Ruler Of Iron And Flesh

The click came from a rat that had somehow gotten aboard the Titan level mecha. Inian and Janae both breathed out heavy sighs of relief as the threat had passed. "Okay, what's the next step genius?" Asked Janae.

Inian closed his eyes and pondered for a moment. He was unconscious when they dragged him here, so he had no idea what the layout of the mecha was. He wasn't sure where the safest route would be either.

Suddenly, he had a memory as a little boy, when Marc's father had taken Inian and Marc out on a tour of a high-tier mech. Marc's father had explained to them that most of the time there were low-tier mechs at the bottom of a high-tier or higher mecha so that they could drop to the ground easily.

"I'm not sure what the layout of this machine is, but I do know that we need to go down. There will mostly be some low-tier mechas that we can hi-jack." He told Janae. Janae raised an eyebrow and nodded, "whatever you think then. The Trostan Kingdom doesn't have a lot of mechas, so I'm not really familiar with one."

"Alright, let's move then."

Inian moved towards the door at the end of the cell block. He noiselessly opened the door, thanking God that the door was well oiled. He peeked out of the hall and saw a couple of passed out guards at a table located at the end of a hallway. They were probably celebrating their victory over Galbury Castle. He waved at Janae to follow and stepped lightly on the floor.

They went the opposite direction in the hallway, moving as carefully as they could and listening to any noise that could be enemies approaching. Inian saw a stairwell at the end of the hall. There was no doorway, and the stairs went up and down. He and Janae went down those stairs, hearing a slight echo with every step they took.

Suddenly they heard voices echoing from above them, "yeah, I can't wait to be back home. We had to go all the way across the Monster Lands, and for what? Some land we don't need? The Empire is getting ahead of itself with its rapid expansion plan. I mean, Seyukha and Weton have already been taken! This is too soon to attack a more powerful Kingdom."

Inian hastened his steps to make it to the bottom level. He and Janae made it to the bottom level and heard a door slam shut behind them. The guards stopped descending at a higher level than they were going.

Inian once again thanked God for the luck they were having right now. However, the words they said just sank in. 'The Empire has taken Seyukha? That can't be! Seyukha has always been a neutral nation!' He began to sweat in fear, 'Marc and I's family lives there,' he thought to himself.

Janae whispered harshly to him, "What are you doing? We need to get out of here!"

Inian shook himself out of his shock, "sorry," he whispered back. They went through the door at the bottom of the stairwell and came into a large hanger. In it were several low-tier walking mechas, as well as 40 to 50 guards.

They were playing games of cards, and only a few of them were attentive, but it only took one spotting the pair for all of the imperial soldiers to come charging at them. Inian looked at the nearest low-tier mecha which had a pilot climbing down from it.

He prayed once more for some insane luck from God and charged at the lone pilot. Janae was stunned by the sudden rush but followed after him.

Inian was subconsciously willing the pilot to stay right by the mecha, and suddenly, a dozen rats came running out of nowhere to the pilot's feet. The pilot was freaked out and climbed up the first few rungs of the ladder, and was not paying attention to Inian and Janae charging at him.

Inian was at the mecha in a moment and pulled the pilot off. Inian was a big man and a single blow to his temple was enough to render him unconscious.

Inian took the mecha key from around the man's neck and hopped into the c.o.c.kpit. Janae followed, sitting behind the seat Inian was in.

The mecha was only a low-tier one with two mechanical legs. It had an open top and two seats. One to pilot, and one to man the guns.

Inian was sitting in the pilot seat and turned the key to the mecha. It roared to life but when it turned on several lookouts looked in their direction. One of them called out, "hey you! Stop right there!" And began running towards them.

"Hurry up Inian..." Janae kept muttering.

Inian had never piloted a mecha in his life, so when he was put in the pilot's seat, all he could see was a jumble of settings and equipment he couldn't recognize. He did, however, see a wheel and a pedal, so he grabbed the wheel and pressed hard on that pedal.

The mechas stood up to its full height and began walking forward. The guards running towards them stopped and unslung the rifles on their shoulders. They took aim at Inian and Janae, opening fire.

Inian and Janae ducked down, but Inian kept his foot on the pedal. The bullets echoed against the iron on the mecha, but Inian continued to press down.

He looked towards the open hatch in the hanger. There were no hanger doors, so the hatch continually stayed open. Inian directed the mecha towards the opening and the mecha walked out it.

The mecha dropped to the ground, jarring Inian and Janae when it hit the earth. The Titan level mecha continued to move, and seemingly ignored Inian and Janae escaping on the low-tier mecha.

"Heck yeah!!" Screamed Inian as piloted the mecha away from the higher tier one.

The wind whistled through his ears as the mecha began running.

"Wait!! We need to go the other way! I need to warn my countrymen!" Screamed Janae. Inian shouted back, "I'm sorry, but I need to go to Seyukha! You can get off if you want, but I need to check on my family!"

Janae looked back at the Titan level mecha and huffed, sitting back in her seat. It seemed like she was coming along with him. Inian prayed once more, 'please let Marc and I's family be safe!'