While hovering a couple of hundred meters from the ground, the orbital drop pods let out a deep sound, scanning the area around them. People below scampered to safety in mass drove, their cries significantly amplified the chaos ensuing.
"I see." Genevieve took a good look at the drop pods levitating harmlessly on different locations across the city. She imagined earlier the scenarios that was to come, not expecting that the objects had the decency to halt their descent. If the pods directly made contact without stopping, half of the city would have been in ruins by now.
She turned to the man she held with both hands, uttering in relief, "We're safe."
"We're not." Sy interjected, chuckling nervously, "The ignition system of the bike is fried. I'm not in full control."
"Then we look for an area where we can jump safely." Genevieve quickly suggested.
"It's not mine! Take the handlebars." Sy said, reaching down to the modules below with his upper body.
Genevieve, a bit startled from the action, leaned forward and took the steers with both hands. The bike slowly descended down with Sy's tinkering, and to her comfort. However, a speeding truck suddenly emerged from a corner and in a collision course with them. With a quick response, she shifted her body weight to the side, causing the hover bike to make a sharp turn, barely dodging the huge vehicle by an inch. Mass amount of disturbed air, slammed against her frame, she felt it mostly on her uncovered face.
Thankfully, she had the tactical awareness to move the bike toward the direction in which Sy had leaned down, else his head would have been caught by the truck in the opposite direction.
"We have no brakes, no throttle.. we are a comet!" She commented with a thrilled voice, causing the man to chuckle below.
"Can you see the the apartments?" Sy shouted.
"300 mark." Genevieve responded.
"On your signal, I will unplug the power cables!" Sy stated, his voice still loud, they were moving too fast that the air muffled the sound they produced.
At that, Genevieve focused on the road ahead. She had to avoid some children playing on the streets with complicated maneuvers, irking her calm demeanor. 'Goodness! The outer rim is just as I remember!'
They whirred through the vast courtyard where Flint and his men were standing outside the industrial ship, watching the drop pods with mouth agape. Their expression intensified even more when they caught sight of the speeding hover bike, spouting a vicious amount of thrust.
With Genevieve's good judgement, she shouted, "Do it now!"
The hover bike abruptly became lifeless, dropping on the ground. The Runerie helped Sy up as he took over the handlebars while they skidded and whirled across the road. When the bike was about to turn over, he steered toward the direction of their crash which counterbalanced the vehicle, and stabilizing it - preventing it from rotating any further.
There was no other perfect partner in the dangerous endeavor. Genevieve's quick reaction as a soldier, and acting in sync with him, had saved them both multiple times as the duo shifted their weight on the rising side of the hover bike, completely neutralizing the impending fatal chapter.
After a few seconds, and a dozen of meters, the vehicle had finally stopped, just outside of Niel's garage. They glanced at each other for a moment, eyes empty, minds still processing what had just transpired.
"That was fun." Genevieve mindlessly uttered after a moment.
Sy jumped down and inspected the bike. His eyes twitched in pain upon seeing the partially melted barrels of the boosters. Soon, it will solidify and lose its intended shape, becoming brittle.
'I will fabricate the parts, and do the paint job. You should be good as new by then.' He comforted the vehicle with a series of pat.
"Sy!" Flint and his men rushed to the duo, concerned about their safety. There was astonishment on their faces. Going that fast and hard, they could understand, due to the coming occupation. However, doing it with a very attractive woman, was something they only saw in movies. Their faces was even more shocked when they found out who the beautiful woman was.
"It's-- it's Genevieve Runerie!" One exclaimed.
As the crowd of technicians choked on an invisible substance, Sy instructed, "Flint! You should clear your ship from anything that can associate it with mechs. They will surely come for the ship when it appear on their scanners. The mech facility must not be discovered!"
"We already lowered underground all the equipments. We only need to make a few cleanup in the ship." Flint answered, quickly grasping the situation. "Don't worry, we're gonna seal the mech facility!"
Hearing that, Sy nodded in satisfaction. He turned, saying, "I'm gonna come down a moment later. I'll have to check on some people upstairs."
He climbed up alone as the Runerie had already went ahead. When he saw his apartment empty, he proceeded to the third floor with haste. One of the rooms' door was open, and after hearing a conversation, he sighed in relief.
"Big sis! You arrive earlier than expected."
"You know I always come early. How's your training in the Auxiliary?"
"The instructors can't teach me anything. All of their subjects I've already learned from my private tutors."
"Well, you should be more attentive. Don't you know that we're under attack?"
"Huh?"
Sy saw Laira running out the apartment. When the teenager saw the drop pods in the horizon, she uttered with eyes widened, "What's happening?"
He passed the teenager, and saw Genevieve hugging Nasena, exclaiming, "Oh! You're so cute!"
The young Pioneer almost tripped on his footing when he heard the ace pilot Runerie muttering, "So, you three are Sy's girls. I can be your momma if you want!"
"He is not our father!" Jinae corrected with her emotionless voice.
Seriously, though, Sy didn't have to worry about the Runeries! They were easy going, much like the Fanicks. Niel leaving the apartments and the mech facility in his care was a testament to that.
Genevieve did not allow the girls to go outside, instead, guiding them to a seat. She started asking them their names, while Sy leaned on the wall outside, listening to their conversations, waiting for Laira to finish her outward observation.
-----
"Of all the settled planets I saw, this one is by far the most ugly." Peering through the viewport for some time, Commander Vasquez turned with his hands clasped behind his back. He nonchalantly walked toward the 3D layout of the city below, scrutinizing it for a brief moment.
"What's that?" He pointed at an object located on the outer rim of the city.
"It's an industrial ship. We saw no threat from it so we did not inform the drop squads, commander." A ship crew answered.
"Inform them once they commenced the operation!" Vasquez said in an annoyed tone. "Send three lights, with support infantries and detain it. Don't want any unseen resistance. The Union will have an excuse to call us criminals if we inflict casualties."
With that, the commander sat down on the chair, still mulling over the projected image.
"How do you think the Union will respond to the occupation of a planet under its banner?" The scarred captain asked, standing to the side.
"The Union? Under its current state? No, they will not directly confront us." Vasquez answered, and added, "More like the question is, who will respond to this threat?"
"The GT, if I recall, had no forces here in the Union. We know that the defense force below had already sent a message to the central government before we cut off their communications. The GT would definitely hear about it. I was thinking of a mercenary company coming in the Union by now." The captain assumed.
"Or, the GT knew we were coming, and they had readied some forces beforehand to confront us." The commander sniffed, looking at the captain who had a change of expression from hearing what he just said.
"If that's the case, are we not a sitting duck here?" The captain had urgency in his voice.
"Relax, Cromwell." Vasquez leaned on his chair, "They don't have the arsenal to destroy our ship. What they need to do, is wrestle the city below from our grasp."
Color returned to the captain's face. In a sudden turn, the commander's words put assurance in his mind. He mused, "They will not come. The Union will condemn them if we fought on civilian grounds. Negotiating with us is the only option."
"Don't totally depend on that mindset," Vasquez pointed, "The GT had lost against us in The Kingdom of Xepp. They might find this as a good retaliation for the beating we gave them. Who knows what they will do."
"Still," The captain reasoned, "as long as the Union do not direct its fury on mercenaries like us, I'm willing to die in the bridge."
The commander could only narrow an eye at the puny thinking of the other man. He activated his comm, and ordered, "Tell my second in command. I want the entire city neutralized by the day."