Chapter 7. Part 1

Zac swore and set the ship on autopilot before making sure his passenger was alright. She was OK apart from a few cuts and bruises, so he sat down and began to think. He knew what would happen next, leopards didn't change their spots. Josh would be fine, Seb, there was no telling where he was and David...he was most likely repairing the StrongGale at the Carrotus Shipyards. No doubt there were already dispatches after all of them; if there was one thing people held pride in here it was a grossly bloated army that served as everything from police through to tax collectors.


Zac sighed and looked down at the medals he'd been wearing, each given for some supposed service to this or that, and slowly tossed them out the window, one by one, except for the silver star he'd been given for 'dedicated service.'


* * *

It was only a short time alter that Seb looked down from where he sat nonchalantly atop one of the taller buildings in the city, watching the military below. They were up to something big, he knew it, moving steadily and purposefully through the population, interrogating seemingly random strangers, occasionally even using violence. Perhaps there was a fugitive in the city? This looked big. Not hesitating, he encased himself in a ball of flame and dropped smoothly down the tower like a falling star.

"Hey, what's the problem?"

The response was totally unexpected; the group he'd approached looked at him as one man, before levelling their guns at him, some more reluctantly than others. There was subdued talking, then someone shouting, finally their apparent leader stepped forward. When he spoke it was in the tone of someone who knows there's going to be unpleasantness, and it won't be them.

"You're to surrender and accompany us back to HQ for execution. Resistance will result in your termination."

At this there was more talking, this time quite terse an and argument broke out. Seb coudn't hear what was being said, but he wasn't stupid. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. The group wasn't thinking straight, he could see that, they looked almost drugged, as if what they were seeing and what they were looking at were two different things. The leader and a few others however looked very alert, and very menacing. As the argument raged on, Seb looked about; if anyone had made a statement like he'd just heard, talking was out of the question. Whatever was wrong with this group, it was big. It wouldn't be a good idea to run either, people would get hurt. The argument had died down as the more active soldiers coerced their comrades into submission. Seb raised his axe and focused on the leader. The five with normal eyes, they were the problem.

"I suggest YOU lower your weapons. I have no desire to fight you. And I have no intention of dying yet. Back down. This is your only and last warning."

There was an answering hail of bullets that met nothing but a wall of flame. Startled, even the doped soldiers fired. Eventually the flames died down, revealing a bulletmarked and charred patch of pavement. The leader of the group approached it cautiously as the ground began to emit the *pink pink* of cooling glass. Then he gave a jerk and collapsed. There was a faint hiss as his body met the scorched ground. Seb stood behind him hand raised, they had parted ranks at the fireball. Bad move.

A ring of flame erupted from the ground and encircled the soldiers. Panicking, they fired rounds in all directions. Seb ducked and danced; this was the benefit of being outnumbered, they were far more likely to hit each other than him, if he was fast enough. He only needed to hit two soldiers with the blunt end of his axe, the others were soon on the ground suffering bullet wounds to the arms or legs. Except for one; he matched Seb's moves, apparently quite well trained he sent sporadic bursts of gunfire his way, never giving Seb a chance to rest. A bullet clipped his right shoulder, announcing itself with a stab of pain. Seb didn't even yell, but fell to the ground. As the soldiers took aim he turned the fall into a swinging blow, his whole arm encased in fire. The hapless assailant didn't even have time to scream as his body fell to the ground, crumbling to ashes as it did so.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to have to do that."

Seb stopped the wall of flame. What was going on? He'd never thought he'd have to face these guys. He tried to coax answers out of those that remained standing or conscious, but they were of little help; most of them had no idea what had happened, only that they'd been ordered to hunt down and bring back him and his friends, and that the order had seemed perfectly reasonable at the time until just now. The other soldiers, the ones he'd attacked appeared to be new recruits, only a few days in, but they'd acquired some very high ranks, and again, this had apparently been alright. He ordered them to flee, and in their disheveled state they complied readily. Seb gave silent thanks that Zac didn't appear to be involved in any of this.

"What the-"

Something vaguely familiar appeared in the distance, a confused mix of dust and turbid air, growing nearer and nearer, finally stopping and resolving itself into the form of Joshua just a few feet away. He'd been carrying a young woman who slowly dismounted.

"Joshua! What are you doing here? And who's she?"

"No time, we should get going, I can explain on the way. It's nice to see you're okay, pity about the casualties." said Josh pointing at the two prone soldiers. "It's something to do with the military, they're bringing us in for plotting against them, don't ask me why." He saw Seb's expression and explained further. "I gathered some info while in disguise."

It hadn't been much of a disguise admittedly, just a grey shirt, brown jacket and headband, but since he was well known as a hero in a red cap (and white T-shirt) it was amazing how many conflicts he'd avoided with the simple precaution. In his new outfit he was just an ordinary citizen, not worth noticing, let alone questioning. There was a groan and one of the soldiers stirred. Joshua knocked them smartly unconscious with the flat of his sword.

"We best be leaving. I don't have much of an idea of what to do after I make the necessary stops, but we have to find Zac, get Adis out of possible danger and get somewhere safe where we can leave them. This one's not much of a talker, and I have no idea where she came from."

"Agreed. The J-Wing should be where you left it, right?"

Joshua clicked his fingers. In the sky, a small star sparkled before descending through the atmosphere and landing nearby. The J-Wing hadn't changed much since last time, something Josh was thankful for, it was of unit construction, something even better than LEGO, and much easier to put together. There had been quite a large mess to tidy up after the failed experiment.

"Hop in. Knowing Zac, he'd be headed to our agreed destination for things like this. But...I need to make a stop at Saurepth first; I just hope that I'm not going to get a yelling at when we arrive."

Joshua sighed, Seb caught Joshua's expression and laughed. Motioning to the girl Joshua had carried the three of them boarded the ship. None of the troops seemed to be in any condition to report, and hopefully nobody would know about the J-Wing or its presence in the Mobius sky. Granted the J-Wing was capable of handling almost any attack, but it was worth not taking chances, especially when the poor girl had been blown up twice already.

"Just hold on..." Joshua sighed.