Chapter 23

[Dorothy's POV]

Pier Area, Maria Acuzena City

2130 Hours

Dorothy and the others took a shortcut through the abandoned downtown area. It took them twenty minutes to detour and finally was close to the pier. They couldn't wait for the same spot until the SynthMech unit to arrive.

Arriving near the pier, Dorothy and the others noticed that several enemy militias were guarding the entrance. The captain commented seeing this saying, "We will have to go a hell of a fight before we could get past them."

"You got any better ideas?" Dorothy asked the captain.

"We could use some distractions." the captain looked at his second in command. "Lieutenant!" he said, and his subordinate nodded. "I know what to do, sir!"

Looking for an area to set up the distraction. Dorothy looked around the area to see anything peculiar or dangerous.

"You don't have to worry, ma'am!" the captain reassured her.

"I am just making sure, captain!" Dorothy replied to him.

"Very well, ma'am!" the captain said and then took out his binoculars.

"This is Vanguard to any nearby units." radio suddenly crackled with Andre's voice.

Dorothy, noticing Andre's voice, replied, "This is Dorothy Dawn, vanguard where are you at?"

"We are heading your position now!" Andre replied urgently.

"What is happening, Vanguard?" Dorothy asked Andre, concerned with his tone of voice.

"Yunan forces are at my tail. I am trying to shake them off from my tail. I will experience a delay. Over!" Andre replied.

The captain, hearing their conversation, looked at Dorothy and said, "What now, ma'am?"

"Every conflict brings opportunity to our situation." Dorothy said to the captain and then radioed Andre, "Draw them in, Vanguard. Head to the pier area."

"But that would risk our extraction, ma'am!" Andre replied.

Dorothy explained and said, "No, it's a perfect opportunity. We need someone to deal with the enemy militia guarding the pier area. I will coordinate with the submarine to get us out. Hurry, Vanguard!"

"Roger that!" Andre replied.

[Andre's POV]

Meanwhile, five AFVs were following Andre as he tried to break their pursuit. Andre's SynthMech unit was running at the speeds of forty-five miles per hour. The AFVs were barely catching up.

"Unknown SynthMech unit, this is the task force from the Great Republics of Yunan. You are ordered to stop!" the soldier inside the leading AFV shouted towards the SynthMech unit operated by Andre through his megaphone.

"This is bad…" Andre thought, knowing that they were the task force from the League of Nations. He could not shoot at them.

"I repeat, you are ordered to stop!" The soldier in his hard Yunan accent said.

"I can't let up now! I apologize…" Andre thought and continued to run away from the pursuing Yunan AFVs.

The AFVs began shooting at Andre's SynthMech unit, which it effortlessly deflected. Seeing an intersection, Andre quickly navigated his unit and took a left turn. This caused the pursuing AFVs to overshoot and tried to turn as Andre outmaneuvered them.

"This is Dorothy Dawn. Continue to draw them in towards the Pier area!" Dorothy said through the radio.

"That's what I am doing, ma'am!" Andre replied.

Seeing that, the five AFVs ceased their pursuit. Andre continued towards the Port Area. He radioed Sheila and Marrick, who escaped earlier on the alternate route they planned. "This is Andre, are you two alright?"

"This is Sheila. I am doing fine and we are approaching the Port Area," Sheila replied to Andre.

Andre was relieved and replied, "Good! Just proceed as planned…"

Before Andre could finish talking, a powerful attack landed on his SynthMech unit that put it off balance. Andre struggled to maintain the balance of his unit that landed on a building.

"That was close!" Andre sighed.

A missile headed towards Andre's unit. Using his quick reflexes, he barely dodged the attack. A Yunan SynthMech unit appeared in front of him after. Seeing it on his screen, Andre was in awe and surprised at the unfolding events.

"Rogue SynthMech pilot, I, Feng Yu, a member of the Dragon Task Force, command you to surrender." The SynthMech pilot, speaking with his Yunan accent ordered.

"Sheila, we will have to talk later. I have something to deal with here!" Andre said to Sheila on the radio and ended his transmission.

Andre did not respond to the Yunan SynthMech pilot and looked around for an escape route. To his left, two IFVs arrived, blocking his way. He noticed that his right side was empty, looking like a good escape route.

Thinking that it would be a good escape path, Andre tried to get away through the path. To his surprise, artillery suddenly barraged the path. Many buildings around the area flattened, causing Andre to stop.

"Escape is futile! Surrender and come with us peacefully!" The Yunan SynthMech pilot said.

Andre knew that surrender was not an option. He had to get out somehow. Looking at his energy reserves, it was at thirty-five percent.

"This is bad!" Andre commented.

Looking at his weapons, he have few useful ones in his armament as he looked at the monitor of the cockpit. Andre analyzed the terrain and noticed that he could use some buildings for cover if he only have something to blind his adversaries.

Looking at the monitor again, he saw a flash bomb and jammer within his weaponry.

"This could come in handy!" Andre smiled and looked toward the Yunan SynthMech unit.

Andre knew that he only had a shot at escaping the encirclement. If he screws it up, he may face greater consequence for his actions. However, it is a gamble that he should take to help his allies and escape the battlefield.