I have taken a real shine to Ina. She was just a pretty face to begin with, some slut for Payne to sleep with, but now…well, you saw in the last chapter she was in that she wasn't all bad. You can be sure she'll be popping up in the odd story in the future. Hmm…and I know just the man for her…*giggles*

Chapter 25: I seek sanctuary, not war

Karl opened his eyes, dazzled somewhat by the light he had been in before. The IronKong was on its side, and he lay against the safety harness staring through a blurred windshield.

The last thing he remembered was a bright hot light, and then darkness. Well, he wasn't blind, and he certainly wasn't dead. No, his head was telling him that quite plainly, he was alive. No doubt about it. No doubt at all.

Ow.

A charged particle beam. Point blank range.

And he wasn't dead.

I have to make this look good.

What had Hiltz meant by that?

There was a clunk to his left. He groggily raised his head and felt the Zoid lurch as something climbed up onto it and the windshield came away.

"Colonel Shubaltz sir!" Came a voice. He recognised it as the Reaper who had strolled into the battle with Rhyss, in her GunSniper. She had a few scratches and bruises, but she was walking and coherent, which was a good sign.

"Who won…?" He asked.

"My people retreated." Like a child, she smiled, and he was aware of the hopeless innocence that was in her, that had been so cruelly tarnished by her ordeal with Payne. "My boyfriend thinks I'm dead, apparently."

"Then tell him otherwise."

"Why?"

Slightly knocked back by this question, Karl raised his head. "What?"

"It's a long story. Rhyss is at the base. Lynette…I mean, Fiona's gone."

"Where's Hiltz?"

"Probably doing Payne's dirty work."

"What?"

Ina blinked wretchedly. "He said…he said that he would use Hiltz to break Winter."

"You mean Minister Prozen?"

"Yes. I suppose so. Is that what you've been calling him?" Ina asked, and Karl nodded. "Prozen was a degenerative term we used for his people. It means underground in our language."

"And by breaking him…it means…"

"Rare Hertz become adults by loosing their virginity. If you…if you mate one too young…they tend to loose all their power. I heard a Delnian shaman…that when they mate for the first time, the Hertz' soul…it…it goes somewhere, and the instinctual part takes over. A place called the Crimson Sea. The Crimson Sea connects their kind together, and the minds of the Shaman. If they haven't built up enough of a resistance to the pressure and the noise that apparently resides there…then they snap when they try to escape. They can never fully return to their body once the ordeal is over…it's like everything is covered in a mist they can't see through. The power is there, but they cannot bridge the gap between the mind and the body… The instincts to live are still there…feed the body, cleanse the body, and so on…but the soul is gone."

Karl stared at her. "You can live with yourself after doing that to one of them?!"

"Not anymore. Not after what I saw in his eyes. Hiltz…he is a breed apart from my people…and from the Delnia." Her gentle hands undid the straps, and for all her gentle femininity, Karl realised she was surprisingly strong.

"Well that explains Gunther's need to sleep." Karl grunted, happy to have a helping hand. "Look, are you going to kill me after this?"

"No. I seek sanctuary. I failed in my task, and so would loose my GunSniper. She means everything to me…I don't want to loose her." Her amber eyes were hopeful. "I have heard so many things about your people from Rhyss…you are…you have rules that feel right to me."

Karl bit his lip. "I'll try and put a good word in, but I'm more concerned with what Hiltz is doing. Any idea where he was heading?"

"I intercepted a transmission from the others…a mansion somewhere. Our base of operations. Just out of the city you call Guygulos…"

"Well I'll be. Prozen's old place. Interesting. Does your Zoid still have transmitting capabilities, apart from the accessing of information?"

"Of course." Ina pointed at the standing Zoid that creaked and looked over to them. "Most Reaper Zoids have organoid systems built into them. Most were destroyed, but some were saved from the war, and we kept them. The system is known as the Ultimate-X system…hard to come by. The Prozen…I mean, the Hertz…they buried most of them. Sealed them away so we couldn't get at them." Ina closed her eyes. "You must hurry. I have a feeling Payne will try and get there first, and he…he will kill Hiltz."

Karl hopped down the rest of the way and leant against his Zoid's arm to catch his breath. "I don't care if he kills that bastard, it's the minister I'm worried about."

"You don't understand, do you? We could never reach Hiltz. No matter how hard we tried. He's been keeping a part of himself spare from the other Reapers, biding his time until there was a chance he could do things properly." Ina hopped down beside him. "Hiltz may look, act and talk like a Reaper, but he is still Hiltz. He is the real Hiltz, not the one we manipulated after the creation of the DeathStinger. We have been watching, waiting, playing and controlling him right from then on in. But then…Payne is so very strong…and Hiltz may have been acting on his wishes…"

Karl stared at her.

"Call your brother, Colonel Shubaltz. The night is still young, the moon is rising. Blood will be spilt tonight in more ways than one."

The GenoSniper trotted over, growled, then crouched, allowing him to crawl into the cockpit and boot up the communications channel, in the hope it would boost his mobile phone.

It rang once. Twice. Three times. Sweat crawled down Karl's back. Finally, at the fifth ring, it was answered. Distant voices, he was sure he heard Raven's voice yelling at Shadow to give him the mobile, and the strange grunting noise coming down the line was obviously the organoid. Finally, someone wrestled it free, and Raven's whuff of surprise was a welcome sound. "Hello?"

"It's Karl. Look, I need to speak to Thomas."

"He's in the shower."

"Is he?"

"Um, yeah. What's the matter?"

Distantly, he could have sworn he heard Thomas yell 'hang up, and get back here.' "Prozen's been taken."

"What?!"

"The base was attacked, and somehow Hiltz slipped in and stole him away. He…he attacked…" No. No he didn't. The only thing Hiltz had done was defensive manoeuvrers, and a single cannon blast. All the damage had been done by…him. "…He was attacked by myself and two others, but got away." Karl corrected himself. "He's at Prozen's old estate. Raven, you have to get him out of there. Now. The Reapers are hot on their trail. They want blood."

"Okay." Raven replied, surprisingly calm. He shifted from playful Raven to military Raven, and Karl could practically hear him stand to attention. "How many Zoids, approximately?"

"You're not to fight. The Reapers will switch tactics and probably coerce the Republic army to help them. They fought with sleepers, mostly. No actual recognisable Zoids to identify. Hurry. Please. I'll join you…when I can."

"Are you okay?"

Karl raised his head and watched the Reaper standing in the sand. She was looking towards the base where there was a pair of headlights coming along in their direction. "I'm fine. Someone's keeping an eye on me here, and help is on the way. I may be a fugitive, but right now there are bigger things on their minds."

"Right…take care, Karl."

Karl smiled in the light of the controls. "Yeah. Thanks Raven. Same to you. Say hi to Thomas for me."

"Sure thing."

The phone fell silent, and the…Ultimate X, as it were…knelt down and let him out and onto the ground. He staggered, still a little shell-shocked from the ordeal, and gratefully leant on Ina's shoulder as the car came into view.

Gods, he needed to sleep.

Gunther…I hope you're okay…

~to be continued

*notices everyone looking at her in a strange way* No, it's not Karl. Let's just say that Rosso and Viola fans will crucify me. Mmm! Blood! Yummy!