Chapter 22

As Sukuto and the others proceeded through the tunnel, there was no sound, save for the steady walk of the two feline Zoids and the soft hum of their electrical systems. The journey seemed to be a funeral march more than anything else.

This lack of sound was ended with a voice crackling over the intercom. “Rebirth, this is Yidneo Control Tower, Gamma Section. You’re now on the gravity-tram. Please shut down all weapon systems and do not move. The gravity-tram will take you to Docking Bay 17’s emergency station for repairs and debriefing. Once you are there, do not leave the area. Rebirth, confirm command.”

“Who the hell’s this ‘Rebirth’?” Hikari demanded. “I’m not in any mood to sit still any longer!”

“I was about to ask the same thing,” responded Kyoto-san. “Oi, Sukuto, what’s up with your alias? Weird-ass name, if you ask me.”

Sukuto ignored Kyoto-san and turned on the transceiver. “Acknowledged, Gamma. Awaiting gravity-tram’s activation.”

His voice was unnaturally cold, as if he shut himself from the world. However, Hikari knew that he was just in deep thought. But what he was so concerned about, she did not know. It was so strange, though. What could get Sukuto to change his mood so suddenly? Was he reverting to the Sukuto she knew when she first met him?

Both of them were jerked back into reality when the ground beneath them shook and rose up. It took everyone but Misaki a few moments to realize that they were actually moving forward as well. She had Crystal Tiger gently lower Twilight Liger down onto the now glowing surface of the gravity-tram, and their black-clad companion soon followed suit.

Soon, they were racing forward at an incredible pace, covering distance faster than any of their Zoids could, and especially with Twilight Liger in tow. The red lights became a blur, their illumination blending in with the walls, changing their color from black to a deep blood-red.

As the group turned forward, they exited the tunnel, and were now inside a transparent orange-tinted tube-like structure, which was suspended a hundred feet from what seemed to be tall artificial pinnacles. On closer inspection, Sukuto realized that the pinnacles were actually enormous skyscrapers, shooting from the earth into the sky.

There was one thing that he didn’t understand, though. If they were previously in a tunnel, then how were they traveling above skyscrapers? It didn’t make any sense, until he looked up.

This city, Bureiku, was in a giant crater about thirteen miles in diameter and apparently about a mile below the actual planet’s surface. The upper part of the hole was covered by a luminescent dome-shaped structure, which shined light into the entire city. Remembering the crystals that he saw in the tunnel earlier, Sukuto came to the conclusion that this civilization lived off the minerals in the earth. Regardless of their methods though, they were an extremely advanced people, even by Zi-Omega’s standards.

He noticed that there were numerous other tube-like structures throughout the city, all leading to different places, but they came from the same place: a giant pillar in the center of the crater that touched the dome itself. It was gloss black in color, contrasting greatly with the buildings around it, which seemed to be regular polished steel. The tubes linked up to this monolith of a structure, like a Zoid’s wiring to its Zoid Core.

The entire group then felt a sense of weightlessness, and it took them a second to realize that they were dropping straight down, and fast. Both Sukuto and Hikari panicked, but the three machines landed safely at the gravity-tram’s exit.

“What the hell was that about?” both of them exclaimed in unison. “We almost got killed with that thing!”

Misaki turned her intercom on and started to speak. “The gravity-tram always does that kind of drop. It may seem that you were free-falling, but you were on a solid surface all the way down here. Let’s go, the recovery team should be up ahead.”

Before they could take a step, however, three Gustavs with docking bays drove up in front of them. Unlike the regular transport Zoids that Hikari and Sukuto were used to, these were orange, with a black shell. On that, they had the letters “ERQuT” emblazoned in red on their armor.

“This is the Bureiku Emergency Response and Quarantine Team,” a male artificial voice called.  “Please, put your Zoids on the docking bays and we will bring you to the designated rendezvous point.”

Kyoto shrugged, and the two felines picked up Twilight Liger and laid it on the center Gustav’s docking bay. After they ensured that it was safely secured, Misaki and Kyoto-san had Shiva and Aishou (respectively), hop onto the other two docking bays and rest.

The Gustavs drove ahead, heading for what seemed to be a giant hanger/garage, but that wasn’t what caught Sukuto’s attention. What he saw in front of the building’s entrance, however, was a different story.

A pair of very familiar looking Zoids blocked their path into the building. He had only seen the larger Armadillo-type once before, but Sukuto immediately recognized it when he saw the 300mm Gatling Cannon on its back. The second looked similar to a Federation Rev Raptor, but heavily modified; so much, in fact, that it was hard to even consider it a custom.

“Is that who I think it is?” Hikari asked pointedly. “Could it be…no, it’s not possible? How could they catch up to us so fast without traveling through the desert’s surface?”

But the intercom window that opened up proved her thoughts to be true. Pablo’s face popped on and grinned.

“Where the hell did you guys disappear to? We’ve been looking for you everywhere in Bureiku!” he exclaimed.