Fan Fiction / Zoids Fan Fiction ❯ Break Down ❯ Chapter 1

The dust rose from the ground, clouding over the surrounding ledges and rock formations, making them invisible. Naomi raised her hand to her mouth, covering her nose as well, in hopes of not breathing it in. The surrounding land had been stripped of any vegetation, leaving the dirt exposed, and carried up with the wind. It rose in clumps, staying in the air even when the wind left, leaving it almost un-breathable.

Under normal circumstances, she would have remained in her transport, but the sudden emergency situation called for immediate attention. She walked a few feet from the transport, but turned around so she could get a good look at it. With her hand still covering half her face, she began to survey the wheels first.

She was hoping that any damage, if any, was minimal. However, it was hard to tell. The dust still rose around her, blown in every direction by the wind. She tried to face the opposite way, but found that no matter where she stood, she could still feel the sting of the individual grains that were thrust against her skin.

Damn this place...

Through squinted eyes, she could make out a crack that headed from the bottom and up side of the transport.

What the hell did I hit?

While looking closer, she could tell that it was bigger than she thought. The crack was split pretty wide, leaving a large gap between the two sides. It was large enough to fit her hands through, but it was a smooth, clean cut, that could be fixed easily.

She tilted her head down, letting most of the dust blow across the top of her head, nearly missing her face. Not once did she move her hand, and her eyes were barley open. She traced the cut as it headed to the ground, but focused on the end. It stopped at the tires, but she couldn't see them from where she was standing.

Just lovely...

Now on her hands and knees, with her face shielded from the dust, she poked her head underneath it. What she could see were the insides of the caterpillar tracks that ran along the wheels, making it easier to travel in these types of surroundings. They looked undamaged, but seemed to be backed up with a lot of sand. Her fingers ran along the individual tracks, seeing if it would loosen, but the sand was so tightly packed that it was as solid as a brick.

She was stuck, there was no doubt about it.

The sky overhead was nearly blocked out of sight by large canyon that surrounded Harry's whaleking. It flew within the walls, just barely fitting, but able to move forward without damage. Through a small window on the side, he watched as he passed the rocks, paying attention to the change in colors, ranging from light brown to red.

Areas like these were always dangerous. It was hard to tell if anyone was around you, making an ambush even easier. Of course, he was always one step ahead of anyone, most of the time, if not some of the time... Er... sort of. So he tried his best to find cover among the nearly bare lands. Nothing but sand and the scattered rocks were around him, making the situation even harder.

He scanned around him, looking for anything, hoping that he could make it through the desert in one piece. He turned his head to the left, where he could see the canyon's walls ending, and the light from the sun overhead. As the whaleking left its hiding spot, the sunlight went through the window, almost instantly warming the glass. He found, that after a few seconds, he had to move his hands--to keep them from burning.

Within seconds, the metal whaleking was changed into an oven. The heat was nearly unbearable, so he opened the window, and hung his head outside. The wind, created by the whaleking, was almost a comfort.

As his head hung out the window, he was struck by a large cloud of sand and dust that whipped across his face, stinging his skin, and itching his eyes.

"Yuck!"

He spat out mouthfuls of sand, and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. They teared up, trying to rid themselves of the remaining grains, and his eyelashes caught the beads of tears that began to shine in the sun's light.

"Owie..."

"Someone's coming..."

Naomi's face lit up for a moment, but returned to its angry scowl when she had second thoughts. This could mean one of two things: rescue, or bandits. There really weren't many people who traveled through the area, so she decided on the second.

She looked to her gunsniper, but remembered the heavy damage it took from Blitz team--falling off that cliff left it pretty useless at the moment... But she did have other means of firearms. She glared at the transport, hoping the main weapons were still functioning.

"Harry! Incoming missiles!"

"What?!"

He brought his head inside, running to Benjimen who kept an eye on the controls. He looked to the scanner, watching as a small, green blip, made its way toward the whaleking at a high speed. The estimated time until impact was set to 5 seconds.

"Veer toward the left!"

Benjimen did as told, the missile barely touching the whaleking, but crashing into the canyon now behind them instead. The rocks crumbled with the explosion, sending even more dust into the air, burying the opening with the boulders that slid down.

"Where did that come from, Benjimen?"

"About a mile in front of us!"

"Bring on the com. system, now!"

"Right."

The vid window was brought up, allowing communication between the whaleking and attacker possible. He could see nothing but static, and could barley make out a voice on the other end.

"This is Harry Champ, explain yourself!"

He listened carefully, but no sounds, except for a constant humming, could be heard. He waited, watching as the buzzing and static began clear up. A blurred image of a dark-haired woman could be made out. She looked at him through slanted, angry eyes that glared.

"I wasn't firing at you, idiot."

Her tone of voice was sharp, deep, and overall unpleasant.

"Then who were you firing at!?"

"Look behind you..."