Jason ran through the maze of pipes under the factory, trying to put as much distance between himself and his pursuers as possible. He'd abandoned the rifle, having run out of ammo long ago. Besides, he didn't want to touch that thing again; it was far uncontrollable.
There were several shots, then the sound of bullets ricocheting off metal pipes. Keeping his head down, Jason just concentrated on running, trying his best to keep himself alive. He had to find Althiea, and then get out of here.
Neither was going to be easy.
Following the explosion in the storage bay, the whole place had gone crazy. He'd thought that this would be his big chance, with the Red Claw troops to busy to deal with him. He'd tried to slip away quietly, but somebody had spotted him before he could escape. It had all gone downhill from there.
Now he was just trying to stay alive. If he could manage that, then everything else would be a simple matter.
"Hold it right there!" He heard somebody behind him shouting. Why ask him to stop now, he wondered. They'd been happy with merely trying to kill him. Or maybe they were just running out of bullets.
He ducked behind a mass of interconnected pipes, momentarily concealing himself from his pursuers. Shuffling around, he managed to squeeze himself between a pipe and the wall. Barely daring to breathe, he heard the footsteps of the enemy soldiers as they approached.
"Where'd he go?"
"I saw him duck around here somewhere."
"Well he's not here now."
So far so good, he thought. Just stay calm….
"So where is he then?"
"Right… here's what we'll do." Somebody spoke up. "Gomez, McSweeny, Tang and Nogroko will search down the left corridor. The rest of us will go up the north passage and see if he's in there."
"Yes sir!"
He heard two groups leaving, their footsteps apparently leading off in different directions. Waiting a little longer, he finally slipped out from behind his cover. The coast was clear. Good.
Trying to remain as silent as possible, he doubled back the way he had come. He figured that his pursuers wouldn't think to look there, or at least not until he was well away.
Slipping deeper into the maze of pipes, he just hoped that he would be in time to save Althiea from whatever Levisha or Jenice had planned for her.
oOoOo
Confrontation
oOoOo
"You are ordered to halt immediately, or we will open fire!" The Gator's pilot called out as his Zoid ran through the city streets.
"Oh no, it's the fuzz!" Floyd called out, a sudden, almost greasy tone to the voice. "You'll never catch me alive, piggy."
"Actually, I hate to say it, Floyd, but they're gaining on you." Leanne added as she glanced over her shoulder. The three of them had busted out form the warehouse and sped straight past the Defense Force's hopelessly ineffective blockade. Since then, they'd been leading them on a merry chase through the city's streets, guided towards some objective by Rayvenne.
Leanne didn't want to say anything, but she was less then confident about their chances. It wasn't the risk of being caught by the defense forces that bothered her. It was Rayvenne's directions that she didn't like. The girl knew how to pilot a Zoid pretty darn good, but Leanne just didn't think that she was that smart.
"I mean, she walks a round half dressed and she then dresses up as a guy and thinks she's this mysterious Sinker pilot and all." She muttered. "It just don't sound right."
"Something up there, little Lady?" Floyd asked.
"Er, nothing…" She replied, embarrassed that she'd been talking into the mike.
"Okay, guys." Rayvenne called out in her hoarse 'mystery man' voice. "Hit a sharp right at the next crossroads. That'll throw 'em for sure."
"Sure thing." Floyd replied. ":How's traffic looking up there?"
"Nothing so far…" She began, a little distracted. "I thought these guys were meant to have an air force or something. So far I've seen bog all up here. Either they don't want to get me-"
"Or maybe their air force don't work, just like everything else in this city." Leanne muttered. "Okay, I see the turn. I'll go first, then you follow, 'kay Floyd?"
"Sure thing… I don't want my big ol' backside to get in your way, pretty lady."
"Um, sure." The Gunsniper accelerated past the Gustav, then swerved into the turn. Loosing very little speed, it took off as soon as it was heading in the right direction. Behind her, Leanne heard a screeching of tires as the Gustav followed it, skidding around the corner but managing to stay under control.
"Okaaay… lets see what's ahead." Rayvenne spoke up, almost forgetting to go into character. "But it should be fun to see how those Molgas take the turn…"
The best way to describe it would be badly. Two of them tried to turn at the same time, sandwiching the Gator in between them. The innermost Molga skidded, its body fishtailing into the side of the Gator, and in turn forcing it into the second Molga. The three of them slid across the road, eventually sliding into the side of a derelict factory. The other two Molgas stopped behind them.
"Woo-hee!" Rayvene called out in her normal voice, then swallowed. "I'll check how things look ahead, then…" She muttered, returning to character.
"Well, it all looks the same form down here." Leanne spoke up as her Gunsniper ran between two blocks of abandoned factories. "Ain't nothing here but derelict warehouses and holes in the pavement."
"Well, that big ol' explosion is still off to our west." Floyd continued. "But a helluva lot closer. Hey, Mystery Sinker pilot!" He called out.
"Wha?" Rayvenne replied.
"Get us the quickest route there you can find!"
"I'm on it." The Sinker accelerated, speeding away from the rest of the group.
oOoOo
Trinh popped open the cockpit of his Gator, then looked around at his two subordinates. "You idiots!" He called out. "What did you think you were doing?"
"This is Defender Five." One of his troops spoke up through his headset. "We're still moving."
"Good!" He shouted. Maybe not all his men were idiots who should never be allowed near a Zoid again. All of a sudden, Thorne's comments on his men seemed to be more true. "Keep going you two! Try to figure another way around there and catch up with them. Head them off if you can!"
"Yes sir!" They replied. Never mind that they didn't have any idea where these people were going. They weren't running for the gate, which was where he thought they'd go. Instead, they were heading deeper into the industrial district, where that was that fire.
They still had no idea what was going on there. He'd hoped that it was some faulty wiring or a not quite emptied warehouse going up or the like. But then, he had to consider the fact that these three dangerous outlaws were heading straight for the fire. Maybe they were involved with something that was going on there, he thought.
Of course, there could be two different factions at work in the town, with one declaring war on the other. They could have started the fire, and then reinforcements were coming to take them out. That would explain the anonymous tip off they got about those guys… they'd been used as pawns in some gang war. Only it was a gang war using Zoids. Which was the last thing he needed.
"Director Trinh." He recognized the voice immediately as one of the tactical officers form headquarters.
"Yes?" He asked. "What is going on there?"
"Director, we have a situation here."
"I am aware of that." He continued. "My unit is in pursuit of the Zoids now-"
"No commander, this is different."
Great, more bad news. "What is happening?"
"We have a report of another Zoid on the loose in the transient district, heading towards the industrial area." She began.
"Do we know what type it is?" He asked.
"Yes, sir." She replied, her usual crisp efficiency replaced with a rather nervous edge.
"Well?" He asked. "What is it? Spit it out."
"Sir, it's a Darkhorn." She reluctantly answered.
A Darkhorn. Thorne. She'd decided to take matters into her own hands and deal with the situation, real or imagined, as she saw fit. And he suspected that her way of dealing with it would simply be to rampage across the city, ignore the Peackeeper forces, and then destroy her target regardless of what anyone else had to say about it.
Wonderful.
"Tell all units not to engage the Darkhorn." He shouted back. "They are to keep well clear of the Zoid. Fire only if fired upon first."
"Director? Are you certain?"
"Yes, damn it!" He snapped. "We're not going to be able to stop her. The last thing we need is more deaths on our hands!"
"Yes, director." She nervously finished, then closed the link.
Trinh swore quietly to himself. The situation was completely out of his hands now. He could protest to his superiors, but he knew that they wouldn't do anything about the Blackstars. They were simply too afraid to do anything about them.
oOoOo
Jason crawled out of the vent, managing to land with the minimum of noise. Looking around, he figured he was in a secondary hanger that was used by some of Jenice's forces. He'd mentally wondered how much of Jenice's army had been destroyed by that Blackstar group. Hopefully, it was a good sized portion.
Both Jenice and Levisha were members of what he called the group's elites, their top pilots who got the best Zoids. He remembered from his own time here that they had their own hanger where their Zoids were kept. So, by extension, it was a possibility that Levisha had taken Altheia there. Maybe she somehow had found out about Altheia's technical skills, and wanted to see what she could do.
Ok, time for action.
He took out his stolen pistol and cautiously advanced across the hanger. So far, everything was going well. Looking around, he could see that there were a large number of pilots prepping their Zoids to move out, and a fair number of soldiers. Hopefully, nobody would notice one more.
He'd almost made it across the bay when he heard a woman shout out. "Hold it right there." He stopped where he was. No sense now in starting a gunfight when he knew that everyone in the room would be shooting at him. Hopefully he could bluff his way out of this. "Turn around."
He turned around, only to find himself staring straight into Levisha's red eyes. Crap. So much for that plan. She was standing there, in front of him, pointing a gun at his face. Now what.
"Who are you?" She demanded. "Drop the gun then remove your mask and helmet."
He figured that it might be a good idea to comply with her. After all, she did have a gun to his head. He slowly put down the gun, then removed the helmet and face mask. "There." He replied.
"You're the other prisoner." She replied. "I thought so. You've done a good job on your escape thus far. You've even managed to do a fair deal of damage, and my probably end up costing us our base." She almost smiled. "So who sent you?"
"Pardon?"
"Who sent you here?" She repeated with a hint of anger in her voice. "Who do you work for? Are you a Shadow Knight, or a member of the ISA, or what?" She asked.
"I'm here on my own." He replied. "I was helping my friend."
"Really?" She asked. "All this for a friend? It seems a little… unlikely."
"You don't recognize me?" he asked. "You don't know who I am, do you?"
"No." She replied flatly. "Should I?"
That tore it, Jason thought. If she was going to kill him, she should at least know who he was. "Yeah." He began. My name is Jason Simons. Doesn't that ring any bells?"
"No." She flatly replied. "Wait a second, I seem to recall there being a Jason something in a group of pilot trainees… the same group that had Peloquin in it." She glared at him. "If I recall, someone dropped out of the group and stole an Iguan…" Her eyes narrowed. "So that was you, wasn't it?"
"Yeah." He replied. "I took the Iguan."
"So then… Mister Peloquin was actually going after you when he claimed to be hunting Glass. Amusing." She considred this. "What did you do with him in the end?"
"I left him in the desert, his Zoid a wreck." Jason replied. He was going to play along with her for the moment, see if he could worm his way out of this. She didn't seem to want to kill him, or at least, not yet.
"Hmph." She replied. "I'm surprised he lived that long." She replied. "So, you're not from any other agency, you're just a random idiot who thought he'd be big by stealing a Zoid." She continued. "I must admit, I'm fascinated. Nobody has ever left the Red Claw before. What made you do it? What made you turn down the offer of power?"
"It was you." He explained. "After our encounter before I joined, I figured what sort of person you were. A user and a manipulator, who wouldn't care weather we lived or died. I figured that my lifespan would be limited to how long I was useful to you. So I broke and run, deciding to take my chances."
"You are an excellent judge of character." She answered. "But I am confused by one thing. When had we met before?"
"We met in a bar here in Freedom. We slept together, remember?" He blurted out.
"Maybe we did." She replied. "I'm sorry, I can't be expected to remember every one night stand."
That was too much for Jason. She'd basically just dismissed him and everything he'd done as being irrelevant. He was angry, and wanted to do something about it, regardless of the risk. He lashed out, swinging the helmet in his hand by the straps. It struck her in the hand, knocking her gun free and sending her staggering back. Not wasting any time, he lashed out with his left foot, clipping her across the side of the face, and sending her to the floor.
"Guards!" She shouted as she picked herself up. "Get him!"
Jason looked up to see a squad of soldiers running towards him. Abandoning everything he had planned so far, he turned and ran deeper into the facility.
oOoOo
"Well?" Jenice snapped. 'What are you waiting for?"
"It's kind of hard to concentrate…" Altheia nervously replied. The sound of gunfire in the background, the fire, the sirens, the Pteras taking off and everything else were coming together to produce a migraine-inducing wail that made anything, let alone trying to form some sort of mental link with some sort of legendary Zoid impossible. She had been staring at the Zoid, but so far, there had been nothing.
"Damn it!" Jenice snapped. "I know you can do it. I have seen you do it. I was in the Zoid when you did it before!"
"I don't know what I did!" Althea shouted back. "I was just standing there… I saw the Liger come running at me. I couldn't do a thing, I thought that it was going to run me down and then…" She Looked away from the Zoid. "Then it just stopped."
"So you couldn't control it?" Jenice asked. "It just happened. Fine then." She gestured to a guard, the last one left in the room. "You, watch her. Make sure she doesn't go anywhere."
"Yes, commander." The guard nervously replied as he advanced towards her. He lowered his rifle, pointing it Althiea.
"Now stay right there." Jenice demanded. Storming away, she boarded the Trinity liger, clambering into the cockpit and sealing it shut. The Liger's eyes and sensor flared green, then the beast roared, and turned to face Altheia.
"Is this what it was like when you saw it in Sun Hill?" Jenice asked over the PA system. The chaos all around, you, the Zoid approaching you while you knew that there was nothing that you could do about it?" The Liger began to slowly walk forwards, padding towards where Altheia was seated. The Zoid roared again, and looked down at her.
"Yes…" She admitted. "It was…" The guard next to her swallowed loudly, but managed to hold his position.
"So do it!" She yelled. "Do whatever it was you did that day! Show me your true potential! Show me what you have hidden inside that head of yours!"
"Your plan won't work!" A voice called out from seemingly all around them. Althiela looked up and around the room, but couldn't see who had spoken. The guard stood next to her, also nervously looking around. "It is doomed to failure."
"No!" Jenice called out. "There is nothing that can stop me. Not the Empire, not the Blackstars, not even you, whoever you may be."
"There is one key flaw in your plan." It continued. "One thing you have over looked."
"And that is?"
One wall of the warehouse exploded inwards in a cloud of dust and debris, sending chunks of demolished masonry flying. A huge, armoured form ploughed through the remains, smashing past anything in its way. The Grey and green Gustav stopped inside the bay, facing the other Zoid.
"There's no such thing as a Trinity Liger!" Floyd called out form the Zoid's cockpit.
"Floyd!" Althea called out. She leaped out of the chair, running towards the Gunstav.
"Don't just stand there!" Jencie shouted to the stunned guard. "Get her!"
The guard turned to face her, but then a second Zoid stepped through the gap in the wall. Althea instantly recognized what it was, even if it did look a little unfamiliar, being repaired to look shiny new rather then its usual battered self. "Leanne!" She called out.
"Dang right it is!" Leanne shouted back. The Gunsniper opened fire with its two wrist-mounted vulcans, spraying rounds across the floor and to the other Zoid. The guard ran for cover, while several more shots hit the Liger's front armour to no apparent affect.
"Hey, babe." Floyd shouted from the cockpit. "Check out the action in back. It's Hammer time."
Altheia could figure what he meant. "Thanks." She began. "But what about…"
"Don't worry about the Liger." Floyd said. "It's not real."
"It isn't?"
"Of course." He replied. "Everybody knows that there's no such thing as a Trinity Liger."
Altheia wanted to say that she'd never even heard of a Trinity Liger before today, but decided not to press the issue. Instead, she dashed alongside the Gustav, reaching its first trailer where her Hammer Rock was resting. Behind it was Jason's Iguan, also waiting for its pilot.
Jason… She thought. The last time she'd seen him, he was down in that cell. He'd been untied, but she didn't know what had happened since then. And that was hours ago. "Floyd!" She called out. "Jason's somewhere else in the factory."
"Sure thing." Floyd replied. "You wanna go look for him? I'm sure that me and Leanne can handle things here."
"Are you certain?" She asked as she climbed into the Hammer Rock's cockpit. "I mean, there is that Liger."
"Ligers are way over rated." Floyd replied. "Besides, I know how to handle her type."
The Hammer Rock stepped off the trailer, while the Gustav unhitched itself. "You sure?"
"The Sinister Sinker's overhead keeping an eye on things." Leanne continued. "Trust me, they'll let us know if anything goes wrong."
"Right..." Altheia continued, a little uncertain.
"Go for it." Floyd called out. "We'll look after things here."
"Okay then." She replied. The Hammer Rock knuckled away form the Gunstav, heading deeper into the factory. Behind her, she saw the Gustav roll forwards, the Gunsniper behind it.
"Dr Glass." Jenice began. "I should have known you were behind this."
oOoOo
"Okay… everything looks good so far…" Rayvenne muttered to herself as she circled the damaged factory. It had just begun to rain, yet the fire in the factory showed no signs of coming under control. Floyd's Gustav had rammed its way through one side, Leanne's Gunsniper following it in. So far, everything was going to plan. Hopefully, they could pick up Ali and Jason, then get out of there.
A beep on her sensors informed her of another Zoid approaching. Looking down, she could see what it was. A Pteras had launched from the factory, and was heading up towards her. She noted the radar dome on its back. Great. It's him again.
"Guys, we have a problem." She called out over the radio. "That crazy Pteras is back. I'm going to try and loose him, but I may not be able to keep monitoring the situation."
Before she could get a reply, she opened up the throttle and banked away from the other Zoid. As she expected, the pilot turned to follow her. Here we go again, she thought. She almost wished it was the Reddler instead. Its pilot didn't seem to be as good as this one. It made her wonder why he got the Pteras.
Maybe it's the Radar Dome, she thought as she turned again as the Pteras tried to line her up. The enemy Zoid opened fire with its nose-mounted cannon, stitching a line of fire across the sky that narrowly missed her Zoid. Pulling the stick around, she cut back across her own course, trying to throw the enemy pilot.
It worked to a degree; the other Zoid opened fire, its shots again missing the Sinker, instead tearing a line across the side of an abandoned factory, sending dust and debris flying. The enemy pilot sped up, closing the distance on her own Zoid. Before they could fire again, however, Rayvenne banked to one side, diving down between two buildings.
"Okay, poorly lit city at night in the rain. Let's see how big his balls really are." She opened up the Sinker's throttle while diving closer to street level. At this altitude, the Sinker acted more like a hovercraft then a true aircraft, flying just above the road's surface – something the Pteras couldn't do.
The Pteras swooped down low, opening fire again. Rayvene violently swerved the controls, the enemy fire narrowly missing her Zoid. Climbing, she swung around, the Sinker passing behind a pair of large smokestacks. The Pteras seemed to anticipate her move and cut across her path, closing in on her tail.
"No you don't!" She called out. The Sinker again dived and rolled away from the other Zoid, buying her a few seconds. Glancing over her shoulder, Rayvenne tried to think of a plan. She needed to get that guy off her tail as soon as possible. Hmmm…
The Sinker dived to the street again, its engines opened up as far as its pilot would dare. Again the Pteras dived after it, opening fire with the nose cannon. Glancing back, Rayvenne could see shots tearing up the pavement behind her. Good, she thought. He's following me.
She pulled back on the controls, climbing suddenly as the Pteras closed on her. A huge derelict smokestack loomed up in front of her as she went. Perfect. Squeezing the trigger, the Sinker's forward cannons spat fire into the structure, ripping apart huge chunks of stonework and concrete. The Pteras' own gun added to the devastation, shots tearing into the structure as they both climbed.
"See ya, sucker!" She called out as she violently banked the Sinker away. Before the Pteras could react, the massive smokestack began to topple forwards, crumbling into a rain of bricks and mortar as it went. The other pilot broke off their pursuit, instead climbing away and concentrating on avoiding being crushed.
The Sinker climbed away from the ruins, then swung around, heading back towards the battlefield. As she approached the suspected Red Claw base, her sensors beeped to indicate a new contact. "Not you again." She muttered. Checking the scope, however, it appeared that the target was on the ground. She swooped towards it, hoping to get a better look.
There. A large, black Zoid was lumbering towards the factory at speed, a bright green glow coming from its eyes and its back. She recognized it as being a Darkhorn and, from the look of things, it was the same modified one Altheia had encountered in the desert.
"Guys." She began. "We've got a new problem."
oOoOo
The Hammer Rock knuckled its way into another hanger, Althiea looking around as it entered, She almost wished she hadn't as she spied at least half a dozen Zoids that were waiting in the hanger bay, their crews ready and waiting. Almost immediately, they opened up on the new arrival, scattering weapons fire around her before she could duck the Zoid back into the previous room.
Great. She was out numbered and out gunned, and had walked straight into it. And she couldn't fall back either. She doubted that Floyd and Leanne could handle the Trinity Liger on their own. What had Floyd meant by there being no such thing as a Trinty Liger, she wondered. It had seemed very obviously real to her. Maybe…
An energy bolt shot just past the cockpit. Focus, Altheia, she thought. You've got more pressing concerns.
She opened up the Hammer Rock's throttle, the small Zoid striding out from behind its cover at speed, firing the shoulder cannon as she went. She ducked across the other side of a doorway before her enemies could respond, the wall absorbing the shots for the moment. Okay, that had thrown them, she thought, but it hadn't actually achieved anything.
"Ali? Is that you?"
She looked around to try and see who it was who had spoken. Nothing save for the other Zoids. Then she looked down. There was a Red Claw soldier standing by one of the Hammer Rock's arms, waving frantically at her. He wasn't wearing his helmet or mask, and she noticed that he had long black hair. "Jason?" She asked.
"Yeah!" He called back. "What's going on?"
"Floyd and Leanne are here, trying to deal with Jenice." She shouted as several bursts of fire went past her Zoid. "Floyd has your Zoid… I could use a little help here." A shot tore a chunk out of the wall right by her Zoid's head.
"Right." Jason shouted back. "Give me a minute." He sprinted off, further into the complex.
A minute? Altheia wasn't sure if she had a minute. Still… She opened up the Zoid's throttle again, the Hammer Rock sprinting away in the opposite direction to where Jason was headed. She opened fire again with the shoulder cannons, narrowly missing a Guysack. Not waiting around, she ducked behind another wall that lead into another, nearly empty hanger.
So far so good, she thought. As if to prove her wrong, several bursts of fire shattered through the wall, grazing the Zoid's armour. No systems damage yet, she thought, but that was more due to luck then anything else.
Glancing around, she could see a pair of Zoids approaching her; a Rev Rapter, and a booster equipped Snipe Master, probably the same one she had faced on the mountain. They were probably the two most powerful Zoids in that group, she figured. Great.
The Rav Rapter leaped around the corner, hissing and snarling as it went. The Zoid swiped at her wit one of its claw arms, Altheia barely avoiding the attack. The Snipe Master joined it, moving to box her in.
No! She thought to herself. The Hammer Rock Swung with one of its own armoured fists, catching the Rev Rapter in the side. She followed up with a second strike that caught the Rapter in the chest, sending it staggering away.
Before she could do anything else, however, the Snipe Master lashed out with one of its armoured claws. The Claw sliced through the Hammer Rock's shoulder, tearing up armour and systems. Several red lights came on Ali's status boards, as she fought to keep the Zoid under control. A second swipe sent her staggering back, forcing her back towards the hanger with the other Zoids.
"You're that Zoid from the mountain, aren't you?" The Snipe Master's pilot spoke up. "How does it feel now?"
"Hey!" Jason called out. "Playtime's over, girls!"
Looking up, Althiea could see the Iguan standing in a doorway, a metal pole, wrenched free from a destroyed wall, in its clawed hand. The small red and grey Zoid darted forwards, swinging the bar in its hand and bringing it around. The pole struck the Snipe Master in the side of its head, catching the pilot off guard. The pole bent and snapped, but was enough to stagger the Snipe Master pilot.
Before the Rev Rapter could do anything, Altheia swung around and opened fire with her shoulder guns. A pair of shots caught it in the side, tearing armour off its side and arm. The enemy Zoid, its pilot suddenly worried about the odds he was facing, turned and ran.
The Snipe Master staggered to its feet as Jason abandoned the iron pole. As the smaller Zoid lunged at him, baring its teeth and claws, he lashed out, swinging around the Iguan. One of its armoured feet caught the other Zoid in the side, lifting it off the ground and depositing it on a pile of rubble. The pilot managed to bring his machine under control, and decided to join the Rev Rapter.
"Nod bad, huh?" Jason began. Another volley of fire cut off Althiea before she could reply. "Okay, I see we still have some issues to deal with."
"So what do you propose to do?" Althiea asked, indignantly.
"Simple." He said. "You go left, I'll go right."
"What?"
"Running battle, like you did before. Only this time with two of us."
Althiea nodded. That made sense to her. The Hammer Rock broke into another run, firing its cannons as it went. At the same time, the Iguan took off in the other direction, firing its head guns and the quad cannon. The results were surprisingly good. The enemy forces were caught off guard and didn't know what to do. The pair of them scored several hits, while the return fire was erratic and inaccurate.
The enemy force also seemed to be unable to coordinate their actions. The Rev Rapter and Snipe master all but cut each other off trying to move in for another attack, while boxing a Serpent in against a wall. Its lack of legs making it hard to maneuver in close, the Serpent couldn't do anything but stay there for the moment. A Barrigator, anxious to attack, charged forwards, only to nearly collide with a Guysack trying the same thing.
So far, so good.
"Right." She began. "Ready for another round?"
"Just aobut." Jason replied. "In three, two-"
Before he could finish, one of the walls exploded in a shower of shattered bricks and masonry. A massive black Zoid crashed straight through the wall, ramming into a Godos that happened to be in its path. The smaller Zoid was tossed aside and left broken on the hangar floor.
"The Darkhorn…" Althiea began. It was that Dark Zoid, the same one she'd seen outside the city. Its appearance was unmistakable.
The Dark Zoid continued on its path, seemingly ignoring the other Zoids as they scattered and fled before it. Instead, it ploughed straight into another wall, taking it further into the factory.
"What's it after?" Jason asked.
"I don't know." Althiea replied. But she wanted to.
oOoOo
Jenice had thought that this would be an easy matter. She could easily disable the Gunsniper, then force Glass to surrender. His Gustav was unarmed, and there was no way that it could escape from her. Their attempt at a rescue was foolhardy at best, and playing straight into her hands.
Except it wasn't working out like that.
The Gunsniper opened fire from behind the Gustav, spraying her Liger with shots from its wrist-mounted gattling cannons. The shots pinged off the Liger's leg-mounted shields, not doing anything more then denting the armour. Abruptly, the Gunsniper stopped firing and began running, sprinting away from her, the Gustav moving with it.
The Trinity Liger roared as she opened fire with the twin beam cannons, aiming to knock out the fast moving Zoid. The first one hit the side of the Gustav, seemingly doing little more then scoring the armour. The second went wide, tearing another hole in the wall of her base.
The Gustav swerved around, coming straight at her as if to ram her. Lacking room to maneuver, she pulled the Liger around to avoid it, but ended up exposing her flank to the enemy. The Gunsniper opened up again, its shots carving up armour on the Liger's side.
"How dare you!" She shouted. She needed to end this, and fast. Bringing the Zoid around, she charged at the Gunsniper, aiming to take it out in one go. A golden glow built up around the Liger's claws as its Strike Laser Claw charged up. Desperate, the Gunsniper's pilot turned their Zoid around, and began running. Silly fool, she thought. You can't escape me now.
And then the Gustav ploughed straight into her side, sending the Liger sprawling across the floor. She fought to maintain her balance, the Liger's now activated claws tearing huge chunks out of the concrete floor as it skidded along. The Liger stopped, its back to a wall. "So…" She said as she started at the Gustav. "Glass, I had hoped to take you alive. Don't force my hand."
"Face it, baby." He called back. "I'm just too much for you to handle."
This was ridiculous, she thought. She should be able to crush these two easily. They were going to pay for this… The liger charged forwards again, going after the Gustav this time. As the Gunsniper moved to open fire, she crouched back, the liger's two leg shields covering its face and easily deflecting the shots. There was no escaping now.
Suddenly, another wall crashed inwards in front of her, a huge black form emerging from the dust and debris. No sooner had it appeared, then the massive beam cannon on its back swung around and opened fire, the shot slamming into her Liger's left shield. The blast tore straight through the leg shield, literally ripping it in half.
"What?" She shouted. The appearance of the Blackstar had been a surprise enough, but the destruction of her shield was unthinkable. She suddenly swerved the Liger away as the Darkhorn opened fire with its beam gattling, spraying shots at her Zoid. Several impacted into her side and leg shield, rocking the Zoid.
This was impossible, she thought. Yet a check of her status board told her that it was true; her shield had been completely destroyed with a single hit. Damn it, she thought. Even though she had never tested the shield against such a heavy weapon, it should have been able to hold…
Bringing the Liger around again, she charged at the Darkhorn, aiming to cripple it. However, the Gunsniper again opened fire, its shots tearing into the flanks, capitalizing on the damage the Darkhorn had already done. The Liger stumbled, staggering to the right away from the Dark Zoid.
Its pilot, not missing the chance, swung around the Hyperbeam cannon and opened fire. Swerving the controls again, she managed to avoid the shot.
"Damn you all!" She shouted out. Opening up the Liger's throttle, she continued past the Darkhorn. Even though she didn't want to admit it, it looked like the situation was hopeless. But she was not going to run the risk of capture. "Levisha!" She shouted into the communicator. "What's the situation out there?"
oOoOo
Levisha watched as Gwen's Reddler turned and weaved through the sky, trying to catch the Sinker that had given her so much grief earlier. She had considered joining Gwen in dealing with it permanently, but the situation required she remain on station and monitor the situation, especially after the Blackstar had appeared. That had been an unexpected turn, one that would be interesting to see how it played out.
"Levisha!" Jenice shouted over the communicator. "What's the situation out there?"
The Pteras banked over the city, Levisha examining the threat icons on the displays as she went. "The Peacekeeping forces have been deployed en masse and are heading towards this location." A beep from her sensors alerted her to a new threat as she spoke. "And they've deployed their airborne units as well."
"I see." She replied. "The situation inside the base has also become unsalvageable." Jenice stated. We'll have to abandon it and regroup."
"Understood." She replied. She'd already seen several Zoids and a large number of troops fleeing the base. It'd take some work, but she should be able to heard them and bring them under control. "I'll signal for a retreat and to regroup at the reserve base. Shall I order Harry and Malcolm into action?"
"Yes." Jenice stated. "They know their orders."
"Affirmative." She finished. So they'd lost their Freedom base. She'd always had some reservations about it; while it was large and close to good sources of both equipment and fresh personnel, she'd always had some reservations about operating in a city. They could only keep the local authorities distracted for so long.
Still, it was in her best interests for Jenice and her army to remain a viable threat to the Zygra Empire. Loosing their base of operations would be a setback, but it wasn't something they couldn't recover from. She could probably get the majority of Jenice's troops out and keep their leadership intact. She didn't care for what happened to Freedom or its people in the process.
"Harry, Malcolm." She began. "We're leaving. Enact the contingency plan."
"Um, you sure about that?" Harry nervously began. "I mean, its our home and-"
"Do it now!" She snapped. "Those are Jenice's orders."
"Errr… yeah. Sure."
She quietly smiled to herself. There was something very enjoyable about the way many of Jenice's pilots, including her so-called elites, were terrified of her.
oOoOo
"What are we doing Harry?" Malcolm asked.
"Well, Mal, my brother, we are going to help our beloved leader escape the city." He began as he clambered into the cockpit of his Cannon Tortoise. Malcom's near identical Zoid was parked next to his, a heavily-laden Tank Zoid behind them. The pair of them were on a ridge, overlooking freedom. From here, he could see the large column of smoke rising form the industrial district where he knew Jenice's base was.
"I'll send you the targets, you just shoot 'em." He continued.
"Huh." He replied. "I like blowin' stuff up."
"As do I, Mal, my brother, as do I." He closed the canopy and activated the Cannon Tortoises' targeting system. Feeding the information into the system, the ballistic computer adjusted for wind, weather and other conditions. The Tortoise's massive artillery cannon elevated to the correct angle, and indicated ready to fire.
Harry sighed. He had liked Freedom, in a way. It was his home town, where he and his brother had been born and raised. They'd gotten their start as standover men there; Harry supplying the brains and Malcolm supplied the muscle. Their protection racket had grown dramatically.
And then, one day, they'd found a pair of old Zoids in a supply cache. Not just any old Zoids, but a pair of Cannon Tortoises. It had given him the idea to expand their protection racket. Now, instead of threatening to beat people up, they threatened to wipe out whole villages. Of course, this had gotten them, attention from Jenice. She'd promised them more money and power they could ever manage on their own. And he'd bough it.
Oh well, he thought. Nothing for it now.
The Cannon Tortoise's cannon fired with a colossal blast, Malcolm's firing seconds later. The rounds arced through the air, then crashed down onto the city with a pair of distant explosions.
oOoOo
Thorne glared through the green-tinted monitor at the world around her. The enemy Liger, apparently piloted by the Red Claw's leader, was cornered on one side of the factory. In order to flee, it would have to go through her, something that she knewe that it couldn't do. It was over now.
This enemy, the supposed most wanted woman in the Empire, had been something of a disappointment to her. She had expected more from them and their so-called legendary Liger Zoid. Instead, they'd been cowed and bullied, putting up a pathetic fight. True, the nature of the battle had heavily favoured Thorne's Zoid; with no room to move, the Liger's speed and maneuverability wouldn't amount to anything.
"Surrender now." She stated, more for the benefits of the official records then anything else. She knew that her opponent wouldn't surrender, and that she would have to crush her. She just wanted it all to look reasonably legitimate. "Step out of the Zoid and I will spare your life." She dropped the targeting crosshairs onto her damaged opponent, lining up both weapons.
A beeping form her Zoid's sensors caught her attention. The radar had detected something coming in from above, and fast. One, two… multiple contacts. There was a high pitched whistling noise and…
A huge explosion shook the building. A wall blew out, sending chunks of bricks, glass and metal flying. Thorne's Zoid bellowed as it was struck by debris, having been right next to the apparent explosion. A second or two later, there was another blast, this one a bit further away. A third explosion sent more roof crashing down near her.
Artillery, she thought. But who, and from where? Who would be shelling Freedom?
Before she could react, the Liger broke into a run, coming straight at her. At the last minute, it served, bashing one of its armoured feet into the side of the Darkhorn's head. As her Zoid staggered, it turned and ran, leaving through the newly-blasted hole in the wall.
Before she could recover, another explosion rocked the building, sending chunks of debris raining down on the Zoids inside. Ignoring the Gustav and the Gunsniper for the moment, she charged out after the fleeing Liger. It was already well ahead of her, and she knew that she had no chance of catching it.
Only one chance… she dropped her sights on to the enemy Zoid, preparing to open fire with the main guns. Before she could fire, however, there was another explosion, a shell going off near her Zoid. The Darkhorn was thrown sideways just as she fired, her shots going wide and tearing into surrounding buildings.
Clearing her head, she could see the liger in the distance, still running. She started after it, but the Darkhorn stumbled, one of its legs damaged in the blast. Damn it, she thought. The other Zoid was going to escape now… She balled up her fists, all but snarling with range.
"Captain Thorne." A voice began over the communicator. She recognized it instantly as being her commander. "Stand down immediately."
"But colonel-" She began. "I have the Red Claw on the run. I can apprehend them and-"
"No, captain." He cut her off. "The Freedom authorities have not given you permission to act within their city boundaries."
"Yes, colonel, but what does it matter?" She snarled back. "I saw an opportunity to end this threat now. The Defence Forces couldn't have handled it and-"
"That is not important." He cut her off. "You have been operating illegally within their city limits. You are to collect your men and withdraw immediately. Rendezvous with the rest of your unit at grid A-40. I have a new assignment for you. Do you understand."
"But colonel-"
"Do you understand?"
"Yes, colonel." She replied defeated. "Out." The communicator link closed.
As soon as she was confident that he wasn't listening, she slammed her fist into the console. "How dare he!" She shouted to herself. "Who cares about Freedom and the worms here? I should be able to-"
A bleep from her sensors cut her off. A lone Tank Zoid, its trailer heavily laden with supplies was trying to escape from the burning factory and slip past her. "Fine then." She slewed the beam gattling around, and opened fire on the fleeing Zoid. The shots tore through its hull, ripping the small Zoid apart. Even after it fell, she continued thumbing the trigger until it had been reduced to little more then scrap.
She watched the ruined Zoid for a moment, almost daring it to move. Then, her frustrations temporarily sated, she moved her Zoid off, leaving it behind.
oOoOo
Althiea's Hammer Rock shoved aside a pile of rubble, clambering out of it to look at the devastation around it. The factory had been all but flattened, with only a few partial walls still standing. Much of the area looked the same, with numerous buildings either half wrecked or burning. The devastation reminded her of what happened back at Sun Hill, making her wonder if it had been the same people.
The Red Claws were gone, that much was certain. She figured that they had attacked the city in order to occupy everyone and allow them to make their escape. She could only wonder how many of them had gotten away, or if the Peacekeepers had caught any… or, for that matter, the Blackstar.
"Hey Ali!" Rayvenne called out over the communicator. "You okay down there?"
"Uh, yeah." She checked her status board. Her Zoid was mostly fine, with most of the damage being only the amour. "How are you?"
"Well, I had an angry Reddler up my bum, but he seemed to have run off with the rest of the Bad Guys." She continued. "So I'm fine."
"And the others?" She looked around to see the Iguan and Gunsniper walking over to her position, the Gustav behind it. The three of them looked a little battered, but for the most part seemed to be fine.
"Well, we're not dead yet." Floyd called out. "But I could say a little more for our surroundings."
"So what's the plan from here?" Leanne asked. "I'm guessin' that the Claw ain't coming back here."
"And there's very few reasons for us to stay here." Jason continued.
"The Peacekeepers are still after us, but right now they're a little distracted." Floyd continued. "I figure that the Claws probably shot their way out of the city. I figure that we might as well take advantage of the damage those cats did and get ourselves out of here, before they turn up with a horse and noose team." The Gustav rolled past them, heading towards the city's gate. "Hop on if y'all want a lit."
"Sure." Althiea muttered as she looked around. In the distance, she could see the Darkhorn, limping off to elsewhere in the city. She remembered the feeling she'd had when she first saw it, and now knew where she had felt it before. It was just like the first time she'd seen the Trinity Liger.
oOoOo
Heinrich Jaeger watched the events unfold from the roof of a nearby factory, He'd taken an awful risk coming here, but at the same time, he wanted to know what was unfolding. The information Levisha had given him had sparked his curiosity, and he wanted to know more.
He watched the group of Zoids leave through a pair of binoculars. They were, in turn, connected to his laptop, which was recording everything he saw.
"Fascinating." He muttered to himself. He only hoped that Levisha could provide more information about what had gone on inside the factory. He, and many others, would be very interested in what had gone on.
"Who are you?" He asked himself as he watched the Hammer Rock.