Pointy Muses Fic 14- Leave it to the professionals

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Pointy Muses Fic

Chapter Fourteen - Leave it to the professionals

By Rick R.

*****

The Gustavs entered the arena, then came to a halt inside a large staging room. There was only one way they could conceivably go, and it was, for the moment, blocked by a pair of large doors. The room itself was stacked high with storage crates, many of which looked like they'd been there a long time, but otherwise appeared to be empty.

"Okay, now what?" Neil began as he glanced around. "Unless the plan is to fight us in a broom closet, I'm figuring this isn't it."

"Hold up." Stephen replied. "I'm sure that they've got something in mind."

As if on cue, several armed guards emerged from behind the crates around the room, their weapons pointed at the two Gustavs. "I figure they might know what's happenin' next." Tasch began as she glanced around. "On account of them being NUBG types and all."

"Can't say much for their customer service." Neil commented. "Not a nice way to greet their Guests."

"Yeah." Tasch added. 'Maybe a helpful litle exit sign or somethin' would have been useful. As it is, I ain't got any idea what's goin' on. Maybe they need an information desk here or, at least, a floorplan."

"Okay everyone, let's just stay calm." Stephen spoke up. "We're here for Rose's benefit. We're not going to help anyone by causing trouble."

"Fine then." Neil muttered. "Go for it if you know what to do."

"We're here on an invitation from your leader." Stephen called out across the PA system. "We've come for our team mate, who you kidnapped."

"Hold up." Someone began. Several soldiers muttered at each other, followed by one talking over his communicator. "Okay!" He called out. "Take your Zoids into the arena. Then she'll be bought to you."

"Great." Stephen muttered. "No turning back then."

"Not too bad.," Neil added. "Its a bit smarter then I'd given them credit for."

"Same." He sighed. He'd been hoping that they'd had over Rose here, which would, in turn, allow him to stage some sort of breakout without having to fight. Clearly, someone else had already thought of it.

"Yeah, but if they were that smart, would we be here in the first place?" Tasch asked as the doors to the central arena rumbled open. "Would they have kidnapped her to start with?"

"Verry wise words." Neil commented. "Of course, they probably didn't think of that."

"Okay, head into the arena." One of the guards called out. "Once you're in there, the prisoner will be released, then you will board your Zoids."

The doors finished opening, revealing the arena before them. It was larger then the one in the centre of the city, and quite different. Its sides contained actual seating, while its floor was covered in sands rather then the hard concrete of the city arena. The place looked very worn, and it was clear that it hadn't been used for years. "All right," Stephen began. "Let’s get on with it. For Rose's sake."

"Yeah." Neil nodded. "Come on."

The two Gustavs rolled out, then stopped just outside of the arena doors. Behind them, the massive entrance slowly ground shut, sealing itself with a loud clang and a long hiss. Glancing around, the place looked to be deserted, with no sign of their would-be opponents. "So now what?" Neil asked.

"Let's get ready." Stephen replied. "No sense in hanging around here all day."

"Well, we don't have much of a choice." Tasch added. "I mean, it's not gonna take all day for a battle. Unless it’s a very long one, or we got a lotta opponents." She opened the cockpit of her Gustav. "Dangit, its way too bright out here." Stepping out, she stood next to the Zoid's cockpit, dressed in her pilot suit with her sunglasses on. "And way, way too hot."

"Maybe if you didn't wear black all the time, you wouldn't be so hot." Neil added.

"I ain't wearing black." She replied. "Its a dull charcoal colour."

The Gunsniper shook its head in imitation of its pilot. "My mistake."

"Okay you two." Stephen added as he climbed out. "Let's just keep things calm for the moment and pay attention."

"Hold up..." Neil cut him off. "Something's happening."

A service entrance on one side of the arena opened up, a trio of figures entering. Glancing over to them, Stephen was able to make them out. Two of them were NUBG guards, like the ones that they'd seen outside. The third was clearly Rose, escorted into the arena by the pair of them. A tense silence hung over the arena as they approached, nobody daring to speak or do anything that might endanger their team mate. Finally, the two guards stopped right before the Gustavs.

"Rose." Stephen began.

"Hey." She nervously replied. "Hi guys... ummm.." She swallowed. "Sorry... I'm sorry about all this."

Stephen walked over to her, the two guards actually stepping back for a moment. While they were both armed, he was a lot larger then they were. Ignoring them, he waked straight over to his team mate. "Its okay..." he began. "Really, it is." And then, for want of anything else, he hugged her, holding her tightly.

"Stephen?"

"I was so scared, really I was." He quietly admitted. "I didn't know what to do... I don't know what I would do If anything happened to you. We... we're all here for you."

"Thanks." She managed. "All of you."

"Okay, break it up you two." One of the guards managed. "You've got her back. Now get to your Zoids and get ready."

Stephen released Rose, then stepped back. "All right then." He snarled. "But if I find-"

"-I'm fine, Stephen." Rose cut him off. "A little nervous, and in need of a good bath, but I'm fine. Really."

"All right." He finished. "We've got your gear in your Zoid, if you want. It'd probably be better to fight in and, well, I suspect you want to get changed anyway."

"Its cool. I've gotten dressed in worse." She smirked. "Try getting into and out of your gear in the cockpit of a Shield Liger... and then with someone else there."

"Wha?" He began, then realised what she'd said. "Oh, right."

Rose nodded. "Thanks, guys. I guess we'd better get ready, right?"

"Yeah." He finished. "We should." He turned and watched her walk over to her Liger, keeping an eye on her as she went. He didn't want to let her out of his sight, wanting to make sire that nothing at all happened to her before the battle. Even though they'd held up part of their deal by handing Rose back, he still didn't trust the NUBG. There was a feeling, like they were still going to pull something to make sure that they still lost the battle. The question was, what would it be?

Once the Liger's cockpit had hissed shut, he walked over to the Iron Kong. Clambering up the access ladder built into the Zoid's side, he stepped inside its cockpit and sealed it shut. Powering up the Zoid, he checked over its systems for the dozenth time, making sure that everything was operational before the battle started. Okay, all looks good here, he thought. Nothing left to it but to fight it out.

"Everybody ready?" He asked across the comms channel.

"Ayup." Tasch replied.

"I'll never be ready for this." Neil added. "But my Zoid is, at least."

"Just let me at them, Stephen." Rose finished. "I'm itching to sink my teeth into them after wat they did."

No way out now, he thought. The walls are too high for me to go over, and the doors to thick to blast, especially while we're being shot at ourselves. I guess we have no other option. "Okay, guys. Lets end this." The massive Iron Kong stepped off the trailer, walking in front of the Gustav. The team's other Zoids formed up next to it; Rose's Liger and Neil's Gunsniper on one side, Tasch's Redler on the other.

*****

Usually when the NUBG had a match away form its arena, Michael Heywood would watch it live from his office. However, today he had decided to go to the arena to personally oversee the destruction of this team that had given him so much grief.

The decision to use the old ZBC arena was his own, one that he thought was a stroke of pure brilliance. His reasoning was threefold. The first was that it put the ZBC team in a controlled environment that they couldn't escape, without risking them discovering any vital NUBG facilities. The second was that the arena's imposing size and classical design gave it a suitably epic feel, one that would look even better on the video presentation. The third was that, to his mind, it was a great way to 'stick it to the man' by showing that the NUBG could take a part of the ZBC and make it thier own.

He knew that this arena was rarely monitored by the ZBC. For the most part, they just watched it via remote systems and very rarely sent anyone over to it. Apart from storing a few stray items or overrun stock, it didn't have any real use anymore. The ZBC hadn't torn it down simply because they couldn't be bothered paying for it to be demolished. Last he heard, the plan was to let it decay naturally. To make sure that there was no risk at all, he'd paid off a few people to ensure that everyone would look the other way as his men moved in. He didn't mind; it was small change compared to what he was expecting to haul in form the tapes of this battle.

In the last twenty-four hours, NUBG technicians had been working themselves into a frenzy to refit the arena for the NUBG's use. They'd over-ridden and disabled the security systems, rigged up camera equipment and set up all the recording and on-site editing facilities that the NUBG would need. They'd also done a great job of refitting the mothballed VIP booth to Heywood's tastes, making sure that everything would be just perfect for their leader on his big day.

Michel sat on a big, soft leather chair that dominated the room, an expensive cocktail in his hand. Seated around him were his command staff, those closest to him who helped him run the NUBG. Rachel and Cole were seated to his right, while Shane and Julian were on his left. All of them were watching the arena proper, save for Rachel who was obsessively working at a laptop. He'd tried to tell her to switch it off, but she insisted that she had work to do.

Shame... she's as hot as, but has no idea at all. He shook his head. But I bet she shags like a fox. So prim, so proper, so repressed... she's gotta be wild inside. He smirked at her, then looked over the arena at the Zoids team at the far end.

"And here they are, folks." Heywood began, gleefully as he looked over the quartet of Zoids. "Just as I knew they would be." He took a sip from his drink, then put it down. Rubbing his hands together, he almost leered at the enemy team. "Kidnapping that pilot was a stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. By doing that, I've forced them to do what I want and made them play straight into my hands."

Rachel glanced at him. "Sir? Are you sure that you want to go through with this? I mean, its not too late-"

"Of course I am, Rachel. Stop being such a wimp and actually live for once." He grinned. "Our fans are going to go crazy over this. They've been wanting to see this team get destroyed for a long time. And when I do it, they'll want to see every moment of it."

"This, my friends, will be the greatest Zoids battle ever." He continued. There was a round of light applause from all those in the room, save for Rachel. She paid him almost no attention, still working away at her laptop.

"Rache?" He began.

"Sir?" She looked up.

"Can you at least try to feign some enthusiasm?" He stood, walking over to her.

"Sorry, Sir." She replied. "I'm still working on the financials of this-"

"They can wait, Rach." He replied, pushing the laptop shut. "There will be time for that later."

"Yes sir."

"For now, sit back and enjoy the match, and bask in my genius." He finished.

"I'm sure I will, sir." She nodded.

*****

Rose glanced nervously across the empty arena from the cockpit of her Zoid. She was feeling a lot better now then she had in days, and not just from the change of clothes. Getting out of that cell, having the rest of the team come for her, being in the familiar cockpit of her Liger; all of these things made her feel a lot better then she had earlier. Of course, there was still one problem; they still had to fight the NUBG.

"What do you think they have planned for us?" She finally asked, breaking the nervous silence that had settled over the team. "Who do you think we'll be fighting?"

"Maybe it'll be one of the loser teams we've met before." Neil offered. "Or maybe they've got somone else saved up for us."

"Yeah... like the superweapon that you don’t use until the very end when everything’s real desperate." Tasch added. "'cept that don't make much sense to me. If you've got a superweapon, y'all should use it to start with, so then you won't be in the desperate situation at the end. Why don't people ever think of that?"

"Ladies and gentlemen!" A loud voice called across the arena, cutting off anyone before they could say anything. "Welcome to the NUBG arena for this very special match."

"Hey, this is a ZBC arena!" Rose called out.

"I don't think he cares." Neil replied.

"Today, we will see the end of one of the hottest rivalries in the history of Zoids battles. Today, the Broken Chairs, a lowly ZBC team that has managed to somehow defy the odds will face off against a special NUBG team in mortal combat. The stakes are high - if they win, they get to go free. If not, their Zoids will be taken by the NUBG."

"That sounds like the voice of the phone guy." Tasch began. "Yeah, mister shadow man, the one with the glasses."

"You can tell?" Stephen asked.

"Well, the voice is a little muffled through the loudspeakery thing." She continued. "But it sounds the same as the electronic distortion on the video message. So yeah, I'd say that it's the same guy."

"...you are recording all this, right?" He continued.

"Ayup." She nodded.

"And I'm feeding in radar logs to boot." Neil added. "So, if we do get out of here, we'll be able to tell all about it."

The main doors at the end of the arena opened with a loud clang, several shapes emerging from the shadows within. "Introducing their opponents, veterans of many NUBG battles and several clashes with the ZBC, the Crimson Claw." A trio of Zoids, a Murasame Liger, a supercannon-equipped Gojulas and a Shadow Fox - hopefully the same one as before - emerged, stopping at the end of the arena.

"That's it?" Neil began. "Three on four? And we’ve beaten these guys before, right?"

"This isn't right." Stephen shook his head. "They're not going to take us on with just this lot."

"From what I heard, they were pretty sure of themselves." Rose added. "There's got to be more to it then just this bunch."

"An' they ain't replaced the Lord Gale, an' he was their leader." Tasch noted. "So that's gotta mean somehtin'."

There was a second loud clang, another pair of doors on one side of the arena opening up. "Joining them are the Dark Hunters, a skilled specialist team who were responsible for the invasion of the ZBC's urban arena several months back." A Cannon Caesar emerged, followed by a Dimetrodon, a Snipe Master, a Cannonry Molga and a Guntiger. The Zoids headed to the end of the arena, joining the first group.

"Okay, this isn't looking too good." Neil began. "Two to one. Nice. They must have reail confidence in their pilots." His Gunsniper hissed at the enemy team, as if to underlie his mood.

A third door opened before anyone else could speak, another three Zoids entering. "And also joining them are the Bloody Fang team, a team composed of some of the best pilots in all of NUBG." A Rev Rapter carrying a pair of pile drivers, a Gravity Saurer and, most ominously, a red Matrix Dragon joined the others.

"Great." Neil added. "It’s everyone who hates us at once."

"So much for a fair fight." Rose continued. "I suppose this is to make some sort of object lesson out of us or something, right?"

"I would assume so." Stephen finished. "Let me think this through..."

"Well, they got us more then three to one against." Tasch commented. 'And that ain't good."

"More then three to one?" Neil spoke up. "How do you figure that?"

"Well..." She replied. "There's four Zoids in the Matrix Dragon... so that makes fourteen of 'em."

"Makes perfect sense." Neil sighed. "Unfortunately."

"In past, this ZBC team has managed to overcome the odds every time against the NUBG." The announcer continued. "However, now things are stacked against them more heavily then ever before. Will they be able to overcome this situation and come out victorious? Or will the NUBG triumph and take all? This, folks, will be a truly epic confrontation. I urge you not to turn away for even a second, lest you miss even a bit of the action."

"Okay, this is it." Stephen stated. "I have a plan. Everybody, listen up..."

*****

Michael Heywood watched with a smirk as the Monitor Drone floated into position above the middle of the arena. "Oh yeah." He began. "This... this is where the fun begins." He was really enjoying this, playing the villain. He needed to do it more often. After this battle, maybe, it's time for a new look and a new direction for NUBG. He thought. Yeah, I'm getting some great ideas as well. He also wouldn't admit it, but he was practically salivating at the idea.

The Drone took its position in the middle of the arena, slowly hovering its various cameras and sensors deployed. "The Broken Chairs versus the Crimson Claw, the Dark-"

The drone never got to finish its spiel, being instead swatted out of the air by the wash from the Iron Kong's twin tactical missiles as they flew past it. Sailing over the arena, the missiles came down in the middle of the cluster of NUBG Zoids, just as their pilots were figuring out what was going on. A pair of massive explosions ripped through the crowd of Zoids, scattering smaller machines along with clouds of powered concrete and shrapnel. The effect of the blast was devastating, to say the least.

The Molga was blasted aside, crashing to the ground on its flank, its tail and legs twitching in the air while one wheel was blasted clean away. The Guntiger flipped and bounced head over tail, its pilot being thrown clear of the machine after the first bounce. He rolled across the concrete, his padded plots suit taking the brunt of the impact; the Guntiger ended up flat on its back nearby.

The Rev Rapter fared the worst, however, being at near ground-Zero of the blast. The Zoid's legs and tail were blasted apart, the torso pitching forwards and crashing to the ground. One of the pile drivers smashed into the concrete, snapping off and remaining upright as the rest of the Zoid collapsed. Other machines in the NUBG formation were also peppered with debris, but managed to remain standing despite the blast.

Rachel looked down at her laptop, which was currently showing a tactical display of the arena. Three Zoids were showing as out of action, and a couple more were reporting systems damage. To cap it all off, the monitor hadn't regained control, and had crashed to the ground in the middle of the arena.

"What the hell was that?" Michael shouted, standing up and pointing at the battlefield, his face red with fury. "They... they cheated! They attacked before the battle was officially begun."

"Well, sir, it is technically a no-rules battle." Rachel calmly replied. "So we have to wonder if it can be called cheating.:"

"I..." He stopped and snarled. "Fine. Hey van blow up a couple of expendable undercarders. It doesn't matter." He turned back to the arena. "We'll get them. And we'll make them pay."

*****

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"Three down!" Stephen called out. "Now close in and try to hold off the rest! Move!" The Iron Kong bellowed as it charged forwards, thundering across the arena, its massive hammer knuckles crashing against the floor as it ran. His plan had been simple - fire off his tactical missiles before the enemy knew what was going on, and try to take down a few of them as quickly as possible. And while he hadn't managed to get any of their heavy hitters, taking out any of them was an advantage. And, as Neil had proven, the value of a small Zoid sniping at the flanks was not to be underestimated.

The second part of their plan was simple. Plough into the enemy formation and try to hit them while they were off-balance. More importantly, by closing in, it meant that the Gojulas couldn't use its supercannons - weapons that could handily take out any of their Zoids (or several at once) in a single volley. No chance of that.

Tasch's Redler screeched as it burst into one of its bizarre hopping runs before suddenly leaping into the air, its boosters firing as it charged towards the enemy formation. She opened fire with its twin cannons, the pulse canons spraying shots at the Matrix Dragon. Clearly disorientated, the Fuzor Zoid took several hits before leaping into the air, brilliant flames bursting from the quartet of boosters scattered across its body. Tasch pulled back on the stick, climbing after her opponent.

Several enemy Zoids turned to face her, opening fire on her machine. The Black Redler, stark against the clear blue sky, twisted and turned in the air, enemy fire streaking past it.

"They're going for Tasch!" Rose called out. "It’s working!"

"Great!" He yelled back. "Now everyone, go!" The Iron Kong's left shoulder launcher flipped open, the missiles rippling forth from the launcher and flying towards the distracted and damaged opponents. Several shots peppered the Gojulas' flank, while a couple more smacked into the Murasame Liger and the Cannon Caesar. Not a knockout blow, but certainly enough to make them notice.

The Cannon Caesar turned back towards him, opening fire with its twin-barreled heavy beam cannon. Next to it, the Gojulas opened up with the twin cannons on its sides as well as the quad cannon on its arm. Firing the thrusters, Stephen swerved out of the path of the worst of it, but several shots still managed to strike the Kong's body. Ignoring them for now, he pressed forwards. "Rose, Neil, Go!"

The Liger and Gunsniper overtook his Zoid, both charging in on the enemy formation. Neil's Gunsniper let out a loud hiss as it charged in, the twin rocket pods on its back flipping open and disgorging their loads at the enemy formation. The rockets spread out, slamming into the Gravity Saurer, Dimetrodon and Cannon Caesar, managing to score a few good hits.

"Nice start, Neil!" Rose added. "Now to finish it!" Her liger roared loudly, the dual-barrelled impact cannon opening fire on the Gojulas. The shots hit the Zoid in the chest, managing to actually penetrate its thick armour. "Stephen, he's open!" She called out.

"Go for it!" He yelled back. If they could knock out the Gojulas early, then it would be a big bonus to their odds.

Roase's Zero charged forwards, its boosters flared wide open, its claws ready for the strike. As it leaped for the strike, however, there was a second loud roar. The Murasame Liger lunged forwards, its blade outstretched to parry the bow. The Zero's laser-charged claws scraped off the surface of the blade, scoring its surface but not apparently damaging it. The Murasmae swung its blade around again, Rose's Zero skipping backwards a moment to avoid the blow.

My claws barely scratched that blade! She thought. What the hell is it made from?

The Murasame Liger snarled, then lunged at Rose's Zoid, baring its fangs. Twisting the controls, she skipped out of its way before it could strike. Undeterred, the enemy pilot swung around the blade, opening fire with the two cannons built into the hilt. Several shots peppered the Zero's flank before Rose opened up the throttle, managing to twist out of the Murasame Liger's way.

"Okay, I so don't need this right now." She began. The Liger twisted, trying to get past its opponent. Unfortunately, the enemy Zoid seemed to be capable of matching her move for move. Rose pushed the Liger forwards, jumping towards the Gojulas in an effort to get past the Murasame liger. The enemy Zoid responded quickly, bounding into her path, then snarling loudly before lashing out with the sword in a wide swing. Rose twisted the controls, but was greeted with a sudden loud screech as the blade cleaved through the fin on the top of the Zero's head. Nervously checking over the board, she could see that the damage was purely cosmetic. But still... that was far too close for comfort.

A pair of shots hit her Zoid in the back, causing it to stumble forwards. Glancing behind her, she could see the Gravity Saurer charging forwards, its bizarre loping gait giving it a look that would almost be comical if not for its array of heavy weapons. The Zoid fired again, Rose pushing open the throttle and firing the boosters just before its shots reached home. The Liger took off, pulling away from the Gojulas and Murasame Liger and instead breaking into a high-speed run.

The Murasame Liger and Gravity Saurer both took off after her, the pair of them opening fire with their own cannons at her Zoid. She twisted and swerved, managing to avoid the worst of it and reducing their potentially lethal fire to a few grazes and glancing blows. She fired back with her Zero's tail cannon, aiming less to knock her opponents out and more to discourage them from chasing after her. Several shots spun past the enemy Zoids, but a single round got lucky, blasting into the Gravity Saurer's lower leg. The enemy Zoid stumbled for a moment, giving her a small respite.

"Guys!" She called out over the communicator. "We've got-" a loud hiss and crackle of static over the channel cut her off. "Damn it!" Glancing around, she could see the enemy Dimetrodon at the back of their formation, its fin waving back and forth. He's jamming us... that's gonna make things even worse.

Behind her, the Murasame Liger sped up, eating up the distance between the pair of them, with its own bizarre, bouncing run. Glancing at it, she could see that it was moving faster then her own Zoid, and without the aid of boosters or stabilisers either. Ah hell. The Zoid closed in, extending its blade in preparation for a strike. Damn... I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up.

*****

Ever since her last battle with the Matrix Dragon. Tasch had been trying to figure out a way to deal with fighting another one. While the enemy Fuzor was slower then her own Zoid and carried less armour, it was more agile and a lot more flexible. It also carried a lot more weapons and, unlike her Redler, could bring them to bear in just about any direction. Finally, to top it all off, it had four crew, which put her at a massive disadvantage.

In Zoids battles, Zoids almost always went into the arena wit just a single pilot having a full crew would mean sharing competition points, which meant that each pilot would get a lot less out of it. The only exceptions were Fuzor Zoids, which often (but not always) were fielded with their full crew. This allowed them to divide up their workload; they could have different pilots operating different systems, each able to give their full attention to a single task rather then trying to do everything at once.

There was another, lesser documented advantage, one that the Matrix Dragon exploited to its fullest. Because it had four different cockpits in four separate locations, its pilots had a far greater field of view around them. This was a tremendous advantage in areal combat, allowing them to watch the skies all around their Zoid, meaning that it was very hard to sneak up on it. One pilot looked above and ahead, one below and behind, and one to each side. In the meantime, she had to keep her eyes open all around her.

The Redler soared into a climb, its throttle all the way open and its boosters firing. The red Matrix Dragon soared after it, opening fire with its various weapons. Winging over, she pulled the Redler into a sharp turn, twisting the boosters to bring it around as tightly as possible. The Zoid dived down, opening fire with its own cannons while several smaller rounds pinged off its body. The Dragon reacted quickly, however, its body twisting out of the line of fire.

Slewing the footpedals which controlled the boosters, she bought the Zoid around in a tight circle, keeping her noes pointed at the enemy Fuzor as she turned. The Matrix Dragon reacted quickly, rearing up and twisting around, keeping its own guns pointed at her. She rolled over, opening fire again with the two pulse cannons. This time she was more successful, several shots striking the enemy Zoid before it rolled out of her way. The Redler surged forwards, passing by the enemy Fuzor.

The dragon spun around, opening fire with the two handguns on its neck as Tasch's Zoid passed it. Several shots struck her Zoid on its back and tail, but none posed a threat as yet. Ignoring it for now, she kept the boosters open, speeding away form the enemy Zoid. The Matrix Dragon spun around, powering after her but rapidly being left behind.

Yeah... that's the trick. She thought. Now this is gonna sound crazy, but I want y'all to open fire on me... She had a plan; it was a risky one but she hoped she could pull it off. An' then when you've started shootin'... then I've got y'all.

Several alarms went off in the cockpit as the Matrix Dragon launched its wing-mounted missiles at her. Perfect, she thought as she watched the scope, sighting the twin trails of the missiles as they closed in on her Redler from behind. Okay... so I got a smaller signature then a stock Redler, which is a plus... now all I gotta do is get through this... Okay, Tasch, get it together.

She sped up as the missiles closed in, wanting to lead them as far as possible while being fully aware that she could never outrun them, even with the boosters engaged. Instead, she waited until they were nearly upon her, then twisted the boosters as hard as possible. The Redler came around, the missiles speeding past her and unable to react fast enough. As the Redler passed them by, they lost sight of her Zoid and simply sped on.

Now I gotcha! She thought to herself as she powered forwards, pulling into a steep climb. Seeing what she was up to, the Matrix Dragon climbed after her, but Tasch was clearly leaving it behind. The Redler powered away, then looped over, diving at speed towards the enemy Zoid. She opened fire again, managing to catch the Dragon on the way down with several hits to its side and back before it twisted in the air. As she approached it, she again pulled away as the enemy Zoid tried to follow her. The Matrix dragon turned around, lashing out with its cannons again as she passed.

Close, but not so close that its bad, she thought. Okay, now for the next part. The Redler pulled away, again leaving the enemy Zoid behind as she fired the boosters. The Matrix Dragon followed after her, but again dropped back, just as she knew it would. In her reading up on the subject, shed managed to come across a similar historical situation of faster but heavier and less agile aircraft managing to beat out slower but far more agile ones. It was in a war between two old earth countries, where their aircraft were similarly mismatched.

The enemy planes, called Zeroes, were very agile - which seemed apt to Tasch, as Liger Zeroes also were very agile, but were slow and very fragile. The planes of the other side were solid and clumsy, but a lot faster. So their pilots hadn't tried to dogfight - they’d instead used their speed to climb on their enemies, dive at them and pull away using their superior speed. The situation, she'd found, mirrored hers.

With the Matrix Dragon having expended its missiles, the Zoid had no way to easily take her out at long range. She'd had to force it to use them on her, which was a calculated risk. However, it had definitely paid off, which meant that she had the advantage. Okay, all I gotta do is get him now. Yeah... still hard though.

The Redler looped over and dived towards the enemy Fuzor, ready to strike. At the same time, the Matrix Dragon climbed straight up towards her, trying to close in the distance between the two of them. She lined it up for a shot, but, before she could, the Matrix Dragon's shoulders erupted into a cloud of smoke and flames. "The heck?" She began as the Zoid discharged its twin rocket launchers, more then a dozen rounds soaring up towards her Zoid.

She pulled hard on the stick as she twisted the footpedals, trying to swerve the Zooid out of the way of the attack. Several rounds streaked past her, but a number more struck the Redler's body and exploded. The force of the blasts slammed the Zoid, smashing it out of the air and sending into a spin. Ignoring the Matrix Dragon for the moment, Tasch instead concentrated on getting her own machine under control. Twisting the boosters, she fired them to try to counter the Redler's own spin while trying to set the controls to right the machine.

The Redler continued to spin, loosing altitude rapidly. Glancing around, Tasch could see the arena coming towards her with speed, while the Matrix Dragon closed in behind her. The G-forces pushed her into the back of her seat, pressing against her and hammering her in. Trying to remain focused, she kept pulling the stick back, trying to get the Zoids nose up and regain control of it.

Twisting in the air, her Zoid rolled over, then righted itself, its nose coming up. She fired the boosters, pulling away from the ground and trying to gain as much speed and altitude as she could. However, her opponent was ready for her. The dragon closed in, opening fire with its main cannons on her Zoid. Several more shots hit the body before she could get out of the way.

"This... this ain't gonna be easy." She shook her head as she tried to throw of the enemy Zoid. "Okay Tasch. Gotta get it together. Get it together..."

*****

The Gojulas opened fire again, its three cannons spitting fire at Stephen's Zoid. Twisting out of the way, he managed to avoid the worst of it; several shells slammed into the Kong's side, but most of them weren't enough to penetrate the armour. Grunting, he bought the Zoid around, opening up on the Gojulas with the pulse cannons. Several shots struck the Gojulas, but seemed not to do too much to it either.

Beofre he could follow through, several shots struck the Kong in the side. Turning around, he sighted the Cannon Caesar which had managed to slip past him. The smaller dinosaur Zoid growled as it opened fire with the dual-barrelled beam cannon on its back, the shots slamming into the Kong's back.

They've actually thought this one through, he figured to himself. So they coordinate their fire and try to bring us down. I'd be nice if they weren't aiming to kill us.

Seeing no choice, he fired the boosters, leaping past the two Zoids. As the Kong took off, her turned and fired the Hyperbeam cannon at the enemy Gojulas. The shot streaked past the Zoid, striking the arena floor instead, carving a long dark furrow in the sand.

The Kong came down behind the Cannon Caesar, dropping out of the Zoid's main firing arc. To Stephen's surprise, however, the smaller Zoid spun around, its tail facing directly at his Zoid. Several cannons mounted on the Caesar's back and legs opened up, paring fire into the Kong before it could react. Weapons scored into the chest and arms, not penetrating the armour but stll damaging it.

Hell, I hadn’t expected that. The Caesar was such an old and obscure Zoid that Stephen knew very little about it. Certainly he hadn’t expected it to have as much firepower facing backwards as it did forwards. He swung around, trying to get out of its firing arc, the pulse cannon firing shots into its side and flank.

Instead, to his surprise, the Cesar leaped out of his way; not jumping on thrusters like his Kong did, but more like a kangaroo's leap, the shots blasting through the space where it had been. The Zoid landed next to the Gojulas, pivoting around to bring its weapons to bear on him. The two Zoids opened fire, pouring shots onto the Kong.

Stephen was rocked inside the cockpit as shots tore into his machine, hammering the armour on the chest and arms. While none of the shots penetrated, they did a great job of tearing up his armour. He broke away, the Kong running rather then concentrating on standing and shooting. Managing to run past several shots. he turned and opened fire with the grenade launder mounted on top of the gun. The rounds shot out, blasting into both the Caesar and the Gojulas. This time they had a more noticeable effect - but still not enough to put them down.

Glancing around, he could see that the others were in a similar situation to him. Rose was busy dancing between the Murasame Liger and the Gravity Saurer, both of which were trying to pin her down with their own weapons before finishing her off. Neil was being pursued by both a Snipe Master and a Shadow Fox, the latter of which was, to his surprise, not bothering to conceal itself. Maybe he's just that confident, Stephen thought. I can't blame him.

There was no sign of Tasch, both her and the Matrix Dragon having moved well beyond the arena in their battle. He could imagine that she'd have her hands full, however. He wasn't sure how she'd managed to take it out the first time, but he knew that it would not be an easy battle by any standards.

He charged in, trying to power his way past the Cannon Caesar to get at the Gojulas. His hope was that the smaller Zoid's pilot would (sensibly) get out of the way, rather then standing his ground against a Zoid that weighed twice as much. It worked to a degree, the Zoid leaping to one side to let him past.

However, it then pivoted around on its feet, a trio of long claws suddenly extending out form its forearm. The Caesar swiped at the Kong, slicing into the Zoid's side. Thrown off balance, the Kong slipped and stumbled, before regaining its footing - only to have the Cesar and Gojulas open fire on him again.

There has to be some way past these guys.

*****

From his seat in the VIP booth, Michael Heywood looked down over the battlefield, grinding his teeth in frustration. It wasn't that his men were loosing that was bothering him. They were winning, something which should have made him happy. The problem is that they weren't winning enough. By now they should have slaughtered that ZBC team and laid them to waste. Even after the Kong's missile strike, they still had their enemies outnumbered two-to-one.

It wasn’t enough that they were wearing down their opponents. Instead, they should have cut them down and reduced them to wreckage by now. He could see that the Broken Chairs were outnumbered, but they were doing a very good job of keeping themselves alive - something that he didn't want. His men would win eventually, but it wouldn't be the quick, decisive, visceral victory they wanted. Instead, it would be a long, boring and drawn out affair, something that he hated.

"How are they doing?" He asked.

"Every Zoid on the field is damaged." Rachel commented. "The Redler seems to be doing particularly badly, but... it’s still got a lot of fight left in it. They all do."

"Crap." He shook his head. "This is total crap, this was meant to be my best battle ever, but they’re ruining it!" He turned around. "Those twerps down there should be ripping those ZBC clowns apart, not fighting running battles and wearing them down! They should be shredding them, stomping them, slicing them up... anything but what they’re doing."

"They're doing as best they can, I'm sure." She continued.

"Well then that's just not good enough, Rachel." He snapped. "Damn it, they need to be better. What they need... is motivation."

He walked over to the back of the room, then returned a moment later with a portable communicator. "If they can't be arsed fighting like true killers normally, then I will damn well give them a reason." He continued. "They should be ruthless monsters, not a bunch of pansies. They should throw themselves into this battle. And there's one way to make them do that."

He activated the communicator. "This is the boss." He began. "I am placing a bounty on the head of each ZBC Zoid you bring down. Whoever brings one Zoid down will get twice the normal prize money. If you bring down two of them, then you will get four times the normal prize money. If you get three, then it will be eight times. And, if by some miracle, you manage to kill all four yourself, then you will get sixteen times the normal prize money." He grinned. "So get you there and kill them. Rip 'em apart, and don't stop until they're dead!"

Rachel glanced nervously at Cole. He nodded, then turned back to Heywood.

He put down the communicator and turned back to the assembled crowd. "And that, my friends, is how you do it. That's how you turn wimps into killers. Pure, simple greed. Everyone has their price, and I have found theirs" He smirked. "And now, given this little incentive, I think we'll see what the NUBG's pilots are really capable of."

*****

Thomas Stahl didn't like fighting like this. Arena battles weren't his place, and he certainly didn't like to be out in the open like this. He preferred a battlefield where he could hide and lurk, then pluck off unsuspecting opponents before they saw him coming. Even though they had the enemy pilots outnumbered two-to-one, he still wasn't happy with matters.

His Snipe Master scurried across the arena, just behind the enemy Gunsniper. He had to give his opponent credit; they were good at running and evading, which meant that they had stayed alive a lot longer then he had expected. Of course, he figured, if I was allowed to fight this battle the way I preferred matters, then he would be dead by now.

Twisting the boosters, he leaped to one side of the Gunsniper and opened fire again with the twin pulse cannons. Several shots struck the enemy Zoid's side and leg, staggering it. The Gunsniper skidded and stumbled, one of its legs clearly damaged by the assault. And now he's mine, he thought. Finishing off the Zoid that had caused him so much trouble during the urban arena battle would be a very satisfying conclusion. Getting the bounty that Heywood had offered would just be a bonus.

Time to say good- "WHAT?" He yelled out as the Crimson Claw's Shadow Fox leaped right in front of his Zoid, interposing itself between him and the Gunsniper. "What the hell are you playing at, McSmith?"

"Simple, man." The Shadow Fox's pilot replied, an arrogant, bragging tone in his voice. "I'm taking that guy down myself." The Shadow Fox's top turret popped up and swivelled towards the Gunsniper.

"Like hell you are!" Stahl shouted back. "I did all the work! All you did was run around and blow smoke at people!" The Snipe Master hissed, then charged forwards. He fired his boosters, then vaulted over the Shadow Fox... and straight into the line of fire of the enemy Zoid. Several shots peppered the Snipe Master's flank and chest, causing the Zoid to stagger back and crash into the Shadow Fox.

"What the hell are you doing?" Mortimer shouted, the fox growling at the Snipe Master.

"Trying to stop him form getting away, you moron!" Thomas snapped back as the Gunsniper broke into a hopping run. "Which he's only doing because you were so damned stupid!"

"Hey, I had him until you came along!"

"You?" Thomas snapped. "I had him until your dammed Fox ran in font of me!" The Snipe master took off, breaking into a run after the Gunsniper.

"Hey! You're not taking my kill!" Mortimer yelled back, opening up the Fox's throttle. The vulpine Zoid overtook the Snipe Master, closing in on the fleeing Zoid. "And I'm gonna make sure of it. See ya, sucker." He grinned as he fired one of the smoke dischargers. A thick cloud of black smoke billowed out from the Shadow Fox's tail, enveloping the Snipe Master.

"You bastard!" Stahl yelled out. "Damn it!" He kept the throttle open, trying to get past the Fox or out of the cloud. At the same time, Mortimer McSmith kept weaving around, making sure that the Snipe Master remained covered. Snarling to himself, he checked his sensors to see if he could get a clean shot at the target. Unfortunately, while he could still see the Gunsniper on the scope, there was no sign of the Shadow Fox - its stealth systems meant that it was evading detection by him.

He closed the throttle, the snipe master hopping to a halt, instead letting the Shadow Fox run ahead. "Damn you, you moron." He muttered. Quietly, he wondered if he could get a grudge match against Mortimer once this battle was over. Ah hell... its his fault if he gets himself killed. in fact, it may just serve him right.

*****

[Deadborder]

Neil glanced back at the Shadow Fox that was behind him, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. Near as he could tell, the enemy Snipe Master had him dead to rights... and then the Fox had cut him off. The two seemed to be at odds over this bizarre strategy, which suited Neil fine. He'd run away, then the two of them had engaged in a rather nonsensical chase which had amounted to them trying to out do each other and get to him first. In the process, they'd inadvertently helped him out.

"Hey guys..." he began, but was greeted by the crackle of static. Great, just when I actually have something worth saying, I don’t have any way to report it. Wonderful. Glancing back, he could see the Fox closing in on him. Oddly enough, the Zoid hadn't used its Beam Vulcan as yet. Probably wants to finish me off with his claws or something stupid like that, just to prove how much of a man he is. Neil shook his head. Okay, time for a plan.

He twisted sharply to the right, the Gunsniper's damaged leg squealing as the Zoid's weight shifted. Still trailing black smoke after it, the Shadow Fox sprinted right past it, then skidded as it tried to slow down and come around, Taking advantage of the situation, Neil opened fire on the enemy Zoid as it slipped on the soft sand. Shots tore into its flank and hip, shredding armour and structure. The Fox stumbled and fell, down but not out.

As it stumbled, the enemy pilot bought around the Beam Vulcan, aiming it at his Zoid. Taking off before he could fire, Neil darted into the smoke cloud, hiding himself from the enemy Fox. Dashing out the other side, he saw the Snipe Master waiting there, its cannons levelled at him. "Ah crap!" he shouted, firing the boosters and pushing open the throttle. The Gunsniper leaped into the air, hoping over the Snipe Master before landing.

Unfortunately, as he came down the right leg made more bad noises, with red lights popping on across the board. "Ah hell!" He called out. "That wasn't what I wanted..."

The Snipe Master spun around to finish him off. However, before it could strike, the damaged Shadow Fox bolted out of the smoke, heading after him. Its pilot mustn’t have seen its supposed ally though the smoke, as the fox simply ploughed into the Snipe Master from behind. The smaller Zoid fell backwards onto the Fox, knocking both of them down.

"Bonus." He grinned as the pair of them struggled to untangle themselves. Spinning around, he opened fire on the pair of them again with the arm and chest cannons. Shots tore into the two Zoids, blasting apart one of the Snipe Master's boosters while also hammering into the Fox's body. Snarling loudly, the Fox shook under several hits before standing, throwing the Snipe Master off. Bringing around its own Vulcan, it opened fire at Neil's Zoid.

He twisted the controls and fired the boosters again, the Gunsniper taking off as the first few blasts tore into the sand around him. Looking behind him, he saw the Fox stumble as its damaged leg gave way, while the Snipe Master also struggled to make it to its feet. Okay, so I didn't get either of them, but thy have to be looking pretty bad for it. He smiled to himself. So maybe we're not all completely doomed... at least, not for a few more minutes.

*****

Gavin Fort grinned as he lined up a shot on the damaged Redler, waiting till the Zoid was in the middle of his sights before firing. Seeing a chance, he squeezed the trigger. The assault rifle fired, the Redler twisting at the last possible minute to avoid the shot. Not bothered, he hammered the trigger as the dragon turned, trying to keep a bead on the enemy Zoid. The Redler twisted again, however, managing to drop past the dragon and out of his line of sight.

"It’s behind us!" Bruno called out over the comms channel. "It’s dropped back to our six!"

"She thinks she can escape?" He muttered. "Get her, Bruno!"

"Right!" The Dragon's chainsaw tail swiped at the Redler as it tried to close in, narrowly missing the enemy Zoid. It dropped further back, the pilot clearly warded off for the moment.

"Stupid cow... she shouldn't be in that Zoid anyway." He muttered as he twisted the stick. The Dragon bent and twisted as it pulled around a tight turn, opening fire with the two handguns. "I should show her what a real man can do!" Several shots narrowly missed the Redler, which rolled over and tried to escape from him.

"She's on our right!" CJ called out. "Trying to get under us!" The Dragon's right leg lashed out, its claws scything through the air. While it passed nowhere near the enemy Zoid, it was enough to force it to drop back again, and buy them another chance. "I've got ya now!" he added as extended out the right arm, firing over the shoulder with the handgun mounted on it. This time the shots came closer, several of them spanging off the Redler's body.

"Yeah, boss!" CJ continued excitedly. "I've got her now!"

Yeah... and we can share the prize... Bruno thought. Or...

One of the biggest advantages of the Matrix Dragon was its redundant cockpits. The crew could split their workload which made the Zoid more efficient and more capable. If need be, everything could be run from the one cockpit, but it simply worked better if the tasks were divided up. Butch, however, had a master override switch in his cockpit, which could be used to distribute what was controlled by which cockpit or, as he punched in commands, to reroute everything through his cockpit and lock out the others.

"Heh... I've got you now, you stupid cow." He grinned. "And with those clowns locked out, the bounty is all mine." A hail of protests flooded across the communications channels, but he ignored them for now. As soon as he'd bought down the Redler - and he knew that it was just a matter of time - then he'd let them back in. Maybe. Unless there were other enemy Zoids he could easily bag...

"Oh yeah. Come to me. Gimme my money, baby." He fired the throttle, closing in on the enemy Zoid. Forgoing the cannons, he wanted to get up close and personal, the way he preferred to fight. Pulling around, he closed in on the Redler, again lining it up.

He squeezed the trigger, a gout of flame bursting from the Dragon's mouth towards the enemy Zoid. The first jet went wide, searing past the Redler's wing. A second burst came even closer, just barely missing it. Undeterred, he tried to close in, extending out the Dragon's claws.

"Hey Gavin!" CJ called out. "There's something approach-"

"Shut up you little snot!" He shouted. "I'll deal with her myself!"

"But-"

"Shut up!"

"Its not that!" He whined. "It's-"

"If this is that stupid damned supposed Gilvader then I don’t want to hear about it!" He shouted. "I'm sick to death of the lot of you! You’re a bunch of whiney little brats who couldn't fight your damned way out of a wet paper bag! So just shut the hell up, and leave this to me!"

The dragon surged forwards, its claws outstretched as if it was trying to grab the Redler. One arm swiped at it, the strike laser claws scything over the Redler but barely missing it. A second one came even closer, nicking its body. "Ha!" He yelled out. "Now I have you!"

Snarling, the Dragon prepared to lunge at the Redler. It didn't get the chance, however. As it was about to strike, Tasch flipped up the tailblade, literally straight into the dragon's face. The blade sliced through the Dragon's head, cutting it in half.

"What the- Ah hell!" Gavin shouted out as his sensors suddenly went off line. Unlike most Zoids, the Matrix Dragon could function without its head, since its cockpits were scattered and its cores located within its body. However, its removal did cut off all the sensory info that the pilot needed to control the Zoid. Without it, he was effectively flying blind. "Crap! You bloody bi-"

He was cut off as the Redler suddenly rolled over, passing over the dragon before slamming into it, its razor-sharp claws digging into its body. His ears were filled with a horrific screeching noise as the Redler dug in its claws, then pulled away, ripping out massive chunks of its structure with it. The dragon began to spiral, one of its damaged wings tearing free from its body as it plummeted to the desert below.

*****

The Iron Kong's cockpit rang with noise as more cannon shells struck the Zoid's chest. While not penetrating the armour, a glance at the monitor told Stephen that they didn't have too far to go. The protection over the Zoid's body was all but gone, seemingly more holes then armour. A few more, and I’m through, he thought. Not good.

As near as he could tell, the only advantage to the situation was that the Cannon Caesar and the Gojulas seemed to be jostling to finish him off. They could be concentrating their fire, but instead each one of them were trying their best to take him out on their own. It was a minor releif, but not one that would last him very long. Sooner or later, one of them would and the finishing blow. His job was to make it take as long as possible.

The Kong sprinted away from the Gojulas, opening fire with its wrist-mounted cannon as it went. The shots peppered the massive Zoid's flanks and torso, but failed to penetrate its armour. Still, it managed to distract the pilot, which was more then he hoped for. If I'm lucky, I might be able to take one of them with me, he thought.

The Gojuals swung around, opening fire with its quad-barrelled impact cannon. The shots narrowly missed the running Zoid, instead tearing up the ground next to it. The Cannon Caesar, however, was more fortunate. The Zoid opened fire with its head and back cannons, shots blasting into the Kong's flank and leg. Stephen's Zoid stumbled, managing to stay upright.

He turned back to the Cannon Caesar, and opened fire on it. The enemy pilot was ready, the Zoid making a series of bizarre hopping steps to leap out of his line of fire. It swung around, firing again with the massive twin barrelled cannon. One of the rounds struck the Kong in the shoulder, further staggering it.

Not much for it now, he thought. Gotta... wait, what's that noise?

There was a high-pitched whine followed by the sound of jet engines. That's not Tasch or the Matrix Dragon, he thought. So what is it? The engines passed over him with a loud roar, which seemed to grow, becoming lowering pitch, yet louder. Then it turned into a different sound altogether, a loud, roar like that of a wild animal. It was one he recongised, similar to Rose's liger Zero, but a lot louder.

The ground shook as something landed in front of his Zoid, between it and the Cannon Caesar. Standing there, growling loudly was a new Zoid, one that had apparently dropped straight from the sky. Its form was vaguely similar to the Zero, quadruped and feline in from, but the similarities ended there. It was far larger, and lacked the Zero's clean lines. Instead, its black, red and silver body was formed into rather dramatic, almost organic curves with an enlarged mane that washed over a pair of massive drums built into its shoulders. A pair of orange wings were folded across its back, while a golden horn and blade spurted from its head.

He realised what it was. An Energy Liger, one of the most powerful Zoids ever created.

"We... we have to fight that thing too?" Rose asked out loud.

*****

Up in the VIP lounge, Heywood stood, staring in slack-jawed horror at the sight below him. A new Zoid, this Energy Liger, had dropped out of the sky, landing in the middle of his battlefield. This wasn't a part of his plan. This wasn't supposed to happen. That Zoid shouldn't be there. "What..." he began, fear colouring his voice. "What... what is that thing doing here?" He began, almost shouting in panic.

"That's not-" Rachel began, then glanced at Cole. The look on his face, and the jagged scar on his chest, told her everything she needed to know.

*****

The Energy Liger stood motionless in the middle of the battlefield as, all around it, combat came to a halt. Both sides simply stopped to look at this machine which had intruded into this conflict. It had come without a warning, without any threats or introduction. It was as if it had just materialised out of thin air.

The Liger growled loudly, an audible thrumming sound coming from the two drums mounted on its back. The noise built, increasing in both pitch and frequency as the drums built up speed, pumping energy into the Zoids systems. As they worked, they began to glow a bright orange colour, the Zoids eyes and wings matching them.

Then its twin cannons fired, the shots tearing into the Cannon Caesar's flank. The shots blasted into the smaller Zoid, ripping its leg apart and puncturing its torso. The bizarre tyrannosauroid was lifted into the air, then crashed to the ground, smoke and flames billowing out from the wreckage of its torso. The Energy Liger roared loudly, as if boasting of its kill to those around it. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the massive Zoid broke into a run, charging across the arena. It charged straight at Rose's Liger, as if to bear down on it.

"Wha- hell!" Rose called out, opening up the throttle and firing the boosters. Her liger took off, charging back towards the Gojulas and Gravity Saurer. She didn't care where she was going, as long as it was away from the monster that had suddenly appeared in the midst of the arena. "Get away from me!" She yelled.

The Energy Liger ignored her, however. Instead, it opened fire on the Murasame Liger which had been standing behind it. The shots tore into the Zoid's flank, shredding the armour over its side and hip, leaving devastated components and oily black smoke in their wake. Staggered, the Liger broke into a run, trying to get away form its attacker. It was out of luck.

Roaring loudly, the Energy Liger leaped on its smaller foe and crashed down on its back. The huge Zoid sunk its fangs and claws into its back, ripping into its body. The Murasame Liger roared out for a moment, then was silenced as the Energy liger continued its assault. Its blade was torn free from its body, followed by a whole leg and portions of the head armour.

"I think..." Stephen began, nervously. "I think its on our side." He looked at the Zoid as it stood, portions of the Murasame Liger's frame still hanging from its jaws. "At least... I hope it is."

*****

"That's..." Shane began as he looked down at the wreckage of the Murasame Liger. "That's the Zoid that got us."

"Yeah..." Julian replied. "Damn it, it has to be."

"No doubting it." Heywood continued. "That's the one who’s been messing in my stuff. That's the one who's been taking out other NUBG teams. That's the one which has caused me so much greif." He turned back to the four of them. "That Zoid is the cause of all our problems."

"So then..." Julian continued, a confident smirk on his face. "Hows about we go down there and get us some payback?" He asked. "Not just for us, but for all of the NUBG."

"Yeah, I like it." Shane replied. "I feel like a little bit of payback myself." Normally he was a lot less aggressive then Julian, but right now, he was in a bad mood. After how long it had taken them to get his Dark Spiner back together, he had been looking for a chance to bust someone up over it. And taking it out on the Zoid that had been responsible was, to his mind, just perfect.

"Well then get on down there." Heywood replied, his fear now replaced with a confident swagger. "And kick its arse."

The pair of them stood, Julian chuckling to himself. "You got it boss. Last time, we didn't him us coming. This time, well... lets just say that things are on a far more even footing."

"Let's go." Shane finished. "I bet I can take him down first."

"You're on." Julian replied as the pair of them headed to the door.

"Good idea." Heywood smirked, then picked up his communicator. "All NUBG Pilots!" He called out. "I'm placing an additional bounty on the head of that Energy Liger. Whoever kills it will be paid ten times the usual prize money, in addition to anything else that they get."

Rachel considered matters, turning to Cole. "Do you think that they can handle it?"

"I think that you'd better be ready yourself." He replied.

*****

Seeing the Cannon Caesar's wreckage hit the arena floor, Stephen turned back to the Gojulas. While still larger ten his own Zoid, all of a sudden the enemy machine looked a lot less intimidating then it had before. And, as long as that Energy Liger is on our side, then it gives me a good chance. The Iron Kong grunted loudly as a form of challenge, before dropping onto its knuckles and breaking into a run towards the enemy Zoid. He's still got those Supercannons, which means that he can stll kill me easily with them. So let's not give him a chance.

The enemy Zoid stood its ground, instead lowering the twin cannons to fire on Stephen's machine. The Gojulas rocked as the cannons fired, the two plasma energy blasts tearing towards his machine. Anticipating the enemy’s move, Stephen stomped on the foot pedals that controlled the Iron Kong's boosters, firing them. The Zoid leaped out of the way moments before the shells blasted into the space where it had been, tearing apart the arena floor.

The Kong came down, firing its Hyperbeam Cannon as it landed. The shot seared through the enemy Zoid's flank, ripping apart one of its dual cannons before tearing into its backpack. Wounded, the Zoid staggered with smoke billowing form the rent in its side. It wasn't a killing blow but it wounded it badly, which was enough for Stephen. That's evened the odds somewhat, he thought. Now to finish it off.

His Zoid surged forwards, heading straight for the Gojulas. He knew that taking it on in close combat was a risk but, at the same time, it was still a lot better an option then a straight-out gunfight against a supercannon-armed foe. Many pilots underestimated the Gojulas in close combat; its massive bulk and ponderous speed belied an almost frightening agility and tremendous hitting power. However, for all its strengths, Stephen knew that the Kong was just a little bit more capable up close. It was that edge which he was counting on.

The two Zoids traded shots as they closed in; The Gojulas opening up with its quad cannon and its remaining autocannon while Stephen fired off the twin pulse cannons. The shots scored armour off both Zoids, but didn't achieve much beyond that. Closing in, he fired the boosters again for a short hop, swinging the massive Zoid's armoured fist around at his opponent.

The Iron Kong's reinfroced hammer knuckle collided with the side of the Gojulas' head with a resounding crash, the Zoid's thick armour buckling and crushing under the force of the blow. The Gojulas staggered back, as if stunned by the blow. Not wasting time, Stephen swung again, smashing into the Zoid's flank with the other arm. Again the other machine staggered before recovering.

The Gojulas roared, then lunged forwards, swiping with its massive claws. The left arm tore across the Kong's chest, gouging into the thick armour with a hideous scraping noise. The left came around to follow up, but instead was intercepted midway by the Kong's arm. Stephen grabbed the Gojulas' claw in his Kong's hand, holding it in place. "Don’t..." He snarled. "Don't you people ever, and I mean ever, cross us again." The Kong pushed forwards, the Gojulas' arm squealing out with the shriek of tortured metal. "You understand?" The Zoid swung around with its other arm, again smashing into the Gojulas' side.

Battered but unbowed, the Gojulas swung around with its massive tail, smashing into the Iron Kong's flank. The force of the blow caused Stephen's Zoid to stumble, releasing its grip on the Gojulas' claw. Clearly more confident, the pilot lashed out again at the Iron Kong, swiping at it with the claws. Two blows tore into the Kong's flanks, exposing the systems underneath it and setting off red warning lights across Stephen's systems board.

The Gojulas roared in victory as it lunged forward, its massive jaws open to strike the killing bow. Instead, it got a mouthful of fist as the Iron Kong surged forewords, smashing its armoured hand into the enemy Zoid's mouth. Several teeth shattered as the powerful blow sent the Gojulas staggering back, wounded and off balance. The Kong struck again, smashing into the Gojulas' side, driving it down. A third blow hammered into it, driving it to a knee.

"Don't you see?" He snapped as another fist smashed into the Zoid's back. "It's over! Give-" A third blow pushed it further down. "-up-" Another one caused it to buckle further. "-already!" A final blow saw the Zoid stagger back, dropping onto its knees. Stephen stared at the enemy Zoid, hoping that the pilot would get the idea.

He didn't.

The Gojulas fell forward, its damaged maw wide open. Stephen drove around again, smashing the left arm into the Zoid's neck. As the Gojulas buckled, he opened fire with the pulse cannon, rhe shots tearing into the enemy machine's systems. The Gojuas let out one final roar that trialled off into a gurgle, before simply slumping forwards and crashing to the ground with a loud crash.

"Dammit." He muttered. "Don’t these clowns get the idea?"

*****

Tasch's Redler wheeled around, diving towards the battlefield. Things looked different to how she'd last seen them; there were a number of wrecked Zoids strewn around the landscape, disabled in various different ways. Fortunately, none of them seemed to be Members of the team, so it looked like they were doing well so far.

Something else caught her eye, however; a large, red and black feline Zoid standing in the middle of the battlefield, seemingly looming over everything else around it. "An Energy Liger?" She asked herself. "Well where in the heck did she come from?" She recognised it as being the Guylos Empire's version of the Zoid, one that she had seen in past back on Nyx. They were very rare outside of the Guylos and Zenebas armies, which made this one even more unusual.

On the other hand, it looked like the Energy Liger had just torn apart one of the NUBG Zoids, which meant that it was presumably on their side. Or, at least, on their side for the moment. She wondered if it was just here to beat up everybody, and had merely started with the NUBG Zoids as a point of convenience.

"Now yer being silly." She said to herself. "An' you’ve got stuff to do." The Redler swooped down, making a pass across the arena before looping around. Looking over the remaining Zoids, she quickly figured the single biggest threat on the battlefield, and decided to take it out first.

The Redler screeched as it rolled over, then dived towards the Dimetrodon. She opened fire with the pulse cannons, stripping armour off the Zoid's thick flanks. The shots had no immediate effect, but Tasch kept the trigger down, pulling the cannons upwards as she levelled off and twisted the boosters. Several more shots tore into the Dimetrodon's sail, shredding the sensitive electronics contained within it. Blue electricity cracked over its surface as the fins shattered and blasted apart.

"That's the trick!" She called out as she flared the boosters, coming around in a tight turn then suddenly shifting the Redler into its VTOL mode. Opening fire again, she continued her attack on the sail, blasting more of it apart. The more damage she did, she figured, the less effect the Dimetrodon's jamming could have on their communications and other systems.

The Dimetrodon and its pilot were clearly unhappy with this idea, the Zoid snarling at her before opening fire with its smaller weapons., tyring to bring her down. She twisted the boosters, the Redler slipping to one side as it continued to fire, blasting into the Zoid's back. Several more chunks of fin went flying, the Zoid staggering under the hits.

"Hey guys!" She called out over the communicator. "Can y'all hear me?"

"Tasch, is that you?" Neil called out.

"Yeah, I think it is." She paused. "Ayup, its me. So I guess then our comms is working."

"What'd you do?" He asked.

"I knocked out the Dimetro's sail." She continued. "Which means that its pretty much outa action. It’s still got all its weapons and stuff, but it ain't able to jam us. So its still a danger, but less so." As if to undercut her words, the Dimetrodon suddenly broke into a run, trying to sprint away from her Reder. Several shots tore into its damaged sides, followed by the Energy Liger literally crashing down onto its battered back. "Ah, never mind."

"What's that, Tasch?" Neil asked.

"Um, it’s all good. Need any help there?"

*****

[Deadborder]

"Oh, just a bit." Neil replied as another volley of shots tore past his Zoid. The Gunsniper skipped out of the way of the Snipe Master's line of fire, sprinting away form the smaller Zoid. Despite loosing one of its boosters and taking a bit of a battering, the enemy Zoid was still after him, clearly with every intention of bringing him down.

Glancing over his shoulders, he could see that the Shadow Fox was also coming after him, managing a rather bad shuffling limp after all the damage it had taken. He felt satisfied that, at the very least, he was able to claim that he'd badly wounded a Zoid far more capable then his own. The enemy pilot's aim didn't seem to have improved any, which was another bonus. In fact, if anything, it seemed to have gotten worse, given that he now had to compensate for a bad leg.

He glanced down at his scope, seeing that it was now back online. Unfortunately, all it told him was that the rest of the team were still tied up with other NUBG Zoids, and that there wasn't anybody who could conveniently bail him pout. So it was just him alone against Tweedledum and Tweedledee here.

The Gunsniper continued to run, pulling around towards the Snipe Master. In its current state, both he and it were faster then the Shadow Fox, something that he was hoping to exploit to his advantage. Pulling past the Snipe Master, he turned to fire on it with his wrist gun. The smaller Zoid ducked out of the way, the shots going past it. Hissing, the Snipe Master pulled around, twisting its remaining gun towards him before firing. A shot spanged off the Gunsniper's arm, the others going wide for now.

It was a calculated risk, but one that was paying off. Neil twisted the controls again, running back at the Snipe Master and still firing. In doing such, he was keeping it between him and the Shadow Fox - and as hopeless as these guys were, he figured that the Fox wasn't about to risk shooting his teammate in the back in order to get at him. The plan seemed to be paying off; the Fox's turret was swinging back and forth, but didn't seem to be doing much else so far.

Cool beans, Neil smiled to himself. So they're not that stupid, at least. Now to see what I can do with it.

He charged forwards, firing at the Snipe Master again. This time he got a little luckier, managing to get hits on the Zoid's side and back before the Sniper fired its booster, managing to leap put of the way in a very awkward, clumsy looking way which suggested that the pilot was not entirely in control of the Zoid. Leaving it for the moment, Neil continued to charge forwards at the Shadow Fox, the Gunsniper's boosters flaring and pushing it forwards as quickly as possible.

Caught off-guard, the Fox's pilot didn't fre the Vulcan until the last possible moment. Golden shots belched out from the cannon, scattering around Neil's Zoid without actually striking it. Feeling confident for once, Neil opened fire with the twin Vulcans on the fox, further carving into its damaged flank. There was a loud yelp as the fox stumbled, but it managed to remain standing.

"I can’t believe I'm gonna do this." Neil commented to himself as the Gunsniper leaped, sailing through the air towards the Fox. The enemy pilot pulled up with the Beam Vulcan, but still wasn't able to track the swift, smaller Zoid. One of the Gunsiper's hooked toe-claws came down, scything through the Fox's damaged hip and ripping it apart in a shower of components. The Fox shuddered and then collapsed as its leg ripped free form its body, the Zoid clearly down and out of action.

Before Neil could celebrate the victory, several shots struck his Zoid in its side. The Gunsniper staggered forewords, then stumbled, one of its legs badly damaged in the attack. Glancing around, he could see the Snipe Master, its pilot having apparently regained control of the Zoid and being back in action. "Ah, poop bum fart." he began. "Can't a guy get a break around here?"

As if to answer his question, a pair of beams struck down, hammering the Snipe Master from above. The blasts tore into its remaining booster, blasting into the body of the cannon and clearly rendering it useless. Damaged and shocked by the sudden assault, the Snipe Master broke into a run, scurrying away from the attack.

"Hey, thanks again, Tasch!" Neil called out as her black Redler passed overhead, pulling up from its attack on the Snipe Master.

"Ah, it’s okay..." she began, but trailed off into a mess of static.

"Tasch?" He began, then glanced at his scope. The screen was a mess of extra icons and static crackles; a clear sign of enemy Jamming. "Ah hell, not again!" He took off after the Snipe Master, chasing after the fleeing Zoid. Ahead of him, he could see one of the arena doors opening. The Snipe Master was sprinting towards it, but whether he was going or something else was coming was another matter.

Neil wasn't worried about that right now. He had an opportunity and was damned if he was going to let it pass. He opened fire again, both wrist gattlings and the chest cannon spitting shots at the fleeing NUBG Zoid. Shots tore into its back, the Zoid stumbling then crashing to the ground flat on its face. Confident that it was out of action, he leaped over it and headed towards the arena door.

Then he saw the two Zoids entering, immediately recognising them. "Oh, crap." He muttered. "Heym anyone who can hear me? We're in a world of trouble."

*****

Rose hadn't really cared where she was running too. All that had initially mattered was where she was running from; in this case, the Energy Liger that had dropped out of the sky. When it had come barrelling towards her Zoid, she'd only cared about one thing; getting as far away from it as possible. It wasn’t until after it had crushed the Murasame Liger, literally tearing the Zoid apart, that she'd even thought about what she was doing.

Unfortunately, in her panic, she'd nearly run straight into the NUBG Gravity Saurer. On the upside, he'd been just as confused as she had, the pair of them not recovering initially. Then, just as abruptly, she'd been greeted with a hail of fire from the Zoid's cannons. The Liger weathered several shots before she had managed to break away, her Zoid sprinting across the arena floor.

The Gravity Saurer had let out a bizarre warbling noise before it also took off, chasing after her Zoid, its gravity wheel glowing a bright blue. Its advanced drive had allowed it to eat up the distance between the pair of them, the Zoid closing in before it opened fire with its massive weapons array again.

A pair of blasts tore into the Zero's flank, carving up the armour over the hip, causing the Zoid to momentarily stagger. Fighting with the controls, Rose had managed to bring the Zoid under control and then come around, charging back at her opponent from one of the flanks. While the Gravity Saurer was fast, its ungainly construction made it rather clumsy and slow to react to threats, something she was hoping to take advantage of. That all its weapons were fixed facing forwards helped matters considerably.

She opened fire with the impact cannon, several of the shots striking the Gravity Saurer's flank and leg. The shots splashed against its thick armour, shaking the Zoid but not having much effect. The Saurer spun around on a single leg, charging towards her and fining its cannons. Rose's Liger took a hit on its flank but weaved through the others, closing the distance between her machine and her opponent's.

"Okay, let’s finish this." She began. "You've been a pain in my arse for far too long, buddy." The Liger roared as it prepared to strike, its claws glowing a bright golden colour.

The Saurer's pilot had planned for her next move, it seemed. The Saurer's motor whirred, the Zoid suddenly leaping into the air and sailing over the Liger's strike. It landed in a crouch behind Rose, then took off in a high-speed run. Glancing back at him, she opened fire with the tail gun, the shots going wide of his Zoid.

"You shouldn't have run away from us, Rose!" The pilot called over the PA. "All of this is your fault!"

"My fault?" She yelled back as she wheeled the Liger around, coming back a lot faster then the Saurer could. "That's stupid!" She opened up with the Impact Cannon again, the shots narrowly missing the running Gravity Saurer.

"You should have joined us when you had the chance!" He yelled as he wheeled his Zoid around. "Instead of running away!" The Gravity Saurer opened up with its array of cannons, shots peppering the Zero's flank.

Rose glanced at the damage display; her armour was about to fall apart, and then she'd be in real trouble. "If you're going to blame anyone, blame that moron Ariel!" She shouted as she opened fire. This time the cannon struck its target, smashing into the Gravity Saurer's arm. "She was the one who was dumb enough to invite perfect strangers into an NUBG arena! She should have known what would have happened!" Rose continued her assault, more shots blasting into the Saurer's leg. The Zoid seemed to stumble, but remained upright.

"She opened my eyes to the truth of the situation!" He yelled out as he opened fire again. "You're the fool for not seeing it!" A volley of shots hit the Zero, causing it to again stumble. "All this, you're responsible for it!" Another blast knocked the Zero over, the Zoid crashing to the ground.

Rose was shaken around the cockpit, the safety harness barely keeping her in place and saving her from harm. Even then, she was still stunned, spots floating before her eyes. "You see, Rose, we're not the criminals." He began as the Gravity Saurer limped foreyards, its leg clearly damaged by her attack. "We're the only ones who really know what's going on. The ZBC are the criminals, holding back warriors and not allowing them to develop to their fullest." The Saurer warbled as it flexed its long claws. "You've made a big mistake, Rose. It’s too late to go back now"

"I wouldn't want to." She replied with a grin. The Zero suddenly leaped to its feet, charging at the Gravity Saurer. Caught off guard, its pilot wasn't ready for the volley of shots that tore into its torso and leg. "If today's any indication, I wouldn't want to ever be a Member of NUBG. You guys show all that I've expected from them; you're cowards and bullies who need to hobble their opponents in order to win!" the Saurer stumbled, its leg badly damaged in the assault.

"You’re not heroes or rebels; you're criminals, pure and simple." She added, the Zoid charging forwards. The Gravity Saurer tried to move, but its leg was clearly badly damaged. The Zero leaped on it, its Strike Laser Claw carving a brilliant arc through the air before striking into the Saurer's flank. The claw scythed through its weapons, tearing several of them free from its hull before cutting into the already damaged hip and tearing it apart. The Gravity Saurer wailed and gurgled as it collapsed to the ground, its right side little more then a smoking wreck.

"Well that wasn't too bad." She began. "And that should have -"

A bolt of artificial lightning struck the Zero's side, tearing through its already damaged armour and again knocking the Zoid over. Glancing behind her, Rose could see another pair of Zoids entering the arena, a Liger Zero X and a Dark Spiner. Her eyes went wide as she recognised them as the same Zoids that had attacked her and Neil all those months ago, the same ones that had started this whole mess.

"You guys think you're so tough." The enemy Liger's pilot began. "You ain't seen nothing yet."

*****

The Dark Spiner opened up with its twin autocannons, the shots streaming towards Stephen's battered Iron Kong. Rounds slammed into the Zoid's chest, ripping through the remaining armour and pummelling the systems inside. The Zoid bellowed in pain, while across the systems status boar numerous red lights flashed on.

"Give it up." Its pilot called out. "You've lost. Surrender now and spare yourselves the agony." there was a pause for a moment. "But if you want to keep fighting, that’s fine. It just means that we can lay on the beatdown."

Glancing over the board, Stephen could see that this was not good. The battle thus far had left his machine badly damaged, and these two machines probably had more then enough firepower to finish him off. And, since they were both fresh, that made things even harder for the team. Beating these two would be an uphill battle, unless...

"Hey you!" He called out to the Energy Liger. "Are you going to do something, or are you only here for a few cheap hits?"

The Liger's pilot didn't reply, instead just standing and staring at the two newcomers.

"Fine then." Stephen finished. "Okay, everyone. This has to be the end of it. Go in there and wail them with everything you've got left!" He shouted out over the PA system, since his communicator was still useless. He didn't care that the enemy pilots would know what they were doing; he figured that it was obvious anyway.

But he wasn't going to give up.

He turned towards the Dark Spiner, opening fire on it with the Hyperbeam cannon. The shot narrowly missed the Zoid, instead blasting into the wall behind it. Both it and the Zero X reacted, however, both breaking into runs and splitting up. The X folded out its two blades, electricity cracking over them. The Spiner's fin wavered as it ran, the source of the current jamming that was messing with their sensors and communications.

The Spiner again opened fire on him, Stephen firing the boosters to twist out of their line of fire at the last possible moment. As the shots blasted into the sand, sending up small dust cloud as he fired back with the pulse cannon. The Spnier's pilot seemed ready, however, twisting past them with a degree of agility that seemed to belie the Zoid's size and bulk. Undeterred, Stephen fired again; this time he clipped the Zoid's tail, but didn't seem to do much damage.

The Zero X's two blades discharged, bolts flying at both Rose and Neil's Zoids. Both bolts missed their targets, but only by the narrowest of margins as the two pilots managed to twist out of the way. Undeterred, both Rose and Neil charged forwards, opening fire with their weapons on the newcomer's Zoid. The Zero X's pilot proved to be up to the task, his machine managing to leap and twist its way through their fire, coming out seemingly unscathed.

Rose charged towards it, her Zoid's impact cannon still firing as it prepared for a charge. The Zero X weaved through the shots, then replied with its own cannon. Several blasts struck Rose's machine, one tearing off the armour from the right shoulder. Undeterred, she continued to charge, the claws building up energy. The Liger lashed out, its claws swiping through the air at its counterpart. However, the X was ready, and bought up its own leg, bashing into the side of the Zero's and knocking it back. Then, before she could recover, the X swiped downwards with its own claws, scything through the side of the Zero's head.

"Rose!" Neil called out as her Zoid stumbled, the side of its face a mess of twisted metal and circuitry. "Right, that's it. You're for it now!" he yelled out as the Sniper charged forwards, its three cannons blazing away. The Zero X leaped away, spinning around and bringing up its Anchor Blades like a club. It slacked into the Gunsniper, knocking its legs out form underneath it. The small Zoid went down, crumpling to the arena floor.

The X turned around, ready to finish off its two damaged opponents. Instead, it was greeted by a hail of laser fire that peppered into its back and hip. Glancing up, Stephen could see Tasch's Redler diving on it, the two beam cannons blazing away. The X took several more hits before it broke into a run, sprinting away from her and trying to weave in between its shots.

Seeing a chance, Stephen thundered forewords, opening fire again on the Dark Spiner. The Zoid hopped out of his way, but didn’t return his fire. Instead, it twisted around and raised the autocannons, opening up on the Redler as it passed overhead. Shells tore through the sky as casings bounced out of the cannon, clattering across the ground. Bursts filled their air around the Redler, ten one struck home, slamming into its body. A plume of black smoke bellowed out from the Zoid as it suddenly pulled away, trying to escape form the Spiner's murderous fire.

As Tasch tried to escape, Stephen saw an opportunity. The Kong charged in, smashing into the Dark Spiner's side. The force of the blow knocked the smaller Zoid off balance, causing it to stagger back. Before it could recover, he lashed out again, one fist driving into the Spiner's side, further pushing it back. He swung back, ready for another one.

He never got a chance. Twin blasts of energy struck the Iron Kong from behind, blasting into its rear armour. The Zoid bellowed out in pain, recoiling form the shock of the hit. Seeing a chance, the Spiner sprinted away then span around opening fire on the Kong again with its twin cannons. Several shots blasted into the Kong's chest and shoulders before Stephen was able to fire the boosters, managing to just barely get out of the Spiner's line of fire.

No sooner was he down then another energy bolt narrowly missed him. Glancing around, he could see the Zero X behind him, charging forewords to finish him with the Strike Laser Claw. Using the manoeuvre thrusters, he spun around, the Kong lashing out at the Zero with one of its arms. The Zoid leaped past him, skidding around and joining its companion.

"Face it, we've got you beat." The X's pilot began. "And now, we're gonna enjoy finishing you all off."

The Spiner bellowed, then tilted forwards, as if it was bowing to its opponents. Its tail went rigid, sticking straight up, while its fin array flipped forwards. White energy cracked over its surface as it built up power. "You know, those Zoids of yours will make for nice trophies... or what's left of them"

Stephen opened fire with the Hyperbeam cannon, the shot tearing straight towards the Dark Spiner. Instead of striking it, however, it reflected around it, carving into the arena wall. Undeterred, he opened up with the Pulse Cannon, the shots again deflecting away from the Zoid.

"It’s the ionisation array." The Spiner pilot continued. "You can't shoot it, you can’t touch it. Now hurry up and- hell!"

The Spiner's fin disintegrated into a shower of components as the Energy Liger leaped past it, its wings glowing a brilliant orange as they cleaved through the fragile array. The Zoid landed on the other side of the Spiner, growling angrily at it as components rained to the ground around it.

"Wow." Neil commented over the communicator, now free of static.

"How is everyone?" Stephen began.

"Reticular, but I’ll live." Neil replied.

"I'm here. Barely." Rose added. "But I'm not out yet."

"My Redler ain't too hot." Tasch continued. "Though it ain't dead yet."

"Good." Stephen finished. "Because I think that the odds have begun to swing in our favour."

*****

"This... this was not meant to happen." Michael muttered as he watched the arena. The sands looked to be a sea of destroyed and disabled Zoids, sone ten in all. And all of them were from the NUBG force.

"The situation would appear to be untenable." Cole began. "Maybe I should begin the withdrawal."

"Agreed." Rachel nodded. "I will try to salvage what I can."

"Good luck then."

She stood, then walked out the door. As soon as she was out the door, she broke into a run, sprinting down the stairs to the main Zoid hanger. Pausing before she entered, she pulled off her neat blouse and slacks, revelling a form-fitting brown, gold and red pilot suit underneath it.

Rachel stepped into the hanger, heading straight towards the last Zoid remaining in there. Keying in its security code, she stood back as its top opened up, revelling the cockpit inside. She climbed in and skipped through the checklist, simply powering the Zoid on. As soon as it was ready, she opened up the throttle, the Zoid sprinting out of the bay towards the arena.

This is it. The NUBG has outlived its usefulness, but I can still get something from it.

*****

A brown-haired female security guard watched Rachel board her Zoid, and then head out to the arena. Smiling to herself, she picked up her cellphone and keyed in a number. Looks like we're in the endgame here, she thought. Time to call it a day. However, I know that there will be people who will be interested in this battle.

She turned and walked off, leaving the bay behind her.

*****

The Dark Spiner shook as several shots battered its flank and back, gouging into the formerly pristine armour. The pilot opened up the throttle, the machine sprinting away form its attacker and tyring to remain mobile to make it a harder target. He was no longer concerned with beating the ZBC Pilots; now he was more concerned with staying alive.

The Black Redler fired again, this time the shots went over it and carved into the ground in front of the Zoid. Glancing around, Shane swerved the controls heading off in a different direction away form the Redler's flight path. Sweat poring down his forehead, he looked around for other options. If he could maybe thin out their numbers a bit, then he had a chance. But how-

"Shane! Stay where you are, I'll meet you!" A female voice called over the communicator. For a second, he wondered who it was, then recognised her. Rachel, the boss's personal assistant, and formerly the last Member of the NUBG's elite. He immediately realised what was going on, and grinned to himself. It meant that things were going to change for the better.

"Right. I'm ready." He replied as he hit several buttons on his console. The Spiner jettisoned the remnants of the jamming array, which was now too badly damaged to retract and well beyond being usable. "Julian, cover me!"

"Say what?" Julian called back. "Are you mad? I've got my hands full as it is!"

"Rach is coming." He replied with a grin.

"Heh." Julian snorted. "Well that makes all the difference... just like the good ol' days, right?"

"Damn right." He finished as the Spiner sprinted towards the Arena door.

The Iron Kong thundered towards the Dark Spiner, clearly intent on cutting him off. Shane didn't know whether the Kong's pilot was aware of what he was up to or not; nor did he care. He knew that he needed to get past it. He thumbed the trigger, the two autocannons spitting shells at the Kong. The enemy Zoid twisted out of the way, its pilot preparing to fire back. However, a pair of busts of fire slammed into the larger Zoid's back from the door, further throwing it off.

"Ready!" Rachel called out as her Zoid charged out. "Activating Killer Spiner system!" Special boosters built into the underside of her Killer Dome activated, launching the Zoid into the air. Its legs retracted into its body before it connected into the Dark Spiner's body in place of the now-destroyed jamming array. The Killer Dome's claws sprung open, revealing the twin gattling canons concealed within them.

"I have weapons control." Rachel began. "You concentrate on keeping us on the move and keeping us alive."

"Roger that." He began. "Moving out."

The Killer Spiner broke into a run and opened fire with all four of its cannons, spraying shots at the Iron Kong. The Zoid leaped out of the way, but not before taking numerous hits across its arms from the cannons. The shots tore into the Zoid's thick armour, shredding the plating and eroding what little protection it had left. The Fuzor swung around, tracking the Kong with its powerful weapons, but holding its fire until it had a better shot.

Several blasts hit the side of the Zoid's dome, the Black Redler pulling away after an attack run. Keeping her eyes on the iron Kong. Rachel opened fire with the dome-mounted laser array, sending a volley of shots searing through the air towards the Redler. Several shots missed the Zoid, but one or two scored into its armour. Watching the Iron Kong scamper away, Rachel tuned the weapons back on the larger opponent, sending more rounds towards it

"Julian, stop standing there like a lump." She began over the communicator. "The Energy Liger and Liger Zero are still a threat to us. Take them out. I’ll provide fire support."

"Sure thing." He sneered back, his usual bragging tone returning. The Zero X sprinted across the arena, headed over to the enemy Zoids. Confident that he could handle matters, she turned back to the Iron Kong.

Many pilots overestimated the Dark Spiner, seeing it as a heavy combat Zoid like the Genosaurer. The truth was that it was an electronic warfare unit, albeit a very powerful one. And while potent in a team, it was no match for a similarly sized Zoid in a one on one battle. Unless, of course, it had a Killer Dome attached to it. Doing such transformed it from a powerful support unit to a veritable walking arsenal.

And with the weapons she had at her disposal, Rachel was determined to end this now. Leaving the Kong for the moment, she turned her attention to the Energy Liger, the Zoid which had given them so much strife in past. While I'm here, I may as well clear up some loose ends, make things a little more tidy.

*****

[Deadborder]

Rose weaved past another electrical blast, narrowly avoiding the Zero X's assault. Coming around, she fired the tail gun at massively off-bore, hoping for an odds-against hit. It was to no avail, however, the shot going well wide of the enemy Zoid. Keeping the boosters away, she sprinted off as the Zero X took off after her.

"Damn him..." She muttered as she fired another few shots form the tail gun at the enemy Zoid. The NUBG pilot was proving to be very persistent and, as another beam went past his Zoid, very good at evading her fire. It didn’t help that his Zoid was more heavily armed then hers and a lot faster, as well as being far less damaged. And with the Killer Spiner on the loose and tearing up the landscape, it meant that everyone else had their hands full.

"Hey Tasch!" She called out. "Can I get some air support here?"

"I wish I could!" Her team-mate called back. "But... heck, my systems are busted. I can barely keep my Zoid airborne here."

"It’s cool Tasch." Rose acknowledged. "If you're out, then don't risk it. I know it’s a lot tougher for you flyer pilots."

"Sorry 'bout that." Tasch admitted.

"Don't apologise." Rose shook her head. "I'm sorry that I got us all into this situation. I'm just glad that you all came for me."

"Yeah... we weren't about to leave y'all behind." Tasch finished. "Now I gotta try something here... Gimme a bit."

"Sure." Rose nodded, then closed the link. Glancing back, she could see the Zero X closing in on her, ready to finish her off. Okay, gotta try something a might unusual here, she thought. Here goes nothing... She folded out the stabilisers, at the same time killing the Zero's throttle and bringing the stick around. The Zoid skidded to a halt, spinning in a relatively short amount of space.

The Zero X shot past her Zoid, its pilot not ready for her sudden move. As he tried to come around, she charged forewords, her battered Liger launching itself at the enemy machine. The Strike Laser Claws struck out, slicing through one of the X's legs, shattering the energy discharger over the hip before the Zero leaped away. Not bad, Rose thought. Coulda been better, but I ain't about to get choosy. She stabbed out with the tail gun, sending a few more shots at the enemy Zoid to throw it off.

Snarling, the Zero X turned to face her, only to be hammered in the side by several more shots. Turning, the Zoid faced Neil's battered Gunsniper, which was limping towards it. The X chose to ignore Rose for a moment, instead turning towards the Gunsniper and unleashing a volley of fire form its impact cannon. The shots struck the Sniper, smashing into its side and knocking the Zoid onto its back.

"Neil!" She called out, charging towards the Zero X, trying to catch it off guard. She didn't know what had happened to Neil, but she was determined to take a chunk out of the enemy Zoid for him. She felt a mixture of anger and fear, hating at the NUBG for what they had done, and anger at herself for causing all this in the first place.

Unfortunately, the Zero X seemed to be ready for her, as if he'd known what she would do. The Zoid turned towards her and opened fire with its two electron dischargers, blasting her Zoid with bolts of artificial lightning. The Zero crumpled under the assault, stumbling and then collapsing on its side.

"This is too easy." The X's pilot began. "You guys are so damned predictable. Looks like I'll be getting myself a huge smackload of bounty money when this is all done." The X turned towards Rose's machine, then broke into a run. Its claws began to glow with energy, the Zoid coming in to finish her off. It ran at her, leaping to strike.

It never made it.

Several shots struck the X in its side, before a black and green blur bounced across the ground in front of it, ducking under the enemy Zoid. There was a shower of sparks as something sliced into one of the Zoid's unprotected legs - the X's only weakness. Struck by the force of the blow, the X was knocked out of the air, and came to the ground, skidding on its forelegs. There was a squeal of tortured metal as the limb, damaged by the strike, twisted at a very unpleasant angle.

Glancing around, Rose saw something that she hadn't seen in ages. Tasch's black and green Redler, charging across the arena to the Killer Spiner, running in its bizarre hopping gait. Huh... she said she couldn't fly any more... but she can sure run.

The Zero made it to its feet, shaking is head. Inside the cockpit, Rose grinned to herself. "Looks like you’ve got a bung leg there," she began. "And I’ve got four that still work. I think I'm beginning to like these odds."

*****

The Energy Liger charged towards the Killer Spiner, only to be greeted with a hail of fire from the quartet of autocannons. The Zoid took several its to its body, gouging into its otherwise pristine armour and leaving deep scars. Roaring, it leaped into the air, opening fire with its gattling cannon. The Spiner took a number of hits to its flank, but remained standing, as if unimpressed by the attack.

The Liger dived at the Fuzor, its claws outstretched to carve into the Zoid from above. Again the enemy pilot was ready, however, and swing out with one of the Killer Dome's massive claws. The crab claw struck the liger in the side, battering it off course and away form the Zoid. The Liger crashed to the arena floor, only barely recovering and skidding to a halt.

So he's not invincible, Stephen thought. But that's probably not a good thing. Seeking to take advantage of the situation, he charged forwards, opening fire with the Hyperbeam cannon. The Spiner seemed to anticipate this, however, twisting out of the way of his shot. It swung around the other claw, opening fire with it and the dome's lasers on him.

"Damn you!" He yelled out. Whoever was behind the wheel of that Zoid, they were good. More to the point, whichever one of the two pilots was coordinating their fire and leading on the cannons was proving to be an excellent shot and a skilled commander. They had managed to keep their Zoid in the battle against superior odds for a lot longer then they had expected, something that he had to give them credit for... or rather, he would if they weren't trying to kill him.

It didn’t help that the Energy Liger pilot was refusing to communicate with him, which meant that they couldn't coordinate to take out the Zoid. He'd tried shouting at them across the PA and frequency hopping till he found them, neither producing any results.

He fired the boosters, ignoring the warning lights that the system was giving about over-use, leaping out of the Fuzor's line of fire for a moment. Landing behind it, he opened fire with the pulse cannon. This time, he managed to actually score a hit, opening up rents in the Zoid's back and flank before the Zoid twisted out of the way. It replied with another pair of blasts from its beam cannons, narrowly missing Stephen's Zoid.

"Guys, anyone got any ideas for dealing with a damned Fuzor?" He asked.

"Hang on," Tasch called back. "Yeah, I got somehtin'"

Her black Redler leaped past his Zoid, running towards the Killer Spiner. The Redler opened up with its beam cannons, shots peppering the Fuzor's flank and leg. Stepping back for a moment, it twisted one of the claws to follow the Redler, opening fire with the gattling cannon. However, with its odd hopping gait, the Redler proved to be a difficult target, shots flying through the space it had occupied just a moment earlier.

Tasch fired her boosters, leaping up towards the Dark Spiner. The Redler swiped at it with its claws, carving armour from the Zoid's side before landing on the dome, then taking off again. The Killer Spiner fired off from its dome, shooting into the air after the Redler. Instead, Tasch spun the boosters downwards, landing in a crouch under the Zoid before taking off again in its bizarre run. It bounded around heading back to the larger Zoid.

"Perfect!" Stephen called out, watching the chase. It was like some sort of strange dance, one where Tasch was happily bounding around her partner. If not for the amount of ordinance the Fuzor was throwing at her, it would have looked like she was having fun with it.

However, it was also the break he was looking for. "Tasch, get out of there now!" He called out.

"Sure thing!" She yelled, the Redler firing its boosters and hopping away from the Zoid.

The Spiner turned to face her, then abruptly wheeled back to the Iron Kong as Stephen fired the Hyperbeam cannon. The Zoid twisted out of its path, but was too late to avoid the strike. The beam tore through its flank, ripping one of its arms from its mounting, while also shredding one of the Killer Dome's massive claws and furrowing through the hip. The Killer Spiner staggered back, belching black smoke from its massive wound.

"Now you're mine."

*****

Shane was shaken around the cockpit as the Killer Spiner was gutted by the shot. The Zoid staggered backwards as red lights came on across its entire status board, system after system going offline. "Rachel!" He called out. "We're losing it here! Give me your reserve power so I can-"

There was a loud clanging noise as the Killer Dome disengaged its connection to the Dark Spiner. Before he could say anything, the Dome's boosters fired, the Crab Zoid leaping off its larger partner's back. The small Zoid landed on the ground, then scurried towards the Zoid bay, disappearing inside the darkened passageway.

"No way!" He called out. "Rach, come back here! I need help! I need-" He was cut off as more shots rocked the Zoid, the Energy Liger charging forwards, tearing into the Zoid's body with its two cannons. He tried to come around, only to have the Spiner stumble as its damaged leg gave way. The Energy Liger leaped past him, one of its wing blades gouging into its sides, tearing into its undamaged leg.

"Damn... come on... come on!" The Spiner stumbled as he tried to open fire on the Liger, the shots instead going wide and blasting into the Arena floor. As he tried to bring it up, the Zoid was rocked by another blast from the Kong's Hyperbeam cannon, this time drilling into its chest. The Zoid staggered back, only barely remaining upright. Black smoke billowed from the huge hole punched in its chest, covering his vision. Warning sirens rang out across the cockpit as system after system failed.

"Julian!" He called out. "I need help here!"

"Forget it, man!" Julian called back, his usual confident tone replaced with panic. "I've got my hands full- aaaagh!"

Shane turned to look at his Zoid, just in time to see the Liger Zero leap on it with its strike laser claws glowing. The white Liger carved into the Zoid's neck, sending chunks of debris and structure flying while all but decapitating the Zoid. "No!" He called out. "Damn-"

The entire Zoid shook as a massive blow rocked it, Shane again being thrown around in the cockpit. Through the failing sensors and the billowing smoke, he could still see what was going on; the Iron Kong was laying into his Zoid with its massive fists, pummelling into it. There was a loud crack as the Kong struck again, the Dark Spiner's lower jaw dislocating and then tearing free from its mounting. The Zoid staggered, then simply collapsed on its side.

*****

"Hardcore." Neil began as his battered Gunsniper propped itself up. "I think he got the idea."

"Yeah..." Stephen replied, breathing heavily as if exhausted. "I guess he did."

"Remind me never to annoy you." Neil added.

Rose nodded to herself in agreement, then looked around the battlefield. Stephen, Tasch and Neil's Zoids were all badly battered, their bodies seemingly more torn armour and battered systems then whole ones. And while she couldn't see her own Zoid, she imagined that it looked about the same. Only one of the machines that was still standing was only lightly damaged, the Energy Liger.

"Hey!" She began, looking over at the black and red Zoid. "Thanks for-"

The Liger turned its back on her, then ran towards the edge of the arena. It leaped onto the edge of the stadium, then leaped off, vanishing over its side.

"That was nice of them." Neil commented.

"Well, you know with these mysterious biting cats." Tasch began. "I mean, it ain't like it stopped to say thanks to y'all earlier."

"What?" Rose asked.

"Well, it blasted the Zero X an' the Spiner when they chased y'all." She began. "An' it got the Matrix Dragon during that last fight we had."

"...you knew it was an Energy Liger all along?" Neil asked.

"Yeah."

"And why didn’t you say anything?" Stephen began.

"Well... I didn't think it was important." She admitted. "'cause they weren’t part of the team, and they didn’t hang around... so I figured that they didn't want us to know about ‘em."

Rose shook her head. "Amazing." She glanced over at the field of wrecked NUBG Zoids. Several of the pilots had begun to crawl out of the battered hulks, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. "So what do we do now?"

"Well, we need to-" Stephen began, but was cut off by the sound of jets passing overhead. Looking up, Rose could see a trio of blue and silver Raynos passing overhead. She recongised them as being a special model, one used by the PKB.

"I dunno." She finished. "I think that things are pretty much under control here."

*****

Heywood looked down at the arena, his hands pressed against the window. "They..." He began, seemingly unable to comprehend what was going on. "They destroyed them all. They beat them. We... we lost." He couldn't believe that it had happened. To his mind, it was impossible; there was no way that a bunch of lowly losers from the ZBC could have so resoundingly defeated his team. That they had destroyed fourteen Zoids was one thing; that two of them were his best pilots was another matter entirety.

The roar of the jet engines snapped him out of it. "Raynos... ah hell!" He blinked as he saw them for what they were, the PKB. If those Zoids were here, then it meant that there were more on the way. If he stayed, then he would be trapped here. Being caught was the on thing - or as he liked to think, the only thing - that he was afraid of. He wasn't about to let it happen to him.

"Cole, we need to get-" He began as he turned around, but stopped abruptly as he saw the empty chair. Cole was gone. His right hand man, his one-time best pilot, the man he trusted the most and his former champion had deserted him in his hour of need. For a moment, he stood there, staring at the empty seat, as if willing its former occupant to come back.

He shook his head, trying to figure it out .He could see that things had turned bad, but, at the same time, they were still salvageable. He could still tun it all around. He could still survive. He would escape and rebuild NUBG. He could make it a better organisation then it was before, one that would not fall as easily.

But first he had to escape.

He dashed out the door, looking for the two guards he had assigned to protect it - except that they weren't there. Shaking his head, he belted down the stairs, heading into the field centre that he had set up to oversee the recording of the battle. I can get these recordings, and I can escape with them... and the info on them will be enough for me to go from. It’s not over yet, not by a long way.

He ran into the control centre, only to find that it was abandoned. Chairs were upturned, papers were scattered and computers were still running. It looked like it had been abandoned in a rush, and probably only recently. Those cowards! He thought. How dare they try to run away... they should have been doing their job! Sweating as he worked, he quickly downloaded the contents of one of the computers onto a disk. Then, stashing it in his pocket, he ran out of the room, heading for the stars down to the car park.

When they’d taken over the arena, they'd found that the main lifts were out of action, not to mention somewhat unsafe. It meant that there was a long, long climb from the park up to his VIP booth. At the time, it was worth it simply for the view of the battlefield. Now he was cursing under his breath as he half ran, half stumbled down flight after flight.

After what seemed like an eternity, he reached the carpark level that his staff had been using. Stopping at the base of the stars, he staggered, back, wheezing for breath as he clutched his chest. He felt like he was about to die, or maybe even explode. Gasping, he looked around the car park, only to see that it was all but deserted. The only vehicle left in it was his own limo.

Staggering across the car park, he reached the vehicle, slumping against its side. After what seemed like an eternity of fumbling with the keys, he managed to actually find the one he wanted and open it up. He crawled into the driving seat, then slammed the dor shut, wheezing and gasping for breath. Okay, time to go. I'm not waiting here. He stuck the key in the ignition, and turned, it. Nothing happened. He tried it again, but there was no response. The car simply refused to start.

"Ah, come on!" He began, slamming his fist into the steering wheel. "What is this crap? Start already!" He tried the key again and again, but each time it failed to respond.

And then the Car Park's door opened, slowly rolling up. He watched in horror as a pair of forms stepped inside. blue lights flashing across their back. He realised immediately what they were, a PKB Gorheks and an Arosaurer. Heywood slowly slunk below the dashboard, hoping that they wouldn't see him or, maybe, they’d think that it was an empty car or-

"You in the car!" A voice called out over a PA system. "Come on out with your hands up!"

*****

The arena doors buckled, then crashed inwards. Moments later, the huge form of a Gojulas Giga barged in, the Zoid's loud roar echoing around the empty stands. Behind it, a squad of Gorheks and Arosaurers filed in, levelling their weapons. "Freeze!" The Giga's pilot called out. "Nobody move! Power down your Zoids and step out of them now!"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Neil began, his Gunsniper barley managing a crouch. He popped open the Zoid's cockpit, then climbed out, his hands in the air. Within minutes, the rest of the team did the same. There was no need to keep fighting, no need to argue with the PKB or anything to that effect. They just wanted this all to be over and done with.

"Thanks for that." The Giga's pilot began. "Now, does someone mind explaining what the hell happened here?"

"It’s a long story." Rose replied with a smile.

[Orange]

Babe: I say five stars. If we're goin by the usual five star rating.

Adie: But Rick's australian, he uses metric. How does that convert over?

Timbre: : poking at calculator: Seven point three loonies, and about six of those beaver things.

Adie: That's canadian.

Timbre: There's a difference?

Babe: Excuse the boy, his geography is a bit off.

Sef: OFF? He needs a gps system and a bit of string to find his own ass!

Louiza: Yennyhoo, I give this story a rating of 'awesome'. But I dont think enough stuff exploded.

Sef: Everything exploded.

Louiza: Naw! I reckon a good ninty percent of the story escaped boom-free.

Timbre: : poking calculator again: Which, interestingly enough, converts into exactly fourteen hundred yen.

Babe: I am almost certain you're doing something wrong there.

Sef: ANYWAY. Good story, excelent fight sceens, quite the exciting bit of fiction. Some of the technical bits could use clarification, but otherwise, I feel it rocked pretty hardcore.

Adie: Character-wise, I felt a bit confused as to who was who, some of them seemed to blend together a bit. But then again, the action was pretty fast-paced, and there are a lot of things to keep track of, so this is excusable. Also, silly Heywood. When will he learn that death threats are far more effective then cash rewards? I know it's worked for me!

Louiza: Grammar and spelling are spot on, and the whole dang thing is quite a treat to read. I recomend reading this with The Lostprophets 'We Still Kill The Old Way' on in the background.

Orange: Who let you out of your cages? BACK! Back you go!

[GiganGodos]

And in the interest of being a darned unholy copycat.. teh drains Orange! *drains*

Oreo: Er..what..are..we doing..here..?

Cally: No flippin idea, but um..apparently we're supposed to do commentary for the story above.

Oreo: Oh really?

Cally: Yeah really.

Fuller: No way!!

Oreo: Why do I feel like we just made some lame joke??

Cally: Kay, nevermind it.

Fuller: Anyways, I LIKED IT. But I didn't like our no-nice statement! So you've got a bloody liger zero and an iron kong! I know shadow foxes what can whoop you! *is whacked*

Cally: Don't tick him off, he has that Kong, and I don't want to be on the wrong end of that again. Darn hyperbeam..

Oreo: Oook..I gave it five starries. I liked it muchly, and I have to say I quite like Tasch's style. Not to mention the fact that lots of things exploded, and thats a sign of good writing.

Fuller: Yeah, I gotta admit I like it. Five Kangaroos..or something..

Cally: Five waffles. What? I like waffles. Don't rag on me about it.

GGodos: Sheesh..you guys are worse than cats on caffeine.

Oreo: Whats caffeine?

GGodos: -.-

(Darn my copycatting! *whacks self with a particularly large bat*)