Whale King Dark Star
Over the Wastelands
1400 Hours
As soon as the front ramp of the Whale King closed, the ship had taken off. Sel opened a communicator link to the bridge. "What's out status, Alice?"
"We've just lifted off." She replied. "Navigation has laid in a course along the last known heading of that Whale Shark. Captain has ordered us to full pursuit speed, but we're not sure how long we can hold it, given their condition."
"And the Whale Shark?"
"We lost track of it, but it was still following the same heading." Alice replied. "Captain, I don't think it was aware of our presence."
"Really?"
"If they were, they would have sent the Zeekdobers after us to prevent pursuit, rather then you." She explained.
"I see." Sel replied. She climbed out of the cockpit of her Zoid. "And no sign of it since?"
"No, captain." Alice replied. "We are faster then it, however it has an hour's head start on us. At our current speed and heading, we should be able to get it on radar once we're out over the ocean, or perhaps the Skillaz ice fields." She paused. "Of course, if we find it there, then there's little doubt as to where it's going."
"And will they be able to see us?"
"Most likely." Alice replied. "The Whale Shark is an older design; it's hard to determine the exact configuration of sensors that it'd be carrying. However a standard Whale Shark would have a sensor fit similar to our own."
"And the Whale King, being so much larger, is more likely to be detected first." Sel noted.
"That's correct, Captain." Alice finished.
"Thanks. Let me know what happens." She closed the connection, then climbed out of her Zoid's cockpit. Behind it, the rest of her unit's Zoids were gathered inside the bay, with a few Extras. Sandra and Rick's Zoids were there; their blue armour sticking out amongst the grey and black of the bay. Behind them, their Gustav had Vic's Gunsniper on one of its trailers; Sandra had insisted on bringing it, stating that she refused to leave it behind with nobody to look after it.
"Well?" Matt asked as he climbed down from the Deadborder.
"We've lost them for the moment." Sel explained. 'Alice says we may catch sight of them in a few hours by then, we'll have a pretty good idea of where they're going. However, for the moment, I have to assume the worst."
"And if it goes there, you'll bring them along?" He began, and indicated towards Sandra and Rick who were checking their Zoids.
"Yes." Sel replied.
"You realize that Konstantinov will have a fit over this." Matt began. "And that he's not going to be the only one."
Sel crossed her arms. "Yes, but I don't have much of a choice. I bring them in, I break the most important rule in the book. Of course, if that Whale Shark is going there, then the blame will probably be traced back to me somehow, and I'm done for anyway." She shrugged. "This way, I have a chance of at least doing a little good before I die."
"Stop being so pessimistic" Matt replied.
"I'm being realistic." She stated. "You know the rules."
Before Matt could say anything else, Rick wandered up to the pair of them. He was carrying a backpack stuffed with what Sel hoped was clothes, but what she suspected was art supplies. "Hey, uh, not to be rude, but Sandra and I want to drop our stuff. Is there, any place we could leave it?"
"What Rick means is where can we sleep." Sandra shoved in.
"There's plenty of spare rooms in the pilot quarters." Sel replied. "We'll find some for you."
"Thanks." Rick said, then wandered off to where Bekka was climbing out of her Heldigunner. "Hey there."
"Hi Rick." She replied. "You okay? You spent a lot of time being chased."
"Ah, its nothing." Rick replied. "The three of us, we get chased all the time. I'm sorry we messed up your holiday. Next time, we'll try to have less Darths and evil gerwalk bandits attack us." He smiled.
"I'm sure you can find some way to make it up to me." She said, and winked at him.
"Could I see you for a minute, Bekka?" Sel shouted from over by her Darkhorn.
"Sure thing." She shouted back, then turned to Rick. "Gotta go. Boss is calling." She walked over to Sel, leaving Rick with Sandra to sort out their stuff. "What's up, boss?"
Sandra took her aside. "Bekka, I understand that both you and Rick are adults." (She used the word loosely) "And I can understand what sort of a relationship the pair of you have."
"Yes, but-" She began, but was cut off.
"I want you to remember that we are now in a crisis situation." Sel continued. "I need you always available and always ready for combat. There's no telling what may happen in a situation like this. I could need you at a moment's notice." She sighed. "For that reason, it would be best if you and him were to, well, not stay together."
Bekka nodded. "I understand." She muttered, resentfully.
"There is another matter." She said. "I haven't told anyone aside from you and Matt this. I'm telling you because it may affect you as well."
"Yes, captain."
"When we get back, and when all this is over, there are going to be a lot of questions asked. I will probably loose my command, and probably be court-martialed for my gross breach of conduct." Sel began. "If they find out about your relationship, you'll be the subject of a lot of unwanted attention."
"So I shouldn't tell anyone, right?" Bekka asked.
"Certainly you shouldn't drop it in casual conversation." Sel replied. "I know it sound cruel, Bekka, but you have to understand what's at risk here. Think of the thousands of lives. Think of all we've worked for. Think of our future."
"Our future." Bekka replied. She knew the mantra. "Yes, captain."
-----
Whale Shark Warlord
Over the Skilazz Ice Field
1730 hours
Compared to the Whale King, the Whale Shark was far, far smaller. About a quarter of the Whale King's overall length, it usually could only carry a pair of large Zoids. Its onboard facilities were similarly small. The crew and Zoid pilots were packed into cramped bunkrooms, while most rooms did multiple duties as briefing rooms, rec rooms and crew's mess. Compared to the Whale King's massive, multi-layered bridge, the Whale Shark's was very small, resembling the bridge of a small ship.
Desmond strode onto the bridge. His plain jumpsuit was replaced with an elaborate uniform, featuring a midnight-blue double-breasted jacket and a long black cape, and his missing eye was completely uncovered. He strode angrily over to the captain's chair. "Well, what is it?" He asked angrily.
Captain Henry Richards, the commander of the ship turned around in his chair. He was of average height and somewhat overweight, with small eyes and short, blond hair. Desmond knew he only had this job because of a lack of alternatives. If he had any more experienced ship commanders, Henry would be out. "We're being followed, commander."
"Followed?" He asked. "How can you tell?"
Henry got up, and directed him towards a radar station. The pair of them leaned on the rather nervous looking technician. "See this blip here?" He aid, pointing to a blip on the screen at the far edge. "We spotted it about ten minutes ago. It's on the same course and the same heading as us, and is moving faster."
"Can you tell what it is?" Desmond asked.
"It appears to be a Whale King, commander." The captain replied.
"Hostile?"
"Hard to tell. It hasn't done anything to us yet. If they were hostile, they could have launched flying Zoids to get us by now." He said. "Of course, they may not have any flyers of their own."
"I see." Desmond replied. "And we're unarmed."
"Although, as you can see, they've followed us all the way out here over the ice fields. So they're either following us, or they're heading into the Dark Continent for some other reason. Although I don't want to take the risk."
"Neither do I." Desmond replied. "As soon as we're over the Dark Continent proper, drop our altitude considerably. Maintain our course as best you can, but try to stay low to the ground and mask us. A Whale King can't do that, so we should be able to loose them that way."
"Yes commander."
He turned and left. "And tell me if there's any change in its status." He shouted as he left.
"Yes commander."
"And do not fail me." Desmond added as he was about to leave. "I have very little tolerance for failure."
-----
Sandra found the Dark Star's briefing room to be interesting. It was, like everything else on the ship, grey. The colour of her and Rick's clothes really stood out against everything else, while the greys of the Crew's uniforms blended in rather well. The thing that struck her the most, however, was its size. It was designed to hold the full compliment of the ship's Zoid pilots. With only six of them, the room seemed to be empty. Rick putting his feet up on the seat in front of him hadn't helped any.
Since they'd been on board, they'd been shuttled off to their quarters. They'd been given a fair-sized bunkroom that was clearly designed to hold more people if needed. Sel had instructed the pair of them to wait there for further instructions. Sandra could tell that she was still far from happy with having the pair of them onboard the ship, but she also knew that they had a right to be here. She'd gone to clean herself up, while Rick had pulled out his sketchpad and begun working furiously.
Sel entered the room. Sandra was amazed at the transformation she'd undergone; her casual wear (All tattered clothes pinched from Sandra's wardrobe) was gone, replaced with a sharp, grey and crimson uniform and a peaked hat. She wore a stern expression on her face, a look Sandra hadn't seen from her. Is this what she always looks like? She wondered. It matches the mood of the decor.
"Before I begin, I just need to ask something." She indicated towards Rick and Sandra. "From here on in, everything that happens onboard this ship should be considered classified as military secrets. I know I have no authority over the pair of you, but I would ask that you don't discuss this with anyone."
They both nodded. "Understood." Sandra replied.
"Thank you." She turned back to the front of the room. "Fifteen minutes ago, radar detected a ship ahead of us, matching our altitude and heading. We have since identified it as the Whale Shark we have been pursuing." The projector activated, showing a map of the ice fields, with the positions of the two ships. "We are still in pursuit, and gaining ground. We should intercept it over the Dark Continent win about an hour." The map traced the paths of the two ships, the pair of them meeting over the continent.
"What is the Whale Shark's projected course, captain?" Matt asked.
The map zoomed out, tracing the path of the Whale Shark over the Dark Continent. "As you can see, they are heading north by north east. Maintaining this course, they will eventually arc over the pole and come down the other side." The path then branched at one point, and traced a line across the length of the continent, heading to its far west end before stopping abruptly. "However, I suspect this is their true course."
"What's there?" Rick whispered to Sandra. "It's the arse end of the continent."
"I suspect that's where they come from." Sandra replied. "Looking at its position, its no wonder they've remained hidden this long. There's probably not a living soul within a thousand kilometers of there."
"Remote." Rick replied. "On the other hand, it'd make for a nice, quiet locale for a studio."
"Sure, if you dig barren rock."
Sel glared at them, and continued. "Our current plan is to catch up with them and force the ship down." The map was replaced with a rotating wireframe model of the Whale Shark. "The Whale shark is unarmed; even in our damaged state we've got more weaponry."
"What if they launch a Zoid at us?" Bekka asked.
"Most Whale Sharks aren't equipped for mid air launches." Sel replied. "Even then, we should be able to handle most airborne threats."
"So how many Zoids is it carrying?" Alex asked.
"The Whale Shark's capacity is far smaller then the Whale King's. Its normal capacity is for four medium-sized zoids, like Command Wolves." Sel explained. "However, it could carry up to eight if they were attack Zoids. With seven reasonably powerful Zoids, we should be able to handle anything they have on board. Of course, there's also the possibility that the Zeekdobers we saw were from the ship, in which case its likely empty of Zoids."
Before anyone could say anything else, a siren sounded throughout the ship. "What's that?" Rick shouted
"I have no idea!" Bekka shouted back. "Captain?"
"Give me a minute." Sel replied, then picked up her communicator. "Alice, its Sel here. What the hell is going on up there?"
"I'm just checking now, captain." Alice replied. "Hold on." There was a minute of tense silence. "Captain, engineering has reported a crack in the cooling system for the main engines. Its likely a result of the damage we suffered during the attack."
"What's the status?"
"They're cutting back power to the engines to prevent them from overheating." She replied. "Hold on." Alice went for a minute, then came back. "Engineering reports that we can hold at half speed while they affect repairs. However, if the damage is too serious, we may have to put down."
Sel snarled angrily. "Great. Thanks, Alice. And the Whale Shark?"
"Its still there but we're beginning to fall behind."
"Damn." Sel muttered.
"Captain?"
"Nothing. Thank you, Alice. Keep us up to date."
"Yes captain." She finished.
Sel hit a button beside the door, silencing the alarm. "We've had a problem with the engines. For now, we have to reduce our speed to affect repairs. This means that, for the moment, we are going to loose contact with the Whale shark." Sandra looked around the room. Sel's pilots clearly looked disappointed, possibly even apprehensive at the news. "For now, I ask if you could all return to stand-by. I'll let you know when you're needed."
The pilots stood and filed out of the room. Sandra saw Rick dart off down the hall to catch up with Bekka, who was moving off in the other direction. She slowly walked behind them, expecting the worst.
"Hey, uh..." Rick began. "I was wondering if, since you're on standby alert but not actually in combat as yet, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out or play a game of pool or something?"
"Sorry, Rick, I'm busy." She replied and walked off, leaving him standing there.
Sandra waited a minute before walking up to him. "You okay there?"
"She just dumped me." He muttered.
"It's not your fault." Sandra replied. "Most armies have rules about fraternisation between troops. I suspect that since you and her are serving on the same ship, that counts." She put her hand on his shoulder. "Besides, right now she needs to be in top form. She probably can't afford to spend her time hanging out with you or the like."
"It seems a little harsh to me." Rick muttered.
"Yeah, well, thing you got to remember about these guys is that right now they're running the risk of some tool barge into their home and do unspeakableness to it." Sandra said. "It happened to them once before and they're stuffed if they're going to let it happen again."
"I guess." Rick replied. "I suppose I'm just afraid of getting dumped." He paused. "Again."
"Yeah, well, it happens to everyone." Sandra said. "You get over it. Come on. Let's find something to break to pass the time."
The two of them walked off into the ship. "Hey, Sandra?" Rick asked. "Is it just me, or is it very quiet of late?"
Sandra looked around. "It's not just you, Rick. It's not just you."
-----
Kingswood Army Base
The Vinterlands
John Shepherd knocked at the colonel's door, and awaited the reply before entering. As he walked into the office, Pie swung around from his usual place by the window, holding a gold-plated revolver in one hand, a cloth in the other. "Ah, there you are, John." He said, grinning in a worryingly cheery way. "What's the news?"
"I've received a communiqué from Captain Desmond." John replied. "He says that he has recruited the agent and is presently en route to the objective."
"Excellent! Excellent!" Pie replied, grinning.
"He also regrets to inform you that he'll take longer to reach his objective then he originally estimated." John replied, reading off the message. "He says that he has to follow a different, more elusive path as there is a possibility that he may be pursued. However, he says that he is still on target. As agreed beforehand, he will contact you when he is ready to go."
"Very good." Pie said, gleefully. "John, order all troops to mobilise. I want our ships airborne and en-route to the objective in one hour."
"Yes sir!" John replied.
"Oh, and get that pilot from Kandrak's unit, what was his name?"
"Zell, sir."
"Give Zell a place on the mission, as well as his Zoid. Tell him that it's his opportunity to get his revenge against those who killed his comrades." Pie said. "He's a good man, John. He deserves this. Oh and tell Anton to have my Zoid loaded on to the lead ship."
"Yes, sir." John replied.
"Very good. Dismissed."
John turned to leave. Behind him, the colonel continued to polish his gun, before speaking. "This is a great day, John. A great day. We will show them. We will show them all."
-----
Whale Shark Warlord
Over the Dark Continent
2030 hours
Outside the ship, it was raining and blowing a gale. The ship itself was crawling along, hiding in canyons and valleys as it traveled, trying to remain as invisible as possible to any pursuers. This had reduced its progress to a snails pace, as navigating at low altitude at night in a storm was far from easy.
Inside it, Vic was lying on her bunk, her head drooped over one side, staring at the opposite wall. She was bored. She'd been spending the last few hours driving the other person who she shared the bunkroom nuts. It was fun, but she'd had to leave. So Vic was deprived of anything to do, and was thus bored.
Amelia was an easy person to drive insane. She was blonde, with a mass of puffed-up hair and big gormless blue eyes. She was shallow, superficial, vain and had the apparent IQ of a tennis shoe, which meant that it was easy to do things that annoyed her. And as Vic figured she was vital to whatever this operation was, the worst they could do was give her a harsh talking to. It had crossed her mind what someone like Amelia was doing in a supposed military intelligence operation. She figured that she was either somebody's piece of fluff and thus harmless, or just pretending to be a dope and thus deadly ands liable to kill Vic dead as soon as her usefulness was at an end. Still, it would be fun finding out.
Time for a little fun. Amelia had closed the door "for security reasons". The door was controlled with a security swipe card. A swipe card just like the one she had stole from Amelia's stuff while going through it in an effort to drive her mad. (Unballing all her socks and then balling them up as mismatched pairs had been another favorite of hers). She leaped down from the bed, then sidled up to the door, casually swiping the card behind her back. It swung open, and she leaped out into the hallway. Time for some fun.
-----
In the ship's small briefing room, Emil was waiting. His second in command, Derrick Hallis, had been here on time as he had expected. However, his third, Amelia, Snow, was strangely absent. It was very unlike her to be late. He checked his watch again. He couldn't start the briefing without her. Damn it.
She entered the room, an angry look on her face. "I'm so sorry commander." She began. "But that little troll has been making my life hellish! I could wring her filthy little neck that..."
"Who?" Emil glared at her.
"Um..." She turned to face him, wilting under his glare.
"Who?" He repeated.
"Victoria Hagen." She stammered out.
"All in good time. For now, if you could kindly take your seat." She cringed, and walked towards her seat as quietly as possible. She'd seen what happened when you got Desmond angry. "Thank you."
There was a moment of silence as he looked at the pair of them before he began. "This is a great opportunity for us, and for our cause. As you know, I undertook this operation in my guise as a military intelligence officer. However, I have realised how we can turn this to our advantage."
A map of the Dark Continent appeared from a projector built into the floor. "Many believe the continent to be uninhabited. As I recently discovered, this is not the case." The projector zoomed in on the far western end of the continent, then in again on one particular canyon, with a raised mesa at its far end. "Here. Concealed within this valley is a secret. A lost civilization, hidden away from the outside world. Colonel Pie asked me, in my military intelligence role, to infiltrate this place. My task was to gather intelligence on them, while laying the groundwork for an invasion by colonel Pie's forces."
"However, I have other plans." He said. "We will infiltrate them. However, we will not destabilise them. We will reveal ourselves to them and warn them to Pie's imminent invasion." Derrick and Amelia exchanged glances. "In fact, we will endeavor to become their allies, and we shall help them deal with Pie as a way of proving our trustworthiness."
"But why, sir?" Amelia asked. "What happened to the plan?"
"That was a mere convenience." He continued. "From the Quentin Journal, I've ascertained that these people are somewhat withdraw bordering on paranoid. What I can do is assure them that the information about their existence will never be revealed. I'm sure they would see us favorably in return. In time, I'm sure that they could see that they and us have a lot in common. We could continue to ensure their secrecy and they could work with us."
"And what do we get from this?" Derrick asked.
"Simple. As you know, our Zoid army is somewhat limited. While we have a few powerful individual units, like my God Kaiser, the majority are relatively weak, small units. Something like fifty percent of our army is still made up of Attack Zoids, despite our best efforts. These people boast an army of Deadborders, Darkhorns, Heldigunners and Reddlers. Think what we could do with those at our disposal."
"And Hagen?" Amelia asked.
"She's a form of insurance policy." He replied.
"Insurance?"
"The Zoids piloted by these people use a cybernetic neural interface system to directly connect the Zoid to the pilot's brain." He explained. "However, its unclear if their Zoids can be piloted by normal, unmodified pilots. So, we need a pilot equipped with the system as a form of insurance policy; someone we can use to pilot a Zoid if it goes bad. Hagen is to fill that role. And if it turns out that they can be piloted by a normal pilot, well..." He glanced at Amelia. "Then she's of no use to us."
"So you plan to slab her in a Deadborder as a worst case scenario?" Derrick asked.
"There is something else." He said. "The Quentin Journal also contained a fragmentary extract from an older-still journal. It said something about a monster or beast, called 'blood-red death.' Pie was convinced that this was some sort of powerful Zoid, although I, for one am unconvinced." He looked at the pair of them. "However, if it does exist, having someone who can pilot it would be useful."
-----
"So I'm disposable." Vic muttered to herself. She'd found an open door and decided to stand next to it, hoping to find something interesting. It had been rather illuminating. Deciding she'd heard enough, she walked back to her quarters, thinking about what she'd heard. The lost civilisation Desmond was talking about had to be the city Sel had told Sandra about. Unless there were two lost cities in the Dark Continent, both using Darkhorns, Deadborders and Heldigunenrs. Unlikely, but you never know.
She'd figured she was expendable form the start. She didn't believe what Desmond had said about the million. However he'd gotten her curiosity aroused, which was good enough. Clearly Amelia was the designated dispose. She'd have to work on driving her mad some more. Mad people made for interesting disposals.
She swiped the card through the door and stepped into the room. Shadding most of her gear (And hiding the card under her pillow) she climbed into her bunk. Blood Read Death? She ran the idea through her head. Sounded fun. Of course, it probably didn't exist. But if it did, it could be fun. Anything with a name like blood red death had to be. She'd have to see what it was.
She rolled over and thought about it some more, ignoring the sound of Amelia pounding on the door and shouting at her to open it.
-----
Whale Shark Warlord
Position Unknown
0830 Hours
Desmond strode angrily onto the bridge. He'd been in the middle of breakfast (Croissants, with coffee) when he had been called to the bridge. Amelia was with him, looking terrible. She had dark bags under he eyes, and her puff-ball hair looked more like a pile of straw. She'd refused to comment. "Well?" He said, striding over to the captain's seat. "This had better be important."
"It is." Henry replied. "Take a look around"
He looked around the bridge. At first, nothing seemed out of place, then he realised what it was. Outside, through the windows, was nothing but an empty, dull grey sky. "It's fog." Desmond replied. "So?"
"It's not your average fog." Henry replied. "You know of the ores found on the Dark Continent, right?"
Desmond nodded. "The stuff that the power systems on the Dark Zoids use, right?"
"Correct." Henry said. "What we have here is a storm, generated by that stuff messing with the weather. It happens here. Its one of the many, many reasons why people don't come here often."
"And your point?"
"This fog, and I suspect the storm behind it, is laced with that stuff, usually in the form of dust." He explained. "The problem is that the stuff messes with electrical systems. Right now, we've lost all our radar, all our sensors, all our navigation aids. We can't tell where we are. Right now, there could be a mountain in front of us and we'd never know it."
"Can we press on?" Desmond asked. "Can we keep going through this?"
"Like this, we can't" Henry replied. "If there was anything in the way, we wouldn't know about it until we hit it."
"Fine. Take her up to three thousand meters."
"Commander, if we fly though this, we won't be able to see where we are!" Henry shouted.
"And neither will our pursuers." Desmond replied. 'Stealth is of the utmost importance to this mission, Captain. I want to avoid contact at all costs." Desmond replied. "And don't bother me again unless it's really important." He turned and left.
"Really important my arse." Henry muttered. "We'll see who's the wise guy when we get a mountain in the face."
-----
Amelia returned to her quarters, only to find that they were a mess. For some reason, however, she wasn't surprised. There were piles of clothes scattered across the floor, along with the odd sheet, an assortment of camping gear, several fashion magazines and the plates from breakfast. Vic was lying on her bunk, starring at the ceiling. Amelia had a sudden urge to kill, but kept it under control.
Vic turned to look at her. "Where'd you go? I got so lonely here without you."
"Important meeting." Amelia replied as she began to pick up her stuff.
"Why?"
"Because the commander needed to seed me about something."
"Why?"
"Because it's important to the mission."
"Why?"
"Oh never mind!" She shouted.
"Okay." Vic said. "So are we there yet?"
"No."
"Why?"
She stopped. Remember your orders. Remember your orders. "Because we've been delayed."
"Why?"
"Because of bad weather." Twitch.
"Why?"
"Because we can't see where we're going and might end up smashed into a mountain!" She shouted.
There was a long pause as the pair of them, glared at each other. Finally, Vic spoke. "Why?"
"AAAACK!" Amelia screamed. She threw the clothes she had picked up every where, and then stormed out, slamming the door shut behind her.
Vic lay on her bunk, and grinned. It was working. Amelia had been driven from the room and was unlikely to come back for several hours. Plenty of time to look around. She pulled out her stolen security card. Good thing that Amelia was apparently one of the bananas in charge around here, she thought. Her card probably had access to just about everything.
She slipped out into the hallway. Her first destination, she decided, should be the Zoid bay. Whatever was in there might give her a good idea of what they were up to. Or at the very least, it may be rather breakable, which could also be fun. Descending down a set of stairs, she reached a gantry that overlooked the Zoid bay, and took a look over the bay itself.
Below her was a blue and silver Gustav, with four trailers attached. Each of the trailers was loaded down, and covered with tarpaulins. Interesting. Form here, she couldn't see what thay had on their backs, but she was willing to take a bet that it had something to do with all the soldiers camped out on the floor of the bay. The Sandspeeder Desmond had driven her and himself to the ship on was stored on one side of the bay, kept out of the way.
She slowly descended to the floor of the bay. She'd need to check this out further.
-----
Henry leaned over the radar tech's seat, glaring into the monitor. "Well?" The bridge was quiet and dull, lit only by the glow of radar scopes and monitors.
"I'm not sure." The tech replied. "We've got something. Contact is very intermittent, however. Presumably that's caused by the storm."
"So no idea what it was?"
"No sir." The tech replied.
"You don't think it was that Whale king from earlier?"
"Not sure." The tech replied. "It's ahead of us, while that other one was behind us. However, at the reduced speed we've been at-"
"Hold on" Henry cut him off.
"Captain?"
"Shh." He hissed. There was a long pause. "Did you hear something?"
"No captain." He replied. Then he heard it. A low noise, like a dog's whine only longer, and deeper. "What's..."
"Shh." They heard it again. It sounded louder. "What is it... I've heard it before..."
"Uh, captain?" Another technician reported.
"What is it?"
"There's something ahead..."
He looked up at the front viewscreen. A blob of the grey sky in front of them was darker, as if there was something behind it. As he watched, it became bigger, the main blob sprouting smaller blobs, who's shape and placement suggested wings or fins. As they watched, details became apparent. A grey, rectangular body, with a green covering on the top, and two small wings to the sides...
"WHALE KING!" Henry shouted. "Hard starboard! Now!"
The entire ship lurched to the right as it turned away from the approaching Whale King, the bridge crew holding on for dear life. As they turned, they could see the Whale king continuing on its way, apparently unaware of their presence. They watched as the distance between them and it decreased, the ship fading into the distance and then vanishing into the fog.
"That was close." He said, leaning on the back of his chair.
"Captain!" The tech shouted again. "Mountain!"
"What?" Henry shouted, then looked out the front window. A mountain was looming out of the fog, occupying the right half of the screen. "Hard port! Now!"
The Whale Shark lurched again, throwing the crew across the bridge. Henry winced at the thought of what must be happening to everyone else on board the ship. The mountain gradually vanished form the viewscreen as they pulled away. For a good few minutes, there was silence as the ship continued on its way. Don't you dare, Henry thought, glaring at the tech. Don't you dare.
"Captain!" He shouted. "Unidentified menacing topographical feature!"
He wanted to say something, but he couldn't. Instead, he saw the ridge emerging out of the fog. "Up!" He shouted. "Take her up now! Full emergency power!" The Whale Shark rose into the sky, passing over the ridge, and continued to climb. "Keep going, damn it!"
"Captain, what about the commander's orders?" A technician asked.
"Stuff the commander." Henry replied. "I don't want to end up with a mountain in the face." He looked around the bridge. The crew seemed to be in agreement with him. "Take us up to ten thousand meters, more if you have to. Just so long as we're out of this damned fog."
-----
Vic braced herself on the stairs as the whole ship rocked, first to one side, then another. In the bay, the soldiers scurried around securing equipment and making sure the Gustav didn't slip. Several crates came loose from one of the trailers, shattering against the bay walls, while the tarpaulin flapped around loose. She slipped in amongst the mass of running and shouting troopers, one more unnoticed body in the middle of the chaos.
Ducking between soldiers, she scurried over to the shattered crate. Its contents were scattered around the bay, wrapped in bubble-wrap packaging. She picked one up. Hmm, size and mass were right, she thought. Now for the contents. She opened the package. Inside was an assault rifle, a rather unusual model with a short barrel, no stock and bulky body. The clip wasn't inserted, but the gap at the base of the rifle suggested a large one.
She recognised the model; the XS 10mm Submachine gun. Fantastic rate of fire combined with a large clip, terrible accuracy and a tendency to kick like an Ouridos. There was only one group that used it widely that she knew of, and that was a rather unsavory terrorist orgasnisation with a bent on world conquest and breaking things. Fun. She checked one of the boxes still on the back of the Gustav, but no longer under the tarp. Explosives. Another one had grenades. Yeah, she could tell what these people were up to. She'd fallen in with a bad crowd.
This promised to be very interesting, she thought to herself as she snuck back to her quarters. Then she giggled.
-----
Sandra and Rick sat dejectedly in their quarters. Since the Dark Star's engine failure last night, it had dropped behind the Whale Shark they were tailing. Come the next morning, the engines had been repaired, but the target was nowhere in sight. They'd lost it. Sel had redirected the ship to travel at maximum available speed back to what Sandra assumed was their home. They'd filed to stop the Whale Shark form reaching its objective. Now all they could do is warn them.
Rick had been idly watching the window for the last few hours, randomly scribbling on his pad. Sandra could tell form the way that he was acting that he was at least a bit upset. She couldn't blame him. He'd been dumped big time by military regulations. It was hard on anyone. She was busy staring at the walls, considering her options. She had no idea what she and Rick were getting themselves into. Some of the things Sel had said suggested that these people weren't that inviting towards strangers. She and Rick, she figured, were about as strange as they came.
"Hey, will ya look at that?" Rick said, looking out the window. Sandra got up, and peered over his shoulder.
"What is it?" She asked, then she saw it. A huge grey shape emerged from the clouds below, climbing to draw parallel with them. It was another Whale King, the near twin of the one they were on. Damage aside, the only difference she could see between the two was the huge black five-pointed star painted on the side of the second ship. "Wow." It was all she could think to say. She'd never seen a whale king in flight like this before. She'd seen them as blobs in the sky from the ground, but never in the sky next to her.
"Who do you think it is?" RIck asked.
"I suspect it might be Sel's friends." Sandra replied.
"You don't think we're near their home?"
"I wouldn't have a clue, Rick." She replied. "I wouldn't have a clue."
-----
Sel sat back in her chair in her office, staring at the monitor. A light on it blinked, indicated an incoming transmission. She'd been watching it for a minute, considering the options. Well, no point in putting off the inevitable, she thought. She pressed a button on the panel, switching on the screen.
A face appeared on the screen. He was in his early forties, with a well-trimmed goatee bearded and, she suspected, a shaved head. He wore a captain's uniform, complete with hat. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Captain Yanger." She began.
"I understand." He replied. "I wasn't expecting to see you or your ship around here, captain. Especially without contacting anyone first."
"These are, well, unusual circumstances." She replied. "The ship was damaged in an attack and we lost our long-range communications. We have been unable to make contact with home since then."
"I noticed." He replied. Sel realized that he was looking at the damaged side of the ship. "So may I ask what you're doing here?"
Here it goes, Sel. said. This is not going to go down well. "We are in pursuit of a Whale Shark. It left the Badlands yesterday afternoon, and was last sighted over the Dark Continent. We suspect that it may be headed..." she trailed off. "There."
"And you couldn't warn us in advance?" He finished.
"No communications." Sel replied. "We couldn't have warned them if we'd wanted to."
"So you've returned to warn us of a possible attack?" He asked. "One Whale Shark couldn't hold enough Zoids to even be a minor threat."
"It's possible that these people are attempting to infiltrate us, not attack us head on." Sel said. "We know that there's a mercenary on board the ship who would be well suited to an infiltration operation."
"And how do you know this?" He asked. "Know them on a first name basis?"
Sel sighed. This was it. The point where she threw it all away for a greater cause. "I think there's something you should know..." she began.
-----
Rick and Sandra watched as the second Whale King turned away from them, curving around so it was heading in the opposite direction. It had been with them for over an hour now, traveling with them. Ahead of them, the sun was beginning to dip below the cloud layer. "So where's he off to?" Rick asked.
"I'm more worried about where we're going." Sandra replied. "For some reason, I've got a bad feeling about all of this."
"You're just pessimistic." Rick replied. "You always assume that the worst will happen."
"And when have I ever been wrong?" Sandra said. Rick looked thoughtful for a moment, and then was ready to reply, but she cut him off. "No, don't answer that, Rick. I know what you're going to say."
"Well, you did ask." He said.
As they watched, the cloud layer slowly began to rise towards them. Within a minute, the entire window was enveloped in grey. "Great." Sandra muttered. "Now the outside matches the inside. Hey, Rick!" She turned to him. "Why don't we get some grey clothes of our own. That way we can blend in some more."
"Ha ha." He replied. They sat in silence for a minute. "What do you think Vic's up to?"
"No idea." Sandra said.
"You don't think she went voluntarily, do you?"
She shrugged. "Who can tell with someone like her? I'm sure she knows what she's doing." She smiled. "If anything, I'm more worried about whoever she's traveling with."
-----
Amelia frantically unballed the socks. "Matching pair, matching pair... come on... oh please..." A pair of socks, one black, one white, presented themselves. "Aaaaagh! I don't believe it! What do I have to do to get a matching pair of socks around here?"
-----
The Whale King broke though the cloud layer. Below them, the Dark Continent stretched out all the way to the horizon, a mess of peaks and canyons. All were a universal dull grey colour, some dusted lightly with snow. Save for the odd band of dull red or lighter grey rock, it was colourless. The sky above remained grey and overcast, making the terrain below seem even more lifeless. As the ship dropped closer to the ground, they could make out more detail, picking out individual valleys or canyons.
"Hey, what's that?" Sandra asked. The ship had changed course slightly, and was heading towards a valley, still descending as if it was going to enter it. Rick pressed his face to the window, twisting around to try and see what was going on ahead of the ship. "Well?"
"It looks like..." He began. "There's a valley, and a mesa thing at the end of it. There's..." He trailed off. 'I can't quite see it, but I swear there's a door at the end of it. A huge ferking Whale King-sized door."
"A what?" She asked.
"Yeah." He said. "Sandra? We're going there."