POOOOOUUUUUUUFFFFFFF!!!
Nolan, George and Stone drank in the sight and the change of dark scenery to light made it feel like they were in some ride at a carnival.
"Hey, why are they running?"
Stone gave Nolan a snide look. "Guess, genius."
"Peons."
"Shut up, they are with me."
Stone scowled at that and Nolan gloated at him as George looked impassive.
Peter watched as Batch 4 ran in circles and even bumped into each other like an army of ants scattered at the stomping of cruel feet and he did not know how to appease them. He could imagine the shock on their faces, remembering that the had been stationed outside where nothing had happened. Then, all of a sudden, the head of a predator emerged from the sands and dwarfed anything they had ever seen in their short, meager lives.
George said something that reminded Peter the boy was more than his size. "Good thinking, anything you do will make them afraid anyway."
He then remembered the boy also had a chip outside of his augmented physique and nodded in agreement. "Yeah."
Nolan's expression fell as he saw that this would out the at the mercy of whoever found them. "It's sad though."
"Emotional wuss." Stone, as usual, expressed contempt at anything Nolan did.
Nolan was quick on his comeback, though. "Suck it."
"You dumba-"
Peter mused and pictured Tumunomi Escaver laughing in this situation. Then he stopped moving the Mecha Soldier which was now mostly buried in the dirt. Meaning that, Batch 4 was now scattered to the 4 winds as approaching them would make him seem like an enemy.
So, after they all slept a good while with some of them taking watches, Peter spent the rest of the day trying to get accustomed to the abilities and the controls.
Normally, it moved at 50 meters an hour.
*Breath Of Fire* left the sand burned so hot it directly turned to glass for half a minute of spray.
If he used the jump by springing up after coiling himself, the Mecha Soldier reached 25 meters at normal output. 40 meters was if it was enhanced.
He had nothing to test the other abilities on and spent his time defending his territory which he marked by evenly spreading out all 110 m of itself so that it seemed to be eating its own tail. Then, the 4 passengers descended it to make a campfire around it as they ate food they had brought in from Spencer's School. It was early morning now and they all just ate as their had their filling of sleep.
"So, what's your plan?"
"Me?" Peter had been treated weirdly by Geroge after beating him in a fair fight. "Well, I want to meet up with my Teammates but the issue of Jin has not yet been resolved."
"True," Nolan almost sounded sad to Peter's ears. "That would be… fun."
Stone spat into the sand. "Traitor!"
"You won't understand."
"What is there not to under-"
BOOOM!!!
A vibration passed through the ground and they all shot to their feet. Food scatterd to the ground as wind reached their faces in a rush.
Peter was already running forward with George close behind, Nolan next and Stone last.
"Slow poke."
"Weak mind."
"Snail."
"Traitor."
"Stup-"
The peaceful night had been disrupted and they all scrambled through the tail and ran for 100 meters before reaching the cockpit and Peter stepped into the main seat as the Primary driver, George was in the Secondary Controller with Nolan and Stone in the Tertiary.
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The Snake head revved to life and then faced the direction of the blast before racing to one of the four dunes Peter had left not turned to glass for the case of surveying. And when he reached there, he was met with complete silence.
They all sighed as they came down and sat down, recreating their bonfire.
"We were too late." Peter almost pouted.
George looked like he was on the verge of tears. "Imagine if it was a battle between Mecha Soldiers."
Even Nolan was feeling melancholic. "All that wasted food."
Stone snorted at Nolan. "Is that all you think about?"
Of course, they were not stupid enough to actually return to where they had come from. And half an hour later they were rewarded with a sight. It took a while to notice at first, but there was something buzzing at the barest minimum.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
"Do you hear that?"
"Yeah."
Nolan and Stone looked at each other in confusion and Peter understood because their bodies were not augmented.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Then, pointing Peter shouted, "look."
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
There in the sky, was a Mecha Soldier above the clouds that seemed to have stopped in the skies almost as if in observation or waiting. Anyways, more excitingly, something like a rolling tire emerged from the ground and shot itself towards the sky, rolling as it did so. Only the Cyborgs could tell that it was a Soider Mecha Soldier. The Insect Mecha Soldier had dodged the attack and then they saw tentacles that shot out from the ground, their eyes now bulging in ecstasy.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
A blob of liquid missed the Insect Mecha Soldier and the Spider Mecha Soldier as they all battled till the morning. And just when things were raging, Peter and George snapped around on the spot at the same time and ran back into their Mecha Soldier.
"Come with me!"
The two had had to drag Nolan and Stone as they ran back into their own Mecha Soldier.
"What is wrong!"
"For once in his life, he makes sense."
They were now at the tail together.
"We need to run!"
"No," Geore countered, "we need to fight!"
"Information is a weapon!"
"Fists are a weapon!"
"There is a time for everything!"
George smacked his forehead as he was making laps ahead of his subordinate and Peter's as well.
"Whatever!"
Nolan and Stone still looked at each other in askance.
"Hey what is happening though?"
"Can we at least know?"
"There is a Mecha Soldier approaching us." George looked over his shoulder as he ran faster than his blk should have accommodated. "And our leader believes that we should run."
"Oh, that's wise."
"No, you idiot that is stupid."
"How do you even think inside that skull of yo-"
They reached the cockpit about a minute later and got into their positions.
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George rolled his eyes. "Is this going to happen all the time?"
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"Hopefully not," Peter shared his sentiment.
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"Agreed."
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And just because Nolan had spoken last, Stone did not say anything.
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The team then quickly slithered into the same hole they had emerged from when they had first discovered the Mecha Soldier they were riding and then disappeared into it.
"Where is the sense in this?"
"Just trust me."
Now, they could not move out because to switch it on will give it heat signals, and Peter knew because it was an option when he was in the cockpit. So, blind and hibernated they waited in that position as if they left it, Hyol's center of gravity would make them fall on their heads because they were upside down.
"So, we will just wait until it passes?"
"Yes."
Silence.
"Hey, Nolan, between you and a rock which do you think is a king?"
"Hey, Stone, between you and stupidity who do you think is a god?"
"Hey, N-"
"Stone, one more word. Just one."
George needed to vent, so his superior's warning cut him off.
"Hey, Peter, I still think this is d-"
"OKAY! OKAY! 3 more encounters and then it's action, okay?"
He chucked, "I just liked you a little bit more."
Peter scrunched his eyebrows in an awkward smile, Nolan cleared his throat and even Stone laughed at his joke.
***
When they decided to leave, Peter found there to be at least 100 tunnels underground.
"My leader, my leader, have we found our way yet?"
"Nope."
***
"My leader, my leader, are you trying to renege on your promise?"
"Nope."
***
"My leader, my leader, how are things looking?"
"Nope."
Nolan and stone once more surprisingly laughed together.
***
POOOOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
When they finally emerged, George's eyes darted around and he found no Mecha Soldiers which made him cry without tears to spare.
Nolan laughed but Stone scowled at him this time. And just as Stone was about to find words to annoy him with, a voice seemed to greet their arrival back on the surface.
"…Final Part of the 2nd Phase…."
George smiled at the prospects of battle and Peter smiled wider because he might be seeing his friends soon.