"State your rank and current position."

"Sly, this is Raptor Rank Shane in Lightning Saix. I have found Rhino Rank Moon and her Lightning Saix, and I am closing in fast. Radar shows ten enemy Zoids present and circling S.F."

"Ten?!?"

"Let me send you the visuals."

The Lightning Saix raced across the desert, its heavy metal paws creating dents in the sand that disappeared almost as soon as he left them while he journeyed on. His radar showed him what was ahead, but even he didn't want to believe it – ten red dots glaring at him angrily while one yellow speck flickered helplessly. "No," he whispered to his Zoid, hoping it was playing tricks on him. But the dots remained as they were, as if mocking him while they circled her. The flickering quickened, getting more persistent and desperate as each second ticked by. Time slowed down, and yet it went all too fast, his eyes widening as the yellow dot was tossed a good distance from where she had stood her ground – it wasn't a jump; they were striking her.

"Shane, get outta there! You can't take them all by yourself! Fall back, fall back!"

"No!" He nearly broke the lever as he slammed it forward to max out his boost, and he could hear the assistant boosters flare up and imagined the strange and pungent smell of burnt steel that appeared wherever they were in use. He tried to push the lever farther, but his Zoid was going as fast as it could go, nearly flying over the dunes as it leapt urgently to reach her. The Saix could feel his urgency, as well as their comrades' pain and distress. It roared as the yellow turned to orange on the screen, which was equally matched with the emotional cry of its pilot. Soul and core molded into one, they soared over sun-baked sands, trying to reach her, to save her…

"Shane! Shane, can you hear me?"

Suddenly, the dot became a critical red, flashing faster than he could blink. He desperately tried to shoot from afar with his guns, but it was no use; his were built for close-combat, and he was no marksman. Not like her…no one was like her. He couldn't lose her, not now…he needed her…

The screen abruptly lost track of the blinking light, disappearing before his very eyes.

"No!"

"Shane, no!"

Both pilot and Zoid roared simultaneously as the Lightning Saix collided with the closest Zoid there, a Red Horn, and as it was sent skidding across the resistant sand he turned to slash an oncoming Zaber Fang across the face. With such power behind the blow, the enemy was sent to the ground, sparks flying around the four long gashes now on its mug, as he was charged by another Red Horn. Dodging it and countering with his own attack, he left it crippled with a dysfunctional leg before he saw her…

There she lay, in the middle of the ten enemy Zoids, broken and defeated – the Zoid's back half was nearly incinerated, burn marks and gashes mostly on the left calf that showed they had caught her while turning. What was worse was the crushed pilot's seat, smashed into the head with a sickening force. But, she was the quickest and most clever person he had ever known…how could such slow creatures, with such pitiful aim, stop his beloved?

"Shane! Shane, get out of there! Now!"

Turning away from the destroyed Lightning Saix, he saw with a heavy heart the one responsible for the burns and gashes. There it stood, towering over them all with an air of darkness consuming its wicked red stare. Being a biped had its advantages, being able to survey the battlefield easier, but that wasn't the cause of the destruction of his darling. It was those claws; those deadly, terrible claws that could reach and grab someone from afar, before shocking them with tens of thousand of volts ruthlessly and indifferently. The claws that, when it hit your Zoid's hide, hooked into it and offered no escape. The terrible Zoid that was known well in both the Kingdom and the Crusaders.

Geno Saurer.

"Shane, this is an order! Get out of there!"

Howling in frustration and anguish, he charged the Saurer, catching it off guard temporarily. He smashed into its side, and it stumbled back from the force of the blow as he shot at it with his cannon. But the Saurer took it without flinching, and the time left open by the situation let him make the mistake of standing still. Suddenly, the Saix went into a spazzing fit as electricity was forcefully pumped into its system, causing sparks to fly in the piloting area. The claws refused to let go, holding onto it like a predator with its prey, gripped greedily as it roared with a hunger for blood. It echoed menacingly, as if a reminder of his meeting with Death was fast approaching.

And he shouldn't keep her waiting.

"Shane? Shane – you – breaking – static –"

Smiling to himself, his hand hovered over the big black button, his fist trembling. Sensing what he was going to do, his Zoid showed its protest by howling with both pain and torment. Shane closed his eyes, and the room lit up by flying sparks was replaced by an image in his mind. His beloved stood there, smiling and laughing merrily, as their daughter giggled at them, only an infant at the time. Her birthday was a few weeks ago; she just turned twelve a little while ago. She would have soon been piloting her own Zoid, battling side-by-side with her parents…

Feeling the pilot's sorrow and reluctance, the Lightning Saix understood Shane's intentions. He could feel how his pilot had so many emotions swirling in him, contained like the bottles that the milkman often left beside their front door; sadness, fury, regret, reluctance, and peace. He would be joining her soon. He had to push aside everything else to get revenge for her, to honor her name. His name. Their names.

He smiled as his Zoid gave him an encouraging battle yowl. "Thank you, buddy." It then turned into a grin as the others grew confused by their sudden eagerness. He turned to look at the tenth to find that, unlike the rest, the Saurer had discovered their true intentions, and it tugged at its claws in efforts to get away and run. But his claws, the same claws that had killed his beloved, were wedged deep between two plates of armor, and no matter how much he tugged he couldn't free himself. The same technique that had killed so many of his enemies now trapped him; and the hunter became the hunted.

"I'm sorry, Shadowpaw," Shane sighed regretfully, hesitating a little. "I wish I could watch you grow up as a Zoid pilot, but I want you to know that I'm proud of you. Become the best pilot you can be.

"I love you."

"Shane!"

He slammed his hand down on the button, smirking as he felt the energy in the core overload itself. "Die, you bastards!"

DLDLDL

Report:

That day, when scouts were sent to survey the area, they returned saying they had found a huge crater where eleven blackened Zoids were found. They were unidentifiable, but two in the center of the blast were recognized as the source of the crater. They were locked in close-combat, one's claws in the other's hide, before the other had pressed their self-destruct button and committed suicide to kill the enemies. They said there were only eleven Zoids, but reports show that there were ten enemy Zoids and two of ours. Investigation was fruitless, for the desert's ever-changing landscape provided no clues, and so it was abandoned. A funeral was held for Moon and Shane, and their daughter was sent to their own base to receive instruction from me.

If you walk by their graves, side-by-side, Moon's says, "In honor of Moon, who stood up against impossible odds to protect her honor." But, if you look at Shane's, you see, "Shane, whose bravery and courage, and love, is deeply admired and truly missed." A bouquet of roses is left on both graves, white on hers and black on his, and a small stuffed toy is left on Shane's. Their daughter had put it there, to 'remind him of her in heaven'.

Their daughter is training to be a Zoid pilot now; she carried her father's legacy and picked up on battling in close-combat, although, like her mother, she is a lithe and swift pilot in delivering her blows. Her parents would be proud of her.

I know they would be.

Cid Windokin, Alpha Rex (General) of the Crusaders