Reign of Chaos Chapter 28, a Zoids fanfic by Sh33p

Sh33p Disclaimer: I don`t own Zoids. Consider this disclaimer valid for the whole damn story :P

Foreword:Pick your own for scenes one, two and three. The rest is as follows:

Blue Man Group - Sing Along(or Hack Sign - Smallest Delight)
Nelly - #1
Killswitch Engage - One Last Sunset Trigun - Fool`s Paradise Killswitch Engage - One Last Sunset(again :p)

The engines churned to a stop, and the heavy, motion-prone armored plates that composed the Gustav`s main body`s outer hull ceased to move, just as the radio was turned off. the only thing that had been on it to begin with were the few newscasts that had managed to stay active even as the world still struggled to recover from the blow that had been dealt to it. It didn`t really matter to the boy currently staring off into space as if nothing even existed anymore, neither did the fact that his safety harness had just been undone.

Not even the sound and sight of the cockpit flipping open with a gasp of air from the mechanism that performed it managed to capture his attentions. He didn`t even really respond to the way the woman - she had identified herself to him as Abbie - scooped him up onto one hip with a few words of her own and then climbed out of the vehicle, balancing him as if he were part of her own body weight. She had a natural talent with kids, a talent that had helped her as both a babysitter and, later on, a part time daycare giver prior to her job at Rev`s Diner.

With her free hand, she reached back and yanked the cockpit`s hatch back down, slamming it shut with more brute force than someone would guess she was capable of, then setting him down.

He still didn`t have a name. But he stood there patiently or obediently, or maybe even carelessly, as she straightened herself up, mumbled a few words under her breath and then reached down to take his hand.

Her hand clasped around his and gave it a squeeze and a tug, gestures that went unreturned. He followed her, yes, but it was obvious that, if he even had one, his mind was elsewhere.

They were mismatched in clothing as much as they were almost everywhere else. While the boy was a bit skinny for his age, Abbie had the plump curves of that girl next door most teens drooled about in their sleep. While the boy was dressed properly in the clothing he had been wearing since Harabec had virtually thrown him at her - a pair of khaki shorts and a white t-shirt that both looked as if they had cost money to get, along with a pair of slightly dirtied black sneakers, she wore only a casual pair of jeans that were a bit tight, along with a light green t-shirt that was partially tucked into the rim of the jeans she had on, as well as a pair of white sneakers.

The door slipped open and an explosion shocked off into nowhere out in the distance. Both jerked slightly, though she reacted more to him than the blast outside the city. Abbie had adapted surprisingly well to working herself ragged in the middle of what was just a few steps above an urban warzone, learning medical skills that should have taken her more than a few years in a matter of days, and doing it mainly through improvision with little in the way of supervision.

All things considered, if she survived and if the world stabilized, Abigail Summers was probably going to be one Hell of a medical expert in just about every field that she felt like involving herself with.

The future wasn`t as clearcut for the boy whose grip on her hand became almost deathly tight for the first seconds after the explosion, then slackened after they had gotten inside.

"At least we`re out of the line of fire now," Abbie said comfortingly, letting go after a few seconds. He still didn`t respond, walking slowly to a corner in the lobby and staying there, curling into a ball the moment he set down.

Abbie watched with a slightly saddened expression, softly sighed and then walked up to the counter to check in and, as was going to hopefully become the usual custom from now on, tell the woman behind the counter to keep an eye on the nameless little boy who had seated himself wordlessly in the corner.

The woman gave an affirming nod, signed Abbie in on the computer, then handed her an access card and waved her onward.

"Welcome back!" Katherine shouted with no enthusiasm. It was obvious that she wasn`t much of a morning person, giving a wave up to the returning Rev Raptor without so much as a smile. If anything, the half-smoked cigarette dangling out of her mouth and the two sizes too big monkey wrench in her hand made her look more than slightly dangerous, to say the least. She wore a mechanic`s jumpsuit, along with a baseball cap she had obviously borrowed from her boyfriend`s partner, turned backwards to cover her hair, which had been bundled up a bit shorter than usual.

The cockpit flipped open and a fairly tired looking Harabec Davids stood up within, waving down without much effort.

"I left a few for `em!" He shouted a bit cheekily, and Kat could almost hear Mark complaining about that fact.

"Lovely," she mumbled under her breath before motioning to one of the unused parking spaces, just big enough for a class two Zoid like the Rev Raptor. "Park it in neutral, there any battle damage?!" She shouted back up at the cockpit, even as a banged up looking Sinker pulled in to the next hangar over, trailing smoke from several major damage points.

"One of my blade stabilizers is moving a bit slower and the left leg is a bit sluggish at high speed turning!" He yelled back down to her, coaxing the Zoid into position without ever sitting back down, then using his arms to power himself up onto the catwalk that stood less than three feet up from the head of the Rev Raptor. The Zoid growled softly, the cockpit sliding shut automatically as Harabec stood himself up and stripped his gloves and flight jacket both off, tossing the larger article of clothing under one arm and holding both gloves in the same hand.

"When can I check back?!" He yelled down at Katherine while another mechanic pulled in on a motorcycle-sized Molga, towing a dozen new stabilizer caps in the process.

"An hour or two! Get some rest, you senile bastard!" She yelled right back at him, getting a snort and a scoff before he walked towards the ladder down to ground level, intent, most likely, on having a lunch break.

"You complain too much. No sense in massacring an entire town if your clothes don`t have that fresh and clean scent. People remember homicidal maniacs more if they dress well," Kale commented casually, leaning back on the bench he had posted himself at. Shadow stood closer to the door, the Maxis stood outside like an obedient, if not bored dog.

Not like there`ll be any survivors to remember us, anyway, the Organoid pointed out blandly.

"Then at least they`ll die knowing that their laundromat went to good use," he replied with a shrug.

"Pfeh, maybe they`ll enjoy the show before they die," the utterly nude Obscura mocked with a roll of the eyes, giving a glance past his cohort and waving most pleasantly at the small crowd that had gathered on the other side of the street away from the Maxis, but still in a line of sight to the laundromat.

"Eh... More like our list of public services. Seriously, the chicks in this dump look like they could use the excitement," he answered, only slightly smug in the tone he chose to use. "Not like I`m using all that power to compensate for something," he added, very smug in the tone he had used that time.

"You know... Like how some guys get those big-ass tires on their trucks? Or how some pilots stick the largest guns possible on their Zoids?"

"I think I noticed," Kale answered, pausing to give another cracked smirk to the crowds in the distance.

"Thought so. How much longer do ya think it`ll be before the clothes finish?" Kale asked, crossing one ankle over the other knee and intentionally scooting forward, giving the people outside even more to gawk at. At the same time, he swiped the magazine they had gotten on the way in from the only person who had formerly been occupying the building.

"He did enough by kindly giving us all of his change," Kale replied, opening the magazine and idly starting to read. "Too bad he didn`t last long enough to give us any conversation along with it," he added, just as Shadow took a passing glance at the slightly burnt corpse still being flung violently around in one of the industrial strength driers, the skin and hair having singed and blood having started to cake up on the glass.

The shower had been crisp. Not as private as she would`ve liked, considering each one was seperated solely by thin wooden stalls that went up to just above head height and started from just beneath the knees, but it had still been refreshing. Her skin felt smoother than it had in over a week and the smell had been removed from her hair - which now practically shimmered a few shades lighter. She practically felt, for all intents and purposes, six pounds lighter thanks to having lost all of the funk that had been collected since her battle with the Blitz Team and the subsequent arrest that had followed.

Her clothes had changed for the better as well. There`d been, thankfully enough, one remaining uniform that had actually fit her admittedly petite body size well enough to call her own. From the wear of a criminally isnane mental patient to an outfit that resembled the standard Republican uniform with different colors and a lack of the large shoulder pads. A tight but functional long sleeved white undershirt, a sleeveless black overshirt and matching fatigue pants, with a slightly heavy but comfortable utility belt and glossy black boots that felt like the wearer was walking on a cloud.

The last part of the ensemble, which bore a Champ Corporation logo emblazened over the heart, were a pair of thin but durable gloves, the kind worn by bikers and Zoid pilots alike. Having no real need for them yet, Leyla hadn`t bothered putting them on, cramming them into the pockets of her pants before straightening up and putting her hair into a less-than-perfect ponytail.

"Not my old jumpsuit," she thought to herself while exiting the locker room and heading out into the hallway, making a byline for the nearest elevator in the process. "But it`ll do."

The doors slid open, two men and a woman in similar outfits to the one that Leyla was wearing stepped out, each of them looking as if they`d just been put through a meat grinder. They barely even acknowledged her existence, let alone take note of the fact that they had never seen her before and she was already wearing a uniform.

The four passed by each other and she went into the elevator, the metallic doors sliding shut once more after she keyed in the button for the eighteenth floor.

There was a brief sensation of moving upward while standing still, one that left her to remember how swiftly her old Konig Wolf had been able to move. Once you pilot a Zoid like that, elevator sickness became little more than a distant memory, if that. The feeling ceased as quickly as it had hit, then the heavy doors slipped open once again, leaving the sight of the hallway to hit her like a ton of bricks all over again.

The damage from the brief attack of the previous night was still on more than a few people`s minds, as evidenced by how many off-duty mercenaries, refugees looking to pay for their keep and permanent soldiers had gathered around everything from canned drink machines to water coolers, the topics of conversation having basically been limited to the recent, albeit most likely temporary, change of command, the fact that the world was going down the toilet and the attack itself.

Leyla ignored them. They ignored her. Those who didn`t, she gave only a passing greeting, continuing on her way without ever stopping for more than a few seconds as she trekked her way down the vast, not-so-empty corridors of the fortress, passing by more than a few makeshift refugee areas where citizens or even off-duty troops had grabbed sleeping bags, mattresses, blankets, pillows and whatever else they could use and converted them into places for grabbing some much needed shut-eye.

She ignored them too, but was still careful to avoid stepping on anyone who hadn`t set themselves up out of the way enough.

Finally though, she arrived at something she didn`t ignore, namely the door into the private office that was usually occupied by either the late Jerry Champ, or more recently his only relatively healthy son, Harry.

Without bothering to knock, she took the knob in hand, turned and pushed it, forcing the weighty, oak door open with little effort and finding herself greeted by an eyebrow raising sight that made about as much sense as your typical Blitz Team victory.

"... Do I really wanna know?" She asked with no real military discipline stepping inside to the visual of Borealis standing on one foot with his tail laying haphazardly over a piece of paper on the side of the desk.

"I told him to make himself useful, I don`t really care how," Sarah shrugged, lifting the Organoid`s tail long enough to move the paper out of the way and replace it with another document. Borealis just stood there blankly as if his mind had decided to make a beer run without the rest of him.

You DID say I was good as a paperweight, and SHE didn`t agree with me supplying the troops any free, sub-standard, B-level porn...

Leyla stared blankly. Sarah regarded her with one of those rare looks that sat somewhere between maternal, annoyed, militaristic and resigned to fate all at once, promptly looking to the Organoid before speaking again.

"There`s mopping that needs to be done out on the Whale King pads," she said bluntly.

... Fah, you don`t make good company EITHER! Borealis shot back with something that looked vaguely akin to an expression of sticking his tongue out and blowing a raspberry at her, promptly taking off into a gleeful, waddling jog out of the room, the door slamming shut behind it since Leyla hadn`t ever bothered shutting it herself.

The girl stared at the door and then looked back to Sarah, who had a slight twitch in one eyebrow, but managed to ignore any attention to it while speaking up again.

"I looked over the inventory of available Zoids we have that fit the control and handling profile of a Konig Wolf. I was able to find six regular Command Wolves, one AC, an IS-type, a UC and a Climber Wolf. All but the IS have pilots who are either on rotation, injured or discharged for some reason or other. Three belong to squads, the IS is in need of repairs to its smoke projectors and the Climber is set to undergo maintenance sometime later today."

"Go for broke," the older woman said with a shrug, briefly having to look around the desk before grabbing a card that had formerly been hidden under the keyboard for the desktop computer. She offerred it up a second or so later before explaining.

"This is your ID card, but it isn`t fully activated yet. When you pick your Wolf, give it to the officer in charge of assigning pilots to Zoids, he`ll provide you with the proper registration for it and any paperwork you may need to fill out."

Leyla gave a nod and took the card in hand, promptly wheeling around on her heel and leaving.

She didn`t bother to say good-bye, even if she was more than passingly impressed with how Obscura was handling herself. She had adapted to commanding an infrastructure that she had no idea how to work, and she had done it in under twelve hours. On top of that, she had done it well.

Leyla Tsun only hoped she would adapt to being a bit player in that infrastructure half as well.

Gold slashed magnificently through the dry air of the desert in the afternoon sun. In an instant, a hapless Sinker had been given three new vents all along its topside, each of which had slagged around the edges, exposing the internal workings, which themselves had been damaged.

The Sinker wobbled uneasily, lost control and exploded after a few seconds, just as a black-and-gold canine Zoid touched down on its forepaws, balanced a bit awkwardly but recovering with ease.

An even more unlucky Rev Raptor split in half less than a second after the insult had been made, a dangerous blade enveloped in a fiery yellow glow having struck it with enough force to rip it from where it had been standing. The Zoid shrieked as that same blade forced through its admittedly thin armor and wreaked havoc upon its insides, leaving the two seperated halves to crash down into seperate locations at the same time, both exploding instantly.

A friendly Command Wolf dropped into view, firing its back mounted cannons almost reflexively, only to fly off of its feet from an impact to the side. A Red Horn had been the culprit, ramming the unfortunate Zoid in the midsection before going in for the kill, only to cease any and all movement after a blistering hail of blaster fire.

The Command Wolf staggered back up, only for the pilot to let out a yell of surprise when a Helcat, smoking from battle damage, leapt through the air, claws beared without a sound, guns having been blown off at some point during its participation in the battle. A series of pulse lasers and a single shot from a triple impact cannon offset its momentum and blew holes right through it, causing the Zoid to crash to the ground on the cockpit, the AI system in control promptly crumpling like a tin can from the Helcat`s own weight.

Another Sinker went sky high in a bad way, its only remains being the armored stabilizer caps that fell from above the battlezone with enough force to bounce from the impact. The wounded Command Wolf slowly began to limp away, covered almost obssessively by the Ivory Blade Liger, which had taken up a guard position in front of it a few seconds earlier.

Another Rev Raptor hit the ground on its back, a Strike Laser Claw embedded in its chest as an AZ30mm laser vulcan gun shifted to the right, putting eight or nine bolts of focused plasma through the cockpit of a Gunsniper that had strayed a bit too close to the real fighting.

The fighting that had formerly been so fierce between enemies now took something of a distant back seat for the Suicide Team. It had been raging off and on almost constantly ever since they had arrived in Farentown, and most of the time it was utterly futile. The attacks never did more than to damage a few of the defending Zoids - though one or two had actually caused serious casualties, and they only really succeeded in getting themselves destroyed.

What they did manage to accomplish though, was psychological damage. Not a full blown victory by any stretch, but it was still highly effective at consuming resources by forcing the defenders to stay out for prolonged amounts of time, in combat, which in turn wore away at what discipline a bunch of civilian tournament participants and a few members of the Guardian Force could muster, sapping them of energy and emotional resillience. As a result, they spread their discontent through word of mouth, lowering morale.

They also tended to make more and more mistakes with the longer they were kept in the fray. Reflexes, instincts and thoughts became either overly pronounced or horribly sluggish and unconcerned, shots hit into the city and people were injured. That took a toll, both emotional and literally since it meant more people wound up in the already choked, overloaded hospitals, while debris had to be cleared and fires put out, which also took away from efforts to keep power and water running.

In short: It was attrition in action, and only two pilots seemed even passingly immune to its effects when in the field.

Of course that was probably because they had their heads too far up their asses to notice, but hey...

In his former body, it had been a task that had been so difficult it was almost impossible. Be it from the drugs and countless diseases that he had tainted himself with to the shackles that had kept him bound for little over three and a half years, to the suffocating darkness that had driven the last inklings of hope from his mind, it had never been easy once he had tried - and miserably failed - to take the reigns of power.

Now though, it was with such an ease that, if he had never been so ruined in the first place, it would have terrified him. Where before, he wouldn`t have been able to move more than a few pounds with his entire arm, now, one leg could easily plow through hundreds of thousands of tons of rock. Close to a million tons pressed against every inch of his miles long body, but he could still move through it as if it were a shallow pool of water.

It was a sensation of empowerment that most people would have probably envied, but the truth was that it was alarming as well.

The drugs had stopped flowing into him now. Even if they hadn`t, their effects would`ve been minimalized by now. Change had occurred, his old body had become his new brain, little more than a shell with which to hold his personality. Where skin had originally covered him, dotted only by scant diamond-shaped patches of silver, now the reverse was true. Where his brain had originally needed the helmet that covered his head from the brow up, now it served only as an unneeded helmet.

Slowly but surely, his original brain - now converted almost entirely to the types of cells that made up a Zoid Core - sent commands through his massive body, forcing it tirelessly onward. The world loosened and collapsed behind him, setting off a massive chain reaction that would soon reach the surface...

Thoughts of the surface reminded him of his mission. It had been a vague final order from his caretakers, to go out and annihilate Farentown. Then he would be free. Absolutely free. If he tried to deny them of that order, something would trigger and his body would take to moving completely upon its own, ignoring his commands as if he wasn`t even giving them.

A slow, somewhat demented grin forced its way onto his brain, beneath the useless oxygen mask that was only barely hanging in place on what had once been his face.

Free to make use of the body that had been so wonderfully provided to him by his caretakers. Free to indulge his every sense in any way he wanted. Free to kill, maim and destroy anything in his path.

For the first time since he had learned of the three sexual diseases that he had been infected with, and for the first time since he had discovered his countless addictions to stimulants of every kind, the creature that had once been Henry Rommel felt an emotion that could best be described with one word.

The world began to shudder and rumble around him. His direction changed, his course became set.

"You the new owner?" A voice asked from behind, drawing the blue haired girl out of her reverance and causing her to give a passing glance over her shoulder with a smile.

"Yeah. I just got my registration for it approved by Commander Isaacs," she answered, turning back to the light blue Command Wolf IS, her smile fading back to a look of amusement. It was only the second time in her life that she had ever been the pilot of a Zoid, but it was the first time that she had actually owned it, for herself. While there had been a few issues in getting her hands on the IS, due to the Commander`s hesitation over her record for attempted murder of the Blitz Team, it had legitimately become hers. She would have to pay off the costs of ownership and maintenance by working for the Champ Corporation through the crisis that was gripping the planet, but it was still hers.

"Feels pretty good," she added with a shrug after the pause that followed her answer. The man behind her gave an audible shrug and took a few steps forward, smoking a half-ashed cigar that looked as if he had been puffing on it off and on for the better part of a week. He was an inch or two shorter than what Leyla remembered of Bit Cloud, still easily taller than her, but that wasn`t exactly saying much given her relatively petite stature. His hair was obviously colored from an old bleach job, soft white near the tips but black from there down, kept short and either easy to manage or easy to forget about, the jury was still out on that.

"I knew the former pilot of that Zoid," he said bluntly, reaching one gloved hand up to set his glasses back against his face. He had the look of someone who could blend into virtually any setting, from a pack of nerds to a violent rap concert, while his skin had a pale tint to it that looked like he could sunburn in a matter of minutes if he wasn`t careful.

"His name was Daniel Broderick Adams. Thirty-three, senior commanding officer of the Hacksaw Squad, nicknamed Dabroda, `cause it pissed him off."

There was an uneasy pause as Leyla tried to think of a way to politely excuse herself from the man`s presence, more than passingly unnerved by how casually he described his friend, who was obviously no longer of the living variety.

"Went K.I.A. `cause he ran outta ammo and the smoke projectors failed to work properly in the middle of a battle about two weeks ago, I think around when this whole mess started."

"Sorry to hear that," she said, tucking her arms behind her back and speaking up again. "I`ll let you be, since you seem to want some privacy with my... His Zoid."

"Eh... Don`t bother," he shrugged, taking another drag off of his cigar. "Heard about your arrival and came to make an offer, not muddy the water."

"An offer about what?" She asked, relieved to finally move away from the topic of a man who had died piloting her new Zoid.

"You`re new `round here, heard you`re an ex-Class S pilot and as of right now," a pause as he exhaled smoke out of the side of his mouth, away from the girl next to him. "Hacksaw Squad`s got an opening."

"You`re here to recruit me? Or do you just want the Zoid?" Leyla asked, skeptically giving him a sideways glance.

"Count me in then," she said, lowering her arms from her back and extending a hand his way.

"Welcome to Hacksaw Squad then, Private...?" He waited for an answer, casually shaking her hand with the same one he had used to push his glasses back into position.

"Well, you look like you`ve had a fun day," Kat pointed out blithely, tossing Mark`s cap onto the dashboard before jumping into the Gustav, her gloves already in the midst of being yanked off by the time she started pulling the seatbelt into place.

"Two childbirths without painkillers. One operation without anesthetics," Abbie replied with a near twitch, her grip tightening on the controls almost instantly in the process.

"Ouch," Kat said, looking over her shoulder to find the nameless boy sitting in the center of the back seat, strapped in snugly, his hands folded over his lap, his legs limply dangling over the edge and his eyes staring straight ahead as if he were blind.
B "No improvement, huh?" She asked with some hesitation, looking back ahead and resisting the temptation to kick her feet up onto the dashboard. Bad enough how Abbie would react to such a thing, with how protective of his Gustav Mark was, Kat didn`t even want to know how he would respond to learning about someone doing that.

Not that she couldn`t crack him over the head with a monkey wrench or something, but still.

"No. He`s actually willing to walk around on his own and feed himself now," Abbie answered tiredly, getting ready to put the Gustav in reverse as the tremors kicked off all over again. The ground rattled, but only briefly. By the time either could comment, it was over. For the moment.

The last remaining enemy Rev Raptor let out a shriek, collapsing to the ground with its left arm completely severed, the point of impact searing hot from the energy involved. The Blade Liger touched down not far away, blades folding up onto its back as Kyle wiped his brow. It was late in the afternoon now, the sun had begun to set, the fighting was apparently over.

It had lasted for ten minutes shy of twelve hours. 8:30 in the morning to 8:20 in the afternoon.

There weren`t any clouds in the sky as twilight began to take effect, even as the remaining defenders, numbering in at roughly ten Zoids, almost all of which were pockmarked with battle damage. Even the Shadow Fox and the Ivory Liger had taken a bit of a beating, both showing numerous minor scratch and burn marks, as well as more than a few dings and dents in their armor.

"I dunno about you," Mark began with a sigh, leaning back in the cockpit chair and removing his hands from the controls. "But I think I could eat a horse."

"Pig," Kyle commented, cracking his knuckles and toes, then popping his neck. None of the other pilots were bothering to join the conversation.

"... I don`t have Bishounen Metabolism," Mark grumbled annoyedly before continuing. "Unlike you, I gotta eat more than a dainty fig leaf to keep from dying of starvation."

The other remaining Zoids slowly turned away, lumbering tiredly towards Farentown, even as another light tremor kicked off.

The shaking worsened slightly, both Zoids had to spread their legs out a bit to keep their balance, even as the others kept going on. By now, the Fox and the Liger were the only things left outside the city.

It worsened again, this time picking up to a full blown jerk as ground started cracking beneath their Zoids` feet. The Liger stepped forward, the Fox hopped to the side, and the ground schismed where they had formerly been standing, just as several loud rumbles began to echo from beneath the surface.

And then the schism repeated itself, forming a crack that ran parralel to the one that now stretched beneath the Liger, enclosing the Shadow Fox between them. This time it was louder, as if the entire area was groaning in pain. In an instant, each crack began to widen, the ground between them starting to slip and loose its density.

"Get away from there, newb," Kyle ordered, keeping his calm despite the situation. The Liger echoed his words by stepping completely away from the schism, but the Shadow Fox remained in place, its pilot seemingly oblivious to what was happening around them.

The Fox shifted its head in indication, drawing the silver haired pilot`s attentions towards the city. The lights were coming on, but at the same time, the buildings that ran within the line were starting to sag, but closer to the center of Farentown, other buildings were starting to get taller, tilting ever so slightly as if being pushed from below.

The Shadow Fox let out a synthesized howl as the dirt and rock gave way around it, caving in for miles forward and back, in and away from the city at the same time, stretching to an initial width of almost a half of a mile, sloping downward as the trench began to form. The Fox almost reflexively fought to stay grounded, trying to hold its position only for the position itself to go slipping downward.

Mark took over from there, urging the Zoid into a series of fast, long jumps, broken only sparingly for several smaller instances of having to try and regain its balance from flawed landings, but eventually managing to force his way back up onto the solid ground, just as the trench seemed to finish forming.

And then they heard what sounded like the twisted cry of an angry Ultrasaurus, precursing the roars of collapsing concrete and twisting metal, underscored by the sounds of glass shattering in every direction as the buildings in and around the center of Farentown lifted ever higher into the air and came crashing right back down.

Explosions ripped up, lights started going out and the skies began to darken over the city from rising smoke, but the only sounds that Marcus Harlock and Kyle Mazemia could think to register were guns firing, screams over broadband and the unearthly shriek of something that had risen from beneath the planet itself for the express purpose of bringing down one of the last refuges of civilization.

Debris flew high, but something black and long moved up with it, a pair of fiery, orange optics, each big enough to outsize a Gojulas, making themselves visible from atop what looked like a serpent`s head, briefly standing tall with another shriek before starting to lower like a tree being felled, vanishing into the concrete jungle of Farentown`s newly burning cityscape.
Seconds went by, both members of the Suicide Team looked on with sagging jaws and wide eyes, barely able to believe what they were seeing.

Mark broke their reverence for the newly formed holocaust first. His words were short and to the point.

Author`s Note: Sorry if the ending seemed a bit rushed, I just wanted to get through to it :P I`ve been putting off the next few chapters ever since Kale got the Geno Maxis so... Yeah. Time to get it over with, yes? >_>;

And is it just me, or is it harder to write AHBL with OCs than with canon characters? *Mutter.*

Illidan: Yes, Rommel knows about Madison and Roc. He and Specular picked up on their presence during the trip to the Dome, I just didn`t get the chance to mention it. As for Kale... Well, only time will tell, but right now, he seems to be on hiatus from killing everything in sight long enough to grab a bite to eat, do some laundry, terrorize some hapless townsfolk...

The Big Fisch: Have fun wracking your brain till it hurts, cuz I ain`t revealing it until I finish with the Hellwalker Arc... And god damnit, I`M FINISHING THE HELLWALKER ARC FIRST! *Said more to the characters, than the readers.* Also glad you liked the scene with Kale and Shadow XD And as an aside, about Leyla...

JOY! I ACTUALLY FOUND A NICHE FOR THE LITTLE ANCIENT ZOIDIAN BITCH! *Rolls around, dies, lives, cackles, dies again, prances about as a zombie, dives out of an airlock and explodes like a super nova. Glee.*

Anyway, that`s all for now, expect the next chapter/s when I finish `em and Sh33p out, see ya next time!

Reign of Chaos by Sh33p

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36

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