The Battle for Allegra: Retrieval

Season One: Episode Five

Caleb Fast

Copyright © 2020 Caleb Fast

www.calebfast.com
First Published in 2020 by the Author on Amazon
All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the author.
For information regarding permission, please email the author at calebfast@calebfast.com Please direct all further inquiries to the author at calebfast@calebfast.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real-world people, events, or locations are entirely coincidental.

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

One

Two

Three

DESPERATE PLEA!

The Story Continues,

Other Books By Caleb Fast

One

The Bulwark, Allegra

“Watch your right!” Louise calls out her warning as she points at a small group of soldiers that are dug into the nearby mountainside. The soldiers appear to be preoccupied as they fight amongst themselves, which Matthew finds oddly reassuring.

“They look like they’re busy,” Matthew reports as he turns away from the small squad Louise had pointed out and looks back to Alois.

Matthew and the twins had stopped at the southmost door and remained completely silent for several moments now. Louise explained that she and Alois wanted to listen for any signs of hostiles inside. After hearing quite a bit of activity, Louise reasoned that they should continue waiting until things cleared up slightly.

“Incoming,” Alois reports as he motions with his weapon behind Matthew.

Matthew spins around and sees that there are a handful of soldiers shambling toward him and the twins. The soldiers’ skin is discolored, and their eyes are very much blank. Frowning, Matthew thinks, I guess James was telling the truth about what gassed soldiers look like.

“They’ve been gassed!” Matthew declares as he raises his weapon and prepares to fire.

“That one’s already been shot…” Alois breathes as he cocks his head slightly.

“I don’t like the sounds of that—” Matthew mention but he is cut off when one of the gassed Mudders lunge forward. Instinctively, he pulls the trigger on his rifle and releases a stream of bullets that rip into the nearest soldier.

Matthew calms down slightly when the soldier he shot doubles over and stops moving. To his concern, however, the remaining gassed soldiers continue approaching them.

“Should we shoot?” Alois asks as he glances over to Matthew.

Louise spins around and points out a group of gassed Mudders that are approaching from their rear. She fires a few rounds before shouting, “That’s a yes!”

Matthew glances over his shoulder to the hostiles Louise had pointed out. He looks just in time to see Louise unload the rest of her magazine on them. Seeing that the job is done on that end, Matthew turns back to the afflicted soldiers in front of Alois.

“That’s all I needed to hear,” Alois declares happily before unloading on the hostiles before him.

Matthew quickly sees that Alois’s firepower isn’t enough to take care of the growing group of gassed Mudders and he tenses up once more.

Gritting his teeth, Matthew tightens the grip on his rifle, and he decides to join in. Opening fire, Matthew helps Alois mow down the remaining gassed soldiers.

“That wasn’t so bad…” Matthew muses with a nod. He smiles, realizing how he and the twins made such quick work of the hostiles.

“So, what should we call those guys?” Alois asks after a few moments.

“What do you mean by that?” Matthew inquires.

“The crazy guys?” Louise asks, surprised.

Nodding, Alois affirms, “Yeah, I was thinking something along the lines of “gassers” since they were gassed.”

“Sounds good to me,” Louise responds as she nods approvingly at Alois’s name proposal. She glances up from the sights of her rifle that she still has trained on their surroundings.

“What is it with you two and naming things?” Matthew asks incredulously.

Chuckling, Alois confidently replies, “If I can put a name on it, I can shoot it.”

“Wait, you gave me a name—” Matthew starts but is cut short when he is hit by a large drop of something. At first, he thinks that it may be raining, but then he remembers that it hadn’t rained on Allegra yet.

Looking up, Matthew is greeted with a sight that makes his heart stop momentarily. His voice is caught in his throat, which causes him an odd pain that makes him wince slightly.

His eyes still wide open, Matthew eventually coughs and lets out a concerned shout. Above him are a large group of gassers that are reaching down toward him and the twins from the second story of the building.

“What is—” Louise starts before she sees what Matthew had taken issue with. Raising her weapon, she calls, “Alois, up top!”

Before either of the twins have a chance to fire, the gassers start pouring over the ledge, falling toward them.

Instinctively, Matthew opens fire once more. He tenses up again and prays that he can kill all the gassers before they can kill either him or the twins.

Several gassers land dead on the ground, remaining where they land. By now, the twins have their weapons free and they are letting loose on the gassers that are still coming over the top.

Matthew flinches as a gasser gets shot far too close for comfort. To his horror, the gasser’s blood splatters all over his mask. In his brief lapse of attention, three gassers hit the ground, untouched by the twins’ gunfire.

The trio of gassers quickly work their way to their feet. Matthew watches with a mix of disgust and intrigue as the gassers work their ridged bodies and begin approaching him.

Realizing that the twins hadn’t noticed the gassers, Matthew trains his weapon on them. He pulls his trigger a few times to no avail. Turning his weapon onto its side, Matthew checks his mag and sees that he is out of ammo.

Before he has a chance to grab a new magazine one of the gassers takes a hold of his shoulders. Matthew looks up in time to see another gasser reaching for Louise and he acts.

Releasing his rifle, Matthew takes a hold of the nearest gasser’s face and he drills his fingers into its eyes. Simultaneously, he grabs his sidearm and opens fire wildly at the gasser that has yet to reach Louise.

Thanks to the suddenness of Matthew’s attack, Louise looks over to him and sees his dire straits. She spins around and shoots the gasser nearest her that Matthew had unsuccessfully shot at before turning her weapon on the remaining two.

“Thanks,” Matthew breathes as the gasser in front of him crumbles to the ground. He holds his hand up in the air where he had been holding the gasser and he gawks at the blood that it is running from his fingers all the way down to his elbow.

“And thank you,” Louise nods before looking back up to the ledge the gassers had come over.

“Looks like that was all of them,” Alois reports after a few moments.

Sickened, Matthew decides to offer an idea, “You know, maybe we could just hold off on this attack—"

“Fall back!” someone cries out from the other side of the door, interrupting Matthew.

“Get out of here!” another voice orders from much closer.

“Back up, they’re coming!” Louise warns as she steps away from the door.

Taking a few steps away from the doorway, Matthew points to a nearby empty trench and proposes, “We could hide in there.”

“Go,” Louise nods as she starts for the trench.

“We’ll wait this out at the pass!” the second voice advises from inside. A moment later, the door bursts open. Several people race out of the door but stop as soon as they see Matthew and the twins. The man at the front of the line levels his weapon at Matthew as he demands, “Who are you?”

Raising his hands in surrender, Matthew glances over to the twins. Frowning, he sees that they also have their firearms raised. Matthew looks back to the men who had just left the building and he can’t help but fear for him. The twins had proven that they are very capable when their lives are on the line. Hoping to save the newcomers’ lives, Matthew pleads with Louise, “Don’t kill them.”

Louise chuckles and looks over to Matthew. She cocks her head for a moment before politely requesting the group of men from the building, “Please, drop your weapons.”

“No way, you first,” the man at the front of the group laughs. He looks to his six companions briefly before he continues, “We’ve got you outnumbered.”

“That’s not going to help you,” Alois warns the group. He turns on the laser sight on his rifle and a red dot appears over the heart of the man at the front of the group.

“And why do you say that?” the man asks pointedly after briefly examining the laser sight on his chest. His voice quivers slightly as he continues, “If you don’t let us go, then we’re dead anyways.”

“Then get out of here,” Louise responds as she motions with her weapon for the group to leave.

When the group of men doesn’t immediately move, Matthew offers, “If you lower your weapons then we can keep talking.”

“And if not?” one of the men asks skeptically.

Shrugging, Matthew replies, “Then my friends will do what they think they need to.”

The man who seems to be in charge cuts in, “We have to get away from here, you don’t know what’s happening in—”

“We know what’s going on, we just have one question,” Louise interrupts the man, “Is there any large military equipment in there?”

“What kind of equipment are you referring to?” the man asks hesitantly.

“Big mobile gun platform,” Alois responds as he spread his arms apart to signify just how large the marine mech is. He waits a moment before letting his arms drop to his sides. Sighing, he tries to further explain, “You couldn’t have missed it, it just came in a few hours ago.”

“I’m not supposed to say,” the man answers in a weak attempt to deflect Alois’s questioning.

“I doubt you’re supposed to abandon your post either,” Louise points out, her weapon still trained on one of the men before her.

“He didn’t say that he didn’t see it,” Matthew reminds Louise, “So I’m willing to bet that our mech is in there.”

“Makes sense to me,” Alois agrees with Matthew as he lowers his weapon slightly.

“Get out of here,” Louise orders the group once more as she motions again for them to move out. Before giving the men a chance to react, Louise demands with a lot more fervor, “Move it!”

At this, the men make a run for the nearby mountains that lead away from the gas-filled valley. They whisper to one another as they make their retreat, but Matthew can’t make out anything specific. After several silent moments, the group disappears into a nearby trench that leads part way up the mountainside.

“It sounds like it’s clear inside now,” Matthew reports after pressing his ear against the door which is now closed. He looks around a moment and sees that the gas is now dissipating. Pausing for a few beats Matthew also notes that the bombardment had abated as well.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Louise starts, cutting off Matthew’s thought process. Matthew looks over to Louise and sees her looking at him through her mask with a raised eyebrow. Shaking her head once, she continues, “We’re leaving the masks on, just to be safe. We don’t know how long the gas stays in the air after the bombing ends.”

“We still don’t know if the gas is only dangerous if we inhale it,” Matthew points out, “What if the cloud can kill us just by touching our skin?”

“We’re just going to have to try our luck,” Louise offers with a shrug.

Frowning, Matthew nods slowly and eventually agrees, “Let’s get that mech.”

“Stay behind me, Matthew,” Alois instructs with a nod as he returns to the door. He swings it wide open and steps through his weapon at the ready.

“This isn’t our first raid, don’t worry,” Louise assures Matthew as she follows Alois through the doorway.

Sighing, Matthew follows the twins. As much as he trusted the two of them, he can’t help but feel nervous. He knew he could trust Rav’ian, or at least he thought he could after his very short time here. On the other hand, he had only known the twins for a matter of a few hours. Maybe I’m just being too hard on them, Matthew reasons to himself, trying to convince himself that he can trust them after such a short while. Stepping through the doorway, the realization hits him, I really don’t have much of a choice at this point.

Inside the old structure, Matthew is greeted with a surprisingly well-kept interior. A lot of work seems to have been done recently to extend the life of the building. Despite the rough exterior, and the fact that the sky is visible throughout most of the room, Matthew can’t help but feel slightly at home here.

Along several walls, new temporary roofs have been installed to keep various areas dry and out of the sunlight. New shiny steel flooring has also been installed in several portions of the complex to keep people off of the original earthen floor. A mix of scaffolding and new construction cover the bulk of the walls, especially near the renovated areas. All in all, Matthew can’t help but admire the efforts that had gone into making the place livable.

“Looks like they’ve put a lot of time into this place,” Alois muses as he nods approvingly at their surroundings.

“Indeed,” Matthew agrees with a half-chuckle. It was nice to know that at least one of the twins thought like him.

“I don’t see any signs of a fight,” Louise announces as she scans their surroundings for hostiles, “All the action must be deeper inside.”

“Not all of it,” Matthew mutters loud enough for the twins to hear. Frowning, he points toward a pair of boots that are peeking around a nearby corner. Blood is spattered all around the inanimate boots.

“That makes one dead,” Louise sounds as she looks over to the corner Matthew had pointed out.

“I’m sure there’s plenty more where that came from,” Alois adds as he approaches the corpse that the boots belonged to. He steps around the corner and slips out of sight.

“Where did they got all of this?” Louise wonders aloud as she approaches a nearby piece of equipment. She fiddles with it for a moment before it hums to life. Nodding approvingly, she announces, “This is a top of the line generator.”

“I’d bet they took it from the wreck,” Matthew ventures a guess.

Nodding in agreement, Louise declares, “Well, if they got this from that wreck, then I definitely want to check it out too. I’m sure there’s some stuff left that I could use.”

“There’s nothing left over here,” Alois reports as he returns from his short adventure.

“How many dead?” Louise asks.

“Fifteen,” Alois replies curtly as he looks over his shoulder.

Worried, Matthew inquires, “No survivors?”

“Not one,” Alois shakes his head, “The gas is thick on that end of the building.”

“And how do you feel?” Matthew asks as he eyes Alois.

Looking down to his feet briefly, Alois reports, “I feel fine, I guess the gas is only dangerous if you breathe it in.”

“Good to know,” Matthew acknowledges.

“Jonas, get out of here!” a voice echoes down a nearby hallway. A spurt of gunfire roars shortly thereafter making Matthew jump slightly.

“We’ve got incoming,” Louise calls as she takes several steps away from the hallway the voice had come from. She crouches behind a nearby stack of crates and readies her weapon.

“What if we just let them go like the others?” Matthew begs, hating the idea of killing more people. Not only that, but the idea of shooting at people as they retreated made him sick.

“We can hide in the hallway Alois just came back from,” Louise offers without turning away from the hallway.

“Let’s do that then,” Matthew agrees as he rises to his feet and races away.

After reaching the hiding spot, Matthew stops and waits for the twins to join him. Once they have done so, he takes a hold of his weapon and readies himself to shoot any threats. Shooting anyone who has been gassed is a lot easier than shooting a normal person, Matthew thinks to himself as he slowly inhales.

“What about the prisoners?” a feminine voice asks from the down hallway.

“They’re all gone, Joleen,” another person replies.

“All of them?” the woman, Joleen, asks. Her awe and fear are evident in her voice.

“They’re coming, run!” a new voice shouts. A moment later, a resounding stampede begins, its echoes thundering down the hall.

“What are you doing?” Louise asks as she crouches beside Matthew who is still peeking out from their hiding spot.

Weapons fire sounds from down the hall, grabbing Matthew’s attention. After several short spurts, a voice calls out, “Jonas, I said get out of here!”

“I’ll be right behind you, don’t worry,” another person replies dutifully.

“Might as well cover those guys as they retreat,” Matthew shrugs as he clicks his safety off.

Louise tugs on Matthew’s pant leg to get his attention and he looks down to her. Seeing that she had his attention, Louise reminds him, “We still may have to shoot them. But you don’t have to do anything like that. Alois and I can take care of them.”

Nodding slowly, Matthew is about to thank Louise when a handful of Mudders pour out of the hall. Louise and Matthew both tense up, startled by the sudden intrusion.

“Door’s open, let’s go!” one of the Mudders exclaims as they make a break for the door.

Matthew and Louise retreat further behind their corner in hope to stay out of sight. There was no need for them to be seen if it wasn’t entirely necessary.

“Jonas, they’re hot on your heels!” the woman, Joleen, warns as she stops at the mouth of the hallway. She raises her weapon and opens fire down the corridor at an unseen enemy.

One of the Mudders peeks back through the exit and calls back to Joleen, “Come on, let’s go!”

“Kennedy, I can’t go without Jonas!” Joleen argues as she reloads her weapon. She resumes firing the moment she finishes and calls out, “You’re almost there, Jonas!”

“We’ll cover you!” Matthew calls out from his hiding spot as he emerges slightly.

“Who are you?” Joleen demands as she briefly looks over her shoulder.

“We’re the ones who are going to let you get out alive,” Louise cuts in before Matthew has a chance to respond.

“That’s good enough for me, come one!” the woman at the door, Kennedy, announces.

“Let’s go, they’re right behind me!” Jonas shouts as he races past Joleen. He stops entirely in order to grab the woman and push her ahead. Once Joleen starts moving, Jonas instructs, “Don’t stop until you’re at the pass.”

“What about you?” Joleen asks as she slowly shuffles toward Kennedy. She continues looking to Jonas as she walks backward toward the doors. When he fails to reply in a timely matter, she presses, “Jonas?”

Handling his weapon, Jonas answers, “I have something I need to do first, I’ll catch up with you later.”

“And what might that be?” Louise demands as she emerges from the corner.

“Who are you?” Jonas demands as he trains his weapon on Louise.

“Look out, they’re here!” Joleen shouts as she raises her weapon and opens fire. Her bullets tear through a handful of gassed soldiers—or gassers, thanks to Alois’s name proposal. She stops them before they can reach Jonas and the others. Joleen stops shooting a moment to tell Jonas, “If you stay then—"

“Go!” Jonas shouts to her with what appears to be all the conviction he can muster.

Joleen and Kennedy slowly exit the building and then disappear altogether. Matthew and the twins train the weapons on both the man named Jonas and the hallway the murder-crazed gassers had come through. After several still moments, Jonas finally glances at Matthew and the twins and he gives them a curious look.

“What are you supposed to be heading back for?” Matthew asks, already convinced that he knew the answer. The marine mech was probably the most valuable piece of equipment on the grounds.

“Nothing,” Jonas replies slowly as he glances between Matthew and his companions.

“Then you’re useless to us,” Louise announces as she points her weapon at Jonas’s head.

“Woah, hang on,” Matthew cuts in with a whisper just loud enough to be heard by Louise.

“I think I hear more gassers coming,” Alois reports after several hollow-sounding screeches resonate from down the hallway the others had come down.

“Think you can take all of them on by yourself?” Louise asks Jonas who appears to be thoroughly terrified.

Alois elbows Matthew and winks before offering, “We could leave Jonas with them.”

Matthew quickly realizes that the twins are putting on a show which calms him slightly. Fortunately, Jonas doesn’t catch on and his eyes grow wide at the twins’ words. He trembles slightly as he looks around for some sign of deliverance.

“So, are you going to help us, or not?” Louise presses after several tense moments.

“There’s a mechanized marine,” Jonas admits, “I am supposed to move it if we ever evacuate this location.”

“And now you’re going to take us to it,” Louise instructs, “No funny business or we leave you for the gassers.”

“What am I going to tell the others?” Jonas whimpers.

Chuckling, Alois offers, “Tell them that you got mugged.”

“That’s not going to help me,” Jonas shoots as he gives Alois an irritated look. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other before ceding, “But I guess I don’t have much of a choice.”

“You’ve got that right,” Louise affirms.

Matthew considers saying something, but he can’t help the feeling that any actions on his part would only foul up Louise’s plans. As he is thinking, Louise shoots him a look that tells him to keep quiet.

“Now drop your weapon,” Alois instructs as he approaches Jonas.

“Wait, you can’t expect me to go back in there without a gun!” Jonas exclaims far too loudly. In response to his outburst, several gasser screeches resound from down the hallway.

“Great, you blew our cover,” Alois moans. He closes the remaining distance between him and Jonas as he shakes his head. Once in front of Jonas, Alois rips the man’s weapon out of his hands and prods him forward with his rifle. Once Jonas is moving toward the hallway, Alois finally continues, “And yes, I do expect you to go in without a gun. In fact, I expect you to lead the way.”

“If I die then you’ll be stuck in here,” Jonas warns through clenched teeth. Alois meets Jonas’s veiled threat with a rough shove forcing the man further forward.

Unamused, Alois seethes, “If you want to live then you’ll get us out of here sooner rather than later.”

Matthew and Louise start following Alois and Jonas from a distance. They slip into the hallway and are greeted with a sight that initially soothes Matthew. After a few steps, however, Matthew’s brain starts screaming various warnings at him. Where are all the gassers? Matthew wonders, his blood growing cold.

The long corridor is full of various odds-and-ends, bodies included. Scattered between the various doors that line the hallway there are more bodies than Matthew cared to count. Many of them appear to have belonged to gassers, judging by their discolored skin. That being said, more than a few corpses are severely disfigured, likely due to the gassers’ attacks.

Jonas steps over the body of one of the gassers and lets out a brief scream of terror when it takes a hold of his ankle. Before Alois has time to react, Louise is already firing. The gasser immediately goes limp, releasing Jonas’s ankle.

“Are there any other routes we can take?” Matthew asks, trying his best to sound unafraid. However, despite his best efforts, Matthew’s voice comes out rather strained.

“If we can get to the second level, we might be able to avoid a lot of fighting,” Jonas replies. Matthew can’t help but sigh softly when Jonas doesn’t seem to notice his nervousness.

“And how would we do that?” Matthew prods as he glances back to the room they had left just a few moments earlier. Part of Matthew doubts Jonas’s words. Not only had Jonas not proven his trustworthiness but there was also the matter of the gassers that had rained down on Matthew and the twins from the second level when they first arrived here. Matthew shakes his head slightly trying to get those images out of his head. Frowning Mathew thinks, Killing Beets is one thing, I don’t know if I can keep doing this though.

“There’s a stairwell up ahead a few doors,” Jonas answers as he points to a nearby doorway.

Louise swings her weapon behind her as she scans their rear. After a few silent moments, she turns back around and nods, seemingly to herself. Louise takes a few steps before she warns Jonas, “If this is going to be some kind of a trap, remember you’re the one who will get shot first.”

“Or killed by a gasser,” Alois adds with an optimistic tone.

“Do you want me to die?” Jonas demands as he stops altogether. When Alois doesn’t immediately respond, Jonas continues, “If that’s the case, then you might as well kill me right now.”

“Keep moving,” Alois instructs as he pushes Jonas forward once more.

“We aren’t going to kill him, are we?” Matthew whispers to Louise once they start moving again.

“Probably not,” Louise replies in a silent voice as she steps over the corpse of a soldier whose body is on top of a fallen gasser.

“Probably?” Matthew presses.

“If he does what we ask him to then we’ll let him go,” Louise assures Matthew.

Admittedly still worried, Matthew asks, “But what will he tell his superiors? I doubt that they’ll let him off the hook after losing their only mech.”

“What are you proposing?” Louise asks as Alois and Jonas reach the door that the staircase is supposed to be behind.

Shrugging, Matthew offers, “If this all works out, maybe we could bring him back to the trenches with us.”

“Aren’t James and the rest of the Fulcrum people there too?”

“That they are, but what else can we do for him?”

“We could let him go.”

“Let him go?”

“If we send him packing once we’re done here, he might be able to get away from anyone who might want to track him down.”

“And what if he can’t get away?” Matthew asks as they step through the doorway and start up the single flight of stairs.

“Then, depending on who catches him, he’ll probably be killed.”

“Killed?”

“Both the Fulcrum and the Coalition don’t take kindly to deserters. But I’d think this is the best chance he’s got.”

“That doesn’t sound like too much of a chance to me,” Matthew mutters mostly to himself.

“He’s the one who joined up with the Fulcrum,” Louise replies with a shrug. Her response seems very dismissive, which makes Matthew think that she may want to just kill Jonas once he led them to the mech.

Two

The Bulwark, Allegra

Matthew steps through the door at the top of the stairwell and is met with the barren second story of the building. Looking around, Matthew can see that this level had a long way to go before it was anything close to being as livable as the downstairs had been. There are very few walls up here, and the handful that are present aren’t in great shape.

A gentle breeze wafts through the open exterior walls and sends a few loose pieces of paper flying. Shouting can be heard from the warzone outside where countless Mudders are fighting for their lives.

Matthew looks up to the ceiling and is greeted with a beautiful sky. The deep blue canvass above him is dotted with a few wayward clouds. Hiding amongst the clouds is a pale disk that peacefully watches over on the warzone. Sighing, Matthew wishes he was on that moon right now, far away from the fight.

Matthew halts after taking a few steps into the room and looks around. The vast space is hauntingly empty, a fact that normally would concern him, but now he found it calming. After a moment, Matthew thinks, I wonder if the Beets are using this to their advantage… With all the gassers keeping everyone busy, this would be a great opportunity for them to try and take over the Bulwark. And if the Bulwark falls, that’ll give the Beetles a sure way out to the rest of the planet.

“Looks like we’re alone,” Matthew announces as he turns to face the twins once more.

“Seems like all the gassers must have jumped when we first got here,” Alois reasons, trying to make heads or tails of the absence of life.

“Jumped?” Jonas asks.

Chuckling, Alois replies, “When we first got here, they all jumped down to try and kill us.”

“I’d say there were at least thirty of them,” Louise adds. Looking over to Matthew, she nods and continues to him, “Thanks again for the save.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re the one who saved me,” Matthew chuckles as he blushes. He is thankful that his mask is obscuring his face because he doesn’t like the idea of the twins seeing just how hard he was blushing. A moment later his mask fogs up and he realizes his blushing had caused a whole new problem for him.

“Where to Jonas?” Alois prompts after a few still moments.

“West end,” Jonas replies as he points to a large set of double doors on one of the few walls. Nodding, he quickly adds, “That’ll lead out to the second level of the garage on that end of the complex. That’s where we keep the mechs.”

“Mechs?” Matthew asks in surprise. He glances between the twins for a moment, hoping that they heard what he did. After seeing no obvious reactions from them, he presses, “Mechs, like multiple mechs?”

“Yes?” Jonas replies, saying it as more of a question than anything.

“How many do you have in there?” Matthew demands as his heart skips a beat. His eyes go wide as he considers the ramifications of the presence of multiple mechs. Amazed, Matthew thinks, If we can get our hands on several different units then we can really stand a chance against the Beets. Not to mention the Toaz will be a lot better equipped for their nightly hunts.

“Seven…” Jonas replies worriedly.

Nodding dumbly, Matthew eventually murmurs, “I guess we’ll be taking a few trips then.”

“You can’t take them all,” Jonas quickly argues.

“We can do whatever we want to,” Alois reminds Jonas as he makes a big show of having a weapon.

“No, I’m not saying that,” Jonas shakes his head. He glances over to the double doors before explaining himself, “Six of them are smaller units that run off of liquid fuel. Those six ran out of juice a while ago and we haven’t been able to get enough to run them. We have some fuel, but we use it in our other vehicles. The newest mech is nuclear powered. We were hoping it would last us until the end of the war.”

“How small are the other six?” Louise demands as she approaches Jonas.

Jonas takes a half-step back, his fear evident on his face. He raises his hands slightly in surrender before answering, “They’re single-man units—”

“How big are they and how much do they weigh?” Louise interrupts as she motions for Jonas to hurry up and explain himself.

“The little ones are just shy of four meters tall and they’re about three meters wide. They weight a little more than four metric tons apiece.”

“That’s pretty big,” Matthew declares with a low whistle.

“How big is the nuclear unit?” Louise queries.

Now knowing the drill, Jonas quickly reports, “It’s about three times as big and four or five times as heavy.”

“Why does it matter?” Matthew asks Louise after she had been nodding thoughtfully for several moments.

Louise looks over to Matthew and he can see the twinkle in her eye through her mask’s visor. A smile in her voice, Louise giddily replies, “I’m thinking we should be able to carry the smaller mechas with the one big one. It may take a few trips though.”

“But they don’t have any fuel,” Matthew reminds her.

Nodding absently once again, Louise assures Matthew, “If these units are anything like the others I’ve seen, they’re very forgiving with the types of fuel they take.”

“They are,” Jonas affirms, “They can run off of diesel, hydrogen, alcohol, or other flammable fuels like those.”

“Or a cocktail of all three,” Louise amends.

“You gotta love those engineers,” Alois chuckles, “They really thought of everything with those mechas.”

“First off, we still don’t have any fuel,” Matthew reminds the group. Worried, Matthew can’t help but feel like he is the only sane person here. The twins look over to him and Louise is about to respond before Matthew continues, “And second off, how can they run off of several different types of fuel? Everything I’ve ever seen only works with one.”

“I can make some alcohol without too much effort,” Louise responds confidently, “And as for the engineering side, that’s a bit more complex.”

“I’d say a lot more complex,” Alois adds with a laugh, “I’ve seen the engine compartment on those mechas, it’s crazy.”

Louise nods in agreement before she goes on to explain, “Well, quite simply, the engines on these mechas are fed by a few different intake systems. Depending on the fuel type you put in they use a different system to fuel the engine.”

“That doesn’t seem too complex,” Matthew shrugs.

Louise laughs before countering, “No, it’s pretty complicated in there, I just explained it as simply as I could.”

“Alright,” Matthew gives in, not wanting to get into a technical argument. He had worked on a few different engines in the past, so he knew a thing or two, but he was all too aware that he wasn’t an expert.

“Well, let’s get going then,” Alois sounds, likely pickup up on the tension in the air. Matthew nods appreciatively to him for breaking the silence that had fallen.

At Alois’s prompting, the group makes for the double doors. They cross the vast empty room and are careful to avoid any spots where the floor had given way. This was easier said than done and there were several times where Matthew thought someone was going to fall through. In some spots, the floor creaked so loudly that quite a few gassers down below stirred to life and let out their belch-like screams.

Matthew continues alongside the others, doing his best to not fall through the creaky old floor. Matthew looks down to his feet to further ensure that his footing is true when one foot shatters the floorboard beneath it. Matthew catches himself before he can fall all the way through, and he helplessly looks up to the twins. Knee-down, Matthew’s leg is stuck in the floor and he can feel cool air wafting up his pant leg from the ground level beneath him. Several gasser shrieks sound below and Matthew prays that his leg is out of their reach.

Alois leaves Jonas’s side and walks over to Matthew. Once next to him, Alois takes hold of Matthew’s backpack and pulls him out of the hole and up to his feet. Setting him down, Alois laughs and announces, “I’ve never seen that before.”

“Me either,” Matthew nods as he looks through the hole he had fallen through. He stares at the floor beneath him feeling more than a little lucky. Several gassers rush aimlessly below and one of them stares through the hole back up to Matthew. Matthew quickly looks away before announcing, “Well, this route doesn’t seem too much safer than the downstairs one was.”

“At least there are less gassers,” Alois offers with a shrug. Nodding to Jonas he instructs, “Let’s go.”

Nodding, Jonas starts leading the way once more, now without the urging of the barrel of Alois’s rifle. He looks over his shoulder as he informs Matthew and the twins, “Once we’re in the garage I’ll have to access the main computer to open the bay doors. It’s password-protected—”

Before Jonas has the time to finish his statement, he falls through the ground to the floor beneath. Several dozen gassers start shrieking fanatically before Jonas lets loose a cry of terror. Matthew takes a step toward the hole that Jonas made when he fell through the floor when the ground suddenly shudders.

“Jonas!” Louise calls as she also approaches the hole.

The floor beneath Matthew and Louise buckles and starts to give way. For the briefest moment, Matthew’s mind flashes back to his father’s fishing ship as the floor starts shuddering.

Images of a massive lightning storm make Matthew freeze as he recalls the night that he and the rest of the ship’s crew nearly died. An errant bolt of lightning had struck both the ship’s mast and the bridge. By all accounts, the ship was at the mercy of the sea. At one point during the effort to save the ship, a sneaker wave washed over the deck. The first mate saw it coming and threw Matthew out of its path. When Matthew picked himself off the ground he discovered that the man gave his life to save him.

“Run!” Matthew orders as he takes hold of Louise. The ground beneath Louise starts to give way as Matthew throws her toward a sturdier section of the floor. Matthew tries to follow her but is too late.

As the ground beneath him starts to disintegrate, Matthew dives forward in an effort to spread out his weight. As he does so, Matthew pulls out his knife and drives it into a floor joist that appears like it will be able to hold him.

Despite his best efforts, the ground beneath Matthew falls to the level below with a loud crash. The frenzied gassers beneath him all fall silent as they are crushed beneath the tons of debris.

Matthew coughs as a huge cloud of dust is kicked up by the collapse. At first, he thinks nothing of it but then he quickly realizes that his mask had fallen off at some point. Terrified, Matthew continues clinging to the handle of his knife that had held firm. His feet are dangling over the chasm below which is fortunately void of any gassers for the moment.

“Matthew!” Louise calls out worriedly from somewhere beyond the haze.

Coughing again, Matthew reasons that the air must not be dangerous to breathe anymore since he is still alive. Not even the dust cloud seemed to be too hazardous, which, again, Matthew reckons to be the case since he isn’t dead yet.

Well, I guess Jonas was breathing the air without a mask, Matthew thinks as he hangs on for dear life. After a few moments, Matthew works his way on top of the beam that had saved his life. Straddling the joist, Matthew coughs a few more times as he tries to blink away all the junk that had gotten into his eyes.

“Matthew!” Louise calls out once more.

“I’m here,” Matthew manages before he falls into another brief coughing fit.

“Are you alright?” Louise asks, her voice much nearer now.

“I don’t think I broke anything, if that’s what you’re asking,” Matthew sputters. He wrenches his knife out of the wooden beam he had lodge it into and then sinks it back into its sheath. Coughing once more, Matthew quickly works up the will to shimmy his way along the beam to safety.

“Where are you?” Louise calls into the cloud.

Still sliding up the beam, Matthew assures her, “I’m coming, don’t worry.”

As soon as he finished talking, Matthew emerges from the densest part of the cloud of dust. After a few more scooches Matthew can just make out Louise’s silhouette as she impatiently paces to-and-fro. He continues working his way closer to her until she stops and he is at her feet.

“You saved my life,” Louise whispers to Matthew as she helps him up. She spoke with a notable amount of awe in her voice, which Matthew finds odd.

Smiling, Matthew chuckles and returns, “Of course I did.”

“Thank you,” Louise nods. She cocks her head for a moment as she examines Matthew. After a few moments, she peels off her mask and smiles.

“I was thinking,” Alois announces, abruptly ending the moment Matthew and Louise were sharing. He takes a few steps toward them as he continues, “With all that new medical equipment, do you think that Marie lady and her people might be able to do something to save the gassers?”

“When we find her, you can ask her yourself,” Matthew assures Alois. He can’t help but worry about Marie’s wellbeing.

Groaning, Matthew rubs his eyes in an effort to get the grit out of them. When that doesn’t work, Matthew reaches behind him and fumbles around with his backpack until he gets a hold of his canteen. After blindly unscrewing the lid, Matthew proceeds to empty its contents into his eyes and all over his face.

“Feel better?” Alois asks as he gives Matthew a surprised half-grin.

Groaning, Matthew replies, “I’m not sure if better is the word.”

Louise looks around for a few moments before she announces, “Well, it looks like our only way out now is through the garage bay.”

“She’s right,” Alois confirms, “The ground between here and the stairwell we used is gone.”

“And we don’t want to drop back downstairs,” Matthew adds as several new gassers let out their blood-curdling cries. Frowning, Matthew looks to the garage’s double doors and reminds the twins, “Jonas said we can’t get out of the garage without his passcodes.”

Louise starts toward the door before she announces, “My bet is we don’t actually need those codes. We’re stealing a massive piece of military equipment here.”

Chuckling, Alois starts after his sister and reiterates her point to Matthew, “Translation: We’ll be able to shoot our way out.”

Matthew follows the twins to the doors and they all pause at the entrance long enough to check their weapons. Once they are sure that everyone is set, all burst through the double doors in unison, weapons raised.

The garage is slightly more updated than the first room Matthew and the twins had been in. Much of this portion of the complex appears to have been finished not too long ago. Unlike the first room, the garage has one solid roof that is lined with a mismatched assortment of lights.

The garage has one large shop floor where the bulk of its equipment is situated. Above the floor are several catwalks and raised platforms where people can work on larger equipment like the mechs from above.

Quite a few hoists, cables, and air hoses hang down from the ceiling giving the impression of vines hanging from trees in a jungle. Near the center of the garage is one massive mech surrounded by several smaller units. In many ways, the group of mechs reminds Matthew of a hen and her chicks.

Under normal circumstances, Mathew would be awestruck by the sight of so much equipment in one room. This garage had at least ten times more tools than Crail’s workshop ever did. The main issue, however, was the fact that the garage is just as filled with gassers that hadn’t yet taken notice of Matthew and the twins.

“Gassers!” Alois alerts the others as he opens fire. The moment Alois fires, all the gassers in the garage spin around and start charging them.

Matthew freezes for a moment as he tries to take a quick count of all the gassers. As far as he can tell, there are at least thirty gassers on the various catwalks and platforms that crisscross the second story of the large garage. Matthew peers over the ledge of the platform he is on and sees an untold number of hostiles racing about in an unnerving sea of humanity.

“We don’t have enough ammo to take them all on,” Louise warns after she neutralizes a handful of gassers in their immediate vicinity.

“Then what do we do?” Matthew demands as he unloads on a stream of hostiles that are coming up one of the few stairwells that reach the shop floor.

“We have to cut them off!” Louise shouts as she kicks a gasser that had gotten far too close.

Looking around once more, Matthew sees eight different stairwells scattered around the massive garage. Frowning, he announces, “I don’t know how we’re supposed to do that. A lot of the stairs are too far away to get to.”

“Then we’ll just have to blow the catwalks then,” Alois offers as he mows down a group of gassers that are approaching on a nearby footbridge. He expends the last of his mag on another group of gassers before quickly reloading. After finishing off that group, Alois informs the others, “I only have one more mag after this.”

“I’ve got two,” Louise reports.

Matthew takes a quick inventory of his munitions before sheepishly admitting, “I’ve got five.”

“Well, ammo isn’t quite a concern right now then,” Alois announces with a laugh.

“I see a computer console,” Louise says as she takes a step toward the unit. Looking back to Matthew and Alois she requests, “I need you two to cover me as I try to open the doors.”

“You’ve got it,” Alois affirms with a nod.

Matthew looks over to Louise for a moment as she turns on the computer terminal. Part of him wanted to watch her do her magic, but a gasser’s squawking pulls him back to his task at hand.

Spinning around, Matthew mows down a handful of his adversaries. With them attended to, Matthew opts for a new tactic and he fishes one of his few grenades from his pack. Three grenades, Matthew tells himself as he handles the first explosive.

Summoning his throwing skills from his years of retrieving fishing traps, Matthew throws his first grenade for all he was worth. Much to his satisfaction, he hits his mark and it comes to a rest at the top on the nearest staircase.

The gassers that are nearest where the grenade landed pause a moment to congregate around the grenade, seemingly curious as to what it was. Matthew cocks his head as he watches them. As near as he can tell, they appear to be conversing with one another.

“What’s happening?” Alois demands from behind Matthew as he stops shooting. After a brief pause, he reports, “They all stopped running.”

At a loss for words, Matthew stammers, “I—I think they’re communicating—"

Matthew is about to continue when his grenade explodes, sending every gasser in its immediate vicinity flying. The staircase buckles now that the upper portion had been so battered. A moment after the blast, the stairwell groans and collapses to the floor below.

Suddenly, all the gassers shriek in unison. Their cry is so loud that Matthew and the twins have to cover their ears. Then, as suddenly as their cry began, the gassers fall silent and resume their charge with a new fervor.

“Well, now they’re mad,” Alois declares as he prepares himself for the gassers’ next run at them.

Matthew throws his last two grenades at two of the remaining nearby stairwells. Matthew whistles to get Alois’s attention and then tosses two mags to him before he turns to Louise and demands, “Any idea how much longer you’ll be?”

Louise glances over her shoulder and calls back to Matthew loud enough to be heard over his gunfire, “I can’t get to the doors, but I think I can do something else to help us out.”

“Sooner rather than later please!” Alois chimes in.

Alois mutters something under his breath before turning his attention away from the gassers. Matthew and Louise glance over to him in time to see him open fire on the cables that are holding up one of the walkways he had been working to keep clear.

Alois lets off a handful of well-aimed rounds and a large portion of the catwalk breaks free. With a loud groan, the footbridge twists and buckles. It continues doing so for several seconds, sending the few gassers on it flying. Just before the last gasser falls off, the bridge breaks itself apart and showers down on top of the gasser below.

“That’ll work,” Matthew mutters barely loud enough for Alois to hear over the din. Matthew then nods appreciatively to Alois before turning back to the task before him.

“Just make sure you don’t knock out the one between us and the mecha!” Louise warns as she returns to her work.

Matthew and Alois continue knocking out catwalks for all they’re worth while simultaneously working to keep the gassers away. Once again, Matthew is thankful for his shooting skills that he got from his days on the fishing ship. Who would have thought a fisherman would be ready for war? Matthew thinks to himself as he chuckles.

“You’re a lot better of a shot than I am,” Alois congratulates Matthew after they had been shooting for a while.

“You can thank my father for that,” Matthew replies as he shoots one final cable on the last unneeded footbridge.

“I’ll be sure to do that,” Alois nods as he and Matthew both turn to cover the final remaining catwalk.

“How much longer for you?” Matthew asks Louise once again as he turns to her.

Louise is mouthing out words as she reads to herself and continues typing away. Matthew is about to repeat himself when she responds, “Just a minute…”

A crash sounds behind Matthew and he spins around in time to see that the last catwalk he had fired on had only fallen on one end. Much to his alarm, the end that had fallen and turned the small footbridge into a ramp. Even more alarming than that is the fact that the gassers have also taken note of their new route up.

“Guys, we’re in trouble!” Matthew calls as he opens fire.

“What do you me—” Alois starts before he turns and sees Matthew’s predicament. He and Matthew exchange startled looks before Alois shouts to his twin, “We need to go, and we need to go now.”

“Almost got it…” Louise mutters, mostly to herself.

“Do you have any more grenades?” Alois asks Matthew as he joins him at the top of the accidental ramp.

“No,” Matthew replies, his voice sounding hollow.

Matthew quickly glances behind himself for a moment to ensure that the catwalk leading to the large mech is clear. As he turns back to the ramp Matthew notices a large barrel of fuel. He pauses as his brain races and gives him a clever—albeit dangerous—plan.

“I need help over here,” Alois reminds Matthew who is still staring at the fuel cask.

Matthew turns around long enough to empty the rest of his mag into the oncoming gassers. With that done, Matthew drops his weapon and races over to the fuel drum. He unscrews a small cap on its top and peeks in. Smiling, Matthew takes a whiff of the fuel inside and notes that it is diesel.

Replacing the cap, Matthew topples the large cask and sends it rolling toward the ramp with one hard kick. Once the barrel is moving, Matthew calls out to Alois, “Move!”

Alois glances behind himself and quickly sidesteps away from the barrel’s path, kicking Matthew’s weapon out of the way as he does so. A moment later, the barrel rolls onto the ramp, mowing down every gasser in its way.

Matthew races over to the top of the ramp and rips Alois’s weapon from his hands. A moment later he opens fire on the diesel barrel and pops it full of holes. After firing several rounds there is finally a spark and the surrounding area is consumed in a roaring flame.

“Done!” Louise announces joyously as she spins around to face Matthew and Alois. She waits long enough for both the men to face her before continuing, “We have to get to the mecha—like right now.”

Matthew is about to argue when a gasser that is on fire starts climbing up the ramp. His eyes wide, Matthew promptly agrees, “Yep, time to go!”

“And here I didn’t think those guys could get any scarier…” Alois mutters, sounding completely dumbfounded. He takes back his weapon and lets off a few rounds into the nearest burning gasser. Shaking his head, Alois turns and follows Louise.

Matthew pulls up the rear as he drives his last remaining mag home. Shaking his head Matthew thinks, If we get out of here, I owe Louise big time.

“I’ve only got about ten rounds left,” Alois reports after checking his magazine.

“Here, take one of mine,” Louise volunteers as she hands him a mag.

Frowning, Matthew admits, “I just loaded my last one as well.”

“You need it more than I do since you’re pulling up the rear,” Alois says as he passes Louise’s mag back to Matthew.

“So, what’s the rush?” Matthew calls up the line to Louise who seems to be in quite a hurry.

Glancing over her shoulder, Louise replies, “I set things up so the welding and cutting equipment will explode. If we’re lucky, the fuel tanks will also catch fire and blow.”

“If we’re lucky?” Matthew inquires, missing how being caught in an explosion made them lucky.

Nodding, Louise continues onward and informs Matthew of her desired end goal, “The explosion and ensuing fires should kill a lot of the gassers.”

“And what about us?” Matthew asks, knowing that he must be missing something.

“We’ll hide in the mech,” Alois answers on Louise’s behalf, “It’s made for war, so a little fiery explosion shouldn’t hurt us if we’re inside.”

“And if we don’t make it there in time?” Matthew prods as they all stop long enough to mow down a small group of gassers that are standing between them and their mech.

“Then we’re dead anyways,” Alois argues. He fixes his rifle to his pack before declaring, “I’m flat out of ammo.”

“I’m on my last mag now,” Louise adds as she reloads her weapon.

“I can’t spare anything!” Matthew shouts as he spins around and opens fire on the horde of gassers behind them.

By now, the diesel fire Matthew had started has died down to the point that gassers can pass through and not be consumed by fire. The gassers seem to be making the most of this opportunity and they are charging with all they have.

“Cut them off!” Louise calls as she races on ahead. Matthew glances over his shoulder and he sees that Louise had stopped beside the largest mech. As soon as she stops, she starts shooting the cables on the catwalk ahead of her.

Matthew takes in the mech now that he is a lot closer, and he can’t help but admire it. Between the unit’s massive scale—standing nearly 12 meters high—and the apparent attention to detail, the mech looks like a work of art.

However, said work of art is clearly meant for destruction. While the mech has two arms and walks on two legs like a human, that is about where the similarities stop.

The unit doesn’t have a head, instead, it has a large torso that appears to have a cockpit built into it. The mech’s arms have two very large cannons where its hands ought to have been which really makes it look like a war machine.

At the mech’s shoulders there appear to be two mortar-looking attachments. Matthew also notes that there are two smaller machineguns near the mortars that appear to be able to swivel. Unfortunately, the mech’s roof appears to be flat and void of any weapons which piques Matthew’s interest. Matthew lets out an impressed whistle as he imagines the machine storming into battle.

“Not bad…” Matthew whispers to himself.

Matthew looks at a large insect that is emblazoned on the side of the mech’s hull. The bug’s rear end is glowing on odd burnt orange, which Matthew finds odd. Beneath the critter, there’s a word that reads Firefly. The orange color from the bug’s butt is accentuated by some tasteful coloring that decorates the mech’s exterior.

“She’s a beauty!” Alois declares happily.

Nodding in agreement, Matthew tears his eyes away from the mech and agrees, “Yeah,”

“We have to cut them off!” Louise impatiently repeats herself.

“You heard her, Mudskipper,” Alois nods to Matthew reassuringly, pulling him back to the here and now. Matthew watches as Alois races over to his Louise and the mech.

Not wanting to waste any time, Matthew starts running down the catwalk after Alois. As he runs, Matthew shoots each cable as he passes it. After blasting holes through several cables, the lines fray and the footbridge begins to rumble and warp. Satisfied, Matthew stops shooting and he joins the twins at the mech.

“So, what are we waiting for? Why don’t we hop in?” Matthew queries as he looks down at the gassers below that now appear almost ravenous. A bile-like taste rises in the back of Matthew’s throat as he looks on to the gassers with a sense of disdain and fear.

Opening up a small panel beside the entrance hatch to the mech’s cockpit, Louise explains, “We’re locked out for the time being. It’s a safety protocol to make sure the mech isn’t stolen or broken into.”

“Well, we know it’s possible since someone else did it before they brought down that troop transport,” Matthew affirms as he scans their surroundings. After a short while, his eyes fall on a collection of canisters near the mech. Hoping he is mistaking, Matthew asks Alois, “Is that what I think it is?”

Alois follows his gaze and frowns in concern as his eyes lock onto the assortment of welding gear. After a short pause, Alois affirms, “It sure is.”

Turning around, Matthew stoops down next to Louise and in a low whisper, he asks, “Exactly how much time did you give us, Louise?”

“Enough,” Louise replies simply before she reaches over and clamps Matthew’s lips shut with her fingers.

“Hm,” Matthew lets out a thoughtful, albeit surprised, hum as he looks down to Louise’s fingers. Pulling away from her grasp, Matthew stands and then states, “I get it. Shut up.”

“Mhmm,” Louise grunts in reply as she returns to her work.

“She didn’t happen to tell you how long she gave us, did she?” Matthew asks Alois.

“Shh!” Louise demands impatiently.

A little touchy, isn’t she? Matthew thinks to himself with a chuckle. He stares ahead blankly as he allows his mind to wander for the first time since he arrived on Allegra.

Louise sure reminds me of Dix. She’s just as strong-headed… volatile too. Matthew muses as a slight smile stretches across his face. He looks upwards as he follows the train of thought, I wonder how Dix is doing right about now. Forget that, I wonder how everyone is doing back home. Between all of us who were taken, that’s a good amount of jobs being left undone.

“That’s it,” Louise announces proudly as she steps back from her work. A hum sounds from within the mech and the entrance hatch slowly eases open. Louise nods to Mathew and Alois before stepping through the hatch and into the mech. After a very brief moment, she sticks her head back out and advises, “You two better come in here.”

“Is something wrong?” Matthew asks as he ducks through the small hatch.

When Matthew climbs into the mech’s cockpit, he is pleasantly surprised. The interior of the unit is a lot larger than he expected. Chuckling, he finds it rather spacious and slightly luxurious as well. A few large structural supports jut out from the mech’s exterior hull into the cockpit area, taking away from the otherwise open layout in the cockpit.

The cockpit’s four seats are all matching black leather with tasteful orange stitching. The same burnt orange color is carried over on various decals throughout the interior and Matthew can’t help but admire the design.

The seats in the cockpit are situated in pairs with three stairs leading down to the lowest two that appear to be reserved to the pilot and copilot at the nose of the mech. The upper two seats have a little more wiggle room around them and they are surrounded by various gauges and consoles. Shrugging, Matthew figures these seats must be for the gunners.

“I gotta ask,” Matthew sounds in an effort to get the twins’ attention. They both look over and Matthew queries, “What’s up with the roof? Why’s it flat?”

“It’s flat so shuttles can land on it,” Louise replies dismissively before she takes a seat in one of the chairs at the front of the cockpit.

“Really?” Matthew asks as he gives Louise a curious look. He is unsure how a ship could land on top of a comparatively small machine like the mech without crushing it.

“Sure,” Alois affirms before he sits in one of the chairs at the back of the cockpit. He swivels his chair around and starts rattling away on one of the consoles.

Before Matthew has the time to say anything else, the twins both start laughing. Matthew looks over to Louise now feeling thoroughly confused and left out.

“I’m kidding, Mudskipper,” Louise admits after composing herself. Louise sees that Matthew can’t make heads or tails of what’s going on so she goes on to explain, “The top is flat because this mecha must not be meant for the real fighting. Generally, the frontline units have some sort of huge armament up there. Odds are this one’s roof is supposed to be used to transport stuff or something like that.”

“Now that makes a lot more sense,” Matthew laughs now understanding what the joke had been.

“If you look over there you can see all that empty area in the wall,” Alois adds as he points to a spot beside the other gunner station, “That’s where all the guts and tech for the bigger gun usually goes.

“Thank you,” Matthew nods appreciatively, happy that the twins are filling him in on even more stuff that he previously had no idea about. Despite their help, Matthew has a feeling that the twins would continue making his learning process rather difficult for as long as they could.

“Alright, come on up here and take a seat, Mudskipper,” Louise invites Matthew as she points to the chair on her right.

“You don’t expect me to drive this thing, do you?” Matthew inquires as he takes his seat.

“Of course not,” Louise replies cheerfully, “You’re of more use to me if you’re shooting bad guys. Anyone who can shoot so well that Alois compliments them belongs in the gunner’s seat.”

Cocking his head, Matthew looks over to Louise and inquires, “Then why am I sitting up here?”

“For the light show,” Louise smiles before pointing out the cockpit window.

“I am not going to miss any of those gassers,” Alois announces confidently as he takes a seat on the stairs between Matthew and Louise.

Louise looks out to the garage just beyond the cockpit window and stares blankly for a moment. Smiling slightly, she then counts down on her fingers as she says “Three… two… one…”

A moment after Louise hits one, the world beyond the mech seemingly catches fire. It all starts with a handful of small explosions scattered throughout the garage, but the flames quickly spread. Countless vehicles burst into flames as their fuel tanks rupture and shoot out geysers of fire. Shortly after that, several large storage vats also catch fire and Matthew has to briefly look away as the flames grow surprisingly bright.

“Well, I think that’ll take care of all the gassers,” Louise eventually acknowledges, her surprise evident in her voice.

“That was a lot more fire than I expected,” Matthew declares as the fires die down to the point that he can look outside once more.

The flames beyond the mech’s cockpit window are still towering high. If Matthew didn’t know any better, he would think that the garage was only one story tall, since he can’t even see the actual ground floor through the towering flames.

The ceiling above the mech has given way allowing the think smoke from the fires to escape. Every so often, Matthew thinks he can just make out a glimpse of the blue sky above through the dense smoke, but he can’t tell for sure.

Louise flicks a few switches as she looks outside before she mutters something to herself. After several attempts, she announces in a flat voice, “Well, I think we’re stuck here for the time being. I can’t get this thing moving.”

“Let’s rest up then,” Alois recommends, “No need to waste any energy if we can’t do anything.”

“Agreed,” Louise nods before she flips a switch that causes several electric motors to start humming. A moment later, several thick steel shades emerge from the hull around the cockpit window and they slowly close, blocking out the light from the outside world. Once the large plates finish moving, Louise informs Matthew and Alois, “I’m shutting off battery power now. I’ll turn it back on when we wake up.”

“Will we be safe in here?” Matthew asks as he looks around the dark compartment around him. He can’t see anything; much less be able to defend himself if there was anything dangerous in here.

“Perfectly safe,” Alois assures Matthew, “Nothing in here can get through the armor on this mecha.”

“When I wake up, I’ll check to see if it’s safe for us to leave the mecha,” Louise volunteers, “If the fires have died down, and if there aren’t any gassers out and about, then I’ll get the reactors fired up too.”

“Then we’re home free,” Alois finishes, a smile in his voice. He takes a sharp breath and there is some shuffling before he grunts from somewhere behind Matthew. Alois sighs before whispering, “I’m beat.”

“Sleep tight,” Louise sounds from her seat. A few moments later, her breathing slows down considerably and it falls into a peaceful rhythm. Behind her and Matthew, Alois is now snoring softly as he sleeps as well.

Well, I doubt I’ll ever be able to fall asleep that quick, Matthew thinks to himself with a chuckle. Shaking his head Matthew finds a more comfortable position in the large seat he is in and tries to clear his mind so he can sleep.

Three

The Bulwark, Allegra

“Up and at ‘em boys!” Louise calls cheerfully.

Matthew sits bolt upright, which isn’t saying much since the chair he is slept in didn’t allow him to recline. Regardless, Matthew is awake now, and he squints as he tries to see anything in the dark cockpit.

As Matthew looks around, Louise flips a switch and the steel shades over the cockpit window recede, bathing Matthew in the bright Allegrian afternoon sun. Matthew winces at the harsh and sudden light before he raises a hand to try and keep the sun out of his eyes.

“How long were we out?” Matthew groans as he stands from his seat. Stretching, Matthew realizes how stiff his back is, and he swears to himself that he will never sleep in that same position ever again.

“Five hours,” Alois reports from behind Matthew.

Matthew turns and sees that Alois had sprawled out in the open area between the two gunner seats. Chuckling, Matthew can’t help but feel jealous of the man’s sleeping arrangement. Matthew turns and sees that Louise is already partially covered in grease and she gives him a curious look after he had been staring for a few too many seconds.

“I got the reactor fired back up while you two slept,” Louise announces as she turns away from Matthew and takes her seat. Facing the cockpit window, she flips a few more switches and the mech shifts slightly. Nodding approvingly, Louise adds, “Everything seems to be in order.”

“So, we’re all set?” Matthew asks as he takes a hold of his chair to stabilize himself as the mech moves once more.

“The mecha is ready to walk,” Louise replies with a nod. Glancing back to Alois, Louise asks, “Are we ready to shoot?”

“I’m reading full ammo on all weapons,” Alois reports from his seat, “I guess whoever stole this baby must have not needed to shoot anything.”

“That’s a yes,” Louise chuckles before she looks over to Matthew. She nods toward his chair and he quickly takes a seat.

Matthew looks out to the charred world beyond and he shudders slightly as he remembers how many gassers had been out there just a few hours ago. Now all that remained of them was blackened concrete and ash. Looking to the walls of the garage, Matthew asks what he thinks is the obvious question, “So, how are we going to get out of here? The walls are all still up.”

“Let’s see,” Louise replies as she looks back to her brother. Chuckling, she passes along Matthew’s inquiry, “Alois, should we walk through them, or blow them up?”

“As much as I’d like to shoot our way out of this one, let’s save our ammo,” Alois responds, sounding slightly distraught with his answer.

“Alright, strap in, this’ll be a rough ride!” Louise warns before she takes a hold of the controls before her and drives the mech forward at full speed.

Matthew takes a hold of the various straps that make up his harness and he hurriedly straps them into place. Without a moment to spare, the mech smashes through one of the garage’s walls and emerges on the other side seemingly unphased. Rubble and dust rain down on the mech as Louise eases off the controls and they slow to a stop.

Matthew looks down to his harness that he is gripping so tight that his knuckles have turned white. He slowly releases the harness before he asks, “What about the other mechs in there?”

“I doubt they’ll be going anywhere any time soon,” Louise replies sadly, “I checked them out before you two woke up. The fire seems to have permanently taken them out of commission.”

“I take it they weren’t run dry after all?” Alois inquires.

“I guess not,” Louise affirms, “They had enough fuel left in them that they caught fire. A few of them seem to have exploded as well.”

Sighing, Alois offers, “Well, at least we got one.”

“But we still don’t know who brought the shuttle down,” Matthew points out as he frowns. He had promised, or more accurately be coerced into pledging that he would hunt down the guilty party. Now he had the stolen mech but not Wyndover’s revenge.

“And the Toaz’s healer Marie is still unaccounted for,” Alois adds from his seat.

“Well, I got good news for the two of you,” Louise announces as she drives the mech forward at a leisurely pace. After the mech had taken a few steps, Louise continues, “First off, the computer I accessed said that Marie was being held in the Fulcrum bunker. They had a couple of injuries last night when they stole this thing and they needed her to take care of their people.”

“That’ll make things difficult,” Matthew mutters to himself as he wonders just how many people would have to be killed in order to free Marie. After a few moments of thought, Matthew realizes that he isn’t even sure if he can make it through the front door of the bunker Marie is supposed to be in.

“As for the ones who took the troop transport down,” Louise starts as she reaches over to a nearby keyboard and types away. She is surprisingly good at typing as the mech jostles everyone with each step. After a few moments, a small screen flashes to life, drawing everyone’s attention. Louise taps a few more keys before an image with five people fills the screen. Nodding slowly, Louise announces, “Those are you killers.”

“Five of them?” Matthew asks as his voice squeaks. Hunting down one person was one thing, a whole group of people was entirely another. Swallowing a lump in his throat, Matthew can’t help but feel like he had bitten off more than he could chew.

“Three actually,” Alois amends as he joins Matthew and Louise at the front of the cockpit. Pointing as best he can at two people on the screen, Alois explains, “I know for sure that those two were gassers we killed.”

“So, there’s a chance we already got all of them?” Matthew inquires as he examines the faces of the remaining three strangers.

“No, I saw those two walking around before we left the Bulwark,” Louise shakes her head as she points at two of the on-screen figures.

Matthew scans the outside world as the idea of hunting down three more people starts to set in. Not only would these people likely be living, breathing, fully human targets, but they would likely know that Matthew and the twins are onto them.

That meant they would be doing their best to survive.

They’d try to cling to life no matter what.

And then Matthew would come in just to kill them.

“Well, I’m starving,” Alois declares as the mech continues waddling toward the Bulwark. He slips behind Matthew once more and reemerges with three packets of food. He drops a packet in Louise’s and Matthew’s laps before tearing open his own.

Matthew looks down at his ration and grimaces. Thanks to the idea of hunting down several people, Matthew had no desire to eat. A bitter taste rises in the back of his throat as he imagines throwing up if he tried to force the food down.

Knowing that the twins would try to make him eat if he made a fuss, Matthew quietly tucks his packet between his seat and the control panel. He has no intention of feasting while the idea of killing humans filled his mind.

Matthew looks out ahead of the mech to the Bulwark trying to get his mind off of the notion of hunting humans. The sight before him only serves to further churn his stomach.

Columns of smoke are rising all across the Bulwark. Matthew can just make out the forms of several dozen bodies all around the nearest trenches.

Fires are glowing red as far as Matthew can see going up and down the trench lines. In the distance, Matthew can see explosions going off, far from the Bulwark as the handful of friendly artillery positions finally return fire on the Beets.

The Beetles had evidentially not made a move beyond the gasser artillery strikes several hours ago. That being said, from Matthew’s vantage point, the Beets seem to have dealt a huge blow to the Mudders today.

“I hope Rav’ian and Marie are alright,” Matthew whispers to himself before uttering a quick prayer on their behaves.

DESPERATE PLEA!

Thank you for exploring the future alongside me!

I’d love to hear what you think about my book!

Not only that, I need to hear what you thought about it too! Authors like me depend on reviews to help other readers find our books!

Please drop an honest review of what you thought about it on Amazon or Goodreads!

https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?&asin=B086RTCX5Y

Thank you so much!

Caleb Fast

The Story Continues,

Now that they have the mech, Firefly, will Matthew and the twins manage to avenge the killing of Wyndover’s friend?

Will they be able to save Marie?

Read on the see what happens in the war for Allegra!

The Battle for Allegra Episode Six:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GQ52LC7

Other Books By Caleb Fast

The Battle for Allegra Series:

Season One:

Conscripted (1)

First Kill (2)

The Hunt (3)

Relegated (4)

Retrieval (5)

Sanctuary (6)

Secured (7)

Harborage (8)

Revelations (9)

Promotion (10)

Season Two:

Awakening (11)

Arrival (12)

Dawn (13)

The Limit of Infinity Series:

Renaissance: The Limit of Infinity

Escapade: A Price to Be Paid

Overcomer: No Man Left Behind

Wayward: Long Way from Home