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"Easily... I assure you." The Iron Judge chuckled. For a moment her glare remained on the rogue, she than turned around and begun to walk toward the arena exit on the other side. A black fog swirled about her, coming from the sands at her feet and her right arm.

The fog rapidly spread around the room, clinging to the columns and walls like a thick ink.

Soon after the room begun to rumble. Sand fell from the ceiling all about the room, covering the stands and even adding to the sands already in the battle arena. Small rocks joined in the falling derbies... the place was coming down.

"The Iron Judge." The demonic voice chuckled. "Pray we never meet again child..."

With that said her form was completely engulfed in the black fog. Her maniacal laughter trailed on after her disappearance. The room shifted again. Sands begun to swirl around the room and peel from the walls. Even the rocks disintegrated to the sands. Everything begun to spin as if inside a tornado. The rocks crumbled to dust and joined in the quick swirling of the surroundings.

Ander's body quickly sunk deeper into the sands just out of Marcia's reach. The sands that covered in soon joined in the rooms rapid disintegration.

The black fog gripped at ground around Marcia than tried to attach itself to her legs. It would be like weights pulling her under water.

The room turned into its own sandstorm before everything suddenly lifted to the dark sky above and fade away as if nothing had ever been there.

Above, the stars shone brightly against the late night sky. The moon hung just over the large towers of the imperial capitol off in the distance. It was quite peaceful... no sign of any temple or Colosseum anywhere. Just the soft sands of the imperial territory... Near by she would be able to see the feint white lump of Catastrophe. It was just over the dunes opposite side the direction of the capitol. At this point the ZOID would still be unconscious.

A small breeze raced across the lands carrying the dark chuckle of the Iron Judge, than settled leaving the world to silence once more.

There would be not even the slightest sign of Saga anywhere in the immediate area. However, on the way to Catastrophe, Marcia would see a feint shine in the sands.

Some trinket lay fresh in the sands. Closer look would reveal it to be a silver pendant with a silver chain attached. What made this pendant so significant was that the pendant looked like a chumera with a long snake body and curled ram horns. The main face was that of a dragon while the two on the sides were that of a lion and goat. The end of the long tail bore the dead of a snake with its mouth ajar, sporting its sharp fangs. Each eye of the animal heads were jewel in crested with dazzling rubies.

The trinket was splattered with fresh blood...

The sand around and on top of the hulking ZOID suggested that it had been there quite a while. Perhaps even more than a day. It was quite a miracle that the hulking beast had not been spotted by the Imperial watch. Quite a feat considering that the Capitol was visible just on the horizon and this was the most guarded area of the territory.

Even now the area Marcia was in went unwatched by the Imperial guard's eye.

As the world settled into more clarity for Marcia, she would realize that she too had sand in her hair, cloths and show evidence of prolonged sun exposure on her skin.

Aside the pendant there was no other evidence of Saga in the area. None of the dunes seemed tall enough to be hiding such a massive ZOID...

So long as the ZOID was active, so was the organoid within. A brilliant system Dr. Fox created where the ZOID's consciousness was dependent on the organoid. That bond was made as soon as Agumo fused with the bone ZOID.

A swift southward wind blew over the desert sands. With it a heavy feeling and a cold chill.

In the distance, just north of their position, the loud steps of the imperial watch Death Saurer and his three lightning saix guards appeared. They were just now starting to make their rounds on that side of the city. A rather strange event had prevented them from getting this far earlier that day, but now watch resumed as normal. The colossal ZOID was rather slow in its step, however giving its size it covered a lot of ground with a step. Each Saix at its sides were still able to move faster though they had to put more effort into moving ahead of the foot.

Luckily for Marcia none of the patrol noticed the escaping bone ZOID and continued on their route around the Imperial capitol. Their path would turn away from Catastrophe's soon enough further securing his escape.

Even further away from the city and further into the imperial desert there were no signs of recent ZOID activity. The sands were flat and rippled from the wind.

The lands remained like this for miles and miles until, when the outline of the great Imperial City was far gone, ZOID tracks could be seen in the sand. Bipedal, sharp crooked claws, and by the looks of the size and space of the imprint, it was large and fast. Though not nearly as large as Catastrophe.

It had to have been there recently as the wind had not yet been able to distort the print.

For a moment the ZOID came into view, bright rockets burning as the strange red ZOID moved forward at a normal pace for it. The moment was short lived as the ZOID vanished completely from View.

It was enough of a view for Marcia, possibly, to catch the details. This was the same ZOID that appeared to that Republic Pilot on the edge of the Unknown territory a while back.

Blaze picked catastrophe up on the radar rather quickly and recognized the ZOID from that day.

-You should return back to the rogue lands promptly. This place is very dangerous for you pilot. Imperial are currently at hostile status towards all rogues. I made sure they did not see you last time, but now your ZOID is awake and I cannot hide you both any more.-

Blaze sent the text message to Marcia. It would appear on a screen in front of her if the message was received.