Rebel: Hey, sorry it took me this long to update. I'm doing three stories including this one, and I just did band camp. I hope you enjoy all the action and mayhem of this chapter as a peace offering. This chapter actually ended up being so long that I divided it into two chapters.

5. Blood-soaked Sand

It was the dead of night. The torches flaring in the streets of Spargus only made the night seem darker. Sand Sharks, Gila Stompers, and several Slam Dozers stood sentinel at the main gates, and the walls of the city were lined with snipers. Spargus city was eerily silent as it waited for the onslaught to begin.

At the head of the desert vehicles sat Sig in a Slam Dozer. He picked up the Dozer's radio speaker and switched it on. "All Right Boys and Girls. Prime your weapons. The Metalheads are on the move." In the shadows of the night, on the farthest dune, groups of yellow orb shaped lights flickered. Next to Sig, Jinx turned on power to the Slam Dozer's turret.

"Ought to be one hell of a fight." he said with a cold grin.

"It sure will." Sig replied. Then he spoke into the radio again. "Release 'em."

Back at the gate, about fifty boxes stood against the wall. Max and nine others stood among these crates. Max looked to a burly housewife at the end of the row. She was listening into a radio. She turned and gave the others a thumbs up. It was time to go to work. Max and the others quickly opened all the crates, and kangarats spilled forth. They stood for a moment sniffing the cold night air. Then they smelled prey, and ran off in a huge pack.

"They're coming your way, Sig." The woman in charge said into the speaker. Then she set down the radio and herded everyone inside.

Grace looked back from her seat in a Gila Stomper. She watched as kangarats appeared from behind. They ran through the ranks, scurrying under, around, and even over the vehicles. They quickly broke free of the huddled ranks and kept running. As the kangarats reached the first wave of enemies, a strange sound could be heard; the death cry of metalheads. The kangarats had targeted their favorite prey, metalhead scorpions.

As the vicious little vermin caused chaos to spread through the enemy army like a contagion, Sig spoke into the radio again. "Snipers, fire!"

Derek sat up on the wall, the sighter of his modified blaster placed to his eye. The veteran soldier in charge gave the command and the snipers began to fire into the horde of metalheads. Derek sighted his first target and fired. He smiled grimly as a camouflaged metalhead fell to the hot sand.

As the snipers began their assault, Sig stood and turned in his seat to address the warriors ranged behind him in assorted vehicles. "People of Spargus and Haven City," Sig began, "We're gathered here for many reasons, and we all share a common goal." Some people nodded as Sig spoke. "But we're not gathered here to listen to a sermon. We're here to fight!" A few cheers rose among the dune buggies. "I want you to go out there and teach those ugly suckas the real meaning of war!" Sig shouted to the cheers and revving engines of his army. "Charge!"

Vehicles of all shapes and sizes raced across the desert toward the throng of metalheads. Pandemonium broke out as dozers threw metalheads left and right, and metal wasps attacked drivers.

Grace was in charge of protecting her driving partner, and the Gila Stomper. She spun her turret as she fired, making sure to protect the Gila Stomper's tires. As she faced forward, an arachnid charged the vehicle. Grace, realizing its intent, jumped out her door. As she rolled in the warm sand and freshly spilt blood, the arachnid slammed its head into the dune buggy, crushing the engine and causing it to explode.

The explosion threw Grace a few extra feet. As she got up, she watched in horrified curiosity at the arachnid. It had reared onto its four back legs in pain as the flames cooked it alive, turning its toxic purple fur a disgusting brown. Then it fell to the ground, its eco-tainted blood seeping out of shrapnel wounds. Grace checked to see how she had fared. She'd ripped the knee of her pants and she was covered in blood, but most of it was someone else's. Grace winced as she touched her face. A shallow cut ran from just below her right eye down her cheek.

'I was lucky.' Grace thought. Then she saw her partner who hadn't been so lucky. The man had burns across his chest, a nasty cut along his jaw, and a busted leg.

"Hey, are you alive?" Grace asked once she had reached the injured man. He gave a little groan. Grace carefully felt his leg, causing him to grimace. "It's shattered. We have to get you out of here, or you could lose that leg." Grace leaned in as the man muttered something.

"I want to stay and fight." he whispered. "I'd rather die a warrior's death than be a cripple."

"Are you crazy!" Grace cried. "I saw you before we left the city so I know that you have a wife and children. I'm pretty sure they'd rather have a cripple than a dead man!" Grace watched the man's face contort with guilt. "Now come on. We're getting you back to Spargus."

Grace looked around and spotted a Sand Shark, the driver sprawled in his seat with a hole in his chest from a metal wasp. Holding back the urge to be sick, Grace opened the door and pulled the still warm body out. 'Be strong, Grace. There's nothing you can do.' Grace thought to herself, allowing a shiver to run up and down her spine. Then she helped her wounded partner into the passenger seat. Jumping into the driver's seat, Grace noted that the chair was drenched in blood, but it didn't matter since Grace herself was already covered in the stuff.

As Grace drove, she heard the vehicle's radio come on. "Grace, pick up!"

She reached down and picked up the speaker. "Grace here. Who's this?"

"It's Sig. I saw you pull out. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Sig. My partner needs medical attention so we're heading back...What was that sound?" she asked as something cried on the other end of the radio.

"Road kill." Sig said with a chuckle. "Grace, it's a good thing you're going back. I want you and your friends to head up north and warn the nearby villages. Jinx says there should have been more metalheads here. Some of them could have tried to skirt his mines and head north."

Grace heard the radio click off and on again. "Hey Goldilocks. You still there?"

"Hey, Jinx. What is it?"

"Listen up, Girlie. When you get back to the city, head for the elevator to the palace. In the throne room behind the right water wheel there's a door. Take it outside and cross the rope bridge you'll find. That should get you past the mines. Got all that, or do I need to write it down for you?"

"No, I got it. Thanks Jinx." Grace set her speaker down and drove on.

Rebel: I'm sure this didn't seem like much to wait for, but you have to remember that I didn't decide to divide this chapter until I was done. If you're wondering about the villages u north and the fact that they shouldn't exist, well, I took a look at the maps on Jak III. I figure there's a channel separating Haven City and the Wasteland. For the sake of the story, I added a countryside north of the Wasteland which is connected by the volcano. Hope that clarified a bit. I'm also working on posting art for my characters on I'll make it my home page so you can look for updates. Don't forget to review!