“Chloe?” yelped Anya.

“Yes?”

“...Ms. Anya loves you...remember that.”

“Hm?” asked Chloe confused. She then smiled, “Hee, hee I love you too Ms. Anya!” and walked to the back with Sam.

Sam and Chloe

Chloe followed the flying bug-bot down to the building basement. Nervous, she grabbed Sam’s hand.

“Sam? What do you want to show me down here?” she said, stopping in the dark room.

Chloe pushed him back.

“What? No, we can’t leave Ms. Anya-”

An explosion of blaster fire shook the upstairs floor and the building. Sam pulled Chloe behind him as the flying bug zipped faster, urging them further into the basement. Sam and Chloe followed the bug into a narrow hallway in the dark, until an energy blast from the end of the hall blew the bug to pieces.

“They’re down here!” screamed Chloe.

Sam raised his shield and fired his striker blaster at four brute men emerging from the dark hallway. The brute’s raised their shields and the first one dashed straight at Sam who charged back at him.

Sam shouted as he crashed shields with the first brute man in the hallway, blocking the three behind him.

“Right!” She raised her wrist gear in front of her face, “Shield up!” she yelled.

Her gear wrapped a force field around her, protecting her from the brute men’s stun blasts as she ducked behind a boiler. While Sam engaged the brute men Chloe put her gear to use.

“Is there another way out of here?” she asked her wrist device, and it displayed an instant response. “Oh! Send that info to Sam now!” she cried.

Chloe’s gear transmitted the message to Sam who received it instantly. He turned and nodded at Chloe and reeled back from the first attacking brute man. As soon as the brute stepped forward, Sam shifted his pistol to sword and slashed the brute and the second one behind it, destroying them both. He shifted the sword back to pistol and aimed at the basement wall on his right.

He shouted and blasted a hole to the next building.

“Ok!”

With her shield raised Chloe jumped through the blast hole. Sam followed her while firing at the remaining brute men in the hallway. As he caught up to her he lifted her in his arms,

Running through the building, crashing into people and machines, Sam and Chloe made it to a far wall. Still clutching Chloe, Sam blasted the wall and dove out to the open sidewalk. He tumbled on the ground, recovered, and sprinted down the block carrying her. As they reached a corner Sam charged at four men posted on hoverbikes and fired his force field at them.

“Hey, that’s him-” yelled one of the men as the field knocked him off his hoverbike.

Sam grabbed the man’s bike and fired his pistol at the remaining three men, who pulled back forming shields. Chloe, a veteran back seat rider, leapt on the hoverbike Sam held.

“Come on let’s go!” she shouted.

Sam mounted and spun the bike in the air, and took off down the near empty backstreet, clocking zero to one hundred mph, in two seconds.

“Yaaaaaaaan!” screamed Chloe holding on for dear life as Sam darted the vehicle through intersection traffic.

Chloe turned her head in the blinding wind to see the three men on hoverbikes closing in fast, and firing blasters. Sam slowed down as traffic grew heavy. He dashed on the sidewalk and zig zagged through vehicles and people, but the men kept up, and kept firing.

“Sam, they’re really close!” she screamed.

So close the pursuers shot Sam twice in his right leg while he concentrated his force field around Chloe. Sparks flew from his leg and smoke plumed from the hoverbikes' engine. The smoke flew in Chloe’s face as she checked Sam’s damage.

“Sam, your leg is hit!” she cried gaping at his burned metal skeleton.

Sam turned down an alley and flew straight at a dead end wall. Chloe peeked in front and turned pale.

“Sam, that’s a wall! What are you doing?”

He raised his blaster.

“Eh? Oh, Yes!” she remembered.

He fired a high energy blast at the wall, and crashed the hoverbike through the hole and into the building.

“Yaaah!” Chloe screamed, flying off the bike.

Sam released the hoverbike and grabbed her in mid air. He formed a shield and absorbed their crash as the bike smashed apart on the building floor. Behind him the three pursuers couldn’t stop in time and slammed their hovers through the building hole. Thrown from their bikes they landed on their faces.

Chloe, shaken, pulled herself from Sam, who stood limping on his damaged leg.

“Sam!” she yelled, as six soldiers flew into the room yelling and aiming pistols at the three crashed bikers and at Sam.

“Put your hands on your head!” they screamed.

Sam and the three bikers complied, and a female soldier with a cobra banner patch on her arm knelt beside the frightened Chloe.

“Hey, take it easy,” she said in a calm voice.

Chloe trembled and stood still.

yelped Sam.

Chloe snapped out of it and faced the soldier, “Right! Um, Miss..my name is... Chloe Cesar and I'm Baroness of the Sayerglades.”

The female soldier’s eyes widened and she bowed her head to Chloe. She then stood up and called out to a tall man already running toward them.

The man knelt down next to Chloe. On his right arm he wore the patch of the Cesar’s Black Eagle. Chloe recognized his Cesar family patch as Sam turned to the man.

said Sam.

The man, Leopold Cesar, acknowledged Sam and faced Chloe.

“Little cousin, did those men hurt you?” he asked.

“No big cousin, I’m ok, but they shot Sam!” she said pointing at her limping bodyguard.

Leopold scowled, and turned to the female soldier.

“Lieutenant Peret, take her and her synthetic to the back, and contact my uncle.”

As he spoke he removed his gear and striker and handed the weapons to the female lieutenant.

“Colonel? What are you doing?” The lieutenant asked.

“Forgive me lieutenant,” he said, patting Chloe’s head, “But I need to question the bastards who dared to fire blasters at my little cousin here,” he growled.

Leopold smiled at Chloe and urged her to leave with the lieutenant. But as soon as Chloe walked away she saw his smile vanish. He glared pure hate at the three men with their hands on their head, and cracked his knuckles.

Three Hours Later

Leopold arrived at Eiten Manor with Chloe and Sam. Anya’s parents, The Duke and Duchess met them in the entrance room.

“Leopold! Kave’s love, you brought Chloe back safe!” cried Anya’s mother, duchess Elania, as she hugged Chloe.

Leopold bowed in his Uncle and Aunt’s presence, “Aunty, you know I value our family’s safety and honor above all else.”

Duke Stellan bade his nephew to rise. “Leo, how did the child find you?” asked Stellan.

“It seems Anya provided the synthetic the location to our military office downtown,” he said pointing at Sam. “A smart move by cousin Anya.”

Stellan scowled, “Your cousin Anya has been arrested by the House Planters on a conspiracy charge of treason against the House Trident.”

Leopold’s face raged, “Uncle, those charges against her are fraudulent and meant to wedge the people against the nobles!” he snarled.

“I know, nephew,” he moved close to Leopold. “Did those men you captured talk?”

Leopold displayed his bruised knuckles to his uncle. “But of course they talked, uncle. As if they had a choice,” he said with an evil smile.

Stellan frowned, “I don’t need the details of how, nephew. But come, let’s discuss matters in private.”

As Leopold and Stellan stepped off a lean young man in a t-shirt entered the room. Chloe turned to the young man.

“Leeeeeif!” she cried and jumped on him, squeezing him tight. “Leif I was so worried about you!”

“Worried about me? Why?” He hugged her and teased her, “Don’t you know I’m hard to kill? heh, heh!”

Leif spent the next few minutes hugging his family, and being lovingly scolded by his older cousin Leopold.

“I heard you took a fatal blow from Hannibal. I know I taught you better than that, boy!” growled Leopold.

Leif puffed his chest out, “I won’t give you any excuses, cousin. Hannibal did get the better of me, but he won’t again!” said Leif with conviction. He spoke to Leopold with the deference of a beloved older brother.

Duke Stellan smirked at Leopold and Leif.

“Foolish boys, the both of you. Come, we must discuss matters in my office,” he said.

“I’ll be right there, grandfather,” said Leif. He turned to Chloe, “Chloe, go ahead with grandma and get something to eat, I’ll be back to talk you later.”

Chloe frowned, “Ok….will we be able to see Ms. Anya?”

Leif paused. “Don’t worry, we’ll go see her tomorrow. I promise.”

“I believe you,” said Chloe.

Leif patted her head and dashed after his grandfather and cousin. Afterwards two servants and an engineer entered the room. The engineer helped Sam, and the servants walked with the grand duchess and Chloe.

“Cheer up little one, we’ll have tea and I’ll tell you all about Leif and Maya, and Anya when they were little like you!” said duchess Elania.

Chloe smiled, “Ms. Anya was little like me? No way!” she looked up at the duchess, “Was she a bad little girl?” she asked.

“Was Anya bad? Hahaha, my dear child!” The duchess squeezed Chloe’s face, “Bad would be a compliment!”

….

Pointless Trivia if you're interested ^_^

The Female Lieutenant- her name is Lt. Eva Peret- (23, gold-brown hair, brown eyes, very pretty) She is from the Noble Clan Peret (Banner: Spitting Vipers).

Baron Vesh Peret (the sadist) was killed by Rylan in chapter 15. Vesh was Eva's second cousin. Lol, told you it was pointless ^_^