit. His eyes were as lively as ever.

"Run!" he yelled as he tore off his cloak and slung it on Saskia's shoulder. "Get out of here! Now!"

Like a robot Saskia followed the man's order. She cried in pain as her bare feet touched the scorching floor. But she knew the gravity of the situation. The longer she waited, the hotter the hangar would be, and she might not make it out at all. So she braved the heat and pounded her way toward the hangar door. As soon as she reached the ledge, she jumped out.

As she rolled on the sand, she realized that the other Hover Cargo had lowered its bay door, and a couple of Sinkers had inched toward the opening. But before the door was completely opened, another pair of beam ravaged the front Sinker and the stingray zoid disintegrated in a fireball. Saskia looked toward the origin of the beam shots and there, standing in the dark, a Command Wolf AC sniping the Sinkers as they glided out of the Hover Cargo. The Sinkers had no idea what was hitting them; they kept gliding out of the Hover Cargo and immediately fallen victim to the razor-sharp marksmanship of the Command Wolf AC.

"Make way to the Command Wolf! Go! Go! Go!" the man shouted and started running himself. Saskia wasted no time and quickly broke into a sprint. They reached the Command Wolf and started climbing. As the man slid into the cockpit of the Wolf, Saskia took a quick glance at the carnage at the Hover Cargo. The charred Sinkers blocked the way out of the Hover Cargo, but the scorching carcasses started to move. Then the burning zoid flew out of the door, and behind it stood the monster Saskia once came face to face with. It was still fresh in her memory how this monster came inches away from her life, only to be denied by her sheer dumb luck.

"Gun Blaster!" Saskia yelled as she slipped inside the cockpit. "Leave it! You cannot win this round!"

The man put the targeting reticule at the Gun Blaster and fired a salvo, but the monstrous zoid glowed and the beam shots bounced on the magnetic shield. The Gun Blaster shot its battlecry, then its assorted cannons began to flicker. The Command Wolf jumped to the left, and dozens of ballistics savaged the place it stood a mere second ago. The blast was powerful enough to rattle the canopy of the Command Wolf. The man zigzagged his zoid, avoiding salvos after salvos from the Gun Blaster, then put his Command Wolf into a running overdrive until the cannon rain stopped.

Saskia turned around to see a couple of Sinkers following the Command Wolf.

"Sinkers!" she exclaimed. "We are not safe yet!"

The pilot flipped a toggle and the Command Wolf turret swiveled, barrels facing the Sinkers. Before the Sinkers could fire its missiles, the cannon blasted, sending a couple of beam at the flying rays. The shots gutted the Sinkers at their most vulnerable spots. Fire belched from their lower section, and the two Sinkers spun in the air without direction until they crashed into the desert in big, fiery explosions.

"They will not catch up with us anymore," the pilot said in satisfaction. "Now stay still until we stop!"

The Command Wolf ran full speed for some time, pounding the desert sand, until the sun of Zi rose in the horizon. The wolf zoid slowed down to a moderate jog, and the pilot guarded it toward a small town. He chose a spot behind a grocery store to park the Command Wolf. The wolf zoid crouched and lowered its head, and the man popped up the canopy and jumped out of the cockpit.

Saskia kept silent in her vigil, watching the man wiped the blood off his face. His blond spiky hair started to come out after the blood and dust were gone. He was lean with muscles protruding from every crevasse of his body. His bronze skin gleamed in the morning sunlight. He had the physique of a military personel, and it caught Saskia's attention. Her heartbeat accelerated and her eyes dried up from forgetting to blink. He was the most beautiful thing she saw in months. Everything in him was perfect harmony. Saskia didn't recognize him from her tenure with Helic Military, and she didn't think this man came from Helic Republic. But at this point, it didn't matter.

"I think we have lost Fat Bob," the man said, noticing that Saskia was still sitting in the cockpit, staring at him. "You can get out presently."

"There is no safe place absent knowing who you are and what you want with me," Saskia huffed, trying to conceal her blush. "Formality is overdue."

"I just saved your life," the man sniggered.

"You just kidnapped me…"

"From Fat Bob? Did you volunteer to work at his sweatshop? Did he offer you pay rise to transfer from ZOITEC? Didn't your heart yearn for warmth of the sun absent lashes and chains?"

Saskia 's ears burnt. "How do you know so much about me? Who the hell are you?"

"Step out of the cockpit, get yourself proper clothings, have your stomach filled, and I will fill you in."

Saskia was mortified, but her curiosity got the best of her. Besides, she had only a piece of withered rag as her clothing, one she had worn for a long time. She desperately needed more decent attire. She climbed down the Command Wolf and followed the man into the grocery store. It was still early in the morning, and the store didn't see a lot of customers, but the ones that were there shot a dirty look at her. Only after the man made himself present did they leave her alone.

The man obtained a sleeveless top, a khaki pants, clean underwear and a pair of flats, all of which Saskia put on in record time. He moved on to the food counter and purchased a large sub and a bowl of soup. Shedding her decency, Saskia attacked the food without remorse and shoved as much of them as she could into her mouth. Her face turned beet red when she noticed the man was watching her with much amusement, trying to hold back smile. But her embarrassment only came so far. Her stomach demanded food and was not to be denied.

"Gratitude," Saskia tried to salvage some decency as she devoured the food. "Much gratitude for saving me… for clothes… for food… Yet I know nothing about you and you know everything about me. Introduction is still required."

"Deservedly so," the man introduced himself. "My name is Captain Royce DesGagne. I am a Rottiger agent. My mission is to hunt down and destroy the remnants of Neo Zenebas Empire."

"I know of Rottiger Special Force," Saskia cut him off. "What interest does Rottiger have in me?"

"Rottiger's mission is to wipe out any trace of Neo Zenebas Empire," Royce leaned on his chair. "A valiant and enduring effort, though the Emperor, Wolff Muroa, is still at large. Words in the streets say he is bidding for retribution of Neo Zenebas. Speculation arises about him amassing zoids of great power and capacity…"

Saskia almost choked herself. "Fat Bob sold my Gilvader to Wolff Muroa!"

"Is that a fact?" Royce said. "How did you come upon this?"

"A girl in the Hover Cargo, left at Fat Bob's mercy," Saskia tried to calm herself down without success. "Her ears caught the exchange between Fat Bob and Wolff Muroa. A pact between Fat Bob and Wolff Muroa sees my zoid to Neo Zenebas and my self to Hover Cargo as slave. We cannot leave her there! If Fat Bob finds out she has this information, he will kill her…"

"She is not of Rottiger's concern!" Royce snapped. "I will not see my mission jeopardized by absurd girl!"

"What?" Saskia looked at him in disbelief. "Do you not hold human lives in high regard?"

"Only if Rottiger sees fit," Royce muttered, "the extinction of Neo Zenebas."

"Then what value do you think of me?" Saskia miffed. "A Rottiger's mission?"

"You bear no value to Rottiger," Royce snarled. "Nor anybody left in Fat Bob's cage. Your zoid, however, is of Rottiger's concern. You know the capability of Gilvader. If Wolff Muroa duplicates it, Neo Zenebas will be unstoppable. Peace on Zi will come to a bloody end. Millions of lives, forfeited for Zenebas' ambition. You speak of human lives? No, you speak of your own life! Rottiger speaks of all lives!"

Saskia wanted to throw food at Royce's curt and insensitive remarks, but he spoke of the truth. The Gilvader was - whether she was willing to admit it or not - a very dangerous weapon. One was powerful enough to destroy an entire squadron of Salamanders. A squadron of Gilvader would definitely bring a disaster to any military force in Planet Zi.

And here she was, talking about her value.

"Apologies," Saskia dipped her head. "But what of the girls at Fat Bob's cage? Are we to let them die?"

"A small sacrifice for the sake of people of Zi," Royce replied. "There is more pressing matter at hand. We have to get your Gilvader back before Wolff Muroa turns it into a flying nightmare."

"If it's fated so," Saskia let out an exasperated sigh. "How are we to find Wolff Muroa? Can you request a favor fromRottiger?"

"A sound rationale, but an impossibility nonetheless," Royce shook his head. "Nobody had laid eyes on him in years. Not even Rottiger."

"I am in acquaintance with Mio, the daughter of the President of Helic Republic," Saskia suggested. "She is in the company of Wolff Muroa's daughter for many years. If I can hold Mio's attention, we can ask her a favor."

"Will she abide with our cause?" Royce cringed.

"I don't know, but what choice do we have?" Saskia finished her food. "I fear this is our only hope."

"Then let us not waste time," Royce stood up. "We have to go to New Helic City."

"One moment," Saskia brusquely stood and held Royce's arm. "The Gilvader is mine to command. He is my best and only true friend. If I aid you in this quest, I'd have you swear to leave him to me. I'd have your word that you will not lay your hands on him, and you will see us free. Do I have your word?"

"Yes, you have my word," Royce replied without hesitation, extending his arm for a handshake. "You can trust a Rottiger agent. That's what we do, to protect the innocents from menaces like Neo Zenebas. Now let's go. We have spent too much time already."