Planned Escape

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

The heavy footfalls of Rhys' mech prototype echoed through the forest as he made his way away from the hidden base of the Empire of Fire. Lucky for him, the base was nowhere near the capital of the empire, or else, he would have been under heavy fire by a dozen fighters by now.

He had destroyed the base's hangar for this same reason. There was no way they would be able to follow him after all the destruction he had sown. And even if they had contacted the capital by now, by the time any fighters were able to reach him, he would be long gone.

"Dima! Tell me the sub is ready!" Rhys picked up the radio he had brought with him and barked into it. Static crackled for a few seconds as no reply came in, and worry bloomed in his heart.

"Bzzt~ hys! Rhys! Can you hear me?" The voice that broke through the static on the other end immediately allayed Rhys' worries.

"I can hear you just fine. Tell me, is the sub ready?" He asked again.

"Yup! I'm already waiting at shore!" Dmitri, Rhys' loyal subordinate, chirped in his ever-merry tone.

"Good, I will be there in two hours. Prepare yourself." Rhys replied and put the radio aside, focusing on what he was doing. With the bulk of his mech, and the hasty way he was fleeing, there was no way he would be able to not leave tracks, so what he could do right now was focus on fleeing as fast as possible. Yes, this new war machine was powerful, but that did not mean that he could take on the whole Empire of Fire on his own with this hunk of metal. A few well-placed APDS rounds to the joints of the machine would bring it tumbling down in no time.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

The steady footfalls of the lumbering machine comforted Rhys for the next two hours. The stream he had been following downstream was an estuary that led to the ocean. Of course, there was no way Rhys wanted to take a dip with his mech, so he had already arranged for a pickup.

When the river widened, he finally came across enemies. He tried his best to avoid the fortress built by the Empire of Fire to guard against external enemies, but word had already spread, so some troops had been sent out to intercept his path.

Vroooom!

Half a dozen armored trucks appeared on the road that ran along the river. The machine guns mounted on them clicked and began whirring, unleashing a curtain of bullets the next second.

"Damn fools." Rhys swore, a vein popping up on his forehead as he turned the upper body of his mech to face the road. A spark of light flashed through his deep blue eyes, and a spike of pain lanced through his head.

"Argh!" He grunted in with effort just as the barrels of the guns mounted on either side of the mech faced the road ahead of the speeding vehicles. Snakes of electricity danced along the barrels of the guns just before they barked out the rounds that were loaded in the mech.

Boom!

With a deafening explosion, the road, along with part of the mountain that it ran along, exploded into bits of rocks and dust, flying into the air.

"Humph." Rhys simply snorted before turning away and continuing on his way. That would delay the troops of the empire long enough for him to get away.

Ten minutes later, the end of the stream appeared before Rhys. He saw how the modest sized river opened up as it ran further down, reaching for the sea up ahead. Quickly, he pressed a few buttons and pulled a lever. A port on the top of the mech popped open, and a missile shot out, flying straight up.

Bam!

The missile exploded in the air, spreading green smoke. The green smoke was the agreed signal that would let Dmitri know that Rhys was there, and he was not being tailed for the moment. A couple of minutes passed before the water at the edge of the shore began to bubble, and in the next few seconds, a large, metal hull pushed out of the water.

Rhys grinned as he recognized the sub that his splinter organization had hastily put together in preparation for this day. It was a miracle they had been able to get multiple subs ready for this day in time. They only had less than a year, and a very lacking manpower base.

Only one submarine had come to pick up Rhys, as he did not want all of his assets this close to the territory of the Empire of Fire. Squeezing one sub through the gaps had been the best that his spies could do, so he would have to make the most out of it.

The few minutes it took Rhys to get to the shore was enough for the men in the submarine to disembark and man the different machines that they needed to hook up the mech to the sub. This dock had already been deeply infiltrated by his spies, so everyone present was working for him. Those that did not had already been killed off.

"Rhys!" As Rhys climbed out of the cockpit of the mech, a young man came forward, yelling his name and waving at him. Rhys rolled his eyes at his most loyal subordinate's ever chummy attitude. Why could he not be more formal with him like everyone else?

"Dima, did any complications arise on the way here?" Rhys asked the young man as he climbed down from the mech.

Thunk!

A hook attached itself to the back of the heavy war machine with a loud sound. Rhys eyed the operator of the crane, and the lady smiled nervously, quickly averting her gaze. Dmitri snickered at this interaction while waiting for Rhys to finish climbing down. When he finally did, the first thing that awaited Rhys was a firm punch to the shoulder.

A scowl spread over his face as he turned to Dmitri with fiery eyes. "What was the meaning of that?" He demanded.

"Oh, pssh. Don't act all bossy with me. It's been what, six months since you last saw your younger brother and you're acting all cold! You should be hugging me!" Dmitri exclaimed, catching the attention of a few people working nearby.

Smack!

"Idiot!" Rhys smacked the back of Dmitri's head before turning and walking away, a scowl still present on his face.

Dmitri and he were not actually brothers, but they had grown up together. All those years together allowed them to bond and become something similar to actual brothers. It was just that Rhys was more of the stern older brother, while Dmitri was the goofy younger brother.

"Let's get the mech hooked up to the sub quickly. Coastal patrol will get here any minute." Rhys clapped his hands and raised his voice so everyone could hear him clearly.

"Yes sir!"

After receiving an affirmative response, he made his way to the submarine, while Dmitri remained outside to watch over the others. With his active guidance, the team was ready to move out in just thirty minutes.