Chapter 10
#10 of Hunger Games 2.0
"liz, how long til we are at the palace" tamerus asks, noticing the look on her face.
"we are on final approach now" liz states, then reaches for the comms headset and puts it on. "this is delta one, requesting landing permission for the palace. Recent lava flares have affected passengers, and needs the heat shield of the palace immediately." Liz states into the microphone. "They are a guest of hades." She adds.
The radio crackles, and then the landing pad and directions are heard. "thank you" liz replies. "guess you guys will be safe for the next few days. Whats up with you sera?" liz asks, noticing sera has gone pale.
"I don't know. I've been like this since the start" sera answers, placing a hand on her stomach.
"ok, I'll need to check a few things when we land" liz states, seeing Satan walking to the platform they are to land.
At the landing pad, liz jumps from the helicopter, and walks towards satan, who obviously knew the situation, as hades was just finishing his explanation as liz stopped.
"Everyone is safe sir. Except, I think sera is pregnant. She says that the sick feeling has been from the start, and maybe a few months before the event started" liz reports.
Satan clears his throat, "and how long do human pregnancies last?" he asks, in a deep rumbling voice.
"I don't know. All records say it can be around 9 months" liz answers, switching to the native tongue of hell.
"that is unfortunate that it's so slow for them. The pain they endure is excruciating" satan comments, looking for who he thinks is sera in the chopper.
"sera, is not visible from this angle sir. She is near the cockpit on the left bulkhead" liz answers, seeing satan search.
"tell them that they have my permission to be on palace stone" satan says, turning to walk away.
"yes sir" liz says, going back to the chopper. "satan says that you wont be harmed while here under his protection. Hades has certain limits to his protection, satan has none" Liz says, answering Peeta's unspoken question. "sera, can you come with me please? You should be checked over by a doctor."
As sera and liz walk to the hospital, which is right next to the landing zone, the rest of them follow satan to the main hall. Delta unclamps the mech, and puts it to one side of the loading bay, and helps with the other one that raikes has.
"it was a bumpy ride. How was it for you?" delta comments, releasing the last clamp and moves out of the way so raikes can get out of the chopper, and the mech.
"it was ok. Everything was going past very quickly" raikes answers, climbing out of the mech where delta parked his, and they go to the large door that leads to the inside of the palace, asking some senators for directions. Some didn't answer them, and others didn't acknowledge them at all. When they reach the main hall, they see the others eating at the snack bar.
"you guys started without us?" delta asks, feigning frustration.
"well, if it isn't the terrible duo" tamerus jokes, seeing delta and raikes.
"I thought it was the lovebirds" satan comments, unfamiliar of the jokes being thrown around.
"yes, well they love to joke around, so we joke at them" peeta states, careful of what he says.
"I see. Well, while you are in the palace, be careful of how the joke is thrown around. And those mechs you brought with you? Ive got a better pair that you can try while you're here. Hades, you know where they are parked, show the two where they are" satan says, dismissing the three of them.
On the way to the palace garage, hades points out important rooms, and names a few of the senators they pass. One, who goes by the name of Lanter, moves out of the way, and greets hades in the local language. Hades returns the greeting, and nods respectively.
"hes the senator who has gotten me out of trouble for a few things. Id be in the lava, swimming, if it weren't for him" hades explains, still walking.
"what kind of trouble?" delta asks, curious.
"not here. Its too open" hades replies, looking around.
"ok" delta says, disappointed.
"how long til these 'special' mechs?" raikes asks.
"bout three more minutes" hades replies, looking at his watch, which is made to show distance in minutes from the wearers chosen destination.
"that's a nice watch. It's a shame its broken. The dates wrong, the hour hand hasn't moved, and the minute hand is going backwards" delta comments, seeing it when hades lowers his hand.
"its telling me the right time alright. The time til our destination. Its better than a GPS app on any phone we have. The magnetic fields in the hangar mess with the screen, scrambling your GPS signal, and saying that your not going the right direction" hades counters, clicking a side button on the watch. "this is hades, come in liz" he calls, holding the watch in front of his mouth.
"liz here, what is it sir" liz replies, who is waiting for the next doctor with sera.
"I didn't see sera at the main hall. Where is she?" hades asks.
"im following up on my suspicion sir. Im just waiting for jane to come out of the ER" liz replies.
"understood. Call back when you have the results. Over" hades ends the call.
"how long now hades?" raikes asks, getting impatient.
"we are at the palace garage, now" hades answers, swinging open the door, to reveal a janitors station. "sorry, this door" and he opens the door directly opposite, revealing a factory for almost any vehicle developed, and dreamed of.
"is that, the G22 raptor suit?" delta asks, remembering it from a drawing he did when he was bored.
"that's the G23 raptor. Faster than the G22" hades corrects.
"and that's the titan body armour for TTR matches" raikes comments, recognising it from peacekeeper training missions.
"no, the titan armour, is a mech. That's just the basic response armour they use" hades says, annoyed at how they are wrong.
"wait, everything here is named differently, or is an upgraded version?" delta asks.
"yes, the titan is the big mech with the pulse laser, and the G22 is currently scrap metal used for the G23" hades answers.
'so, I cant try the G22?" delta asks.
"actually, you still can. We have an archive of previous machines weve built, as a reference for the workers, and for inspiration" hades answers, leading them to the archive.
"really? Great. Is everything as I made it to be in the drawing?" delta asks, getting excited.
"mostly the same, but with extras. Youll find out when you get in" hades explains.
As they enter the archives, hades closes the door behind them and closes the blinds and windows.
"the trouble that I was involved with, is that I disobeyed orders continuously, and then I broke the first law in hell ever established. I fell in love" hades admits, continuously checking the doors and windows.
"that's it?" delta asks.
"yeah" hades confirms.
"how did they punish you?" raikes asks.
"By putting me in Delta Squad which, at the time, was the worst trouble makers you can find in the world. I put them to good use, and now they are the best all-rounder military group you can find" hades answers, smiling. "now, where did they put the pair of G22 raptors?" hades asks himself, looking around.
"is that them over there?" delta asks, pointing out something that would be in a museum.
"no, that's the field recon unit" hades answers, looking at the suit. "ah, that's them, near the back" he points.
Delta and raikes try to move through the mess, following hades, but soon get lost near some tanks, unable to see over them.
"hades?" delta calls out, trying to see where they are.
"over here" hades answers, going towards the tanks.
When the three of them are back together, they continue on to the mech suits.
"they are amazing. And these are made the same way as every other machine?" raikes asks.
"mostly. The armour plating is complicated enough without the bio-metal coating" hades replies, thinking back to the process they used.
"with carbon weaving and nanotech wiring for control?" delta asks.
"heat treated biometal with a Nano-transmitter/receiver combo" hades corrects, looking at the hard outer shell of the suit.
"can we try them now?" raikes asks, seeing deltas excitement.
"yes, but no fighting. These things are hard to repair" hades answers, activating the suits.
As delta and raikes get in the mech armour, a level four battle alarm goes off, signalling the start of an attack from an unknown enemy.
"best time to test if the battle response network still works in these" hades comments, fast pacing the start-up sequence.
"battle response? And who is attacking us, and during a core flare?" delta asks.
"its usually during a flare that we get attacks. Just hold still for a moment, while I bind the back brace back onto the shell" hades answers, closing up delta's suit.
"so, whos attacking us?" raikes asks.
"a band of pirates, with the help of the arch angels, freedom group, and some of their engineers" hades answers, moving onto raikes.
"pirates are out here? I cant even get reception from my phone" raikes comments, checking the time.
As delta gets a feel of the armour, hades finishes up closing the suit for raikes, and goes to find the newer version to use. As delta moves around the stand, raikes figures out the reason its called a raptor. With a thought, it changes shape slightly, into the hunched figure of a velociraptor, allowing for more efficient speeds, and agility. Hades comes back, and is seen as a T-Rex, with cannons on the side of the jaws.
"alright, lets get you two some weapons. I want you guys to picture in your minds, the plasma cannons that were in the garage at delta squad's base" hades commands, over the com unit.