"The armistice which finally ended the Hundred Years War was signed right around the time I deserted the Melkian army. That was six months ago. I had slipped away from the military's eyes...and lost myself in the crowds in the city of Uoodo."

A Melkian satellite tracks the progress of Chirico (now called "Program K"), as he enters the sinister Uoodo City. Mere moments later, he is caught by a gang of bikers who toss him into a truck along with other victims, and roar away to evade the Uoodo Security Police. Taken to the bikers' fortress on the outskirts of the city, Chirico and the other slaves are forced to dig for jijirium in the ruins of a computer factory.

Later that night, the police pay a call on the fortress. Uoodo's chief of police has come to inform the gangleader, Boone, that their arrangement must be dissolved - now that the war no longer serves as a distraction, he can no longer turn a blind eye to the slave raids. Boone attempts to bribe him with even more riches, but a sudden slave uprising takes all of them by surprise. Grabbing a motorcycle during the confusion, Chirico escapes back into Uoodo, chased by bikers. The Melkian spy network intervenes, and Chirico falls into a scrap yard. He climbs into the wreck of a Scopedog, the only shelter he can trust.

"It was a place that held a familiar scent for me. With only the cold feel of metal on my hands, a once-dead warmth now glowed to new life inside me. And, feeling as safe as a child held to its mother's breast, before I knew it I was fast asleep."

"My endless wandering since deserting the army had brought me to the city of Uoodo. And I was now in trouble with the Boone Family, a gang of thugs who ran the city."

The next morning, as the Bone Family begins to scour the city for Chirico, he awakes and meets Bouleuse Gotho, the owner of the scrap yard. Gotho serves him breakfast and discusses his plans to salvage some of the ATs he has found. Coconna drops by, hoping to buy a meal with gossip from the streets. Elsewhere, a new chief of police takes residence in the city's central tower: Gimual Iskui, a member of the Secret Society. Iskui immediately hatches a plan to deal with the troublesome biker gang.

Chirico goes to work repairing one of Gotho's salvaged Scopedogs. Vanilla Vartla arrives, wanting to buy guns now that the city is crawling with hostile bikers. Intrigued by Chirico's expertise with the Scopedog, Vanilla starts to ask questions. Coconna returns with news of the bikers, and Chirico brings the Scopedog to life. He marches out to confront the Boone Famil - and proves more than a match for them in his AT. Just as they rally to destroy him, the police spring a trap of their own, ambushing the gang and turning the street into an inferno.

"The flying bullets, the flames. Before my eyes lay a scene so familiar to me. I was back on the battlefield...I and my VOTOM."