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Ep.2 – The Journey Begins
"Right, now just stay here." Raven said sternly to Shadow, emphasizing his point with his finger. Shadow gave a resigned grumble, sitting down and curling up next to the Berserk Fury. Raven wasn't sure how long the black zoid would stay there, but he couldn't bring it with him into the village – people would flip out. Thank goodness the thick tree cover to the west of the village allowed him to obscure the Berserk Fury. Raven still hadn't worked out how he was going to explain that. Maybe he wouldn't have to... Raven shook his head as he made his way up the ridge to the start of the woods. Stupid . There was no way he was going to be able to hide to it for any length of time. He'd have to make something up, obviously – people would accuse him of telling unbelievable lies if he said the Berserk Fury had magically reanimated before his eyes. Besides, he'd like to avoid mentioning that he'd run into a Republican patrol in bad mood.
* * * * *
"MORONS!"
The three republican soldiers winced as their commanding officer slammed his hand on the table. This was going to be unpleasant.
"The finest of the Republic... and you have your entire scout unit wiped out by some village yokel brat in a broken Zoid?!"
"Uh.. sir, that's not exactly what happened..."
"Oh, so I'm just imagining the slagged Guysack in the repair bay?" the officer snapped back. "And the two command wolves missing a throat and a back drive train? Those are just hude hallucinations brought on by sub-standard army rations last night?" The soldier who had spoken shifted uncomfortably.
"Sir?"
"What, Private Dorelo?"
"What Alvicus here was trying to say is that the unknown zoid wasn't just broken – it was a wreck. It'd been rusted over for what must have been years before that kid got in it, and after that dragon zoid went into the thing, it was like it had just come off the production line."
"So now dead zoids walk the earth! I am most impressed, Private" the officer said in a voice that said he was anything but. "I do believe you now hold the record for the most outlandish excuse I have ever heard in my-"
"What was that you said?" The calmly curious voice had more stopping power than any impassioned yell. All four present in the room looked at the man who had just entered.
"Sir!" the officer said, formal and collected as he saluted. The newcomer acknowledged the salute, before leaning over the table.
"So then, Private" the man said, eyes pinning the scout unit. "what was that about a dragon zoid?"
"Uh... well, there was this dragon zoid that carried the boy out of the fortress, dropped him in an unknown zoid and then... I dunno... merged with it."
"And ressurected the zoid." the man finished.
"S-sir, you don't seriously believe these incompetents do you?"
"I doubt they would have come up with a story this outlandish just to get out of trouble" he replied. "But if they're telling the truth, then there's only one explanation: an Organoid."
"Organoid?" the officer echoed. "But... they're just a legend, aren't they?"
"All legends start somewhere" the man replied. "True, a lot of the stories are probably embellishment, but they all agree on the same thing. Anyone in possesion of an Organoid has the ability to turn any Zoid into a deadly fighting machine. This isn't something we can afford to pass up – I want this unit kitted out and sent to find that kid ASAP. And give them air support – we don't have information no this zoid we should gather information as well."
"Uh.. y-yes, Sir." the officer stammered in reply.
"Very good." the man said, straightening up. "I'll leave the rest to you."
"Wait, I don't have the authority-"
"Just tell them you're acting on Captain Herman's orders." Captain Herman looked back at the officer and gave him a knowing smile. "That should smooth things out nicely."
"Y-yes, Sir."
* * * * *
"And WHERE have you been?" Raven jumped as Nami caught him red-handed trying to sneak back in without being noticed. "I've been worried sick!Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to go running off like that? Do you know what the army does to people that wander out too far?'
Well now I do, thought Raven. "Look, I'm fine, alright? I just went out wandering for a bit, that's all." Nami rolled her eyes, picking up the covered basket beside her.
"I've got to get these apples to the pastor" she said, walking over to the door. "I'll deal with you later." Raven shook his head as Nami left. He should have known better than to try and get her to see sense. She was always fretting about the smallest thing. Raven climbing a tree? Call the fire brigade. Raven out after dark? Organize a search party. Raven under attack from Republicans?... assuming she recovered from the shock, there'd be snow in the desert before he was ungrounded again. This was gonna be hard... Raven left the house, vaugely thinking that he might go back to the Berserk Fury and think things over.
"Oh, hello Joyce."
"Raven" Raven said automatically as he turned to see who was talking. "Oh, hello Father."
"You haven't seen your sister, have you?" the pastor asked Raven.
"She just went out to give you some apples" Raven said, voice betraying his indifference.
"Got on her bad side, did we?"
"Not that it takes much effort" Raven muttered darkly, leaning against the wall. The pastor gave Raven a concerned glance.
"Look, even though Nami isn't your sister by blood..." Raven turned his head away, "...you're as much a brother to her as anyone can be. And you know how she gets about you wandering off on your own-"
Raven and the pastor both jerked their heads round as a high-pitched scream came from somewhere on the edge of the village.
"That sounded like Nami" Raven said, pulling himself off the wall. He and the pastor took off at top speed towards where the sound had come from.
* * * * *
The pastor came to a stop, aghast at the sight before him. "What on Zi...?"
"Get away from her!" Raven barked. Shadow looked over at him. Nami was pressed against the wall of a house amidst the scattered apples from the basket she'd dropped, eyes wide and chest heaving as she tried to slowly inch away from the black dragon a half-dozen feet in front of her.
"I said, get away from her!" Raven repeated. Shadow tilted his head, giving a querelous growl before turning back to look at Raven's sister. He took a step closer, making Nami's knees give way and drop her to the ground. Raven gave a cry of alarm as Shadow stooped down towards Nami. Nami put up her hands and made a small, frightened noise – then looked up in surprise as Shadow straightened up again, holding an apple. He sniffed it curiously a few times, before tossing it into the air and snapping it up in one gulp. Nami gave a faint wiffle of relieved laughter, before she fainted.
* * * * *
"Alright, so you found this...uh.... Shadow, in some old ruins?" The group were back in Raven's house. Treana lay on the couch, wet facecloth on her forehead as she recovered. Shadow was curled up next to Raven's seat – he'd fit the part of a cat perfectly, if it wasn't for the fact that he took up half the floor. Raven nodded in response to the village elder's question. "He was in some kind of pod."
"And this Berserk Fury... you say it just came back to life?"
"Right in front of me." Raven folded his hands, resting his chin on them as he thought. "Quite frankly, I don't know what is going on."
The elder looked at Shadow, stroking his moustache. "Interesting... you know, Joyce.."
"Raven."
"...I do believe that this Shadow might be an Organoid."
Raven took on a look of surprise, glancing down at Shadow, who had raised his head at the word "organoid.".
"You're serious?"
"I can't think of any other way to explain what happened. And if he is an organoid, then you might have just stumbled on the greatest discovery in recorded history."
Raven sat back, trying to digest that notion. His reverie was interrupted by his sister.
"Hang on" she said, sitting up straight. "Why did Shadow ressurect the Berserk Fury anyway?"
"Uh..." Raven had managed to get this far through the story without mentioning the Republic. He was stuck now though...
"Well, you see-"
A crash sounded from somewhere outside, and the floor shook. Everyone in the room was at their feet, scrambling to get outside in an instant. Once out of the house, another crash sent them stumbling, and a plume of dust exploded into the air from somewhere in the village.
"What's happening?" Raven yelled. A howl gave the answer; three desert-yellow command wolves were at the edge of the town, shelling the town with seemingly no pattern or reason. Then, as suddenly as it had started, the barrage stopped.
"Alright then," came the booming voice of one of the pilots, loudspeaker systems broadcasting his words all over the village. "We're after a black dragon zoid – we know you're hiding it, and the brat who found it. We want the zoid, the boy and the unknown ziod he brought back with him. Otherwise, we start shelling your village again, and we won't stop until there's nothing left standing." He fired off another pair of shells to emphasize the point. "You've got ten minutes to bring him forward, after that, we start firing."
For a while, Raven and the other stood still in shock. Finally, Nami turned to Raven. "Oh you didn't." she said, shaking her head. "You did not run into a Republican patrol. Tell me you didn't run into a Republican patrol."
"I would, but you don't like me lying to you" Raven replied. His sister threw her hands up in the air.
"Well now what do we do?!" she yelled, an edge of hysteria on the voice. "Either we send you to your death, or we let the village get destroyed! This is why I keep telling you, never leave the designated zone! It's not worth the-"
"Nami?" Raven intergected
"What?" Treana snapped, looking at him. Raven folded his arms as Shadow came up behind him.
"I defeated them once" Raven said calmly. "I can do it again. If Shadow's really an organoid, then me in my Berserk Fury will be more than enough to take out three command wolves."
"Wh- absolutely not!" Nami said, stamping her foot. "And besides, it's not even your zoid!"
"Well, since it was an abandoned wreck and technically it is" the pastor interrupted. "And really, I can't think of an alternative. Both the options they gave us were unacceptable – I say we let Raven try it."
"But he'll be killed!" Treana pleaded. "He's just a kid-"
"He's also a kid who learned how to pilot the village's construction Godos when he was just six. He's easily the best pilot in the entire village, and as he said, he's done it before."
Nami looked helplessly between Raven and the pastor. Finally, Raven came up and gave Nami a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"Don't worry Sis." he said. "I'll be fine. Shadow!"
The organoid spread his wings and gave them a flap, forcing everyone to shield their eyes as Raven broke away, running back towards the Berserk Fury's hiding place. Shadow built up height, before tucking his wings in and going into a swoop, snatching Raven up with his talons.
"Hey! I don't need to be carried, I can get-" Raven was cut off in mid-sentence as Shadow became a bolt of white light, arcing high into the air and then down behind the trees, plunging into the back of the Berserk Fury. Raven barely had time to react before he found himself in the cockpit.
"What the hell..." he felt to check he was still in one piece. He felt like he'd been stretched out into a piece of string and then snapped back into place, all before he'd had a chance to feel any pain. Shadow, meanwhile, had already activated the Berserk Fury, and had got as far as standing up before Raven took a firm grip of the controls.
"I'll drive, thank-you." he growled. Shadow growled back (more out of annoyance than anything else) before relinquishing control to Raven's console. "Now then, I'll show you what I can do."
* * * * *
The soldiers had seen the flash as Shadow bolted to the Berserk Fury's location. They were already halfway through the village, weapons on a hair trigger as they smashed their way down the main street.
"Don't forget, this guy's dangerous" the squad leader warned as the strike team left the township and crested the ridge by the wood. "We should have the advantage, but we don't know what he or that zoid is capable so I want you to treat him like he has a vulcan cannon on his back. Don't give him one second to get his bearings."
"Don't need to tell us twice" Dorelo muttered back. "This time, that brat's going down. I'd like to see him take care of our air support. Speaking of which..." Dorelo opened up to comm channel. "We're going after the unknown zoid – back us up."
"Roger that, Dorelo" came a crackling voice over the radio. "Tango 1 incoming, weapons hot."
* * * * *
The Beserk Fury gave another annoyed growl as Raven slinked up to the ridge, crouched down low to keep himself hidden as long as possible.
"I said I can handle it" Raven replied tersely. "It's not like I expect to be the best zoid pilot right off the bat, but I know what I'm doing. Get off my case, will you?" Shadow grumbled, but kept clear of the controls.
"Thank-you." Raven came to a stop, crouched down with cannons trained on the ridge ahead. "Now then, we just need to wait..."
As it turned out, they didn't; the Republican soldiers chose that moment to break over the ridge. Raven's response was intantaeneous – the beam cannons let loose a barrage of laser fire, slamming into the chest of the first command wolf.
"Get him!" Dorelo called out as Raven turned tail and bolted, beam cannons rotating to lay down suppressive fire. "Open fire!"
"Come on..." Raven murmured, swerving the Berserk Fury left and right to dodge the cannon fire. "That's it, away from the village... perfect." Bringing the Berserk Fury to a stop, Raven wheeled round and began spraying fire at the Wolves, AZ 185mm Beam Cannons letting loose a barrage of shells that cut the legs from under one of them. As the two remaining Command Wolves closed, Raven charged to meet them, beam cannons unrelenting.
"He's tearing us apart!" Alvicus called over the com "We need to pull back!"
"Not yet!" Dorelo replied. "Keep his attention, our air support's almost here..."
At that moment, a rattle of machinegun fire strafed across the sand, peppering the Berserk Fury's back, bringing it's charge to a stop. "That's more like it!" Dorelo cried in triumph as the Pteris swooped overhead. "Now, bring him down! I want that zoid in worse shape than when that brat found it!"
Raven flinched as the Command Wolves hammered the Berserk Fury, bringing it to its knees. "Dammit!" Raven swore, punching the side of the cockpit. He should have figured they'd have backup. Taking aim with the beam cannon, Raven sent a burst of fire after the Pteras that was circling back for another strafing run. The shot missed their mark by several yards, and the Pteras came back again, pinging the cockpit with a few stray shots as it aimed for the control conduit. Shadow gave an urgent growl.
"For the last time!" Raven shouted, taking aim with the beam cannons. "I don't need your-"
His aim must have been even more off than he thought – the controls were almost wrenched out of his hand as Shadow corrected the aim. The beams lanced through the air, slamming into the Pteras' left magnessor.
"Wha?- That's impossible!" the pilot said in disbelief, barely believing it as the Pteras went into a crash dive. "How did he hit me? There's no way he could- arrggh, system eject!" The canopy blew off, and the pilot ejected, parachute deploying as the Pteras slammed into the desert sand. The Command Wolves wavered, morale wounded by the loss of their support.
"How did he do that?" Alvicus asked, panic-striken. "There's no way the beam cannons could be that accurate! No way! How can a kid be this good?"
"Captain Herman was right" Dorelo said, more to himself than his wingman. "It must be an organoid." The Berserk Fury threw its head back, giving a roar of triumph, before hulking down and training the beam cannons right at Dorelo's Command Wolf. He took the hint. "Fall back!" he called. "This guy's out of our league."
"But Dorelo, the Sergeant will-"
"Have our hides, I know, but I'd rather face him than this brat. Fall back!"
The Command Wolves turned tail and fled, rapidly receding into to the distance. For a while, Raven stayed still. Finally, he addressed his invisible companion.
"...that was you correcting the aiming, right?" Shadow gave an affirmative growl. "So... you are an organoid then?" Another affirmative. Raven stayed silent for a while. As much as he disliked the idea of fighting with someone else's strength, there was no denying that Shadow had probably saved the day; that Pteras would have been next to impossible to hit with the beam cannons otherwise. And this made the third time he'd saved Raven's life. Raven hated to admit when his first impression was wrong, it did seemed that Shadow was looking out for him. "Fine" Raven said eventually, putting his hands up in defeat. "We work together now. Happy?" Shadow growled a yes. "Right... now then, let's see to that Pteras pilot..." Raven paced the Berserk Fury up to the downed Pteras, leisurely keeping pace with the pilot as he tried to extricate himself from the parachute. He managed to get untangled and run a good seven yards before the Berserk Fury's paw came down in front of him. "That's far enough" Raven's voice came from the cockpit loudspeakers as he lowered the head down, raising the canopy to talk to the man directly. "Can you talk to your commander?"
"Uh... well, er..."
"Yes or no."
"Uh.. yes?"
"Good" Raven put his foot up on the edge of the cockpit, resting his arm on his knee. "I want you to deliver a message to him..."
* * * * *
"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!" The Sergeant was almost having an apoplectic fit. "Not only do you fail to stop this kid, despite having a full squad of Command Wolves, but you turn tail when your forces are only half gone! You're a disgrace to the regiment!"
"I don't care if it makes me a national traitor, I am not going up against that brat again, no matter how many zoids you put at my back!"
"Why you insolent-"
"Sir?"came the voice of a radio operator.
"WHAT!?" The radio operator flinched.
"Sir, we've just retrieved the Pteras pilot and the third member of the squad. The Ptears pilot had a message to relay – said it was from the kid."
"Oh?" Captain Herman sat up from his reclined position at the back of the room, taking interest. "What did he say?"
"He said..." the radio operator looked down at his portable console. "Tell your boss that I'm not interested in fighting the army, but if you send someone to blow up my village again, then so help me I'll hunt you down and... uh..."
"Yes?"
"I think you'd better read that bit yourself."
Captain Herman took the console and perused the rest of the message. His eyebrows rose and the corner of his mouth twitched. " This kid's got a colourful vocabulary." He handed the console back to the operator. "Didn't know it was physically possible to do that with a beam cannon."
"Right, well..." the operator gave an awkward cough. "if that's all, I'll be heading off..."
* * * * *
"Look, are you sure about this Raven?" the pastor asked as Raven finished packing his things.
"I'm sure" Raven replied. "The Republic's after me now – staying here won't keep me safe, and it'll only put the rest of you in danger."
"But where will you go?" Treana asked.
"Dunno" Raven replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Try and find somewhere to lie low, I guess. Maybe try to sneak over into the empire."
"The empire?" Nami's voice became high as her stress levels soared. "But they're tyrants! Ruthless!"
"And the Republic's much worse" Rave replied. "Besides, at least they're not after me specifically. Heck, they don't even know I exist yet."
"Yet?"
"Oh, they'll probably find out eventually – the secret police can't catch all the spies."
"How can you be so calm about this?" Nami asked in complete bafflement. "You're acting like this is no big deal!" Raven looked at Nami.
"You of all people should know why I don't panic easily." He said quietly. Nami submitted, giving a subdued nod.
"Besides" Raven said, turning back to the rest of the group. "Having Shadow here is too dangerous he could be captured. The Republic's already tearing into the Empire – Shadow would be a one-zoid army all on his own. It think it's best I stay on the move and keep him out of the Republic's hands."
The pastor nodded sagely, hands clasped in front on him. "You're a lot more mature than you look, Raven" he said. "You'll make a great zoid pilot one day."
"Thanks" Raven said, a little awkward with praise this direct. He was more used to the occasional reminder that he should be a little less of a loner and make friends. "Well, I'd better be going – the Republic will probably be here soon. I need to be long gone before they arrive."
* * * * *
"I'm gonna give you two choices" Van said, his foot on the imperial soldier's chest. "Either you can tell me when the next shipment of ammo is coming through to the Imperial Garrison outside Red River, after which I'll kill you nice and quickly with a bullet to the head." He twirled his pistol to emphasize the point, "or, you can keep your mouth shut, and I'll let Specula have you."
The imperial soldier looked wild-eyed to his side, where, Specula stood hunched over, her golden-yellow eyes fixed on the man with a disturbingly hungry look.
"He... zoids don't eat organic food." The imperial soldier said, more out of hope than conviction.
"True" Van replied. "But then Specula's not exactly a typical zoid. Besides, she enjoys that sort of thing. The sensation of soft meat being ground to a pulp between her teeth or something."
"Actually" Reese remarked, from where she sat on a nearby rock, "it's because inanimate objects are boring to eat." The imperial soldier's already ashen complexion went a shade closer to old porridge. "I... a fortnight" he blurted. "There's going to be a shipment coming through in a fortnight, mostly cannon shells with some repair tools for the unit's beam weapons."
"Why thank-you" Van said, smiling mercilessly. "See, its amazing the ground you can cover when there's a mutual understading between-" he stopped his soliloquiy as the comm by his belt buzzed an alert. Taking it out and perusing it, he stepped off the soldier, looking interested.
"What is it, Van?" Reese asked one leg idly swinging back and forth.
"Message from headquarters." Van replied, pocketing the comm again and turning towards the ocean-blue Shield Liger. "Gramps says he's got a new assignment he thinks will interest us."
"Sounds fascinating" Reese remarked, before looking back at Specula, who was now advancing on the soldier, chuckling evilly and sliding her claws against each other, creating a sound like knives being sharpened.
"H-hey!" he called, voiced choking with fear. "What about your deal? You said-"
"I know what I said," Van replied, not looking back. "But this is one of Specula's favourite parts of the job. And I couldn't just deny her that after all the buildup – it would be cruel." Van continued to the Shield Liger as Specula gave a savage roar, punctuated by a scream of terror. It was quickly replaced with screams of agony, together with a series of horrible, wet, squelching sounds, that continued long after the screams had died away. Reese sat on the rock, watching with a vague smile. Finally, she got up and came over, bending down to pick up the shredded, bloodied imperial coat.
"Oh look, now you've gone and made a mess of yourself again." she crooned tenderly, using the rag to wipe away the dark red stains around Specula's jaws. Specula gave a low metallic purring sound, lowering her head as Reese lightly stroked her fingers up from the organoid's neck and along the underside of her chin. Gently wrapping her fingers around the end of the dinosaur's jaw, she brought the other up to gently caress the side of her head.
"Such a shame..." Reese said, sadly. "Once this is over, there won't be any imperial soldiers left." Reese made a disappointed noise. Reese gave a mock pout. "Oh, I know, it's not fair... but that's how it is sometimes. You need to put down the cupcake if you want to pick up the chocolate gateau."
"Hey, Reese!" Van called from the cockpit. "Quit seducing the organoid and get up here, we need to get back to base!"
Specula growled quietly, flexing her claws and lashing her tail. Reese stilled her with a splayed hand in front of her nose.
"All in good time" Reese said placatingly. "All in good time." Then, in a louder, lighter voice, "Coming, Van." She made her way liesurely to the cockpit as Specula deployed her boosters, letting out a savage roar as she launched into the air and dived into the Shield Liger. The roar transferred to the larger zoid, and as Reese climbed into the rear seat, Van Flyheight opened up the throttle, bringing the Shield Liger to full speed as the cockpit closed, orange glass blending in with the sunset.
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