CHASE 8: EXPLOSION
The first level of the city of Arg lay in utter silence. The very air enveloping the city refused to stir. Only the scent of gunpowder and explosives hung heavy and stagnant.
Already ravaged by war, the city was in the throes of collapse. Moreover, the mounds of rubble scattered across the landscape bore the stark, fresh scars of a recent battle. Charred concrete walls. Steel girders, their upper ends melted away, twisted and deformed like burnt-out candle stubs.
Yet, I felt no sentimentality whatsoever regarding any of it.
— A battle took place here.
That was the extent of my realization. Having departed the city of Bow, I was now dominated by a primal passion for destruction. I possessed no human emotions to speak of.
Kicking up plumes of accumulated dust and debris in its wake, my jeep sped toward Covarn’s hideout. The engine roared on, tearing through the silence. The wreckage of A.T.s scattered across the area seemed to glare at me with resentful eyes. Directly ahead, bathed in a faint glow, a single unit appeared to be dissolving into the gloom.
It still retained its original form. As if water were cascading down its frame, only the machine’s outer contours stood out, etched in white light. Its shoulder, however, was an unnatural shade of red. The crimson of fresh blood.
The beam from my jeep’s headlights swept upward across that rounded, curved shoulder, wavering as it moved. It was the right shoulder of a Scopedog. I brought my vehicle to a halt directly in front of it.
A low, flat, and weary voice spoke out. “Just getting back now?”
The heavy thud of a magazine being slotted into a weapon followed. I slowly reached for the gun at my hip.
“Radolf?”
“That’s right.”
Radolf rose from the shadows cast by the Scopedog. His face bore the unmistakable signs of utter exhaustion.
“Did they get everyone?”
“Just now…” Radolf holstered his gun at his hip. He let out a weary sigh. “Looks like I’m the only survivor.”
“Hold on.” A raspy voice rang out, sharp and clear. “I’m alive…too.”
A manhole cover on the street, caked in ash, creaked open, and Covarn emerged, smeared head-to-toe in blood. Mustering every ounce of his strength, he crawled out of the manhole and staggered toward us on unsteady legs.
“Did you get the Pile Bunker?”
I nodded. “Yeah. But more importantly, did you get hit again?”
“Aye…” Covarn nodded. Wiping the blood from his forehead with his sleeve, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Grimacing bitterly, he slammed the cigarette onto the ground and began to speak.
“After that, we holed up with a bunch of Votoms pilots who’d come up from the lower city. They were guys I’d made arrangements with ages ago. I even paid a fortune to bring some of them in. And yet…in the blink of an eye…it all came to this.”
Covarn suddenly flung his fist open.
Radolf rose to his feet. “The Black A.T. gave me a message. Come to the Fire Cask. That’s what he said.”
Covarn let out a cry that bordered on a scream. “The Fire Cask! Is he challenging us to a fight in that lava ring?”
“What’s that?” I asked.
Regaining his composure, Covarn explained.
“It’s a ring that was established back when I was still operating in the third level. There’s a pool of magma right in the center. It’s a winner-take-all match: either you destroy your opponent…or you melt away in the magma. Radolf..you’re still playing the ‘Death Messenger,’ aren’t you?”
“It would seem so.” Radolf grimaced in frustration, raking his fingers through his closely cropped hair. “No…truth be told, under normal circumstances, I’d have beaten the Blue Knight to a bloody pulp before he ever reached the Cask. But…”
Covarn chimed in, adding to the point. “So the weapons…and the Muscle Cylinders…they’re all gone?”
I grinned. A sly, predatory smile. “I see. But I didn’t come back here just to pick a fight with that guy.”
Covarn looked at me, utterly astonished. “What did you say?”
“I brought weapons and Muscle Cylinders back with me from Bow. Radolf, they’re yours. In exchange, though, you have to cooperate with me first, until I’ve taken down that Black A.T.”
“Cooperate?” Radolf fixed me with a cold, steely gaze. “The Shadow Flare challenges you to a duel, and you just lose your nerve?”
I shook my head. “No. We’re going to smoke him out of this city. That’s right, we’re going to hit his base.”
Radolf made a face as if he’d just bitten into something incredibly bitter. “Very well.”
“By the way…” I turned to Covarn, who was wearing a look of sheer exasperation. “How many Votoms pilots capable of fighting are actually left in this city?”
Covarn tilted his head in thought. “Well…there must be some who failed to make it here to the rendezvous point. If we were to round them up…”
“Round them up. And make it fast,” I stated flatly.
“What? But how are we supposed to find them…?”
I loomed over Covarn, my gaze heavy with intimidation. “Can you use the weapons as bait to draw them in?”
He gave an involuntary shudder. “A-all right. I’ll give it a shot.”
With that, he vanished down into the lower levels without even stopping to tend to his wounds.
“What exactly do you intend to do, gathering Votoms pilots like this?” Radolf asked, lowering his voice.
I grinned broadly. “That much should be obvious. This…is the best I can do.”
Just as the maintenance on Radolf’s unit was wrapping up, Covarn returned, bringing a group of Votoms pilots with him. Five of them: three Tortoises and two Beetles.
“So you’re the Blue Knight, huh? You really do have weapons, don’t you?” asked a man with a nervous, twitchy face, his eyebrows completely shaved off.
I gave a casual, offhand reply. “Yeah…”
“Let’s have a look at the goods.”
“They’re inside that jeep over there.” I pointed with my thumb toward the jeep parked beside Berserga, against which I had been leaning. The man unfastened the canvas cover draped over the jeep’s cargo bed and let out a cry of pure elation.
“A solid shooter! And missile pods, too! We’re in. We’ll lend you a hand. I’m McPherson. My ride is a Tortoise Battling Custom. They call me ‘Dirty Fox.'”
A man standing beside McPherson spoke up, posturing with a swaggering, insolent air. His eyes, half-hidden beneath his bangs, were brimming with murderous intent.
“I’m Strutt. For about a week now, I’ve been itching like crazy. Can’t get any Battling matches in, and can’t get my hands on any weapons or ammo.”
“I’m Link. Just call me ‘Seven-Star Link.'” He was a Votoms pilot with sharp, almond-shaped eyes and an air of refined sophistication.
A rugged, burly giant of a man spoke up next. His head was completely bald and gleaming; it was crisscrossed with numerous scars. “And I’m Shubolt. Though folks have nicknamed me ‘General Shubolt.'”
Shubolt pointed at the man cowering beside him. “And this guy here is ‘Iron Claw.’ My partner.”
He sprang out from behind Shubolt and leveled his gun. “I’m…Kiefer.”
Covarn stepped in front of him, blocking his path. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
In a split-second reaction, the man twisted Covarn’s right arm behind his back, then took two or three steps backward.
“Don’t move!” Using Covarn as a human shield, he leveled his gun at me. “I’ve come to kill the Blue Knight.”
“What did you say?!” Covarn roared.
“There’s a bounty of five thousand on his head, you know,” Kiefer stated casually. “Straight from the Military Police.”
Covarn thrashed violently against his captor, shouting in rage. “You bastard…you’re a Votoms pilot, aren’t you? Doesn’t it bother you at all that someone’s muscling in on your turf?”
Kiefer screamed back just as wildly. “Shut up! I fight in the Battling circuit for the money! Whoever has the cash is on my side!”
Shubolt, having circled around to a position where he could take a clear shot at Kiefer, drew his gun. He squeezed the trigger.
“Cut it out, Kiefer.”
But no bullet fired. The hammer simply fell with a hollow click.
“You fools! Before I even got here, I emptied all your guns!”
“You bastard!” Strutt shouted. “Have you forgotten the debt we owe Covarn? We wouldn’t even be able to make a living Battling in this city if it weren’t for him!”
Through the tinted lenses of his sunglasses, Kiefer’s bloodshot eyes glared out. “I don’t give a damn.”
Strutt gritted his teeth in frustration. “You…”
Kiefer laughed maniacally, completely unconcerned by the hostility surrounding him. “Blue Knight, drop your gun and come over here. If I bring you in alive, the bounty doubles. That’s ten thousand!”
Covarn glared up at him from below, his voice dripping with contempt. “You’d do this…for such petty cash?”
“If I’m gonna be killed by the likes of you anyway, I’ll just shoot you dead. Covarn included.”
I drew the Armor Magnum from my hip and leveled the muzzle at Kiefer’s chest. I spoke with a menacing edge to my voice.
“It makes no difference to me if Covarn dies. If you get in my way, I’ll shoot.”
“Same here.” Radolf, who had been leaning against a pile of rubble, slowly rose to his feet and raised his weapon.
For a split second, Kiefer hesitated. “Y-You bastards…”
Seizing that opportunity, Covarn wrenched his hand free from Kiefer’s grasp. “Gah!”
Kiefer’s upper body lurched sideways, throwing him off balance. Even as he toppled over, he squeezed the trigger with all his might. A bullet struck Covarn in the back of the head. Along with a gush of blood, his eyeballs and tongue burst outward.
A deafening roar rang out. Radolf and I had pulled our triggers simultaneously, both aiming at Kiefer. The impact of our rounds tore his body apart. Chunks of flesh and his severed arm rained down onto the ground.
“We’d better hurry,” Radolf said calmly.
“Right, listen up.” I gathered the stunned Votoms pilots close around me. “First, we’re gonna breach the Main Tower. After planting demolition charges, we’ll shut down Arg’s urban infrastructure. Then we descend straight down to the third level.”
“What’s the target?” Link asked, all business.
“It’s a dome-shaped structure located right next to the arena. Look for the skyscraper that rises up toward the canopy, integrated directly into the dome.”
“You mean…that massive thing?” MacPherson asked with a sly grin.
“Apparently so. That’s what the Intel Division data indicated.”
“Awesome!” Strutt shouted, then sprinted toward his mecha. He brought the unit to its feet, then retrieved a specialized hand missile launcher from my jeep, a weapon featuring six missile tubes arranged both above and below a wide-set barrel.
“I’m charging in first!” he announced, mounting it on his A.T.
“You idiot! I’m leading the charge!” MacPherson and Shubolt clamored like fish thrown back into water as they leaped aboard their ATs. Every last one of them looked absolutely itching to kill.
Link, too, hopped onto his Tortoise and pulled a heavy bazooka launcher from the bed of the jeep.
“Make use of the jeep, too!” I shouted to Link. “You can resupply your weapons all the way to the Main Tower!”
“Very well.” Link loaded his Tortoise onto the jeep, then took the wheel himself.
“Radolf, you go on ahead, too.”
“And what do you intend to do?”
“I’m going to bury Covarn first.”
“Is that so…” Grinning slyly, Radolf ran toward his Dog.
Once they’d all sped off toward the city center and every last machine had vanished from sight, I walked over to Covarn’s corpse.
“Covarn…you really were a hell of a matchmaker.”
Murmuring this, I leaped into Berserga and launched it in the opposite direction, straight toward the city’s outer wall.
Gazing at the rocky face of Arg’s outer wall, I waited. From the city center, I could hear only the faint sounds of explosions. Otherwise, the city remained unchanged. The crew heading for the main tower hadn’t managed to secure it yet.
Radolf’s voice crackled over my comms.
“Just as I thought…so this is where you were hiding.”
Behind me, his Dog came into view.
“Buying yourself a human shield, using weapons as bait…that’s low, even for you.”
“To take down the Black AT…yeah, I’ll use any means necessary.”
Suddenly, the lights all around us went out.
“They did it.” Radolf stated flatly.
“Looks like it…”
The “last chance” Mima left behind had begun. Switching my optics to infrared, I plunged into the cave that yawned open in front of me. Radolf followed suit. Inside, a spiral passageway descended into the lower levels. It was easily five meters wide.
“A passageway…in a place like this?”
“I discovered it when I returned from Bow. It connects to Bow via an underground railway.”
I guided Berserga onto the track.
“A secret military passage, then,” Radolf remarked, sounding convinced. “No wonder it went undiscovered.”
We raced down the passageway at full speed. The incline was extremely steep. Maintaining our balance, we descended approximately 2,000 meters underground before emerging into the third level through a fissure in the wall.
The surroundings were shrouded in absolute darkness. Only the center of the city glowed with a faint, burning red light.
“That…is the Fire Cask.”
Radolf steered his unit toward the light.
“So that’s where he is…”
I activated my gliding wheels. With a faint whir, as if holding its breath, Berserga began to move.
We arrived at a dome-shaped structure situated beside the arena. We took cover alongside the entrance. It was a colossal dome, easily five hundred meters in height.
There was no sign of movement anywhere nearby. Not a single sound could be heard. Had the units that went ahead of us already been wiped out? Or had they simply failed to reach this place?
“Blue Knight, leave the small fry to me,” Radolf said in a low voice. “You focus solely on the Black A.T.”
“But—”
Radolf cut me off. “Don’t worry about me. Unless you defeat him, a showdown between the two of us can never happen. Let’s go!”
We burst through the doors in unison. Yet, no attack came. Nor were there any signs of wreckage from the units that had gone in before us. It seemed they had either been held up at the main tower or killed there. They likely died cursing my name. But I didn’t care.
— It seems they’ve drawn enough of us in.
That was premature.
With a sudden rush, almost as if accompanied by a sound, spotlight beams converged. Within my dazzled field of vision, the silhouettes of dozens of A.T.s appeared. Gilgameth-types. As they moved, the bands of light wavered. The Black A.T. commanded this many Votoms pilots as subordinates right here in this city.
“Waaaaah!”
With a shout from Radolf, his Dog charged toward the enemy A.T.s, spraying heavy machine gun fire indiscriminately. The enemy began to advance in unison. In the darkness, sparks flew from beneath their feet.
Behind them, a single A.T. stood motionless. It was a black-bodied machine, yet not the Shadow Flare. It was a Pot Belly. I drove Berserga straight toward it. Bearing down right in front of me was an A.T. with only two head sensors. A bear-type.
— Get out of my way!
I slammed an arm punch into the Bear. It toppled backward onto the ground. Leaping over its fallen frame, I pressed my pursuit of the Pot Belly. It pivoted around. Then, without breaking stride, it plunged through a doorway behind it.
With jets of flame erupting from my A.T.’s leg nozzles, I instinctively gave chase. My machine shot through the doorway at high speed. But he was nowhere to be seen. All that lay ahead was a straight corridor leading out of the structure.
— Is he waiting for me up ahead, having set a trap?
I was fully prepared to accept that risk. But the time limit for Berserga to sustain its current heightened power output was now less than ten hours. I floored the accelerator pedal. Berserga surged forward. Exiting the edge of the dome-like structure, I raced through a corridor formed by a series of semicircular steel arches and entered the arena proper.
At the very center stood a bizarre, unnatural-looking ring. It was a semicircular dome. A gaping hole yawned in the ceiling. Several beams of light from spotlights illuminated the surroundings.
At the center of the ring lay a pool of magma ten meters in diameter. It bubbled and churned, occasionally catching the glare of the spotlights and glowing a brilliant white. The stone rim surrounding it was so decayed that it looked like it would crumble away at the touch of a fingertip.
Beyond that, spanning a width of roughly five meters, lay a doughnut-shaped ring. The area surrounding it was partitioned off by a labyrinth of screens. There appeared to be no spectator seating. Instead, holes were cut into various points along the walls, presumably for the audience to watch the match unfold.
I piloted my unit into the ring. But the Black A.T. was nowhere to be found.
The silence of an arena devoid of spectators is a truly eerie thing. It felt like vengeful spirits were drifting through the air, wandering in search of victims to claim; a sensation so palpable that it seemed their groans might ring out at any moment.
The heavy air, laden with the heat rising from the magma pool, trembled as the roar of a gliding wheel cut through it.
— Is that him?
My blood began to stir. The roar of the gliding wheel was drawing closer. Obscured by the labyrinth of screens, my sensors registered no contact. Yet, the sound was undoubtedly emanating from the maze behind me.
I spun my unit around. A lash erupted at Berserga’s feet, followed by a deafening boom. A missile. The explosive force was tremendous. The floor beneath me groaned and buckled. The outer rim of the doughnut-shaped ring was blown away, a one-meter section on either side, and magma came surging in.
Splattering magma struck Berserga’s legs, igniting with a sharp hiss and flash. Yet, nothing more than a patch of paint was scorched away.
Something sliced through the air and slammed into my shoulder. A jet-black, gleaming chain. It coiled itself between Berserga’s right shoulder and torso, right around the exposed drive gearbox. I grabbed it with the right arm and yanked back with sheer force. Twanggg — the chain vibrated and pulled taut.
The sound of an A.T.’s footsteps rang out. And a heavy one at that…a super-heavy class. Emerging from the exit of the labyrinth, located diagonally to my front-left, the Black A.T. revealed itself.
Berserga’s right arm hauled the chain backward. With its left arm, the enemy A.T. held the other end steady in front of its torso, pulling it taut.
Creak — the chain groaned. Neither A.T. budged an inch.
— Our power is evenly matched.
An iron ring at the center of the chain stretched. Subjected to equal force from both sides, it slowly pried open. The chain broke with a sharp snap. Driven by the recoil, it whipped back and struck my machine. With a clatter, a rapid succession of light metallic sounds rang out.
Taking that as its cue, sparks flew from the feet of the Black A.T. Tilting its body at an angle, it began to glide along the rim of the lava pool.
Cracking the stone rim beneath its rear treads, the enemy closed in rapidly. I unleashed a burst of fire from my heavy machine gun. The enemy A.T. swiftly swayed its body left and right, dodging the incoming rounds.
Behind it, a horizontal line of bullet holes appeared in the granite partition, roughly two meters above the ground. The very next instant, the partition broke clean in two, crashing to the ground and shattering into fragments.
The Black A.T. loomed directly before me. It fired its solid shooter, held in its right hand, in a rapid burst. Two shots. The stone beneath Berserga’s feet suddenly glowed! It had been severed from the floor. My machine’s balance faltered. Acting on pure instinct, I spun around and leaped onto the nearest stable section of stone. The enemy’s torso was right in front of me.
Impact! Berserga crashed heavily to the ground. The enemy’s right fist had slammed into it.
A flash of light erupted along the right side of the cockpit. The paint on the right arm burst into flames in an instant. When I pulled the arm back, both the heavy machine gun and the right fist were gone.
Right before my eyes, the Black A.T. leveled its solid shooter. The muzzle was aimed unerringly at Berserga’s cockpit — and at me inside it.
Chris Kurtz’s voice, dripping with confidence, reached my ears. “You can’t move…”
Yet, I felt absolutely no fear. I slammed Berserga’s left arm against the ground. Crushing the stone beneath it, my machine spun to the right. Using that recoil to my advantage, I activated the arm punch on the left arm. My left fist smashed into his solid shooter. Amidst a shower of sparks and blinding flashes, the weapon exploded. He pulled his right fist back.
At that very moment, a flash of light flared from Berserga’s right arm. From the fingertips all the way up, the internal actuators were ripped right out of the limb. His Iron Claw had sheared away everything from my right shoulder down to the very tip of the arm.
Riding that momentum, he vanished through the exit of the maze located directly behind me. From that exit, the roar of his gliding wheels continued to echo. He was still behind Berserga.
I brought Berserga back to its feet. From the maze exit opposite the direction of the gliding wheel sounds, he suddenly reappeared. Had he already relocated?
How fast —-
Smashing through a nearby partition, he hurled the wreckage into the pool of lava. Simultaneously, he launched himself off the edge of the stone. The partition crashed into the lava pool. It burst into flames, emitting a blinding flash. In that instant, the Black A.T. executed a huge leap into the air.
Raising his Iron Claw high above him, he harnessed the force of his descent to slam it down on me. The stone beneath my feet shifted. Berserga began to tilt.
— Not here. I won’t let myself be killed here.
Sinking Berserga’s feet deep into the ground, I kicked off the tilted stone surface and leaped into the air.
The Black A.T.’s Iron Claw, aimed with deadly precision, bore down on my cockpit. I fired the side nozzles on my legs. Berserga dodged the enemy’s claw by a hair’s breadth. The Iron Claw whizzed past my right shoulder.
The enemy landed. A crack split through the stone.
— Now!
Thrusting out my left arm, I gripped the activation lever for my pile bunker with my right. I locked my sights on the enemy’s back. It turned around. Its red camera eye locked onto Berserga. My limbs went rigid, as if paralyzed. Berserga began to descend, powerless.
— At a moment like this?!
As it turned, the enemy swung its right arm. Berserga was knocked flying, slamming hard into a partition wall on the opposite side of the lava pool.
I tried to move my arms, struggling to break free. But somehow, without me even realizing it, shackles had been clamped onto Berserga’s limbs. I gritted my teeth in frustration.
Yet, I was beginning to grasp the true nature of the bizarre sensation binding my entire body. It wasn’t something being transmitted directly from the enemy to me. Rather, it was being channeled through Berserga into my pressure suit.
The enemy was directly interfering with Berserga’s mechanical systems. Specifically, its onboard computer. There was no doubt about it. That interference was being fed back to my body through the machine’s feedback system. Or maybe channeled directly into me through the contact terminals in my pressure suit.
It felt like an amplified version of that heavy, cold sensation one feels when surrounded by machinery. But even if I understood what was happening, it was already too late.
He strode toward Berserga. From the shadows of the labyrinth flanking us, two Pot Bellies emerged and took up positions beside the Black A.T. The hatch on the right-hand Pot Belly slid open.
“We’ll show you the fate that awaits those who defy this man.”
The Pot Belly on the left raised its arm high. Clutched in its hand was a bowl-shaped head, presumably that of Radolf’s Dog. The Pot Belly’s fingers dug in, crushing the head like aluminum foil.
The Pot Belly’s pilot pointed at me and shouted. He was connected to his machine by a wire cable running from the back of his head.
“I offer you the one and only path to survival. Accept our technology into your flesh, and fight alongside us. According to our data, you possess the strength to do so.”
— These are the words of Chris Kurtz himself.
The pilot recited Chris’s words in a flat, monotonous tone.
“Our power transcends the limits of our species. The entire Balarant military has already submitted to our will. We shall crush the Gilgamesh forces — who stubbornly persist in their resistance — and save the people of Astragius, who now stand face-to-face with the biological limits of their kind.”
“I refuse!” I declared. “I have no interest in ruling over the Astragius Galaxy.”
The Pot Belly slammed its hatch shut. It began to advance toward me, its joints groaning with every step. At that instant, a fierce stream of gunfire erupted. The Pot Belly spun around and positioned itself directly in front of the Black A.T. The bullets ricocheted harmlessly off its armored plating.
“Hold it right there! I’m the one who’ll kill the Blue Knight. I won’t let you bastards lay a hand on him!
Bursting through the labyrinth, Radolf’s Dog came into view, its cockpit hatch now torn off. Stripped of its signature red-painted shoulder armor, the machine was spewing white smoke from every seam.
Through the din, I could hear the sound of Radolf’s ragged, gasping breaths. The Pot Bellies revved their rear thrusters and dashed straight for him. His Dog fired a volley of missiles from the pod on its left shoulder at the Pot Belly closing in from the right.
Four shots — every last round he had left.
One Pot Belly exploded, its limbs scattering in all directions. From within the billowing smoke, the other lunged to attack. Instantly, the Dog delivered a left arm punch straight to its head. The fist smashed deep, crushing the unit’s camera eye.
A small, gaping hole opened up. Into that hole, the Dog thrust its jagged, claw-like fingertips. With a screech of grinding metal, it yanked upward. The Pot Belly’s cockpit was ripped apart, torn in two. The clang of metal rang out across the battlefield.
Radolf raked his heavy machine gun across the Pot Belly’s cockpit. The pilot was flung from the wreckage, reduced to nothing more than a pulpy mass of flesh.
Radolf’s unit began to charge directly at the Black A.T. As if to meet the attack head on, the Black A.T. swung its left arm high into the air. It brought the limb down toward Radolf, who sat exposed within his open cockpit. Radolf twisted his body, but it was already too late. Accompanied by the sickening crunch of shattering bone, Radolf’s body was sliced into three distinct pieces.
The black A.T. slammed the Dog’s torso into the ground, driving it downward with such force that the cockpit was pressed deep into the earth. The ground beneath them gave way. Molten lava erupted from the fissure. Radolf’s Dog was instantly engulfed in a blinding flash. As pale blue flames licked across the unit’s surface, the metal began to melt away, sloughing off like viscous sludge.
In that instant, the paralyzing spell that had held Berserga in its grip was broken. I grabbed the shoulders of my pressure suit, summoned every ounce of my strength, and tore them off. The enemy’s crushing aura of intimidation vanished.
The Black A.T. turned to face me. The razor-sharp iron claw extending from its left forearm remained intact, uncorrupted by the melting heat. Having just fed on blood, he exuded a ferocity even greater than before.
Chris Kurtz spoke in a voice filled with authority. Yet, there was no emotion in it. “If you cannot obey us, then you shall die.”
“I have no intention of becoming a monster like you!”
I channeled every ounce of strength in my body and maneuvered Berserga. As the A.T.’s drive system — its “muscle cylinders” — let out a low growl, its right arm yanked free of the hook-like shackle that had been driven deep into the partition wall.
The black A.T.’s legs threw off sparks as it closed in.
I slammed down on the accelerator pedal. It hit the ground with a sharp, dry thud. As intense G-forces slammed through the cockpit, I manipulated both control sticks and readied my Pile Bunker.
He raised his left arm.
I yanked back on the right control stick. and pulled the Pile Bunker’s firing lever. The inner face of the shield mounted on my left arm flashed for an instant, and a long lance began to extend from beneath it.
Reflecting the light, a glint ran across his Iron Claw. He brought it slashing down. It was fast. Just as the lance thrust out toward his cockpit, he executed a lightning-fast maneuver, bringing his left arm up to guard his chest. He clamped his Iron Claw shut, attempting to seize the tip of the lance.
There was a sharp, jarring impact. Having shot out with the speed of lightning, the lance smashed through and shattered his Iron Claw — the very symbol of his power.
He instinctively recoiled, pulling his machine back. The tip of my lance retracted. He had successfully escaped the pile bunker’s strike range.
At that same moment, the dome of the arena directly behind him collapsed. A gaping hole tore open. Bursting through it, a single machine appeared. An A.T. transport helicopter; an “A.T. Fly”. No, that wasn’t it. Two propulsion units were mounted on either side of the craft’s pointed fuselage. It was an A.T. carrier.
The high-pitched shriek of jet engines reverberated within the dome. Descending as if to envelop the Black A.T., the carrier extended a pair of claws from its underside, latching them onto the hooks protruding nearly horizontally from the Black A.T.’s shoulders.
I opened fire on the A.T. carrier with my heavy machine gun. But the rounds merely pinged harmlessly against the craft’s hull. They lacked the necessary punch.
With the Black A.T. slung beneath it, the carrier began to ascend. Shrugging off the bullets I fired with its entire frame, it exited the venue through the gaping hole at the apex of the dome.
A pool of molten lava surged up directly in front of me. Simultaneously, cracks snaked across the dome’s walls, and the structure began to crumble.
— So this was the trap.
I smashed my way through the labyrinthine corridors and burst out through the dome’s main entrance. The dome was collapsing behind me, kicking up clouds of dust. Its walls fractured into massive chunks and slammed into the ground below. Then a chain reaction of explosions ripped through the area.
— They have no further use for this city. Is that why they’re destroying it? But I won’t let them get away.
I reached beneath my seat and retrieved a small tracking beacon.
— By now, he should be somewhere around the first level.
I pressed the button on the transmitter. A blinding flash of light erupted from the gaping hole in the third level’s ceiling. Moments later, a crack, glowing with a dull, ominous light, ripped through the main tower that ran vertically through the heart of Arg.
The tower began to crumble from the top down, as if being severed. I had detonated the high-precision explosives I’d stashed inside the jeep, a powerful payload capable of obliterating everything within a one-kilometer radius.
As the ground of the first level gave way and plummeted, dust rained down in a fine shower from the ceiling above. Yet, the roar of the engine belonging to the A.T. carrier slinging that Black A.T. could still be heard.
— I screwed up.
Cracks snaked across the ground beneath my feet. In the distance, buildings tilted precariously, one after another, before toppling over. Shrouded in clouds of dust and debris, it was impossible to distinguish where the tiered walls of the city began or ended.
Lava, spewing up from the earth, had begun to burn through the city with a searing, flickering intensity. Arg was finished.
— Black A.T…I swear I’ll hunt you down, and crush the life out of you with my own two hands.
I drove Berserga toward the cavern where the railway tracks lay. Somewhere within, there had to be a passage leading underground. A route that would take me out of the crater that encased Arg.
To be continued