Here we are at Chapter 31. Let's see if the team can unlock more secrets about Nexus down south. I do not own Zoids. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs. Here's chapter 31. Enjoy.
Chapter 31: Out of the Shadows
The team travels south to the southern edge of the continent, where they would then travel even further to a set of small islands off the coast of the continent. Bates Town wasn't too far from the coast to begin with, so it wouldn't take too long. Luckily for them, the Hover Cargo is capable of travelling underwater, so they wouldn't have to worry about finding a way across the sea.
"We'll be arriving at the coast soon," Colt notes as he pilots the Hover Cargo.
"Are you sure your informant gave you good intel? What if he leads us to a dead end, or worse, a trap?" Grace asks.
"His intel is good. Besides, if it turns out otherwise, I'll just find him, beat him to a pulp, and then throw him in the slammer," Colt replies cheerily.
"Okay, but what about Roderick? We didn't tell him about this little trip of ours," Sarah notes.
"Better keep this in house. Besides, he's here just to babysit us. He can't say where we can and can't go. And, even if he did, I sure as Hell ain't gonna listen to him," Colt replies, earning a nod from the rest of the team.
"What do you think we'll find there?" Rickie asks.
"Who knows? Hopefully something tangible," Sarah says, and looks out the monitor to see the approaching coastline. "It's a shame that we're here on official business, and that we still have a bounty on our heads. It would've been nice to take a little short vacation at the beach," she says, sighing.
"Yeah, I could work on my tan," Grace jokes.
Rickie then gets an image in his head of seeing the girls in a pair of bikinis, and starts drooling a bit... which results in a punch to the head by his older brother.
"Ow! What did I do?!" Rickie yells.
"Being stupid," Sky replies flatly.
Just then, Roderick enters the control room, "Please tell me we're not heading south for some kind of trip to the beach. We don't have time for a vacation. Especially if what you said is true and the team has a price on its head," he asks.
"Unfortunately, no, we're here on business, not pleasure. We're heading for the islands south of here. Don't really know what's there. Probably nothing, but it's at least worth a look. If I was some kind of evil mastermind with an army at my disposal, I'd want to keep it not only hidden from the enemy, but also a good distance away to make it harder for my enemies to find them," Colt explains.
Roderick looks ahead on the monitor, "I... I see. The islands... Probably nothing there, but I suppose it's worth a look," he replies.
"Well, since we're all in agreement," Sarah says.
…
They reach the coast and then take the Hover Cargo underwater towards the islands off the coast. So far, they haven't met any kind of resistance, but whether or not that's a good thing, they'll soon find out.
"What if we get attacked underwater? Our zoids aren't exactly made for swimming," Grace asks.
"The Hover Cargo does have its own defense systems, including a few cannons and a high-powered energy shield for defense. If we get attacked, then we'll retreat and see if we can lure the enemy onto dry land. And if we do get attacked, at least it'll mean that we're in the right place," Colt replies.
"Let's hope we don't get attacked, please," Sarah says.
The Hover Cargo rolls through an underwater canyon, finding no signs of any enemy signals as they near the largest of the small cluster of islands. A total of three islands lay before them.
"You really think they have their base here?" Rickie asks.
"Even if they don't, they may have something here. One of Nexus' M. O.'s is to keep their bases and facilities in unusual places. Seems to fit to me," Sarah says.
"We'll be approaching the main island soon. Let's find a spot where we can surface and then head out in our zoids," Colt says.
After another fifteen minutes of driving, the Hover Cargo finds a spot where it can emerge from the water and move onto dry land before stopping.
"Okay, let's get moving people. Rickie, you stay here and man the Hover Cargo," Colt says.
"Roger that," Rickie gives him a mock salute.
As they leave the control room and head to the hanger, Colt stops Sky, "Hey, Sky, I need you to do me a favor," he asks.
A few minutes later, the team enter their zoids and head out to scope out the island and find something of interest there. Just then, they get a call on the comms from the Hover Cargo.
"Pardon my asking, but where is Mr. Faust?" Roderick asks.
"We told him to stay in the cockpit of his zoid. If there's some kind of bas hidden inside the island, or even beneath it, then his Pteramander won't work there. At least if we have to retreat, he can launch and clear a path for us as we approach. Just in case," Sarah explains.
"I see. Very Well. Do keep communications on and be sure to inform us of anything you find," Roderick says.
"See you guys when you get back," Rickie waves to them before the comms go off.
The zoids walk through a forest on the island, each keeping their heads on a swivel.
"You really think we'll find something here?" Grace asks.
"Hmm, Geno, what do you think?" Sarah asks her partner.
The Geno Storm-Blade looks around, growling a little low before it starts going off in one random direction.
"Hey, where are you going?" Colt asks.
"Don't ask me. I think Geno is leading us somewhere. Come on, follow the giant white dinosaur looking zoid with the multiple blade arms," Sara replies. "I trust you, Geno. Show me the way, just like before..." she mutters.
The Geno growls in reply and moves on ahead with the others right behind it. It moves its head around, almost like a bloodhound sniffing out a scent of its target, and moves further inland, towards the large mountain at the center of the island. Eventually, the group find themselves at the side of the mountain, too steep for them to climb.
"Okay, so now what?" Grace asks.
"Geno..." Sarah asks.
Her partner walks to the left, around the rock wall of the mountain. This goes on for a few minutes until it stops at one section of the wall. It then steps forth and straightens out its body, its foot clamps fold down, and it opens its mouth wide as its charged particle cannon charges up. A moment later, it fires directly at the mountain side, causing a huge explosion.
"What the Hell?!" Colt shouts.
When the dust settles, they find, to their surprise, what looks to be a large metal hallway where the stone wall once was.
"Okay, that's something," Grace notes.
"There must be something built inside the mountain. Let's take a look," Sarah says.
They move inside, travelling deeper inside. However, only a few minutes inside, and they suddenly get attacked by a large number of black Command Wolves equipped with long range rifles on their backs.
"Argh! Guess this is the welcome committee!" Grace yells.
"Come, let's smash through them, Geno!" Sarah says and charges forth.
The Geno Storm-Blade roars and flies forth, firing its laser cannons at its enemies. The pathway wide enough for zoids to travel through, but not too wide that it makes it easier for them to move to evade enemy fire. The laser cannon shots rain through the enemy zoids, while the Geno Storm-Blade narrowly flies by the incoming fire or uses its blade to block the shots. When it gets close, the Geno Storm-Blade uses its thrusters to spin around, swinging its blade like a tornado as it slices through several Command Wolves. It then clamps its jaws on the neck of another Command Wolf and tosses it into a second. The Spinosapper and the Bravejaguar come in from the Geno's rear, firing off their ranged weapons at any stragglers, taking out a few more enemy zoids. Eventually, they finish off the last Command Wolf and things are calm again.
"You guys okay?" Sarah asks.
"Yeah, we're good. You think there are more inside?" Grace asks.
"Probably. Looks like we lost the element of surprise. Come on, we need to move," Sarah says.
They move further in, taking out small pockets of resistance as they go, but so far find nothing of substantial worth for their mission. However, once they find a door leading to another room, Geno growls loudly, their sign that something lies ahead.
"Well, I'd say that if Geno is growling like that, we might have found something," Colt says.
"Let's knock and see if anyone is home," Grace suggests.
The Geno Storm-Blade fires its laser cannons, blasting through the doors, and clearing the way. Inside, they find a scene that stuns them. A giant hanger filled with soldiers, some zoids, workers, and even a large number of black Whale Kings line the center of the hanger.
"Whoa," Colt mutters.
Just then, alarms go off because of their explosive entrance, and the people inside scatter, some trying to get onto their zoids or into the Whale Kings, others finding other escape routes to get away from the destruction that's obviously about to befall them.
"What do we do?" Grace asks.
"Take out the zoids, and make sure those Whale Kings do NOT take off!" Sarah yells and has her partner jump down to begin the assault, with her teammates in tow.
Geno fires off its laser cannons at the Whale Kings, aimed at their engines and fins, anything to prevent them from getting into the air. Enemy fire comes in and Sarah looks over to see a squad of black Rev Raptors coming their way. The Geno Storm-Blade roars and charges at them. The Rev Raptors engage their curved blades, but they easily get sliced through by the Geno's more powerful blades.
"When we first started fighting these guys, they were one Hell of a challenge, but now it's been getting easier to deal with them. We certainly have grown since then, huh Geno," Sarah thinks as her partner slices through two Rev Raptors and then swings its tail to knock aside a third.
Grace and Colt join the fray, with the Spinosapper firing its missile launcher at the Whale King's thrusters, while the Bravejaguar fires its twin laser cannons with it. Their combined attacks ground three Whale Kings so far, but there are still several more that are flight capable. The main hanger doors for the Whale Kings open up, and the remaining one begin moving to escape into the safety of the skies.
"We can't let them get away!" Grace yells.
They continue firing, only to get attacked by another squad of black Rev Raptors.
"That's easier said than done," Colt grits his teeth.
The Bravejaguar runs forth to face their new enemies. The Rev Raptors engage their blades, but the Bravejaguar jumps over them when it gets close. It lands behind them and fires its twin beam cannons at the ceiling above them, causing it to break apart and fall down on top of them, taking out a few of them. Grace attack the rear when their attention is on Colt, and using her zoid's chainsaws to rip through a few more. Meanwhile, Sarah and her Geno Storm-Blade have just finished taking out the rest of the Rev Raptors attacking them, focusing back at the Whale Kings attempting to escape.
"You won't get away!" Sarah yells.
The Geno Storm-Blade sets up to fire its charged particle cannon again, aiming it at the closest Whale Kings to it. A few seconds later, it fires the charged particle cannon, taking out the thrusters of one Whale King, and then uses its thrusters to move the cannon beam towards another, destroying the thrusters on a second Whale King. With their means of propulsion destroyed, the two Whale Kings fall and crash in the hanger, causing further destruction. However, three Whale Kings manage to escape through the hanger exit and get into the skies.
"Crap, they're getting away!" Grace yells.
"Should we call Sky in on this?" Colt asks.
Sarah tries to get a message out to Sky back at the Hover Cargo, but can't get a connection going.
"They're blocking our signal somehow. We can't get a message out," Sarah says, but has to quickly move her zoid to evade a shot from another Command Wolf. "We have no choice. We'll just have to let those ones escape for now and finish off the rest here," she decides.
The Geno Storm-Blade flies in, skewering the Command Wolf with its blades and tosses it aside. The Bravejaguar and the Spinosapper fire their weapons at the defense systems on the downed Whale Kings as soon as they come online, making sure they can't get in the way. Explosions ring out across the hanger as the battle reaches its zenith, and soon enough the battle comes to an end. The team regroup and look around at the destruction they wrought.
"So, you think we actually did some damage to Nexus this time?" Colt asks.
"We took out several of their Whale Kings and more of their troops. At the very least, they can't make as many quick attacks and retreats from the air now. Let's look around and see if there is anyone who's still conscious that can give us some info about Nexus. If they're unconscious, then we'll take them with us," Sarah says.
Just then, explosions ring out across the bodies of the Whale Kings that were knocked down, and more through the hanger and beyond.
"Um, Sarah," Grace mutters with worry.
Alarms start going off through the facility.
"This place is gonna explode. We gotta get out of here, now!" Colt yells.
The team high-tail it out of the facility the same way they came in, doing their best to stay ahead of the explosions that are spreading throughout the compound.
"Why do trips to secret bases always end up like this?! Do these guys put self-destruct systems in EVERYTHING they own?!" Grace yells.
"Less talking, more running!" Colt yells back.
Luckily, the group manage to escape through the entrance they made right before a huge explosion breaks through the mountain side outside. They keep running, dodging falling debris until they feel they've reached a safe distance and look back at the fire ball they've left behind.
"So much for finding anything that we can use in there. These guys sure know how to clean up after themselves and leave nothing behind for us to grab," Colt notes.
"At the very least, we've weakened their aerial forces considerably with this raid. Come on, let's return to the Hover Cargo and decide what to do from there," Sarah says.
They return to the Hover Cargo, and Sarah tries to call up Rickie and Sky.
"Hey guys, we're back. Did anything happen while we were gone?" Sarah calls out, but receives no answer back. "Sky? Rickie?" Sarah calls out outside the Hover Cargo.
"What's going on?" Grace mutters.
"We may be walking into a trap," Colt says.
"Let's get inside and find out. Be careful guys," Sarah adds.
They make it inside the Hover Cargo since Sarah can open it up remotely through Geno, and they find Sky's Pteramander still in the hanger. The group exit their zoids, and move to his zoid's cockpit, opening it up but find no sign of Sky inside.
"Huh, where's Sky? We told him to wait in the cockpit of his zoid until we got back," Grace notes.
"Keep an eye out guys. Let's find Rickie and Sky. We may not be alone here," Colt says.
They slowly move through the interior of the Hover Cargo, finding it eerily quiet. As they move to the control room, Colt stays up front, followed by Grace, and then Sarah. Colt opens up the doors, only to find Rickie, tied to the chair and unconscious.
"Rickie!" Grace yells.
Just then, Sarah feels the barrel of a pistol touch the side of her head, and glances back to find Roderick behind her as he grabs her left arm and pulls it behind her in a vice grip.
"That's far enough!" Roderick yells, getting their attention.
Colt and Grace turn around and see Roderick has taken Sarah hostage.
"Roderick, so you ARE the spy for Nexus," Colt growls.
"I was surprised you knew about that. Guess I'm not the only one keeping secrets," Roderick notes, tightening his hold on Sarah. "No sudden moves, or Team Lockhart will be short one team leader," he warns them.
"Why are you doing this? Why help Nexus?" Grace demands.
"You think I wanted this. That Kaiser is a monster. He said he'd kill me if I didn't help him. He always knew how to find me. I had no choice," Roderick retorts.
"No choice my butt. Where's Sky?" Colt asks.
"Don't worry, fly-boy is still alive, just occupied at the moment. I'm only here for the girl and the Geno zoid. Now then, we're going to back out, nice and slow, to the hanger, and you're going to pilot your zoid to get us out of here until Nexus picks us up," Roderick tells Sarah.
They slowly back-peddle out of the control room and down towards the hanger, with Colt and Grace slowly following them, careful not to get too close lest Roderick try something.
"What do we do?" Grace whispers.
"I'll think of something. I'll I need is one opening," Colt whispers back.
"Do you really think you can get away with this? How many innocent people have been killed because you've been helping Nexus?" Sarah angrily asks him.
"It's not my fault. I told you, I never had a choice in any of this. Now shut up and be a good girl," Roderick retorts, jamming the barrel hard into her skull.
Eventually, they reach the hanger. Geno sees the scene and roars at Roderick, who manages to keep his cool despite Geno growling at him.
"Call off your pet and tell him to open up his cockpit," Roderick orders her.
"Geno... It's okay. Open up," Sarah says reluctantly.
The Geno Storm-Blade growls at Roderick, but listens to Sarah and opens up its cockpit. Roderick pulls Sarah inside and closes the cockpit while Colt and Grace can do nothing but watch.
"He's getting away with Sarah! What do we do?!" Grace asks.
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking," Colt replies.
"What does Kaiser want with me?" Sarah asks, despite the situation she's in.
"He wants the Geno Storm-Blade and the Z-link system. You're the only one who can pilot it, so you go too," Roderick replies.
Sarah takes the controls, with Roderick sitting behind her. However...
"There's just one thing, Roderick," Sarah starts.
"And that is?" Roderick asks.
"Geno... engage Z-link system," Sarah says.
Geno activates the Z-link system, and Sarah quickly leans forward, pulling Roderick with her as the cables come out and connect with his head instead of Sarah's. The system connects, but as Sarah suspected, Roderick is not compatible, and clutches his head in pain. He drops the gun, giving Sarah the chance to grab it.
"Geno, that's enough," Sarah says, and Geno deactivates the system.
Roderick still clutches his head, but that gives Sarah the chance to knock him in the head with the side of the gun, knocking him out.
"Bastard," Sarah mutters.
The cockpit opens up, and Colt and Grace look inside to see that Sarah is okay, and Roderick is out cold.
"Sarah! Are you okay?!" Grace calls out.
"I'm good. Roderick's alive, but unconscious," Sarah replies.
And once he wakes up, they'll have some questions for him.
And that's the chapter. Team Lockhart take out a key Nexus facility, and finally manage to capture the spy, which turns out to be Roderick himself. With the spy in their hands, the team may finally be able to get some real intel on Nexus. Will they get what they need out of Roderick? What does he know about Nexus? Until then, please Read and Review.
