The five of us, the Castaways of the Republic, as we called ourselves now, crossed the border into the Guylos Empire four days later. Bruno's Gustav was in sad shape, but could still run. We had to abandon the trailers two days ago, however, to keep it going. Although the Particle-Breaker Beam had reflected off of the Zoid's surface, it absorbed enough of the energy to weaken it significantly. We drove into a town called Orator and parked outside the local pub. After a few drinks, we began to talk. "How are you feeling, Kavid?" asked Mansod. "Have you ever imagined what it feels like to have your skin instantaneously and completely ripped off, Mansod?" replied Kavid. "Uhh...no." "Don't." We laughed at that and drank a little more. "How many more rations do we have, Bruno?" inquired Sifen. "About two days worth. You guys eat like pigs. One of us had better find a job." "Problem is," I said, "is we can't get a job without a Zoid, and we can't get a Zoid without a job." "Yup." As we sat there thinking and drinking, a big, muscular and uniformed man entered the pub and stood in the doorway. "Attention patrons of this pub!" he bellowed, "I'm Lieutenant Garrok of the Guylos Imperial Army. We're looking for new recruits at this time. Would any of you be interested in joining the Emperor's Army?" My friends and I all looked at each other, smiled, lifted our mugs and said: "Cheers!"