The Next Generation 22

Magicman: Finally I get back to writing this. It sure took me long enough, eh?

Dilandau-with-a-cowboy-hat: By the way, you won't have to worry about Smokegirl messing things up. I gave her some sugar and left her alone.

Magicman: YOU FOOL! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!?!

(Smokegirl breaks in, flame-thrower charged and ready to burn.)

Magicman: Well I'd better get started before I'm burned alive, shouldn't I?



Yukari lay cold and limp in the castle's hospital wing. Her normally vibrant eyes were dim and dull. Her skin was a pasty white. Her lips had paled and she looked as though she was already six feet under. Surrounding her was three of the cities best doctors, one of which was Millerna. The queen of Asturia had spent the past three hours trying to understand what had happened and how to cure it.

Others stood in the room too. Hitomi sat on the floor, her back leaned against the wall. She would not speak if spoken to and she never took her eyes off her daughter's pallid face. Setto watched in subdued silence. He'd come running when he'd heard that his sister was hurt bad and he'd been waiting ever since. Sabrina sat by Setto, her comforting presence an anchor keeping him buoyed to sanity. Folken lay in the bed next to Yukari's, watching anxiously as the doctors plied their trade. Aside from some fairly serious burns, he was fine. He was far more worried about his young friend.

Van and Dilandau had wanted to stay but the impending battle needed their expertise. Mark had already gone, his temper gone flat and cold as a frozen sea; implacable and unforgiving. In his heart he grieved for Yukari and he was determined to avenge her.

But that was another place. In the hospital wing, Millerna finally straightened up over her patient, a frown creasing her pretty face.

"I don't get it!" she exclaimed. "I simply don't understand this!"

For the first time in hours Hitomi got up. "What is it?" Unsteadily, she stumbled over to her friend while the others watched fearfully.

"For all intents and purposes, Yukari is fit enough to kill a dragon! She doesn't have any diseases, her bones are all intact, there's no internal bleeding, and she hasn't been poisoned, burned, electrocuted, or crushed in any way! But still she's unconscious." Millerna looked into her patient's eyes. "It's almost as if she's lost somewhere."

"Well then we'd better find her!" Folken's exclamation was interrupted by a lot of cursing as his burns flared up again. Millerna scowled.

"You aren't finding anything! You are going to lie back down and get some rest before I have you sedated!" Folken cowered back under his blanket and Millerna turned back to Hitomi.

"I don't know if this is temporary or what but there's nothing we can do for the moment. You should get some rest."

"I know." Hitomi's voice was haggard. "But I'm not leaving her."

Millerna nodded in understanding. "I'll find you some blankets."

Hitomi looked down at her daughter, named for one of her best friends. She looked at her youthful face so cold and still. Slowly tears began to trickle down her face.

Setto knew when his mother wanted to be alone. He took Sabrina's hand and led her out of the room.

The two teens walked in silence. The only sounds were their footsteps echoing hollowly through the castle halls.

Finally they just stopped and held each other. Neither cried, they were past that stage. They just held each other.

After an eternity they came apart. "Sabrina", Setto began awkwardly, "I have to go. The battle is going to start soon and they might need my help."

Sabrina nodded, accepting his words.

He continued. "I want you to stay here."

The hurricane struck.

The words sounded weird after spending so much time in absolute quiet. "If you think that I'm going to stay locked up in a castle while you and who knows how many men go out and slaughter each other senselessly then you've got another thing coming!", was just one of the things she yelled at Setto, many of them much more emphatic and impolite. Setto just stood and listened patiently while she described in great detail every reason under the sun why he should take her with him. After a while, it started to blend together. "I'll have you know that in battles of this magnitude the odds of coming out alive are a hundred to one...you need someone to watch you back...do you know what a Basramian catapult will DO to you?...Are you really so insane that you've got a death wish?"

Finally, just when Sabrina was describing his likely brains, Setto leaned forward and captured her lips with his own. Her words cut off and she instantly melted into his arms. Her soft lips gave in to his and he held her gently, stroking her cheek with his free hand.

Setto tasted a salty tear on his lips and he drew back in surprise. Sabrina was watching him defiantly, despite the tears streaking down her face.

"I don't want you to die" she whispered.

Setto smiled roguishly. "I won't babe. I promise." He gave her one last kiss and turned and walked away.

As Sabrina watched, she felt empty and cold.

***

Van, Dilandau, and Mark stood upon the castle walls, just above the city's gates and watched the approaching army. It seemed endless; an inexorable tide that would wash over anything in its path. Could the Asturian army, outnumbered four to one defeat it?

They would sure as Hell try.

"Mercenaries!"

The three men turned as General Sageth approached. He was scowling something fierce.

"The bastard Veers bought every mercenary company he could find! They're all going to attack us en mass!" Sageth snorted. "I hate mercenaries, the money grubbing scum." He coughed as Dilandau and Mark glared at him. "Present company excepted of course."

Van smiled. "Is there any sign that they've discovered our guymelef flanking manoeuvre?"

"No. Even if he did, there's not much he can do about it. Our troops are in position and are prepared to attack. You'd better go and join them if you want to get in on the fight."

Van nodded and concentrated for a second. Great white wings burst from his back and he took off into the air. He rose for a few seconds before heading into the direction of the ambush point. Fortunately he'd had his clothing tailored with wing slits so he wouldn't keep ruining his shirts. Sageth watched in awe.

"I wish we had more men like that", he said. "They'd make incredible assault troopers."

Mark smiled briefly. "If you did then he wouldn't be one of a kind, now would he?"

Sageth grinned ruefully at this. "True enough. Well I'd better get back to my men." And with that he walked away, leaving Mark and Dilandau to follow Van more slowly.

The two men walked side by side through the streets. Here and there soldiers rushed, carrying weapons or supplies to various strong points but mostly the city was deserted. Mark reflected on this and wondered if they had enough soldiers to hold the walls? Well there was nothing they could do about that now. All they could do was try and kill as many of the invaders as possible. His hand tightened over his sword hilt.

"Hey boy".

Startled, mark turned towards Dilandau who'd spoken. The albino was watching him intently. "You're mad aren't?"

Mark hesitated, unsure what to answer. He settled for a brief nod.

"You're furious, raging on the inside", Dilandau continued. "The blood is boiling in your veins and fire burns in your heart. They hurt someone you care about and you want to make them pay a thousand times for what they've done. There isn't a thing you wouldn't do to make them pay."

Mark could only watch and listen as the older man kept talking as if from long experience. The sun shone in his silver hair and flashed blood red in his eyes, a vision of the near future.

"Whatever you do, don't let that anger and hatred consume you" Dilandau warned. "If you do then you'll lose yourself and it'll kill you as surely as you'll kill those in your way. And that's another thing. Never learn to like the killing or you'll pay for it someday."

"Are you speaking from personal experience?" The words were out of his mouth before Mark could stop himself.

Dilandau smiled bitterly. "Yes. It happened to me and I was dying on the inside because of it. But I was lucky. Someone brought me back."

"You're wife?"

Dilandau sighed, remembering times long gone. "Hitomi dragged me from the Hell I'd put myself in and she's still with me today." He turned and glared at Mark. "I'm not telling you this for your benefit or for my amusement. My daughter seems to have an attachment to you and I'm not letting you screw yourself over! I personally couldn't care less if Veers skinned you alive. Got it?"

Mark refrained from laughing seeing as it would likely get him killed. "Of course".

***

The Dragonslayers awaited the coming battle in the lee of the city where the invaders would not strike immediately. A full armoured division, most of Palas' guymelef troops, stood poised to strike at the signal. Above them floated the Vione. Cloaked, it was invisible to the eye and to sensors. It would be sending down instructions to the waiting soldiers.

Van had just finished strapping himself into Escaflowne when Dilandau and Mark arrived. Impatiently he watched them get ready for battle.

The radio crackled. "Lord Dilandau" said Chesta's voice, "We're ready to engage the enemy on your command."

"Hold your horses" Dilandau growled, "Wait until they're in position."

"Yeah Chesta" Dalet spoke up, "Wait until they're in position."

"Oh be quiet you suck up."

"Suck up? Me? Surely you jest."

"I don't think they do Dalet. You do have your moments."

"When do you think we'll attack?"

"Not a clue".

"Does anyone know what kinds of troops we're up against?"

"I think they're mostly foot soldiers with some heavy armour mixed in."

"Good. I'm looking for a nice easy win."

Van grinned as he listened to the Slayers chatter before the battle. Some people just didn't grow up.

"I'm gonna slag six 'melefs!"

"Well I'm gonna get ten of them!"

Mark spoke up for once. "Any of them that get in my way are dead."

Silence.

Van clicked on the comm button. "You really should lighten up a bit Mark. It's just a battle."

"Well it's kind of personal for me."

Van could almost see Miguel nodding wisely. "It's Yukari, isn't it?"

Catcalls, whistles and the unmistakable sound of teeth grinding together.

"Will you relax? We're just teasing you. Really, we're on your side in this."

"Yeah! Anyone who picks on Yukari has to pick on us all!"

Mark sighed. "Ah thanks you guys. I guess I've been on edge lately."

With a crackle, Dilandau's voice interrupted the generally festive mood. "Shut up and get ready to attack! They're in position."

As Van waited for the signal he could hear the sound of explosions and the unmistakable sound of steel on steel. The battle for the city was joined and they would receive their orders any time now. There it was. A cloud of red smoke drifted up from the castle. Van switched on the speaker. "All Asturian 'melefs, engage the enemy and attack at will!"

Dilandau's command was much more succinct. "ATTACK!"

With mechanised sounds, the Dragonslayers switched their Alseides to flight mode. Once in the air, they screamed over the city to the attack while the Asturia's ground based guymelefs rumbled after them.

***

The battleground looked a little like a game of Siege. Thousands of little men swarmed the city walls. Bands of mercenaries hauled scaling ladders while others manned siege towers. The ladder crews rushed to the walls under the cover fire of dozens of giant catapults and other siege engines. Many made it to the walls and were starting to climb when the Asturian soldiers answered. A swarm of archers, hidden from the battle at first, rose up from their positions to attack now. The sky clouded with arrows and attackers fell back screaming as arrows lodged in various body parts. The initial wave broke and ran before the skill of Asturian archers.

Incidentally, many of the defenders were using Setto's explosive recipe on their arrows. The occasional explosion went off causing even more chaos and dispiriting the attackers even more.

Then the enemy answered. A hundred catapults loaded with flaming pitch went off at once. The sky seemed on fire as the flaming missiles flew over the walls and men scurried about, desperately trying to put out the fires. The archers faltered as several fireballs landed on their sanctuaries and soon the arrow storm was over. The enemy infantry cheered and attacked with renewed vigour. Ladders went up and soon Basram's mercenaries were contesting the top of the wall with Asturia's defenders and all the while, the catapults continued launching their payloads of rocks and more fire.

This was the situation when the guymelefs arrived. The invaders were laughing as they killed when the first Alseides landed and cloaked. They wreaked much destruction and chaos upon the hapless mercenary troops, without air support as they were. The screams of the dying increased in frequency.

Then the rest of the Asturian 'melefs showed up and the slaughter really began!

***

The sorcerer looked up from his seeing glass as this phase of the battle unfolded. "The targets are in position my lord Veers."

The general smiled thinly. He knew they couldn't resist the bait. "Excellent. Signal all leva-ships and tell them that they may start the bombardment. After the first five minutes, order in the Serpents' armoured division."

The sorcerer frowned. "Why only five minutes sir? We could inflict greater damage on them if we extended the bombing.

Veers chuckled. The man was a good sorcerer but he was no tactician. "That's true...if they stand still. I estimate that it will take them just five minutes to recover from the initial shock of our artillery assault. Asturian's are good soldiers but they lack imagination. They no doubt believe that we won't use guymelefs or powerful explosives for fear of damaging the city itself. But I don't necessarily want the city in perfect condition. They do and it will handicap their fighting."

Thus convinced of his general's orders, the sorcerer nodded and carried them out. Veers turned to the viewing screen and watched the new phase of the siege begin. He thought of his daughter, locked up and helpless inside the castle and his fist tightened. 'They will pay' he thought.

***

Dilandau was busily burning helpless foot soldiers when a massive explosion threw Alseides to the ground. Surprised, he could not react as more explosions rained around him and onto the battlefield. Asturian guymelefs were caught in the hail of death, many of them going up in smoke, their pilots' helpless screams curtailed by the fire.

In a flash the pyro knew what had happened and he swore loudly. "Son of a BITCH! That bastard second guessed us!" He slammed a fist onto the intercom just as the explosives stopped. "This is Dilandau! It's a trap! Lets get out of-" He was cut off as something slammed into Alseides, sending it to the ground again.

When he climbed up Dilandau growled in frustration. Veers had called up his guymelef troops and they looked like they meant business. Basramian guymelefs had changed. Instead of the old Guyver (*cough* rip off! *cough*) model, they had gotten bigger. A silver sheen covered each machine and they wielded a sword in one hand a shield in the other. Coming up behind them were massive boxy machines. Running on tracks, long tubes stuck out of the top compartment. They looked dangerous and proved it almost immediately for they belched forth some sort of exploding projectile, like what Seto played with only bigger.

The Basramian weapons of war closed quickly wit the beleaguered defenders, still shaken by the missile attack. Dilandau saw at once that they were outnumbered and outgunned. It only made sense to fall back.

Dilandau, not being known for sense, launched a crima claw at the closest 'melef and charged in to close combat.

***

Mark blocked an overhand swing to his head and took a shield blow. Staggering back, he ducked and the blade whistled overhead, leaving behind an opening. Seeing the opportunity, he rushed forward, knocking the other guy off balance. When he was on the ground Mark rammed his blade through his chest cavity.

Pulling back he looked around. Things didn't look well for the good guys. He ducked again to avoid another sword and nearly died to a back swing. He blocked before following through and putting his sword through his opponent's head. Just then a nearby explosion sent him to the ground.

Picking himself up, Mark frowned. Those moving bombers were trouble. They were taking down more 'melefs than the opposing guymelefs were. He keyed his com pad. "Van, Dilandau, what do you two say to taking out those boxy things?"

Van answered promptly. "Sounds good to me. Dilandau?"

"May as well" he grumbled. "What are we waiting for? Lets go!"

The three guymelefs broke away from the main fighting and raced for Basram's machines. The weapons were in pockets of ten to twenty and they were spaced out all along the battlefield. With van in the lead, the three guymelefs charged the closest pocket, hoping to at least distract them from the fighting. As it turned out they were pretty speedy and manoeuvrable, proving hard to chase down.

Mark's sword hit the dirt and he frowned. The vehicle he'd been chasing turned sharply and blasted Akagi right in the chest. The guymelef stumbled backwards but Mark had upgraded its armour while he was repairing her. The shot barely scratched the surface and the machines pilot was probably too surprised to move as Mark smashed the machine to pieces.

They were about halfway through when the real trouble arrived.

Dilandau had gone berserk and was laughing maniacally as he destroyed. Suddenly Alseides' systems froze up. He couldn't move! He could only watch, helplessly as three machines targeted him at the same time.

The resulting blast blew apart Alseides' chest cavity. The protective goo leaked out and Dilandau was suddenly exposed to the world. From his new angle, he could see the sorcerer. The man was chanting some spell that was paralysing his guymelef! That bastard! He struggled to break free of his restraining belt to escape his dommed 'melef but it was too late.





























Magicman: Scared you, didn't I?





Suddenly the three machines blew up. A chakrum whirled around. Startled, the sorcerer screamed just before the whirling blade obliterated him. Said whirling blade came to a rest in Akagi's hand.

"You looked like you could use a little help there" Mark said cheerfully.

Dilandau grudgingly smirked. "They caught me off guard. All the same I suppose I owe you something. How about me not trying to kill you whenever I see you with my daughter?"

"That could work."

"Guys, we'd better retreat". After taking out the last machine in this pocket, Van had surveyed the situation and determined that it was bad. "We've got to get out of here before we're overrun."

Dilandau looked. "As much I hate to run away, I think you're right."

"Can Alseides still fly?"

"I think so. Only the chest was destroyed."

"Good". Van punched his com key. "This is Van. Retreat. All Asturian 'melefs retreat." Following that, he raced off the field, followed by Akagi and Alseides.

As the Asturian force disengaged, the Basramians didn't follow them. Why should they? They weren't going anywhere. Instead they left the field for rest and repairs. They would fight another day and they were confident they would win.

And so ended the first part of the Siege of Palas. A lost battle, a broken guymelef force, and the realisation that the odds of survival were virtually nil. Could things get any worse?

***

Yes in fact they could. For as he watched the battle wind down, Veers was frowning in thought. They had put up a good stiff resistance, despite overwhelming odds and a surprise attack. He had no doubt that they would continue to do so and it would result in more and more loss of life. He doubted that he could blitzkrieg the city.

But perhaps he could reason with them.

He turned to his tactical officer. "Lieutenant".

The man looked up. "Yes sir?"

"What's the situation on the city of Dodaria?"

The man checked his console. "Virtually untouched sir. As you ordered, no troop detachment has come within two miles of it."

Veers nodded. "Good. I want you to target it with Flasher three and open fire."

The man nodded. "Yes sir."

The lieutenant pressed buttons on his control panel. This sent a stream of messages all throughout the Destiny. All the while, Veers watched his video map screen without expression. There was Dodaria. Prosperous and agricultural, it sat in one of Asturia's most remote corners, hence its small population. He watched the Destiny's icon glowed briefly and discharged a small glowing projectile. He watched as the projectile flitted across the screen until it reached Dodaria. And he watched as it detonated, eliminating Dodaria from the map.

"Sir, the target has been destroyed."

Veers nodded. "Excellent work lieutenant. I shall be in my quarters if anyone needs me." Getting up, he left the room. As he entered his quarters, he sighed.

Using the energist bomb left a bad taste in his mouth. Even if it got him what he needed.



Magicman: *climbs up from behind his sand bag barrier* Well there you have it my (loyal) fans. Veers has actually done it. He has attacked Palas and dropped the bomb. The invasion has begun people! Don't miss it!