Chapter 7: Off The Rails

Not too far away, every single soldier in the Shard Wastelands had assembled under General Chrome's orders, and on a stage sat the lanky general and his loyal follower.

"Attention soldiers!" Tolo shouted, "The trains have finally arrived from City One with more Ivory batteries. So for those of us who can't suck it out of the ground, we can finally mobilize some machinery."

He then turned to face a soldier.

"Except for you, Svensson. Your squad truck was crushed by a pirate machine last night," He stated.

"Nuts," The soldier grumbled.

"The rest of you, give thanks to Mother. Ivory just gets harder to order in," He demanded, "Before we get back to chasing pirate hideouts, there are updates to our global wanted list."

A screen turned on behind him, showing the face of a dark-skinned man with gray hair and a moustache holding a fish.

"First is a man known as 'Captain Myron', likely born a pirate. Wanted for cartography. An extremely vital target!" He stated, "Allegedly, he is planning to travel beyond this continent without any regard for Mother's blessings."

"Hold up!"

Out of nowhere, Royal ran in, dragging behind him an extremely scared Robin.

He stopped in front of the stage and legitimately chucked Robin onto it, leaving her staring directly at Tolo and General Chrome.

"This mechanic deserves your attention!" Royal boomed, "She masterfully took out a pirate machine alongside my divine exertions!"

"Get out of here, Royal," Chrome spat.

"I'm sorry?" Royal responded.

"My men are being addressed, don't think your little runaway adventures matter more than them," The general hissed.

"I matter more than any of you!" Royal yelled, shaking his fist angrily at Chrome. All of the soldiers turned to him. "I demand you celebrate this mechanic's achievements!" He shouted.

"I'd rather celebrate people I've met before," Chrome muttered, then faced Robin and narrowed his eyes. "Who is this person?"

He then lowered his head and shook it irritably. "Right. I don't care. Summon a pedestal for her or something, magic boy. We will finish this address now," He said matter-of-factly.

Robin began to calm down. If they didn't care, then they'd probably just brush her aside and let her go, as they didn't even seem to know who she was.

"R-right away, general!" Tolo said uncertainly.

Royal audibly snarled at being cast aside.

"Moving on, the next addition to our wanted list is a fugitive presumed dead, but as it turns out, is still alive," Tolo stated.

Robin's heart began to beat faster.

The screen changed again, and everyone, literally EVERYONE reeled in alarm at who was on it. It made Royal's jaw drop as well.

It showed a picture of a younger Robin with her father.

"Mechanic Kurk spotted 'Robin', who was helping other soldiers earlier. The subject is an unblessed mechanic who has been tainting Ivory with bare hands," Tolo continued, unaware of the situation, "Those soldiers have later claimed they were under a spell from the fugitive's 'heathen magicks'."

Tolo then turned to see what was happening and finally noticed that the criminal he'd just described was right in front of him.

General Chrome chuckled and stood up.

"You simplified the process for once, Royal!" He said darkly, "Tolo, fetch our beloved agents."

Tolo ran off, and nobody moved.

"Arrest her," The general ordered.

Robin didn't even bother resisting. She knew it was useless.

She just closed her eyes...

When she opened them, she found herself tied tightly to a metal beam stuck into the ground next to a train. A progenarian stood directly in front of her, and not too far away Royal stood. The agents and General Chrome were surveilling the scene, accompanied by some soldiers.

This was it, she was going to die.

"We shall send this child to Him. He shall judge the wicked for the sins committed," The progenarian chanted, "We beg forgiveness for the immorals of one of our kind. We do not defy His will."

"Just kill her!" Black yelled, causing the prophet to turn around.

"You are very frustrated, but do not interrupt the holy recitals," General Chrome demanded.

"Her face is like a knife cutting into me!" Black hissed.

"I-I've said enough," The progenarian muttered, then stepped away.

"Hey, general, maybe we should try that prototype-thing on her?" Tolo suggested from behind her with a dark curiosity. "We really need more mechanics, right?" He said.

Wait, were they gonna brainwash her?

She'd honestly prefer to die.

"I said to kill her," Black spat.

"S-sorry!" The boy shouted.

"Our iteration isn't very functional anyway, I tried it on a pirate. Our better one was stolen," General Chrome stated.

The general looked at Robin blankly.

"Go on, Royal. Send her down into the earth now," He muttered.

Robin looked at Royal. His face was unreadable.

"Get on with it, psyche-boy!" Chrome hissed.

She closed her eyes.

It would all be over soon.

She heard something shifting and heard a high-pitched trilling noise.

She felt movement.

"He's planning something."

BOOM!

Instead of being crushed, Robin felt herself being launched into the air.

She looked around in shock to find herself on the train, which was beginning to move. On the ground, Royal was staring direclty at her.

"Let's just shoot people, OKAY?!" Black screamed.

The train took off.

Robin saw that she wasn't alone on the train. General Chrome's purple-haired follower was lying next to her, unconscious. She knew she needed to move.

So she did.

She hurried along the train until she came to a large flat area with some platforms.

"H-hey!"

She froze and turned around. The purple-haired soldier had woken up, and was staring directly at her.

"You're not gonna escape me, girl!" He yelled, then chucked a grenade her way.

She spun her wrench, knocking it back into his face.

She heard a loud whirring noise.

"Girl walking the road of the lost, it is written..."

She looked up, and her eyes widened in alarm.

It was a fricking attack helicopter with a force field! The general was also in there, reading one of his books!

"As he fled, the stolen idol was dropped, for acts of sin will always reveal in escape!"

She saw a flash of purple and turned just as a whizz of purple flew by her face.

"H-hey, don't hit the helicopter's shields with those!" The pilot of the helicopter yelled.

Robin smirked as she immediately knew what to do.

She waited for another grenade to be chucked at her and deflected it...

Right into the helicopter.

It exploded, and the helicopter began shaking. The force field around it began to fizzle.

"Nooooooooo!" The pilot yelled.

The helicopter flew away.

She saw Tolo dive under a wooden platform and became confused.

She then turned to see the helicopter coming back with a vengeance.

Oh.

She immediately dove for cover as the helicopter passed by, raining a hail of bullets onto the platform.

She poked her head out from under the platform, and seeing that it was clear, she came out as another bomb was hurled at her. She barely had enough time to react and dashed out of the way, but a wave of electricity from the bomb slammed into her side. She screamed in pain.

It was agonizing.

But she willed herself through it and deflected another bomb that was thrown her way.

"Nooooooooooooooooooo!"

The helicopter flew away, but she knew what it was doing and took cover as the helicopter flew by once again.

She looked at the helicopter. Its shield was almost completely phazing out.

She waited for one last bomb to be thrown her way, and...

BOOM!

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The pilot screeched.

The shield evaporated, and the helicopter was completely electrified and smoking.

The helicopter swooped down and grabbed Tolo with its one of its robotic arms, then flew away.

Robin reckoned that she was finally safe from the Concern.

At least for a while.

She climbed up onto a freight car and walked ahead with a smile on her face.

She heard a loud crash behind her, and turned to see the helicopter literally on the train in front of her.

The pilot roared and the helicopter lurched forward. Robin ran out of the way before she could be cut to ribbons by the rotor blades. She ran to a safe distance ahead, then turned to it.

General Chrome continued reading quotes from his book.

The shield was gone, so...

She could finally do something to it, right?

She started rolling bombs toward it, and the pilot retaliated with bombs of his own. However, his bombs got caught in a small dip.

To Robin's satisfaction, her bombs did seem to be damaging the helicopter. It even knocked it back a bit.

She then noticed a blue glow begin to appear at the end of the helicopter's main gun.

She dove into the small dip the bombs got caught in, and the helicopter released a huge laser.

After a few seconds, the laser was gone and she hopped out and continued bombarding the helicopter.

The pilot kept trying to kill her with the rotor blades, bombs, and more lasers, but it just got easier and easier for Robin.

Soon enough, many alarms were sounding for the pilot as most of the helicopters systems were too damaged or simply missing to operate. The only systems that were still functional were the rotors and the arms.

He'd had enough.

He forced the helicopter forward, and Robin ran away, but she was blocked by a wall. She turned in horror to see the helicopter stop right in front of her.

"I will crush you into this wall even if it's the last thing that I do!" The pilot screamed in a frenzy.

Robin quickly looked for a way out. The wall was too tall, she couldn't climb over it. The train was too thin, she wouldn't be able to evade it. And the train was still moving incredibly fast, if she tried jumping off, she'd be paste on the sand.

She began to hyperventilate.

She saw a flash of white out of the corner of her eye, and saw someone she never expected to see land in front of her.

It was Royal.

"Do not worry! I am here to protect you now!" He yelled over the sound of the rotors, then turned to face the helicopter and shook his fist at it. "I am sick of all you disrespectful simpletons!"

"Get out of here, Royal," General Chrome hissed.

Royal stomped his foot down. No! He would show them exactly who he was!

"Sh-SHUT UP!" He screamed, then activated his powers.

However, instead of launching the helicopter away...

They heard something crumble from underneath them.

Everything began to shake.

Robin stared in horror at Royal. What did he just do?!

"OH DEAR!"

The train lurched off the rails, sending everything and everyone flying.

Something bashed into the side of Robin's head, and she blacked out.