Chapter II: The Ruins
New Helic City stood, blackened and crumbling, as a monument to the destruction caused by the Death Stinger three years before. Its once-crowded streets were usually empty, save for the occasional pack of feral dogs. Heat distortion radiated off the ground and buildings, as the hot noon sun shone on the city, its light enough to blind someone. At a glance, the city appeared to be abandoned. However, if one were to look closer, they would find thieves, bandits, murderers, and black market traders hiding in the shadows.
Once the second Deathsaurer was destroyed, reconstruction of New Helic City quickly became one of the Republic's top priorities. When early demolition teams that were sent in to clear the wreckage were destroyed, that changed. The ruined city had very quickly been occupied by several groups of bandits, who made reconstruction an impossibility. Due to the vastly weakened state of both the Guylos and Helic militaries, this was allowed to remain unchecked. Over time, the city became a sort of central hub for criminal activity within the Republic.
While one could not easily tell from the outside, there was always business going on in the city. Arms dealers selling illegal weapons made their homes in the largest buildings, storing their goods there. Mercenaries and bandits would come from miles around to buy these weapons, which was what a group of three pilots were planning on doing as they led their zoids through the city streets.
The leader of the group, a man in his early twenties piloting a Gordos with mounted Supercannons, was nervously watching his surroundings, a habit he'd picked from being ambushed one too many times. His two companions, piloting a Command Wolf and a Red Horn, both armed with illegal weapons, were not so cautious, making a large amount of noise as they plodded through the city streets. "Could you two possibly be any louder?" he said, sighing with frustration.
"Sure can, boss," the Command Wolf's pilot said snidely, firing the beam cannons mounted to his zoid's back. The shot hit a nearby building, and the resulting explosion sent debris flying, only to rain down on the Gordos's head.
"Cut that out, jackass!" the Gordos's pilot yelled, kicking the comm unit in anger. "Do you want to get us killed? Do you think that a bunch of murderers are going to take kindly to you destroying their neighborhood?"
"They won't do anything to us," the Red Horn's pilot chimed in. "We've got enough firepower to level this whole place."
"Not quite," the lead pilot replied. "Besides, no matter how big your guns are, you're obviously too stupid to use them."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" the Red Horn's pilot demanded angrily.
The leader turned off the comms, not wanting to continue the conversation. After three months of working with these morons, he'd gotten tired of hearing them yelling at him. Sinking back into his chair, he decided that he'd kill them the first chance he got. Chuckling at the thought, he urged his zoid onward at an agonizingly slow pace, the Supercannons mounted on its back slowing the already slow zoid down to what seemed like a snail's pace. Being used to piloting a much faster Zaber Fang, he was easily irritated by the massive Gordos.
With the slow pace of the zoid leaving him nothing to but wait until he reached his destination, he sighed and sat up, searching his surroundings for something even slightly interesting. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a streak of red light shoot through the air, ending on a balcony at about the same elevation as his zoid's cockpit on a nearby building. Intrigued, he moved his zoid closer to the building, inspecting the balcony. There was nothing there.
Willing to use any excuse to get out of his Gordos, he grinned and turned on his comms, saying, "You two watch my back. I'm gonna check something out." Without waiting for a response, he turned off his comms with a punch and brought his cockpit up to the balcony. Opening the hatch, he grabbed a pistol and a flashlight and leapt onto the balcony.
Once there, he walked through the sliding glass doorway attached to it into a large, spacious apartment. It had obviously belonged to a very well-to-do family, as the furniture was very luxurios and expensive-looking. A large flat-screen television sat face-down on the floor, broken, as it had been knocked over by some kind of impact. A few books were scattered across the floor, and a doll and a teddy bear lay on the ground near a couch, but other than that it looked relatively clean, as it had been quickly deserted during the attack on the city by the Death Stinger. A thick layer of dust was all that suggested that it had been abandoned. Well, that, and a foul smell emanating from the kitchen, courtesy of a fridge stocked with three years' worth of rotten food. Pinching his nose shut, the pilot began to search the apartment for clues as the source of the red light.
There was a set of odd prints in the dust, leading out the front door of the apartment, which led into an unlit hallway. Turning on his flashlight, the pilot followed the tracks into the hallway and shone the light around to make sure he was alone. The light glinted off of something on one end of the hallway, and he ran over to it to see what it was.
The object in question was a bizarre-looking stone tablet, about the size of a book, with odd characters on one side. Its edges were jagged and rough, and a deep gash ran through the side with the characters, obscuring some of them. The pilot picked it up, wondering where it could have come from.
His train of thought was broken by the sound of gunfire outside the building. "Oh, shit," he said, running back into the apartment with the tablet still in his hands. The last place he wanted to be if a gunfight broke out was inside a building like this. Swearing madly, he ran through the apartment and out onto the balcony, only to see that his Gordos had been knocked aside. He tried to look for a fire escape, desperate to get away from the giant target he was standing in.
Outside, his two companions were trying to make sense of their situation. They had just been standing there, minding their own business, when some unknown red zoid had appeared out of nowhere and shot blindly at them, only to disappear almost immediately, using the surrounding buildings for cover. They watched their surroundings nervously, trying to find their attacker.
There! The Red Horn's pilot saw a streak of red running between two buildings. He quickly fired the Beam Gatling atop his zoid, following the path of the fast zoid. He did not manage to hit it, instead hitting the surrounding buildings and sending bits of concrete and broken glass everywhere. He continued to fire, rotating his gun and leaving a line of destruction on more buildings. The Command Wolf's pilot decided to do the same, firing off several shots into random buildings and creating a shower of debris.
With both zoids firing blindly at their surroundings, they did not notice that the enemy zoid had flanked around them, and was now standing at their rear. Their unknown opponent, the Genobreaker, opened fire on the Command Wolf with its AZ 140 mm shock guns, tearing into its rear armor with ease. As the Wolf and the Red Horn turned to counter, it quickly took cover behind another building, fire from the Beam Gatling and the Wolf's cannon following it.
Too easy, Raven thought, continuing to move from building to building, easily dodging the clumsy gunfire from the two other zoids. It had been ages since he'd been in a fight, and he wanted this one to last. Turning so that he would be facing the Command Wolf, which had stubbornly refused to move from its original position, he stepped out of cover and slammed on his boosters. He smashed into the Wolf at high speed and grabbed it by the neck with one of his X-Breakers, squeezing tight and crushing the zoid's armor.
Before either of his opponents reacted, he threw the beaten wolf into the Red Horn, knocking it aside, and fired on both zoids with his shock guns. As they came to their senses, the Genobreaker dashed out of sight again.
The Command Wolf's pilot was understandably upset, having taken most of the abuse from the Genobreaker. Most of his rear armor was damaged or missing, and one of his hind legs wasn't working. Blood trickled down his face from a cut on his forehead, and he had a massive headache. Swearing loudly, he led his now-limping zoid to cover behind the nearest building. The Red Horn's pilot apparently agreed with his companion's decision that it was time to move, and walked off in the opposite direction, trying to find Raven.
This game had grown tiresome for Raven, who was positioning his zoid so that it faced the Command Wolf's new position, through two buildings. His opponents were very poor pilots, in weak zoids, and had been unable to avoid a single one of his attacks, as were most pilots he fought. As the Genobreaker prepared to fire the charged particle beam, a small frown appeared on Raven's face. This was the usual outcome.
The Genobreaker's footlocks deployed, and it body went rigid. A loud, ominous hum filled the air. As the weapon charged, the two other pilots slowly realized what— and who— they were up against. Before either pilot could move, the beam fired, and a brilliant beam of light shot through two buildings and slammed into the Command Wolf's side. It quickly melted through the outer armor, and continued until it reached the unfortunate zoid's core. An explosion followed, as a hot ball of fire burst out of the Wolf's chest, and still the beam continued to burn through the zoid. Warning lights and alarms were going off inside the cockpit, which was rapidly increasing in temperature. After less than a second, the beam of light burst out the other side of the zoid.
The powerful weapon then charged down, having done its dirty deed. With a whimper, the Command Wolf collapsed, waves of heat rising from the massive hole in its beaten corpse. The results could be seen by Raven through the holes the beam had drilled through the two buildings, lined by bright orange, superheated steel. With a groan, the building the Command Wolf had been using for cover gave way and collapsed, filling the air with dust and debris, and crushing the fallen zoid's corpse.
Raven smirked. He hadn't fought in an urban environment in years, and he'd forgotten how much destruction it often caused. Standing his Genobreaker up, he turned to begin attacking the Red Horn. Before he could move, a loud bang filled the air and a huge round collided with the already weakened building Raven was standing next to. An explosion and a shower of glass, steel, and concrete later and the building collapsed on top of him.
For a second, the Red Horn's pilot just sat and stared at the two piles of rubble that had been buildings a few moments before, wondering what the hell had just happened, until he heard laughter from over his comms.
"You two are such morons," the came the lead pilot's voice, filled with mirth, as the Gordos stepped into view. "Oh, why don't we just stand around and shoot at nothing?" he said mockingly. "That'll scare `em off."
"Shut the hell up," the Red Horn's pilot said, breathing a sigh of relief. "What would you have done?"
"Oh, I don't know," the other pilot replied, still laughing. "Maybe not stand in one place? Maybe dodge a few attacks? You know, the basics of comb—"
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by the Genobreaker, which had shot out of the rubble with shields and boosters deployed, sending a cloud of rubble into the air and collided with the Gordos's right side. It continued moving, dragging the Gordos with it as it slammed into another building. As the Genobreaker stepped back and deactivated it shield, the Gordos collapsed on its side, dragging dust and debris with it. Its pilot struggled to stand it up, but its legs merely waved around to no avail.
"I hate this goddamned zoid," its pilot groaned, trying once more to stand before giving up.
Raven turned his attention to the Red Horn, which had begun firing its Beam Gatling at him again him again. Realizing what this meant, its pilot turned to run, but was cut short by a barrage of fire from every weapon in the Genobreaker's arsenal. Most hit the Red Horn's front right leg and shoulder area, tearing apart the armor there and rendering it nearly immobile. After a few seconds of sustained fire, the leg gave way and the zoid began to sway, as one of its legs was no longer able to support it.
In a last, desperate attempt to save himself, its pilot turned its Beam Gatling in the direction of the `Breaker's cockpit to fire on it. Before it could, a pair of missiles collided with the gun, disabling it.
"I suggest you get out of the zoid and surrender," Raven said. "Now."
The Red Horn's hatch opened and the pilot stepped out, his hands above his head. "On the ground," Raven said, turning to face the Gordos. Its hatch was open, and he could see the pilot running away from him. "Oh, sure, that'll work," he said with a grim smile. "Shadow, stop him."
Before Raven finished his sentence, the black organoid shot out of the Genobreaker toward the fleeing pilot. Shadow knocked him to the ground and grabbed him by the collar with his teeth.
As Shadow flew with his new captive back to the Genobreaker, Raven noticed that he was holding something odd. He lowered the Genobreaker's head , opened the hatch, and climbed out to greet the package his organoid carried.
When Shadow set his catch at Raven's feet, Raven turned him onto his back with a kick and grabbed what he was carrying from his hands. Examining it, he realized what the markings on it were, and set his boot on his prisoner's chest. "Where did you find this?" he demanded with a scowl.
"I-I found it in a building here!" he stuttered, wriggling his legs and trying to get free.
"And what were you doing in said building?" Raven asked, getting angrier and pressing harder on the prisoner's chest.
"I saw this weird red thing fly in there, and I wanted to check it out!" the now short of breath pilot said, wincing in pain caused by Raven's boot.
"What do you mean, weird red—" Raven stopped mid-sentence, as he realized the answer to his unfinished question. "Shit," he said under his breath. "Ambient."
"Who?" the pilot said, now fearing that his ribs might crack under the force of the mighty boot.
"You and your pal are coming with me," Raven replied. He took his foot off his prisoner and turned him around, cuffing his arms behind his back. He then turned on his PDA to call for transport and discovered that he'd received a message from Reese. It read: "Flyheight is going to Guygalos. Moving fast."
Raven knew that something important had to have happened for Van to go to Guygalos. It had become the impromptu center of Guardian Force operations, and could easily be contacted from anywhere— it would have to be urgent if he needed to actually go there. Given what he'd just heard, it was easy for Raven to come to the conclusion that he did: Ambient had come out of hiding.
"Goddamnit."
Author's Note: Aaaaaaaand I finally did it! A brand new chapter! It took me a while, but it finally got done. Here's one of the reason's that doesn't involvve my laziness: the Gordos's pilot, who will be a recurring character, was originally going to be a comepletely different character. However, after a lot of thinking, I decided that it would negatively affect the story if he was.
This chapter was very difficult for me to write. Not only is it longer than the other two combined, but it contains (believe it or not (who am I kidding, of course you believe it)) my first battle scene, which I think is actually not that great. It was also difficult to write about those three nameless characters, who, for reasons that will remain unknown to you forever, were required to be without a name.
I did notice that I've gotten better at describing things, although I still need a lot of work.
Something that might interest you: readers familiar with this story from before what will from now on be known as the Great Shit Deletion will know that this was as far as I had gotten in the original version of the story. These readers will also know that this is very different than it originally was. Now, on to reviews!
Gojiralee: Bit narcissistic, don't you think? Also, it has been fixed. Twice. Pfft, Tuesday. Ha.
Dildog The Penguin Rapist: Oh, it will be brutal. Believe me. On another note, WHAT THE HELL?
NeoAurora: Thanks! I tried to make it as good as possible there. Ambient's gonna be doing a LOT in this story, so stay tuned.
To everone who read and/or reviewed, please continue to do so! Unless you didn't like it, in which case, don't. Until next time!
