Disclaimer: Do I really need to repeat myself?
Jafson's Place was the local bar in the small colony of Ice-gale. It was were the adults could meet on the weeknights and exchange laughs, gossip, tall tales…….and of course beer. But lately, with the harassment from the mercenary gang and the disappearances, the villagers went there to talk about their predicament and prepare for the worst.
And tonight's hot topic was the impending arrival of the Guardian Force, and whether they would truly be of assistance….or not.
"They sayz-hic!-that theeze guyz are good. Ya's all heard-hic-them talez of that thar' Doom Saucer and that evul-hic!-Hallz chaructar. Word haz it that theeze fo' took car' of dem reel nice-hic!-like," proclaimed a middle aged man with a heavy beer accent. The liquor frothed down his stubble as he took another long gulp.
"That's the Death Saurer and Hiltz yah drunken oaf! And all that otha stuff is just rumas; we can't prove it none! That all happened hunnerds 'a' miles away, an' since none 'a' us was there, we don't really know what happened, now do we? Hmm? These 'Guardian Force' folks could just be cons! Here ta steal our hard-earned credits! Is'not bad enuff, that we gottsta deal with mercs, and our friends an' loved ones up an' disappearin' ova' night? So, Ah say that we deal wiff those basta'd terra'ist ourself's! Ah've gots meself a 'Rapta! The Waler brothas have got some Guysacks and ole' Phil 'as got himself a Command Wolf leftover from his glory days as pilot! We'd whup up on those sons of bich's real good!" declared a young man named Gawn, who looked to be in his early twenties.
His words stirred up the villagers, for better and for worse. However, approval seemed to come from the majority. That is until, an old war veteran named Guss had his say.
"And, young man, what of the 'abductions'. Aren't they the greater threat to our colony?"
Gawn blinked and then sweatdropped, unable to come up with much of an answer.
"Ummm, w-well, yeah………'a' corse. I-I mean,……um..."
"………..Thiry-one people taken, Gawn. Thirty-one. How do you propose we stop what we cannot evenpredict?" Guss paused to let his words sink into the now quiet bar. When no one responded, he continued, "The mercenaries are a problem, yes. But we discovered that they were not the abductors a long time ago. These terrorists are just men. We can fight them. We could possibly even win. But as for those who can come into our homes without us even realizing it, take someone we love, and leave without a trace of even existing….how do we fight that? With Zoids? With other weapons? With our bare hands? No……..we cannot. No matter how much we may want to, we cannot afford to stand alone in this. We need help. We,…our families, our friends, ….Ice-gale …….needs help. And the Guardian Force has been sent to do just that: to help us. Maybe they can; or, perhaps they cannot. But if worst comes to worst, we may have to leave Ice-gale altogether."
"Leave?" "We can't!" "This is our home; where else have we to go!"
"Who died an' made you tha' high an' mighty leader, eh Guss?" "I just want mah family ta' be safe!"
The cries of anger and fear continued, until an authoritative voice thundered over the racket.
"ENOUGH!"
The bar silenced immediately. Even the loud and obnoxious drunks quieted into submission.
For, a tall, muscular young man stood in the middle of the floor, amongst the many tables. His name was Torick Mallo, the grandson of the village elder and a local 'hero' of the villagers; though, most folks just called him 'Torque'. To put it as simply as possible, he was very respected in Ice-gale, his achievements well known. The people loved him for his character and personality, and adored him for his leadership skills and good charisma. So, when Torque was talking, people were going to listen.
"Ah know that weh are all worried about what is going to happen. And many of us are afraid for our families and our lives," he spoke, his eyes drifting from one side of the room to the next. Even at these short sentences, murmurs of agreement bubbled from the group, and he patiently waited for the people to drift into silence once more before speaking. "Ah don't like the idea of having to leave Ice-gale any more than yal do; and, frankly, if it was just the mercs, then Ah'd do meh best ta fight 'em off like Gawn ova' thar suggested." At the reference, Gawn smiled, nodding his head.
"But……it isn't just tha mercenaries, is it? As hard as it for meh to say it, Guss is right, in more ways than one." Distressed mutterings rose from the crowd, but Torque silenced them with a glance. And continued.
"Leavin' seems a 'lil farfetched just yet. Ice-gale has a chance as long as weh are willin' ta give it one. So, Ah say that weh give these Guardian folks a shot. NowAh'm not sayin' that we be dimwitted; we should keep an eye on them, see if thar the real deal or not. If they are, then, maybe they can do somethin' about it 'all'. If not….then, Ah guess that weh run'em outta town." Appreciative chuckles arose from a few at the last bit, but they quickly faded out.
"So…….what do ya'll say?" Torque finished.
"We should put 'er to a vote!" cried one.
"Aye! A vote!" cried another.
A clamor of voices filled the air temporarily, before the villagers agreed to the task.
"Alright then, whose of yal' are for it?"
There were fifty-two villagers in Jafson's Place that night. Fifty-two hands eventually rose. Even the outspoken Gawn agreed, proudly raising his hand as high as he could.
As this 'speech' had gone on, Guss had been observing it off on the sidelines, watching how Torque had handled the crowd. He nodded his head in satisfaction.
Torque, who was now surrounded by a group of beaming and chattering people, looked beyond the clamoring bunch and the two made eye contact. Finally, the old veteran tipped his head in thanks, Torque returning the favor with a grim smile. And with that, Guss turned and headed for the door, grabbing his staff as he went.
Outside in the brisk night air, the old man sighed softly, before heading for the road that steeped upwards and away from Ice-gale. Higher into the mountains. Just as he disappeared from view, merging into the darkness, the three friends arrived on foot, having left their Zoids and Zeke in a clearing near the colony, trying to not to make a scene.
"Sooooo,…..what now?" asked the ever questioning Lt. Shubaltz, as he peered at their humble surroundings.
"I don't know about you guys, but I would give an arm and a leg for something to eat right about now," said Van.
"Yes, I am rather hungry myself," Fiona admitted.
"Well, I suppose I should eat something, too. It's not like I really need to. I can go weeks without really eating anything, you know, being trained for endurance in the Imperial army and-"
"Ya know Tom, you could just say that your hungry too. It shouldn't hurt your ego that much," stated Van.
"Oh, your saying that I have an ego? Are you kidding me? Van, you're the one who's always running around-----"
And the two began to, once again, argue. But Fiona was ignoring them, as she continued to observe the quaint little colony.
Fiona quickly spotted the brightly lit windows of "Jafson's Place". The smell of food and drink wafted across the distance towards the trio, tempting and tantalizing. There was the place to get some grub. And so, she turned to the bickering boys.
"Oh for Eve's sake! I am not the one who-"
"Van? Thomas?"
"Huh?"
"Yes, Ms. Fiona?"
"Look."
They did and in doing so, spotted the bar. Shaking her head, she then proceeded to lead the two towards the place.
The crowd in the bar had settled down by now and returned to more peaceful conversations. So when the door opened and three strangers walked in, everyone turned to look.
Van, Fiona and Tom stopped and gazed at the staring locals.
"…………,"
"……….,"
"…………."
"Well,…..um, h-hi," said Van, putting on a brave smile.
"……….,"
"Uh, we were wondering if-"
"Yal tha Guardian Force?" asked one of the villagers, a curious frown on his face.
"U-um, well of cours-"
"Yes, we are. Could we talk to someone in charge, please?" queried Thomas, cuttingVan off.
The man pointed over to a table. Seated at it was Torque, who was surveying the newcomers with a look of polite curiosity.
"Thank you," said Fiona, as she and the two 'men' walked over to the booth, well aware of the stares that they were receiving.
Once they were all seated, the locals 'pretended' to return to their previous activities: talking, drinking and laughing. But, of course, all their attentions were focused upon eavesdropping on the four.
"So yal are the Guardian Force, huh? Well, please, have a chair. Ah'm Toris Mallo by the way, but yal can call meh 'Torque'," he said, taking the odd group in.
"It's very nice to meet you Torque. I am Fiona," said the polite Zoidian.
"And I'm Van Flyheight."
"Lt. Thomas Shubaltz at your service."
"Well yal look prity' hungry; let's get ya somethin' to eat ……wait. Isn't there s'posed ta four of yal?"
"There are….but he's really more of a Zoid than a human; so he decided stay with our other Zoids than come into town," said Fiona.
Torque nodded, slightly surprised at this.
"Huh, well what-ddaya know…….So, about that suppa'."
1 hour later
Having thoroughly dinned on all available manners of food, the Guardian Force awaited for an explanation from Torque of what was happening in Ice-gale.
After taking a swing of his beer, he began.
"It all goes back 'bout a year ago, b'fore the mercenaries came…….."
Two older teens, a boy and a girl, laughed and giggled as they walked along a wooded path, enjoying the scenery. The boy lovingly placed an arm around the girl's waist as they trekked onwards, chatting continually. Suddenly a twig snapped behind them. As they turned towards the source of the disturbance, the girl screamed at what she saw. There proceeded to be a struggling, more screaming, a desperate shout and then………..
FLASSSH!
"At first, weh thought that maybe it was just 'n' angry wild Zoid, attackin' at random. Because who'eva went too far out in that fo'est, didn't come back………"
A woodsman armed with naught but an axe padded carefully through the woods, on constant alert. A dark shadow drifted over him, stopping him in his tracks. He didn't even have time to scream……
FLASHHHH!
"And then, soon after these 'abductions' started, tha mercs came, attacking farms that were far away from tha colony and terrorizin' travelers on tha roads. They even started ta pester the Trinity colonies, over on Mt. Talis. So naturally, weh started ta think that it was them who were takin' folks; tryin' ta scare us.
"But…" guessed Tom.
"But it turned out it wasn't; an eye witness caught site of several 'somethins' abductin a friend. He said, 'Those were no mercs. No human mercenary could move so fast, or be so strong as ta lift a full grown man with one arm'."
A dark headed man, yelled and shouted as they continued to come at him. He'd tried everything in the book: kicking, punching, clawing, biting and even bitch-slapping. None of that had even phased themThey may look like men, they may talk and walk like men. But…..these weren't men. He continued to valiantly put up a fight, until one came at him from behind and grabbed him, lifting him up on his shoulder. And as a bright light filled his vision, he could only hope that his friend had gotten away.
FLAAASH!
"But then, as if that wasn' bad enuff, they started comin' in our own homes."
"Who?" asked Fiona.
"That's tha problem…….we don't know."
The prone figure of a little boy rested in bed, sound asleep. A sudden thump in the night started him awake, breathing hard. The noise had been in the room down the hall. Where his sister was. Getting out of bed, he padded barefoot over the cold floor, hugging a stuffed teddy-bear to his pajama covered chest. A earsplitting shriek briefly filled the air, emitting from his sister's bedroom.
"Sissssi!" cried the child, breaking out into a run. Right as he reached the doorway, a bright light could be seen seeping from around the door's edges.
FLLLASSSH!
"An' so, here weh are. Weh called fo' help ta tha Republic and they and tha Empire decided ta send yal."
"Hmmmm," mused Van, rubbing his chin.
"This is most disturbing," lamented Fiona.
"These abductions seem like the most pressing matter. If we can figure out who's doing this and put a stop to them, then we'll be able to move on to the mercenary gang," figured Tom.
"Most of 'em happened far out in the woodland area. Iff'n yal are plannin' tah investigate 'em proper like, then yu'll need a guide. Only problem with that is this: hardly anyone is willin' tah go out thar now, their scared stiff," Torque professed sadly.
"You said hardly anyone; do you mean that some still do?" asked Van.
"Welllllll,…..Guss lives on up the road, and he's not all that scared of these mountains. In fact, as far as Ah know, he still goes out in that damned forest. But he's already headed on home and it'd take ya nearly a hour to get to his cabin…if ya don't get lost on the way. The road that leads up thar forks off in alotta places, and tha trails hard enough ta see at night as it is."
"Is there anyone else? Anyone at all?"
"Uhhhhhh,……heheheh, yeah. Thar is one guy. A real fanatic when it comes ta these here abductions. But…..tha guy's not all thar in the head if ya know what Ah mean," said Torque, sweatdropping.
"Heh, yeah, I here you. But we can't be very picky about these sorts of things right now if we want to put a stop to all of this," replied Van, smiling slightly.
Torque nodded in agreement before taking a long draught from his ale. When he was finished he continued.
"Al'righ' then. The fella's name is Sikes. He lives just a lil' ways outta town. Ah'll take yal thar the minute Ah finish this beer."
Twenty minutes and a walk later……….
The four had passed the clearing where their Zoids were, as they had headed out to Sikes'. Zeke had spotted them, and thus decided to come.
So now, the four friends, accompanied by Torque, walked up to the stoop of an old house. Before Van even had the chance to knock, the door burst open, startling the group.
"Daaahh!" "Whoah!" "Eeeek!" "Grrwrrr!" "Shit!"
There in the doorway, stood a chubby man, in his late twenties. A pair of night vision goggles framed his eyes and an odd looking homemade device of some strange purpose was grasped firmly in his pudgy hands, blinking and blipping. His wavy, mud-brown hair had been tossed about from his sudden exit and now lay about his face in an unruly manner.
"ITS HAPPENED! THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE HERE RIGHT NOW!" cried an exuberant Sikes, practically bulldozing them over in a rush to get out the door.
"Whoa, hold on thar, Sikes. What in the blue devil is goin' on? Who's here?" asked Torque, stepping in front of the excited man.
"They are! The abductors! The aliens from another world!" cried the enthusiast, waving his arms for emphasis. The group sweatdropped in varying degrees at this, as he continued,
"I caught it all on tape! I was out for a while, getting some parts for one of my consuls, and as I just came back, I saw that one of my surveillance cameras had recorded a "Flashing"! Right up on the mountainside, about two hours ago! I gotta hurry! If I get there in time I could get some live footage!"sqealed the ecstaticman, trying to scuttle his way past the imposing Torque.
"Uhhhh, y-yeah, that's great 'n' all, but….are ya sure ya should go up thar now? Ah mean….it's night, Sikes, a-and well, if they are here then what's ta keep'em from takin' ya the minute ya….show …..up….," Torque trailed of, seeing the blank look on the pudgy little mans face.
Catching on, Tom, decided to help Torque keep the crazed fanatic here. They couldn't have their only possible guide getting killed by falling of the mountainside in the middle of the night. Of course, he didn't really think that Sikes had seen anything. There were no such things as aliens.
If only he knew………
"Yeah! You go up there, especially in the dark, they could sneak up on you or…er…something," said Tom.
"Hmmhmmmm…..you know what…..you guys are right! And since they probably know that I'm on to them, it'd be all the more of an excuse for snatching me! I gotta get inside!" declared Sikes, spinning on his heels and grabbing the door handle, oblivious to the pratfalling group behind him.
But then he turned around again, and addressed the friends.
"But wait!…… Who are you people? Do I know you?"
"Sikes," sighed a frustrated Torque,"This here is tha Guardian Force. They've come ta save Ice-gale from tha mercenaries and tha…umm…'aliens' "
"OHHhhhHHH. Yeah, now I remember hearing about that,"
"I'm sorry, but I'm confused. What are these 'aliens' that people keep speaking of?" inquired Fiona.
At this, Sikes looked at her funny, his night vision goggles giving him a bug-eyed affect.
"What do mean, 'what are aliens'? How could you not-" he cut himself off, as he emitted a horrified gasp. "Good Eve, you're one of THEMMM!!"
Oblivious to the incredulous looks that he was receiving from the other males, Sikes lifted the device in his hands like sword, in an attempt at "warding off" poor Fiona, who was even more confused by this strange man's behavior.
"Back! Get back! Don't make me use this! Why are you here? What do want with our people!"
Before Fiona even had a chance to 'answer', Zeke stepped up in front of her, growling at the offending fanatic.
"GGRRwwerRRawwrrrRR!"
Trembling, Sikes dropped the "weapon" leaning back from the angry Organoid.
"Uhhheheheh….," he sweatdropped.
"Zeke knock it off, it's alright, man," said Van, stepping up to intervene.
What followed after Sikes officially pissing off of the protective Organoid, were "simple", but tedious explanations on all parties. Finally, Sikes had agreed that Fiona was indeed, not an alien…..and that he would be the Guardian Force's guide, too. As it turned out, the four friends would also be staying at the man's house. But, let's leave the comrades here for now and go back several hours before.
1and a half hours ago
Pebbles skittered about on a worn trail, as a pair of old boots traversed it, kicking up the small stones. Guss slowly walked on up the steep road, his staff tapping along beside him. His wizened mind wandered as he thought about Ice-gale's predicament, trying, in a way, to 'find a light at the end of the tunnel'.
Suddenly he stopped, noticing something.
At the foot of a large hemlock, that stood tall besides the path, was, what looked like a large bundle of bloody, ragged clothes. As he came closer, he realized that someone, was in fact, still wearing them.
"…..Good….Eve……," breathed the stunned man, dropping his staff in shock.
The girl lay curled beneath the shadow of the brooding conifer. She was barely even conscious, her breathing slow and soft, her squinting,violeteyes dimly glowingin the dark.Slowly, she registered the old man coming up behind her andgripped her scarlet sword, however, was too weak to lift it. The ole' veteran saw this, noticing the doubly red weapon. He decided to approach carefully, now knowing that the youthwas armed.
The injured teen tried vanelyto lift her head, but her body revolted even at that small movement, causing her to black out.
On trembling legs, the old man kneeled besides the girl. This kid was in bad shape. She would need immediate medical attention. Hell, he was surprised that she was even alive.
Scooping her up carefully, Guss began to head up the road, a new urgency to his pace. He'd have broke out into a run right then and there if it hadn't been for his damn leg. It had been injured in an accident while he'd still been in the service of the Guylos Empire, and had given him trouble ever since.
Considering that he was closer to his own home than the colony, he decided to take her the cabin. But in allhis hurry, he'd forgotten his staff…………….
Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain.
The Command Wolf scout padded past a rock face, well aware of being watched. As it reached a certain point, it halted, looking off towards a thick cluster of trees. The conifers shook violently, and thus emerged an Iron Kong, it's menacing form rising high above the Wolf.
Thunderously, it pounded over to the smaller Zoid; the pilot hit the intercom as he spoke.
"Snnnkkkxxtt-'Bout time you got back, Reaver."
"Yeah, yeah, I hear yah boss,"replied the Wolf pilot, 'Reaver'"Where's the otha's?-
"-I've got some news your all gonna want to hear."
"They're comin'; in fact, they should be here any minute," said the pilot of the larger Zoid. He had a long, ragged scar running across his face, from his left eye all the way to the corner of his mouth. It seemed to pulse white every time he spoke, giving him an eerie appearance.
"Well, can yah tell 'em to hurry up? This is important, Gordo!"
The Kong growled in unison with its pilot, as he shot back at the intercom.
"The last time I checked-"
"-I was the one callin' the shots. You got a problem with that, Reaver?"
Reaver paled at the tone of his boss's voice, quickly shaking his shaggy, red head.
"No! N-No way, man! No problem here-"
"-I'm just sayin' that this is big news, an-"
"I get it, you idiot. No need to piss your pants," said a deadpan Gordo.
Sudden laughter sprang up on the intercom, as a Stealth Viper slithered up from a nearby gorge, snaking its way over to the other Zoids.
XxXXXxcctttt "Reaver pissing his pants? HaHAHHhhaahahaha!"
"Hey! Shut up, Nave, yah asshole! Or I'll give yah a knew mouth to laugh out of, right in yor' jugular!"
"Heheheh, YOU? Bring it on, pissypants! Hahahahah! If you think that you could even touch me in that trashcan, then you've got another thing comin'!"
"NNNnnnnNNNGGHH!"
CccxxxXXcctt "Nave, can't you lay off of him for a minute? Eve, you're such an immature little shit," said a new, womanly voice, as a Guysack scurried over to the growing group.
"Maybe, but at least I'm a sexy immature little shit," retorted the cocky Nave, his Viper swaying its head back and forth.
"Ugghh, you're hopeless ," the woman pilot said in disgust.
"Ahhhhh, come on, Talea, you know you'd miss me if I weren't around," said Nave.
"Heh, yeah. Like a migraine," replied Talea.
"OoOOooh, OUCH! Jeez, girl that hurt!"
"That's enough. From all of you. Reaver, what's big the news?" asked Gordo, his Iron Kong turning towards the Command Wolf.
"Guy's it's happened. Law enforcement has shown up. And not just some-"
"-average soldiers, either. The best the Helic Republic and Guylos Empire have to offer: The Guardian Force."
Talea stared silently her screen. Nave gaped, stunned. Gordo frowned at this news; they all new of the achievements of the Guardian Force. Van Flyheight in particular.
"What are we going to do boss?" asked Reaver, his voice betraying his worry.
"Reaver, have you heard from that Damien character lately?" asked Talea, "He might be able to help us out, seeing as he got us into this mess."
"Naw, he said he'd 'check in' on us, but that was supposed to be at least five hours ago."
"Something must have happened back at…..well, wherever he's from," said Gordo.
"………..,"
"……We're screwed," proclaimed Nave.
"What's the plan, Gordo?"
"We keep doing our job," commanded the Iron Kong pilot, his jagged scar tense.
"But Gordo-"
"No buts! We were hired to find that damn rock, and that's what we're gonna do! We worked hard enough to keep the locals from strayin' out into those woods, and we're not going to let all of our work go to waste!"
"I thought it was those freaks that work with Damien that scared the hell out of 'em?"
"Yeah…..where'd they take all those people anyways?"
"That's besides the point, damn it!"
"Look, whateva' man. You're the boss."
"That's right, and it'd be best if yal remembered that! Now get to looking, all of you!" Gordo snarled, his Iron Kong rearing up and beating its chest before crashing off into the forest again, in search of the mysterious 'stone'.
"Well you heard him, let's go!"
"Heh, right…a whole lotta good this gonna do. In fact,if we're caught by those frickin' pansies, then I'm blaming it alllllll on Reaver."
"Me! What the hell for?"
"Because it's funny to make you mad, dumbass."
"….Screw you."
"Haahhhaha! Sure, if Talea will help me!"
"Go to hell Nave."
"Okay."
And the mercenaries separated in search of the previously mentioned stone, going off in different directions.
6 hours later
The twin moons had set, disappearing behind the mountains. A dull, grey light ruled the land.
The early morning haze.
Mist danced about the roots of the ancient pines, as fog hung heavily about their boughs, covering the land in a silver blanket.
Suddenly, the sun peaks its yellow rays over the mountainside, turning the silver fog gold.
…………..A new day had been born…………