New Terra: The First Wave (Volume 1 of the New Terra Trilogy)

Part III- First Wave

Avi landed the bird across from the castle. Angus needed all five of the others' help to get out of the Bird. Once he was out, Queen Radcliffe led the group towards the Primal Terror, who waited patiently for them. "Hi," he mused as the group stopped in front of him.
"Call them off," Queen Radcliffe demanded. "Call the Zeppelins off!"
"This is what you wanted, right?" The Primal Terror asked. "A war?"
"Not like this!" Queen Radcliffe screamed.
"You're killing innocent people! This war was supposed to be between my soldiers and yours. So why do you have to murder innocent people?"
"To show you not to toy with Bristinon. I placed the embargo, and knowing you, an army would be at my doorstep within hours. So I brought the fight here. And like you told me earlier... Boom... Boom... Boom... Shock and awe, baby."
"Tell me those bombs aren't nuclear. Please tell me they're not nuclear!"
"They aren't," The Primal Terror said. "I don't want to waste those yet."
Queen Radcliffe kicked the ground and screamed. "Angus, kill him!" She demanded.
"I do not like violence," Angus whimpered.
"His life or billions of innocents, including yours!" Queen Radcliffe snapped.
"But-
"DO IT!"
The Primal Terror watched on in amusement. "And here I thought you would put up a legitimate fight... I guess I overestimated you."
Angus sucker punched the Primal Terror across the face. "Do not talk to my friends like that!" Angus commanded.
The Primal Terror gave Angus an emotionless stare before ramming his fist through Angus's chest. The Primal Terror ripped out some of Angus's wiring and threw it to the ground. Angus shut down and fell over.
"Hey!" Jerrybot yelled, lunging at the Primal Terror. The Primal Terror grabbed Jerrybot and ripped his head off of his body. Jerrybot's metallic spinal cord came off clean with his head. The Primal Terror threw Jerrybot's head next to Angus's wiring.
"I'm gonna kill you!" Mai screamed, fighting back tears. Jane and Avi held Mai back.
"What do you want from me?" Queen Radcliffe asked.
"I want you to back off from Bristinon. I rule the planet, not you. I decide what's best for Bristinon, and you can't stop me. Nor can you stop that." The Primal Terror pointed up to the Zeppelins.
"Try me."
The Primal Terror smirked. "You've got spirit, I'll give you that." A Zeppelin flew over the group and dropped a rope. The Primal Terror grabbed onto the rope and said, "See you in Hell, Honey Radcliffe." The Primal Terror was lifted away.
"I need shelter in your castle to put Jerrybot and Angus back together," Mai told Queen Radcliffe.
"Alright. Jane, help her out. Avi, you're with me."
Queen Radcliffe and Avi left Jane and Mai to pick up the pieces of their fallen comrades.
---
Avi flew Queen Radcliffe to Mai's gun store, weaving through bombs and rubble. Avi landed the Bird much closer to Mai's gun store than the previous visit. "Get me a weapon!" Avi yelled. "And put extra ammunition in your backpack!"
"It'll crush the apples I brought with me!" Queen Radcliffe protested.
"Why'd you bring apples?"
"I like apples!"
"They don't matter!"
Queen Radcliffe took an apple from her backpack and dropped the rest onto the ground. She bit into her apple before throwing it onto the ground with the rest.
Queen Radcliffe quickly rushed into Mai's gun store and searched it down. She grabbed two assault rifles and filled her backpack with ammunition. Queen Radcliffe picked up a bandolier filled with explosives. She grabbed an axe on the way out and ran to Avi.
"Looking good," Avi said as Queen Radcliffe ran out. "C'mon! Jump in!"
Queen Radcliffe hopped into the back of the Bird. Avi lifted the Bird into the air. "Fly up to a Zeppelin!" Queen Radcliffe yelled.
"Are you insane?" Avi asked.
"Trust me!"
"Alright." Avi flew towards the closest Zeppelin. "Seems like most of the Zeppelins have left," he commented. "Only four are left."
"Good. Let's take them out."
"How do we get the Bird in?" Avi asked.
"By doing this." Queen Radcliffe took a grenade out of one of the bandoliers. She pulled the pin, cooked it, and threw it. The grenade exploded as it made contact with the Zeppelin.
A large hole erupted into the Zeppelin. "Through there!" Queen Radcliffe yelled. "Hurry!"
Avi maneuvered the Bird through the hole and landed inside the Zeppelin. He and Queen Radcliffe gathered their weapons and ammunition and made their way through the Zeppelin.
"We're going for the pilot," Queen Radcliffe whispered. "Kill him, and the Zeppelin will come crashing down."
"On Shanghai?" Avi asked. "Do you want to destroy the city?"
"By the time the Zeppelin crashes down, it'll be out of Shanghai's range. No deaths, and no damage."
"If you say so." Avi took several clips of ammunition and shoved them in his pockets. "I want the axe."
"What? Why?"
"Because you have the axe, as well as an assault rifle and grenades. I only have my assault rifle."
"...Fine." Queen Radcliffe handed Avi the axe. She continued walking through the Zeppelin, with Avi in her wake. She stopped at a door leading to the next room. Faint shouts echoed in the distance.
"They're coming," Avi observed. "Get ready."
Queen Radcliffe and Avi readied their guns as the sound of footsteps increasingly grew louder. The door flew open. A dozen Brii came rushing through.
"Stand down!" Queen Radcliffe yelled. "NOW!"
The Brii all pulled out guns of their own. Queen Radcliffe and Avi ducked as the Brii opened fire. Queen Radcliffe shot upward at the Brii, killing four. Avi got back up and shot at the Brii's heads. Five more dropped, leaving three.
The remaining Brii dropped their weapons and ran. Avi threw his axe at them, hitting one in the head. The dead Brii knocked the other two down. Avi took quick shots at the other two Brii to finish them off.
"Nice one," Queen Radcliffe praised.
"Thank you." Avi took Queen Radcliffe's hand and lifted her up. He and Queen Radcliffe made their way through the doorway and into the next room. Avi picked his axe up as he passed by the Brii he killed.
"The walls are getting narrower," Queen Radcliffe observed. "We must be near the cockpit."
More footsteps echoed throughout the Zeppelin. "More Brii, six o'clock," Avi said. "Hide behind the doorway."
Queen Radcliffe and Avi hid on either side of the doorway. They waited until half a dozen Brii ran through and looked around. Queen Radcliffe and Avi opened fire while the Brii were facing away from them.
"C'mon, hurry!" Avi called. He and Queen Radcliffe jumped over the bodies of the Brii and ran to the cockpit.
Queen Radcliffe burst through the door to the cockpit. She threw a grenade in before taking Avi's hand and running out. "To the Bird!" Queen Radcliffe yelled. "Quickly!"
She and Avi rushed to the Bird, the sound of an explosion echoing behind them. They hopped into the Bird as the Zeppelin started tilting. Avi started the Bird and flew through the hole as the Zeppelin began falling.
Queen Radcliffe cheered as she watched the Zeppelin begin falling. "Just wait until Mai hears about this," she said.
"Don't get too cocky," Avi warned. "There are still three more."
"I hope she and Jane finish working on Jerrybot and Angus soon; something tells me we'll need some help."
---
Jane wrapped Jerrybot's arm around her neck as she helped his body to the castle. She held Jerrybot's head in her hand.
"How are you able to carry Angus so easily?" She asked Mai, looking back at her lifting Angus with ease.
"I'm used to carrying his big ass around," she answered. "Now, please tell me you have something in your castle to help me put these two Humpty Dumpties back together again."
"We have an ironsmith within the castle who specializes in crafting gold and silver bars. I believe he will be able to help us."
"These are androids, not gold and silver bars. But I hope you're right."
The doors to the castle opened. Two guards stepped out and aimed their weapons at Jane and Mai.
"Senior Advisor!" One guard noticed.
"Ma'am!" The two guards said in unison, putting their weapons at their side and saluting.
"At ease. This woman is with me," Jane said. "We need to take these androids to the ironsmith."
"The ironsmith was in town during the bombings," The guard on the left informed Jane. "But we can still take you to the ironsmith's workshop."
"That would be wonderful," Jane said. She and Mai followed the two guards through the peaceful castle. Mai looked out of a window and noticed the Bird flying away. She smiled and turned her attention back to the guards.
"You are blushing," Jane told Mai.
"A- am I?"
"Do you... Have have special feelings for Queen Radcliffe?" Jane asked, a huge smile growing on her face. "You seem to spend a lot of time with her."
"N-no. No. Of course not. It's just... Honey Radcliffe was my best friend. It's so nostalgic to get to see her again."
"Alright." Jane continued walking in silence, a small smile still etched onto her face.
The two guards stopped and face Jane and Mai. "The room on your right is your destination," the guard on the right told the duo. "We wish you luck in rebuilding your robotic allies."
"Thank you," Jane said as she and Mai entered the workshop.
The walls of the workshop were filled from floor to ceiling with tools and metals. Mai whistled and looked around. "I could work with this," she said. "Alright, Jane, let's get to work."
Mai grabbed a welding torch and a welding helmet. "Get something sharp," she told Jane.
"Why?"
"I need you to cut Jerrybot's back open."
"What?"
"So that we could put his spine back in his body." Mai put on the welding helmet and placed Angus's wiring back into his chest. She began welding wires back together while Jane searched the shelves of tools.
Jane grabbed a buzzsaw off the shelf and walked up to Jerrybot.
Jane started up the buzzsaw. "Be careful with that," Mai yelled over the noise. "You need to make a perfect cut from the top of Jerrybot's body to his waist."
"A-alright," Jane stuttered. She slowly cut a line through Jerrybot's back, opening him up. She stopped at Jerrybot's waist and took the buzzsaw out of his back.
"Good work," Mai yelled. "Now, grab me some silver, will you?"
Jane shut off the buzzsaw and put it back where it belonged. She began looking around for silver.
Mai shoved Jerrybot's head and spine back into his body and started welding his back together. She sat Jerrybot up and hit him on the back of the head twice. "Are you on yet?" Mai asked.
Jerrybot's eyes glowed blood red before switching to green. His jaw unhinged, creating a smile-like allusion.
"You're on," Mai said, nodding. "Jane, look after Jerrybot for me once you find silver. He'll be able to talk soon."
Jane found some silver and handed it to Mai. Mai thanked Jane and started welding the silver over the hole in Angus's chest.
Jane watched as Jerrybot moved body part after body part. "Hello," Jerrybot greeted. "I am Jerrybot. I am an android. And you are Jane. You are a human."
"I am," Jane said. "I am glad to have you back, Jerrybot."
"What happened?" He asked.
" We met the Primal Terror. Remember?"
"...Sort of."
"He was attacking Shanghai. You and Angus tried attacking him, to no avail."
"... I remember now. He... Ripped my head off."
"He did. Do not worry, though; he is gone now."
"Good. How is Angus doing?" Jerrybot looked at Angus, a worried-like expression in his voice.
"He will be alright."
"And where's Queen Radcliffe and Avi?"
"They are out saving the city."
"I want to go!" Jerrybot tried standing up. Jane caught him and sat him back down.
"You need to rest," Jane told Jerrybot.
"Androids never rest!" Jerrybot countered.
"By the time we get there, Queen Radcliffe and Avi will have already taken out all of the Zeppelins."
"...Alright," Jerrybot sighed.
Mai climbed on top of Angus and hit him on the back of his head twice. "C'mon buddy, wake up for me," she muttered.
Angus shifted his eyes before sitting up.
"Hello," He greeted. "What happened?"
Mai unraveled the previous events to Angus. "Queen Radcliffe and Avi are taking out the Zeppelins," she finished. "They'll surely come back when they're done."
"I think they shouldn't fight with the bombers. They should talk it all out."
"Sometimes violence may actually be the answer," Mai told Angus. "Queen Radcliffe and Avi are taking a few lives to save lots more."
Mai looked at the ceiling an smiled. "Wherever she is, my girl Honey is being a hero."
---
"Three down, one to go," Avi yelled to Queen Radcliffe. Queen Radcliffe blew a hole into the Zeppelin. Avi flew the Bird through the hole and began landing the Bird.
"Um... Avi?" Queen Radcliffe asked, looking into the Zeppelin. Dozens of Brii stood at the ready, guns in hand. "Avi?!"
The Brii opened fire. The Bird was pushed back from the force. It slipped through the hole and began plummeting to the ground.
"Avi, start up the Bird!" Queen Radcliffe called.
"The engine's damaged!" Avi yelled. "It's not starting!"
Queen Radcliffe and Avi screamed as they plummeted. "Mai..." Queen Radcliffe whispered before she and Avi hit the ground.