Chapter 8
The group was headed for a village about three days from the base; however the journey would take at least four with the trailer. After traveling what was left of the day O'Connell flew ahead a distance to find a suitable campsite, a place with good visibility all the way around.
"We can stop here and camp for the night, there is nothing on the radar," O'Connell said as he landed his Pteras.
"Okay, Captain Flyheight, you and I will take first watch," Wolf said as Moonbay prepared dinner.
"Well we've got four people, I'll take first watch, then I'll wake you up an hour or so after watch starts," Van suggested as he shoved some food in his mouth.
"Van, we need at least one set of eyes on the horizon and one set on the radar just incase of stealth units, I'll be in my Konig anyway so we both stand watch, Colonel Herman and Major O'Connell will stand second watch, then we can put the Organoids to work," Wolf said with a smirk.
Blaze had curled up on top of the Gustav, Zeke was under the Blade Liger, and both of them looked towards Wolf at the same time. Both let out a growl that showed they were upset.
"What? You expected to just sleep through the night," Wolf said with a shrug and a bit of a chuckle.
Later that night everyone slept but Van and Wolf as the cold breeze blew across the sand dunes.
"Hey Wolf, why put you and I on first watch, I think it would have been better to set the old guys on watch first," Van stated with hope for a small laugh.
"Well I figure the old guys could use more rest then the two young guns," Wolf responded with a chuckle.
"It's almost time to swap out; we've been on watch for an hour and forty five minutes," Van said as he walked over to Herman and O'Connell.
"Well, I guess it's time to go to work," Herman said tiredness still very present in his voice.
"Van, I'm sleeping up here as usual, if Herman wants some more sleep, let him have it," Wolf said after opening the canopy.
"Yeah and let you have all the fun Lieutenant, I don't think so," Herman said as he climbed up to the cockpit of the Shield Liger.
The rest of the night was uneventful. The next three days went fast, nothing major happened during the nights and they arrived at the village ahead of schedule because of Moonbay's creative driving of the Gustav. They were greeted at the village gates by a lot of people. They were all happy to see them and very pleased to answer any questions they had. The group had all the answers they were looking for after about three days of asking around. A lot of the villagers mentioned ruins nearby and a few mentioned that they had seen some suspicious activity out that way.
"I'll call General Krueger, have him send Irvine out, we might need the extra hand if this goes south," Wolf said as he headed for his Zoid, Blaze was, as usual, a few steps behind him.
"General Krueger, we will be heading to some nearby ruins, we would like to have Captain Irvine here so we have one more combat Zoid here," the black haired man said through a com link.
"He is already on his way, he left as soon as he heard Van and you were calling for assistance, which was yesterday so he should be there soon," Krueger answered.
"Thanks, we will report back after we investigate the ruins," Wolf said with a salute and closing the com link. Two days later Irvine arrived and the group headed for the ruins.
When they got close they all decided it best to stay out of radar range of any Zoids that may have been at the ruins.
"Alright, Major O'Connell, fly ahead and see what's out there," Wolf ordered as he flipped the sensor goggles on.
"Yes, sir," O'Connell said as he pushed the controls to his Pteras.
"There is nothing ahead, there is some equipment that looks abandoned," O'Connell said as he flew in circles over the ruins.
"Okay, we'll move in then. Keep us posted if something changes," Wolf said as he led the group towards the ruin.
"What can we expect out of this, I mean what's going to happen if this thing wakes up," Irvine asked on a wide open com link.
"Well, if it really is Razor, we can expect mass destruction in a matter of minutes, and an extraordinarily difficult fight, and that's just a regular Command Wolf with this guy," the black haired man replied in a calm tone that still managed to send a chill up Fiona's spine every time he used it.
"And with the Death Tiger, it will destroy anything that stands in its way, on its own it can turn a large city into rubble in a matter of seconds, and it can fire its charged particle cannon three times in succession before having to recharge," Fiona said shakily, "It is possibly the worst, and most dangerous of the Zoids we've faced before."
A few minutes later they arrived at the ruins, and Major O'Connell landed his Pteras.
The investigation went on for a few hours, the group didn't turn up much either, most of the ruins had decayed over the years, and there wasn't much left to even call ruins.
"We haven't found much, most of what we did find was broken or completely unreadable due to time in the open," Moonbay said with a disappointed tone.
"So what do we report to Krueger, that it's been five days since we left base, and we got nothing but a handful of questions answered," Irvine said.
"It will have to be just that, Irvine, we don't have anything new yet," Van was cut off mid sentence when Major O'Connell's voice came over the radio
"Sir, I've spotted a large group of Zoids headed east, should I follow," the blue haired man said in a calm tone which meant he probably hadn't been spotted by the group.
Wolf gave a nod to Colonel Herman before heading to his red and black Konig.
"We're loading up and getting under way, stay with them," Herman said running for his Shield Liger while the others ran to their Zoids.
"Let's go get these guys before that Tiger wakes up," Van yelled as the canopy closed on the Blade Liger.
"Major, is there a black and white Zaber Fang with the group, it will probably be leading," Wolf asked as he pushed the controls forward, Blaze running alongside.
"Yes, there is," O'Connell was cut off before he could give a full description of the pack of Zoids.
"Do not engage the enemy whatever you do!" Wolf screamed through the com link, "Wait for us to get there, do you copy?"
"Yes sir, I understand and will not engage," the blue haired man said with a shocked tone before closing the com link, "That was an odd reaction for such a normally calm guy like Wolf."
"Colonel Herman, will he follow that order to not attack?" the black haired younger man asked as he pushed the controls of his Konig Wolf harder.
"Yes he will, I have no doubt," Herman said as he too pushed his Shield Liger to its limit.
Van, Irvine, and Moonbay all pushed the controls as hard as they could trying to keep up with the nearly flying Konig Wolf.
"We're almost there, Zeke, mobilize," Van yelled as Zeke turned into a ball of white light and merged with the Blade Liger.
"Blaze, now," Wolf yelled as they continued to plow through the desert.
Blaze turned into a ball of red light and merged with the Konig Wolf. They got to the group of enemy Zoids, and began to open fire while they were still unexpected. After ten minutes of fighting, all but one of the enemy Zoids were gone, the only one left standing was the black and white Zaber Fang.
"Everyone back off this is my fight," Wolf said as he moved his red and black Konig towards the Zaber Fang as his eyes began to turn red and his whole mind filled with anger.
"Wolf, it has been such a long time," A voice came over the com links.
"Yes it has Razor, why don't you show me what our last battle did to that pretty face of yours," the black haired man replied with a smirk of confidence and his eyes shining red.
With that a video link popped up showing a man with shoulder length blonde hair, piercing emerald green eyes, and a deep scar from the outside of his left eye to his jaw, came into view.
"Well now, that scratch I gave you last time didn't heal too well, did it?" Wolf asked sarcastically with a chuckle as his Konig began pawing at the sand beneath its large metal feet.
"No, it didn't, and neither will any of the ones you're going to get here," Razor said with an all out laugh as his Zaber also began pawing the ground.
Major O'Connell had heard enough talk. He made a last second decision to attack the Zaber Fang while it was unexpected. He dove into the battlefield, guns blazing.
Razor easily dodged the incoming fire and jumped up to the now low flying black Pteras, all four paws of the Zaber Fang hit the cockpit area, and tore one of the guns out from under the wing with its teeth before jumping back to the ground the Gatling gun still in its jaws as it landed.
The Pteras hit the ground hard and slid for nearly a hundred yards. The impact of the paws had broken the glass, and the impact with the ground had done more damage than any of the group thought possible. The wings were ripped off like paper, the body badly damaged and the armor ripped away or heavily dented where there were pieces still in place.
"O'Connell!" Herman screamed as he ran his Shield Liger towards the downed Pteras forming a small dust cloud when the large Zoid slid to a stop near the downed Zoid.
Time seemed to stop for all of them; Wolf held his enraged red eyed glare on Razor so he wouldn't get away without a fight. Van and Irvine were now itching to get this fight over with and throw Razor under the dirt. Moonbay and Fiona rushed the Gustav to O'Connell as well.
"Well, I guess that was a dumb idea," O'Connell choked out after Herman pulled him from what was left of the cockpit.
He was in bad shape, he had a broken arm and a huge gash on his head causing his blue hair to turn red as the blood seeped from the wound, he had a massive hole in his stomach as well and that was just what could be seen.
"I guess I won't be in this fight anymore, huh," the blue haired man struggled to get his words out; the pain he was in was obvious.
"What were you thinking, O'Connell, Lieutenant Wolf told us all to stay out of this fight," Herman said concern plastered on his face and deep in his voice.
'Why would he do that? I told them to stay out of it, what was he thinking?' Wolf thought as his glare intensified at Razor.
"Let's get this over with!" the black haired man finally screamed as he launched his Zoid towards Razor the Konig growling loudly as they charged across the sand.
"Your funeral old friend," Razor said calmly as he too lunged his Zaber towards the Konig Wolf.
The two Zoids collided with each other, causing them both to fall back slightly. When they charged again, Wolf fired his back mounted sniper rifles causing the Zaber Fang to stop cold before he clamped the jaws of the Konig onto the Zaber's neck, which caused it to let out a pained roar. The two Zoid pilots fought hard for twenty minutes, neither seemed to gain any ground over the other, then the two Zoids went into a standoff.
"Blaze, leave now, I'll finish this fight on my own, I don't want you to get hurt," Wolf said, his eyes still bright red. Blaze growled in disagreement, "Now Blaze!"
Blaze reluctantly defused with the Konig Wolf landing near O'Connell, who was barely hanging on, and the others who were frantically trying to help him.
"Wolf, you know better than to fight me without Blaze, you never could win without him," the green eyed man said turning his Zaber Fang's back towards his enemy.
"You know better than that, don't forget I nearly killed you last time we fought," Wolf said calmly as he stared at the Zaber's rear legs.
Both Zoids went into a dead run the Konig Wolf, being the faster due to Wolf's upgrades, easily caught up to the Zaber and leaped onto its back and started to rip it apart. The Zaber Fang fell to the ground, and Razor saw 'Combat System Freeze' flash across his screen before it exploded.
"Okay, you've learned to take advantage of the moment, even though I gave you that one," the blonde haired green eyed man said with his head hung low and a smirk on his lips.
"Gave nothing, you thought I would best you and you tried to leave, you've done it before Razor," Wolf said with pure hate in his tone, "This time I just didn't let you leave."
Both pilots opened their cockpits Razor jumped out and started to run away from his potential captures, Wolf giving chase in the Konig.
"Wolf get over here now, O'Connell is in rough shape," Van's somber voice called through a radio link.
Wolf ran to Major O'Connell and the others, not caring he'd just let a criminal go. By the time he made it to the group all their faces were somber and heads held low, Fiona was clinging to Van and seemed to be crying. Herman slammed his fist to the ground several times, Irvine and Moonbay just stood quietly. Blaze and Zeke were in a similar stance, standing tall but heads held low. Wolf immediately knew what had happened and let out a howl that could scare a lion away before he fell to his knees with tears in his bright red eyes, while the others remained quiet.
'Why so much sorrow? Why can't I feel hate long enough to kill that bastard?' Wolf thought as he looked at the sand hiding his red eyes from Van and the others.
A few days later they arrived at the base and a funeral was held, O'Connell was buried with full military honors. The republican flag was folded and handed to his closest family member, a blue haired girl wearing all black. Speeches and all were given and everyone went back to work trying to find the man who was responsible.
Many miles away Razor stood in front of a large containment tank similar to that of the Deathsaurer and Death Stinger.
"Awaken, Death Tiger," He said calmly as the doors opened and the Zoids eyes began to glow a blood red color.
