Chapter 23

Maximus was in deep sleep when it happened. He was dreaming about a giant sand serpent offering to buy his sword, and it was offering chocolate ice cream in return. He was tempted to sell too. But that's when Hedger woke him from his very weird dream. For a few seconds he was confused, but when he came to his senses and looked around he saw that everyone was awake and staring at Hedger. Hedger on the other hand looked like he'd seen a ghost. "What's wrong?" Achilles asked.

Hedger was still white faced and shivering. "Well, there's a tank heading for us, just thought you should know."

All of them stepped outside to see what he was talking about and that's when Maximus saw it. Riding in from the direction they just came was a tank. And it wasn't just any ordinary tank either, rumbling towards them with both its giant barrels aimed at them was one of Mars's most powerful weapons, a R.A.M. Tank. Along with the tank were four jeeps filled with Ares's soldiers. The jeep in front had its top down and a woman with blond hair and a spear in her hand. She looked like she was shouting something, but Maximus couldn't hear her yet. But he knew one thing: Captain Debra Sharp had just found them.

"It seems like our old friend, the Captain has finally caught up to us," Rex said. "Man she is not a happy lady, I for one can wait a lifetime before seeing her again and it looks like she's bought a battalion," Hedger said. They all looked at Achilles for directions. He was stone-faced again. "Trying to take them all on will be suicide. Our best option would be to run and try and lose them in the city," he said.

Without further delay they started up the truck and began moving again. Achilles really floored the pedal and the truck was moving as fast as it could. Suddenly, they heard an explosion on their side, one that could have easily levelled a building, then another one right behind them. The R.A.M. Tank was firing at them and the tremors from its shots could be felt inside the truck. Maximus looked outside to see that the tank was too slow to catch up to them but the jeeps were gaining on them. They were in shouting distance now. They started firing their machine guns at them, and now it was just the armour of the truck that was saving them. The only good part was the tank had stopped firing now since it didn't want to hit the jeeps by accident.

"Don't you guys have anything to shoot back with?" Achilles asked.

"Sorry, but you sort of slashed up the only gun I had, remember?" Rex said holding on to a wall so he wouldn't fall from the really shaky ride.

"Maximus take the wheel," Achilles said.

"What?" Maximus said as if he was crazy. "Just drive and keep heading to the city wall. Let me see if I can do anything about those jeeps," Achilles said. With some difficulty Maximus got into the driver's seat and took the steering. Achilles on the other hand kicked the window open behind them and jumped into the cargo hold.

Maximus was trying to move the truck forward as steadily as he could and it was not an easy task. Outside, he saw that the jeeps were right behind them now. In the back Achilles took out the walkie-talkie again. He handed it to Hedger and said "Keep trying to make contact with the city." Hedger nodded and went to work. Then Achilles drew his sword. It was glowing blue again and it looked like he was charging it up for something. He turned to Rex and said "On my signal, open the back door." Rex nodded and readied himself by the door. Daedalus had curled up in a corner again. It seemed to be his body's default response to danger.

Achilles's blade was humming now and blue sparks were coming from it. He steadied his stance the best he could by putting his metallic foot forward. "Now," Achilles shouted and Rex swung the door open. With a quick jab Achilles sent a bolt of blue energy at one of the jeeps. It wasn't as grand as the one he used against the manticore, but it did the trick. The bolt caught them by surprise and one of the jeeps skidded off to the side. This repeated for a while, but Achilles couldn't get a clear shot because of the unsteady ride and the jeeps were still on their tail.

Hedger had been trying to make contact through the walkie-talkie all this time. Finally the static cleared and someone on the other side said, "Hello, haven't heard from this thing in a while. Who is this? Over …"

It was a man's voice, that much was clear, he also sounded pretty cheerful. "Umm... Well hello. This is a friend of Achilles. Over …" Hedger said.

"So what can I do for you friend, of Achilles. Over …" the man replied.

Achilles took the walkie-talkie from Hedger and said, "This is Achilles. We are right outside the city now coming through the desert trail."

"Achilles!" the man said sounding excited. "It's been too long. How are you man? And you're supposed to say over, over."

Achilles let out a sigh and said, "Not now brother. We are being chased by a barrage of Ares's men, including a tank and we need entrance into the city." "Should have known you wouldn't pay a quiet visit. What vehicle are you in? Over …" the man asked.

"A transport truck," Achilles replied.

"Not to worry, I'll send word to the guards not to attack you. And I'll be there to greet you in minutes personally," the man said.

"Much obliged brother," Achilles said, and with that the walkie-talkie fell silent again. Maximus wondered who the man was. If he was someone who could call off the guards at will he was certainly not someone ordinary. And Achilles had called him his brother, but the only brother Achilles had was killed in the Trojan War. The story was pretty famous. His name was Patroclus and he was killed by the greatest warrior on the Trojan side, Hector. They say it was this incident which had driven Achilles with enough rage to challenge Hector in one on one combat and ultimately kill him. There was no way Patroclus was still alive. Then again he had believed that Achilles was dead until a few days ago.

Achilles stepped forward to Maximus and said, "Just keep driving to the end of the trail. There should be a gate there and we should be safe once we enter the city." Then he went back to try and slow down the jeeps. Captain Sharp's jeep was right by their side now and Maximus could see the loathing in her eyes. That's when Maximus saw the guards to the gate entrance. He didn't know what he was expecting, and he wouldn't have been surprised if the guards were humans, Minotaurs or even a Cyclops. But what he did not expect were a pair of giant freaking robots.