It took hours for them to reach the wilderness, but at least they were far enough to consider themselves safe for the time being. They eventually settled in near the remnants of an old house. In the distance, the outline of the burning Trotskygrad could be seen from their position.
"This place looks good, we'll stop here." Matt stretched his arms and sat down on a rock. He then turned his gaze, watching the pillars of smoke rising from the city. – Good thing we got out of there, else we would be dead for sure...
"Yeah." Said Will. "But since we're out, where we'll go now?"
"Honestly, I haven't really thought about that, but I'm sure we'll figure something out." Replied Nine.
"Okay..."
At that moment, everyone heard the sound of a helicopter's blades in the distance, and as the minutes passed, it was coming closer and closer. Nine and her men went straight for their weapons, but before they could proceed any further...
"Wait, don't shoot!" Exclaimed Exusiai. "Kal'tsit sent us a transport to evacuate, they're friendly!"
Very soon the helicopter showed itself, and there they confirmed that, indeed, wasn't Russian. It didn't have weapons of any kind, and printed on the fuselage was a logo that everyone was familiar with: Rhodes Island.
The chopper landed in front of them. Slowly, the rear hatch opened, and then the very familiar face of a certain vulpo came walking down the ramp.
"Hi there, guys~" Franka waved at them. "Heard you needed a ride, so here we are!" She swept her gaze around, but at that moment she spotted two faces that she hadn't expected to see her among the crowd.
She walked over to Will and Matt and exclaimed.
"Oh my God, it's you!" They could sense the excitement on her tone. "I can't believe it, you actually came to Terra!"
"Yeah, we did." Replied Matt. "It was a bumpy journey, not gonna lie, but guess we're finally here."
Franka made a smirk.
"It's good to have you back, then..." She turned to the Reunion troops. "Well, didn't you want to leave this place? Come aboard then."
Matt and the rest took her invitation and got on the transport helicopter. The main bay gat a little bit crowded, but it was big enough for the Reunion remaining troops to fit in. Once everyone was inside, Franka walked over to the front and entered the cockpit. There was sitting a guy with sunglasses and dog ears.
"Ok Dylan, let's depart already."
"Got it! Here we goooo!"
With a swift movement the pilot turned on the motors and the helicopter took off at last. The chopper elevated itself into the air, and then it began making its way towards Rhodes, receding from the battered Trotskygrad, until it became a dim point over the horizon...
/ /
Two hours into the journey, the squad hadn't reached its destination yet. Inside the helicopter, calm reigned. Some people had fallen asleep along the way, but the majority were just there, sitting and waiting...
"*yawn*... Bro, I don't know why, but I'm feeling rather sleepy."
"Heh, it doesn't wonder me, Willy." Chuckled Matt. "Today we've been fighting all the damned day... The first thing I'm gonna do once we get there is find a comfy bed and just lay there."
"Yeah, me too. Now, I wonder how much we have left..."
He couldn't finish his sentence, because at that moment the speakers turned on, reproducing the pilot's voice through them.
"Alright guys, we've arrived!"
Upon hearing this, Matt and Will immediately went over to one of the windows and looked outside. Silhouetted against the horizon, they saw what only could be defined as a moving steel behemoth.
The landship was massive, having things ranging from antennas to giant towers and cisterns scattered all across its hull. The two boys were left speechless by this sight.
"Wow..." Muttered Matt in awe.
"Impressing, isn't it?" Without them noticing, Franka had put herself between them.
"Yeah... " Said Will. "Not even in my wildest dreams I could have imagined something as big like this landship..."
"Well, I guess there's a first time for everything." She made a small pause. "Anyways... welcome to Rhodes Island."
X-X
As they were descending, Matt and Will saw that a huge crowd of onlookers had formed around the helipad, all of them drawn by the squad's arrival.
BUMP! – The chopper finally landed.
For a brief instant nothing happened, but then the hatch slowly opened, allowing them to go outside. Matt and Will were a bit hesitant, but pushing those thoughts aside they walked down the ramp.
Looking at the operators gathered around them, the boys couldn't be helped but be surprised by how much their faces sounded to them. They even knew the names of some like Melantha, Kroos, Cuora or Meteorite. However, that became irrelevant when, at that moment, they heard a very familiar voice.
"Ah, so you've finally arrived, Will and Matt. Welcome aboard our landship."
Coming out from the crowd, three figures stood before the boys. It was none other than Kal'tsit, accompanied by Amiya and the Doctor. Will smiled at them and said.
"Kal'tsit, Amiya, Doctor... I'm glad to see you again."
"The same could be said for us, Willy." Answered the Doctor. "I hope the journey wasn't very troublesome..."
"I heard you encountered the Russian Army on your way here." Said Amiya with worry. "Are you okay?"
"Well, it's true that we had to fight them, but do not worry, we're totally fine." Replied Matt whilst giving the little Cautus a headpat.
X-X
While this exchange was taking place, without the group noticing another helicopter had landed near them. Instants later its hatches were open and a squad of Rhodes operators could be seen getting off from the chopper.
Upon seeing who was at their helm, Talulah discreetly her companions behind and went to welcome her.
"Hi there, Ch'en. Tell me, how went the mission?"
Ch'en had change a bit since the last time we saw her. Her usual attire was gone, replaced in favor of a more military-style uniform. Also, the AK-14, probably stolen, hanging from her shoulder gave her an intimidating aura; but, apart from that, she hadn't changed in the slightest.
"Like always." Scoffed the lung. "Lots of trouble and the Russians thrashing around... but apart from that, everything fine." She gave Talulah a small hug. "Glad to see you, sis."
"Me too." Instants latter both pulled back. It wouldn't be long before Ch'en darted a question.
"They told me about what happened at Trotskygrad. Seems you took quite a beating these past days."
"Unfortunately, yes..." Replied the draco. "But in the end it didn't go that bad." She smirked lightly. "Guess who we encounter as we were retreating from the city."
"Hmm?" It was there that Ch'en noticed the crowd next to them, and when she saw who was standing in the middle of all of it her eyes widened. "Don't tell me those are... I have to talk to them."
X-X
Going back with the boys, they were still talking with Kal and the Doctor, but then they spotted a certain lung walking straight towards them. Matt turned to her and, with a smile on his face, he spoke.
"Hello there, Ch'en. It's been quite a while, hasn't it?"
"Yes, it has." She paused for a bit. "Honestly, I wasn't expecting you to even appear around here... When did you arrive?"
"This morning" Answered Will. "But between the fact that we ended up in the middle of a Russian invasion and that we almost didn't make out of the city alive, no wonder we got here so late."
"Wait, you ended up inTrotskygrad?!" Ch'en turned to the Penguin Logistic girls and gave them a withering look. "Why did you bring Matt and Will to the middle of a fucking warzone?!"
Exusiai began to nervously shake.
"Ehmm... It wasn't our intention t-to bring them there..." She explained to the furious woman. "Please, it's Closure who manages where does the portal leave us, not us!"
After hearing the explanation, Ch'en calmed herself.
"*sigh* Closure, that greedy vampire... I'll have some words with her later." She turned back to the boys. "Anyways, what matters is that you're arrived unharmed."
At that moment Kal'tsit let out a cough to catch everyone's attention.
"Ejem... I'm sure that our guests here must be tired, so it would be best to let them rest." She looked over to one of the operators and said. "Yato, show them to their dorms.
"Understood." She waved at the boys for them to follow. "Come with me."
/ /
After taking the lift to the lower floors of the landship, Yato guided them through the bowels of the ship, eventually stopping in one of the main corridors. She pointed to the doors on their right.
"Ok, here are your bedrooms." She then gave each one a keycard. "Here you have. Make yourselves comfortable."
And with that said she left. Will let out a sigh.
"Well, let's see what we got."
He pulled his keycard and placed it on the reader. The green light turned on, and with an audible click the door unlocked, allowing Will to go inside.
Much to his surprise, his dorm was actually pretty good. The main area was quite spacious and well furnished, and attached to it was a small kitchen and a bathroom. The bedroom was on the smaller side, but still decent. Also, the bed was double, so it was a nice plus overall.
"Hehe, guess they did put the bed on purpose~" He thought to himself.
Pushing that aside, Will walked around the dorm for a bit. However, at that moment Matt entered on his room. His friend turned around and saw him leaning on the doorway.
"Not gonna lie, these cabins are actually very comfy." He said with a smirk. "Like, it's even bigger than my aunt's place."
"You're right. Back in our world people would dream to have one of these."
"Very true... *yawn*" Matt felt that his mind was about to shut off. "Anyways, it's already past 9PM, so I'm going to bed. Good night, Willy."
"Good night, Matt."
Once his friend had left, Will went to the bed and sat on the edge. He was feeling rather sleepy, and to be honest, he was damn tired of today's adventure. "Well, let's leave this for today." He tought. "We'll see what happens tomorrow..."
And like that, he shut his eyes off.
Indeed, next day would be... interesting.