This is set in present time, May 13th. It's been 104 days since leaving Lacroa and 88 days since Rele's kidnapping by Diudesk.
The trip home was nerve wracking. From the boat across the ocean to traveling, all Rock could do was ponder what was going on in Lacroa, and what they would feel about his resignation over 79 days ago. It made it worse since he didn't even have his last cigarettes to try to relax with, since Vir took them before he left. He was grateful though, he didn't want to be smoking around his friends, and especially not around Shining while carrying.
"This is just as amazing as you were talking about! What are these shiny rocks?"
The ex-knight looked over at Luna curiously inspecting mana crystals. "Those are mana crystals."
"The ones Diudesk wants?"
"...Yes, the very ones." She frowned at them, still circling around. They didn't react to her presence- afterall, she WAS dead. Luna looked back up and swept closer to Rock, smiling.
"Why are you scared of coming back?" He bulked at the statement defensively without any thought.
"I'm not scared!" She just stared at him. He caught the look and immediately retreated from the position, lowering his helm sheepishly. If anyone would know, it WOULD be her.
"You told me so much about this place and how you'd do anything for it. So what's wrong? You're finally here!" Luna suddenly closed her mouth tight. "I'm sorry- please don't-"
"N-No, but you're right. I'm scared because I abandoned them when I needed them. I don't want to be banished from everything I have left in my life..." He spoke quietly with a shudder.
"That's not really true," She protested. "You had to quit to DO your job!"
"One cannot prove a negative. There's a chance they won't listen to me." Rock drew a shaky breath and held it for a moment to try to cool his engine, rubbing his optics. He hadn't been able to sleep well since the night of Akkad's turning, and it felt like eons since he had been able to rest or relax. Tonight he'd either be back home to rest, or stranded in Tera or Enotria. "...Come on, I want to get this over with."
Mahir had fixed Rock's communicator by the time he returned to the Kakeh Palace, which was with good fortune too because he had made a decision finally on what to even say in his silent, tired flight back. Snatching it from the axian quickly, the knight took off, Luna following along worriedly.
"Is everything alright?" Rock paused a half step but continued to fly, looking a little distracted to say the least.
"I don't know. It will be though." Silver overheard him and rounded a corner, he began to say something but before he could fully initialize it, he had already sat down the communicator on a table in the foyer overhang, turning it on and giving Lacroa a call... He sighed and finished off a glass of energon, leaning in the doorway to watch silently. What was there to say after seeing such horrible things?
It was not long before mech and spirit were once again greeted by the Lacroan symbol. However, it appeared that their call was immediately forwarded to the king himself, be it through accident or otherwise. Luther nodded in greeting to them, then paused for a moment to glare behind himself at Pelonus until the aide stopped waving and left the room. Shaking his head, the king sighed. "How are things on your end, then?"
"'Bad' would be putting it mildly," Rock sighed and ran his hand against the back of his neck. "As you can see from my makeshift armor "upgrade", I got caught up in the blowout of the first mine and it's set me back quite a bit for hitting all of them in the next two and a half weeks. This has, honestly, been my first chance to call you, sire. I apologize for my tardiness."
Luther shook his head. "It is quite fine, Rock, set-backs are to be expected with what you are in the process of doing." He sat back, frowning slightly, "Although I assume that a makeshift upgrade and explosion are the least of your worries."
"It's..." He drew a deep breath and held it in his chassis. Yes, there was good in saving Tiffa, it wasn't entirely a waste... but it was to Lacroa. He couldn't get around the fact that their liberation held no sway over the fate of Diudesk's alliance with Akkadia. None that he could foresee, anyway. He was trained to protect the weak and hold the highest standard of morals of anyone of the land, a challenge of the spirit to achieve greatness, but was he honestly supposed to turn his cheek to the mass murder and suffering of these people? Rock took a moment to gather himself up, steeling his will. "Of course. Though I am fine now, I had a close encounter with the heir to the throne of Akkadia, the Caliph- Suran Ali-Farsin."
Silver behind the backdrop of the king had caught his sight as he crossed his arms and looked on expectantly, Rock hesitated only a second to give him a glance before returning his full attention to his majesty. "I ended up wounding him badly in order to escape- I didn't have much choice in the matter. His arm was severed, but what makes the outlook extraordinarily bad is he... knows my name..."
"That... certainly makes things difficult." Sighing, the king rubbed at his face and got up to pace across the study he had practically moved into. "I'll see what we can do on our end to try and influence him and his ilk to forget they met you. How likely is it that he's connected you to Lacroa itself?"
"He already flat out told me he found my cover story too odd to be an individualized task force. If we're on the precipice of a Diut-Akkadia pact, then it's highly likely that information about who I am exactly is going to come from them first." He trailed off, lowering his sight and burning it into the table the communicator rested on, staring intensely. "...We're talking about an international conspiracy and assault on a foreign leader charges at the very least, maybe even an act of war if they were to blow it out of proportion."
"Which Diudesk would leap upon like a starving animal and encourage to no end." Luther suddenly looked like he needed a drink. "This winter has turned out to just be utterly delightful, hasn't it?"
"In light of these short comings and effective immediately," Rock broke from the dry wit, keeping trained on the king unyieldingly. "I relaying to you my resignation as a knight of Lacroa."
Silver flinched and drew up closer to the backside of the projection, sputtering. "Hey- wh-what?!" It was all he could manage in his shock, however, as he clamped his mouth shut.
A pregnant and awkward silence reigned for a full minute on both ends. There was nothing else he could do, as he had already discussed with Silver. This was a dead end, and the only way to keep playing the game was to separate himself from something he loved and cherished so deeply, no different than cutting out his own spark. But that field of carnage- Tiffa up on that post- all of those poor mechs imprisoned wrongfully- Rock had to focus on these wronged mechs to get through this. He couldn't back down now, and if he had to make this incision to still protect Lacroa and not drag them into the dirty, ugly fight this undoubtedly was, then the choice was clear to him. Rock drew a shakey breath, embracing the silence if only to keep his own composure, until it was broken by Pelonus poking his head back into the study. "You're WHAT!?"
"I-- I said I am resigning my position and all association I have with the Kingdom of Lacroa, its esquires, and the ruling family as of right now, this conversation with you, Your Hi-- K-King Luther."
"No you're not," His brother suddenly interrupted, apparently not giving a damn that he was having this conversation with the king. "You just can't- you even think anyone will believe that?!"
"Silver," Rock growled as he lifted his gaze to him. "You chose to have no involvement, so you have no involvement. Get out."
"Make me."
"Please stop," Luna whined pitifully, shrinking down. This whole situation was just awful, and it was only getting worse by the second. Of course deaf to her plea, Silver rounded the corner to stand there with arms crossed, inviting Rock to do something about it but he did not take him up on it.
"You have better chance of success going back home and getting your princess and all of your forces together in the event this Diudesk makes a move than you do trying to fix a fragging broken situation that's out of your control!"
"That isn't an option," Rock shouted back. "We can't fight the Diuts! We're not even going to entertain that! It's just...!"
"It's just throwing away your opportunity by biting off more than you can chew- I already told you, this pact is going through and no one is going to stop it--"
"I'm going to stop it, or I'm going to kill myself trying, Silver!!" His brother drew back in bewilderment, falling quiet again awfully fast.
"But Sir Rock, you've got to be-"
"He has no title, Pelonus." The aide blinked, looking to the king.
"S-Sire?" Rock pried his wary optics away from his brother one last time, standing at attention to the King moreso out of deeply embedded habit than of necessity. Luther sighed, glancing at the two gundams through the comm before turning back to his aide. "He has renounced all ties with Lacroa, from citizenship to his placing in the Royal Army. If this is truly his choice, made under his own power when he is of sound mind, then we have no option to dispute it." The man shook his head sadly before turning back. "I do hope you know what you are doing, Rock, I truly do."
A part of the now-former knight relaxed immensely, exhaling from his vents. The King was being understanding, which was tremendously appreciated. “Thank you, I pray the High Spirits would continue to watch over and guide me…” He balled his hands tight into fists, grimacing still at the bitter taste. “King Luther, I would be most indebted that, upon my return to your beautiful kingdom, I may be granted your audience. If your benevolence would allow this opportunity, I would wish to make a plea on behalf of my poor judgments here today…” He peeked up at the man carefully, biting his glossa behind his faceplate. Rock could close the door, but he didn’t want to burn a bridge, and certainly wanted the chance to pry it back open if he could-- and he would, with all his might.
The aide snorted. “Like you actually need to ask, I doubt he’d ever actually kick you-“
“Pelonus?”
“Yes, Sire?”
“Get out.” Smirking, Pelonus did as he was told and once more removed himself from the study. “The castle is always open to you, Rock, you know that. On that note, tell your so-called brother to stop glaring at you. He chose to remove himself from your life, and so he no longer has any right to try and dictate it.”
“Tell me about it,” Rock muttered.
“He’s just worried, you know,” Luna suddenly intervened, wringing her hands. “Silver doesn’t want to see you lose everything.”
“Yeah, well he’s wrong.” Once he caught the King’s curious look, he stammered to bridge the gap. “M-My brother is, I mean. We’re going to be fine, all of us are.” Rock sighed and drifted back, struggling with words before looking back at his, now former, lord. “Is it- wrong to inquire about the status of Rele?”
Luther shook his head. “You are, again, always welcome to ask. She is… not where she belongs yet.” He sighed. “To be exact, she’s disappeared from the Diut palace, along with the king’s only daughter.” The king shrugged. “I do not know where they are now, but Diudesk is under the impression that Lacroa somehow kidnapped them while they were touring a park.”
Rock groaned and sank his head into his hands, muttering a muffled plea to the spirits. “…By chance, is there some hereditary trait that I wasn’t aware of in the royal line that gives it’s heirs the extraordinary power of creating problems…?”
“From what little I know, Rele inherited the trait from both sides of her family.” Luther allowed himself a small smile. “From what little we know of Sigivald’s children, the cousin in question only differs from Rele in eye color and height.”
The ex-knight slowly raised his helm as if it bared a tremendous weight trying to hold it down into his sunk hands. When his optics caught the king’s eyes though, he felt a wry smile pull from behind the faceplate and he chortled. They’d been through worse together, Rock just had to keep reminding himself of it. “Well, that sounds like twice the amount of trouble. I hope Deed and Battle can handle it.” He gave pause, optics searching inwardly. “I’ll keep you post about the status here where and when I can, King Luther…”
“I would greatly appreciate it," He leaned back, clasping his hands behind him. "And I’ll keep trying to distract them on my end as well. Hopefully the disappearance of the princesses pulls Diudesk’s attention away from your end of things for a while.”
"We can only pray. Please take care."
The night was just like the last spent at the Kakheh Palace-- alone in the dark of night with Luna's quiet, supportive company and feeling as miserable as ever. Rock had gone out to pick up a bottle of high grade- it didn't even matter that it was unrefined crude- and sat himself on the Emarat Badgirm, on the blue wind tower. Baydell at night was much more beautiful than during the daylight hours.
Luna, on the other hand, showed no interest in their view and had no shame in her fixation of him. She spoke up as Rock pressed his lips against the dark energon-laced stick and drew a deep breath.
"Can you please-- please tell me what you're thinking about...?" The ex-knight held the toxins in his cooling system for as long as he could- as intense as the burning in his filters was, there was some comfort in the pain of it. Finally, he exhaled slowly. "Rock? Are you listening?"
Yes and no; he had heard her, but he wasn't listening. He felt empty, optics shifting back down to his communicator laying between his legs. Was it cowardice to turn it off after he sent out his message of his resignation? It wasn't as if he had to answer to anyone else but the King, but all of the people he cared about-
-he couldn't indulge in the attachment of their well-being or even their judgements of his decision. Right now, they were gone-- thousands of miles away and not in his life. Just as much as he wasn't in theirs.
"Remember," Luna had suddenly poked her face near his. "How we made a plan before?" He still didn't reply. Plans weren't going to make this better. His conversation with Luther began again in his processors and he grimaced, grabbing up his half-drank glass without warning and hurling it out in the open before him. The sound of the shattering glass, though distant, gave him a small sense of relief- before a pang of something different. Rock's expression hardened thoughtfully and his optics now met Luna's, looking on the verge of tears... wait, could a ghost cry?
"A-Are you... able to see me still?" Oh. Right. To her, he was the only person left who could listen, and here he was blatantly ignoring her. His guilt mounted and he shifted the cigarette to the corner of his mouth.
"Yeah. I'm sorry." Clearly, that wasn't quite enough. Her hurt eyes stayed trained on him, gradually gravitating to him and laying her hands on his.
"Then let's talk about it. You'll feel better if you do!"
"I don't want to talk about it." Her face scrunched up further at his insistence.
"You're hurting me, Rock. It--"
"You can't feel pain, Luna, you're dead."
"I can feel plenty of things," She suddenly snapped back. "I just want to help you!"
"And I'm saying you can help me by leaving me alone right now- please just go away until morning." She drew her hands to her chest and backed away, somewhat smaller as she cast her look aside. Man, he really wasn't trying to hurt her, but it seemed like that was all he was doing! "Look, I've just thrown away my entire life and everyone who was in it on a gamble. It's done, over. I effed up when I attacked the Caliph, and this is the price of it. We've already got to head out in the morning to Dilucrezia so I just- I just want to try to relax. I don't want answers right now, I just want peace." He opened his hands up to her, palms up, in a begging gesture. "Right?"
"I'm tired of it too," Luna agreed softly and phased through his lap to wrap her arms around his chassis, futile as it was. They sat in silence together for some time, every so often he would take a drag and flick off the burning hot ashes into the frigid night air. She smiled a little jokingly to herself after a moment and his tired eyes quirked questioningly. "I'm sorry if I bother you."
"You don't, Luna."
"I just realized that I have such small needs. I don't know how you deal with it."
"What do you mean?"
"We saw all of those dead soldiers and here I am wishing I was the one left alive just so I could hug you. Talk about shallow priorities."
"You're just as much dead as they are. I see nothing wrong with it, they probably wish they were alive right now, too."
"But I do have you," She leaned her helm back and peered up at him. "So I already have it better than just 'being dead' like them." It was an interesting concept, and a small relief from brooding over his voluntary withdrawal from his duties. Rock pondered about why this was, and why him, for a long moment.
"Have you seen any other spirits?"
"Yes, most won't talk to me though."
"Were there any out in the field today?"
"No... the newly deceased go somewhere else. I don't really know. I guess it has to do with burial rites... I guess."
"Can any of them talk to people? Like... people in their lives?"
"I haven't asked yet," Luna beamed, just tickled that he was having a conversation with her. She must have missed him a lot back in Akkadia.
"Would you do that for me?"
"Would you do what," The voice came out of nowhere and he flinched horribly, inhaling the entirety of his cigarette and choking. Silver paused. "Are you alright?" Rock shook his head before finally hacking up the burning obstruction painfully, wheezing and coughing all the more. His brother plucked up the mangled remains and flicked it off the edge. "Don't make a habit of that."
"D-Don't sneak up on me," He snapped back hoarsely, but Luna only laughed. "I don--t see what is so fffunny about this!"
"Oh, you're talking to Luna?" Silver skimmed the area in a vague hope to spot her, but he hadn't even the faintest clue that she was sitting right there with Rock. "Hey, I'm sorry I didn't believe you were here before, Loon. I just thought Sandy lost his marbles."
"So, you finally changed your mind, huh," Rock gave him a sour look at the nickname as he rubbed his throat sorely.
"Oh, not about you, I still think you've gone clear off the grand canyon. But I believe she had to have gotten us that information on lemur. It's pretty amazing, Lu, you saved some lives with that." She smiled and tipped her helm down, a little flustered with the praise. He knew she wanted him to believe in her too, just like when they were little, how she'd always want his approval; Rock didn't exactly share that sentiment over Silver's praise like she did. The two were really good siblings, and he was just a third wheel who made it entirely more complicated than it needed be.
"She hears you, thanks," He said flatly and laid back down against the rooftop to look up at the moon. His brother stared at him and Luna sighed, curling up alongside as she got the message. He still wanted nothing more than his solitude, but Silver hadn't exactly gotten that memo yet.
"Still mad at me, huh?"
"What the frell do you think?" Rock snorted and he could feel his systems tensing up again. This was the last person in the world he wanted to deal with right now.
"Well, I already said I think you're nuts."
"Besides that!!"
"I also think you're going to make a lot of people very sad, Rock," Silver replied in a hushed tone. The ex-knight kept up his stubborn front by closing his eyes.
"You don't have any faith in me, which is fine by me. I have no faith in you, either!"
"Silver," Luna whimpered and it caught him off guard, blinking his optics at her.
"What- oh come on, Luna, don't start taking his side now-!"
"But it's just that," She struggled to grasp at words. "I'm sad you had to do this, because you're sad... I know you're brave, and it's your duty as a knight and all, but if it hurts me, I know it's got to hurt other people too... how can you abide by your knight's code if you're not even a knight anymore?" Urgh, what he wouldn't give to get away from the both of them.
"I have a moral code that my knighthood is committed to upholding, it's a standard of accepting the difficult path of a life devoted to the good, the just, and the righteous with grace. If being a knight conflicts with my morals, then my knighthood can bear no value in the face of the strength of my character. A title means nothing compared to the sanctity of your soul." Luna listened wide-eyed, nodding slowly as she digested his words carefully.
"But if it's the right thing to do, then why does it hurt you so much?" Her inexperience living in the real world any longer than that of a sparkling looking for the promised land was showing again. His engine gave a little hiccup as his emotional stability matrix dipped to a new low.
"A--Ahh, Luna... it's just... if doing the right thing was easy, do you think there would be war?"
"..." That seemed to convey the point well enough. Silver watched his brother in silence a moment before sitting down next to him and stretching his ebony wings out in full. Rock squirmed away with an untrusting sneer.
"I'm not here to talk you out of this, if you're wondering." The look remained steady and the deep blue gundam shrugged. "Alright, suit yourself."
"Go away," Rock answered coldly.
"Why?"
"Why? WHY," He snapped back, sitting upright a little too fast. "You are unbelievable! I came here because of you, I even lost one of my men, and I did it despite the fact that you were the one to shove me out eons ago- and still, all I ever get from you is grief! You don't participate in helping me hardly at all, you have the nerve to question me before my King, and you can't even just leave me alone or allow me the decency of my own privacy!" Rock threw up his arms in frustration. "And if that's not enough reasons why, you have the nerve to want me to save you yet ask that I abandon others who need the same show of compassion! You're just an infuriating, lazy, quitter who expects everyone and everything else in the world to take care of problems on it's own!" The cold, quiet night filled the air between them as the ex-knight huffed, glaring at his brother. Silver stared back as if completely unburdened by the heartfelt, angry confession.
"Feel better?"
"Do I look better!?!" His voice cracked and he buried his optic pannels into his palms, curling up. Rock didn't think he could take much more of this torment. His entire world was falling apart, and he felt as if he was falling apart with it as he desperately tried to catch the pieces. There was oddly some relief gently tugging him away from his turmultuous fit, and he lifted himself out of the position with a heavy sigh, fishing out another cigarette. What the frell did he care right now, he'd sooner die out on the field like those thousands of Amorites than he ever did overdosing on dark energon-
No sooner had he procured the stick, Silver snatched it up out of his hands, holding it away out of his natural reach and Rock went right back on the launch pad.
"You know, this stuff is supposed to make you quite mean, and I can see it."
"Silver you have five seconds to give that back to me or I will break those gunddamn wings like brittle twigs..."
"Mmmh. How about instead I tell you where you're going to find the person to stop the lemur?"
War was hell, without exception. It was a relief that Zero, Deed, and Rele could have been sheltered for as long as they have from the reality of it. To Rock, it felt like his entire life was a series of events perptuated by war- the threat of war, or the aftermath of it. He may seem overly-cautious, maybe even a little paranoid of Lacroa's delicate balance of peace following the struggles against Diudesk and then the Dark Axis, but it was so justified. No one who had seen the fall of King Beaumain to the Tuetonic Knight Ryszard ever questioned Rock; they were connected to the devastation first hand in a way they could never deny, even if they had wanted to.
The decimated town Rock arrived at with Luna and Silver just ahead of Massoud was a humbling and terrifying reminder of that day. Nanna had been a battleground for some months as it was key terrain to Chaleia; not only was Chaleia a major city of Ur that had defected to Zabylonia, it also had a direct, easy route to their southern infantry base, the Sipponraimaaia Academedy. Buildings were blast to shit, erected skeletons as a reminder of the civilization that used to call this place home. Around every which way the knight floated lay bodies of the Amorites who had fallen recently, their lifeless stares flipping his tank.
"Wow." He turned back to look at Silver following along, in awe and horror of the carnage. He had seen the brutality of war before, but nothing of this magnitude. Rock swallowed back lubricant and pressed on, Luna dead silent beside him. "What-- is this awful smell?"
"That," Rock sniffed, peering for enemy forces around a corner ahead of them, "would be the unique stench of blood and energon particles mixed in with some burnt exhaust. The smell of death, if you will."
"I can hardly breathe." Rock paid no mind to it as best as he could, processors still digesting every broken body and face he saw. Something was really wrong here, and he couldn't place his digit on it. "I think I still hear some fighting," Silver lowered his voice and kept close to the knight. His optics slowly scanned ahead and moved over a few corpses to position behind a wall.
"Do you want me to scan ahead," Luna offered. Rock shook his helm.
"No- something's not right..."
"I'll say. This is unreal."
"Well then, shouldn't I look to see where the enemy is at?"
"--The enemy!!" He suddenly gave a jump start, bolting out into the littered streets. Silver took off after him, startled and looking wildly for what set him off, seeing no combatants.
"Rock, what the frell!?" Stopping in the open street upon the graveyard of at least a thousand soldiers, he was spellbound. There was a faint and ominous blue glow of energon losing its potency, wafting up like the antagonized crawl of a desperate man clawing his way hopelessly up a cliff with nothing but his raw, bleeding fingers. Their lasting expressions held as much terror as it felt to look upon them, jaws slacked with a shout or a gasp. He felt lost, searching through the wreckage of life and flinched as Silver grabbed him by the shoulders from behind. "Hey- calm down!"
"These are all Amorites," Rock finally rasped and turned to meet his brother's gaze. "I haven't seen a single Akkadian corpse- have you?" Silver's faceplate flashed in a move to quickly try to reassure him by flashing a second and then the realization sank in. He had no more answers than the knight did.
"Primus, I-- I haven't either." He wasn't sure whether he should have been frightened or infuriated. Rock pivotted to Luna and barked out at her.
"Luna, what the frell kind of weapon does this!?" She shrank back and clasped the sides of her helm with both hands, shaking sorrowfully.
"I don't know! I told you, all I know is it was called lemur-!" Silver wrapped an arm around his neck and dragged Rock backwards, away from the the field.
"Knock it off- if you yell, you're gonna find out what this weapon is the hard way." Rock expelled the hot air from his vents and ripped himself free from the grip.
"Luna," He began again in a hushed tone this time. "Can you please go ahead and scout for me like you said? Tell me if there's still anyone left alive." Rock watched as she scurried off.
"Well, do you think we should wait for Massoud's forces to arrive?"
"I don't know, but I'd feel better about reinforcements if we weren't literally standing in an Amorite morgue."
"..." Silver need not speak to share his sentiment. They stood in the wasteland for some time before he shuddered away, gagging. "I don't know I'v ever seen anything this horrible..." Rock slowly meandered away into the open, littered street again, giving each face and cause of death his careful attention. This one was shot from behind at an angle, a messy entry wound shattered the skull and left his powerful cranial muscle exposed, skull like a shattered eggshell. Another was a femme, from the looks of it, one who had a better fight to the finish. Lacerations from swords and a few bullets traced along her arms and torso, but the finishing blow undoubtably was the spear wedged into her vents. And then a gundam, his head nearly taken off by a severe slash across his neck-
"Rock!!" He stopped abruptly, turning to his brother once more. Silver's dark optics looked conflicted and worried- had he asked something?
"I, uh," Rock drawled. "I'm just going to look ahead. You can go meet with them and give them the message if you want."
"What can I even tell them that they will not see for themselves? I'm not leaving you out here alone."
"I'm not alone, Luna will be back shortly."
"You know what I mean."
"Then what do you want me to say," The knight growled. "Stay or go, Silver. I'm going." He cast a glance down a dark allyway before darting past it, his brother fast on his heels.
"If we're going in deeper to this horror film, at least tell me what you're looking for." Rock hesitated.
"...Common cause of death. They all have external wounds, but they're not consistant." He picked up flying again, skimming his optics to get through the bulk of them quicker. "Bullets, blades, incinerations from mortars- what kind of a weapon is so versatile yet protects the Akkadians from casualties?"
"I know what." Rock stopped in his tracks. Silver almost seemed like a different person, stiff, edgey, uneasy- he looked ill, which only ground Rock's gears more. Was it this ghastly scene- or what he knew?
"You know what?"
"A weapon that can have any form and protects the enemy from losses on their side," He swallowed dryly. "It's friendly fire."
Friendly fire. The act of betraying your fellows in arms and shooting them down as they willing lay their lives in the hands of their trusted assailant. It was a problem in Lacroa on the rare occassion- Deed's act under the influence of Zeong was the most notable significant friendly fire in the nation's history.
And that all added up. Lemurs are unusual animals which rush into the sea, ensuring their own demise. These soldiers weren't killed fightng the Akkadians- they were killed fighting each other.
"Oh Mana," Rock whispered and paled, his purge tank knotting up. All of the pieces were there except one- how?
"Rock," Luna phased through a nearby wall, nearly giving the poor knight a spark attack. "There's still some soldiers out past the aquaduct, they're all fighting!"
"Shit," He choked out breathlessly and made a bee line for the structure.
"What is it?" Silver trailed right along without breaking step.
"Just stay as my backup," He demanded. "They might not be done blasting the high frell out of each other yet-!"
"Each other?" Luna shuddered and they moved up higher to get an aerial overview first. It was just like the rest of the bombed-out town-- bodies strewn about everywhere. Further in the city weren't just the militia combatants, there were medics and cooks and workers, the civilians were slaughtered indifferently here too. A battle was taking place, only that same single small platoon of Akkadians had dug in to what was the Amorites training compound, still outnumbered even now but it didn't matter. The Amorites were fighting each other- a vicious, desperate struggle as some seemed to have retained their self awareness enough to fight back.
"Those-- bastards," Rock snarled, diving past the bloody supermarket and drawing up to the scene. It was when he drew within a hundred meters that he heard it. Some- sound? Electromagnetic frequency? He couldn't tell. He really only took notice when the feed from his processor seized up and he managed to make a not-so gentle landing into a residential window. Rock tumbled inside, crash landing on a dining table. What the frell was that?
"Are you okay," His sister phased through after him without missing a beat. "What happened?"
"I," Rock tensed up as his systems suddenly didn't seem to be responding. He jerked his head away in a vain attempt to re-establish his control, but it was already too late. His body trembled against his will, grabbing up a knife from the kitchen area. Oh god, that awful sound must have been doing this! He couldn't break this spell-!
"R-Rock..." She began to shiver in fright, watching with wide eyes. "You're not..."
"Help me-" He rasped. "I ca-n't move-!..."
"But what can I do?!" Luna hiccuped, spreading out from her chassis. He was actually scared too- he didn't know what he could tell her. His body sauntered forward at her, lunging at the spirit and slamming into the door on the other side of her. Rock staggered up, brandishing the cutting knife once more.
"I don't-- think it realizes y-you're..."
"O-Okay," She sobbed. "But I still don't know how to stop you!" The control made another rush for her, but as she shrank away frightened- something changed. Not for the better that Rock could tell, it was an intense pain from his cassis, but at the very least it took him down, collapsing on his knees. He hunched over gasping as Luna peered from between her digits. "...Is it...?"
"I," Rock's body only shuddered further under the strain of the pain. It was intense, but familiar, unwelcome just the same. "T-Think... it's g...onna ki...ll me n...ow..."
"-No! No, don't let it!" Luna hugged his helm into her bosom as tight as she could without passing through him. "You can't die like all of these other people," She continued her protesting and reassurance at the same time through tiny, reflective sobs. "You're different than them..."
The intensity was starting to taper off at least. He stayed in place, biding his time and resistance. The sound was still there though like the hum of a thousand locusts far off in the distance. Rock's pistons locked up again, gripping the knife tight.
"Luna," He struggled to even utter that much. "I can't..."
"No!" Her shout startled the knight, demeanor changing from the usually meek femme. "Don't tell me you can't!"
"H-How..."
"I don't know- but you will! So don't say you can't..." Rock swallowed hard but then realized it. His reflexes! He still had no issue with his unconscious processes- it was only when his conscious matrix tried to move! And considering his external spellcraft was spirit-based...
He shakily inhaled as he was driven to strike at her once more, phasing through with ease. "Luna- I keeeeep attacking y--ou, so try to lure me out--side!" Her chocolate optics brightened and drifted back, Rock's confused body following along like a pied piper. "Yes, g-ood! Keep going!"
"Why do you think," She twirled away from a slash, "this is happening?"
"Don--t you hear that sssound?" Luna gave him a baffled look. "Iff I get a-away from it... the frequency can s-top controlling me..." Rock stopped chasing after her though, giving a half turn towards the massive brawl still quite a ways from them and beginning to take off.
"Rock-- no, wait! Come follow me!"
"I--I can't!" He fought the influence hard again to no avail. Alright, plan B it was. The knight relinquished to the force as he focused on the energy in the wind around him, and all of the released energy from the fighting. "Oh Mana which dwells with all the universe, please protect your humble servant with the gusts across a thousand fields!"
No sooner had he felt the control of the gale force whipping up around him that he released control of the reigns off the spell- directing it to blast himself! It hit him like an invisible wall, slamming him back and catching under his cape to tumble about haphazardly. Rock finally made landing on a strewn alleyway of corpses, flinching in horror of their cold metal and stiff flesh. "G-Goddess--"
"Are you alright," Luna was up on him immediately with prying eyes. Rock propped himself up flexed his fingers on his own, relieved to have control of something so trivial again.
"Yeah," He exhaled. "I'm good now. Where's Silver at?"
"He's still over this way," She darted off towards the water tower. He was indeed still there, watching the fighting from around the curve of steel.
"Silver!"
"Rock, there you are! I lost sight of you around the-"
"Yeah, yeah, come on! We have to intercept the advance before they get here, lemur is a frequency that takes over your body!"
It was a very small victory at the end of the day. Massoud had held back his mech soldiers only to send in the human infantry and give much-needed backup to the Amorites.
((wow i apologize because this is a shitty way to totally not connect scenes but my muse is not complying and I need to move on so DEAL WITH IT SOMEDAY I WILL FIX THIS NICE. TL;DR THEY GET SOME OF THE SOLDIERS OUT OF THERE AND RETREAT BACK TO BAYDELL THE CAPITOL YEP OKAY. sorry x___x; who would think my boss would be fired today?? ))
Mahir didn't have the supplies to mend the advanced piece of technology. It took a great deal of arm twisting and pleas (though he had the time to spare waiting for his armor, Mahir nearly wanted to strangle the knight by the time the metal had finally set), but the axian was coaxed into following him along to Zabylonia. Sure, they were two steps behind technologically, but that meant they could appreciate his versatile skill-set far better than the Akkadians!
It didn't hurt to promise a bit of bribery on a good wage of the Rahbar Rossherapi. Rock hoped to high heaven he hadn't breached his good faith with the leader, but he seemed agreeable...
That had gone smoothly, but there was still the ever-looming matter of the Diut-Akkadia treaty upcoming. Upon arriving, he had gone into a debriefing session with Jnral Iwa Massoud and the Rahbar himself. The more Rock evaluated the position of the four countries involved, the bleaker the situation appeared, and he lingered just outside of the Takht Marmar palace hall covered in intricate carved marble to meet another.
"I've really screwed up this time, Silver."
The deep blue helm bobbed up to look across the room at his brother, curious. "Well, it's not the end of the world." He probably should have been expecting that kind of quitter mentality from him. Rock rolled his optics and sighed, sagging his shoulders.
"No, I mean it."
"You look like shit, though. Are you alright?" In a half dismissive, aphonic gesture, the knight threw up a hand before sliding down the wall to he was leaning on to sit in a heap.
"I'm fine now, but I got trapped in Aseiria."
"That makes sense. We were wondering why you just seemed to disappear. So what habbened back there?"
"The short story is, I liberated the town and cut off the Caliph's arm." The words earned a startled flinch.
"You did what?" Silver suddenly began to laugh, flopping down next to him on the ground. "You are such a trouble maker!"
"It was kind of an accident, but what's done is done-"
"How do you accidentally hack off the arm of your enemy nation's second in command, Rock?" Rock scowled in return, expression leveling out with a stern tone.
"None of this is a matter that should be so amusing."
"Amusing or not, Akkadia's got to be having a connibtion right about now. So what's bringing you down in the doldrums now?" Rock exhaled slowly and closed his optics, playing his memory core's data once more- as if it might have changed for the better. He'd been analyzing every motion, every word exchanged in his idle time with Mahir, and it allowed him to finally catch his fatal flaw- though, it left him with no solutions to remedy it.
"He already began to question the Magarons cover to me directly. He was claiming it a one-mech organization--"
"Claiming? Isn't it?"
"Besides the point, Silver. Magarons is a cover to hide my association to Lacroa, and now he knows my name and saw me utilize my magic as well. I've already been tried on Diut courts once before, if they catch word that I'm interfering with a war they're about to back-?" Rock opened his troubled optics again, searching his brother's.
"I can reason they'll claim you're rebresenting Lacroa."
"An international crisis is the last thing anyone wants."
"Not your Diuts, from the sounds of it." Rock balled up his fists and buried his face in them, slowly spreading his digits out. Primus, he was already regretting sparring Suran Far-Sin's life. "In forty years I'd like to think you have learned to relax- so relax. What's done is done. You still made out bretty good from the sounds of it, Rock."
"But I don't know what to do now," The knight blurted. "Mahir is right, even if I take away the immediate usefulness of a Diut-Akkadia pact, the Diuts have the technology to get Akkadia tapped into their energon again in no time. This isn't going to change the inevitable-..." Silver looked down at his hands, rubbing his index and thumb and biting his glossa. Rock knew it without it being said, and he was grateful that he kept the comment to himself. His brother told him it was futile, that it was going to happen, and that his predictions don't change. Course, Rock didn't believe that any, Rele's predictions were not infallible, and there was no reason Silver's unmotivated techniques should have been any different. He set out to prove him wrong, and he still could, but just not like this.
So then, how?
Rock huffed and leaned back to slump into his chair and stare up at the roof. "I just have to find some other way..."
"Well," Silver drawled. "I know what you should do..." He bought the knight's attention but earned a dirty look with what he said next; evidentially, he thought too soon. "You should take the first boat out of here and go back to your home."
"Yeah, of course you would say that--"
"Look here," He lowered his voice just above a growl. "I hate to break it to you, but you are not saving us. What you did to help who you've helbed has been nothing short of insbirational, and I'm not trying to steb on that at all--"
"It's always about giving up with you, isn't it," Rock counter-interrupted. "You don't even try. I've never met a mech so absolutely lazy and defeatist as you are, Silver!"
"Don't yell at me, I'm listening because I care enough to try to help you."
"You're trying alright." He retorted and Silver scoot forward to stare back at him face to face, keeping calm despite the bitterness and resent Rock exuded.
"Yes, I am. I'm trying to make you see the situation for what it is. Your job- from what you've told me- is to brotect your beoble and your royalty and your kingdom." Rock huffed hot air from his vents, rubbing the back of his neck now. "Your spark is in the right blace, but you have a choice to make. Life does not always have a bossible balancing act available, because sometimes if you try, you end up losing both."
The knight stared back for a long, silent moment, obviously digesting his words and then like a music box slowing to a stop, Rock began to wind down. A choice? Lacroa and Zabylonia---
"No-- the pact with the Diuts! They're tied together, I have to save both--"
"You can't. You may call me mtsha'em all you will, but it is why you are sitting on your aft here, clueless of what to do. Any more work here is only going to jeabordize Lacroa." His slightly confused, but mostly speechless look was Silver's best indication that Rock was getting it. "...But if you go home, you can still use what you have learned here to brebare your country, you can still make an imbact on Lacroa without giving Zabylonia broblems vice versa." Oh merciful Goddess... Rock slowly shook his head, staring at one spot but at nothing in particular.
"No, that's... we don't stand a chance against Diudesk... What happens here will dictate what Diudesk will do- in Lacroa, all I can do is gave Rele and sit and hope they... they won't exert themselves on us...."
"If that is all you can do, Rock, then that is all you can do. You must accebt your own limits." Rock stared blankly in return and Silver frowned, leaning in to give his shoulder a shake to drag him out of his deep concentration. "Are you going to be okay?"
He didn't have a chance to answer, or even think about it, because the next thing he knew a blur of blue sped at them out of the corner of his eye, and the knight lifted his helm to find a rushing, ghostly femme, pouncing upon the two and phasing through anyway.
"Rock!! I'm so sorry it took so long!" Instinctively he scrambled back from the pounce, sitting there and blinking at her before smiling. Boy, he never thought he'd been happier seeing his little sister.
"Luna! Hey, it's okay. I haven't been back long, either." Silver gave Rock a wary, hard look slowly unfurling away from the knight to get back up on his feet.
"I'll- take that as a 'no'. You should try to get some help." He ignored him, deciding he wouldn't let his brother ruin this moment.
"So, what all did you find," Rock asked as she tried again to wrap her arms around him in a faux hug he couldn't feel, but seeing the gesture was starting to be enough. She jumped up no sooner having succeeded, balling up both hands.
"Oh!! Right!! I-I heard what you did to the Caliph... they're awfully mad!"
"I'm sure," He replied sourly.
"There's this new weapon they were talking about testing out in Nanna called lemur, I really couldn't get any more information than that. The people developing it had already gotten most of the specifics out to Rahbar Ali Far-Sin, he just recently gave the clearance to take it out for field testing..."
"A weapon?" He paused, hesitantly. "When are they testing it?"
"I don't know, since the Caliph came back wounded, it's been a flurry trying to keep tabs on their commanding officers..."
"Alright, well I'll give them a warning. Thanks Luna, that really helps." Rock held up a hand to her and she paused in confusion at first before beaming and reaching hers up as well, curling her digits around his.
"Warn them about what?"
"Oh, you're still here? I didn't know you were interested in the ramblings of a crazy mech," Rock chided. Silver didn't really bait, which was fine by him, he wasn't exactly in the mood to deal with sass in return. "Luna says there's a dangerous new weapon Akkadia is going to test out in Nanna. That's south of Sipponraimaai, right? In Ur?"
"Well I'd hope not, Miazm Jnral Mahal should have arrived earlier today with some backup reinforcements to the station in Nanna. There was a small platoon of Akkadians who entered the grounds, so they were hoping to come resupply them."
Going out there to resupply- but in the wake of a recent, small strike from Akkadia? That seemed odd. What kind of test would that be? He didn't like the sounds of it, glancing back to Luna nervously. "Hey, you sure you don't know anymore about what this weapon is for?"
"They said they could crush us with it," She sank down a little. "But, of course they'd want to think that...!"
"...Well, I don't like taking chances on something like that." Rock quickly picked himself up. "At the very least, we should see if Mahal is doing alright out there."
"Okay!"
"Before you get involved again, maybe you should-" He hurried off without giving Silver a second's glance, his brother sighing and crossing his arms. "You really are still a troublemaker, Rock..."
If he had regained consciousness at all during this time period, it never registered in his memory banks. He felt as if there some distinct gray area in the memory sequence as he tried to draw upon it. The fact his internal clock was completely shut off only added to his confusion when he woke up in a really dark place, a dim and mechanical light humming very distant. Is it night- is it day? Rock focused his eyes and sat up carefully, scanning this new location. There were strange shapes, but nothing he could make out, nor anything that moved.
"Tiffa?" His call went unanswered. Gently sliding his peds to the floor, he tested his strength and mobility to walk a few steps before lifting up with his jet boosters. Nothing seemed off. The fact there was no abnormalities suddenly seemed a lot more bizarre than the inverse of that, nearly every time he had come to for a while now had involved some pain- not that Rock had any complaints about this new development. And then that raised the question- why? Where was this?
Blindly, he flew forward and brushed up against metal components- some kind of instruments from what he could make out- scattered on an adjacent tabletop from him. One of the pieces slid off and clattered loudly to the floor, the sharp pitch ringing in the mostly silent dark. Clinginng-inging!
"Who's there," An aggravated voice called out, and Rock froze. The voice was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place it. The distant light source wavered and then drew closer, accompanied by the heavy stomping of another robotic being. Rock squinted at the sudden painful light as it rounded a corner. "Oh," The voice turned a little sour, strangely enough. "Yer awake."
"Who are you? Where is this?" The blue robot lowered his lantern. It… was the same GAT-X094 Pincer that Rock struggled to remove from the energon rig!! "You-"
"Eh, don't give me 'at look. 'M not with Akkadia any mur then ye' are." Subconsciously, Rock did relax at that. "This my own shop underground in Aseiria." And then he frowned, becoming irked with the axian just as quickly as it had vanished.
"Why?!"
"What ye' mean, "why"?"
"You shouldn't be here," Rock lectured. "Don't you realize they'll find you? Even if this IS underground!" The mech jabbed a claw into the knight's uncovered chest, not backing down.
"Bloke, I told ye b'fore, m' job is m' life! E'll have to pry my cold, metal carcass from my work!"
"Mana…" Rock sank his head into his hands, beyond frustrated by Mahir already. The grappling claw mounted on his forearm reached out to Rock's helmet and brought his head up to shine the light closer on him again. "Nhh-"
"I should give you 'nother scan," He reasoned. "But y' actin like yer fine now."
"What happened?" Rock frowned. "And where are the other Aseirians?"
"They booked it out like ye' told 'em ta. I kept ye' here because y' had a lotta damage t' yer mainframe and yer shell. 'M tryin ta patch up yer armor now so it ain't just a heap a' scrap." He only now realized his melted armor was nowhere to be found and felt a little flustered over being undressed by a complete, utter stranger.
"Uh-- o-oh." Mahir wrapped his claws around Rock's forearm and began to drag him off already, and the knight naturally resisting. "What are you doing-?!"
"I'm getting ch'ye that scan now so ye ain't gonna have anymore episodes on me."
"And what do you mean by that," He asked while surveying the underground lab the axian had erected down in the cellar.
"Ye weren't loading your boot matrix right cause o' some intense static buildup in yer noggin, so instead o' comin online, y'jes have another fainting spell." The knight blinked, not understanding.
"What? From static..?"
"Yeh, it's a lil bit o' a rare condition, but I s'ppose setting off an explosion in close range calls fer a bit o' abnormality. It jes' got bad enough ta keep ya oot."
"Oh? I think I got tased, though..." It was cluttered but there was just so many different kinds of things down here- engines and parts, a small, pivoting type of machine and a wide variety of weapons. Truthfully, it could have been a miniature armory in the one corner with the array of fire arms mounted on the wall. The most enchanting thing came from the room over, a beautiful, human-sized capsule of energon, the bright blue glow illuminating an operating table and Rock dug his heel strut in, resisting. "And what the frell is this now?"
"This is my lab room, since yer so nosy!"
"I don't believe dragging me in here qualifies as being nosy," The knight retorted back before he was shoved towards the recharge slab to lay on. He looked at Mahir and stayed put. "I want more answers before you do anything else to me!"
"Ye were a lot more bearable when y' were unconscious."
"Where is Tiffa?"
"Tiffa? Ye mean that spark y' all had to go and get everyone in th' whole damn town in an uproar o'er?" Boy, and Rock thought he didn't like this mech before. He scowled but Mahir continued on without missing a beat. "I ain't sure but she'd be with th' rest of th' town, up in th' mountains now."
"And you said my armor is?"
"Smelted currently, once 'm finished wit' the molds I can recast 'em. I don't 'ave access t' quality gundanium, so yer gonna hafta live with what y' get."
"And pray tell, how does an energon excavating engineer know smith work?"
"Cause I do, I dabbled in a bit o' everythin back in Axia. And right now, I'm better than nothin', which is what else ye got ta choose from!" A jack of all trades from the sounds of it. Rock nodded slowly, it was piecing together well enough.
"Then, what kind of scan are you-" Mahir threw his arms up, completely frustrated.
"The kind o' scan ta see how long yer gonna act like a huge pain in the aft! What the frell d'ya think I'm gonna scan?!" When the gundam didn't immediately answer and only glared back coldly, he held out his claws. "D'ya want any help or d'ya jes wanna stand there and give me a run through th' grand fracking inquisition?! If I were gonna try somethin', I'd done it when y' were offline!" Well, that much was true. Rock sighed and laid down on the slab in submission, lacing his digits together over his chassis before glancing down at his hand. He had his gundanium exoskin resetting in place with a vice-like bracer wrapped around it. There wasn't any pain moving his digits, but it was still tender as he thumbed it over. "If ye want it ta heal, you'll leave it alone."
"How did you get out of the blast," He suddenly spoke up as Mahir was making adjustments to a computer hooked up to an almost laser-esque device. He shifted it to point down on Rock using the mounted arm. "I mean, were you-" Rock closed his optics suddenly as an electromagnetic pulse shot through him, leaving him feeling a bit strange. "-Were you uh, hurt?"
"Of course, stupid, but that was a week ago and I fixed myself up fine. Thanks fer askin."
"It wouldn't kill you to try to be since----" The knight suddenly bolted upright, shoving aside the device and forgetting the tingling sensation all throughout him. Mahir scowled and his optic flashed, throwing up his arms in an angry fit.
"Don't handle that so r-"
"A week ago? You said a week?"
"Yeah a week, like seven days."
"Shit!" Rock lunged up. "I don't have time to be fooling around down here- I need to destroy the other rigs!"
"Sit the frell back down, numnuts, you ain't goin' nowhere like that."
"No, you don't understand!" He held his hands out pleading. "Akkadia is going to make a treaty in three more weeks, and I still have a dozen excavating rigs to blow up!" The axian gave him a skeptical look.
"Why?"
"Why-?! If Diudesk has nothing to gain from allying with Akkadia, they won't! It's basic politics!" He leaned back in his chair as the computer monitor over his left shoulder lit up with the data gathered from the knight, lacing his claws together.
"Y' mean t' tell me y' blew up MY MINE cause yer tryin' to stop somethin' outta yer power?"
"It is not 'out of my power', Mahir, and even if it were, I have to do everything I can to stop it," Rock growled back. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have business I need to attend to, whether I am running at 100% or not-"
"Well ye' must have a system failure if ye' think yer goin' outside like that." He paused questioningly before it hit him that the axian was referring to his exposed hide, flushing and stammering suddenly.
"Erg-- Goddess-- DAMMIT!" Mahir laughed at him, pivoting back to start reading over the data he pulled. "How long is this going to take?!"
"Jes calm down, I'll cast it soon and then it'll need a few hours ta' set."
"I need those few hours," He whined but returned to sitting on the slab, hunching his shoulders. "Don't you have some other armor I can borrow for the time being?"
"Even if I had yer size, I wouldn't let ye' borrow it- yer likely to bring it back demolecularized in a baggie! Destroyin' all of th' energon rigs is absurd, we'll just rebuild 'em anyway."
"That'd take time."
"Sure but that ain't stoppin' no one." Rock's eyes furrowed and he stared at his hands again, turning them over. He was under the assumption that without the rigs, Diudesk won't participate- but there was some chance Diudesk would help them rebuild the rigs. It would mean a much worse deal cut for Akkadia, but the former sister state of Lacroa wasn't above making a big investment like that.
The question was, though: was it worth being dragged into a war over?
He finally sighed, looking up at the back of Mahir's head, still aching with newfound doubt. If it left him back to square one, he'd already lost a week, and he still had no idea how he could stop this... And he had to, Rock was more certain of that now then before coming to Aseiria!
"I don't have a choice," He muttered under hushed breath. "This is all I can do."
"Hey," Mahir chimed, never drawing his mono eye from the screen but motioning his grotesquely large arm mounts to another table across from the recharge slab. "I was wonderin' what that thing was on ye', by the way. I already checked that it ain't a bomb." Rock's optics trailed after to find the still badly damaged communicator device he'd received from the SDG, a gift from Neotopia.
"Oh, it's my communicator. It's broken anyway."
"So it's like a radio?"
"Uh..." Rock shifted, not really sure what to say. "I suppose? It was a gift from some friends. It can apparently transcend dimension, too, as long as it's working at least..." A thought occurred to him and the knight peered. "You think you could fix it while we wait for my armor?" Mahir turned back to him, slightly curious.
After having short circuited early in the day as the uprising had broke out, he woke up late in the evening without any idea where he was again, or what had happened, or what was GOING to happen. Tiffa was there, though, which was an immediate relief- without words, he knew they were safe.
At least, for now. Much to his confusion, she excitedly took his hand and tried to usher him outside, though it took way more effort to make such a short trip than it should have.
The town was alight with the spirit of rebellion. Mechs (and yeah, even some humans!) had gathered up a gigantic bonfire in the center of town, specifically at the execution post. Books about handling robots, the switches themselves, abusive tasers, any remnants of their captivity to their Akkadian lords burned a hot red flame, warming up the normally frigid desert night. They danced with this destruction of the old, song and laughter and rejoice flickered about town and around the fire itself.
A star of a new life, and a hope for a better life, was born today.
Truly, it was more moving of a sight than he actually felt at the moment; this was a moment of history, but he was just so damn exhausted. Tiffa, meanwhile, was wide-eyed with the marvel of what was going on, but kept close to him.
"Faris!" He lifted his head to the call, spotting a gathered group to the side where beer, flat bread, apples and pomegranates were distributed liberally. Rock came over, sitting on the rug as several of his fellow mech cheered for him, giving him a clasp over the shoulder. Tiffa plopped herself next to him, breaking open a pomegranate to pick at the seeds inside. "This is good timing, we were just talking about what our next move is." Khayrat handed Rock a mug of ale, though he took it and held it, looking down at it silently. Next… move? He felt his processors were not keeping up with everyone around him.
"We are in a good location," A NEX type robot chimed, procuring a map of the region. He began to draw out and discuss major trade lines and infantry stops with Khayrat interrupting every now and then about focusing on holding their position.
"You are looking much too far in advance, Farooq. Akkadia does not simply take Gutian land, but zey keeb it too."
"We will be cut off from ze barley fields and water trade if we do not free Eshrenada! Zey will enforce Ali-Farsin's robotic proclamation like we have, zey will not serve to us," He argued. Rock just stared at the map blankly, not even realizing a dark shelled gundam kept his eyes trained on him.
"Faris?" He looked up again, finally catching the look. It was that guard who incapacitated him…
"Yes?"
"I am sorry," He said gruffly. "For how I treated you earlier." The apology sunk in and Rock tasted it, judging how he felt. Finally he looked down at Tiffa, discarding the flesh from her fruit and leaning over to study the map which had Khayrat and Farooq ruffled.
"You owe no apology to me, rather, I believe one to Tiffa is due." The guard seemed a little stunned, and Tiffa looked up at her name.
"Yanni?"
"..My abologies, Tiffa," He bowed to her. Her optics panels lit up, leaning over and clasping her hands around his with a giggle.
"I know! You do not have to say sorry to me. You were doing what you were told, too."
"You are full of grace, safiya." A smile lit his eyes, patting her on the head. "I am Asad. I will forever honor good light you bring us." She lowered her head a little, bringing her delicate (but hard worked) hands to her chest.
"Even if zey will blow you up…?"
"Esbecially if zey will blow me up." How close everyone came to not having this moment possible, and how unbearably long the wait for it was. This unification of a community torn apart… He felt content watching their conversations, their voices all blending together into a hymn, composed entirely of a myriad of words. In turn with the music, it was serene. Lacroa had entirely slipped from his mind, but only for a moment as the voices grew higher with fervor, the pitch suddenly with a sense of urgency. He blinked out of this haze, up to a Daughtress woman involved in the heated debate with Khayrat and Farooq.
"You expect us to sit here wiz enemies all around us?"
"Well, we do not have ze resources to launch an attack!"
"It is not attack, Khayrat- I am talking about establishing neutrality!" Rock brought his beer up to his mouth, but at the fragrance of the bitter malted barley made him cringe and set the mug back down without even a sip.
"What will you say to ze humans? "Blease do not blow us up, we just want to share your resources?" We have lost the energon mill, we no longer even have anyzing zey want!"
"So you say we sit here and waste away??" The reality of their situation now as a free entity was sinking in, and their frustration of not knowing what to do next was growing. Rock sighed, trying to draw upon what he could.
"…None of those are really viable options." The Daughtress woman, Khayrat, Farooq, and Asad all looked at him with anticipation. They were waiting for some revelation like this. "The way I see this right now, Aseiria only has two options for survival. You won't like either of them."
"I worry of such," Farooq squirmed a little, setting his mug down as well to hand over the map to Rock. "What is it?" The Knight tapped his finger down just west of the mill, to the Zakros Mountain range.
"You will need to pick up everything tonight, and head deep up into the Zakros mountains…or…" He slid his finger north up the mountains, scooting the former border of the Ur empire into… "Seek refuge in Zabylonia. Either way, you will need to burn Aseiria to the ground."
"That is absurd!" The Daughtress woman bulked. "We did not claim our freedom just to surrender our home like zat!"
"Trust me," He drawled. "Your lives and your freedom is worth much more than this plot of land. You should take pride in destroying it of your own strength than to have it house the murderers of your children." A shock of icy electricity shot down the Aseirian's spines, the woman of them immediately looking away as the other three bowed their heads. If they left the town intact, it WOULD be re-occupied… He looked over them individually with a sympathetic light in his eyes.
"…I know. If it were an easy matter, you would have grasped this victory much sooner."
"How are we to succeed wiz eizer of zose blans," Asad pointedly asked after a moment.
"Well, your first option retains your independence from the Amorites… which, I assume you'd like to keep. The mountains are a tricky terrain to fight in. Trees and brush can interfere with the signals sent from their control switches… which gives you a much better fighting chance. It also gives you the limited advantage of ambushing any Akkadian militia as well. " Rock swallowed dryly. "You will have to live with the resources you can gather from the mountain though. If you chose to trek to Zabylonia, it's a long and difficult path there. I expect the security around the energon rigs to be amplified significantly after this ordeal…"
"So… our clearest answer is still to flee into ze Zakros mountains." Farooq picked up the map, the red fire's crackle suddenly seeming very loud amidst their silence, and the celebration, distant. "What you say is not bleasant, but it makes sense, Faris."
"What of our human retainers, zen?"
"They're your prisoners now… I would suggest treating them with some decency and keeping ahold of them for bargaining in a tight spot." He could only HOPE they'd listen to him, anyway. There had to be some sense of dignity and honor in this godless desert… Rock hunched his shoulders a little as they mumbled to each other, suddenly feeling an intense sensation of vertigo as his sight swam. Not this again. He closed his optics and shook his head lightly to try to clear it, but it only had worsen when he reopened them. Tiffa perked up, drawing her knees in to lend him a tiny shoulder of support, but it wasn't enough to keep him from bringing a hand up to rest his head in.
"Far…?"
"…there is somezing…"
"…do you need to see…" The sounds of their voices were only broken by the very words they were saying, and somehow, none of it seemed sequential. Even his thoughts became scattered.
"…rat, stay by here…"
"…Mahir look at him sooner…"
The sensation compounded as a sharp pain shot like a ping pong ball around his head, and in that excruciating moment, Rock lost consciousness once more.
(( warning, long post and some tws in the tags. Next post is relatively short to make up for this, though uvua; ))
This felt worse than the worst hangover he ever had. Course, that was probably the time he was trapped with Tallgeese and drank an entire bottle of unrefined crude; it was most memorable for how wretched he felt later... but this was far beyond the point. Rock wasn't able to keep up with what was happening to him right now, physically or mentally.
All he could see was color. It was mostly the sandy landscape, he presumed, but it was entirely uncertain whether the blur of the motion and shapes around him was from his optics or his visual recognition feed.
He was probably concussed. Frag, the more conscious he became, the less aware he really felt. Maybe if he went to sleep, the pain would subside a bit... Rock nearly lulled off too, had the stabbing sensation not returned with a vengeance. He gasped and squirmed to pry himself away from whatever stimuli could be causing it.
"Stop struggling."
"Let go," He could only whine back pitifully. "That hurts!" A light seemed to connect in his mind- he couldn't move at all. He was bound- trapped perhaps- and Rock cleared his channels only to recognize the sounds of crying.
They had Tiffa.
Everything else didn't seem to matter as much anymore. A SVS-21D model Sovereign Flag gundam had her by each arm, dangling her in the air using his tall, lithe form to his advantage. She was sobbing and kicking her legs, but the gold, grey, and red clad mech held her firm. A human stood by them, and he was addressing the large crowd circled around. He was of lighter skin than her master, but still a touch of tan as he wore a decorative head dressing to keep him cool. The man was younger in physique but his deep, rich voice and confident posturing said more for his age and his status. Rock squinted under the bright glare of the sun to watch them.
"...I knew if I had come here, we would find ze answer of ze rig's destruction, but who would have thought it was right under my old colleague's nose?" Shit- her master! He only needed to sweep his gaze through the silent, onlooking expressions to find his badly bruised and furious face, swelling from the abuse Rock had afflicted. Tiffa's master said nothing, though, eyes shifting to the knight with daggers in them. Was Tiffa in trouble? Rock sneered right back.
"And why do you think that would be, zat even ze Mstshar's safety could be so easily compromised? That surely one of the most prized robotics on the market would harbor a violent and dangerous criminal right beneath his nose?" He gave pause for the crowd to quiet down, breaking out into murmurs and hushed exchanges. Rock could feel his energon boiling and pried a little at the pair of dark hands wrapped over his torso, restraining him in place. He gained nothing from it.
"Zat is simble, sh'eby. Even wiz our strict structure, there is always ze outstanding excebzion. Even when we defend ourselves, there is always somezing, someone, out zere trying to imbose on our ways. Zis is why we keep ze leash tight! Zis is why bunish ze robots zat step out of line- out of zeir blace- because zey need to be controlled! Zey are a zreat to ze living-"
"Althdyd," Rock barked at him, earning a startled gasp and many around them immediately backed away. "That child crying behind you is a threat?" If the aloof speaker was phased at all by the interruption, he didn't show it, his clear eyes settling on Rock's.
"Baltb'e. You are a zreat."
"I'm a threat," He repeated again as he fustily tried to pull himself from his captive grasp. "If you mean I am a threat to the evil persecution and wrongful helotry of mecha just for being what they are, then yes, I am a threat, and it is a choice you have made yourself!!"
"Zis," The man turned aside, motioning to the knight. "Zis is why! We gave robots ze most brecious gift of life and zey believe to be our equals! But really, zey owe zat life to zeir service!"
"You have some nerve to claim life is only a gift, it's the responsibility of the parent to guide their child to one day carve their own life! We've been around for hundreds of years- you show me one mech who has struck down a human wrongfully, and I will show you ten more who live peacefully with them- together!" His shouting back was beginning to get under the speaker's skin as he glowered.
"You are ze one who had all of ze dangerous robots in Ur released, are you not?"
"Yeah," Rock could only smirk back, jeering at the man. "I am."
"So ze one who did zat is also resbonsible for ze destruction of Aseiria's mine... Interesting. Tell me zen, zis Magaron organization Zabylonia keebs revoking as an insurrection... is it real? It is looking more like a one-trick pony, and you are ze pony." Anxiety was a new feeling in the mix, and it began to slip in like the fog at night now that Rock was on the defensive. This man knew a lot about what was going on between them, and he had enough pull to grip the town on his every word. Something Tiffa's master said finally connected, and Rock completely lost track of the inquiry.
"...You're the Caliph Far-Sin? The son of Rahbar Far-Sin?" He stared silently in return, turning his head aside to a black-skinned man who stood taller yet, maybe twice Rock's own height.
"Hafiz, cut his zroat. I'm finished talking to him." Rock flinched at the words, starting is struggle up again.
"Wait-!"
"Khayrat, bring ze spark zis way."
"Rock," She managed to choke out as she was hoisted after the Caliph. "H-Help!" Gods, what would he- he couldn't budge in this damn mech's arms! Hafiz drew a knife out and sulked to the knight. Difficult as it was, Rock summoned up his magic and disappeared into dust just as the blade sliced through the air where he once stood. Skirting away as sand through the stunned crowd, he wasn't able to hold it long enough, bursting out of the spell and giving the nearby civilians a good shock. He swiveled about, looking for where they went before spotting the man's headdress from behind.
"You might be done talking to me, but I'm not done talking to you yet! Where are you taking her-?!" Rock dove after them towards the town's elevated square, much like a public stage, but the bastards chasing after had caught up again before he got anywhere near close. The black-clad gundam full on tackled the knight out of the air and slammed him chassis-first into the ground. "Augh," Rock hissed through his teeth and gasped for air like a fish out of water.
"Fkhamh," one of the men followed the Caliph up on the square after him, Khayrat securing Tiffa down to a post stationed upon it, but he couldn't exactly make out what they were saying to each other or doing to her. Hafiz stepped over the two gundams piled on the dusty road, the sun's glare reflecting off of the blade and the knight thrashed a bit in place.
"No- tell me what they'll do to her!" His assailant paused and knelt down to face him.
"She'll be executed for housing the enemy," He stated simply. Rock's jaw dropped behind his faceplate.
"...What?! She's-- she's only four, you can't just-- get that damn knife away from me! You're going to let them just kill her?!"
"He said to be quiet," The dark gundam finally muttered and tightened his vice on Rock who shuddered with a cry of pain.
"Ngh-! I...m not...!" Hafiz made his diagonal slash at Rock's throat but he dipped his head down at the last moment, cutting into his face plate. The damaged component snapped open and the human snarled, drawing back.
"Frag, Asad, can you hold him anymore still than that?!"
"..." The gundam summoned his full strength, the vice close to bending his gundanium exoshell. This mech was a beast! He found he couldn't even breathe, and his vents were being smothered by the two of them. He had to get out of this and save her now, or else they were both going to get the ax!
"Please..." Rock wheezed and tried to lift his head again, optics begging to the cold stare of Hafiz and then to the stunned, silent, and prurient faces around them. "I was at that mine... humans w-work with the mechas everyday... yet you at least get the satisfaction of your hard work... and then go home where you are safe... you make what you want of your success... but those mechas who work with you can't share even that--"
"Robots should have ze satisfaction that they are working for zeir masters who graciously gave zem life," Hafiz snorted and grabbed his damaged v-fin to hold him still this time.
"At the threat of- th-eir life-!" Rock eyed the knife in his hand and optics darting for some miracle escape.
"Caliph Suran Far-Sin has demanded you to be silent, so-"
"You!" Rock coughed out and stared pointedly at a woman's face, hidden in the masses. It was Mahdi! Of course, she had gotten out OK-- "You don't h-honestly feel this is right either...! I know you don't..." Her face took on a mixture of horror as everyone's attention shifted to her, questioning looks and silent judgements. Hafiz was distracted- so his plan worked out. Rock lunged as much as he could, even if it was only a couple of inches, but he made it far enough to clamp his teeth down on the blade and handle, tearing it away from the man's hands.
"Ah-- you!!" He immediately made a move for it, but the knight turned cheek, pointing the blade back. Urgh, if only he could cut Asad holding him, maybe he'd let go of him here... "Zis is futile! You resist for a few minutes, but you can't escape. Zere are a hundred of us who can stop you. Do not prolong this- drop the blade, mech."
But he was right though, every step Rock took made him no closer it seemed. He was completely trapped- he couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, his engine was over-heating so badly he felt it might crack soon if he couldn't get some air, and his entire body hurt so much he would have had an easier time pinpointing what wasn't flashing with pain. Even his magic was being choked off- no, there was still one last thing he could do!
Hafiz gingerly tried again to slip his hand on the handle in Rock's mouth, but he gave another jerk of defiance. "Gib me a break-"
And the knife promptly grew in size, flashing a hot white. It was startling to them to say the least, jumping back in alarm. Even Asad holding tight to him was surprised enough to loosen his hold just enough that Rock could slip his elbow up into his gut. He was free-!
"Are you kidding me," Hafiz growled in frustration but the knight took the now two-meter long switchblade in hand, crouching in a defensive posture as Asad and two other mechs came up around his side. Sure he was near hyperventilating, but the adrenaline overdrive made him feel like he could fight again. Everyone shared some hesitation to make the first move, it was clear they were afraid he would make the slip on them.
While as he was afraid he wouldn't make the slip on them.
Simultaneously, the two mech lurched for him. Rock skirted away with a twirl on his flight boosters, but Asad was fast incoming. The charged blade hummed as he swung it in air, slicing a Lacroan crescent and surprising the dark gundam. Unfortunately, the double team were onto him no sooner than he had attacked; even with two of them, though, they proved no match as Rock tossed them off like rolling a boulder off of his shoulders. Asad raced out of the way of the blast with his back-mounted jets and flew fast up to the knight from behind.
"Behind you!!" Rock blinked and heeded the call, spinning on his heel and slashing at the rusher. His reaction was just in time, slicing open a line of energon in the space between his shoulders and spark chamber. The knight exhaled and shot a quick glance at Mahdi, who shrunk back as some men made a move to grab her.
"D-Don't you lay a hand on her," He choked out. "She understands, but she is also not alone! There are others of you who stand back in fear o-of scrutiny- but you know in your heart that this is wrong!"
"You destroy our way of life and exbect us to listen?! You are delusional for the enemy!" Hafiz had actually wrapped his arms around Rock in an attempt to restrain him long enough for the two guards to mount a counterstrike, but he threw him off with ease too.
"Tell me," Rock squared his shoulders and hacked at the two robots incoming, cutting them down. "Would your enemy risk his life and operation to ensure the workers escaped the mine in time?!" Asad had recovered from the wound himself enough, ready to tackle when he paused. A vein had been struck with the crowd, looking to Mahdi with murmurs as she slowly nodded.
"I-It's true. He held me captive and issued a... a staggered evacuation, so a stampede wouldn't occur!" Everyone was in a bind, no longer watching with eager anticipation of Rock's recapture. Should they prosecute him as an Amorite mech? The enemy infantry would not have taken such care to protect workers if they were attacking Akkadia's infrastructure as they had been lead to believe. And what of Mahdi's defense of him?
Hafiz glared at their pause. "What the frell are you idiots doing! He wants you to stand around and zink about it so gets away- get in zere and do what you are told!"
"Yes, heaven forbid you consider the ramnifications of your words and actions," Rock scoffed and took up in the air. He couldn't waste this opportunity! Tiffa had been secured to that post, the mech finally backing away as an electrical field encased her- the bubble similar to some small form of the I-Field spell. The Caliph and Mstshar had been watching, evidently, as the leader-apparent stood scowling at Rock who approached in a hurry. Tiffa's master had begun to lose his cool though, barking out to some guards beside them.
"Farooq, Fadl, don't stand there like rusty buckets! Restrain him now or we'll string you up on this post next!!" The two gm, NEX model mechs drew their blades and Rock swooped in on them, charging up his own and ready for the face-off--
"No, stand down you two." Both staggered off guard and brought their incredulous looks at the Caliph in confusion.
"What-?!"
"Fkhamh-!" Rock paused as well, hovering tense and watching critically.
"You are going to surrender," He asked with care and narrowed his optics when the man only smiled back at him.
"You claim her life is as meaningful as everyone elses, so would you save her, or would you save yourself?"
"That is not even a question, of course! I will save her!!"
"Zen do it. Save her." Frag, this was a trap, wasn't it? But there was no way he would turn back, afterall if he couldn't manage this, he wouldn't stand a chance to help Rele from the Diuts anyway. His sight trailed to the sparkling, slumped up against the pole, her arms tied tight to a loop from the top and ankles shackled as well. Tiffa looked downright miserable, but she lifted her helm to the knight's look, engine hiccuping.
"R-Rock...!" He turned back to the Caliph, steaming.
"Well," He chimed and swept a hand to gesture to her. "Go on, we're waiting."
Rock landed and tentatively came up to her, the entire town gathered around watching and dead silent. This electric field wasn't like the fencing back at the farm in Basra or even at Middie prison. There was no loops, just a solid sheet of plasma. He took deep breaths and braced himself if he had to face 10,000 volts, he'd do it to get her out!
But, there's still no way they'll let the two of them leave like this. Rock stopped suddenly as their hand became clear to him, and he spun back to face them- too late. Asad had made a stealthy approach and leapt at him from around the front rows of the stage, laying into him and flooring the knight. Rock hit the solid floor hard but tried to roll out of it back to his feet when he was shot at his backside. How was he being attacked from all sides now out of the blue?! He could still make an escape himself, but he couldn't- he still wouldn't do that!
Ignoring the shots the best he could, he grit his teeth through the pain and exchanged blows with his extended knife at his attackers. "You son of a glitch," Rock swore as he ducked under a tackle from Fadl. "Why do a-all of you still face me?! You would le-t him murder a child?! Would you let him murder your own?!" Caliph Far-Sin calmly stood with his arms clasped behind his back, Tiffa's master flinching at every move for escape Rock made. They were still being shadowed by Khayrat, the lithe gundam cringing at his shouts.
"Zey know zeir blace. If zis little one had only remembered hers as well, she would not be facing zis bunishment now."
Rock stumbled into the air as Farooq swept at his legs, tangling arms in a wrestling match with Fadl. The knight proved stronger yet, forcing him off but Asad had made his move to grab the knight from the rear. He was restrained in a crushing bear hug once more. Rock flipped his blade around to stab down at him when one of the shots hidden in the crowd pierced his hand, dropping the weapon as energon ran out like an open faucet. "Primus," He swore as the three mechs worked together to fully take him down.
It was over. He lost.
The two kept close, but it was the black, grotesquely strong gundam that held him fast. He still struggled hopelessly, prying his soaked hands and arms. He was simply outmuscled. Desperation was sinking in.
"Please- please let her go! I-I'm the one who you're after... so... so kill me instead! Don't kill a sparkling...!"
"Well," The man spoke up. "Now zat ze charades are over, we can go onward." He strolled over, passing Rock in his struggles, and stopped in front of Tiffa. She watched him with teared optic panels and small body shaking like a leaf. "You have failed your obligation to your master," He frowned upon her. "Not only butting his life and well-being into jeopardy, but everyone in zis town."
"She hasn't!!" Fadl shot Rock a look for his interruption and socked him one.
"Be quiet while Caliph Suran Far-Sin is sbeaking!"
"Let him." the guards about the stage blinked in surprise. "He is being made an example of as well. Zose who oppose us will suffer even worse fates than zeir own demise. Zat is ze consequence of your rebellion!"
"Stop!!" Rock was just screaming now, and there wasn't a single damn thing he could do about it. "Have you a soul at all?! All of you! Standing there like cowards, you're pitiful!" Many of the mechs around them had turned their optics away, trying to ignore him and the horrible event about to unfold. The Caliph procured a switchboard with a lense at the front- no doubt, one of the infrared devices to activate her anhyar qnblh, the implanted bomb. His tone quickly changed to begging and pleading as his burning engine hiccuped. "Mnfdlk, please don't do this! What if this was your child?! What if this was your little brother or sister? G-oddess, please don't do this-!!"
Tiffa stared back at the black object about to implement her death and squirmed, throwing a sobbing fit. "I'm s-sorr-ry," She cried out.
"It is too late for zat now," His voice was almost gentle, but nonetheless stern, and he reached out with the lens to point it at her chassis. This can't happen! This-
"TIFFA!!" He squeezed his optics shut, shaking and entirely being supported by his captor. Rock expected to hear the dreaded sound like when Roche had been detonated, and he was confused initially by the lack thereof. He thought he revved engine had drowned it out and opened his eyes to another gundam who had stepped between them- it was the Caliph's personal guard!
"Khayrat," Suran growled. "What are you doing?"
"My abologies, fkhamh, but I would like to offer myself instead." Gasps broke out in the crowd and a lot of conversations. The knight just stared dumbfounded as his processors lagged.
"What do you mean?!" Raising his voice for the first time yet, the Caliph stabbed an accusing finger into his chassis. "Stand aside, or I will have you executed next!"
"Caliph, with all due respect, I will stay here. I have sired my own sparklings, and zough I may never know of zem, I cannot..." Khayrat drew a shuddered breath. "I can't stand here and watch this. I will never know peace for my life, zinking zey could be like zis one. She has made a mistake in her inexperience, and you will not consider forgiveness..."
"You do not make a mistake zis grave without facing the ultimate punishment," He shouted back and hald turned aside to Farooq and Fadl. "Move him aside! Khayrat, you will be next for your disobedience!" The two mechs jolted a little from their stunned trance, slowly trudging over to each wrap an arm around their comrade.
"You don't have to put up with this," Rock blurted out abruptly and the man snarled at him.
"Silence him!"
"No! You deserve to be treated with respect! You deserve to live your life the way you want!" A restricting hand moved up to wrap around his throat. Rock tipped his helm back, still pleading in a raspy whisper. "Let... me go...!"
Farooq slowed and let go of Khayrat without warning, Fadl glancing back at him with a startled look. "Farooq-...!"
"And you? You also wish to disobey me," Suran's face was beginning to turn red. The Mstshar called on Hafiz, trying to turn this situation around before it began it got out of hand.
"Get Baqi up here-"
"Baqi will not come," A mech's voice called out from the crowd of people. The townsfolk were starting to turn, some panicking and rushing to slip away, while others tried to assert their power over their slaved mecha. Others yet interfered- they were on the precipice of a riot!
Was this really happening?
Rock couldn't keep up with it, turning his fixed gaze at the next leader of Akkadia, simmering with clenched fists. The guards up on stage around them were all bickering sides, so he croaked again at Asad.
"Please let me go. Be it by mistake or the grace in your spark, please let me go save her..."
"Zat's enough!!" Caliph Suran Far-Sin shouted and turned on Tiffa, pointing the device at her one last time. "You are first, and zen every damned robot in zis town if we must! I WILL have order in my country!"
And then, everything seemed to happen in suspended animation.
Rock slipped smoothly from his hold like gravity pulling down an object from the sky and scooped up the knife, lunging at the Caliph. He turned with a flinch, and instead of Rock's slash slicing the switchboard from his grip, it cut clean through his forearm, just below his elbow.
The appendage landed aside from them in a sickening thud and the man's angry and shocked expression slipped from Rock's face, down to his bleeding out arm.
Well, that didn't go as planned.
He screamed out in agony and collapsed to his knees, shouts following and men and mech alike rushing towards them, but Rock gave them a dangerous look over his shoulder, barking out. "Stay back!!" They obeyed, terrified for their young leader's life hanging in the balance of the knight's choosing. The town erupted into complete chaos, some blasts from mech's anhyar qnblh, ricocheting out and shrapnel from their sacrifice ripping through friend and foe alike.
Rock watched the Caliph's writing, soaking in the dark pleasure of it only but just a moment. He knelt down and yanked off his headdress, ripping it to shreds as he meticulously formed a tourniquet to stop the bleeding out. Suran shook and watched him work helplessly, on the verge of hyperventilation now.
When he was finished with that, the knight picked up the knife once more and charged it a blazing hot white, pressing it to the wound and grimacing at his screams. Fadl and Hafiz jumped a step forward to his side-
"Stay back there where you are," Rock ordered and they blanched, scrambling back. "And while you are at it, turn off that electric field around Tiffa!" Caliph's eyes finally focused on his face, fighting off the shock his body wretched with.
"Y...You...!!" Rock lifted the now cooled blade and pressed it to his throat, earning a startled croak.
"Don't get me wrong," He growled venomously. "You are not above equal retribution. But a dead man can't learn, and he can't change. Death eliminates the protential inside of him from ever reaching his world." Rock exhaled and stood back up to look down at him, optics still harsh.
"You are alive still because of my faith in your own humanity, and nothing more. I hope that won't disappoint me."
"Rock!!" He glanced at his name and felt tiny arms wrap around his legs. He beamed and scooped her up in a tight hug, shakily exhaling.
"Tiffa, you're okay! You're safe!" She was still crying, but he couldn't help but smile, rubbing her back. Hafiz and Mstshar supported Suran up on his feet and hurried him off the stage, but Fadl trailed behind, and then turned back. The mech scooped up the device from the discarded arm, and Rock took notice of his approach, clutching her tight.
"Don't even think about i---" Two prongs slid out from the sides before Rock could realize what was coming next, and he stabbed the piece angrily into the knight's thigh. The high voltage shock to his system forced him to drop her in agony, crying out and staggering back.
"No!!" Tiffa sobbed and reached out to catch him, but she was much too small to stop him falling over the edge of the stage. He shorted out before he ever hit the ground...
Rock only found relaxation in methodically planning out how to escape town. He played over several scenarios based on where the location of this building was and kept telling himself next time he leaves they'll go. The very next time her master leaves, he'll be well enough to go.
And then, his hearing came back and the cuffs came off regardless. He awoke to the soft sounds of his ventilation system and quiet, subtle hum of his resting engine giving a start. Rock got up and flew upstairs, opening the door to peer out into the residence. It was well furnished and tidy, but small, which added to her drawings of the bachelor owner. He saw no one, so he opened the door further and floated a half step in. Someone was just past the living room and making a soft clatter, so he dared to approach cautiously. Tiffa was up on a step stool, busy preparing some lunch or so.
"Tiffa," He beamed and came in uninvited. "Hey! Grab your things, we're leaving!" She whipped around, dropping her utensils and looking as if she'd seen a ghost.
"W-What? Leaving?"
"Yes," Rock wasn't deterred by her aghast expression in the slightest, scooping the spark up into his arms. It didn't even matter if her small form pressed into his side and aggrevated his injury, he was just so thrilled to finally get going! "He's not here, right? I'm taking you away right now. No one's going to make you feel scared again!"
"N-No," She sobbed suddenly, her soft voice crackling. Tiffa was shaking. "You need to go back! Master-!" The sound of the door opening in the living room froze the both of them in place. Rock sat her back on the stool in a hurry and dissolved into sand, earning a gasp from the sparkling as she looked for him, puzzled.
Rock hid himself once more behind the cellar door, spark racing as he watched through a crack. Shit, if only he had come to five minutes sooner! Her master looked identical to Tiffa's drawings, he had darker skin with a full goatee and ebony eyes, weaving robes of the esteemed. He took off his footwear and cast aside some paperwork as he went into the kitchen, hustling with a flushed face. Though what was happening Rock couldn't see, he was well able to hear it finally-
"Tiffa! Why are you cooking?! This meal should have been ready when I came home, and you should be cleaning now!" Whatever it was that came after the sound of his voice, it had made a crash into a wall followed closely by a thud of something heavier. "I told you I have a visitor coming today, but do you even listen?! Are you purposefully trying to get me in trouble?!" Rock watched her stool tumble out of the doorwar of the kitchen with a soft patter against the floor, his yelling persisting over it. "So why did you not finish?"
It went quiet a moment, but just a moment.
"I said why didn't you finish?! You better say something, you stupid, lazy glitch! The Caliph is coming now and the preparations for his arrival are not done! What do you have to say for yourself for embarassing me like this?!" Rock's energon was boiling at this point, gripping tight to the door frame as if to physically restrain himself. What's embarassing is how badly he is treating an innocent little spark- no, downright shameful. He couldn't blow his cover for this, though. This abusive treatment was what he planned to save her from, afterall, she just had to endure it a little longer... just a bit more... and then never again. The knight will make certain of it.
His own mantra to calm down and reserve his patience broke, however, as Tiffa flew out from the kitchen and landing into the coffee table of the living room, slamming into it and tumbling off into the ground. She scrambled to hide underneath of it, shaking again. Following after was her irate master, stomping in and lunging to snatch her up once more before she could try to scurry away. "No! You're not getting out of this! You have a lesson to learn!"
Tiffa cowered away, turning her helm aside in a protective, avoidant gesture but only inciting him more for it. He punched her in the mouth and then held her there dangling in the air as her legs gave out, sobbing. "Stop crying! Or I'll--"
A hand suddenly wrapped tight on his wrist, forcing him to release the spark in shock and pain, spinning on his heel to face a punch himself square in the face. The man staggered back and nearly stumbled over her on the ground. "Gh-k!" Rock took hold of his collar and yanked him bac to shift his grip to his curly hair and forcing the human to kneel.
"Or you'll do what? Do you care to finish that?" Tiffa curled up on the ground before the offensive man, crying into her hands. He remained knelt there and staring at her, trying to pry Rock's fingers off of his skull.
"N-No...!" The knight expelled some steam from his vents and twitched as her master fumbled around for a switch on his person.
"Oh, no, I see what you were saying!" He jerked the man's head back to throw him face-fist into the ground, pressing his ped into his back. The device was dropped and Rock leaned over to snatch it up and wave it in the antagonized man's face. "Were you going to kill her? Electrocute her? Put her in line?" He only laid his head down in reply, gasping in pain. Sneering, the knight once more grabbed his hair and yanked his head upright. "Tell me what this is for!!"
"I--It's the self d-destruct device! I w-was going t-to turn her off-!"
"Turn her off," Rock repeated slowly in a dangerous growl. He lowered his voice to just above a whisper, digging more of his weight ito his heel strut, forcing out a cry of pain. "As if she's a fracking lightswitch. Do you think she's some kind of tool to use?"
"She," He wheezed. "She is... a-a good robot. I will tr-eat her better--... please, let me go..."
"Define better." His body shook under Rock and eyes darting- for a moment, he clearly thought the knight would entertain letting him go.
"I won't h-it her!"
"And?"
"And...? I-I--" His head was planted into the ground again, Rock snarling.
"Wrong answer!!" Evidently the forceful sound of his voice caused Tiffa across from them to squirm and hiccup another sob in her hands. His optics softened and he cooled his jets. She didn't need to be seeing this. "Let's start from the top." Rock peeled him off of the floor and uceremoniously threw him into a chair, summoning his shotel. Upon sight of the gigantic weapon, he screamed and nearly tipped over backwards- but didn't have the time to escape before glowing blue rings secured him to it. He raised the dagger-like edge of it to his throat, watching him sweat and shake in his restraint. "She is a living thing. Shis not a pen, nor a hammer, and not a light switch to which you turn "on" and "off." Tools do not cry when they are in pain." He brushed the shotel just a hair closer so he could feel the blade begin to cut the upper layers of his skin. "Additionally, she is a child at that. She has a name and feelings, and she deserves the same love and protection as any human child ought to be blessed with." Hesistating, he slid his weapon away to float above and look down at his face. "Where are her parents?"
"I--d-don't kno-w...! I swear-!"
"How did you end up with her?"
"I b-ought her... o-out in Daliarsa, they have... t-top rated mecha... Sh-She was special, already prime at household w-work, little mechas a-are always... the most sought after-"
"Because they are the most helpless," Rock finished for him. "You disgust me." Her master flinched away at his fierce look, expecting more pain. "Yes, good. Remember that feeling right there. Your face right now is how she looks at you. How long do you think you could live like that?" He stared back with teared eyes, shuddering and watching every motion the knight made. But Rock's adrenaline drive had calmed and its effects wearing off, giving him a bit of a head rush. He'll have time for that later- they needed to get far, far away from here, and immediately. "Tiffa?"
She peaked between her digits up at him, the look of fright still in her optic panels. "Can you please fetch me a towel or cloth?" Her master sensed what was coming next and began his seat squirming.
"No-! Help! Someone--!!"
"Quiet!" Rock elbowed him in the chest and his desperate gasping for air started up again. Tiffa scurried off for it and held it out for theknight. He took it graciously and smiled. "Thank you."
Using the towel, he silenced the man and tied it around the back of hs head. "Wh-What are you going to do?" Rock peered down at her, she looked mortified.
"I'm going to save you from this."
"Why?" Why? Well, that was quite the question. He owed it to her for saving his metal hide after blowing up the energon mine, but even if she hadn't... Rock knelt down and cupped her face in his hands like she did before, smiling.
"Because you deserve it."
Rock sat in the living room and measured his breaths carefully between sips of chilled energon. He didn't understand why she cared enough to insist on finishing the meal preparations for the bastard- but he supposed that was why she was special. She must have integrity. In a way, she reminded him of Clue, and he smiled to himself thinking about the little axian. Thinking of his friends was always a good way to pass time. A sound broke him from his thoughts, though, and he blinked. Tiffa drew to the edge of the kitchen's doorway, peeking out.
"What-" The front door rapped again.
Her master wriggled in his seat, making grunting sounds until Rock raised a threatening fist to hm. It was an empty threat, but effective, just to keep him quiet a bit longer. "Tiffa, we have to go now."
"I," She breathed out, looking back between the door and the knight. The man outside moved and tried to peer through a crack in the curtains, his shadow prowling back and forth like a cat stalking prey. He knelt down to her, hands clasped on her shoulders.
"You've had yur time, but we have to go." Her helm dipped down to nervously pick at the fibers of her mitten. This was no time to be uncertain, but Rock couldn't bring himself to force her along- she should have the right of this decision, too. "Do you trust me," He pressed carefully as a voice called out around the door. Tiffa looked at his face and gave a silent nod. "And you want a mother and a father like I was describing?" More voices began gather outside but she nodded a second time.
"Am I going to be in trouble... for keeping you?" Sometimes he forgot that though she was bright, Tiffa was still just a spark, and really only understood on that level, too. He smiled back.
