A soft wind blew over a sea of sand, the only sound to be heard in the dead of night. The faint twinkle of the stars was the only illumination. But even in the dim starlight he could see.
He waited in the shadows. He knew his quarry would arrive soon. And when it did he would be waiting. When the time arrived he would claim another reward.
He smiled at the thought of rending another weakling pilot of their pathetic life, of slipping his blade through a set of ribs, of watching their eyes as they died. Such was the life of the Twilight Assassin.
"Hey Jacob, wait up," a girl called, laughing. Her chestnut hair, which reached down to the edge of her shoulder blades, framed her cute face, which was complimented greatly by her radiant green eyes. Her simple white t-shirt and blue jeans did little to hide her beauty. "Come on, wait up big bro."
Her twenty-two year old brother, who was several yards ahead of her, was dressed similarly. He had the same chestnut brown hair, cut short, and deep sapphire blue eyes. He turned to face her. "Come on Sarah, hurry up or I might decide not to give you the gift I worked so hard to get you."
"Jacob Moon, you had better stop this very minute and tell me what my gift is," Sarah called, still laughing.
"Why would I tell you about your gift when I can show you your gift," he said as he turned toward the large hanger he was standing beside. He pressed a button and the doors opened. "Happy fifteenth birthday sis."
When Sarah saw what was in the hanger her eyes widened. On the left was a huge raptor-like machine with a big 50mm cannon on its chest and two tri-barreled 20mm Gatling cannons on its wrists. It had two thrusters on its back that doubled as mortar launchers and its tail contained a very powerful 144mm sniper rifle. It was painted charcoal gray with midnight blue highlights and it had gold teeth and claws. It was Jacob's Gun Sniper, which he had named Midnight.
But it was the machine on the right that caught her attention. It was larger than Midnight and was lion-like in shape. It had a three-barreled cannon between its front legs and two cannons on the end of its tail. It was painted midnight blue with navy blue highlights and it had silver teeth and claws. She knew exactly what it was but she couldn't believe she was seeing it.
"Say hello to your new Shield Liger," Jacob said. "I call her Mist. Is she to your liking?"
"Oh, Jacob, I love her," she said, a bit short of breath. She tackled her brother and wrapped him in a big hug. "Thank you so much."
"You're very welcome," he said. "And I'm glad you like her. Now, I have something to say. I've been looking to set up a team. I went to the ZBC and they authorized me to create a team. I was wondering if you and Mist would like to be my first teammates."
Sarah smiled. "I'd love to big brother, but I'm not a licensed pilot."
Jacob pulled out his cell phone and said, "Say the words and you'll be a licensed pilot in ten minutes."
"Yes," she said, her smile broadening, "I would like to be your teammate."
The pilot looked out of the cockpit of his obsidian behemoth of a Zoid. It was his favorite model, a literal tank known as the Dark Horn. It had as much firepower as possible and more armor than one could imagine. It was built to duke it out with just about anything. Having all that firepower at his control always reassured him.
But right now he was anything but reassured. Right now he was downright scared. He was out in the open desert at night in an area where the Twilight Assassin was said to have killed another pilot the night before. That alone was enough to scare him. But he had also been using his Dark Horn to scare the local villagers, which is often the kind of thing that brings the wrath of the Twilight Assassin down upon you.
Suddenly there were three bright flashes of light off his right and the Dark Horn rocked under the impact of the shots, collapsing onto its side. He tried to get up but the two right legs weren't responding. He looked to the left and he saw the silhouette of a wolf-like Zoid. Desperately he tried to turn his Vulcan cannon toward the target but that too failed.
Acting on impulse he opened the canopy and leapt down to the desert sand. Turning away from the wolf-like Zoid and ran as fast as he could. Before he had gotten ten feet he felt a fist strike the side of his head, sending him to the sand.
"Pilot Mark Sever, you are guilty of using a Zoid to terrorize the people of Zi as well as murder," said his assailant. "For this there is only one sentence: Death. You are to be executed tonight by me, the Twilight Assassin. Enjoy life on the other side."
And with that Mark Sever felt the cold steel blade enter his back, quickly ending the life he had used to cause trouble.
The Twilight Assassin extracted the blade of his rapier and stood up and turned to his wolf-like companion. "Come on Twilight. The sun will be rising in a couple of hours and I have places to be." The machine growled and he said, "You're right, we have places to go. Sorry buddy." He sheathed his sword a boarded Twilight. "Let's go."