PAC-Wolves: The Stone Dragon - Chaps. 3, 4, 5

[pacwolf]

I hope the size of this story isn't scaring too many people off from reading it. I wrote it so that it would flow together well, and although there are a few no-action chapters, the action does get big, as it does here, in Chapter 3...

Chapter Three - Back in Action

Katrana had used the medical kits in her Gustav to mend the wounds on Kavid’s face and was now working on my hands. Although he had now agreed to join our little battle, I could see that Kavid’s heart was still not in it, and he was very uncomfortable around Katrana.

“Things seem a lot different than before.” She said as she bandaged my knuckles.

“The battle with the Death Sniper really shook him up. He hasn’t been the same since.” I remembered the days I couldn’t get him to join a bounty hunt unless he was drunk.

“Having your Zoid shatter to ashes, leaving you writhing in pain, feeling like your nerves are being ripped to pieces would do that.” The comment came from Kavid, not Katrana. He walked up behind us, looking very tired, now that he was sober.

“Sorry, bud, we’re just assessing the situation.” I said.

Kavid looked at the moon rising over the northern hills. “Katrana, my problem is more with that jerk father of yours than you.” He turned and stared at her. “Tell me the truth: is this for the Helic Republic or for him?”

Katrana returned his stare with fiery eyes. “My father killed himself a month after you guys left for Guylos.” She returned her attention to my hands.

Kavid looked back at the moon. “I wish I could say that I’m sorry, but don’t blame us.”

“I’ve never blamed you for anything concerning my father.” She finished my hands and turned her back to us.

I decided to change the subject. “I am a little concerned about the PAC-Wolves Katrana.”

She cut me off by waving her arm and turning around.. “If you’re worried about the Particle Charger, don’t. Word about it never left Mt. Hoploy, and more of them were never built. The Guylos Empire has never even heard of the PAC-Wolves.”

“That’s good to hear.” I said. Her answers seemed too perfect, though.

Suddenly, a high-pitched, annoying voice squeaked out over a bullhorn.

“Greetings!”

Nevets.

I stepped out from behind the granary with Katrana and Kavid close behind. “You’ve made a big mistake coming here, Major.” My fists were so tight my knuckles started bleeding again.

“Mistake? Mistake?” Nevets was ready to erupt, as usual. He stood in front of a Helcat parked in the middle of the wheat field. “You’re the fool who’s standing next to a unit of Helic Republic Command Wolves in the middle of the Guylos Empire! I’ve never seen a bigger mistake in all my life!” He started laughing, but I could see the fear in his eyes. Nevets was a man who made his bad decisions in life out of greed, not lack of analytical skill.

Katrana drew her blaster, and the Major promptly stopped laughing. He almost comically began struggling to pull his pistol from its holster. The man did not have a lot of weapon’s skill.

“Major, seeing how my blaster is aimed right at you, I suggest you just give up and raise your hands.” Katrana was nervous, but in control. Nevets gave up his struggle with his pistol and raised his hands.

As Kavid and I walked over to the major, we noticed he was smiling, and it was a smile continuing to grow in size. “So, you’ve made friends with Lieutenant Sared? You really are stupid. I’ve been tracking her for days, now. The fact that I’m going to kill you and her at the same time just serves to get me promoted out of this hell-hole so much quicker.” He nodded at the granary. “Don’t you dare think that I’ve lost control of this situation.” I spun around when heavy smashing sounds pounded out from within the giant wheat container.

Heavy repeating laser blasts began hammering their way out of the tower. Their aim was about twenty meters high and they spread in a clockwise pattern. The massive display was frightening enough to drop everyone--even Nevets--to the ground.

Once the blasts stopped, wheat grains were pouring out of the new holes. The air filled with the smell of burnt grain and smoke. I had a pretty good idea about what was coming next--and I was right.

A loud, screeching roar echoed out of the metallic tube. Giant claws stabbed through from the inside, and following the path of the recent laser blasts, they quickly ripped the top thirty meters of the granary off and flung it into the air.

The downward rush of grain seemed to melt in the appearance of a Killer Spiner hidden in the wheat. Not just a Dark Spiner, but one with its spines removed and a Killer Dome attached to its back. It was a standard Imperial Killer Spiner: one with a teal-colored Dark-Spiner and a red Killer Dome. There were no upgrades to be seen, but that means very little in the world of Zoids.

Katrana was frozen with panic and I was unsure of my next step. Running was pointless; one shell from a Killer Dome’s claw cannons could incinerate a human being, and it could fire two-thousand per minute.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Nevets crawling out to his Helcat and getting away. I would have to deal with him later.

The Spiner stepped out of the granary and aimed down at us. Then, for no apparent reason, it roared. A roar so loud that it overloaded my cyberphonic implants. My poor implants shut down from the unexpected strain and I went deaf for the second time in my life.

In a new haze, I could see that Katrana and Kavid were hurt as well, but at least their hearing hadn’t decided to turn off. As I closed my eyes expecting to feel pain, I instead felt a soft wind and vibrations on the ground. Looking back over at the Killer Spiner again, I could see that PAC-Wolf-4 had jumped over us and was now standing in our defense! Hurray for Mansod!

Arms grabbed me from behind and pulled me back. Kavid and Katrana were tugging me to the PAC-Wolves while we had time to escape. Looking back to PAC-4, it was getting smashed hard by the KS’ cannons, but was barely able to get a shot back at it. Thank goodness for the plasma armor.

Once we all had reached the PAC-Wolves, Sifen was already taking off in PAC-3. As soon as I got into PAC-1’s cockpit, I looked over at the Killer Spiner, and saw a bright flash. It had just sent PAC-4 into the air with a heavy blast. Mansod’s Zoid sailed 150-meters and came crashing down behind the Gustav and its trailers.

As I drove PAC-1 toward the battle, I noticed that PAC-2 was still on the trailer. I could see Katrana and Kavid fighting with each other in front of it. Damn, I wish I could have heard what they were saying.

Sifen had opened his missile launchers and was attempting to unload a volley at the imperial super-Zoid. I tried to give him some help, but the Killer Spiner mowed down PAC-3 with its cannons and paid me no attention. The KS leapt through the air and came crashing down onto Sifen’s Command Wolf, hitting him hard. The bi-pedal Zoid began frantically clawing at PAC-3’s armor, but to no avail.

I opened fire at the Spiner’s left arm, and was quickly joined in the barrage by PAC-2. Kavid’s image popped up onto my HUD, but I could not hear what he was trying to tell me. Deep down, I was thankful that he had joined the battle. Our weapons did little damage to the large Zoid, but they did get it to step off of Sifen.

PAC-2 jumped in front of me and wagged its tail two times. Was this what Kavid had been trying to tell me? Regardless, I understood what he wanted me to do.

The Killer Spiner turned counter-clockwise from a crouched stance and began firing at us. In order to follow Kavid’s plan, I had to stand my ground and suffer the massive vibrations as my Zoid was pummeled. I was almost thankful I couldn’t hear the chaos. PAC-2 sprinted off towards the granary as the Spiner focused all its attention on shooting me. PAC-1 was nearly launched into the air as the heavy, rapidly repeating shells exploded against its indestructible armor plating.

After nearly a minute of rewardless assault, the KS stood up and began to walk towards PAC-Wolf-1. As it did, I could see PAC-3 imbedded into the ground behind it. The Command Wolf was still complete, though it would need a washing. I hoped that Sifen hadn’t been banged around too much inside the cockpit. After all, the PAC-Wolves were plasma armored, not cushioned.

The combo-Zoid walked to arm’s length of PAC-1 and grabbed it by the turret cannon it carried on its back. It lined up one of the massive crab-claw-cannons with the cockpit window of PAC-1. I could feel myself sweat just a little. Could the plasma armor resist point-blank fire from a claw-cannon? It had cracked when a Charged Particle Gun had blasted it, but then again that wasn’t point blank.

As if on cue, a heavy laser shot hit the head of the Killer Spiner, blasting off the faceplate armor and sending it crashing to the ground. Using the confusion to my advantage, I wiggled PAC-1’s controls and managed to break the Zoid free from the grasp of the KS. Not missing a beat, five more heavy blaster shots sailed in and cracked the spinosaurus-head and neck of the Killer Spiner.

The dinosaur-head tipped over and hung forward, lifeless, but the Killer Spiner was far from destroyed. It still carried a pilot in the Killer Dome section, a pilot who would be much more difficult a target.

As the Dark Spiner pilot fell out of the broken head and crashed to the ground, the Killer Spiner turned around to face the granary. It fired a heavy volley of rapid fire into the wreckage around the structure, causing a massive eruption. Amid the explosion, PAC-2 flew from the flames and crashed into the wheat field.

The Killer Dome pilot was good, that much was certain.

PAC-3 and PAC-4 ran up to my sides, and I could see that Sifen and Mansod were eager to tell me something. Since I couldn’t hear them, I continued with the battle purely on my instincts: I ran at our opponent, shooting as fast as I could. Sifen and Mansod paused in surprise, but soon copied my strategy.

Our barrage of firepower did little more than chip and crack the heavy armor of the Killer Spiner, but it accomplished exactly what I wanted it to: it gave Kavid time to set up.

Out of the corner of my right eye, I saw PAC-2 run up behind the Spiner. Our opponent charged at me and attempted what it had tried before: it stuck its cannon in my Command Wolf’s face and fired. Everything went white as the crab-claw-cannons started flashing.

In an instant, I was both blind and deaf.

What happened next was told to me later by Sifen:

“Your Wolf was knocked over 100-meters back and removed from the rest of the battle. Kavid fired multiple cannon shots into the left knee joints of the Spiner. I joined his assault by firing my remaining missiles at that same leg joint. Once the leg was broken, Mansod rammed the Killer Spiner, knocking it to the ground.

“From its immobilized position, the KS still tried to shoot us with its right claw-cannon. To our surprise, it kept us at bay. We were unable to get close to it. That is, until Katrana entered the battle with the Gustav and crashed into the Killer Spiner. The brute force of the strike rolled the Spiner into the burning wreckage of the granary. Katrana had ejected from her Gustav moments before the crash, and escaped harm.”

By this time my eyesight was returning, but more importantly, my cyberphonic implants had reset themselves. What I saw, and heard, was both incredible and disturbing. The Killer Spiner was caught up in the middle of a giant fireball of smoke and flame pouring from the granary, slowly burning and melting the massive Zoid to death. It is times like these, when you hear a Zoid shriek in pain, that you remember that they are indeed life forms.

The red top of the Killer Dome popped off and the ejector-seat activated, sending the pilot flying away.

Kavid’s voice was dominating our channel. He had taken charge, as he had in the old days. “Sifen, go out with Mansod to secure the area. I’m going to go get Bruno so we can get out of here as soon as I check up on Katrana and Jeremy.”

“Yes sir.” They both answered with the respect they’d wanted to give him for so long.

“What are my orders, sir?” I asked him with a touch of sarcasm.

I could feel his smile. “Get me a beer.”

[pacwolf]

Chapter Four - Best of Friends

Bruno’s Gustav slowly drove up the grassy hillside and lengthened out along the top. Mansod and Sifen took up the chores of driving the PAC-Wolves up onto the trailers. Once the four ruby-red Command Wolves were attached, Sifen activated their cloaking shields.

I stood about thirty meters away with Katrana and Kavid, looking back towards our former home and then out behind us to the Southern Frontier.

Bruno walked over to me with a small wad of cash. “I’m sorry, Captain. Since I was in such a hurry to sell yer old Zoids, I couldn’t get much for ‘um. After buyin’ yer supplies…well, there just ain’t much left.”

“You did great, Bruno. We owe you a lot.” I felt a lot of guilt.

“Na, you guys are my friends. That’s what friends do. I know you’ll be there when I need you.” He gave me a dopey smile. “Well, I gotta check on the Gustav.”

Bruno walked back to his silvery Zoid.

“I told Bruno I wouldn’t make him leave his bar for at least another year.” I looked over at my friend as he struggled with a trailer clamp.

“He knew he’d have to leave on a moment’s notice sometime.” Kavid re-assured me. “This kind of life is nothing new to him.” I could only frown.

Katrana ran her arms around both of our elbows. “I’ll do everything I can to make this up to you guys, honest. But right now I need you more than I can possibly put into words.” Her tone grew much more grim. “The Stone Dragon will destroy this planet, not just the Republic. It’s too powerful to let exist. The PAC-Wolves are the closest thing to a counter-force that we have, but only if you guys are at the controls.”

She sure loved the melodramatic. Before I could reply, Kavid started up. “What do you mean, ‘closest’? Don’t you guys figure indestructible Zoids can eventually tear it down?”

Lieutenant Sared looked nervous, but gave us an honest answer. “I don’t know.”

I had to butt-in now. “Is it because of the Killer Spiner? True, I’m not feeling very good: my head hurts, my hands hurt, my cyberphonic implants hurt, but I’m okay. Sifen and Mansod have a couple bangs and bruises, but no breaks; they’ll make it. Hey, I’ll admit it: we got bashed pretty good out there--but because of the plasma armor, we beat a Zoid that normally takes battalions to take down, with just a handful of Command Wolves! Don’t sell us short yet.” I tried to smile.

So did she. “You’re right.” The smile shrank. “But the Stone Dragon can destroy battalions of Killer Spiners. I’m not even sure plasma armor can withstand its weapons.”

“Is it a CPG?” Kavid was rock-jawed.

“No.” answered Katrana. That was quite a relief. “But its weapons are not conventional. Command Wolf weaponry will never break its armor, either.”

“Then we need equip them with weapons that can.” I said, looking back to Klaylos.

Kavid looked at me, recognizing my loss in thought. “What are you planning?”

“Nevets.”


The sound of grasshoppers was almost deafening, but that could only work to our advantage. The moons were both full, which didn’t help things, but we managed to stay downwind from our target.

Nevet’s home sat on the eastern side of town, with a heavily-armed Helcat parked beside it. Two guards walked posts inside the fence-line, carrying some rather brutal-looking anti-Zoid rifles. The fence stood only two meters from the side of the house, with a servants’ entrance on the northern wall.

A single light shone from the upper floor of the large, two-story building.

I was very jittery. Any one of my friends could drive a Zoid, but subterfuge was not our speciality. Kavid and I had covered ourselves in black clothing and painted our faces with black paint, but it was all run-of-the-mill-quality disguise.

Still, if we were to have a chance against the Stone Dragon, even in our invincible little Plasma Armored Command Wolves, we needed a heavy weapon, and who better to get us one than a major in the Guylos Empire?

I crawled across the grass until I was about one meter from the fence. A guard stepped into view and leisurely passed by my position. He was a hairy, fat thug that showed little interest in his duty. He apparently wasn’t trained by the Imperial army. I guess Nevets figured he could save a few bucks by hiring mercenaries.

When his gaze passed over my position on the ground, he reached into his non-uniform jacket and I froze. Had he seen me? I didn’t even risk breathing.

My fears were quickly eased when he pulled a donut out of his pockets, began chewing and walked on.

It took a lot of strength not to start swearing.

Feeling a tug at my feet I looked back to see Kavid. “That was close,” he whispered, “Guess these black jeans work better than we had figured.”

“Yeah, well, we were just lucky. Give me the wire cutters.”

After severing the fence-wire, Kavid and I crawled through the cut and approached the house without incident. The side door was unlocked, and we quietly entered the servants’ entrance.

“I tore my pants in the fence!” whined Kavid.

“We don’t have time to worry about it. Let’s get the major and go!” Perhaps jeans hadn’t been such a great idea.

After making our way upstairs, we reached the room that was still lit. Someone was talking from within, and it wasn’t hard to recognize that awful voice.

“Despite your sparkling record with the Empire, your failure will stain my career for the rest of my life.” griped Nevets

“We…we were fighting indestructible Zoids, Major. I must have shot them a thousand times!” Was that the Killer Dome pilot?

“Shut up you moron!” A slapping sound. “I won’t waste any more of my time. You’ve failed, and I shall suffer for it for the rest of my career. You will die. The end.” I could here a pistol being cocked. I had to move.

“Not tonight, Nevets!” I called as I swung around the doorway, tranquilizer gun raised.

“What?” he growled, but before he could move his firing arm, I shot him with the tranquilizer. He quivered and collapsed.

The imperial pilot was on his knees and bound with rope. “We only came for Nevets, not to harm you.” Explained Kavid as I picked up the major. The pilot looked at Nevets, then at me, then back to Kavid.

“Take me with you!” he begged. Kavid froze in his tracks.

“What?”

“Take me with you! I can’t stay here!” The pilot walked on his knees over towards us. “Nevets was going to kill me, and if you take him now, I’ll look like an accomplice!” My friend and I looked at each other.

“Look, either I join you or I die! Please! I can help you!”

Kavid pulled out his largest knife and held it to the pilot’s throat. “We don’t need your help. Go home, buddy.” With that, he cut the ropes and freed the man who had attempted to kill him only a day before.

We quickly made our ways down the stairs and charged out the front door of Nevets’ large home. The guards saw us but were too boggled to understand just what was happening before them. Surprisingly, the fat guard did manage to get his rifle raised at us.

As planned, however, the chirping of crickets was drowned out by the roaring of a de-cloaking PAC-Wolf.

PAC-3 waved into vision standing in the street just in front of Nevet’s home, and fired cannon shots at the guards and they dove for cover. Then, as Kavid, Nevets, the pilot and I escaped, Sifen’s Wolf’s missile launchers slowly opened and fired a volley of projectiles at the Helcat, which subsequently exploded and sent shrapnel and flame into Nevets’ home, quickly transforming it into a massive fireball.


At dawn Katrana walked up to me as I drank my morning coffee.

“Good morning.” Her smile was gorgeous.

“Morning.” I offered her a mug. “Coffee?”

She stuck her tongue out. “If Mansod made it, no thanks.” We both smiled. “Quite a stir you boys made last night. Word about it is getting spread all over the Empire.”

I rolled my eyes. “Great.”

Katrana patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll be out of here soon. While you guys were out capturing majors, I was finding weapons of mass destruction.”

I nearly spurt my coffee. “Really? Where?”

“It seems mister Nevets here has been trying desperately to get himself assigned a Berserk Fuhrer.”

“A Berserk--are you serious?”

“Yup. It’s on its way via a small Gustav convoy. Should be easy pickings.” Katrana sipped some tea. “I don’t know what Nevets has been up to, but for a guy who trucks around a small town on a third-rate Helcat, he’s been getting some seriously strong Zoids as of late.”

I sat in silence for a moment. “I doubt it’s all about Nevets here. The Empire may be up to something, and he’s just in the right place as the wrong time.” An idea popped in. “Think you could get us this Fuhrer?”

Katrana’s eyes leapt from her head. “Me? What about you guys?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but this Fuhrer sounds ‘in the bag’. While you go for it, we’ll go for a second CPG.”

“You want two?”

“You should always have a Plan-B.”

“I can’t do it all alone.”

“Take Bruno.” I smiled as she bonked me on the head.


Nevets’ eyes blinked open as the morning sun reflected off of the side of Bruno’s silvery Gustav.

The major was laying on the ground next to the insect-like Zoid with a gray blanket covering him, but with only a rolled up jacket to use for a pillow. Both the jacket and blanket were rather dirty and grasshoppers had been enjoying the warmth of his body all night long.

I felt both reward and guilt as I sipped Mansod’s “special” coffee and smirked at the Imperial officer’s groggy lack of awareness. It was obvious he had a hangover from the tranquilizer, but he should have been thankful I didn’t shoot him twice.

“Where…where am I?” he asked out loud to no one in particular, just whomever could hear it.

I picked up a cup of coffee and carried it over. Kneeling down next to him as he rolled over to see where the commotion was coming from, I answered. “You’re with friends, Nevets.”

The Major’s eyes snapped around to focus in on my face and stared in shock, then rage.

Perfect. I wanted to be the first face he saw when he woke up.

Despite the flush of blood to his face, he grabbed the coffee I offered him and began drinking. It’s strength didn’t even make him flinch.

“Kelt! You dare to hold me as a hostage? You really are stupid. Just because you and your band of morons got your hands on some heavily-armored Zoids does not mean that you are any threat to the Guylos Empire!”

I grabbed Nevets by his bony shoulders and set his back against the Gustav. “Major, you’ve really got some thinking to do. Hasn’t it slipped through that dense skin of yours that we are very, very pissed off that you tried to kill us off out at the granary? Right now we aren’t too concerned about the Empire. We’re more interested in seeing you suffer. Understand?”

Nevets’ eyes grew a little bigger and he slowly nodded his head. “May…maybe we can…can cut a deal?” he sipped some more coffee. This time he flinched.

I grinned. “Now that’s the Nevets that I know and love. After all, I did say that you are with friends.”

The major jumped so much he spilled some of his coffee. “That’s right! That’s right! You did say that!”

I winked. “Tell me what you know about Charged Particle Guns.”

[pacwolf]

Chapter Five - Possibilities

The horizon filled with the wavy illusion of water. Each foot step cracked the dry, brittle clay beneath the red hot paws of our steaming metallic Zoids.

Unlike the original PAC-Wolves, these versions weren’t brand new. They were used--blasted with the Particle Charger and hardened after they had already taken some beatings in action. That concerned me, but it bothered Sifen even more. He was a scientist even more that a soldier.

I just wished they had cup-holders.

The duracrete structures steadily grew larger as our row of ruby red, black and silver Command Wolves approached it with an eerie determination in their empty stares.

We reached the walled entrance as the sun reached its apex in the Zi sky. The thirty-meter tall gate doors looked almost red. Sunrays of 130-degrees can do that to metal.

The gate guard had more of a look of anger towards us about having made him exit his air conditioned bunker than a look of concern about seeing four Republic Zoids arrive at his base. He aimed his anti-Zoid rifle at my cockpit and attempted to speak with strength, bit it quickly became gaspy.

“State your…your purpose here.”

I opened the cockpit hatch of PAC-1 and the rush of heat felt like a punch to my lungs. “Experimental Zoid…transfer by order of…Major…Major Erem Nevets.” I handed the guard the electronic documents Nevets had given me and tried my hardest to not look nervous. Luckily, sweating was reasonable at the moment. If Nevets had betrayed me I swore that I’d go back and let PAC-1 rip him apart.

The imperial soldier studied the documents and shook his head. I prepared to close the hatch and run. “I don’t know…what the major has…in mind to do out at…this frying pan, but…he better come do it quick.”

“Why is that?” I asked as I took back the forged documents.

“You don’t know?” he looked at me suspiciously. “This place is…going to be converted…into an ammo depot…for some super-Zoid…in a couple of days. They won’t let…any other Zoids stay here…after that.”

I had to bite my cheek to keep my jaw from dropping.

“Now, if you’ll…excuse me…I’m frying my…ass off in this…sunlight.” With that, he went back into his little bunker. Moments later, the gates groaned and shrieked, then slowly creaked open.


The PAC-Wolf Unit filed into the Imperial Southern Scientific Outpost, and although I enjoyed the air-conditioning in my Zoid’s cockpit again, I was uncomfortable. I wanted to share with my friends the news that I had just learned, but I couldn’t risk having our transmissions intercepted.

The ISSO was almost barren. There were no Zoids to be seen. The base consisted of only a few small bunkers, a large bunker and an enormous hangar. Around the base was wrapped a rather decrepit wall that was falling in upon itself in multiple locations. Mounted around the wall were a few heavy turret cannons, but most of them looked so dusted and rusty that I would bet against their abilities to function.

A sudden wave of panic hit me: I had no idea where to park the PAC-Wolves! I had just miraculously smuggled a unit of Helic Republic Command Wolves onto a Guylos Empire base, and didn’t have any idea about what to do with them!

My saving grace came when a small hangar door opened and a Molga squirmed out. The image of the Molga’s driver popped up onto my Zoid’s HUD.

“Wheredaya think you’s goin’? he asked.

“Umm…I’m trying to find a place to conduct upgrade experiments on Major Nevets’ Zoids.” I replied. Saying that the Wolves were the property of that scum-ball sent shivers throughout my nervous system.

“All Zoids is parked in the main hanger. I thought everybody knew that! Hurry up and follow me!” The gate guard was easy to get by, and this guy was even easier. So far the soldiers at this base hadn’t impressed me too much. Maybe we’d be okay here after all.

We trotted the PAC-Wolves into the hangar, and were both amazed and repulsed by what we saw.

The hangar was stock full of Zoids, but very few were in complete condition. Bodies, legs, heads and tails of almost every type of Zoid imaginable were spread out along shelves, hooks and conveyor belts that were nearly a half-kilometer long.

But it wasn’t a Zoid graveyard.

These parts were kept in perfect condition, perhaps so they could be used as replacement—no—as upgrade or modification parts for Zoids…like the Stone Dragon.

But where were the weapons?

The bunkers. The weapons had to be in the bunkers. There, they could be heavily protected.

The Molga lead us to a clear area by some complete Republic Zoids. There were Cannon Tortoises, Shield Ligers and even a partially stripped down Liger Zero.

“Your Republic-style Zoids should be okay over here—for a little while—but I’m not promisin’ nuthin’. “ The Molga driver spit into a cup he had in a…cup-holder! His Molga had cup-holders! “You’ll find visitor rooms in the bunkers, but you gotta be outta here by tamarra.” He spit again.

I risked asking why.

“Haven’t ya been told?” he sighed, then spoke quietly, “I’m not supposed ta know this, but I heard that the Stone Dragon is cummin’ to get fit up in the mornin’. That’s why they’re getting’ rid of all the ‘Non-Essential’ personnel. Anyone who ain’t supposed ta be here is gonna get shot. Plain and simple. So, there ya have it. I’m getting’ out, and you should to.” He smiled and spoke loudly again. “Enjoy your stay!”

The Molga slithered away as Kavid, Sifen, Mansod and I climbed out of our Zoids. We huddled up by the feet of PAC-1. I filled them in on everything that I had been told.

Kavid squirmed in the Imperial Lieutenant Uniform he was wearing. “I’ll bet you everything I have that Nevets sent us here because he knew it was the Dragon’s new playpen.”

“No bet.” Whined Mansod. “What are we gonna do?”

I could see Sifen’s eyes locked on the Shield Ligers. “Got an idea, old friend?” I asked him. Sifen walked over to a Liger and I followed. Kavid and Mansod started digging through parts dumpsters.

“I made a quick scan of these six Ligers as we came in. Five of them still contain their shield units.”

I knew how Sifen’s mind worked. “Are you serious? You can’t put a Shield Liger’s shield unit into a Command Wolf!”

“Actually there’s plenty of room in the cargo holds.”

“What about all the cargo we’re carrying?”

“We’ll have to dump it. The benefits outweigh the cost.” Ugh. Sifen was almost always right. So much for sleeping on my portable mattress.

“Well, Sifen, it would give us an advantage against the Stone Dragon. How can I say no?”


“No way!”

“Calm down, Lieutenant Deen!” I quietly ordered.

“Oh, so now we’re getting all formal again, eh, ‘Captain Kelt’? I thought we abandoned that crap a long time ago.”

I pointed to my Imperial uniform. “Not while we’re wearing these clothes, buddy.”

Kavid rolled his eyes. “Look, we’re less than two days away from certain death, and you want to let Sifen weaken our already useless Zoids?”

My friend’s tone concerned me. “Sifen is trying to make our Zoids stronger, Kavid.”

“If the Stone Dragon is as powerful as Katrana says it is, do you think some little shields units will do any good?”

“They couldn’t hurt.” I sighed.

Kavid’s eyes seemed to grow red from my response. “You do remember how much power it takes to keep a shield unit on, don’t you?”

“Yes.” He had a point.

“We wouldn’t even be able to shoot our weapons while they were activated. Command Wolves just don’t have the energy for it.”

Kavid turned around to look at PAC-2. “We told Nevets to get us access into a place where we could find a Charged Particle Gun, not Shield Liger parts. If you want to beat this damn Rock Lizard, we better get start doing what we set out to do. Sooner or later the authorities are gonna wonder what we’re doing over here.”

I thought in silence for a moment. “Look, let Sifen and Mansod work. Just because we have a shield unit doesn’t mean we have to use it--but at least we’ll have the option.” Kavid grunted.

“C’mon, let’s go try to find a CPG.” I ushered.

“We can’t attach that to a Command Wolf.” Kavid said with a sneer.

“We could always try.”


To our relief, we found an underground tunnel that lead to the weapons bunker from the parts hangar. It was so small, though, that very few Zoids could have fit through it. It was obviously designed to keep Zoids out. Transport trucks hooked with long trailers sat at both ends of the tunnel.

As Kavid and I approached the bunker, it occurred to us that there was only a skeleton crew left at the ISSO outpost. If a full crew had been assigned to the base, we’d never have gotten as far as we had. A few guards noticed us from a distance, but seemed too busy with loading and un-loading duties to check whether we should have been there or not.

The weapons bunker was about one-fifth the size of the parts hangar, but packed three-times as dense. There was nowhere to move. Every footstep was a tight squeeze between Zoid cannons and missiles stacked upon the ground. Enormous claws dangled from chains hooked to fifty-meter long railings, giving the entire layout the appearance of some obscenely over-sized children’s game.

Kavid turned to me with a shared look of frustration on his face. “We can’t even get five meters into this place. How are we supposed to find anything?”

“Perhaps I can help.”

I whipped around in shock. Kavid had already drawn his blaster.


Behind me stood one of the last people I ever expected to see in the Imperial Southern Scientific Outpost: The Killer Dome pilot Kavid freed a week ago.

He was alone, in full uniform, with his gun holstered. Despite a strong five-o’clock shadow, he looked like an ideal Imperial officer.

“You?” I bobbed my head back. “What are you doing here?”

“More importantly,” Kavid asked, “What do you want with us?”

The pilot looked at some passing guards and started walking us back through the tunnel. “Come with me.” Our curiosity overpowered our caution, and we followed.

“You won’t find any Charged Particle Guns here.”

“How do you know about that?” snapped Kavid.

“I worked for Nevets, remember? He has a big mouth, especially when it’s full of alcohol.” I was amazed that this guy could deceive Nevets, even after the major had threatened to kill him. “There are CPGs here, but they are so stripped down that you’ll never get them working before the Stone Dragon gets here.”

Now Kavid was really annoyed. “You sure seem to know a lot about our goals in life.”

“I’ve been working for Nevets for the past year. His life has revolved around you guys. And like I said, the guy likes to talk.” He paused for a moment to let us analyze what he had just said. “Look, the SD is going to be here by morning. You guys need what I have to offer.”

“Before we move on, will you at least tell us your name?” I asked.

The pilot took a deep breath a braced himself.

“Captain Zaun Skyler.”


It took all the willpower I had to not jump the man and start breaking his skull. Kavid had drawn his pistol, but the fight against pulling the trigger was shaking his arm. Skyler merely looked at the floor, carrying a hint of a sneer.

The name Zaun Skyler was synonymous with “butcher” in the Helic Republic. The “Z-Killer” as he was also known, was an assassin of the Imperial General Cran Madash. Skyler was the best Zoid pilot Madash had in his forces, and the general had nasty ambitions to conquer the Republic’s colonies out along the Rosti River.

Skyler’s brutal fighting techniques destroyed dozens of Zoids and killed or wounded hundreds of people—from both sides. What made everything even more drastic was that he did all his fighting in a Blade Liger he commandeered from his very first kill. Very few people had ever lived to see him.

How did fate ever place him with us?

“If you kill me now you’ll never make it off this base alive.”

“It would certainly make us heroes.” Said Kavid. Amen, brother.

Skyler looked up at us with a fire in his eyes. “My sins of the past are exactly that: the past. I broke away from General Madash years ago. I couldn’t leave the Imperial Army, so I transferred to a place I thought I’d never be seen again: with Nevets. Regardless, I got stuck in the hands of another power-hungry lunatic.

“Something happened to me while working for the major that never happened to me before: I lost. Nevets was going to kill me for it. Despite all my glorious service I realized just how worthless I really am to this damn Empire. But before I was going to get punished, you saved me! Despite my evils I was given a second chance. I owe you both everything that I have.”

He opened a door into a small Zoid refit room. “Including this.”

My jaw felt like it hit the floor. I’m pretty sure Kavid’s gun did.


Skyler’s Blade Liger Vampire was both myth and legend. Myth that it gained power from sucking life out of the Zoid-cores of fallen enemies, legend in the number of them. It was also said that there was more gold highlighting the Liger than in the Emperor’s entire stateroom. The silvery underbelly and legs seemed to brighten the room. At the same time, the black armor plating was drenched in stealth-paints, practically sucking the armored parts of the Zoid out of view.

Was this an engineering masterpiece or and insane man’s expression of gluttony?

“The Vampire.” Gloated Skyler. “It is the only chance you have against the Stone Dragon.”

His statement slapped me back into the real world. “Skyler, there is no doubt that your Blade Liger is powerful, but we’re looking for energy weapons, not bladed ones.”

“I’ve got two of them.” He pointed to the Attack Booster Cannons the Liger carried.

Kavid stopped drooling and almost started laughing. “Those are just heavy lasers. Worthless against—.”

Skyler cut him off, “Wrong! This isn’t an ordinary Blade Liger!” The mass-murderer started to look maniacal. “This is the most powerful Zoid on Zi! I removed the original Attack Booster Cannons long ago and replaced them with twin Charged Particle Guns!”

Kavid’s gun hit the floor again. Did he have the safety on? “You put two CPG’s in…in a Blade Liger?”

“Yes!” The giggling pilot slapped his hand on the leg of his Zoid. “I wanted the most powerful, most maneuverable Zoid on Zi because I knew a day like this would come!”

I took a step back. “What is today supposed to be?”

Skyler didn’t look at me, he just made fists and glared through the floor. “The day I start redeeming myself!. The day I blow that new Zoid off of the planet and get remembered for being a hero, not a murderer!”

Kavid had his pistol holstered again, but kept his hand on it. “You’re not fighting with us, ‘Z-Killer’.”

Skyler’s head whipped over in anger, but his emotion was quickly detained. “What?”

I continued, “This is our mission, and although we do appreciate anything you can offer us, we won’t let anyone else get hurt.”

The Imperial pilot took a moment to look down in deep thought. When he spoke again, I had to strain to hear him. “I’m the only person that knows how to pilot my Zoid.”

“Everybody says that,” said Kavid, “We’ll figure it out.”

Skyler got louder. “If you want the Blade Liger Vampire to help you, you let me drive it. Period.”

The cock on Kavid’s pistol clicked. Skyler looked down its barrel as Kavid aimed. “There are a lot of reasons I should kill you right now. Don’t you dare try to make demands.”

Skyler’s eyes remained stone cold.

A rush of panic flowed through me as I said the next sentence: “No. He’s right. All right, Skyler…you’re in.”

[Orange]

That was okay. Not at all painful to read or boring, which is always a good sign. I dont really like how Skyler's personality flip-flops from "Dont kill me!" "Waaah!" "I'm a badass" "I'm CERAAZZYY!" "I'm a badass!". Kinda anoying and inconsistant. Yes, I know people can be badass with this range of emotion, but not over a course fo ten minutes.

Also kind of anoying that the Stone Dragon is 'empire controled', even though it's pretty obvious he's gonna pull a Deathsaurer on us and try to kill everything. The blabby guard is no help to the story. Would have been a bit more interesting if they parked and overheard the guards mentionign the plot-points, instead of outright telling them.

Other then that, keep on steamrollin.

[pacwolf]

Hmmm...this is tough to reply to. In my stories so far my guys have been locked in their Zoids so much I wanted to get them doing a little foot-action, which makes these chapters kinda weird.

Having Skyler turn out to be the guy that they rescued seemed to be a really good character connection, but not something I had planned, which may account for his personality changes. I should have touched that up. But, some of his changes have reasons that become clear in the last two chapters.

The blabby guard was a bit too easy, but I feel that overhearing a couple of guards is way too old-school. I also had to make the Stone Dragon Empire-controlled, for reasons that reveal themselves in the last two chapters.

I really do appreciate the input, BOF!

[Orange]

Welcome!