Scouring the Stars
Chapter one
The sands of time
"Sir, we are bounty hunters. Not body guards. I hate to disappoint ya, but that's just our expertise." Haldor, a tall well built man with a black tank top and jeans with studded wrist cuffs, spiked blonde hair and cigarette lit up in his mouth explained at a desk in an uncaring tone. Haldor tapped a pen annoyed at his client's pleading.
"No really please can't you and your partners make an exception just this once?" The man started. "I promised my town that I would come up with some sort of protection for them, and the Guardian Force is busy in their own affairs. Please sir I've heard this Zoid and Pilot are ruthless!" the man kept on going.
"Sir I really am getting tired of hearing you beg, now if you don't mind I-," Haldor was cut off by Reika standing silently behind him with her faithful Organoid Luminescent.
"How much are you willing to pay?" Reika asked interrupting Haldor's sentence.
"Almost anything!" The man said. "Anything to make sure the people are safe when he comes around. Please!" He groveled.
"We set our prices on the levels of importance we and the client set. Since your situation is calling for protection more than destruction, we'll charge slightly extra, seeing as you are going out of our comfort zone. So you say this Zoid and pilot have been terrorizing bases and towns for a while now and just destroys everything in sight?" Reika began to negotiate.
"Yes! He stops at nothing to make sure every single Zoid in that town is obliterated!" The man clarified. Reika pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil and began scribbling something down.
"How many of us are you hiring?" Reika asked.
"How many are you?" the man asked.
"Six." Haldor answered. "Two recon and stealth specialty Zoids, two airborne Zoids, and two ground combatant Zoids." Haldor added.
"I'll hire you all." Haldor and Reika looked at the man incredulously.
"You are one dedicated mayor." Reika stated. Reika sat in thought for a moment to come up with a price that she could evenly divide between the six of them. She took in consideration the fact that this seemed like a high risk mission if the Zoid and pilot he was describing lived up to his expectations. The cost of ammunition, of possible repairs, and time they all put in. "24K. Since this is quite pricey given your current situation, we can allow you to make several payments." Reika informed him.
"That's fine! I'll do that. Thank you, thank you so very much!" The mayor thanked over and over again.
"Your welcome. Now when do you need us to come to your town?" Reika asked.
"As soon as possible." The man answered.
"Would tonight or early tomorrow morning be good? We need time to set up our Zoids." Reika replied.
"That's fine." He answered. Reika nodded.
"Ok, I would like you to come with me to our hangar and I will give you a layout of our Zoids and the people Piloting them." Reika requested getting away from the table. Haldor sighed as he began to draw up the papers necessary to seal the deal. Luminescent followed Reika and the mayor.
The Mayor followed Reika obediently through their Headquarters, built into a small plateau formed in the desert. She brought him into the hangar where all six Zoids were kept in their own work and launching areas. Reika led him into the land combatant Zoids' area first.
"This right here is Haldor's Zoid. His is the Iron Kong Mark II customized to his liking. All of our Zoids are customized to their pilots. His is codenamed Yeti." Reika started, directing his attention at the white armored Iron Kong with a Gattling Gun mounted to its shoulder and two different missile launchers mounted on its back. "The customizations made to his Iron Kong are specifically his trademark drill hammer knuckles and spiked wrist guards." Reika pointed out. "He added them in himself, when he goes into close combat the spike guards and the drills placed in the knuckles of the hands it becomes very useful." Reika finished moving onto the next one.
"This next Zoid is the Hound Soldier which is piloted by Conor." Reika began. "It has the three barreled burst cannon in the front here, along with the obvious cross lances mounted on the sides of the neck. Bite fangs, Chase missile pods, and a hound buster cannon are also equipped. It has an active radar, and the thrusters are upgraded so instead of going the maximum speed of three hundred and thirty kilometers and hour it goes up to four hundred. The armor has been modified to withstand the pressure as well, making damage done much less." She explained. The Hound Soldier was in the usual black and gold. Reika moved on into the next portion of the hangar.
"This is where the two Stealth Vipers are kept. They are piloted by Kama and Nirvan. Both are not only painted the way they want them to be but the both of them carry four smoke dispensers. Kama's red and black one is equipped with electron bite fangs, and Nirvan's has an electromagnetic net gun." Reika summed up. "That's the most done to them." She began to lead him up a couple sets of stairs into another higher up hangar.
"This hangar is where we keep our airborne Zoids. Mine is in here. The first one here is the Zabat, piloted by Lilith." She pointed out the bat-like zoid hanging from a perch upside down. It was black with crimson colored wings. "Her model is code named Dracula, after some legendary earth vampire of some sort. It is specially equipped with electron bite fangs. It has a homing bomb, hyper killer claws, and 145mm laser guns. It also has infrared scopes and Doppler radar systems. The thrusters have been modified to take the Zoid well past the Maximum speed of Mach 2.8 and well into 3.5. Modified armor is a given." Reika elaborated. She led him on a little further and there sat her Redler in the next hangar.
"This is my Redler. My paint job resembles the eyespots used by some species of butterfly to camouflage or put on a bluff for predators. The armor is reinforced because my thrusters are able to bring it into mach 4 speeds. It also has an extra sensitive sensor system. The wings have had retractable blades like the one installed in the tail added to them to give for more close combat options in dog fights. Also the four available strike claws were upgraded to strike laser claws. Another close combat advantage." Reika finished. Luminescent took her place at Reika's side. "That concludes the details. You can either stay here with us until we leave so we can have directions as to where we are going, or go home and send a scout when you need us." Reika concluded.
"I'll stay here then go back with you." The man replied. Reika nodded.
"We're going to be working on our Zoids until we leave, so let me go inform our other associates and get started." Reika said, Luminescent making a grunt to back up her comment as she left.
Reika walked through several corridors and ended up near her, Kama, and Lilith's rooms. She knocked on both their doors, and Kama and Lilith stepped out. Lilith had long blonde hair that was pulled back into a French braid, and very stunning blue eyes. She had a pilot suit similar to Reika's. It was a black halter top which stopped short at her hips, and was also wearing a pair of black shorts to match it. She had a white jacket with black trim on over her shoulders and her Zi mark was a pair of green dots on her forehead.
"What's up Reika?" They both asked.
"We have been hired to protect a town from this rampant Zoid and pilot. 4k to each of us. All of us were hired. Go work on your Zoids and I'll inform you of when we need to be leaving." Reika answered.
"Oh yay! An exciting job!" Kama stated enthusiastically. "This time we get to get in the action." Kama excitedly added as she walked off to the hangar.
"I think I have heard of this guy." Lilith said to Reika.
"What do you know of him?" Reika asked.
"Well I do know that there have been cases where people saw a black Organoid with him. It's also a Zoid that has never been seen before. Neither the Republic nor Guylos empire stake claim on the Zoid's model." Lilith continued. Reika remained well composed as she began to think.
"Take extra precaution if we make contact with him, if he has an organoid then I am certain he will be twice as good as described." Reika replied. Lilith nodded and went on her way to her Zabat. Reika turned around and hung her head. She lifted up a set of dog tags and read the information inscribed on them. "Raven…It just cannot be…" She muttered.