MTLNOVEL Chapter 7: Interstellar Police
"Come with us and we'll make this quick," Fiona ordered, walking closer and closer until the gun was pressed against Astra's sunburnt back. "You reek—"
"Just hard work–" Astra quipped calmly, "Nothing you interstellar's would know about—"
Her words were interrupted by a swift kick to her feet, sending her colliding to the ground on her side, Eliot grabbed Yu and Takashi ran up to the mech to search its insides.
"You have no right to talk to me that way, abnormal!" She barked, shoving the gun against Astra's jaw as she kept her body below her knee.
"The cannons are completely gone, and the tech is nowhere to be seen!" Takashi reported looking out of the hatch to Fiona, who dug the gun deeper into Astra's face.
"Can it fly?" Elliot pondered,
"Its thrusters are still here so I assume so–" Takashi scratched his head, confused by the differences made to the machine.
"Typical— they have no idea of machine work–" The young technician muttered.
[Danger! Danger! Warning!]
'I get that, they're already here!' she snapped within her mind, watching as the screen popped up before her anyway.
[Sand worms approaching at dangerously high speeds!]]
Her heart started to race at the news, eyes quickly shooting up to Fiona who watched Takashi raid her stolen mech.
"Hey! Listen- we have to get out of here–" Before she could even finish her plea, the ground below them started to sink in, the cold metals of the mech started to follow, slowly leaning into the sand pit.
Takashi rolled around within the mech, his back slamming against the wall, ultimately knocking him out, while both Astra and Fiona struggled with one another despite slowly sinking deeper within the sand trap.
Fiona's grip on her slowly loosened, the young technician's foot pushing against the officer's face for leverage, but almost as though it was muscle memory, Fiona's hands wrapped around her ankle making it impossible for her to go anywhere.
"Let go of me you bitch!" She shouted, shaking her leg in the desperate hope to get Fiona's grip off her but the attempt was for nothing.
"Fiona! Are you doing alright?!" Elliot shouted down the pit, Yu slipping out of his grasps and diving in for his partner.
"Elliot, the mech!" Fiona shouted in hopes he could hear, the clumsy officer quickly making his way to the controls paying no mind to Takashi who remained unconscious in the cockpit.
"Alright.. Come on come on—" He muttered to himself, his eyes darting to each and every button, not knowing what to do.
Yu dives into Fiona's face, causing her grip to loosen and allowing Astra to break free. She wasted no time once Fiona's grip loosened. She twisted her body and shoved the officer backward, sending her sliding down the unstable sand slope. Yu landed between them, growling protectively, but Astra scrambled to her feet, ignoring the pain from her bruises.
"Damn it—" Fiona hitched, grabbing her gun from her belt of Ip tech and shooting at the abnormal with narrowly missing shots.
"I need to check out those guns sometime—" Astra muttered more so a note to herself. narrowly avoiding the cyan beams that would burn the sand wall she desperately clung to.
[NOTICE!]
[Analyzing IP Nova firearms!]
"Or that–" She says with a surprised tone,
Yu flew up once more to her aid, the tiny robot nestling itself under Astra's arms, though its movements were unsteady, it held its own enough for Astra to barely swing into the cockpit, pushing Elliot aside.
Elliot yelped as Astra shoved him aside, nearly tumbling out of the cockpit. "What the hell are you doing?! This isn't your mech!"
"It is now," Astra shot back, her fingers already dancing over the controls. She grimaced at the unfamiliar interface, her mind racing to decipher its functions.
Fiona scrambled up the sand slope, cyan beams blazing from her firearm as she fired relentlessly at the cockpit. "Elliot! Stop her! Don't let her take it!"
Elliot hesitated, torn between loyalty and the undeniable chaos unraveling around them. "I don't even know how to—"
"Then get out of the way!" Astra snapped, slamming a lever forward. The mech lurched, its thrusters sputtering to life with a deafening roar. Sand and debris blasted outward, forcing Fiona to shield her face.
[NOTICE!]
[Emergency thruster override engaged. Stabilization at 62%.]
Though it was too late, the sand worm reared its head to the sunny morning sky, the sheer force of its sudden appearance causing Fiona to fly uncontrollably into the sky, right above the mouth of the giant beast.
"Fiona!" Elliot cried out as he watched the event take place from the mech slowly ascending past the sandworm's apex.
Fiona narrowly avoided the mouth of the beast, her hands clinging to one of the hairs attached to its rubbery body, the gun slipping from her grasp.
"There goes my paycheck–" she muttered, her head snapping up as she heard the roar from the beast of the sand.
"We have to go and save her!" Elliot demanded, tugging at Astra's shoulder urgently, only to have his grip slip when she pulled away.
"No way! You guys ambushed me! Count yourself lucky at least you two make it out alive!" She argued, though her answer didn't sit well with him.
No way!" she snapped, her voice colder than ever. "You guys ambushed me! Count yourself lucky that at least you two make it out alive!"
Elliot's fists clenched at his sides, his face contorted with frustration. Without a second thought, he leapt out of the cockpit, the wind whipping against his face as he descended toward Fiona.
What am I doing? The thought flickered across his mind as the ground raced toward him. He wasn't sure if it was loyalty or instinct that drove him. He only knew he couldn't leave her behind.
"What is that idiot doing—" Fiona muttered to herself, watching as he pulled out a knife from his belt, and with a fierce determined gaze beyond his glasses, he dug into the beast's skin, tearing the skin as he slid down the side of the monster, his hair thrashing from the gusting winds.
"Hold on a little longer!" He shouted, his hand reaching out to take hers, pulling her with him as they both descended. The sound of ripping and tearing filled the air as both of them slid down further and further as the ground got closer and closer.
"Jump!" He instructed, both of them jumping and rolling against the hot sand. Sand and debris getting caught between their uniforms.
"Where's Takashi?" Fiona asked as she dusted herself off, following Elliot's gaze to the mech flying overhead.
She clicked her tongue in annoyance, bringing the back of her wrist to her lips as she spoke. "Backup needed! I repeat, backup needed! We've spotted the abnormal, she's about to take off. I'll send the coordinates!"
"Alright Yu, let's get off this planet—" Astra declared, typing in a target to blast off to, only to be interrupted by Takashi who wrapped his arms around her neck, strapping her to the chair.
"Not on my watch you bastard!" He roared. Watching through squinted eyes as Astra's arms fight against his grasp in some hope that he'd let go.
[Warning!]
[Body's oxygen is critically low!]
[Notice!]
[Producing Noradrenaline for better focus!]
Astra's panicked response came to a halt as she reached for the hatch button, quickly strapping herself as Takashi struggled to hold on.
Yuzu runs into the officer until his grasp slips. Giving Astra a heavy breath of relief.
Gusts of wind pass Takashi's flailing body as he plummets to the earth, only to fall on a hard iron surface midfall causing him to grunt in pain.
"Are you alive, soldier?" Seraphine asked, her gaze fixated on the mech even as she descended to the earth.
"Breathing…" Takashi reassured as he slowly slid down. Watching as the other mechs fly after Astra.
"Don't let that anomaly past the stratosphere!" She demanded, before turning to the other three. "You three did well, your mechs will be arriving any minute now, join as soon as you can!"
"Yes ma'am!" They all said in unison, watching as she flew after the anomaly.