The Stone Dragon - Chaps 4, 5, 6, 7

[Kavid]

Chapter 4
Rat Fink

“Well, does it work?” I called up to Sifen. I was no longer in RR-1.
“All systems look—as Mansod would say--‘Brand-Spanking-New.’ So my guess would be yes, it works.” Replied Sifen from the cockpit. "I've managed to hack into the main controls and have full access."
“Then let’s try it out.”
“Yes, sir.” The canopy closed and the sounds of electrical systems and motors powering up hummed out of the body. The massive Zoid’s gears kicked in as it took its first step. The clawed food clanged down onto the fallen metallic crate panel, which really hurt my cyberphonic implants. I was in so much awe and pain simultaneously that I didn’t notice the rocks starting to crumble from the top of the cavern.
“Wow!” Personally, I liked Geno Breakers and Berserk Fuhrers a bit more, but when you’re within spitting distance of a Dark Spiner, it’s a fantastic experience.
When the robotic spinosaurus took a couple more steps out I noticed the big Jamming Blades were removed from the body. “Hey Sifen! Where’s the blades?”
The Dark Spiner turned around to look at the crate. “They’re packed at the rear of the cargo container. We’ll have to carry them until we learn how to re-attach them.”
Suddenly, and for no apparent reason whatsoever, the Dark Spiner screamed. Was it hurt? Was it yawning? What it just doing something that Dark Spiners like to do? I didn’t know. But it did it. Loudly.
The falling rocks were very noticable now. The entire roof of the cavern began to collapse. A group of boulders smashed Rev Raptor One, and more rocks blocked off my path to RR-2.
I could faintly hear Sifen’s voice call to me, “Hold still, sir!” I turned around to see the Spiner’s mouth scoop me up. I shrieked like a…well, you know.
The DS ran through the rock hailstorm and made a break for the cavern’s entrance. Large boulders began clogging the doorway, but Sifen rammed the Zoid on through. He had no ammunition, after all.
The steel dinosaur was engulfed by the dust cloud spewing out of the cavern’s mouth. It took a few minutes for the dust to clear. One thing was for certain: no one would get those blades now.
A Dark Spiner’s mouth was not designed to carry things. I flipped and bounced pretty intensely behind its big teeth. I wanted to get out, but after looking out through spaces between the teeth, I wanted to stay put.
A platoon of Imperial Zoids, composed of Dark Horns, Molgas and Hel Digunners stood behind the now-burning wreckage of the Dibison. At the center of the group of fighting machines stood an Iron Kong.
“Greetings!” called out the Kong’s pilot. The voice was very annoying. “I’m so happy to see you made it out alive! It’s unfortunate that you couldn’t retrieve all of the Dark Spiner’s body parts, however.”
I bonked the roof of the Spiner’s mouth a couple of times, and Sifen opened it up a bit. “Nevets, what the heck are you doing here?”
“Taking care of Imperial business, of course. But it looks like you beat me to it. I should thank you for finding the Zoid for me.” I must have played right into his hands.
A Molga rolled up to us and the cockpit opened. Skyler stepped out. It all made sense, now: Nevets had used Skyler to get us here so he could trap us. Well, Skyler didn’t lie, he was just a rat fink.
“What do you want now, Skyler?” I asked with a sigh.
“Why, to save you the trouble of bringing that Zoid all the way back to Klaylos. I’ll take it right here, right now.”
Damn that little rat. “I lost two Zoids retrieving this prize of yours. I demand it as compensation.”
The Iron Kong took a step forward and crushed the Dibison. “Compensation?” growled Nevets, “Are you mad? That is Imperial property! How dare you claim it! I should blow you apart right now!”
This was getting old. “Then do it. Do us all a favor.” I said bluntly.
“Ah, but I was hoping you could do me a favor.” I knew Nevets was sneering.
Considering how embarrassing this situation was, I was surprised to realize I wanted to know what he wanted. I was tired of speculating.
“I’m listening.”

[Kavid]

Chapter Five
Dark Deals

Mansod spit his water out in shock…right on to me. I was thankful he wasn’t drinking beer. “You did WHAT?”
“You heard me. I cut a deal with the Major. We’re working for Nevets now.” I found it difficult to swallow my food after saying that. Kavid was the only one of us smiling, but it wasn’t because he was happy.
“But…but why?” whimpered Mansod.
“Because the profit for us is too valuable to pass up.” Said Sifen, a bit half-heartedly.
“I thought that we were supposed to be good guys,” said Mansod, “We’re not supposed to be henchmen for weasley a-holes, right?”
“It’s only unil settle things with Major Nevets.” Sifen really sounded unsure of himself.
Kavid finally spoke. “So what’s the profit?”
“For starters, we get to keep the Dark Spiner, plus he’ll give us a Killer Dome. To top it off, we won’t owe him anything ever again.”
Mansod whistled in amazement. “He must want something really bad.”
“Killer Dome?” asked Kavid, “You gonna try that combo thing with the Dark Spiner?”
“Considering the Spiner is missing its spine blades, it is really our only option.” Explained Sifen.
“Can I pilot it?” Mansod asked, all smiley again.
“Yes.” Said Sifen. “You will operate the Killer Dome while I pilot the Dark Spiner.”
“Yes!” cheered Mansod, “High five, buddy!” Sifen didn’t budge. Mansod put his arm down.
“You’re forgetting one thing,” said Kavid, “I won’t work for Nevets.”
I had been preparing for this. “You have to, Kavid. We have to. Because of your stupid antics we have no money, no ammo, no anything.” I started to feel more guilt then anger, surprisingly. “It’s just a simple burglary from an Imperial bunker outside of--.”
Kavid stood up, showing more energy than I’d seen from him in months. “Imperial bunker? You call that simple? You’re out of your freaking mind, Jeremy!” He snorted. “And you think I’m the stupid one! Ha!” He grabbed his canteen—which was full of liquor—and started drinking.
“Look,” I tried to explain; “Nevets will supply us with pass codes and fake I.D.s. We’ll just walk in, grab the Zoid and walk out.”
“Sounds easy.” Said Mansod. “What’s the catch?”
“If they start chasing us we’re on our own. Nevets will deny everything.”
“That figures.” Kavid tossed his empty canteen to the floor. “Haven’t you thought this through yet, Jeremy?”
“What do you mean?”
“If this is some super-valuable Zoid, even more so than that Dark Spiner you found, don’t you think it’ll take more than codes and I.D.s to get to it?”
“Well of course.”
“And if it is valuable, and we manage to snag it, every damn Imperial soldier on this side of the planet is going to be chasing our ass's. That’s why Nevet’s wants us to do it. If we get caught or if we get away with it, it’s no skin off his back.
“Well, duh.”
“Duh? DUH? You’re sitting here telling me that it’s time to clean up our lives, yet you’re putting us all at the greatest risk we’ve ever encountered!”
“Restoring your honor isn’t free, Kavid.”
He laughed at that one. “Listen to yourself, Jeremy! You’re turning to crime to try to restore your self-esteem. Doesn’t that sound a little familiar?”
Oh no. Colonel Sared.
“If you want to do this stupid plan, then go ahead. But I’m not going with you. I’ve got my own problems.” With that, he walked out of the room.
I hated it when Kavid was right. He always made things a little too painful.

The next morning a Killer Dome crawled up to the bar, followed by the spineless Dark Spiner and Nevets’ Iron Kong. The Kong’s cockpit opened up and a roll of rope ladder dropped down. The Major started climbing down the ladder while Imperial soldiers jumped out of the other Zoids.
Sifen, Mansod and I stood out on the sidewalk, actually wishing the sun was a little less bright. I didn’t like feeling bad on beautiful days.
Nevets reached the bottom of the ladder and pulled his gloves off. “Greetings again, Mr. Kelt! I’m actually happy to see you today!” His voice hurt worse than the sunlight.
“The feeling isn’t mutual, Nevets.” That remark wiped the smile right off his face.
“You have an odd manner of conducting business, sir. I suggest you change it.”
I shrugged. “What business?”
The Major started to squeeze his gloves. “You know damn well what business. I’ve completed my half of the bargain, now it’s time for you to do yours.”
“Well, thank you for going through all this trouble,” I practiced a sneer, “but we’ve changed our minds about the deal. I’m sorry.”
Nevets signaled his men to draw pistols and point them at us. “It’s too late for any attitude changes, Kelt. Either do this or die.”
“I’ve told you before, you can kill us. I won’t try to stop you. But really, why can’t you just let us be and go find somebody else to do your dirty deeds?”
He grabbed my jacket and pulled me closer to his properly-shaven face. “Because there is no one else, Mr. Kelt. Do you think bounty hunters with the amazing amount of military training and experience you have simply grow on trees?” He started breathing heavy. “Okay, I’ll say it. I need you. I need your help. Do you want more money? More Zoids? They’re yours. Whatever you want. Just get me the Stone Dragon!”
Nevets’ eyes bugged out when he realized he let something slip out. He let me go and took a step back.
“Stone Dragon, Major Nevets?” I looked to Sifen, but could tell he was clueless. “Is that the Zoid you want?”
“Yes, yes you fool. Be quiet!” He was getting panicky. I figured talking about the Stone Dragon was a big no-no. I could only think of one question.
“Why?”

[Kavid]

Chapter Six
Friendship

We stored all of our Zoids in a shed that we co-owned with Bruno. It was a little tight, but we had little other choice. Huge cargo warehouses weren’t exactly abundant out by the Southern Frontier.
I walked up to the shed, and could see Kavid sitting at the top of it, looking at the crescent moons. After climbing the stairs, I crossed the roof to where he was sitting and sat down.
“Nice night.” He said.
“Yeah.” I kicked away some empty beer bottles. “One of the advantages of living out here. In New Helic City you can’t even see the Veldik stars at night.”
“Nope.” He was going to take a drink, but paused. “So are you going to work for Nevets?”
“I think so.”
He hung his head and then drank. “I’m disappointed in you, Jeremy. I thought I you were better than that.”
I grabbed his bottle and shook it at him. “And I thought you were better than this!” He started to stand up to walk away, but I pulled him back down. “Oh no you don’t, Kavid. Not again. I’m sick of you always leaving the conversation when it comes to you. I want to know what the hell is wrong with you. Now!”
He pulled away from me, and winced in pain. “Let me go, Jeremy!”
“What’s wrong with you?”
He looked me hard in the eyes, but I could see that his were weak. “I’m dying, Jeremy. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
Instead of shock I felt relief that I finally knew the answer. But then the shock hit. “From the Particle Breaker Beam?”
“Yeah. That S.O.B. Sared booted us out of the Army before I was fully cleaned up. I thought I was okay for a while, taking pills and treatments, but it’s just been getting worse. Sometimes I can’t even feel myself. Anywhere.” He looked back at the moons. “Getting help out here is tough. I found a doctor that will give me the pills I need to keep going, but they’re just slowing the inevitable.” He tossed a bottle off of the roof. “I don’t drink because I’m a bum, Jeremy. I drink to try to forget about things, you know?”
“Like you told me, Kavid, two wrongs don’t make a right.” That was one of the oldest and cheesiest statements in existence, but people never realize how true it is. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“And get you guys all depressed? I’d rather have you guys pissed off at me than pitying me.” He looked for an un-empty beer bottle while I fought back watery eyes.
“I promise you, Kavid, if you come help us with the Zoid burglary, we’ll get you cleaned up.”
“I ain’t working for Nevets, Jeremy!”
“You won’t be, my friend, you won’t be.”

[Kavid]

Chapter Seven
Riverdance

Skyler provided us with directions to Guygalos. I didn’t trust the little rat any more, but I knew he could at least give good directions.
The beginning of the journey drew us pretty close to an Imperial Outpost. A little too close.
I took point with my Lightning Saix, with Sifen in the Dark Spiner about ninety meters back. Mansod tried to keep up with us in the Killer Dome, but his movements looked almost comical. Kavid stayed surprisingly close in the Redler, but kept himself abnormally quiet.
After about a day of journey, we reached a crossing in the Utri River. It was a section of the river far from where Rykur’s Stronghold laid, and much wider. There was a bridge nearby that spanned the river a quarter-kilometer south from a steep waterfall. Considering the river’s width and intensity of the waterflow, we decided to use the bridge. It would reveal our positions for a while, but it was necessary.
“This is a really pretty place to be.” Mansod was right.
“Yep.” I said. “It reminds me of when I used to camp with my brothers out near New Helic City.”
“Planet Zi is fortunate in the fact that mankind has not overpopulated it yet, as it has with other planets.” Darn it, Sifen. Why did he have to say that?
“Why don’t you guys quit the ‘happy crappy’ and take a look ahead.” Snarled Kavid, “That bridge is guarded.”
I woke up from my daydream and used the HUD to magnify the little Zoid that I could just barely make out standing by the bridge.
It wasn’t so little after all. It was an Elephander.
“Stay sharp, but don’t start freaking out. Remember, we’re on their side now, okay?”
I reached the bridge first and opened a Comm channel to the Elephander’s pilot. “Hello, uh…EP-17. How’s it going?” Oh, now that was lame.
“Greetings, VU-1.” His voice was very bored. “Do you wish to cross the bridge?”
Well, duh. “Yes, yes I do. My unit and I have important business to take care of in Guygalos, so if you don’t mind.”
The Elephander’s trunk swung in front of me to block me off. “I’ll need to see some identification, first. Bounty hunters are not allowed access to this bridge.”
Oh, great. Well, Nevets had provided us all with fake I.D.s and pass codes. Now was the time to see if they worked. “I’m transmitting identification now.” I pressed the transmit button and crossed my fingers. If we were just out to fight the elephant Zoid, I’d be all for it. But we had to get to Guygalos in the best condition possible. And we didn’t want him telling the Imperial Army about us, most of all.
“I’m sorry, sir, can you re-transmit the information?” Uh-oh. This didn’t sound good.
“Yes, right away.” I pressed the button again, and moved my hands to the weapons controls. I wagged the Lightning Saix’ tail three times. Mansod moved closer to Sifen and Kavid took a swoop over the waterfall.
The Elephander slowly moved its trunk in my direction and started to creak open its claw. An average pilot may not have notice such a suttle move, but I live off of reading little signs like that.
“Sir, you are now under arrest by the Guylos Empire for being a spy!” The trunk jabbed at my Saix but I was ready and jumped back. I took two quick shots at the robotic elephant and ran off. The Elephander screamed its frustration and started chasing me with its turret cannons.
The Dark Spiner fired repeatedly at the Elephander but did little harm. EP-17 started a stampede for the Dark Spiner, which jumped out of the way, but was still grabbed by the trunk’s claw. Sifen did all he could but was unable to remove the clamp from the DS’ neck.
“Kavid! Get in here and help Sifen!” I ordered. The Redler’s Hybrid Cannons were our only heavy ammo. The little Dragon rose over the edge of the waterfall and started pummeling the Elephander with highly explosive shots. I joined Kavid’s barrage by shooting at the loose gravel beneath the Elephander’s feet, leaving it unable to hold its stance.
EP-17 eventually let go of the Dark Spiner, which then whipped its tail around and sent the robotic elephant rolling into the river.
“Yowsers!” I cheered.
“Hey, that was pretty easy!” said Mansod. “I didn’t even have to do anything!”
“Okay, enough of that for now. Sifen, were you jamming its transmissions?”
“Yes, sir. He called for help, but nothing could have gotten through.”
“Great. Now let’s cross the bridge and get out of here.”
Our odd-looking row of Zoids began a slow but steady pace across the bridge, more anxious than ever to reach Guygalos. However, we were feeling just a little cocky, since we just won an easy fight against a powerful foe…which is why we didn’t see the Elephander stand up in the river, aim its cannons at us, and destroy the bridge.
The Lightning Saix crashed the hardest into the river waters. It landed on its back and was swept downstream. Only by activating its boosters did I keep myself from being thrown over the waterfall’s edge.
The Dark Spiner fell fairly hard, but managed to land on its feet and come to a stop using its foot braces. The Killer Dome…well, it’s a crab. It was just fine in water.
As I slowly maneuvered through the riverr and towards the shore, I could see an incredible sight. The Elephander and Dark Spiner were standing in the water face-to-face, their legs submerged in the river. EP-17 opened fire first, blasting holes in the armor of the Dark Spiner and making rows of battlescars. Sifen stood his ground, but returned very little fire. The Elephander started taking slow, steady steps towards the Spiner, spewing off small bursts of fire to torment the DS. Then the trunk claw reached out and grabbed the spinosaurus by the neck again. The elephant was preparing to gore it with its horns.
Then came the counterattack.
The Killer Dome jumped out of the water and landed squarely on the Dark Spiner’s back. It quickly attached itself and opened its claws. The gattling guns began spinning and when the claws had moved into position, aimed directly at the Elephander’s face, they opened fire.
Hundreds of thousands of rounds of energy shells roared from the Killer Dome’s cannons, ripping apart the Elephander’s armor and shredding through its mass. After only seconds, the Zoid’s body exploded, firing shrapnel in every direction. A thick cloud of black smoke followed soon after.
The smoke began to clear, and the Killer Spiner--protected safely under a red, glowing, ovular shell of shield energy--began to scream, just like it did in the cave.
Maybe Dark Spiner’s really do like to do that.

[darthraider1]

Very nice Kavid! I like the plot twist, turning our heroes into theives. And Kavid being sick, that's a nice element as well. Your battle scenes are great too, not overdone IMO.

You've been awful busy...is this story going to be longer you think? Looks like a long way to go yet.

Keep it up!

[Kavid]

I'm not sure of the length. I thought PAC-Wolves would only go 12 and it went 15.

I feel this one shouldn't be more than about 12 or 13, but who knows? New ideas keep popping into my head. I hadn't even planned on an Elephander in the story until two days ago!

I'm glad you liked the twists and stuff. A friend of mine told me to re-write a lot of it, but I kept with my original ideas. They seemed to flow better. Maybe I'll post the re-writes as the "Stone-Dragon alternate story" or something. I did three chapters of them.

[Deadborder]

w00t

You rawk, Kavid. Keep at it.

Now I must get off my butt and wrte more...

Rick R.

[skatemonkey89]

woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot!!!! i love your storys man! they freakin kick @$$! kepp it up man