Chapter Seven: New Flavor! Orange-aid!
'It all went to hell, didn't it? Huh...it seems so surreal. To think it was all just a plan to separate Ridley and me...'
Jack wondered silently as he watched the sun rise over the desert horizon. It all began as a simple forced separation between Jack Russell and Ridley Silverlake via Jasne Colton and to some extent, Cross Ward. However, Jack betted that the old man wasn't expecting his daughter to rebel. Speaking of which, Jack looked at the sleeping form of Ridley in his arm; his good one by the way, and stared into her face. He recollected as to how it all went so awry.
It has been nearly a month since Ridley's father Jasne Colton conspired with prison moron Cross Ward to frame Jack with a planned out plot to rid him onto the army. It was also two days since Ridley stole a top secret tank from under the army's noses and went crazy with it, nearly destroying the base's compound. Now they were on the run with a stolen tank from the army and probably from the Blue Vareth, since Leona was with them.
Leona Weissheit was originally from the Northern areas of Nowem where Blue Vareth stations its school and behind it, their main base. The students attending think that it is only a private school but in reality it was designed as an information facility, making some of their terrifying weapons come from simple ideas or innovations.
Looking back at the creeping feeling of unease situated within his memories, Jack felt like if the army was a personal hell meant for him and only him. All of his fears about the stories that former soldiers and escaping guild members were true. It was truly sickening to see the hollowed eyes of some of the army soldiers...just marching their bodies, with no life in them.
"Perfect killing machines...one dies and two more replace that one..." Jack said bitterly with a twinge of horror and fear as his wandering thoughts turned grim. He was about to enter the Army and fall into their cryptic folds until one inside the Army saved him.
General Dynas was somewhat of another era of the Army. Back when the armed forces were proud to take the name "Radiata Knights" without the citizenry going into a full blown panic. Back then, no one tried to save each other or tried to either hide themselves or their children from being drafted into their ranks. No, these brave men and women are now few and between, each dying from their wounds that were created, emotionally or physically later.
A prime example was Captain Zeranium, who died while trying to drink his nightmares away and ended up as a OD in the morgue. He just took too many vodka shots and well..there he was with a toe tag.
General Dynas knew Ganz Rothschild's father, Captain Gawain. According to the old stories from the local Gazette, he was a man of great valor and upstanding bravery. His company was rumored to never have lost a single infantryman in the field of battle. He never lost a man to the battlefield, instead dragging the man or woman into the medical tents himself.
If for whatever reason (he said in a public speech to his company) the time was up for one of his, he and his company would stand by from action during the next day. refusing to do battle as a grim ode to the fallen. It caused much controversy for the senate and some of the army, but he meant it and it paid off. Making him rivals with his just as equally respectable friend, Cairn Russell.
It was a sorrowful day when both were declared Missing In Action by the presidency when the Gold Olacion fired their "Enjela" weapon into the southern savanna plains where one of their "Temples" was discovered to be a front for a weapons research lab. The blast eradicated the local wildlife, effectively putting the smilodon into the endangered species list. It also put the rare "Iron Plate", a surprisingly fast turtle into extinct list of animals. The former evangelic order sent a heartfelt apology to wildlife conservancy of Radiata City, but practically dismissed the lives of the soldiers killed in that blast.
This would normally make a normal person turn against the guilds but it made Jack Russell support the guilds of Orange Vancoor and the Green Void even more. Each one was enemies against the other guilds respectively though but only a few, very few instances where there was any actual conflict between the eastern guild and the western guild. Orange for their old style heroics and the Green...well lets face it, their tactics are awesome!
Jack always supported the Orange Vancoor because they were able to retrieve a war medal from the site of the cataclysmic explosion and gave it to Jack's mother. The medal was scorched black but the faint glimmer of gold engraved Cairn Russell's name onto the medal.
Jack vividly remembered that moment; His sister, Adele, was crying and made the occasional sob while holding her mother in a hug while she herself was gripping the medal very hard. Jack was only looking in awe as the leader of the guild, a woman named Elwen gave the medal to the family before promptly leaving. Her two generals, men named Caesar and Gerald, both nodded at the family and followed their leader out onto a couple of Hummers and even pulled off the riding into sunset stunt
Remembering even more so, Jack wasn't sure where he would be. Jack was always a small time trouble seeker. Of course, when his mother died...he just straightened up.
'So many people who helped us...who knows what would we would have become without them...' Jack kept thinking as the sun was now a half-circle over the horizon. Jack owed his life to the people who helped him before. When he lost all hope of any memory of his father, the guild came in with one of family's prized possessions. When he lost any hope in making a friend, Ridley was there. Finally, just as he was condemned to the teachings of the army, the General had rescued him. He enlisted as a show of thanks and even then the gruff looking general looked out for him and placed him in the service of his new friend, Ganz Rothschild.
To think a couple of blokes coming from such rival and yet friendly groups of people were able to produce such fine gentlemen in their sons? Jack laughed mentally as other thoughts came to him. For one thing, he was on the run with Ridley Silverlake. She was his girlfriend turned fugitive and probably had a bounty on her head for stealing precious government research data.
All for him apparently as she told him yesterday evening when they finally reunited. Ridley's mind couldn't take anymore pain of losses and even the feared that Jack was dead. Jack assured Ridley that if he died, then it would be him protecting her, not any other way. This had major benefits as Ridley began to kiss him passionately in front of the other two occupants with them.
Jack noticed that Leona, a young lady who was only a year behind Jack and Ridley, was looking with a pained look and was always glaring at Ridley whenever she interrupted any discussion that they had. Ridley wasn't oblivious to them; she just glared right back. Jack had to wonder the obvious, could it be that Leona was having romantic feelings for him?!...
Sigh well let's get back on track, shall we?
The sun was now a full circle meaning that it was probably Eight in the morning, perfect for moving on. An idea suddenly struck him, maybe the Vancoor...
"Hm...maybe I can contact the Orange Vancoor from here? I'll have to talk to the others." Jack murmured to himself as he watched his girlfriend use his body as a pillow. She looked like if she hadn't been home for a while and yet, she was still beautiful. Striking even than when she was tired! Jack could've spent all morning this way if not for a small cough behind him. Jack turned and saw Leona staring at him with a look like if she wanted to talk to him.
Jack slowly set Ridley down and using his army uniform's jacket as a makeshift pillow for her, he followed Leona a bit away from her sleeping form. After a while of just wandering the campsite, Leona spoke with a hint of fear.
"Jack..." the young man turned to a fearful Leona. Leona was looking lost and afraid, feeling the insecurities of a six or seven year old and not feeling her full fifteen years. Receiving a nod of encouragement from Jack, Leona smiled slightly but it faded when she continued.
"Jack...what am I going to do? The guild is now looking for me, probably to silence me! I failed into leading the guild members into safety and since I failed, the law for it is death!" Leona's tears were falling freely. Jack, being the one who can't stand to see girls cry, wrapped his right arm as an act of comfort. Leona calmed down, a bit from what she had started with and continued.
"We have only two rules at the Vareth: If you are detected, you fail. If you fail, you die!" At this, Leona started to panic. "I-I've just about annihilated those rules and now they will be after me. I...I only got by because my brother was a terrific spy for them; otherwise, I would be eight feet into the ground of gods know where!" Jack was confused, eight feet? Wasn't it...
Leona caught the upcoming question. "They dig an extra two feet just to spite you, makes the family think they dug an empty grave. I knew it was a mistake, joining with them. But I couldn't just let my brother disappear from my life, even if Mother and Father agreed to his reasons." Leona said as Jack stood silently, arm around Leona's shoulder.
Jack had one of his great brainstorming ideas! Only this time, it was only a suggestion: Switch sides! Jack called Leona softly and as he got her full attention, he spoke.
"Well, how about this? Instead of going back or trying to reason with them, try and get solace from them by joining up with the Orange Vancoor?" Leona took this in, she would be branded a traitor... but it was a better idea than hers. She thought she could steal the tank and try and regain their trust, but that would mean leaving Jack. She certainly didn't want to do THAT...
"I-I don't know...I mean, if it means trying to get their secrets out of me, then that won't work. I'm just a student at the institute. It was usually my job to scout, but as you know, I was captured." Jack nodded and that made Leona happy for some odd reason. It was like he was encouraging her to speak her mind, something that was usually frowned upon at the school.
Leona's school, the Vareth School for Gifted Minds was really a front for some intelligence gathering from the young minds there. The innocent ideas of imaginative little children became horrid nightmares for the rest of the world as the "Teachers" there report back and begin development on their more "creative" ideas.
All ideas considered came from most of the young males, while most of the females (I.E. Leona) were usually ignored except for a few. Back when Leona was around fourteen, she began questioning the way things were run. A few days later, she was mysteriously assaulted by a group of lifelike "Human" figurines. The molds had human sized bodies, but their faces were made of crude steel. Leona was fortunate to escape the mob and had quieted down, adopting a scared child look.
Later she would find that these figures were the result of someone making an idea out of the child product "Clay-Play". The one who created them was one of her professors: An insane minded, but timid looking woman named Ursula. Her facial features made it look like a harmless woman, but her mind is so paranoid that she began creating humanoid machinery that only one person could be inside to operate.
Shaking the delusions of a coward seeking redemption from their "master" she made up her now liberated mind. No more! No more...and she was glad.
'That does it! I'll do it!' Leona thought happily. She felt relieved that she would cast her past behind her and follow Jack. If it was all going to plan, then she would join up with Orange Vancoor and put her mind to work! Besides, their leader was a woman! That was a big plus in her book...the metaphoric one, not her real book.
Now noon, Jack and company loaded everyone onto the tank. It was surprising to find a separate room for at least two people behind the drivers' seat, something that Leona concluded for someone to catch some sleep in comfort than falling asleep at the wheel...keyboard. Seeing how magnificent and technology advanced it was, it was clear for anyone would have wanted at least once drive the dubbed "Ridley's tank". But since the tank responded only to Ridley, she remained driver. It deflated Jack and Ganz, though Leona was content to read out of her large book.
Curious about the book, Jack sat next to Leona and peered over her shoulder. Leona had a look of pure concentration and ignored the faint presence around her. Jack kept reading and caught a few glimpses of the large book. It was...a romance book!?
Jack heard Leona giggling as he focused back from his thought to see a wide smile cross Leona's face at his reaction. Seeing more of his dumbfounded look, Leona started to laugh even harder.
"Oh, Jack...what do you think of the romance between an ancient king and his wife?" Leona asked smiling. Jack only cleared his throat and spoke in his most mature voice...which made him sound old...
"Well...I think that you should be reading...something else?" Jack finished, albeit lamely. Leona softly laughed once more before returning to her romance novel...or was a text? Jack didn't want to know...
Returning to Ridley, who was lazily moving the camera view in front of tank with the left and right arrow keys, snuck around her and kissed her tenderly. Jack enjoyed the kiss, seeing that he almost lost her forever and Ridley continued the kiss, both growing more passionate with each lingering moment. When they finished, Jack looked at the screen and started to concentrate on the outside when he heard a small blip sound from the radar. It was only one, but then more and more red blips started to appear. Ridley began moving the camera sharply and both were shocked that several soldiers were marching with a bunch of space age guns pointed at them.
Soon after a large, mechanical war-mech dripping what was some kind of slime appeared; more disturbing was that someone was inside! The woman was glaring and had a triumphant smirk at the same time. Leona gasped loudly enough for all occupants to turn to her, who had paled considerably.
"T-that's Ursula! She probably found about the failure, and has come to finish the assassination!" Leona started to panic as Jack glared at the insane woman and nearly shouted at Ridley to engage the soldiers. Ridley, impressed at Jack's nature(he was always a gentlemen...but that was before...) Began typing command after command for all weapons to attack any soldier in range. The tank was all happy to oblige, and started blasting away...
Meanwhile, a group of people were setting up a lookout point when Ursula and her soldiers arrived to assault a military tank. They thought nothing of it until they picked up faint radio signals from Ursula's open channel.
"...Target locked!...all...soldiers...Fire! On Lord Colton's orders...complete it!"Puzzled at this faint command, the group sent a transmission to HQ and only watched as they hoped to receive the order to aid the tank. Even if it was a group of would-be soldiers, the Vancoor didn't want the Army and the Blue Vareth on them, now would they?
One of the group, a man with an eye-patch readied his twin Uzi sub-machine guns with a fresh magazine in each while speaking.
"Carlos, any word?" The man known as Carlos shook his head. Carlos wasn't meant for combat, as his light body armor was fairly new and his sweating contradicted the cool and collected (not to mention sweatless) face of the eye-patched man. Carlos looked like he belonged in a cool laboratory or a desk job.
"Negative, Sergeant Gerald. Command has only recently received the message..." Carlos muttered only enough for Gerald to hear. Gerald only nodded and readied a crate full of ammunition with a large stationary gun pointed at both the tank and the advancing soldiers. Sudden as the answer of a negative, a small ring startled Gerald as Carlos was receiving a judgement on their situation. Carlos smiled and nodded at Gerald, who in turn started to grin and readied the stationary weapon.
"So, who do I fire at?" Gerald asked the scientist. Carlos just shook his head at the excitement of the old codger that was his superior. Even if the deputy commander of Orange Vancoor was around fifty-seven years of age, he had the energy of a fifteen year old, trigger happy recruit.
"Commander Elwen says to open fire on the Blue dogs and to help ice the slimy bitch." Gerald nodded gleefully and pointed to the soldiers away from the tank, ready to cause havoc!
Back at the interior of the tank, Ridley was furiously typing and watching as the tank kept lobbying shell after shell to the slime covered mech in front of the of the tank and was getting frustrated when the tank's internal scanners failed to detect a weak point in all of that slime! The tank's secondary machine guns were keeping the advancing soldiers at bay with ease as they picked the group off with at least three kills per each gun reload. Though they were dropping fast, the soldiers merely stood up and began swaggering toward the tank once more as if they weren't scratched.
Jack felt utterly useless as Ridley was all but fighting this skirmish by herself as he sat on a hard steel seat next to a control panel. He looked at the faint red blips on the screen in front of him and was startled to see some blueprints on one of the soldiers on screen! Jack studied the blue-prints briefly and discovered that the black steel heads on the soldiers were actually smaller mechanical antennas linked to the that of the bigger war mech that crazy lady was driving. With a whoop of victory, he hollered at Ridley who was getting desperate from being surrounded with the zombie-moving soldiers around her precious tank.
"Ridley! Aim the main cannon at the big one! All of the smaller ones are connected to that Ursula chick!" Ridley turned and nodded as she entered another command. Meanwhile, Ganz was trying to see if he could do anything instead of panicking and Leona was only praying that they would get out of this alive...
Gerald and Carlos were frowning as the guns on the tank stopped firing and were being redirected at Ursula's war-mech. Suddenly a message came from the Headquarter via small radio telling them of the soldier's weakness, and immediately changed targets. Carlos helped feed the gun another belt of ammo and Gerald fired away...
"Give up yet, you little traitor!? I will enjoy watching my men rip your little body apart, Leona!" Ursula cackled as she geared up her mech to grab the tank but was surprised to see that her mech's left arm was blown off! Ursula glared at the direction of the gunfire and was enraged to see them...
"Yah! Those Vancoor scum came to their aid!? All troops, attack the vancoor scum over the hill!" Ursula practically screamed at the lifeless soldiers as they abandoned their primary target and instead began to stagger toward Gerald and Carlos.
"They're...retreating?" Ganz asked as the rocking of gunfire against the tank ceased. He was answered as Ursula's remaining arm thundered against the blue shield. Guess not...
"I don't need my soldiers to turn your tank into a tin can! I'll have that pleasure all to myself, thank you!" Ursula guffawed as she brought another swing toward the tank's shield, which was currently flashing red.
"Oh no! The shield is about to give way from all of the force from the mech!" Ridley said as she furiously typed command after command. A couple of thundering smashes later, Jack was relieved as the auto lock on system found a weak spot in the mech's slime. The lock on kept it's cross hairs between the joint of the right arm and Ridley just about pounded the fire button.
Gerald and Carlos were awed as a small rumbling shook the balance out of them and some soldiers. The falling soldiers bumped into other soldiers and brought about half of the struggling dolls down with them back to the base of the hill but neither Gerald nor Carlos took their eyes off the crackling mech. The robot had the lower half of its arm blown off and the slime was being burned off from exposure to the tank's shield. Ursula screamed as if the pain was being directed to her, which it may be possible.
"No! The agony...my precious mech, useless! I won't go back without completing my task, so if I die, your souls will come with me!" Ursula pulled the control stick forward as the mech lunged toward the tank, intent on kamikazeing the tank.
It never happened though, a single bullet penetrated the slime and embedded itself into the back of the mech's seat; first going through the head of Ursula...the uncontrolled mech was blown to pieces from a second blast of the tank's cannon.
Without a central computer, the mechanical soldiers slumped to the ground, unmoving and lifeless as before...just as their materials that built them were supposed to act.
With a loud cheer, Jack and company practically danced with one another while Ridley was shaking her hands in an attempt to relax them from their strenuous job earlier. The battle seemed to take days, but in reality only took a couple of hours.
A faint beep brought Ridley's attention to the tank's screen as it informed her of their low ammunition shortages and a message of resupply. Ridley was helpless, as the only place would be Radiata's compound, but the tank blew that to itty-bitty pieces...
Suddenly, Ganz' voice shouted as he announced a message coming from somewhere near them. Leona told Ridley to being it up to the main screen and watched the incoming message appear.
"...this is First-Class Sergeant Gerald "Iron" Slasher of the Orange Vancoor. We are here to take captive of your tank by force if need be. Half of our organization already has mobilized and are closing on your position...give up quietly." The message ended. Ridley then posted her own message and spoke clearly when the tank's recording told her to.
"My name is Ridley Silverlake and my companions are Jack Russell, Ganz Rothschild and Leona Weissheit of the army and Blue Vareth for Leona. The one called Ursula was on a mission to destroy us and Leona here for being a traitor and we were caught in their skirmish. We need help to conquer the army sans one General Dynas in order to bring stability to my bull father, Jasne Colton." Ridley finished her message and sent it back on the last known channel, which was where the first message came from.
Gerald and Carlos listened intently to the message and relayed a copy to their headquarters and was surprised to have orders of escort to their main base. Though it wasn't exactly a hidden compound, the Orange Vancoor brought an abandoned military base to operational status when they first arrived to the Tria Region. Since then, most of their Western territories pledge full support to their cause, even if most of their support came from the farm towns.
Given orders, Gerald sent a message of escort to the tank and started loading the stationary weapon and ammunition into their APC vehicle. Their vehicle was built solely for them by their researchers for transport and combat. After all, the weren't called the best in Vehicles and infantry for nothing as they had more vehicular weapons of destruction than that of other guilds.
The guilds were primarily focused in one area of specialties, and Orange Vancoor had great pride in their vehicles just as the Blue Vareth prided themselves on their...weapons. Green Void, their neutral ally had their assassinations in top form where as Gold Olacion had their orbital weapon, Enjela.
Finishing up their equipment loads, Gerald transmitted a final confirmation message to Headquarters and motioned their vehicle to the tank and drove off. He was pleased to see the tank follow them, though a bit reluctant.
"It looks like we have no choice, we have to follow their commands." Ridley said resignedly. She told the others of their tank's status and each agreed to give in, each doubtful of the tank's ability to fight fifty or more of the Vancoor's vehicles. Jack was enthusiastic about his vote, since he was about to meet his hero guild. Leona was afraid of what they might do and Ganz just sat there, pondering.
Nearly an hour later, Jack and Ridley exited their tank and found themselves outside of a...saloon? The pair halted in front of a rustic wooden building with a sign that was hanging from a single bolt. The other two, their escorts had stopped in front of them and exited their vehicle as well to meet with the two.
"Welcome...to Orange Vancoor. I need you to come with me so that our boss can meet with you." Gerald spoke in a polite but gruff manner. Jack and Ridley nodded as they entered the building, leaving Ganz and Leona behind inside the tank.
Leona looked sour as Ridley just about clung to Jack as they exited the tank. That...hussy! Leona thought furiously but after a bit shook her head sadly, she wasn't supposed to feel this way! Jack was Ridley's in the first place, but she felt a glimmer of hope that maybe she would end with her instead...regardless, she didn't like Ridley right now and that was that.
Ganz was thinking of how someone tried to murder them and that was someone from the higher ups. The senate had already a bothersome grip on some of the military's commanding officers except for General Dynas. Since he was probably declared dead by the public and was now believed as a fugitive by Radiata's more secretive police force, he had no choice but to make his new life here. As long as he had his friends, then he would be fine...not caring about his status in Radiata.
Though that may put a cramp in his financial records...does the Orange Vancoor have a dental plan?
Back in Solieu Town, Adele Russell was worried that her brother was missing for about four weeks now. It wasn't uncommon for Jack to disappear but the last time he stood out this long was when they received word of their father's disappearance. He came home eventually, but was changed from his happy demeanor to his outcast attitude that he beared that changed only briefly since he met that Ridley girl.
Adele sighed, it wasn't easy raising her sixteen year old brother. At first she feared for his safety when the Senate passed a law that made all criminals be sent to the military but was relieved at her little brother's aloof nature. She firmly disregarded all stories of oppression at first but started to believe in them when some of their family's closest friends started to disappear only to find them completely broken when they returned. She only hoped that it hasn't happened to Jack...
All she could do now is wait, until her brother comes home...or at least finds him on Radiata's most wanted, a popular television show. Even if there was an outstanding reward, she would still protect him, but wasn't sure of her neighbors. He wasn't really their favorite person in their opinion except for one child, Sora and her brother...um...drat, she couldn't remember his name.
As if fate began for her, the T.V. started to tune into a live press conference with the president speaking of a plane crash from the military. Adele was about to reach the power button, the reporter mentioned her brother's name...
Adele gasped and stared in shock as her brother was presumed dead with another man she didn't know...apparently he was in a plane crash testing the military's aircraft that landed somewhere in the outer Tria area.
Adele simply pulled out a bottle of liquor...and started to drink her pain away, not even bothering for a glass...
So...what do think? Crappy, not so crappy? Dare I say it...good? Well, it wasn't such a good ending for now, but it was starting to wane a bit and I ended it there so I can regroup and fashion some more guidelines for the next three chapters.
I think I'll write some of my rough Ideas into a notebook and begin writing another chapter as soon as I'm able to organize my thoughts and ventures...
So, faithful fans and newcomers, hold out for my next installment!
Your thankful writer,
Terra Ace.