Palitoy Weapons Plant
Tempus, Chronos
1800 hours
Sandra had to admit, of all the dank, damp, smelly converted offices that she'd used as a change room since joining Fight Club, the Palitoy one was definitely the nicest. That is to say, it was still dank, damp and smelly, just less so.
She'd gotten ready as quick as possible and joined the rest of the pilots in the main waiting room. The gap between the three of them and everyone else seemed to have only widened since last week. Clearly the humiliating defeats she and Vic had inflicted upon their number (she didn't count Rick's thrashing of Pants since he seemed not to be a local fixture) had not gone down well at all. Only Anistasia stood near them, and even then that was because she was apparently being excluded as well.
From what she'd gathered, there was a second change room where the other half of tonight's fighters, the ones that they would be facing, were also waiting. This meant that she wouldn't get to see Sel until the inevitable post-fight party.
Rick sat down next to her. "So how are you feeling about tonight?"
"Great." She muttered. "I'm still trying to decide if tonight's opponent will be another tool like everyone I've faced so far, or some boofhead who's going to completely tool up me and Spud out of some sense of vengeance for all the carnage I've inflicted on his beer buddies thus far." She sighed. "Probably the latter."
"Don't sweat." Rick said. "We beat up three tools tonight like we always do then we find Sel and we get the hell out of here."
"Rory, you are way too casual about this."
"It's my philosophy in life." He replied. "Don't worry, take it easy and sleep a lot."
"Right." Sandra felt like screaming or bashing Rick's head into the wall. So instead she thought about something else. "So do you have any idea what Anastasia's up to?"
"She said that we should be ready with our Zoids for when she goes out for her match." Rick replied.
"Assuming that they don't get totally tooled." Sandra muttered.
"Relax, it'll be fine."
"You are way too optimistic, you know that?" She glared at him. "And where is Polly anyway?"
"Right here."
Sandra spun around in her seat to see Vic standing there, glaring in her usual odd way. She was holding onto a clipboard. "Don't do that." Sandra snarled.
"Do what?" Vic asked, slurring the 'what' and trying to look as innocent as possible. Given that she was dressed entirely in black, it didn't work.
"Hey Cass, what've got there?" Rick asked.
"Tonight's run order." She replied. "I stole it form some tech guy. He wasn't using it."
Rick and Sandra shot each other worried glares. "So how does it look?" Sandra asked as she turned back to Vic.
"Interesting." She replied. "Very interesting." She handed the clipboard over to Sandra.
"Well?" Rick asked, breathing over Sandra's shoulder. "How does it look?"
"Oh dear." Sandra said. "Damn. Tool. Frell it. This is…"
"Interesting?" Vic replied, and smiled in a cure way. "Told you."
-----
Like everything else in Tempus, the harbour was a polluted wasteland. It had been years since anything larger then pond scum had lived there. Centuries of runoff, waste and straight out dumping had effectively killed it dead. The economic recession had finished off a lot of the activity on the harbour. Several derelict ships, abandoned by companies that had gone under, lay rusting at their wharves.
Tonight, however, something moved in the harbour.
A trio of black shapes moved silently through the fouled water. A few lights from the city reflected off their sleek, curved hulls, picking out details, sensors and weapons. They swam straight towards the industrial district, ignoring everything else in their way. Nobody noticed them, as few people looked at the harbour unless they had to.
The three shapes dived into the murky water, their own sensors and lights illuminating the depths in an eerie green shade. After a few minutes searching, they found their objective. A large waste pipe, easily big enough for them to enter. The only obstacle was a rusted grate that was easily clawed aside.
The three forms slipped into the pipe, heading in towards the city.
-----
Russoff nervously paced around his office. He was wearing his best suit, but looking somewhat dishevelled. "Okay, Mark. Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to ask you what we have, and you'll tell me if we have it. You got that?"
"Yes sir, Mister Russoff." Mark replied. He was still wearing Rusoff's old suit, which was still too big for him. But he was looking a lot neater. He had a clipboard and pen in his hand.
"Do we have all the fighters here tonight?" he asked, nervously.
"Yes we do." Mark replied calmly as he re-checked an item on the list.
"And do we have an opponent for everyone?" he asked. "No double bookings, nobody without someone to fight?"
"Yes we do." He said, and re-checked the list.
"And does everything make sense?" He asked. "No really, really nonsensical match-ups that I may have made while out of my mind?"
Mark had to glance down at the list twice. "Yes sir."
"Good." He turned to look directly at mark. "Do we have opponents fro…" he paused. "For them?"
"If you mean Black, Stonewall and page, then yes."
"Good!" He shouted. Mark had seen the way he'd been after last week's fights. He hoped things would go better this week. "And do we have cameras? Plenty of people taping all this?"
"Yes sir." Mark replied. 'Every conceivable angle is covered."
"Great." He said. "This is going to be a good night. This is going to be a great night. There is nothing that can go wrong." He turned back to Mark. "Have I forgotten anything?"
"Ms Snow who has been waiting outside for the last five minutes?" Mark asked.
"Snow?!" He shouted, leaping over to loom over Mark. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
"I did." He replied, meekly. "You said you'd tend to it in a minute."
"Well show her in then!" he said. "Do look okay?"
"You look…" Mark hesitated to say it. "You look fine."
"Good. Good."
Mark walked over to the door, and opened it. He bowed slightly to Amelia as she entered. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
"It's perfectly alright." Amelia replied. "I'm sure that you were very busy with making preparations for tonight's event."
"Yes, we were very busty… busy." Russoff replied, stammering.
"I'm sure you were." She smiled. "Several of my pilots are on site tonight, watching the matches. I'm sure they will be… impressed by what you have here."
"They will be. Tits… it's going to be a good night tonight." He continued, all but tripping over himself. Trying to make himself look better, he took her hand and gently steered her towards a large seat. Mark winced.
"Thank you." She said, and sat. "It's good to see that there are some gentlemen left in this world." Make couldn't be sure, but he thought she was looking at him when she said that.
"Trust me, theses are the breast- best seats in the house." Russoff continued, making an arse of himself. "You won't miss a thing form up here."
"Good." She said, glancing at Mark before looking back over the arena itself. "I can tell that this is going to be a very interesting night indeed."
-----
The "big night" had gotten off to an inauspicious start. Rick and Vic had breezed through their opponents in near record times, making them look like complete and utter idiots in the process. Now, abruptly, it was Sandra's turn.
She sat in her Liger's cockpit, activating the Zoid's systems. The instant she established the neural connection, Sandra could feel the apprehension coming off her liger. "What's up with you?" She asked. It growled back at her. "You don't want to do this, right? Yeah, me neither. But we have to."
For some strange reason, she was able to talk about what was bothering her to her Zoid. Whether it was because it couldn't talk back or because it didn't wander off or try to change the subject, it seemed to help. Or maybe the Liger was, in its own way, easier to talk to then Rick or Vic.
The arena doors opened up, revealing the plant's floor. It differed from the others only with the presence of a large metal plate on the floor, which she suspected covered an old drain or the like. She also noticed that there was no sign of her opponent. I guess they didn't want me to mess up their big night, she thought.
The liger slowly strode out onto the arena floor. "Introducing first, in the blue corner, Cassandra Black piloting her Shield Liger!" the ever-enthusiastic announcer called out.
The other door slowly rumbled open. Well, this is it. No turning back now, Sandra thought as she watched the Zoid emerge. She glared at the heavily armoured, menacing black form of her opponent.
"And her opponent, in the Red Corner, the Black Queen piloting a Darkhorn!"
-----
"Oh my." Amelia said, leaning forwards in her seat. "This should be very interesting indeed."
"I'm glad you're enjoying it." Russoff replied. He was trying to figure out a way to peer down the front of her dress without looking like he was doing it. So far he was having no luck.
"These two are both very good." Mark said.
"I know." She replied, dismissively. "I've followed both of their careers for a while. Personally, I've been waiting to see this one for a long, long time."
-----
Sandra flicked open her communicator, guessing at the proper frequency for Sel's Zoid. It had worked well enough in past, so it should work now. After a few seconds of fidgeting, she was rewarded with Sel on-screen, sitting in the cockpit of her Zoid. She was wearing a sleeveless uniform that looked to have been stolen from some poor desert thug and had an elaborate pattern painted (At least Sandra hoped it was painted) on her arms and face.
"So." Sandra began. "Fancy seeing you here."
"Yes." Sel replied. "The same. It's a surprise."
"I'd have never figured you to have arena fighting as a hobby." Sandra continued. "Unless you're really here on business."
"Well, yes." Sel said. "But-"
"But you can't tell me, right?" Sandra needled. Sel said nothing. "Yeah, I thought so."
"I'm sorry, Sandra."
"No you're not." Sandra replied. "No you frelling well aren't."
"What do you mean by that?" Sel snapped.
"I mean you've been famously elusive on so many damned details." She said. "Like when we went to the Dark continent to look for Vic. You didn't bother telling Rick or I anything, you just locked us up and hoped we'd stay quiet."
"I was doing my damned job!" Sel shouted back. "You should understand that."
"Right." Sandra said. "I can see how your damned job would preclude letting your friends know what they were getting themselves into?"
"I had too." Sel replied.
"And when you fixed the grievous injuries I'd suffered from that Mammoth you neglected to tell me why or, more to the point, how you people got rid of my appendix scar too!"
"I-"
"Or how about your damned city!" She continued. "Tell me you built that!"
"We-"
"And you said you found that Deathsaurer!" Sandra was in a mood to kill. "Where? How? When? By whom?"
"I couldn't risk you knowing too much." Sel shouted. "I have to protect my people too!"
"Knowing too much?" Sandra snapped. "Fat chance of that. You're great at leaving people out in the cold, you know that? Damn it, do you frelling well treat your own men like this? How much haven't you told them? Do they even know you're here?"
"Yes, damn it, they know it!" Sel shouted. "I'm here doing my damned duty to try and protect the thousands of lives that are depending on me!"
"It's that damned journal, isn't it?" Sandra replied, angrily. "It's the same damned one you were so desperate to retrieve before. You keep tooling things up. Every time you think you've got it, you let it slip away. Isn't that right?"
"Well..." Sel began.
"Thought so." Sandra said. "So we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way."
"Which is?" Sel asked reluctantly.
"The easy way is that you tell us and we help you. The hard way is that you don't tell us and we do our own thing and probably make a mess of whatever you try to do." Sandra said. "The choice is yours."
"I'm sorry, Sandra." Sel said. "I really am. But-"
"But you can't."
"No."
"Fine." Sandra replied. "We fight."
-----
"Well this is… different." Amelia said, clearly bored.
"I… uhh…" Russoff replied, glancing between her and the arena. The Shield Liger and Darkhorn were both staring at each other, neither moving. He then looked at mark, who shrugged. "Excuse me." He did not need this right now. He did not need this after the first two matches. He did not need this tonight.
"No need to hurry on my account." Amelia replied, clearly bored.
Russoff pulled out a phone and frantically jabbed some numbers into it. "Listen up you fool. Start the fight now before it gets really, really ugly. You understand?""
-----
"Contestants… ready?" The announcer asked, very nervously. "Um… Fight?" There was a thirty-second pause, then the siren sounded, seemingly a lot quieter then normal.
"You have had this coming for a long time, Sel." Sandra said as her Liger slowly advanced.
"Fine." Sel replied. "I can take it." Her Darkhorn slowly advanced on the Liger.
"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this for."
"I can take a good guess." Sel replied.
The two Zoids stopped in the middle of the arena, glaring at each other.
"You ready?" Sel asked.
"Do your worst." Sandra replied. Closing the channel, she sighed. "You ready for this, Spud?"
The Darkhorn walked right up to the Shield Liger, and gently tapped it with its nose horn. The Shield Liger rolled over onto its side and thrashed its legs in the air.
There was a long, uncomfortable silence. The Liger stopped thrashing.
"Umm…" The announcer stammered. "The, uh, winner by, uh, disabling the opponent's Zoid is the Black Queen." The siren weakly bleated out again.
-----
"Different." Amelia said. "Interesting. Not quite what I had expected."
"It was?" he asked.
"Oh yes." She replied. "I can only hope that the rest of the night will be as… surprising."
"Yes well." He looked around nervously. "If you'll excuse me, I just have to attend to a few things." He darted out of the office.
"No need to hurry on my account." She said, then sat back in her seat.
"Can I, um, get you something?" Mark asked. He was hovering nervously over her.
"A mineral water would be fine." She replied. He skittered off to the small bar fridge. "So what is it you do around here, Mark?"
"Nothing really." He replied. "Well, nothing at the moment. Mister Russoff says I could be a big name in the business one of these days.
"So how did you end up working for him?" She asked.
"Actually, I used to be a mercenary in the wastelands." He explained. "Mister Russoff was a friend of my father's. Something…" he trailed off. "The rest of my unit was destroyed. I, um, I wandered around for a bit after that before ending up here. Mister Russoff took me in and got me a gob."
"Really?" She replied. "Tell me more."
-----
It had taken the arena's Gustav a few minutes to drag Spud back to the hanger. Once back in there and placed amongst the other Zoids that had been defeated that night, he arbitrarily decided to "come back to life", rolling over onto his feet and standing up.
Sandra had retreated back to the locker room. Despite the relative ease of the battle, the shouting at Sel had been rather draining. She regarded Sel as a good friend, but at the same time felt that she did need a good shouting at. When she entered, she noticed Anastasia talking with Rick and Vic.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." Sandra began as she walked over to them, ignoring the angry glares from everyone else in the room. "My match went for longer then I expected."
"That was quite a performance you put on out there." Anastasia replied. "Do you care to explain what's going on?"
"Horn poke of death." Vic added. "Time to piss off the fans."
"A small disagreement between friends." Sandra replied. "But we've got it all sorted out now."
"Whatever." Anastasia said. "I was about to go over the plan with Rory and Polly here, but I'll fill you in as well." She looked around, making sure nobody was listening in. "Russoff bought a lot more Zoids here tonight then, strictly speaking, he needed."
Sandra looked over the other pilots in the room. She could see the three tools they boofed on their first night. Those three tools didn't deserve to be at a high-profile night like this. "I can see that. It's a pain with your plans, right?"
"He's probably going to use them as extra muscle or security if anything bad happens." Anastasia continued.
"It already has." Rick replied. "I'd say after Cass's match, the crowd are gonna be out for blood."
"Poke." Vic muttered. "Pokey poke poke."
"What I want you three to do is be ready with your Zoids. When I enact my plan-"
"Is there a secret signal?" Rick interrupted. "Some subtle gesture? Some way we'll know when it's the time to act?"
"You'll know when it is, trust me." Anastasia replied.
"Violence explosions fiery death kind of signal." Vic muttered. "I can dig."
"So what do we do?" Sandra asked.
"Simple." Anastasia replied. "Should any of the other Zoids try to get involved in the fight or try anything stupid, you stop them."
"So it's a basic 'thwack 'em if they try something silly' job." Rick replied. "I can handle that."
"Whack them like Goombas." Vic added, emphasising the last part.
"So when do you go?" Sandra asked.
"Soon." Anastasia replied. "It's probably best if you get ready now."
Vic sprang to her feet. "Let's go. Break stuff time. Its good."
"You can't doubt her enthusiasm" Sandra added, shrugging as she walked off.
-----
As he had been 'disabled', Spud was in a different hanger to Rick and Vic's Zoids. After the night's fights, the Zoids in there would be taken for repairs at their owner's expense. Sandra could only wonder what a tech would make of Spud's current condition as she made her way towards where he was standing.
Surprisingly enough, there was somebody else waiting there for her. Black hair, dark skin, black clothes. Natch.
"So what are you doing here?" Sandra asked.
"Helping you out with whatever you're up to." Sel replied. "I figured that maybe I help you and you could help me."
Sandra smiled. "So what made you change your mind?"
"You put up a very convincing argument." Sel replied.
"Knew it." Sandra had often found that shouting was the best way to get things across. "So what are you up to?"
Sel looked around before continuing. "You remember Kandrak's battalion, right?"
"How could I not?" She replied. "I got spread across the landscape and you went nuts."
"Yeah…" Sel muttered. "Anyway, it turns out that one member of the battalion escaped. We think he's how A-X and Colonel Pie-"
"Pie?"
"The commander of that battalion that attacked us." Sel explained. "He was in the Thunder Trictops."
"Ah." Sandra replied. As a result of Vic's little episode, Pie would have to be very dead right now. She had to wonder why every meeting with Sel tended to result in a lot of violence and death. Pure dumb luck? Probably. "And you've found him?"
Sel nodded. "He turned up working for the management of this… association." She explained. "I've been trying to get close to him and bring him in for the last month, but with no luck."
"So instead you're going to make a mess and try to get him in the ensuing chaos?" Sandra asked. Sel nodded in reply. "Makes sense to me."
"An opportunity presented itself that I decided to take advantage of." Sel replied.
"Anastasia Stromberg?"
"You know about her?" Sel asked
"That's why I'm down here. I'm supposed to be helping her do, well, Tomy alone knows what."
"Well, whatever it is she's going to do, I was going to take advantage of it to complete my mission." Sel explained.
"I'll watch your back while you go in." Sandra replied. "Is that what you're asking?"
She nodded. "Thanks."
"It's not a problem." Sandra said. I have a feeling that tonight will be quite interesting."
-----
"Actually, I still have my Rado." Mark continued. "It's stored on site."
Russoff returned to the office looking a little flustered. "Sorry about that." He wheezed. "Just… just trying to get things under control."
"No need to apologise." Amelia replied. "Mark was just telling me about his mercenary days. He's quite an interesting young man."
"Really." Russoff replied, a look of anger on his face. "Well, I'm back and everything's well under control, so we can get on with the night." He glared at Mark. "Can you get me a spare communicator? I seem to have mislaid mine."
"I don't think we have any in here." Mark replied.
"Then go and get me one." Russof snapped. Mark sped out of the office. "Sorry about that. All vital work in keeping the place running.
"No doubt." Amelia replied with a smug look on her face.
"Now keep your eyes on the arena. This next match promises to be a great one."
-----
Anastasia's Iron Kong strode into the arena, its massive bulk dominating the empty stadium. It wasn't a normal Iron Kong; it had been fitted with a CP-11 manoeuvre thruster pack, as well as the additional missiles, beam cannons and forearm guns from an Iron Kong PK. Short of a monster like a Deathsaurer, very few Zoids could stand against it.
"Introducing first in the blue Corner, Anastasia Stromberg piloting an Iron Kong!" The announcer called out. Iron Kong was an understatement.
The other door opened, revealing a different form. The Zoid that emerged was a black bipedal dinosaur that appeared to consist mainly of teeth, tubes and guns. "And, her opponent, Matt Black piloting a Deadborder!"
The two Zoids stood facing each other. "So, are you ready?" Anastasia asked.
"I am and so are my friends." The black haired, green-eyed pilot replied. "Are yours?"
"They are."
"Contestants, Ready?" The announcer began.
"They should be hare about-" Anastasia began.
"FIGHT!"
"Now!"
A section of the roof collapsed as a second iron Kong, identical to Anastasia's crashed through it. The Kong landed in the middle of the arena, between its partner and the Deadborder. "Nobody move!" The second Iron Kong's pilot called out over the Zoid's PA system. "You are all under arrest! Do not attempt to leave the building!"
-----
Russoff looked down at the events unfolding on the floor below then grabbed the communicator off Mark. "All units!" He shouted. "It's a raid! Go, go, go!"
Amelia looked around nervously, then turned to Mark. "I need to get out of here!" She said, frantically. "If I get caught, there could be…" she trailed off. "I'd be in a lot of trouble."
"Come on." Mark said, taking her hand. "If we can get to my Rado, we can get away. I don't think they're planning on any flying Zoids being present."
"Thanks." She replied, swallowing and then smiling nervously. "Show me the way."
The pair of them ran from the room, leaving Russoff standing there, shouting orders.
-----
"What was that?" Rick asked, hearing the loud thud from outside the hanger.
"The Zabat-sign." Vic replied. "Munky."
"Wha?" He asked, then saw a closed-circuit screen displaying the current goings-on in the Arena. A second Iron Kong had literally dropped into the arena, and placing everyone under arrest. That was probably Anastasia's signal. "Right. Let's go."
"I was hoping you'd say that." Vic replied as she ran towards her Gunsniper's cockpit. A technician standing by its cockpit moved to stop her, only to receive an elbow in the gut followed by a foot to the face. Next to her, Rick took another one down with a pair of quick punches to his midsection.
"I haven't had to hit anyone since the last editor's meeting." Rick said. "Let's not make a habit of it." He climbed into the Command Wolf's command seat and began reactivating its controls.
"Violence is good for you." Vic replied as she jumped into the Gunsniper.
"Wha?" Rick asked, then span around. In the bay, other Zoids were being powered up. Rick recognised one of them, a twin CP-08 equipped Rev Rapter, as being the Zoid that Vic had fought on her very first night. It had just stepped out of its bay, and was standing almost directly behind Vic. "Behind you!"
"All right! Lunch time!' She called out as, rather unexpectedly, the Gunsiper's tail cannon fired. The Gunsniper, not properly braced, staggered forwards a little, while the Rev Rapter collapsed backwards, a gaping hole torn through its body.
"I'm sure they didn't mean for it to be used that way." He began. "But then, who am I to argue? At least she didn't say anything about it being a fart cannon or the like" The two Zoids ran from the bay into the arena proper.
"Time for round two." Vic continued as she fired the Zoid's side-mounted weapons pods at an unsuspecting Godos. "Just another statistic. Death by Weasel Pod."
Rick looked around at the arena, noting the Deadborder standing next to the two Kongs. "Hey, is that who I think it is?" he fired the Zoid's twin cannons fired at a Barragator that had tried to get into the hanger, tearing armour out of its side.
The panel on the arena floor shook, then ripped free form its housing. Rick watched the hole in the floor expectedly, wondering what was about to happen. Then a shape emerged – the squat, sleek and heavily weaponed form of a Heligunner. A second one followed it, followed by a third carrying a large cannon on its back.
"Yes." Vic replied.
"I, uh, guessed that." Rick added. His Wolf skipped out of the way of a series of shots from a Helcat. Before he could draw a bead on it, however, a volley of fire staggered it, tearing up the feline Zoid's forelegs. Looking around, he could see a Heldigunner next to his Wolf.
"Long time no see." The female pilot began. Rick knew who it was. Bekka Cade, the part-time love of his life and almost as crazy and destructive as Vic. But in a cute way.
"Likewise." He replied. "We have to stop running into each other like this."
"So what have you been up to?" She asked as she fired on the Helcat before the small Zoid could activate its optical camouflage. The enemy crashed to the ground, not moving.
"Not much." Rick replied. "Nothing worth talking about." He swung the Command Wolf's gun to bear on a Molga, before opening fire. "Um, forgive me for saying this, but your Zoid looms, uh, kinda messy."
"We swam in through the sewers." She replied.
"Oh." He paused. "You won't be too upset if I don't stand too close to it."
"It's all good." She replied. "Iggy needs a good wash after this anyway."
"Iggy?"
"What's wrong with Iggy?" She asked. "You call your Zoid Woof, after all."
"Well I guess…" He fired on a Spinosapper that was charging at him. The two cannons struck its back, blasting the twin chainsaws off their mounting. "Lucky shot!" Undeterred, the Spinosapper charged forwards snarling wildly at it. Rick fired again, damaging one of its legs, before a volley of fire from Bekka's Heldigunner knocked it down.
"Hey! You vulched my kill!" He shouted.
"All's fair in love and war." She replied. "Hey, uh, where's the boss?"
"Never mind that." Rick asked. "Where the hell is Sandra?"
-----
The lower half of the Palitoy factory was a maze of darkened tunnels, illuminated by only the occasional light. It was through these tunnels that Russoff moved most of the supplies and equipment needed to maintain, what was in essence, a small army of Zoids. When he'd first come to Russof, Mark had arranged to have his Rado stashed here, figuring that he wasn't likely to need it for a while.
Well, this was definitely a situation that needed it, he thought, Funny how he used it primarily to escape. When he'd been sent by Kandrak to meet Colonel Pie, he'd been running away from the battle where, he presumed, the rest of the unit were wiped out.
He was leading Amelia while holding her hand, guiding her through the darkened tunnels. A part of him felt bad for abandoning mister Russoff like that, but another part wanted to protect this woman at all costs.
"It's not too far ahead!" he shouted. "Just around the next corner."
"That's good." Amelia replied I don't think I coul-" She was cut off as she apparently slipped and fell, landing on her back on the hard concrete floor.
He stopped and turned around. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine she said, coldly." It was then that Mark noticed she had a small gun in her hand. He had no idea where she'd hidden it. Maybe on a thigh holster hidden by her skirt… She stood and looked him in the eye.
"Amelia?"
"Let's not mess around here, Mark." She said. "Quentin's journal. You gave a copy of it to Pie. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have given you just the one copy, though." He was smarter then that.
Mark gulped. "You're… you're one of them, aren't you? You're one of the ones that he warned me about. The ones in the journal."
"So you do have it." She said. "Now here's the deal. You give it to me and you get to live. You try anything stupid and I kill you. I'd rather not do that, as you seem to be a pretty nice guy in and of yourself. Understand?"
"Yes." He replied.
"Good." She smiled. 'Now, do you have it on you?"
"Yes I do."
"Give it to me." She held out her hand. "And don't do anything stupid. I could just as easily shoot you and loot your dead body."
He nodded then slowly reached into his jacket, and pulled out a small data disk. Amelia smiled as he placed it in her hand.
"Thank you."
"Now can I go?"
"No." Amelia replied. "I lied. Sorry." She smiled, then fired the pistol. Mark staggered back, then simply collapsed. Stepping over his body, she headed down the hallway. Hiding behind a recess in the wall, she pressed a button on the side of her watch. "It's me. I have the item. Get me out of here now."
-----
Some distance form the factory, parked in amongst a group of rather weathered-looking transports, was a somewhat decrepit-looking unmarked Hovercargo. Its crew had been quietly watching the events unfolding outside the Palitoy factory for some time, waiting for their signal for action. Now it was time to go.
The top bay of the Hovercargo opened with a launch ramp extending out from it. A single Zoid was raised into position, a dark metallic grey Blade Liger whose colour scheme blended into the greys of the city around it. Within seconds of being locked into place, the liger was launched. A pair of white and grey Arosaurers followed it.
"All Zoids down successfully." The Liger pilot reported. "Moving towards objective."
Their target was a side entrance to the Palitoy factory, designed for Zoids to move through. It was currently guarded by a pair of booster-equipped Hammer Rocks, who were making sure that no Zoids got out.
Which meant they weren't expecting someone to come in.
The Blade Liger charged past the pair of them, blades outstretched. The two smaller Zoids simply collapsed, their forelegs sliced out from underneath them.
"You two stay here and guard the entrance." The Liger pilot said. "I'm going in."
Shield up, the Blade Liger simply smashed through the door and headed inside. After less then a minute of twisting through the narrow corridors, it stopped at the entrance to a service tunnel.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Captain O'Bannon" the pilot began as he opened the cockpit.
"Took your sweet time." Rose replied as she climbed up to the back seat of the Liger's cockpit. "Now let's get out of here."
"What about captain Magyari?" The pilot asked.
"She's a big girl. She can look after herself. Although the look on her face when she finds out what happened will be priceless." She squeezed herself into the secondary cockpit. "Who did they make this seat for, midgets?"
"Captain?"
"Never mind. Just go."
-----
Sel's Darkhorn smashed into the Guysack, simply smashing the smaller Zoid aside. The smaller Zoid collapsed in a tangled pile of limbs, apparently not moving. "How are you going?" She shouted over the comm link.
"Not too bad." Sandra replied, her Shield Liger pulling up next to the Darkhorn. "There was a Gravity Saurer that wouldn't take no for an answer, but I gave him a good smacking around."
Sel surveyed the entrances to the Service tunnels. "Anastasia got me a good layout of this place. He probably left one of the control rooms heading for either a hanger or an emergency exit. So he's probably down one of these." She opened the cockpit of the Darkhorn. "Okay, I'm going in to get him."
"I'll come with you" Sandra offered.
"No. I need you to stay here in case any other Zoids come after us." She replied. "Someone has to hold them off, and with your shield you'd be better for that." Besides, you don't want to know what I may have to do, she mentally added.
"Right. Just look after yourself." Sandra replied.
Sel leaped down form the Darkhorn's cockpit. Looking around, she arbitrarily decided on the centremost of the three tunnels present. Gun drawn, she sprinted into the darkened tunnel. Stopping at an intersection, she chose to head towards the outside of the plant
If he was trying to get away, the odds are he'd be closer to the outside, she thought. I only hope he hasn't yet.
A loud crashing sound from further down a tunnel caught her attention. It sounded like a Zoid… could there be someone else down here? Maybe he was trying to get away. Turning towards the direction the sound was coming form, she broke into a run.
A minute later, she arrived at another intersection. Unlike the others, there was someone there. A man, lying on the floor, clutching his chest, a pool of blood forming behind him. She ran over to him, then knelt down. In the dim light, she could see who it was. Mark Zell. He had been shot in the chest, probably at pointblank range.
No. She thought. I'm too la- her thoughts were cut off by a wheezing sound. He was still alive.
"What-" She began "What happened."
"You…" He looked up at her. "You must tell the world about them. Everyone… everyone should know."
"Who?" She asked.
"Them. The dark continent." He gasped. "I… I know about them."
"How?" She asked, frantic for an answer.
"In my Zoid. There…" he couched. "There is a disk. It contains what everyone should know." He looked up at her. "They've been lied too. Everyone needs to…" he trailed off.
"Mark?" She asked. "Mark?!" He was silent. Dead.
She stood up. His Zoid. But where was that? She looked around A light was coming from one of the corridors. Could that be what he meant? Cautiously, gun drawn, she advanced down the hall.
At the end, there was a large open bay. It may have been some sort of storage tank or the like before, but now it made a great hanger for a flying Zoid. A red and silver Pteras stood in the bay, a pair of CP-09 booster cannons mounted on its wings pointing up to the bay's roof. "His Zoid." She muttered. Kandrak's men had used Rados, a red version of the Pteras. Could this have been one of them?
She walked over to the cockpit, which was opened. She dropped into the seat, then began to fossick around the cockpit. Under the main instrumentation panel, she found it. A data disk that had been carefully secreted away where you wouldn't find it unless you knew that there was something to find. She pulled the disk out and looked at it. "Mission accomplished."
-----
The fighting in the main Zoid bay seemed to be largely over. Rusoff had deployed most of his pilots to stop them, and almost all of them had been accounted for. There were still a few to go, but Rick doubted they'd be giving anyone any grief.
"So." He began. "You come here often?"
Bekka laughed. "I try to avoid these kinds of places. The crowds are awful." They both laughed. It had been a long fight, but everyone appeared to have come out okay. "I just wonder where the boss got to."
"Well, if she and Sandra wandered off to the same place, I feel sorry for whoever was there at the time." They both laughed.
"Smoooooooooch." Vic muttered, her Gunsniper standing next to the pair of them, apparently grinning.
"I'm sorry to interrupt" Zofia (as they learned her name really was) said as her Iron Kong wandered over next to them. "But matters here appear to be under wraps. I'll obviously need to ask you all a few questions regarding your involvement in all this."
"Oh dear." Rick said
"That… that could be difficult." Bekka added
"Allow me." Matt offered as his Deadborder interjected between her and the pair of them. "We were here on behalf of UZN military intelligence, investigating illegal Zoid smuggling. When our commander returns, she will explain it all."
"I'm sorry." Zofia replied. "I'll still need to question you. And confirm your status with the UZN."
"That won't be necessary." Sel said as her Darkhorn entered the arena, Sandra's Shield Liger behind it. "Matt, tail. Alex, begin defenestration!"
"You got it, chief." Alex began. "Preparing to Defenestrate."
"What?" Zofia shouted.
Matt's Deadborder swung around, slapping one of the Iron Kong's forelegs out from under it. At the same time, Alex's Heldigunner lowered its cannon and opened fire on the arena wall.
"Stop them, Boris!" Zofia shouted. Boris's Iron Kong charged across the arena, only to be rammed form the side by Sel's Darkhorn, which was now belching black smoke from the various ports on its side. The Kong crashed to the ground, one of its legs badly damaged.
"I started a goodly hole for you, boss." Alex began.
"Good. Matt, help us with the window. The rest of you, vanish." The Darkhorn and Deadborder both opened fire on the wall, capitalising on the damage done by Alex's shot. Rick had lost track of the three Heldigunners in the confusion, but he got a pretty good idea of what was going on from the loud splashes.
"See you, lover boy." Bekka added as a final farewell before her radio signal went dead.
-----
Rusoff looked down at the arena from the shattered remains of his office. Last he'd seen the Kongs and some other Zoids were busy destroying the best he had to offer. Then they'd decided to turn on each other for some reason. Now the whole place was blacked out with smoke. He'd checked the office, but found no sign of Amelia or Mark.
He picked up the communicator that he had dropped. "Hey!" He shouted. "This is Russoff! Can someone give me an update?" Silence. "Hello? Anyone out there? What is going on? Can somebody please fill me in?" Still nothing. "Listen people, I pay you to keep me informed. So somebody start earning their damned pay check!"
A loud crashing sound behind him caught his attention. "What the hell is going on in here?" He asked as he turned around, only to find himself face-to-face with one of the Iron Kongs. It didn't look happy.
"Mister Rusoff." The female pilot began. "You are under arrest. I suggest that you do not attempt to escape or resit arrest, although it may make me feel better if you do."
-----
Sandra looked up at the Iron Kong perched on the arena side, glaring into one of the offices. She didn't want to be the person in that office but, at the same time, she wished she could see the look on the face of whoever was in there.
The second Iron Kong stood there, watching the three of them, its armour (and the pilot's pride) somewhat dented but otherwise unharmed. Of the dark Zoids, there was no sign save for a large hole in the wall.
"What was Sel after?" Rick asked.
"Hm?" Sandra replied. "Oh, her. Plugging a security leak, that's all."
"She took a leak." Vic added and sniggered in her usual way.
"So why is it that we seem to bump into them wherever we go?" Rick asked. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you. These long pauses are very straining on Bekka and my relationship."
"Rick, you'd look on the bright side of a train wreck." Sandra replied.
"He used to be in comics. Everything is a train wreck." Vic added.
Sandra sighed. She had to concede the point to Vic on that one. "I don't know, Rick. Maybe we're just lucky in a very strange way. Maybe we're just unlucky. Who knows."
"I hope Sel got away okay." Rick said.
"I wouldn't worry about her." Sandra said. "Instead, fell sorry for anyone who got in her way."
"They'd be killed like splat!" Vic added enthusiastically. "Or pow. Or bonk maybe."
-----
Whale King Null
Over the Wastelands
0900 Hours
Sel sat back in her seat in her office, staring at the disk she held in her hands. The Quentin Journal. The source of a lot of grief for a lot of people. And what should be the last extant copy in the Shelflands was in her hands.
She'd been ordered to return it for analysis, rather then destroy it. She could understand why. It' would allow intel to find out what Kandrak and the others had known about them, as well as allow them to know more about what A-X had attempted. It may even have information about access to their own city that they were unaware of.
Interestingly enough, she'd been ordered not to view it herself. Major De Lyon had noted that it may contain information that was still classified about sensitive areas of the city, such as the massive power core that was its heart. She'd accepted it at the time, but something Sandra had said bothered her.
"I mean you've been famously elusive on so many damned details." She had said. "You're great at leaving people out in the cold, you know that? Damn it, do you frelling well treat your own men like this? How much haven't you told them?"
Sandra had been talking to Sel then. But it had stuck in her head. Maybe Sandra wasn't the only one who was being left in the dark. There was so much more that she'd wanted to tell Sandra and the others about herself and the rest of her people, but couldn't because she wasn't permitted to.
Why?
It had raised another thought in her head. Was there more that she wasn't being told? Why did they have to be so secretive about their existence? If they had their manifest destiny, why not allow the rest of the Shelflands to embrace it? And surely if this world was but a temporary one that was their home until the day that they could return to their true home, the paradise from which they had been driven, then wouldn't they want help in attaining that goal?
There was a knock on the door. "Enter." She began.
Matt stepped in. "Sorry to bother you, captain."
"Not a problem, lieutenant." She replied. "How's everything going?"
"Corporal Cade is a little upset about having to leave Rick again, but other then that we're all fine." He replied. "The techs are giving the Zoids a once-over, but aside from the Heldigunners needing a good wash, they're all fine."
"That's good." She leaned back in her chair.
"Is there something troubling you, captain?"
"Why do you say that?"
"You're still staring at that disc." He replied.
She put it down. "When I found Zell, he was already dying. Someone had shot him. Unfortunately, I have no idea who."
"Maybe it was one of the other employees of the fight club who wanted to keep him quiet." Matt replied.
"He was dying when I found him." She continued. "He said something about 'them'. They had been lied to, and apparently this disk has what they should know." She said. "I have no idea what he meant."
"I can't say. If he was dying of a gunshot wound, it's possible that he was delusional." Matt replied. "He may not have known what he was saying."
"I don't know. He explicitly mentioned the Dark Continent."
"Maybe he heard about what had happened there from Kandrak himself." I can't say."
"Thanks." Sel replied. "I've got to get on with my report. Command will certainly want to know what I was doing for the last month." She smiled. "I'll leave everything in your hands for the moment."
"Yes captain." He said, and left.
Sel sat back in her chair and looked at the disk again. "What was he saying?" She asked herself. "And was Sandra right?"