Chapter 7: The Fall of Nisan

Warning: This chapter contains scenes of graphic violence.

     Fei, Id and Elly stared out the window in horror, as Armanbad's Omnigear began shooting the small, metallic missiles that were loaded in his six barrel launcher on the gear's right arm.  As the buildings exploded and fires burned, the helpless citizens fled to the streest.  He used the triple machine gun on his left arm to gun down the citizens. The sounds of explosions, the bullet shells hitting the warm pavement and blood curtling screams filled the air.  Already, it's been only 30 seconds since the first missile was fired, but to the people and the team, it seemed like an eternity.  Blood splattered all over the buildings and all over the sidewalks and streets.  People were blown in pieces by run away rockets that miss their target.  Blood, was everywhere.  Bart and the others couldn't look around and see no blood.  Even though they were fairly far from the actual massacre, dismembered arms, legs and heads would fly in their direction, and would land in front of them, which, of course, freacked out Maria.  After a minute or so, one of the soldiers finally shouted "General! Don't hog all the fun!  Let us do some damage!"  Armanbad didn't like the comment and shot a missile at the gear.  The missile raced down the street and zoomed right over the Xenogears crew as they ducked under just in time.  The missile hit and blew the Omnigear up, metal sharpnel flying everywhere and the gears next to the destroyed one dove aside.  "Anyone who even thinks of questioning my orders or actions will suffer the same fate as our friend did!" Armanbad shouted through his loud speaker.  "Man, these guys ARE ruthless!" Bart declared, "I didn't think they would kill their own teammates."  "Kriltine and Armanbad only think of themselves," Citan added, "They only care about their own personal greed.  These soldiers are merely acting as puppets and servants to Kriltine.  Armanbad, too, is a slave under his enormous power."  With all this said, the crew heard the noises of several engines in the air.  "Look!" Rico shouted as he pointed up in the air.  The crew saw their gears approching at maximum speed and they began to descend to where the crew was.  "Destroy them!" Armanbad shouted.  The 49 remaining Omnigears aimed their machine guns and missile launchers at the approaching gears.  They fired everything they had at them in hopes of taking them down.  "NOOO!!" Billy shouted, "If our gears are destroyed we're DEFINITLY done for!"  After Billy said this, Armanbad began to laugh.  "Your getting smarter boy!" he taunted, "but not smart enough!  Even with your precious gears, you're no match for our army!"  Bart and Rico were now filled with rage.  "Why don't you shut that trap of your up before I shut it for you!" he shouted.  "Get ready, Bart," Rico responded.  Armanbad grined his teeth together and slammed his fist on the left arm of his chair.  "You have guts saying that to my face kid," he growled, "but now let's see those guts of your spill out!  Hahahahahahahaha!"  Armanbad aimed his missile launcher right at Bart and Rico.  He smiled evily and fired a missile out.  "Oh shit!" Billy shouted.  "RUN!" Citan shouted.  "There's no time!  We're done for!" Maria shouted.  Just as the missile was about to hit, the crew they heard a familaiar voice shout out, "GUIDED SHOT..times 3!"  The special red energy blast of Fei rushed out and destroyed the missile.  Although the missile didn't hit, the blast through the team into nearby buildings, which Rico, Chu-Chu and Maria smashing through the windows and landing on tables and counters.  Bart and the rest grumbled as they stumbled to their feet and opened their eyes.  They couldn't believe who was standing with them.

     By now, the Yggdrasil was far enough away from Nisan where Kriltine's army wouldn't bother them, at least for now.  Everyone on board had agreed to head for the mountains west of Bledavik, where the civilians fled to when Kriltine destroyed the captail of Aveh.  Luckily for the crew, Kriltine's army had retreated toward Nisan, where they were ordered to help find Fei and Elly. 'Sir!  We've reached the moutains!" Franza said as he turned around toward Sigurd.  Sigurd walked down the walkway and approached Franz's work station. "Good," he replied, "I want twenty heavily armed soldiers to come with the rescue team.  I. myself, will also join the team in hopes of finding some survivors.  You will be in charge while I'm gone, Franz."  Franz agreed and saluted Sigurd as he walked off toward the elevator.  Moments later, the soldiers and Sigurd came walking out of the bay doors and into the hot, desert sand of the west coast of Ignas.  "Keep your guard up," Sigurd ordered, "there's still a chance their might be some enemy soldiers around."  The rescue team began to walk up the steep slopes of the mountains and saw the horrific scene. There wasn't a human body insite that was completely together.  Everybody they saw was missing at least two limbs, some had their fingers, toes, legs and arms chopped off along with their skull crushed.  "How can anyone do such a thing to humanity?" Sigurd asked himself.  They looked around some more for anybody with as little as a faint pulse.  But the place was turned into a huge graveyard as what seemed like millions of people slaughtered and their blood and organs spilled all over the mountains.  As they continued to investigate the scene, Sigurd's portable phone began to ring.  He immeditlly picked it up, for Franz knew never to call him unless it was important.  "What's wrong Franz?" Sigurd asked.  "Sir, we've picked up a Gear trail on long range radar.  It's moving across the central part of Ignas."  "A gear?" Sigurd's heart began to pound hard and loudly in his chest.  He wasn't sure if this was just a civilain gear or if it was more of Kriltine's men.  "Where's it heading?"  "It seems to be heading for Nisan," Franz responded.  "Nisan?  It must be one of Kriltine's super Omnigears."  "I don't think so," Franz replied, "the readings were getting indicate that it's far too weak to be a super Omnigear.  I believe it's a second class Omnigear, it's energy reading is only 20,800"  "20,800?" Sigurd shouted in surprise, "Why in the hell would a second class Omnigear with a power reading of 20,800 be heading for Nisan?"  "I don't know but we're trying to get new information."  "Okay then, let me know the instant you find something good.  In the mean time, try to communicate with it and see who's the person in it.  Warn them of trouble in Nisan."  Sigurd hung up the phone and continued walking through the graveyard and bodies.

     Bart and the rest of the crew stood in shock as they saw a person who they could never forget.  How he destroyed the Yggdrasil and almost killed Bart in the process.  How he faced off with them in the Ethos' Underground Dig Site. How he destroyed Solaris without breaking a sweat and how he almost destroyed the Zohar Modifier.  Yes, it was him, Id, who was standing there, next to Fei. Id looked toward the rest of the crew and gave a wicked smile.  "So, we meet again at last," he finally said.  "YOU!" Rico shouted, "Of all the damn times to show up!"  "I guess that mean you aren't glad to see me," Id snickered.  Rico clentched his fists tight enough to cut off circulation to his hands.  His faced bured red with anger and was ready to attack.  "No!  Wait!"  Fei jumped into the middle of the road and stood between the two parties.  "Listen, I know you guys all have a grudge against him, but believe it or not, he's going to help us fight Kriltine."  "Are you out of your mind!?!?" Bart shouted, "Why the hell trust him?  He almost killed Elly and the rest of us fifteen years ago!" "That's all in the past, Bart," Fei replied, "You have to learn to stop living in the past and start looking toward the future.  The fututre of this planet, the future of everyone living on it and the future of us.  That's all that matters now, guys.  Listen, I promise you, if Id tries anything that is near to betraying us, I will deal with it myself.  But right now, we have a planet to protect so I'm asking you as a leader, as a friend, to put your feelings aside and to trust me."  Bart and Rico cooled down a bit and backed off toward Citan. "I have a curious question," Citan replied.  "Save it.  We have a battle to win." Id responded.  "And are you okay with this Elly?" Maria asked.  "To tell you the truth," she began, "I still don't turst Id completely, but we have no choice.  He could mean the difference between victory and defeat for all we know."  The crew went dead silent.  Elly was right.  With Fei AND Id, they might have a fighting chance against Kriltine.  "Okay then.  Id and I will take the main bastard, the rest of you try and take down those gears."  Fei and Id immeditly embarked toward where Armanbad was positioned.  "You heard the man, let's get in our gears and fight!" Bart declared.  The crew cheered as they immeditly got into their gears which landed safely on the ground, without damage or electrical interference.

     Armanbad began powering up his gear and was ready to fire everything he had at Fei and Id.  "Before I give the order to attack, men, let me get their power readings," he said.  Armanbad flipped two thin swicthes and immeditaly, the scanner was on his screen.  He scanned Bart's Omnigear, Andvari, first. Armanbad smiled evilly and laughed.  "26000, weak ass!" he taunted.  He then scanned Rico's Omnigear, Stier.  "Hey!  36000, I'm impressed!" he said with sarcasm, "and that one's 38000!"  Maria's gear, Seibzehn, was the strongest one, next to Fei's Xenogears.  He scanned Citan's gear, Fenrir, then Billy's gear, Renmazuo then finally, he scanned Elly's gear, Vierge.  "27000, 24600 and a weak 17000!  I can't believe the last hope for the planet is a bunch of weaklings! Kriltine will be thrilled!"  Armanbad turned off the scanner and aimed his missiles and machine gun at the crew.  "Hey d**kweed!" Fei shouted, "Your forgot to scan our energy levels!"  Armanbad just gave them a blank stare for a few seconds and then began to laugh.  "You two terds think your more powerful then Omnigears or something?" he taunted.  "It can happen," Id replied.  "Okay okay, I'll scan your power levels before I mutalate you!  Whahahahahah!"  He, once again, flipped on his scanner.  "Raise your power, Fei," Id suggested, "he might be surprised just how powerful we are."  "Right," Fei answered, "Here goes nothing!"  Fei and Id struggled their hardest to raise their fighting power. "Hahahahahahahaha!  You two crack me up!  Remind me to crush your funny bones when I pulverise you!" Armanbad shouted.  He scanned Id's power first.  That evil, cocky smile soon turned into a look of surprisement.  "Whoa!  3,000!  I'm REALLY scared now!," he replied.  Id gave him a wicked smile and then went into his fighting stance.  His long, red hair flapping through the gentle breeze as he prepared himself to attack.  "Hey Fei, I have an idea," he whispered.  Fei, too, was in his fighting stance as he held his fists up in the air and concentrated on Armanbad in hopes of finding a weakness.  "What's on your mind?" Fei whispered back.  "I believe I've found a weakness.  It's not going to sound like a weakness, but he's really cocky."  "How's that going to help?" Fei asked. "Very simple," Id replied, "this moron is underestimating our power.  He can't sense our true power, because his device he has wasn't designed for that. Quickly, push your energy level back down and when the times right, raise it to your max.  Got it?"  Fei nodded, "Yeah, that might just work."  Fei began to push his energy level back down to his normal.  Armanbad then began scanning Fei in hopes he would be stringer than Id.  "Hahahahahaha!"  Armanbad began to laugh uncontrolably as he saw the energy reading from Fei.  "2000!  Oh man, that's repulsive!  My great grandmother had more energy than that! Hahahahahahhahahaha!"  Id and Fei both clentched their fists tightly and were ready to attack.  "Wait for my order!"  Armanbad's Omnigear lifted up it's right arm.  "ATTACK!" he shouted as the arm dropped back to the side of the gear.

     Back in the mountains of western Ignas, Sigurd and his rescue team continued to search for survivors.  But all they could see was dismembered bodies and body parts all over the place, with the dark color red of dried up blood all over the rocky terrain.  "I still can't believe someone would be cruel enough to do this to innocent humans," one of the party members remarked.  "Four million people, slaughtered," Sigurd quietly replied, "more people died in five minutes than the first twenty years of the Aveh/Kislev war.  The worst massacre in the history of mankind, no doubt."  They continued walking throught the mountains.  In some cases, the path was so full of dead bodies and dismembered body parts, they had to actually climb over them to reach the other side.  Yes, it was truly a gruesome site.  And it was only the beginning.  For they heard the sounds of shouting from a distance.  They ran over to see what it was, but the soldiers got their guns ready.  They turned a corner and saw three people, severly injured, but alive, crying out for help and in pain.  "Over here!" another party member declared.  Sigurd and the rescue team quickly ran over to the people. One was a middle aged man, in his mid to late 40s.  He was missing his right arm and three fingers on his left.  His face was badly beaten up, and both legs were broken, his right one with a compound fracture.  "Jesus Christ," Sigurd shouted, "Your a real lucky man to survive such a massacre.  Dr. Lopez, please treat this man's injuries.  "Yes sir," Dr. Lopez replied.  He went over and immeditly put a huge bandage around the area where his arm used to be.  He then bandaged up the areas where his fingers used to be.  He only had his thumb and index finger left.  "Hey Doc," he quietly said, "just let me die!  I can't stand the pain and trauma I've been through."  "I will not do that," he replied, "You still have things to do in your life.  We'll have to put robotic implants into your arm socket and finger sockets.  We'll then attach your nerves into the implants so you'll be able to have feeling in them again."  Sigurd went to another survivor, who was basiclly cut in half.  His stomach was split open and his sternim was smashed in.  The person began breathing hard and fell unconscious.  "He's going into cardiac arrest!" Sigurd shouted.  Dr. Lopez rushed over and checked the man's pulse.  "He's dead," he reported, "his injuries were too severe."  Sigurd slammed his fist on the ground with all his might and then stood up.  "All my life, I've witnessed murders and even have commited a few, but it doesn't even get close to the intensity and cruelty of this."  "Sir!" Dr. Lopez shouted, "May I take this survivor back to the Yggdrasil?  He needs immedite medical attention and a huge blood tranfusion."  "You may go, but be careful," Sigurd responded. Dr. Lopez and the survivor headed back off down the stained mountain path and back toward the Yggdrasil.  However, on the way back, they heard gun shots and Dr. Lopez fell dead to the ground, with a gun shot wound to the back of the head.

     The battle began.  The Omnigears blew the stone wall to dust and charged into the city and right for the crew in their gears.  "ATTACK!!" Bart shouted. Citan's gear, Fenrir, took out it's powerful Kijin Sword and began slicing away at an attacking Omnigear.  Fenrir already reached level 2, since it's agility was among the best in the group.  Unfourtently, the gear he was fighting, also had a powerful sword.  The two began clashing swords and exchanging blows.  When Citan seemed to be getting the upper hand, another gear with a sword jumped down and slash a huge hole in the back of Fenrir, knocking him down.  They began to swing their swords around while Citan desparatly tried his best by blocking with his sword and every once in a while, give them a slash or two.  Bart cracked his Thor GWhip at another gear.  The gear dodged it and fired bullets at Andvari. "Ah shit!" he exclaimed, "It took six moths to get this baby shiny!  Now your gonna pay!"  Andvari began charging.  It charged up to level one, but couldn't charge any higher unless attacked.  The Omnigear quickly attacked and knocked Andvari right off it's feet.  Andvari rolled out of the way just in time before the gear could smash it head in and kill Bart.  Andvari quickly got up and charged at the gear.  The gear blocked him and smashed it's powerful fist into Andvari's stomach.  "Ah crap!" Bart shouted.

     Inside Renmazuo, Billy was using his special G-Godson gun against the enemy gears.  With his guns in his gear's hands, he fired at the incoming enemies. They either dodged or deflected the bullets and ran up and charged Billy in the stomach.  He hit the ground hard on his back but got up just in time before the gear could smash it's head in.  Even with a huge dent in his gear's stomach, Billy managed to hit the gear in the face with a few well-placed shots in hopes of killing the operator inside.  But that wasn't the case.  The bullets harmlessly bounced off and the shells hit the ground.  "Damn!  Nothing can beat these guys!" Billy exclaimed.  Having said this, three gears snuck up and blew him into two houses, destroying them.  Billy got up, more pissed off than ever. "That's it!" he shouted, "No more playing around!  You four are dead!"  Billy's gear was up to level 2 already.  "Here's an attack I learned while training in Nortune."  Billy powered up an energy ball and loaded it into the old Jessie Cannon he used to help the crew fifteen years earlier.  "You jackasses will pay for what you did to my father!  PLASMA CANNON FLARE!"  He shot a huge ball of green ether energy at the gears.  The four gears charged at him and deflected the ball of ether into some nearby shops, completly vaporizing them.  The four rammed Billy into more nearby buildings.  "God, please help us," he queitly prayed as the monster gears pounded on him.

     Rico and Maria, like the rest of them, where getting clobbered.  Already, they both slammed into each other while attempting to tackle two enemy Omnigears. "Damn!  They're too freaking fast!" Rico exclaimed, "It's going to take some ether energy to even make a blemish!"  "I hear you!" Maria responded.  Rico began charging up ether energy.  It wasn't long before he had enough energy to do his attack with.  "STEEL METTLE!" he shouted as dozens of small, red ehter shots began hitting the gears.  No damage.  They remianed in one piece and were angrier than ever.  "Let me try!" Maria shouted, "GRAVITON GUN!"  The sealed gravity gun shot at the enemy gears, but with bad results.  There was absolutly no damage at all.  "Ah crud!" she exclaimed.  Out of nowhere, two gears came up behind Maria and Rico and kicked them down to the ground.

     Chu-Chu wasn't having any luck either.  She was constantly getting punched and shot by the six gears that were facing her.  "ANCIENT MYTH!" she desparatly shouted.  Within seconds, the mystic power engulfed the enemies.  They were unharmed by the power.  However, this gave Chu-Chu enough time to escape and run.  The gears got up and gave chase.  They shot bullets at Chu-Chu and stunned her.  They pounced on her like a cheetah and began hurting her and torturing her.  "HELP!" she shouted.  With the cry of her voice came Margie with a strap of grenades.  "I'm coming Chu-Chu!" she shouted.  Margie ran up and pulled a grenade out from her belt.  She pulled the thin mettalic pin and threw it toward the gears.  It exploded, but didn't cause any damage.  However, it did get the enemy's attention.  The gears turned around toward Margie.  She was filled with fear and anxiety as the gears came running toward her.  Chu-Chu managed to have enough strength to tackel the gears before they could hurt Margie.  "Run Margie! Get out of here!" Chu-Chu shouted.  "I can't leave you and Bart here!" she answered, "I can't leave you guys here to die miserable deaths!"  "Don't worry about us, just go" Chu-Chu.  With hesistation, Margie ran toward the north exit of the city.  Chu-Chu watched as Margie disappeared behind the thick bushes that were at the northern gates of Nisan.  "Good luck, Margie," she quietly whispered to herself.  The gears managed to throw Chu-Chu's heavy body off and attacked her again.  Margie looked back toward the city gates and whispered, "Good luck Chu-Chu, Bart, Fei and the others.  May God be with you,"  After saying this, she ran off toward the north, away from Kriltine and his army of tortue and destruction.

     More and more enemies came in and began to help their comrades gang up on the crew.  "There's too many of them!" Citan shouted, "If we don't hit level Infinite soon, we're done for!"  "I hear you!" Elly shouted in her gear, Vierge. Five gears we're ganging up on her and she was in bad shape.  She managed to escape and get up and moved to a far enough distance to lauch an attack that was sure to work.  "Eat Aerods!" she shouted.  She launched the small, missile like aerods and they homed onto the gears.  They struck with incredible force and exploded.  Smoke and dust filled the air as Elly smiled.  With  the feeling of excitment inside of her, she didn't realize one of the gears snuck behind her and pounded her to the ground.  The dust and smoke cleared and Elly was horrified.  The five gears were all in one piece.  "No way!" she shouted, "Not even a dent!"  She was in big trouble now, for six gears were on her and doing heavy damage to the hull of her gear.  Things didn't look good for the Xenogears team.

     Fei and Id we're waiting for the cocky brute, Armanbad, to attack.  "What are you weaklings waiting for?  Attack!  I do have better things to do then to waste my time on you terds!" he shouted through his loud speaker.  "Why don't you come out of your crappy gear and fight us like a man?" Id demanded.  "What?  How you dare you say that!  If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!  But, don't expect me to give you mercy when I beat you two to the ground! Hahahahahahahahaha!"  Armanbad pushed a button and the top hatch of the gear opened.  Armanbad came pounding out and jumped in front of Fei and Id.  He had black boots, a black coat and a blood red shirt.  He carried two machine guns, one on each side and a dozen small knives.  He had a nasty scar on his left eye and another huge one on his right arm.  "You two are no match for me.  My ether energy level is way higher than yours.  You might as well give up now and surrender to Kriltine, and save yourselves the trouble of having me to force you."  Armanbad began smiling again.  "We'll never surrendor!" Fei shouted, "We'll fight you to the last breath!"  "Have it your way then," Armanbad replied, "but don't say I didn't warn you!"  Without warning, Armanbad rammed his elbows into Fei's and Id's stomachs, knocking the wind out of them.  They managed to keep themselves from falling onto the ground and at the mercy of Armanbad.  "Your not so tough!" Armanbad taunted, "My grandpa could beat you up, with his legs AND arms missing!  Hahahahahahaha!"  The pain in Fei and Id's stomachs began to subside, but they still held their stomachs, for that blow wasn't an ordinary one.  "Fei, I have another plan," Id replied, "but it involves you lasting five minutes against this bastard."  "What's the plan," Fei whispered back as he knelt down to the ground, but at the same time, keeping one eye on Armanbad, for he could attack them at any moment.  "Well, while I was trapped in the back of your subconscious, I learned a few new moves.  I think they'll have some effect on this moron."  Fei was very hesitant about the plan. He knew very well he couldn't last thirty seconds against this guy, much less five minutes.  Fei looked down at the ground, and then at Armanbad, who was just standing there, tapping his boot on the stone road.  "What are you terds waiting for?  Let's get this show on the road!"  Fei turned back toward Id.  "Okay, I'll do it, but I can't guarentee I'll last five minutes.  In the mean time, I want your best, you got that Id?"  Id turned toward the Armanbad, who was pretending to sleep from boredom.  "Yeah, and you give me yours also." Id responded, "Good luck, Fei."  "Same to you," Fei answered.

     Fei stood straight up and popped his knuckles.  He clencthed his fists together and charged at Armanbad.  Fei clashed right into Armanbad, who blocked a powerful punch with his large elbow.  Fei desparatly tried to throw a punch and make it connect with Armanbad's face, but Armanbad was too quick and too strong. He knocked Fei clear across the road, and through a window of a weapons shop. "Nice try, but not good enough!"  Armanbad held out his large palm toward Fei. He began gathering large amounts of ether energy, and began to form it into a red, plasmetic-like ball.  "Now, say goodbye!   Whahahahahaha!"  Right as Armanbad through the ball of energy, he suddenly remembered what Kriltine had told him.  If Fei and Elly were injured in anyway, he would be held responsible. That very thought struck fear in Armanbad.  He had forgotten to tell his army he didn't want Fei or Elly harmed!  He then snapped out of his fear, just in time to see Fei dive aside, and the plasma ball hit and destroy the weapon shop in front of him.  Armanbad then quickly remembered that there was Id he could attack and torture.  He turned toward Id, but was unaware that Id had a nasty surprise coming.  "Almost done, Fei!" he shouted as he continued to gather the ether energy to form his special attack.  Because Armanbad was distracted by the thought of Kriltine's threat, he didn't notice that Id was preparing a major attack.  Armanbad, once again, began gathering energy to form his plasma ball. "Fei!  He's turning his attack toward me!" Id shouted.  Fei quickly got up to his feet and brushed the dust off of himself.  "Hang on, I'll be right there!" he replied.  Armanbad began smiling, as he formed the gathered ether energy into a red ball of plasma.  "You shall die at the hands of the mighty Armanbad!"  Id looked with fear, but he knew he had to keep gathering the ether energy.  Right as Armanbad was about to throw his plasma ball, Fei did a powerful flying kick right into his spinal cord.  Armanbad was knocked over and screamed in pain as he slammed into the hard, rocky road, face first.  He threw the plasma ball right as he fell, but it missed Id, by far.  The plasma ball went soaring through several buildings before exploding and wiping out several more.

     A single gun shot was all it took to kill Dr. Lopez, the best doctor on the continent of Ignas.  The severly wounded man fell against a boulder, but quickly regained his balance.  He was severly weakened due to the amount of blood he lost.  He looked down on the dead corpse.  Blood was oozing from his head where the bullet penatrated.  It was spilling onto the rocks, then quickly dried in the heat of the sun.  More gunshots were heard from the other side of the ridge. The one of few survivors of the terrible massacre, slowly walked along the ridge.  As he continued to walk, his foot nudges a nearby machine gun from and dismembered soldier.  He slowly picked up the machine gun and took out the clip. Sure enough, there was a good ten bullets left, but he knew that wouldn't be enough to kill the remaining soldiers.  But he had to try.  As he crept along the corner, a soldier fired at him.  The bullets hit the ridge he was hiding behind with force and cracked the soft bedrock.  The survivor swiftly turned the corner and fired some shots toward the soldiers.  They missed, and the soldiers quickly returned fire.  This time, they didn't miss their mark.  The man was shot five times in the chest and fell off the ridge.  He fell for about 30 feet, and then was impailed on a razar sharp jagged rock.  Sigurd and the others ran as fast as they could to reach the area where the shots were heard from.  Soon, they saw the dead body of the good doctor.  "Where's the survivor?" Sigurd asked, "Check around, he may have escaped somehow."  The soldier did as he was told and looked around.  He came to the ridge and looked down.  "Sir!  I found the man!  He's dead." the sodier reported.  Suddenly, shots were fired.  Screams of pain filled the air.  Sigurd opened his eyes in time to see the soldier fall to his doom off of the ridge.  Sigurd punched the nearby cliff and looked helplessly in the sky.  "This is it," he sadly announced to the rest of his team, "We're done for."

     Armanbad slowly got up from the middle of the road, his face covered in blood, his back hurting, and more pissed then ever.  He wiped the blood off of his face and glared at Fei and paying no attention to Id.  "You runt!  I'll make you pay for what you did to me!"  Armanbad was in a bad position, though.  Fei was in front of him, while Id continued gathering the ether needed to lauch his special attack.  Fei glared at Armanbad.  He wiped the sweat off of his face and stood in his fighting position, ready to attack at any split second if Armanbad tried anything.  Armanbad looked back at Fei with a very stern look on his face.  He wiped more blood off his face that was coming out of his nose and mouth, and spit some out on the ground.  He decided to use his portable energy scanner and scanned Fei's energy level.  Armanbad's face of anger turned to a face of fear. No way!, he thought, How can this be?  His energy level is 15,000, and it's still going up!  Fei saw the fearful look on Armanbad's face as he turned to measure Id's energy level.  Armanbad couldn't believe what the scanner was reading.  "Energy level, 18,225!  And it too is also going up!"  Id also saw the terrified look in Armanbad's face and began to smile.  "You underestimated our power, and now you'll pay!" he shouted, "Fei, it's ready!"  Armanbad froze in place.  Should I flee, or should I fight?  If I flee, Kriltine will for sure finish me off.  But, those fools don't realize that I too, can raise my energy levels.  I might as well make the best of it.  He got back into his fighting stance, and raised his energy power to his maximum, at 18,500.  "Catch this Armanbad!  A present from all humans on the planet!  PLASMA CANNON BLAST!"  Id shot his powerful newly learned skill at Armanbad.  Armanbad just smiled.  He stood in the path of it, thinking he was powerful enough to cancel it out.  But, the scanner began to bleep loudly.  He quickly took a look and his face went pale as a ghost.  "Energy level 19,000!"  NOOOOOOOOO!"  Armanbad let out a dreadful scream as the powerful green plasma blast blew Armanbad striaght into some nearby buildings.  The building exploded with great force, and smoke filled the air.  Fei and Id waited.  They waited, and we're both expecting Armanbad to come flying out of the burnt rubble and attack them with all his might.  But there was no movement.  It was calm and still.  The only noises that wre to be heard was the rest of the crew desparatly trying to fight off the overwhelming Omnigears.  "All right!  We did it!" Fei shouted as he gave Id a high five. "Now that that cocky bastard is out of the way, let's get rid of the rest of these pests."  Fei and Id began running toward the battle field when they heard a loud, crashing noise from the destroyed building.

     The crew and their gears were rapidly weakning.  The Omnigears were too powerful and overwhelming for them.  They all regrouped in front of the Nisan Cathedral, their gears beating up badly, the crew tired out and injured and the thoughts of death that rolled through each of their minds.  "We gave all we could and we still can't take a single one down!" Rico shouted.  "What do we do now?" Maria asked in a sad and scared voice.  "Do what we came here to do... try our best and destroy these assholes!" Bart shouted with joy.  "We can't, Bart. They've beaten us.  I guess this is the end for us," Elly softly replied.  "I have to agree with Elly," Billy added, "They're just too damn powerful."  All of the Omnigears stood side by side, each severly damaged and HP almost totally depleted.  The army of gears stopped their advance on the crew and went into a horizontal line formation.  A light, greyish gear stepped out in front of the line and help up it's right arm.  "I am General Steruas, of the mighty army of Kriltine.  We order you to surrender, or be killed."

     Id and Fei could only look and watch as Armanbad bursted from the burnt rubble. His face was again covered in blood, his shirt had burn marks and holes from the blast, and most of his hair was burned off.  He landed on the ground on his feet, and angrily stared at Fei and Id.  "You little worms, I'll flatten you for good this time!  I don't care what Kriltine's order was, your BOTH going to die!"  Armanbad let out a dreadful cry and shoulder rammed Fei and Id in the face.  Both warriors slammed into the ground, and both had blood spilling out from their mouths and noses.  Armanbad jumped up in the air with rage and landed on Fei's stomach.  Fei cried out in pain, and tried with all his might to break free from Armanbad's deadly foothold.  Armandbad looked down on the helpless warrior and taunted him.  "You're not so tough without you're friend over there to help you!  I'll personally finish you off!"  He press down harder and harder on Fei's chest, breaking every rib in his body.  Fei screamed with all his might.  Id could only watch and stare,  He knew that if Fei died, he would also, because Id is a part of Fei.  Id knew he was powerless, but he had to try something.  Armanbad continued to press down on Fei's chest, in hopes of a broken off rib would stab hin in the lung or even the heart.  Id couldn't stand it anymore.  He charged at Armanbad with all his might.  Armanbad looked over at Id and blocked him with a shift punch to the face.  Id flew back a good ten feet and smashed through another building.  Armanbad then continue to focus all his energy and attention on Fei.  "Whahahahahahaha!  I'll save Kriltine the trouble of torturing you by me doing it myself!"  Fei screamed and screamed.  The only thought in his mind was, this is the end, this is the end.

     "I repeat, we order you to surrendor, or you'll be killed!"  The army commander, Steruas, again repeated the message.  The crew didn't respond.  They just stood there, back to back with the main wall of the cathedral.  "This is you last warning, surrendor, or be destroyed!"  "If anyone has any bright ideas, now is the time to share them," Billy replied.  "Sorry young one, but we're too damaged and weak to do anymore fighting," Citan responded.  Elly could only hope for the best.  She thought of all the good times her and Fei had during the last fifteen years.  Their wedding, their honeymoon in Nisan, every good memory was going through her mind.  It was almost like her life was flashing before her eyes.  Her thoughts were interuppted when she heard a scream of pain.  She looked out her window.  She could see nothing but destroyed buildings, dead bodies, and dried up blood on the pavement.  She looked back toward the enemy gears.  She heard the scream again.  The scream of pain, of torture, of death. She finally realized what it was.  Fei is in trouble, she thought as tears began streaming from her eyes.  The screaming continued to rign through her head, as she got more and more angrier.  All of a sudden, she couldn't take it anymore. She let a blood curtiling cry of rage and exploded in anger.  The scanners on the enemy gears began bleeping loudly.  Steruas activated his scanner, and he couldn't beileve what it was reading.  "Oh my God, the girl's gear's energy level is sky rocketing!  25,000 and still climbing!"  The rest of the crew looked over at Vierge with eyes of surprisment.  "She's doing it," Citan declared, "she's boosting up to level Infinite!"  "All right Elly!" was all Bart could shout out.

     With all the exciment and commotion, Elly suddenly blurted out, "LEAVE FEI ALONE!!!!!"  She kept powering up.  "52,000!  We can't beat that!" Steruas shouted.  Without warning, Elly lunged forward with her Chaos RodG in hand, and swiped Sterus and his gear in half.  The gear exploded on impact, shrapnel and wires flying everywhere.  "LEAVE FEI ALONE!" she shouted again.  She suddenly stopped, and got out of her gear.  She jumped down and raced over to where Fei and Id were battling Armanbad.  "Elly, NO!" Bart shouted.  Elly turned on her communicator that was attached to her watch.  "Keep those guys busy while I help Fei!"  "Elly, are you out of your mind?" Rico shouted.  "It depends on your definition of out of my mind, Rico" she replied back.  "You're going to get yourself killed if you attack Armanbad!" Billy shouted, "His fighting power is twice as high as yours, maybe higher!"  "I don't care!" she demanded, "Fei is hurt and I have to help!  Now, please, do as I say!"  She turned off her watch and continued running toward Fei, Id and Armanbad.  "No wait," Maria tried to reply.  "Let her go," Citan said.  "And have her get killed?  I don't think so!" Bart shouted.  "Let her do what she needs to.  Fei and Id may have a better chance if a third person is there to help," Citan explainded.  As the crew stood there, they heard an enemy shout out, "ATTACK!"  The crew quickly turned toward the other gears as they raced right for them.

     Sigurd and the three remaining soldiers quickly headed up the mountain path in hopes of finding a cave to hide in.  The sounds of gunshots weren't far behind them as over twenty remaining soldiers went after them.  "They're catching up!" one of the soldiers declared.  Sigurd looked back, and saw dozens of small figures racing up the mountain pass after them.  "If we don't find somewhere to hide soon, we're done for," he announced.  They kept running up the mountain pass.  As they got higher, the a chilly, northern wind blew in, slowing them down even more.  The air began to get thinner as they desparatly went higher and higher on the mountains.  They began to get to the point where they could see clear out into the ocean, and the ripe farm land of Northern Ignas.  Five minutes passed.  Still no sign of a cave or crack in which to hide in.  The soldiers were almost close enough to them now where they could shoot them down. But that was just the beginning of their problems.  Without warning, a huge, red fireball struck the mountain, right below where Sigurd and the others were.  The force of the explosion made the pass underneath the rescue team weak.  "Who's firing at us?" Sigurd demanded.  One of the soldiers clinged to the wall and responded, "I'll check."  He took out his binoculars and looked out toward where the fireball had come from.  In the far distance, he could see a black round object.  "Sir!  I beileve I've found something."  "What is it?" Sigurd asked. "There's something out about 200-250 miles north of here in the desert."  "Let me see," Sigurd ordered as he took the binoculars.  He looked through them at full zoom and saw the object.  He saw another fireball being launched from him and heading right for them.  "Shit!  Brace for impact!"  The huge fireball slammed into the top of the mountain, causing an avalanche of rocks and mud to fall on the rescue party.

     Sigurd quickly made his way out of the pile, and took another look through the binoculars.  The mysterious object just sat there.  There was no movement coming from it.  The three soldiers came climbing out of the pile and joined Sigurd on a ridge.  "There's no movement from the object now," he reported, "We better....."  He was cut off by the sound of gunshots.  In a flash, two of the three remaining soldiers were shot dead, as their bloody bodies plummled toward the bottom of the mountain.  "RUN!" Sigurd shouted.  The remaining soldier and Sigurd continued to quickly make their way up the slope.  As they did, a third fireball hit right behind them, causing Sigurd to fall.  What seemed like the end for Sigurd, the soldier caught him by the hand.  "Hang on sir, I'll pull you up!" he replied.  Sigurd looked around for something to grab onto in case the soldier was shot while pulling him up.  He found some small holes that were big and deep enough for his fingers to grab a hold to.  He grabbed onto it with his left hand while the soldier held his right hand.  "Ready sir?" he asked.  "Yeah, but hurry!" Sigurd ordered.  As the soldier lifted Sigurd up, he was shot in the back several times.  His lifeless body was pulled off the cliff by the force of Sigurd's pulling.  Luckily, Sigurd was high enough to leap in mid air and grab a hold of the ledge.  He pulled himself up as the soldiers fired more shots.  They missed him, but not by much.  Sigurd turned a sharp turn and saw what he was looking for.  A few feet above him, was a small cave he could fit into.  He quickly looked around for climbing holes.  Sure enough, there were some and he immeditly started climbing.  He climbed and climbed until he reached the ledge to the cave.  He pulled himself up and went inside.  Luckily, he had enough food and water to survive out in the wilderness for a good two days.  He put his gear down, and looked out toward the pass.  The soldiers ran up the pass, passing up Sigurd and the cave.  He went back in and leaned back.  He felt relieved the soldiers didn't find him.  He thought that his troubles were over for the time being, but he was dead wrong.  Seconds later, he saw the Yggdrasil off in the distance, flying north toward Nisan.  He couldn't believe it!  His own crew abanding him out in the middle of a mountain, swarming with heavily armed soldiers and vicious mountain animals.  He pulled out his communicator and tapped in to the Yggdrasil's communication lines.  "Franz?  Franz, are you there?"  No answer.  He tried again.  "Franz, this is Sigurd, please respond!" Again, no answer.  He began to worry that something bad had happend to his crew. "Franz or anyone on board the Yggdrasil, this is Sigurd, please, anyone, respond!"  A few seconds passed.  Finally, he heard someone pick up the phone onboard.  "Hello?  Hello?  Franz, is that you?  Franz!"  "This isn't Franz," the voice replied.  "Who are you?" Sigurd demanded, "Where's Franz?"  "Franz is sleeping, eternaly," the voice answered back, "Who are you? Sigurd demanded again.  But, it was too late.  The man had already hung up the phone.  Sigurd put it back in his pocket, and took out the binoculars again.  He looked out toward the mysterious, black object they spotted earlier and saw a bright, flashing message.  Sigurd's jaw dropped open.  Tears filled his eyes as he read the message over and over.  The message said "Nisan has fallen."
To be continued....
Coming Soon: Chapter 8: Terror Aboard the Yggdrasil

Author's quick note: For those of you who haven't played Xenogears yet, the minimum energy levels of the gears in this fic are actually their highest amount of HP they can have in the game.

Chapter 8: Fleeing from Nisan

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