Chapter 56: Destination: Utopia

Three helicopters still hovered in the air, but this time they kept their distance and pulled back slightly on Bradley’s orders, while Chimaera Z-X remained sitting cross-legged, enjoying its meal.

"Are we just going to watch now, Commander? How are we supposed to contact them?" one of the soldiers asked.

"I don’t know... for now, let’s just observe. One wrong move and we’re done for," Bradley replied.

The soldier looked back down, but suddenly "blam!" Chimaera Z-X, which had been sitting, abruptly stood up. Then it slowly turned around, its head lifting up slightly to look at the three helicopters flying behind it. Seeing this, Bradley and all the soldiers panicked; their lives flashed back before their eyes, and they were certain they were about to dine in hell.

But suddenly, Chimaera Z-X raised its hand and gave a two-finger salute to the three helicopters. Then it’s wings began to flap slowly, growing more and more forceful by the second. The wind from its wingbeats whipped up a gale that tilted the forest trees and even uprooted some, while the three helicopters above were jostled and scattered to avoid colliding with one another.

Then Chimaera Z-X lowered its body slightly by bending its knees, and "swoooosh!" it leaped into the air and flew toward the three helicopters. Bradley, inside his chopper, turned pale as the terrifying giant robot flew past his aircraft and cast a sideways glance right at him. Thud, he slumped down heavily onto the floor of the helicopter.

"W-What...?" Bradley thought, only just realizing that Chimaera Z-X had flown right past his helicopter instead of attacking.

"Commander, what should we do? Should we follow them?" the helicopter pilot asked.

"Yes... turn around. Tell the other helicopters not to join in, just us, we’ll chase them, hurry!" Bradley ordered.

"Right, Commander," the pilot replied.

The three helicopters banked around, and the middle chopper shot forward to chase after Chimaera Z-X, which was already soaring far ahead with rocket-propelled thrusters and flapping wings. Meanwhile, inside the cockpit of Chimaera Z-X, an additional screen opened up before all five of them, displaying Bradley’s helicopter giving chase.

"Look at that, they’re chasing us. I thought Big Brother was going to wipe them out earlier," Craig remarked.

"Yeah... turns out they just ran away instead. Where are we actually heading anyway, Big Brother?" Casca asked.

"They said they raised a white flag, which means they actually wanted to talk and invite us to their base. It was pretty obvious, and I couldn’t be bothered dealing with them. We’re heading to Utopia now," Clyde answered.

"Wait... if that’s the case, why didn’t we just smash them?" Craig questioned.

"We aren’t monsters, don’t forget that," Clyde replied.

Hearing Clyde’s words, the other four fell silent. Celes turned her head back to look at Clyde right behind her, nodding with a smile as Clyde returned it, before Corie looked over at Clyde as well.

"But why are we going to Utopia, Big Brother? Why not fly straight to Safe Haven?" Corie asked, confused.

"You saw it on the screen, right? They’re chasing us. If we lead them to Safe Haven, everyone there will get dragged into danger. Besides, if we show up there using Chimaera Z-X, it’s way too conspicuous. The Neo Ark military might track their location, and going there carries too many risks. That’s why we’re going to Utopia," Clyde explained.

"That makes sense. You don’t want to put Mary in danger, huh? Or wait, are you seeing the future?" Celes asked.

"Yeah... I saw the future. If we go back to Safe Haven and smash them there, everyone in Safe Haven and Mary will end up killed. The reason is, that forces bearing the GDAB logo would show up with an army alongside Neo Ark’s military. In my vision, we’d be fine and we’d even win, but everything else would be completely destroyed," Clyde replied.

"Hmm... in that case, I understand and I agree," Corie concurred.

"So what should we do about the ones following us right now?" Craig asked.

"Should we just wipe them out?" Casca added.

"No... we’re turning back," Clyde answered with a smile as he looked at the screen.

Suddenly, Chimaera Z-X stopped mid-air, standing completely upright before spinning around to face them. Seeing that,

"Hey... stop... remember, don’t shoot and wave that flag from earlier, fast!" Bradley yelled.

"C-Commander... look," the pilot stammered, pointing straight ahead.

Bradley looked forward, his face instantly draining of color as he saw the terrifying giant robot before him raise its hand and point right at his helicopter. Then Chimaera Z-X dragged its thumb across its throat in a slicing motion before pointing at the helicopter once more. Bradley swallowed hard, knowing full well what the giant robot’s gesture meant. After that, Chimaera Z-X spun back around and "bwooosh!" took off flying once again.

"S-Should we follow them, Commander?" the pilot asked.

"No... we pull back. You understand what that gesture just meant, don’t you?" Bradley asked.

"Y-Yes, Commander. If we keep being stubborn and follow them, we’re going to be obliterated," one of the soldiers answered.

"That’s right. That’s why we’re falling back and returning to Sector Zero. I need to report this situation to General Heindrich," Bradley stated.

"Right away, Commander," the pilot replied.

The pilot banked the helicopter around and flew back toward the crater area known as Sector Zero. Meanwhile, inside the cockpit, Clyde, Celes, Casca, Craig, and Corie watched the helicopters turn around and retreat on the monitor. Sigh, the five of them let out a breath.

"If we had talked to them, what would have happened, Big Brother?" Casca asked, turning to look at Clyde.

"We would have been taken to a city out in the open ocean, forced into military school, and made into soldiers there," Clyde replied.

"Ugh... hell no. Then going to Utopia was definitely the right call, I’m all for it," Craig said up front.

"Yep, no way I’m going back to school. And besides, a city in the middle of the ocean? Sounds super sketchy," Corie added.

"New Leviathan," Celes chimed in.

Clyde stared at Celes in front of him, Casca and Corie immediately turned to look at Celes positioned between them in the middle, while Craig glanced back over his shoulder at her.

"New Leviathan? That city in the middle of the ocean? You know about it, Celes?" Clyde asked.

"Not for sure, but sometimes stray radio transmissions talk about a floating city in the mid-ocean named New Leviathan, which serves as GDAB’s headquarters and humanity’s final frontline. When you mentioned a city out in the open ocean, it just reminded me," Celes answered.

"Hmm... so that’s it. That means Neo Ark isn’t the only human city, and definitely not the last one," Casca noted.

"I don’t know, but it seems the city military you mentioned earlier is connected to New Leviathan, because sometimes they talk using specific, seemingly confidential frequencies that I happened to overhear," Celes replied.

"I see. In other words, the residents of Neo Ark might not even know about that ocean city. From my visions, that city is extremely high-tech, and the reason I refused to go isn’t just because we’d have to go to school again, once we get there, we’d never be able to leave, because we wouldn’t be able to brute-force our way out against their military strength," Clyde added.

"Makes sense. We’re strong, and Chimaera Z-X is beyond doubt, but if an entire military installation city attacks us, we wouldn’t necessarily win either. Heading to Utopia is the best decision," Craig stated.

"Yup, true. Besides, I’m curious, a city inhabited by demi-humans and humans? I want to see it," Corie added.

"This is literally my first time getting out from underground... I want to look around and see what the world is like too," Celes chimed in.

"Same here, I’m curious and want to see that city too, but are we seriously going to land right in the city using Chimaera Z-X? Won’t that cause a massive uproar and get us mixed up with their military all over again?" Casca asked.

"Hmm... let’s look for a safe landing spot nearby. Can you guys scan the area around the city, not too close, but not too far either, so we can reach it on foot, or use another form of transportation if available?" Clyde suggested.

"Got it... leave it to me," Corie said enthusiastically.

"Yup... leave it to me too," Casca added eagerly.

"Craig, take us to Utopia. We’ve got the map, right?" Clyde asked.

"Alright... next stop, Utopia," Craig declared.

"Hehehe... this is going to be fun," Celes murmured cheerfully, thrilled to finally be out in the world.

"Boom!" Chimaera Z-X fired up its leg rockets even harder and shot forward at high speed toward the city of Utopia, whose location map glowed on the holographic screen upfront.

***

Meanwhile, the helicopter carrying Bradley touched down near the building ruins and crater located in Sector Zero. Bradley stepped out and ran toward a jeep, grabbing a tablet communication device from its backseat and tapping the screen. Heindrich’s face appeared on the display.

"How did it go, Lieutenant Bradley? Did you speak with those kids and invite them here?" Heindrich asked.

"Reporting, General, the mission failed... I’ll explain everything," Bradley replied. Hearing this, Heindrich seemed startled, his expression turning intensely serious on the tablet screen.