Author's Ranting:
Now, some of you may have read my other ZOIDs fic: "Futile Ambition" and probably think I've abandoned that fic. Not so. I've been archiving chapters and modifying them as I go. It's easier and makes sure I don't make any plot holes. So it will be completed. And I'm working on a sequel to "Futile Ambition" called "Hopeless Endeavour" XP.
Now, back to this story. This is not about the Blitz Team, contrary to what you may have surmised from the title. The title is in German, and it means "Life as Lightning". From that, you'd probably guess this is about the Lightning Team... and you'd be partially right. In fact, this is about Jack Sisco as a mercenary rather than as a part of the Lightning Team.
All ye fangirls beware... Sisco will be kicked around, defeated, humiliated, beaten to a pulp, and dropped from a Storm Sworder. But by no means do I hate him. Jack is my favorite Shinseiki/0 character... but we always hurt the ones we love ;
This is just the prologue, and it's sole purpose is to set the stage for the rest of the story to take place. Therefore, it's really short. Each chapter will have a "theme song", which is the song I was listening to when I wrote it, and a short poem that I wrote that goes with the chapter. And remember... like it or hate it, leave a review!
Prologue – Storm's End
Song: Inoue Marina – Houseki
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We're just a pair of lightning bolts
That streak across the sky
We shine with holy radiance
But eventually we die
The brightest flame burns quickest
Then dims with just a sigh
Lightning blinds while passing
But it dims as it goes by
If only time had been with us
Then no one could deny
We're the brightest of the lightning bolts
To ever light the sky
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The air shimmered from the sun's unforgiving blaze as it radiated off of the sand. A glimmer of black hovered just at the edge of Jack's vision, reflected in the mirage off in the distance. The teenager squinted, barely making out the shape of a Lightning Saix, its form wavering. It seemed to be getting closer, but just as its form started to clear, it stopped. Green eyes regarded him dispassionately, and then the cheetah turned and dashed off, disappearing once more into the desert's cloak.
The mercenary's eyes began to water, not from the sand kicked up by the hot wind, but by the threat of tears. He turned away from the mirage, back to the harsh reality... and his own Lightning Saix. The ZOID lay in a twisted heap of metal, its once-flawless paint scoured by the sand and blasted away by missiles he couldn't avoid. His speed had failed him... and this time, it had cost him his ZOID.
The black cheetah let out a ragged sound, somewhere between a snarl and a cough. Jack limped over to his partner, trying to look anywhere but the gaping hole in its side and the blackened scar that cut across the Core. It was like a shot to the heart... the death blow to a ZOID. The Lightning Saix shifted, moving its head with great effort to nudge Jack in an almost playful gesture. Finally allowing himself to let out a choked sob, he hugged his ZOID's head, feeling the drill of its fading emerald gaze on him. Now he knew what Bit had meant about his Liger being his partner. ZOIDs were more than just tools of battle... they were friends. Jack Sisco had realized this all too late.
"I'll stay with you... until the very end." Jack managed to choke out. The Saix made a ragged growl of appreciation.
Jack curled against his Saix's body, not heeding the injuries that he had sustained during the fateful battle. Again the cheetah shifted, this time moving so it was shielding its pilot from the sun.
The sound of a Hover Cargo's approach awoke him. He sat up, wincing in pain as his injuries made themselves known. He turned to his ZOID, to tell it that help was coming... perhaps they'd be able to repair the Core.
But as Jack turned, he was met with cold gray stone. His Lightning Saix was dead.