Best of the Best
It was a bright, sunny day over Red River, and the students in the small school there were for the most part having a good time; it was a weekend. And at this school, a weekend meant one thing; vicious, exciting, brutal battle. This was the ZBC Academy for training; training teenagers to be Zoid warriors. The school selected the best and most naturally skilled teens at Zoid piloting from all over Zi, giving them a chance to not only compete against each other, but to become the best pilot they could be. The top student in each graduating class was given a Pilots grant to fund them on their way out of the school.
Red River had been a natural selection for the school; its range of environments allowed the school to train its students in a range of situations that other areas simply couldn't provide. The weekends were most exciting, however, because that was when all the battles were held. The school boasted 8 plain grass/ desert arenas and at least 16 varied environments including jungle, river, rocky outcrops and even on the edge of a dormant volcano. The best battles were the battles held by the students in their final years, the most experienced children who could slug it out with it each other in ways no one could ever expect.
The fights between new students, like James, were rarely ever watched. He had come from Wind Colony after the ZBC had selected him, and now after six months of initial training, he was in his first match. He wished he had his drums. That always calmed him down. But, it was too late for that now; he had been called up to get into his Zoid, a red Leoblaze given to him by the school for training. Students could provide their own Zoids, but they all had to be entry level, and it wasn't likely they could afford much else. So the school supplied entry level Zoids to all the students; there was a hundred in each year.
James had picked the Leoblaze because, well, it just felt right to him. The look, the feel, the weapons, all of them just clicked with him. He wasn't one of those freaks who thought that their spirits were bonded to the Zoid or anything, which was just stupid. He just knew that the Leoblaze was the right Zoid. And right now, he hoped that the choice he had made was right, because he was about to go into battle.
His opponent was a similar Zoid, a Genius Wolf that seemed intimidating somehow. It didn't matter now; all he had to do was concentrate. He thought back to the first time he'd got into a Zoid, five years ago when he was 10, an old Gustav that had been lying around the farm, only used every now and again for carting things about. That was the first time he had been in a Zoid, and it was then that he knew he wanted to be a pilot. Every kid wanted to be a pilot, but this was different, he was sure down to his very core that he would be a pilot, and be the envy of every kid in the colony.
His Zoid marched out to the field, only a crowd of friends would be watching from the observation room back in the school... Well, besides the teachers who were marking him. The drone sprang to life, its metallic form rising out of a small pod on one side of the arena, and it spoke the words that had been drilled into his brain from watching Zoid battles, learning techniques. "James Heterson vs. Kyle Poznic... Opponents confirmed...Arena confirmed... Ready... FIGHT!"
If he hadn't been concentrating, James would have hit the throttle as soon as the Drone spoke. At the final word, James blasted around the arena, nimbly dodging his opponent's fire. He had been counting on this, having seen Kyle in training. Surely Kyle knew, otherwise he would have tried something new... but James didn't have time for that. The Genius wolf didn't have as good agility as the Leoblaze, and so it was still turning while James was readying his own move, a slightly wasteful yet powerful technique. He approached the enemy Zoid, charging the electrostatic claw manoeuvre. But, on the final bound, he stopped. He slammed the brakes and fired the small impact cannon on his Zoids chest, causing a large amount of damage to the Wolf's chest plating. Before his enemy could react, he leapt over him with his tail blade down.
Kyle had been expecting this though, because he rolled as soon as the blade was in striking distance, ducking underneath. The Wolf got back on his feet quickly, and used its own Impact cannon to strike him, scoring three hits to the hind legs of James's Zoid, and another disabling his Impact cannon. The Leoblaze began another charging run, this time a weaving pattern front on to the Genius Wolf. As he approached, he rolled to the right and as the Wolf compensated he attempted to leap atop it, but the Wolf rolled, and James just slammed into the ground. The Wolf fired again, this time harmless armour scoring shots.
James turned to face Kyle, this time preparing for a new attack. He began on another weaving dash around the perimeter of the field, this time making sure that he had a changing pattern and couldn't be locked onto. This was, of course, to merely buy him time while he thought up a new move. He kept up his shifting pattern, but this time Kyle struck first. The Genius Wolf leaped in front of him, and without thinking he pounced on it. But not to be outdone, Kyle hopped to the left and began a forward flip, only to have the Leoblaze jump at it mid flip and have them both crash down.
Not one to be caught off guard, James quickly thought up a new strategy. He ran after the slightly slower Genius Wolf, and with an almighty bound, leaped at its tail blade. Most pilots would call that suicide, but Leoblaze pilots knew otherwise. He charged up the teeth and chomped down onto the tail, biting it clean in half. Besides a Kong wolf, there was no other Zoid out there with a bit like the Leoblaze.
He then, however, took three hits to the chest of the Leoblaze from the Wolf's cannons. He decided to do something about it, this time preparing something he hoped he wouldn't have to use; his shield. The shield was strong, but it took a lot of energy. But for what he was planning, he needed to use all of it. He charged at the Wolf with his shield raised. He rammed it heavily, and while it was down, he put his plan into action. He put all of the shield energy into one go, completely severing the cannon from the wolf and leaving it with a hole in its armour, one he could use. He jumped forward at the Wolf, but Kyle rolled and caught him with his claws. This time, however, he did not take into account James's charged claws, and was soon with a damaged leg, but he had ripped a hole in the armour of the Leoblaze.
It didn't matter anymore though. If you were unarmed, and up against a Leoblaze, with a damaged leg, your best chance was to forfeit. Now that he had him like this, James held all the cards. He could preform a Nyxian Jig and Kyle couldn't do anything about it, even if he wanted to. No, Kyle was a smart person, so James waited for him to forfeit. He waited too long. He pounced at the Wolf, and then slashed it with his tail. Kyle wasn't giving up!
The Genius Wolf hopped up again, slowly, and James moved in for the final blow, rearing up and slamming into its side, being careful to avoid the cockpit. As soon as the Zoid was down, he charged up a claw and slammed it into the belly of the Wolf. It froze, and then collapsed. It was over. James had won his first battle. Overall, it felt pretty good. Once the Drone had finished announcing, he marched the Leoblaze back to the Hangar, where his friends would be waiting. That is, if they made it back from the observation room in time.
He reached the hangar, moving into the large steel structure, and onto one of the industrial lifts that transported him up to a second level. There he found his docking bay and locked in the Leoblaze. As he climbed out of the Zoid, he saw a girl with blonde hair, which, as he climbed out, was later revealed to be his best friend, Claire.
Claire was a Unelagia pilot whom was arguably the best one in the year. Her opponents usually claim it is the intimidation that does it; Claire's fighting style was remarkably fierce. She never backed down, no matter how heavily the odds are stacked against her. Wayne, a Buster Eagle pilot who had lost to her after she nearly bit off his wing said that should the need arise; she would take on an Ultrasaurus in only Rev Rapter. She most likely wouldn't win, but the fact is; it wouldn't stop her.
That and her taste in music were what made them become friends in the first place. They met back on the first day of school here; and it was a painful accident that had made them become friends. Outside of her Zoid, Claire was clumsy. And after managing to lose control of a baggage cart, she knocked over three people and was only stopped by James. By hitting him. James was a fairly muscular guy, and when that cart neared him, he tried to stop it. Unfortunately, he wasn't that muscular, so it really hurt him too.
He jumped off the ladder and moved over to her. She, like always, bore a warm look on her face. That was what puzzled James about her. She could act so cheery, so friendly (And remarkably odd, sometimes), yet on the battle field she was as mad as a bag of badgers. Her appearance confused most people too, as although she looked quite attractive, and her face and hair showed a great attention had been paid to them, she dressed like a drunk bass player. She wore a large black shirt and baggy pants today.
"So how'd I do?" asked James nonchalantly to her. "I reckon I was pretty good"
"You were good; your striking moves were decent. But I think that the teachers will be paying more attention than I was."
James groaned internally. At the end of every battle at the Academy, the monitoring teachers and ZBC officials agreed on what mark to give you, in efficiency, tactics and various other things. James had been dreading it, having witnessed first hand how wasteful he could be. He and Claire headed over to the main dormitory area. Technically Claire wasn't allowed in, but it wasn't like anyone cared.
James went up to a terminal and logged into his school account. Just as he had presumed, there was a message from the officials that contained his marks. Before he could read them, however, Claire shoved him out of his seat. He watched as her expression changed from the warm one on her face to a serious, almost pitying look.
"Oh..." she said. "James, you really need to take a look at this"
"Why? Is it bad"
"No...You've just gotta see this."
James moved onto the terminal. Surely his marks hadn't been that bad, after all... and after looking them over, he realised they weren't. He mentally cursed himself for falling for such a stupid joke. Actually, in looking over them, he had pretty good marks, except for efficiency, which was understandably lower. As he and Claire turned away to go and get something to eat, James noticed someone entering the dormitory lobby. It was Kyle, and he approached them.
"Kyle! Put 'er there pal!" James greeted in a friendly way.
"Yeah, yeah, enough with the false modesty. I know you want to gloat." Before James could respond, Kyle spoke up again, this time to Claire. "Are you allowed in here?" he asked.
"No." replied Claire simply.
"Well anyway-" said James "That was a good match. You love that impact cannon of yours." "It's a Genius Wolf. Ain't much of it to love"
"I know what you mean; these Zoids they make us fight with suck."
Before the two guys bored her to tears with talk about new Zoids, Claire decided to take a trip outside. She went outside, and was shocked by how much it had cooled than before. It was not the only thing surprising her though. In front of her, there was a Whale King coming in for a landing. Normally she wouldn't give a Whale King a second look, but this one was different... It was the Champ Whale King.