Novo Zemalya

Dark Continent

0400 Hours

With a bit of gentle persuasion, Shepherd had allowed the teams access to the armouries stored onboard the Whale King. Sel had reasoned that most of them were only carrying sidearms and only equipped for Zoid piloting, while what they were doing needed heavier weapons and equipment. He'd agreed, possibly only because he realised that he was going to be going in with them.

The end result was a force composed with a mish-mash of different weapons and equipment. Z-One and Stuart had all to wear full suits of A-X body armour (in Z-One's case he'd kept his bandanna on underneath the one-way faceplate) while most everyone else had chosen to go with just flak vests. Sandra had chosen neither. While a number of them had chosen to go with the powerful but inaccurate XS autorifles, many had just chosen to just carry pistols. Sandra had all but stuffed her coat with spare clips.

The division of force had been based on keeping groups together. Sel was leading her men, as well as Shepherd and Taro on the premise that she could keep an eye on them. Sandra had herself, Rick, Anna, Stuart, Felix, Reven and Z-One. Vic had been transferred to the Whale King's sickbay, pending the arrival of the Deathsauer, while pants was remaining behind, supervising the rebuilding of the Whale King's engine and the loading of their Zoids.

While he was moving a large mess of tubing in order to do a transplant (and trying not to think about what it would take to rebuild his poor hovercargo), he noticed Reven walking around without her helmet on. As he watched, she tapped her palm onto her forehead a couple of times, then screwed up her eyes and gritted her teeth. Squinting for a moment, she shook her head.

What's she up to, he wondered? Leaving the tubing for the moment, he walked over to her. "Are you okay there, Reven?" He asked. "You look like there's something wrong there"

"Yeah." She said. "It's like there's this voice in the back of my head that's talking to me without me actually hearing it." She explained. "Its like there's someone whispering in my ear, but there's nobody actually there."

Pants cocked his head for a moment. "Hmmm..." He said. He kneeled down, then pressed the side of his head to the ground. "Ah. I see."

"See what?" She replied. "What the hell are you up to?"

He stood. "I see what's the problem, Reven." he said. "You are a Darth."

"I'm a what?" She replied, blinking.

"A Darth." He said. "You're hearing the Deathsaurer. My guess is that it's a very powerful Zoid, even by Deathsaurer standards. I can hear it too, but it's the sort of thing I'm used too."

"That's great." She replied. "But what does it mean?"

"It means..." Pants paused for a moment. "It means that you have abilities that mere humans only dream about! You can see inside a Zoid's core and realise its true form! Through your hard work and vision, you can create new Zoids, ones of unimaginable power!" He turned excitedly to face her. "Join me, Reven. Let me teach you the true ways of the Darth. I can bring out your abilities to their fullest!"

"Forget it." She replied. "Sounds too much like hard work."

Pants staggered back, and then slumped. Once again, he'd been bested. Curses.

"Shot down." Z-One added as he passed. "In flames, even."

Rubbing his chin, Pants considered his options. "Actually, there may be something else you can do." He began. "Sel's team is looking for an alternative route down there. You could act as a guide of sorts."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Simple." He replied. "You're hearing the Deathsaurer now. If you concentrate, you could probably guide yourself, using its voice as a reference."

"Right." She said. "Whatever."

"I'll get Sel." He said. "She has to hear about this."

As he ran off, Reven walked over to Z-One. "Do I look like a Darth to you?" She asked.

"I wouldn't know." He replied. "I've never met one before."

"What do you think Pants is going on about?" She continued.

"I figure he's a nut." Z-One replied. "But then, he's the one who's making sure that our Zoids don't get stuffed full of Nanites, so I'm tempted not to argue."

Sandra's team had what she felt was the easy job, which was to reach the Deathsaurer's hanger through a presumed known route. Of course. She figured, the only person who'd done the full trip was currently lying in a sickbay and gibbering to herself, and even then she'd apparently been lead on by either Desmond or the Deathsaurer itself. Still, she and Rick had made it halfway there with Rose, so it was a start.

She'd been in two minds about the last minute swapping of Reven and Z-One for Taro and Shepherd. While she didn't trust either of the two A-X commanders, she figured that Reven was likely to whinge and moan every step of the way. No sooner had they been assigned to her then Felix had gladly volunteered to keep an eye on the pair of them. She wasn't surprised. Anna didn't seem to like them either, but Sandra put that down to just Anna being herself.

They arrived at the hospital where the whole mess had started. "While those other A-X tools were here, they used this place as their base of operations." Sandra explained. "That's where we, and presumably Vic and your head tool got into the underground."

"Remember that guy being carried out on the stretcher?" Rick asked her, throwing off her explanation. 'The one with something stuck in his neck?"

"Yes, yes I do." She said. "I head that it was a scalpel."

Rick whistled. "Wow. Sounds like Vic was having a mad-on at them."

"Do you mind?" Shepherd asked. "We have a job to do here."

Sandra turned to look at him. "Right. Here's the rules. I lead, you follow. You do what I say. We all play nice with each other and nobody gets hurt. That all make sense?"

Shepherd looked around at the others. Finaly was wearing the same stupid grin that he always seemed to have, while Anna was carrying a length of metal pipe as well as a shotgun. Stratton remained behind him, scowling as he always seemed to do. He could see what side the numbers were on.

"So what's the plan from here?" Anna asked.

"We go down." Sandra replied. "There should be a way in through one of the basement levels. That will get us into the mess that runs under the city. We'll try to retrace our steps form there."

"Try?" She asked.

"Well, last time we had as whole bunch of troops as well as a local guide with us." Rick explained. "And there were people shooting at us, which meant that it got kinda confusing." He turned back to Sandra. "So what do you think happened to that girl we captured?"

"Nothing pleasant, I hope." She said flatly. "Now lets get going."

As they slipped into the hospital, Sandra quietly turned to Rick. "I'm surprised you'd suggest using that thing again." She was still far from completely happy with this plan, especially given what happened last time Vic piloted the Deathsaurer. "After all, it was you who nearly got reduced to crispy-fried date slice."

"Yeah well, I figure Vic will have something else to hold her attention this time." He said.

"And have you figured what we'll do after that, you big tool?" She said. "When she runs out of Gilvaders to boof and comes after the rest of us?"

"I'll think of something." He said. "If all else fails, I can try reasoning with her again."

Sandra turned and headed down the stairs. "Yeah, but you have to remember that she's completely gone now. I don't think reasoning is going to work."

"Maybe destroying the Gilvader will be therapeutic or something." He replied.

She rolled her eye. Rick's cheery optimism was sometimes too much for her to handle.

Back when the Zemalyan population lived in the upper city, they had constructed a number of emergency shelters that the population could hide in if the city was attacked. These shelters were in turn connected to the network of tunnels underneath the city, allowing the population to move across the city without having to go above ground. Like the rest of the city, the shelters had been abandoned, but many of them still existed.

Sel had located one in the middle of what had been an industrial park, the entranceway clogged with debris but not entirely inaccessible. The door was closed and seemed jammed shut, but Bob had been able to open it with a little work.

Sel led the team into the shelter. Shining her torch around it, she could see that it had not been used in decades. She grimly wondered if anyone had gotten the chance to reach it when Kandrak had attacked the city. Looking around, she found the back door into the tunnel network. It was also sealed, but was far easier to open then the first one.

Waiting until her team was inside the tunnel, she turned to Reven. "Okay, can you hear the Deathsaurer?"

Reven rubbed her chin for a moment. "Yes, yes I can." She replied.

"Now, can you lead us to it?"

She looked around, examining the different tunnels. "Hmmm..." She thought out loud. "It seems to be coming from over..." She turned around, then pointed down one of the tunnels. "That way."

"Right. Let's go." Sel lead the way down the corridor, Matt immediately behind her. Reven remained in the middle of the squad, Z-One and Bob behind her while Bekka was just ahead.

"Hey can I ask you a question, Reven?" Bekka began, dropping back so she was right next to the mercenary pilot.

"What is it?" She replied.

"Where'd you get the cool silver skinsuit from?" She asked. Reven was wearing her suit with the front unzipped down to about her navel, clearly not afraid to show off what she had to the world.

"Pilot supply shop." She replied casually. "Specialty wear for Storm Sworder pilots. I can tell you now that it wasn't cheap."

"I can imagine." Bekka said. "I've been after something like that for a while, but I can't find it around here."

Reven eyed the other woman warily, taking in her heavily tattooed bare arms. "I don't know. It might not be your style."

"You think?" Bekka asked.

Sel stopped. The corridor had ended at a T-junction, with two more hallways going off in either direction. "Well?" Sel asked.

Reven looked around. "Let's see..." She closed her eyes, then turned towards one corridor, and then the next.

"You okay there, boss?" Z-One asked.

"Be quiet you fool." She hissed back. "I'm thinking."

"This may take a while." Alex casually added.

She finally opened her eyes, looking down the left passage. "That way." She said. "I can hear it clear from down there."

"Right. Let's go." Sel lead them down the hallway, mentally wondering why she thought this would help while trying to get their bearings.

"Any reason why it's not me?" Bekka asked.

"Looking at you, I think the cut of the suit may revel a little too much." She said. "The tattoos and the shiny silver would clash."

"But you said that when you were younger, you used to have a tat on your-" Z-One began.

"Yes, but that was years ago. Besides, the suit wouldn't show that. And it's long gone anyway. So shut up." She hissed in reply.

This was going to be a long journey, Sel thought.

Sandra flashed her torch around the room, taking in the mess of pipes that seemed to cover the walls and ceilings. This room was very familiar, she thought. It was where she, Rick and O'Bannon had fought the A-X squad and Amelia. Looking around, she could see the bullet holes in the walls and the dents in the pipes from the battle.

"This is as far as we got on our last trip down here." Sandra announced. "From here, we have to best-guess it, but I think I've got a pretty good idea."

"Can I ask what you were doing here?" Anna began.

"Looking for Vic, actually." Rick replied. "Y'see, she had been kidnapped by A-X and we had followed her here. It's a long story, but eventually we tracked her down to this place. Only when we got here, she was long gone. Instead there was a bunch of A-X guys shooting at the ceiling while some woman, apparently one of their leaders, shouted at them."

So now it made sense, Shepherd thought. Hagen tuned on them and killed Hallis, then retreated to get the Deathsaurer herself. She set up a battle between the locals and the A-X troops and then fled, tying up both of them and letting her get away. That only leaves Desmond himself. "So do you know what happened after that?"

"Well, Vic found the Deathsaurer, Pie attacked us and there was a lot of badness." Rick replied.

"It doesn't matter." Felix sneered. "Let's just keep moving."

Sandra looked around. "I'm inclined to agree with them." She said. "Right. Looking from here, I'd say Hagen went..." She walked over to one corner of the room. "That way. There's a small maintenance hatch in amongst the pipes. It's a difficult fit for most of us, but its small and out of the way, which means that a mad little tool like her would love it."

She ducked and stepped her way through the maze of pipes. "Got it." She said as she pulled the door open. "This way, people."

The hatch lead to a small, narrow hallway. It was large enough for them to travel through single-file, and even then it was cramped. Shepherd couldn't help but notice that Stratton's gun seemed to be pressed into his back. He figured that if he pressed him for a reason, Stratton would argue that he had nowhere else to put it in such a narrow space.

Stepping out of it, they found themselves in another plain concrete corridor. "Any clues as to where she went from here?" Anna asked, all but looming over Taro.

"I'll assume that she kept going in the same direction." Sandra replied. "So let's try that."

The next few minutes passed in silence. The corridor proceeded for about a hundred meters before abruptly ending in a stairwell that descended several levels. Seeing no other options, they descended.

"Gotta love the layout in this place." Rick added as they reached the abrupt ending of the stairs, which continued off to another corridor. "It looks like people kept throwing bits together without figuring what was already there.

"Sloppy and disorganised." Anna spoke up. "It makes you wonder what they were thinking when they built this place."

"I don't think they did." Rick said. "I heard things from some of the locals that made it seem like they found it, rather then built it."

"Found it?" She asked. "Who are these people anyway?"

"Well-" Rick began, but was interrupted by a metal clattering sound, like a stack of tins falling over. "What was that?" he asked.

"Get down!" Sandra asked. "Now!"

There was a burst of automatic weapons fire that sent the members of the group ducking for cover. Bullets stitched a row of holes across the wall, sending chunks of concrete flying. "What was that?" Rick shouted.

"We just tripped a very primitive alarm system." Sandra shouted back. "Frelling great. I should have thought of that."

She scrambled to her feet, pulling out her guns as she went. Not wasting any time, she fired into the empty, darkened doorway where the shots likely came from. She wasn't aiming to kill, but to at the very least discourage the attacker.

"Yeah baby!" Shepherd turned around to see Finaly, clad in a borrowed suit of body armour and carrying an XS rifle leaping to his feat. "Eat hot lead, everything in the general vicinity!" he shouted as he opened fire into the same room.

"Get down you fool!" Anna shouted at him as she dashed for cover. Felix joined her, firing his pistol out from behind a support pillar.

Seeing his chance, John dashed across the room in the other direction. He had no idea who these people were, but they were well set up and knew what they were doing, He doubted that they were form the local defence forces, however. He figured that they may have deployed troops to secure access to the city, but these people, whoever they were, had been too well prepared. They had been here for a while.

Ducking behind another support pillar, he assessed the situation. Both sides were firing from cover, neither able to claim an advantage. The attackers were carrying heavier automatic weapons, but were either terrible shots or had rather inaccurate weapons.

Could it be? He asked himself. Quite possibly. Some of the A-X troops from Desmonds' forces could have survived whatever had happened. It would be quite easy to be 'lost' and 'unaccounted for' in this nightmarish maze under the city. He doubted that the security forces even came in here on a regular basis.

This could be his chance. If he could join forces with these people, he could use them to eliminate Blackmore and Magyari's forces and then seize the Deathsaurer for himself. With enough force, he could easily persuade Pants to modify it for conventional control. All of a sudden, things were looking good for him.

He darted across the room, halting on the edge of another open doorway. Peering around, he could make out several armoured figures inside, occasionally illuminated by the muzzle flashes from their guns. Definitely A-X.

He cautiously advanced towards them, hoping that the sound of gunfire would mask their approach. Before he could get there, however, there was another clattering sound. One of them spun around and shouted something about more of them, before opening fire.

"Wait!" Shepard shouted as he ducked around the corner, the bullets tearing up the floor where he had been standing. "I am Major John-" Another burst of gunfire chipped away at the wall, sending him scurrying. Damn it. He realised that in his black uniform, her probably looked like one of the locals. And after, what, three months of hiding down here, these people were bound to be paranoid.

"Damn it, I'm on your si-" He began, but was cut off by someone landing on his back. Before he could get up, he could feel a pistol begin pressed into the back of his head.

"Do it." Felix snarled. "And give me an excuse."

"Damn you." He replied. "Get off me."

"No." Stratton said, flatly. "You abandoned your men once before. I'm not going to let it happen again."

"What?"

"Georges River, remember?" He said. "You ran off in your damned Pegasus leaving the rest of your men to face the music when the UZN troops showed up."

"How did you know that?"

"I was one of your men." He said, then spat on the ground next to Shepherd's face. "Was."

"What do you want?" He snarled.

"I want you to cooperate with us. I want you to follow what Sandra says. You got that?"

"And what do I get out of this?" He asked.

"I don't tell them what you did here, and Anna doesn't imbed a metal pipe in your skull."

He considered this for a moment. "Fine then." he muttered. "Now get off me."

Listening to the sounds of the gunfire, Sandra could hear that someone had just tried to attack the enemy group form behind. One of the enemy soldiers, whoever they were, had turned to fire at whoever it was, which gave her a chance. "Stuart!" She shouted. "Fire in their general vicinity!"

"You got it! Yeah!" He opened fire, his gun spraying bullets into the darkened room. The enemy fire stopped for a moment as troops scurried for cover from the inaccurate but still potentially lethal fire.

Seizing her chance, Sandra burst out form cover and ran towards the enemy-occupied room. Pulling out both pistols, she opened fire on the first shape she came across. The figure collapsed, the one standing next to it turning and opening fire at her. Not giving him a chance, she cut back in the other direction and then dived, opening up with both guns as she went. Hitting the ground, she rolled away and started running again.

Another enemy soldier opened fire, the bullets tearing up a sleeping bag behind her, filling the air with fibers. Rather the opening fire on him again, Sandra concentrated on running, making it across the room before ducking behind a corner. So far, so good. Now to see if her plan came off.

There was the roar of a shotgun as the rest of her group opened fire on the distracted and confused enemy force. They were so busy groping around in the darkness for this new attacker that they had panicked and forgotten about the rest of her team. That was Sandra's plan, break them up and let the others finish them off. Anyone she dropped was a bonus.

Slapping a fresh clip into each gun, she charged across the doorway, running and firing as she went, while rounds flew all around her. Several more went past her, this time coming form behind Leaping away, she slid to a halt on the floor and rolled over, bringing her guns to bear on the new attackers. Before she fired, however, she saw who they were.

Felix and Shepherd stood by the back of the room, guns in hand. "Dare I ask what you two are doing around here?" she asked.

"We were trying to flank the enemy." Felix replied. "Weren't we?"

"Yes, we were." John replied, muttering.

"We didn't expect you to do... well whatever it was you did."

"No, we weren't." He added.

Sandra leaped to her feet. "Well, I'm glad you were there." She listened for the sounds of gunfire, but heard nothing. Raising a gun, she leaped around and glared into the darkened room. Despite the darkness, it was clear that there was nobody standing in there.

"Everyone okay?" She asked.

"More or less." Rick replied. He stood up and waved to her. Sandra picked up her torch and shone it on the floor, checking over the bodies. A-X soldiers, she thought. These guys must have been survivors from... She turned to look at Shepherd, an angry glare on her face.

"Major!" Taro shouted as he stepped into the room, a weird pistol that looked like nothing as much as a hairdryer in his hand. "These are A-X soldiers."

"How surprising." He replied, flatly. "A pity I didn't get the chance to talk to them first. Maybe this could have been averted."

"Of course." Sandra replied. "Now let's get moving."

"This should be it." Reven announced, indicating to a heavy, tight sealed door.

"Good." Sel replied, trying to remain calm. So far Reven's newly discovered Darth abilities hadn't given them much luck in locating the Deathsaurer's hanger. She had no reason to think that this particular door should be any more useful then the last three "certain" locations Reven had found. "Bob, open it."

"Yes sir." Bob replied. Visibly straining even in the darkness, Bob managed to twist the handle on the solid metal door enough to allow it to open. For a moment there was an optimistic silence as it swung open.

Sel cautiously stepped out through the doorway and looked around, instantly realising that, once again, they weren't where they wanted to be. Instead, she was on an open catwalk, hanging above the city itself. For a moment she was about to turn around and let Reven know exactly what she thought of her navigational skills, but then, as the turned, she realised what she was seeing.

The city was dark, its massive towers little more then black blobs in the inky darkness. Emergency lights here and there picked out a few places and allowed her to recongise individual buildings, bit for the most part it was a sea of blackness. As she watched, other, smaller things became visible. The wail of emergency sirens, with the flashing lights of rescue vehicles moving across the city's roadways. The green glow of Dark Zoid powerplants as elements of the city's armed forces moved in, presumably to maintain order. Fires. Gunfire. Shouting.

It was all coming apart, she realised. No power, no way out... the well-ordered society they had built was falling apart.

No. She wouldn't let it.

"Captain?" Matt asked. "What is it?"

"Just a minute." She replied. Searching around and trying to recall details, she found the partition between the city proper and the military's facilities. So they were heading in the right direction, she thought. Now to get there. "I think I've found the way to the hangers." She said. "This way."

She gestured for them to follow. Cautiously, she lead the way across the catwalk suspended over the city. "Captain?" Beka began as they walked. "What's happening down there?"

"The end of the world." Alex replied. "I think they're under 'every man for himself' rules now."

"We have to stop this." Bob said.

"Yeah, whatever." Reven replied. "Let's just find that Deathsaurer so we can get the hell out of here."

Bob spun around towering over her. "What was that?" He snarled.

"I was just saying that we should get out of here." She replied.

"In case you missed it." Bob replied, angrily. "This is our home we're talking about." He gestured to the rest of his squad.

"That's... nice." She replied. "But right now, I don't care."

"Why you-"

"Bob, stop it!" Sel shouted.

He turned back to Sel. "Yes, captain."

Z-One placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't mind her." He said, "She's always like that."

The group proceeded along the walkway for what was probably only a few hundred meters, but seemed to Sel to be an eternity. At the other end was another door, leading back into an enclosed area, apparently a part of the roof of the cavern. Sel quietly wondered how much of the city was like this; mazes of seemingly randomly constructed passages that connected to other strange places. Probably more then she would ever know. Between three completely separate sets of inhabitants there was probably thousands of kilometers of them.

Cautiously opening the door, Sel stepped inside the passageway. Looking around, she could make out a tangled mess of pipes and conduits, but precious little else in the darkness. It reminded her of the maze she and Matt had descended through when they ventured into the city's lower levels. Only then I had a vague idea where I was going, she thought. This time, I'm best guessing and my only guide is useless.

The team cautiously advanced through the darkness. She cautiously wondered how long they'd been down here. Had Sandra gotten to the hanger ahead of her, she asked herself. Did they already have the Deathsaurer?

"Something up, captain?" Matt asked.

"No." She replied. "Just thinking, and trying to figure out where we are. I have a rough idea, but..." She shrugged. "I wish we could reach Sandra's team and find out what's happening with them."

"I'm sure she knows what she's doing." Matt replied.

"It's not her I'm worried about." She said. "She's still with Shepherd and Watanabe. I don't trust either of them."

"Me neither." He admitted. "But I'm sure that she can handle them if anything happens."

A noise further up the corridor cut Sel off before she could reply. It sounded like the squeaking of boots on concrete, like a group of people moving quickly. She signalled a halt, and cautiously drew her own gun.

"What is it?" Matt asked quietly.

"I think I hear someone ahead." She whispered back. "No idea who." She heard it again, but louder, and with a clattering of equipment. "Armed troops."

"Who's?" He asked.

"At this stage, I doubt it matters. Our own troops would probably just as quickly take us out for breaching the city's quarantine" She quickly turned around. "Take cover everyone." She hissed out.

The members of her team scurried for cover as the footsteps approached. Watching form behind a pipe, Sel could see a squad of civil defense troopers enter the room. Watching them carefully, she waited until they had passed her position, wondering what they would do. The squad stopped at the door, looking around and checking the door.

Her heart skipped a beat. They had closed the door but hadn't gotten the chance to re-seal it before they'd heard the squad and gone for cover. Which meant that if they checked the seal...

"Sir!" One of the troopers called out. "This door has been opened. Recently too!"

"Search the area!" The squad's commander shouted out. The troopers fanned out, shining torches mounted on the end of their guns around the room. Sel remained quiet. Her men were still wearing their black flightsuits. For the most part, they should blend in, unless...

There was a glint of silver as one of the torches reflected off something shiny hidden behind a pipe. "Come on out of there!" A soldier shouted. "Now! Come out or I shoot!"

...Reven, she thought. Damn.

Reven stood up from where she was hiding, her hands in the air and her skin-tight silver flightsuit unzipped to below her navel. "I surrender, don't shoot." she began, her voice surprisingly calm.

"Don't move!" A soldier shouted as he moved towards her. "Remain where you are and you won't get hurt!"

"Come on." Reven replied, a smile on her face. "Can't we work something out here?"

"Drop it now!" A figure emerged from behind another pipe, clad in black body armour and carrying a bulky rifle. Sel tried to figure who it was, then figured it out. Z-One, Reven's minion. Great. A soldier turned towards him, gun ion hand. Before the soldier could do anything, however, Z-One fired.

Or at least he tried to. The XS autorifle in his hands bucked and kicked, spraying bullets across the room. Reven screamed and ducked for cover as a bullet struck the pipe next to her. The aged pipe cracked, then shattered, spraying water across the squad.

Sel burst out from her cover, firing her pistol at the security troops. She wasn't aiming to hit them, more to keep them distracted and off-balance. "Everyone!" She shouted out. "Move!"

One of the troops opened fire form behind cover, a burst form his submachine gun tearing up the wall behind Z-One. In response, the armoured mercenary squeezed off another burst form the rifle, the bullets tearing up concrete and bouncing off pipes. Sel shouted at him to stop, but the sound of gunfire and the echoes from the bullets on the pipes drowned her out.

Matt charged out from seemingly nowhere, crashing into another soldier and slamming him into a wall. Before he could respond, Matt slammed his head into the wall again, stunning him. A second soldier went down as Bekka leaped out of seemingly nowhere, her booted foot ending up in the man's face before he knew what was happening.

Spinning around, she saw a trooper stepping around a corner. She fired at him, her shots digging into the concrete wall by his head. The soldier ducked back around behind the wall, remaining there for the moment. She watched the wall cautiously, waiting for him to emerge.

Instead, a small object came sailing through the air from she was hiding. "Grenade!" Sel shouted out to everyone in the room, friend or foe. "Grenade!" There was a metallic clanging sound as the grenade bounced off a pipe and then clattered to the floor in amongst a collection of various pipes, before exploding.

Sel was sent flying by the blast, metal debris sailing past her as she went. Several of the water mains burst open, spraying water in all directions. Before she could get to her feet, there was a second explosion that filled the air with smoke and dust, and left her momentarily stunned.

Shaking her head to clear it, Sel looked down the hallway that she'd ducked into. Between the lack of light and the dust and smoke in the air, it was hard to make out what was going on, but it looked like a portion of ceiling had collapsed and blocked off the hallway, which left her effectively cut off. She wanted to shout out to the others, but then she realised that it would probably cause more problems then it solved. She'd probably have the entire Civil Defence force down on her head before she found any of the others.

She tried to get her bearings, once again difficult in the underground passages. Her wrist computer wasn't helping any, being reliant on either a direct satellite connection that she couldn't reach form this far down, or a network of booster relays that was currently un-powered. So she was lost. Great.

She tried to figure where they were last going. Reven had said something about it being in some direction or another, but had been awfully vague. And that was before Sel had gotten lost. Squinting at a wall, she could make out an ancient marker. Briefly flashing on her torch then turning it off before anyone followed it, she found it was indicating the direction of the core. Well, it was a start. She decided to follow it, figuring that the Deathsaurer hanger was still closer to the core then she was.

She had no idea how long it was before she heard the footsteps behind her. She swung around, bringing her pistol up, only to find herself looking at the barrel of another pistol, pointed straight at her face. Looking back, she could see Rose holding the gun, her face illuminated by a small neon strip tied to a cord around her neck. She looked far from her usual pristine self, with her hair a mess and a tired look on her face.

"Rose!" She started. "What are you doing here?" Despite recognising her assailant, she wasn't prepared to lower her pistol. It seemed fair, as Rose didn't seem to want to either.

"I could ask you the same thing, sis." She replied. "Out for a walk, huh?"

"I'm trying to save the city." She replied. "No, scratch that, I'm trying to save everyone on the planet."

"The Gilvader took the core." Rose replied. "I figured that much. I also figured what De Lyon would do with a space vessel and a nanoforge."

"You know what it is?" She was surprised by this. "How?"

"I know things." She was doing a good job of retaining her usual smug demeanour, despite her appearance. "You're looking pretty good for someone who's been declared officially dead."

"I have?"

Rose nodded. "They've sealed the city tight. Nothing gets in or out. Of course, with the power off and the people going crazy, the odds are that we'll all be dead before we get anywhere."

"That's why I have to do what I'm doing." Sel replied. "Please, Rose, get out of my way."

"You're going after the Deathsaurer, aren't you?" She said. "So how are you going to control it?"

"We have Hagen with us." She bluffed. She wasn't going to say what state Vic was in. "She can operate it and use it to defeat the Gilvader."

"And go nuts again and wipe us all out." She smiled. "Nice plan, sis."

"So what were you going to do?" Sel asked. "Pilot it yourself? We both remember how that went."

Rose visibly twitched at that point. Sel remembered the time both of them had been selected to try to activate the Deathsaurer. Sel had been rejected and left with a headache. Rose had been violently thrown around and had passed out, much to her embarrassment.

"Well I'd hoped for something better from you." Rose replied. "After all, you're the perfect one, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?" Sel snapped.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rose said, sneering. "You with your two genetically-enhanced parents and your top scores on everything. Do you know what I had? A pair of dropout bums who decided that freedom and liberty and all that crap didn't put food on their plates. Only one of them got knocked up and they realised that they couldn't feed another mouth. So you know what they did?"

"No-"

"They abandoned their child. She was found by someone and taken in by the system, and just managed to be lucky enough to scrape her way into the warrior programs." Rose finished. "Ever wonder why I was such a sulk on parent visiting days?"

"I'm sorry." Sel said. "I didn't know."

"Yeah, well, its not something I tell everyone." Rose finished. "Now put the gun down."

"No." Sel replied, a determined glare on her face. "I'm not going to let you stop me. I have to do this, Rose. Don't make me have to shoot you." She didn't want to. Rose had been her best friend when growing up. And while they had drifted apart, there was still something of a bond. "I mean it."

"I can't." She calmly replied. "I have my duty."

"Damn it." Sel said. "Please, don't make me do this."

"Well..." Rose said, then smiled. "It appears that my gun has jammed." She lowered her pistol. "And, as such, I can't stop you." She gestured down the hallway. "You better go before I manage to clean it or something."

"Thanks, Rose." Sel said.

"Don't thank me yet." She said. "You've still got to figure out a way to control that thing. Now get moving."

Sel sprinted off down the corridor, leaving Rose behind. She knew this would come back to haunt her, and that one of these days Rose would be asking for something out of her in return. But for now, she didn't care. She had a job to do.

Sandra bashed the vent open as quietly as she could, only to have it clatter loudly to the floor. Wincing, she leaped out of the vent, landing with both guns drawn. Scanning the bay, she could see very little in the darkness, save for a single solitary shape lurking in the middle.

This had to be it, she thought.

Peering back into the vent, she signalled the all clear to her team. Rick clambered out, followed by Stuart, then Anna, a very surly looking Shepherd, Taro and finally Felix. All present and accounted for, she thought.

"This it?" Rick whispered

Sandra nodded. "Big Zoid in the middle of the bay. Can't think of what else it could be."

Anna looked up at the huge shape looming over them. "A Deathsaurer." She said. "I never thought I'd see one up close. And I never wanted to have to depend on one to save me."

"Don't trust it." John muttered. "I've seen is thing in action. It's a monster, and an uncontrollable one at that. If we weren't so desperate, I'd be glad to see it stay here."

"And don't either of you get any tooly ideas regarding that thing." Sandra added, turning back to them. "It can only be controlled using a special cybernetic control system. Even then, Vic's apparently the only person to ever pilot it successfully."

Before he could say anything, Sandra heard a metallic clanging sound form the other side of the bay, followed by the sound of a female voice. Signalling the squad to remain silent, she slowly moved around the bulk of the Deathsaurer, cautiously approaching what she thought was the source of the voice. Listening carefully, she tried to make out what they were saying.

"...damn it, I'm never doing that again! Look at me! I'm filthy! And my jacket will probably never be the same either. Can you imagine how hard it is to clean Albino Weasel fur?"

Reven, she thought. Holstering her guns, she walked forwards, gradually making out shapes in the darkness. A huge one loomed out in front of her. Bob, she thought. It had to be. "It's me, Sandra!" She called out.

"Sandra?" She heard Matt ask. A torch came on, shining directly in her eye. Covering her face with her hand, she shied away form the bring beam for a moment. "Yeah, it's me. Get that frelling torch out of my face."

"Sorry." He replied, shining it away. "Did you all make it through?"

"Regrettably, yes." she replied, thinking about the two A-X officers. "You?"

He shook his head. "We lost Sel." He said. "She was separated in a fight and we couldn't locate her afterwards."

Damn it, she thought. Sel was the last person she wanted to go missing now. As much as she hated to admit it, Sel's leadership would be vital for the success of the operation. Tool. Just what she needed. "Can we go back and search for her?"

Matt looked around. "As much as I'd want to do that, Sandra, you know we can't." He replied, the strain obvious to her. "We have more pressing matters to deal with."

"Actually, that's not a problem, Matt." Sandra and Matt turned, shining their torches in the direction of the voice. Sel emerged from the darkness, walking over from where Sandra had entered. "I managed to find my way after all, and ended up following Sandra's team."

The relief to both Sandra and Matt was obvious. "So that's everyone accounted for then?" He asked.

Sandra nodded. "Right. Let's see about getting Big Red out of here." She shined her torch onto the Deathsaurer's body, revealing a blood-red panel that seemed all the more sinister for the darkness. Moving the torch up the Deathsaurer's body, she noticed a grey protrusion on the back, located where the rear cannons protecting the fan would normally be. Following it, she noted that it was similar in design to the manoeuvre venires mounted on some models of Iron Kong. She whistled. "Somebody's been busy. Looks like our boy has had a makeover."

Sel shined her torch on it, picking out other details. The back cannons had been replaced with a pack containing a missile launcher, while new weapons were mouted on its arms. "Definitely." She said. "Maybe they thought that it was now a viable weapon and decided to make some improvements."

"Well, if it makes it better able to take on the Gilvader, then it's a good thing." Sandra replied

"What's up with you guys?" Rick asked as he walked over. Sandra shined the torch on the Deathsaurer's back. "Bloody Deathy Mk II." He said and whistled. "Nice."

"So how do we get this thing out of here?" Sandra asked.

"There's a manual control for the main hangar doors." Sel replied. "It was designed to be used in a situation like this. We can open the main doors, and then lift the Deathsaurer out with the Whale King."

"Assuming the Whale King is functional." Matt added.

"It will be." Sel said. "I trust Pants to fix it."

"You don't know him that well." Rck added. "But then, who knows. He may yet surprise us all."

"Rick, you're talking about the same tool that made the Double Dragon." Sandra replied.

"Yeah, but that surprised me." He finished, and smiled.

Well, there was no faulting that logic. "Right." She said. "Sel, call Pants. Let's get this big red tool airborne."

Anyone watching inside the city would have been treated to an amusing and unique sight that morning. A Whale King hovered over an open elevator shaft, a number of long, thick cables descending form its belly. After a while, the watcher would have been treated to the sight of a Deathsaurer being lifted out of the shaft by the cables, and then hanging from underneath the Whale King, before finally being withdrawn into its belly.

Pants looked up to the ship. While its right flank was still a mess, its engines were now fully functional. It had taken him a lot of hard work, but he'd managed to get it back in shape. Of course, his poor Hovercargo would never be the same again. Still, it was a worthy goal.

Sel stood next to him, talking on her communicator. Finishing the message, she turned to the others. "That was Captain Tweedle. He says the Deathsaurer is loaded and secured for transport. He'll put the ship down again so we can load up, and then we're ready to go." She looked around the small collection of pilots and Zoids. This was it, she thought. No turning back now.

Before she or anyone else could add anything, there was an explosion from one of the other Zoid elevators. A grey and black Blade Liger leaped out from the shaft, and ran towards the assembled group. Running straight at Sel, it stopped short, just in front of her. Behind Sel, various pilots went for various Zoids, all knowing they couldn't make it before the Liger struck.

"What do you want?" Sel shouted at it, starting at the Zoid, not moving a millimetre.

"Sel, I did you a favour earlier today." Rose called back form the Zoid's cockpit. "Now I want something in return."

"What?" Sel asked, angrily.

"I want to join your group." She said. "I want to stop that thing too."