Chapter CCCLXIII: G’lirer Marathon ~Vector

Vector slid to a stop, his location now a slightly wooded area, far away from the storm he had talked to Ark in. After stepping out of the ruts he had
created by stopping, he looked at the chip he still held in his hand.

"So… This is Mecha… The one guy that could hope to match my abilities, and now he's reduced to a hunk of silicon in my hand... Oh, to hell with this!"
Vector said aloud.

He threw the chip away, the small bit of plastic and silicon landing at the base of a tree. Vector sat down, propping himself up against a great oak, and took his shoes off.

"I think it's time to relax. No fruit, hotels or Yoshettes, but there's also nobody to kill me here, either."

After several hours, the chip still lay where it landed, and Vector was lying next to a tree, staring at the chip he'd thrown.

"Gee, I told Ark I'd take it to Lich. I don't know Ark too well, but Lich is my best friend," he thought, "I know it can't hurt me, it's just a chip. But it's Mecha's mind. That thing's what made him tick, want to kill me, and everyone I know…"

Vector got up and walked over to the chip, where he picked it up, and put it in his pocket. He got a compass out of his pocket, and opened it, looking at the needle.

"Well, I might as well find Lich. He's somewhere on this dirtball," Vector said aloud to himself, "This planet can't be that big…"

With that, Vector peeled out, digging a rut in the ground, and took off, his shockwave splintering trees as it expanded violently, his path easily followed by the underbrush that ignited as a result of his passing over it. He exited the forest, and began the arduous task of searching the entire continent for his friend.

Richter looked at his watch, and grumbled. He rested his arms on the rail of a tower that had been hastily erected for him to direct his men from. He looked down at the remains of a Yoshi village, the remains of huts smoldering on the ground, streamers of smoke rising from craters in the land. This raid hadn't been as successful as he had hoped: several of the Yoshies had been killed in a very one-sided fight, as they seemed to be a very warrior oriented society, far from the cowering masses that trembled at the mention of his name. Still, it had not been a total loss. Most of the Yoshies that had been rounded up from this raid were females and children, but they could still dig as well as anyone else.

"Soon," he muttered to himself, "I'll have this entire world under my grasp. Not only will I have rebuilt the Pentastar, I will have claimed this pitiful rock in the name of the glorious Tairez Empire."

"Lord Richter!" a soldier said, announcing his presence as he snapped to attention, giving a salute. "The roundup operation is successful. The population
of the settlement is being flown back to the southern continent now to begin excavation on the deposits that engineering detected. Commander Reinhart has
predicted that we will have the necessary materials to begin repairs in as little as two days."

"Good," Richter said, smiling, "Very good indeed. Gather your troops, captain; we're going to make one more raid. How many casualties did our forces
suffer?"

"None, sir," the soldier said, "The targets seem to be outfitted with very primitive weapons, spears, arrows and the like. Unable to penetrate the combat
armor our troops are outfitted with."

"Very good. And what is the status on my prize? Has he been found yet?"

"Not yet, sir, but our search parties are looking. Oh, sir, I nearly forgot. Unit one stopped transmitting."

"Stopped? Perhaps it's a faulty transmitter?"

"No, sir. Nobody has seen or heard from unit one since it left. It is presumed deactivated."

"A pity. I suppose I'll have to activate another once we get back to base. Oh well. Carry on captain. Keep up this level of performance, and you will find
yourself a commander very shortly."

"Yes sir!" the soldier said, saluting. He turned quickly, and marched off to ready his troops.

Richter continued staring out over the remains of the village. This will be a most glorious conquest for the Empire of Tairez, he thought.

Back on the Southern continent, Vector had just finished his search, and had decided to go north, as it couldn't hurt anything. He looked around at the
various landscape features blurring by, growing both bored and tired. He had been running for several hours straight, and had covered every inch of the
southern continent. He looked at his compass, and looked at the needle. He turned, and headed north. He ran for a bit, before he came to the ocean. He
stopped on the beach, and looked out towards the horizon as the surf lapped at his shoes lightly.

"Great. An ocean." Vector thought. "Oh well, whatever's on the other side, I'll get to, eventually."

Vector revved up his legs, and shot out into the ocean, a spray of seawater shooting up behind him as he ran across the surface as if it were solid,
a feat he could keep up so long as he moved fast enough. The ocean bored Vector, because it was a featureless expanse. Space was different for him, than
the ocean; the stars were visible, and, though he had grown and lived among them for so long, he still thought them worth staring at. Vector quickened his
pace, though he knew it wasn't a wise idea; he might have been the fastest Yoshi in all the galaxy, but even he had his limits, and he couldn't run without rest
forever. The southern continent had left him tired, and now he was running across an ocean. Land couldn't be that far away, he reasoned. And, if it was
farther than he anticipated, then he'd die.

After running for what seemed like hours, Vector was growing tired. His legs ached, and he was getting hungry. He hadn't eaten in quite a while, and was
regretting it. He pushed on, keeping his speed constant, as to keep hydroplaning. As he ran, however, his foot struck something, and he fell. Fearing the worst,
Vector, the Yoshi that could swim about as well a rock inhaled deeply what he feared would be his last breath.

But, he didn't sink. Vector stood up, and was amazed to see that he was up to his knees in water, and no farther. He was obviously close to shore, as the
water had grown this shallow. He walked the rest of the way, and after a several minute hike in the knee-deep water, he found himself on a beach. He fell down
on the sand, and looked up at the sky, and noticed that he'd made excellent time: the sun was directly overhead, which meant it was noon, no matter the planet.

"Lunch time." Vector said aloud. He waded around in the surf for a bit, and then lunged with his amazing speed into the water. Getting out of the water, he
held a fish in his hands, which he fully intended to eat. Lunch was quickly spoiled, however, when he noticed a plume of black smoke rising in the distance.

"What the deuce is that?" Vector mumbled to himself. "A hero's work is never done. I guess lunch waits."

Vector revved up his legs and shot over the sand dunes, towards the black smoke.

A small Yoshi village sat upon a hill, overlooking the sea. The village warriors were all poised and ready to attack the mechanical beasts, which had
invaded their home, and were causing wanton destruction. One of the machines stopped where it was, and the top opened with a loud metallic clank. A human
rose from the hole that had been formed, followed by another, and then another.

"We shalt drive these intruders to whence they came!" one of the Yoshi warriors, one that looked to be the leader, said to his fellows.

"Good luck trying, old boy!" a voice said.

The Yoshies looked over to a human, who was not dressed in the black armor of the others. "While you cannot understand me, at least I don't think you can, I can understand you, and your attempt at resistance is quite amusing."

The warrior that had spoken gripped his spear in both hands, and let out a war cry, charging after the humans. Before they were in striking distance, both the Yoshies and the humans scattered at the sound of a loud crack, and a resonating boom. A blue Yoshi stood on the hill, and pointed to the armor-clad
humans.

"That ain't cool!" he yelled, in English. "Get your Tairez tushies out of here, before I get mad!"

"Ah, Vector!" the unarmored human said, almost jovially. "How nice of you to join us. Now die."

The armored humans all aimed their weapons at Vector, and fired. The wave of energy that filled the air was withering, and left a decent sized hole, lined
with glass, as they struck and melted the ground. Unfortunately, not a single beam hit its mark, as Vector lay beside the hole and yawned.

"Is that all? Pft. Imperial gunnery training is a bit lax," Vector said lazily.

The Tairez soldiers all dropped their weapons. "It's THAT blue one!" one of the soldiers yelled. They ran away from the village, screaming things about the supersonic Yoshi. The unarmored human made a distasteful sound, and uttered a few curses.

"You win this time, Vector, but you have no ship. I hold all the cards on this planet, brother, and you will find my wrath most unpleasant," he said, before
climbing into the vehicle, and driving off after his routed troops.

Vector walked towards the Yoshies, and spoke, in very fractured, and very wrong ancient Yoshian.

"Woman I am, king of pizza," he said, obviously destroying a greeting. "I will potato house kill."

The tribal Yoshies all looked at him oddly, as his speech made absolutely no sense.

"You speaketh nonsense, blue one." The leader said, confusedly. "Perhaps you are not of here?"

Vector stopped and thought for a short while. He was terribly bad with Yoshian, let alone ancient Yoshian. He tried again, with mild success.

"I speaketh not this language," he said, his words drawn out and disjointed. "English I speaketh."

The Yoshies all spoke amongst each other for a short time, and the leader turned back to Vector.

"You indeed are fast, blue one. What wouldst thy name be?" he said.

"Vector," Vector said. At least he knew what his name was in Yoshian.

"Is that your birth name, or your adult name?" the painted Yoshi said.

"Both, I suppose. I've been named Vector all my life." Vector said, his language very non fluid.

"What wouldst that be on thy hip?" the Yoshi said, pointing to Vector's blaster.

"This be a blaster. Observe," Vector said, pulling his blaster from its holster.

He fired it at a piece of broken wood, a blue bolt of plasma lancing out from the gun, and blasting a hole through the wood, which ignited after impact. The tribal Yoshies all backed away, and then went to their knees.

"The savior has cometh," they said, bowing to Vector. "The blue one, who runs like the wind, with blue fire at his control."

"Wha? I ain't no savior!" Vector said in English, reverting back to his native language. "I'm outta here. This place creeps me out."

Vector revved up his legs, and dashed off over the horizon, a trail of fire and a sonic boom being the only traces that he was there.

"He hast gone," One of the Yoshies said. "He hast gone to vanquish the great evil."

Vector ran across the continent, watching as the scenery passed, looking for what looked like another village, as if Lich were here, he'd be smart enough to
go to one. After several minutes of running, Vector slowed to a walk, and then stopped at a lone tree. He had been running for quite some time, and hadn't
eaten for nearly two days. He leaned against the tree, and slid down to the ground. In moments, he was asleep, having decided that the tree was a good place for a quick nap.