Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

Part Nine- Intense

(Coordinates 16N x 178W, the Motavian Desert)

After their visit to Tajima's cave, the sun of Algo descended over the ever-looming mountains of Motavia's western horizon. At the helm of their landrover, Tairon sighed wearily, pulling the vehicle aside about an hour after stars began dominating the sky.

"Probably for the best, too," Lutz told him. "We've been navigating by landmarks all day... we don't want to get lost on our way back to Paseo."

"Yeah. That would suck," Myau replied, stretching across Lutz's lap. "So, what's up?"

"We should get some rest," Tairon told the group. He left the landrover's control cabin, then pulled down a foldaway bed from within the hull of the heavily armored car. "It's gonna be a long day tomorrow, and we don't know if this Damoa guy's still in Baya Mahlay."

"I believe he is," Lutz said. "LaShiec usually doesn't have any reason to move his prisoners around."

"Yeah- keep 'em close by, for convenience's sake, ya know?"

Tairon shrugged. "It's as good an excuse as any, I suppose," he said, opening two more beds for his companions. Climbing into one of them, he said, "We'll get moving at sunrise tomorrow, all right?"

"That's fine," Lutz replied, shrugging his mantle off. He folded it neatly, then entered one of the nearby beds.

"Just so long as we can get some food first!" Myau added. The Musk Cat leapt into one of the spare beds, then quickly fell asleep, purring contentedly to himself.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, then Tairon asked, "Hey, Lutz? Think Damoa'll be able to help us?"

"I certainly hope so," Lutz replied, twisting in his bed. "If Master says that he can help us, I don't see any reason to doubt it."

"All right. That's... that's good to know."

"Tairon, get some sleep. You can complain about my master tomorrow morning," the Esper added. "Good night."

"'Night."

Myau's two Palman companions soon fell into an uneasy sleep, thoughts of Damoa, Alisa, and LaShiec weighing heavily upon them.

-=-=-

As it did over Motavia, Algo's sun descended past the skylines and cities of Palma, bringing night with its absence. From his bedroom in the Castle in the Sky, LaShiec looked over Palma's surface, smiling as his gaze fell upon the remains of Eppi Forest. Small fires still burned in the forest, the remains of the war robots' work upon the isolated village.

"Hehe... Alisa, my dear. Take a look at this."

"Just a minute, Reipard," Alisa replied, her voice coming from the attached bathroom.

LaShiec nodded in response, then looked out at the still-burning forest. Today has been a good day, he thought. A major blow to the insurgency against my rule, and all thanks to you, my Alisa. And soon, all of Algo shall kneel before us.

As he watched Eppi continue to burn, LaShiec scarcely noticed the sounds of footsteps gently approaching him, stopping at his side. What he was aware of was the gentle scent of perfume behind him, and the soft brush of skin against his.

"Hmm... a wonderful sight, is it not?" Alisa asked, her voice whispered directly into LaShiec's ear. "To see that pitiful forest village burning like a torch..."

LaShiec turned around at the sound of her voice, and smiled at the sight before him. Alisa had changed into a set of lacy black lingerie, or as she preferred to call it, "Reipard's wedding present." She struck a seductive pose, then added with a breathy whisper, "Hope you enjoy it."

"The destruction of Eppi," LaShiec asked, eyeing Alisa up and down, "Or the vision of loveliness before me?"

"Both, my dear." Alisa stepped forward, throwing her arms around LaShiec, sighing happily as he held her close. Looking over his shoulder at the planet beneath them, she muttered, "Now I know why I needed that damn compass in the first place."

"Of course. But... I prefer not to think about that right now, Alisa." He embraced Alisa, then continued, "Not while I have you here to think about."

Laughing, Alisa said, "Thank you, Reipard."

"No, Alisa... thank you. It was your knowledge that helped bring down those insurgents today. I, literally, could not have done it without you, my love."

Smiling, Alisa leaned forward, kissing LaShiec. Once she pulled away from him, she whispered, "Always happy to be of service to my king."

"Now then... to bring my thoughts where they deserve to be," LaShiec replied. "I think there's just two things my queen should be wearing on her wedding night."

"Oh?" Alisa asked. "What would that be, Reipard, darling?"

LaShiec didn't reply at first; instead, he scooped Alisa off her feet and into his arms. Once she was settled, LaShiec pulled her into a kiss, then said, "Lipstick, and a smile, Alisa. They suit you equally."

Alisa laughed again, this time noticing that LaShiec had carried her over towards the bedroom's sole bed. "Well, well, Reipard... one of the perks of being your queen?" she asked, flirtation obvious in her voice.

LaShiec nodded, setting Alisa down gently upon the bed. "You could say that," he told her. "Or... simply think of it as... a wedding gift."

Having said that, he climbed into the bed, looking down upon Alisa. They said no words, only smiled at each other, before showering each other in passionate kisses.

-=-=-

Daylight filtered through the viewports of the landrover as the first light of Algo appeared in the eastern Motavian sky. Tairon, Lutz, and Myau were all asleep, turning and tossing uneasily, as they had during the night.

A voice suddenly hissed to life: "-ghteenth of Six-month, AW 342, and you are listening to Radio Motavia. In today's news..."

Tairon's eyes opened, and he groaned loudly, waking up his companions. "Urgh... how long did we sleep?" he asked.

"About... six or seven hours, if that's what you insist on calling it," Lutz replied, stretching awkwardly as he rose from his foldaway. "I barely got any sleep."

"...the fire in Eppi Forest has been brought under control..."

"Me neither," Myau added, purring and stretching. "C'mon, let's hit up Paseo so we can go see Damoa."

"All right, all right... just give me a second."

Tairon rolled his shoulders, and several audible cracks were heard as his joints popped out of and into shape. He then helped Lutz fold up the beds, then sat in the landrover's control cabin. "Right. Let's get back as soon as we can," he urged, turning off the radio.

The landrover chugged to life, accelerating across the desert sands. After half an hour's travel, Lutz raised an eyebrow. Something was wrong, he sensed- something at the extreme edge of his senses...

"You okay, man?" Myau asked. "You look like you saw a ghost."

"No, it's not that," the blue-haired Esper replied, sighing. "It's just... there's something coming."

"Sandworm, you think?" Tairon asked Lutz. "I think this is their mating season."

"Not until Eight-month, Tairon. Even then, their eggs usually hatch around Ten-month. And... let me focus."

Lutz closed his eyes, bringing himself into a meditative trance. The landrover disappeared, as did Tairon and Myau's bodies, replaced with a wire frame machine and two lights. As he looked around himself, he could see more points of light appearing, surrounded by smaller wire frames. Each of the oncoming lights pulsed with a faint, dry hiss as he concentrated upon them. After a second, he opened his eyes.

"Motavians," he said suddenly. "Coming from behind us, off to our right. They're on all-terrain vehicles."

"Wait, what?" Tairon asked, sweatdropping. "You don't think-"

"They're part of the Archon's gang, looking to rob us again, yes. They seem very determined."

The sudden roar of engines cut across the silent sky of Motavia, as Tairon saw eight small vehicles rise over a sand dune. Even from the distance they were at, he could see that they were mostly mishmoshed spare parts- the Archon's own ATV pretty much resembling four wheels, an engine, and a handlebar with a lawn chair for a seat.

"So... Lutz, you've lived on Motavia longer than I have," Tairon said. "Ever go off-road racing in a landrover?"

"I can't quite say I have, Tairon. I was never interested in the Mota 8-Hour races," Lutz said. "And I've never owned a dune buggy or an all-terrain vehicle like the Motavians have."

"You don't say." It was clear from Tairon's voice that he wasn't particularly interested in an answer. "All right. Grab something that'll give, because we... are..."

He threw the throttle lever forward, as far as it could go. "Off!"

Kicking up massive clouds of dust, the landrover roared into action, trying to open the gap between it and the Motavian riders. Quiet angered by this action, two of the riders reached into their pouches for weapons, firing blindly at the landrover.

Myau screamed as several holes were punched into the vehicle's skin. "Gyaaah! Crap! They're trying to shoot us!" he shouted to Tairon.

"Wait, what?!" Tairon replied, shocked. He maneuvered the landrover around a cactus patch, then ducked as a stray bullet blasted through the windscreen. "Okay..." he grumbled. "I think it's safe to say they're still a little mad about yesterday."

"Motavians are not a race to forgive past transgressions."

Taking another look at the bullet hole, Tairon interrupted Lutz with "Yeah, and judging by the size of that bullet hole by my head, they're using G-22 machine guns. Palman army used to use those up until '98, when they made the switch to the R-30 rifle. Lutz, Myau, if you guys can cast something to stop bullets, I'd really like that."

"Right you are, Tairon!" Myau's fur bristled, as he concentrated on a spell. "Barrier!"

A wall of diamond-shaped energy formed around Tairon, shimmering turquoise for a brief second before fading from sight. Myau repeated the spell on himself and Lutz, then said, "There! Dunno how long N-Space holds up against bullets, but that should last for a while! ^_^ .....I hope."

"'You hope!?'" Tairon shouted. "You used Barrier before, you should know!"

"Myau does have a point, Tairon- it's only been proven effective against swords, claws, and energy weapons," Lutz realized. "These machine guns the Motavians have can fire more rapidly, and may deteriorate the shield faster."

"Oh. Well, then... I've got a couple tricks of my own," Tairon said. He jerked the landrover's control stick to the left, then straightened out. "Couple of these rocky dunes, then the antlion run... we'll make our own damn Motavian race!"

He jerked the control stick right, then left, swinging the landrover's rear into one of the ATVs, which had now caught up. Its driver was sent flying off with a scream, his machine gun thrown away from the now-rolling vehicle. His fellow riders swerved wildly around him, trying not to run him over.

"Yeah! There we go!" Myau replied, looking out his window. "That's one down!"

"Seven more, though," Tairon said. "Hope they like dodge-rock!"

He drove the landrover over some large rock outcroppings, feeling the vehicle buck as the tires demolished the rocks, sending debris flying behind them. Two of the riders were struck by the flying stones, tumbling from their ATVs.

"I don't think this is what Alisa had in mind when she said Motavians wanted to be friends with Palmans," Lutz said.

"Hey, they challenged us on their home turf, we're stepping up to the plate," Tairon replied, bringing the landrover down over a small cliff. Everyone's stomachs hung for a second before the vehicle landed with a loud crunch, miraculously still in shape.

"See?" Tairon asked. "Good thing we splurged on the deluxe model."

Four of the pursuing Motavians made the jump, landing with little or no trouble. One Motavian was not so lucky- he leaned forward a hair too far, and sent his ATV in a wild forward somersault- he rolled with the vehicle, crushed and cut by its weight. It landed on its side, and the driver managed to crawl a dozen feet towards the landrover before dying of his injuries.

Tairon looked behind him, confirming Lutz and Myau were safe, before veering the landrover into the antlion runs. Before him, many pits were dug in the sandy surface of Motavia, each one concealing a terrible, toothed maw. Gunning the engine, Tairon charged their car into the depths of the runs.

Two of the Motavians backed off at this point, clearly not willing to risk their lives among the antlions. The Archon and one of his subordinates, whether through bravery or foolishness, pursued the landrover, swerving around the runs as best as they could.

"C'mon, c'mon," Tairon whispered. "You're gonna lose, you're gonna lose..."

The Archon shouted a warning to his friend before swerving around a large cactus, which his friend plowed head-first into. Sent flying from his ATV, the Motavian flew forward, screaming and flailing as he landed dead-center in an antlion's maws.

"Good news," Tairon told the others. "There's one left. Bad news is-"

A layer of machine gun fire tore through the landrover, stray bullets deflecting off of Myau's N-Space barriers. With a sigh, Myau sweatdropped and asked, "Let me guess. The Archon, right?"

"Yep."

Up ahead, Tairon could see Paseo's city limits, about two minutes' ride away. The Archon, in his rear view mirror, extended his middle claw at the landrover while firing his machine gun wildly in his off-hand.

Expert rider, Tairon thought. He can stay in his seat even without a hand at the control stick.

"Tairon, take it into town!" Myau urged. "Let Hope's guys deal with him!"

"We can't risk endangering the people of Paseo," Lutz argued. "Tairon, just pull aside- we can handle the Archon."

"Better plan. Brace yourselves!"

Tairon slammed his foot on the landrover's brake pedal, bringing it to a sudden stop. The three lurched forward, Myau tumbling into the control cabin before bouncing off of Tairon's feet.

The Archon was not so lucky- he swerved around the landrover, but his ATV's tires got caught in the landrover's brake ruts. Launched off his ATV, he managed to tumble to a halt, grumbling and cursing as he got to his feet. Coughing sand and dust, he shook his fist as the landrover lurched forward, screaming, "Palma people! Curses and swear words upon you!"

-=-=-

As the sun rose over Palma, LaShiec and Alisa awoke, sighing with content as they gazed upon each other, still remembering the events of the night before.

"Good morning, Alisa, my love," LaShiec said, brushing Alisa's cheek with his hand. "I hope you slept well?"

"Mmm... after last night, Reipard, I slept very well." Alisa gave LaShiec a kiss, then smiled at him sweetly. "I hope you enjoyed your wedding present."

LaShiec nodded, giving Alisa a kiss, then rose from the bed. "I did, Alisa... very much so."

"And I've enjoyed mine."

LaShiec and Alisa bathed, put on their ceremonial armor and dress, then headed for the throne room. Once they entered, LaShiec turned to Alisa. "It will be a little while before our new lieutenant joins us, Alisa. Until then... I think we have some time for a brief magic lesson."

And after the lesson... all Algo shall bend to us.

End of Part Nine

After a chase across the Motavian Desert, Tairon, Lutz and Myau return to Paseo, ready to head back to Palma. Will they be able to find Damoa? Will Damoa's help be enough to defeat LaShiec and save Alisa? Or will their combined powers be more than our heroes can handle?