Eighth week of updating, can you believe it's been two months already?
Thank you to Darkened-Storm for being first reviewer, muchly appreciate the typo check. Fridays are a great day to update indeed, unfortunately it's only Friday in Australia when I update, I do believe it's still Thursday in America.
Thank you to Randomcat23 for being my first reviewer who hadn't known what this chapter was about beforehand! Love Doctor D too! He's such a character! Of why it kills artificial zoids, know you soon shall~! Soon, I hope lol.
To Levells: What about keeping the black notebook in a secret compartment at the bottom of the drawer and stack important looking things on top? That's what Light did back in Deathnote lol. Ingenious plan really. I do love it when you don't expect stuff in a chapter x3
To tickleback: D'awww thank you so much! I try my best to be original because I plan to be a manga artist one day! I see writing fanfiction as a chance to test my storytelling abilities. Advice is always welcome and helpful, there's always room for improvement. And thank you for your social insights, I always assumed thirty was the threshold age, I didn't realise this rule applied differently depending on status... And lol, at "trophy girl"... I don't know why that term makes me lol so hard...
Wowwow look at all them reviews! Love you all! I do love the feedback to know how ppl like the plot/story and advice on various aspects! This is my training and my teachers are the reviewers!
The title picture I drew for this fanfic is linked on my profile page. Please take a look for a visual on Serenity and the Diablo Tiger.
Disclaimer: I do not own Zoids or any of the characters in relation.
Thanks to DuskStarDragon, Darkrad and Darkened-Storm for Beta-ing my work. The three Ds I'll call you!
Darkened-Storm's fic is Zoids: Rebirth Century, another fic based around a failed assassination attempt lol.
Affinity
Chapter 9: Raid
"... Three republican Shield Ligers, Two republican Spark Ligers and one Hellcat. Most of which had extensive damage to their chassis. All of which have had their cores destroyed and their cockpits crushed. No survivors were found. There were zoid tracks heading towards the area, but none found heading back out suggesting the perpetrator was a zoid with flying capabilities."
The Guardian force was debriefed by a Republican soldier over the intercom. The soldier had been mobilised to investigate the wreckage reported in Republican territory that afternoon. He had not reached the wreckage till the ungodly hours of the night due to miscommunication between the investigators and the civilian who discovered it.
Karl could not remember accurately the events that had transpired during his ambush, nor could he remember the zoids involved. However, he did not need to rely on his own memory. An accurate account had been dug out of his Iron Kong wreckage's memory files. The descriptions of these wreckages matched that of the combat data.
He chewed his lower lip. He was at least spared the role of informing Serenity. She found out when she had eves-dropped in on Herman and O'Connell. She disappeared before he arrived, it fell to Herman to confirm to Karl that she had indeed overheard.
Split between professional obligations and an empathetic soul, Karl wanted to find her quickly, and console her. The loss of his sibling is something Karl would never be able to cope with. Thomas was the only person he had left. It would be a heavy burden to bear if he were ever to lose him.
"Give me specific coordinates to where the wreckages were found, as well as a reading from the zoid's internal clock." Herman commanded.
The soldier in the intercom saluted as a map of some mountainous area in the republic appeared on screen. A red tag marked the location of the Wreckage site. It pointed to the bottom of what contour lines told him was a very steep valley.
Another screen popped up containing the readings of the zoid's time data. The reading was taken off the zoid's secondary OS drive since the primary drive was destroyed when the cockpit was crushed.
"This doesn't make sense..." Herman leant forward to recheck that he didn't misread the data. "This says that these zoids ceased functioning three days ago..."
O'Connell caught onto Herman's uncertainty immediately. "Wait. Colonel! Wasn't the Diablo within Imperial territory then?"
Herman nodded then brought up the tracking data of the Diablo Tiger. "Three days ago, at approximately O'Two hundred hours, a guarded imperial convoy delivering supplies to an unspecified base was attacked by the Diablo. All the pilots survived and the vehicle operators were able to bear eye witness accounts."
A map appeared on screen marking the spot of that attack.
"By the data from this newly recovered wreck, this attack occurred a bare three hours before the attack on the convoy." With a quick flick Herman brought up a large scale map of the Imperial-Republican border lands. The wreck sites were labelled a fair distance apart from each other.
"This isn't the only thing." Doctor D joined in, pointing at the photo of the mercenary zoid wrecks. "There are Shield Liger wrecks there too. That's an inconsistency with the previous attacks."
Herman harrumphed slightly. "That, I'm a bit sceptical about..."
Karl could see the logic in what Herman was saying, however many factors could contribute to this seemingly contradictory time frame. For one, the internal clock within the mercenary zoids could have been faulty, that would completely throw them off. The conclusion that they were drawing to was possible, no doubt about that, but until it can be confirmed it is just that, a possibility. But he knew there was one aspect of the zoid that most people would not consider unless they had witness its destruction first hand.
"I request that the republic salvage squad send over images of the wreckage." Karl spoke out. "I want any and all data that is salvageable from the chassis transferred over as well."
The orders were quickly processed and approved and the forensic photographs were plastered all over the screens.
Karl observed them with a resinated sigh; he found what he had been expecting.
"Colonel Herman." Karl turned to the Republican officer. "You were right about this being a set up."
"Oh? Do explain, Colonel Schubaltz." All eyes turned to Karl.
He moved to the control panel and enlarged a section of the photo.
"Take a look at this.
Van squinted sceptically, "Erm... I dunno Colonel, those look like pretty standard damage."
Karl shook his head, "They are still in one piece" he turned around and crossed his arms.
"This is done by something with a lot more surgical precision Diablo Tiger," he declared. "Because it tears with its teeth and claws, the entry wound to the core would be much larger than this."
"That is yet again just conjuncture Schubaltz." Herman mused, "However I cannot deny the evidence of the previous confirmed attacks and the possibility that someone could be covering their tracks."
Karl knew there was more than just a possibility, but he was not about to begin arguing. Someone wanted him dead, and was going to lengths to remove the evidence... But now that he returned to the military scene it was just a matter of time before news reached them. For all he knew it already has.
There wasn't a moment to lose.
"Colonel Herman, how long did you say those Spark Ligers were going to be?"
"A week."
"I can't wait that long." Karl fished a business card from his pocket. "I believe it's time to make a house call."
"Guns at the ready."
"Perimeter secured."
"Your orders sir?"
"We hold." Karl tapped the rim of his cap, partly to check that it's there, partly for patience. Dawn had just broken and he felt rather exposed in the new light.
As much as Karl wanted to re-observe the target, he knew his best option was to stay low in the dunes. As it so happens he only brought a pair of night vision binoculars, he didn't expect preparations and recon would take so long. A small squad of about twenty men crouched beside him, rifles at the ready, their breaths coming out in small misty puffs in the cold dawn air.
The target was known as Warehouse Alpha, codename for the main premises of the Zoid dealer who monopolised at the fringes of Guygalos. Initial core scanning and registration checks confirmed some of the zoids had been stolen, others were unregistered, which meant illegal generations. In other words, Karl's hunch was correct, this was an illegal dealership.
It was no surprise the initial scanning was met with heavy interference coming from within the Warehouse; however, after confirmation was acquired it became evident that it was fortified with much heavier defences. Much more than the regular warehouse would need just to deal with thieves. The motion sensor activated automatic mounted guns were just the tip of the iceberg. A thorough scanning of the warehouse premises confirmed high class motion detection alarms set up and sleeper zoids rigged to mobilize when these alarms are triggered. To make things worse, the access pass for these defences were guarded themselves by strong firewalls and digital triggers. If one of them was tripped it would immediately alert the mainframe that someone was hacking the system. This was a gamble, it was already possible to mount an offensive with a small group of infiltrators since they already were aware of where and how the traps were set, needless to say this would be very risky. However, if the White Hackers were to succeed in breaching the mainframe and shutting down the security, they would be able to move a larger force in relative safety. This would greatly improve their chance of success.
Karl knew the risks of the gamble and called for the second option. Safety of his men above all else.
He rubbed his neck to loosen his tense muscles, his leg was still aching but it didn't bother him as much as it did the day before.
Van's suggestion of just ramming in there with Zoids seemed awfully appealing to him at that moment, but no, this had to be a silent run. If they just break in guns flaring, the dealer would probably just destroy the merchandise just to cover up his crimes. Silence, patience and subtlety are what this mission called for, unfortunately that's a quality the rest of the Guardian force sadly lacks.
"Colonel Schubaltz!" Karl switched out of his thoughts and pressed a finger on his ear piece.
"Report." He commanded.
"The breaching was a failure. Alarm has been triggered."
Karl clenched his teeth. So much for silent run...
"But there is one thing sir." The ear piece continued. "We managed to divert the signal to a data clog and jammed it. It has not reached the mainframe yet."
Karl perked up. "How long do we have?"
"Approximately fifteen minutes."
"And that's all I'll need."
With a few quick hand signals Karl's squad stood from their shelters in the dunes and followed him in approach from the east, keeping the rising sun at his back. A tactic he has learned to appreciate.
Karl halted his company as they approached the wall, far away from the gate. Karl's sharp eyes picked out an intercom built into the side of the gate, he assumed that was how customers contacted the dealer inside.
The wall had no turrets built in, this was so that the local authorities would not become suspicious. Indeed this base was never reported to the military and at first glance it looked like any normal dealership with defences common to any business operating outside city boundaries but chances are there's corruption at the root of it. Karl suspected that the knowledge of the existence of this shady base had been hushed up and kickbacks were paid to keep this silent. If that's the case they would most definitely find themselves on the receiving end of a rifle barrel. Corruption receives the death penalty in the Empire.
Using grappling hooks the squad scaled the wall and dropped into the shadow at the base of the wall.
They were approximately Twelve meters from the closest turret and the motion sensors extended ten meters in radius from the turrets. With a quick flick of his hand Karl signalled the engineers to set up ion mines. Their function is to cause a massive power surge to short out fuses however their optimal distance was six meters. This meant that from a distance of twelve meters, the effects would be temporary, and with the ion mine knocking out the sensor detector and coms devices Karl would be going in blind.
They only had five seconds.
Karl removed his earpiece and gave the go.
A great electrical surge spread throughout the area, Karl felt his hair stand on end. Without any hesitation the engineers rushed to the first turret. They removed a panel from its side and began to disable the wires inside.
Karl held his breath as he watched, counting the seconds.
Three seconds left...
The engineers removed some wires from their socket.
Two seconds...
They inserted an electrode and sent a charge through.
One second.
The turret stayed still and silent. Karl breathed out a sigh of relief.
A quick flick of his wrist signalled the engineers to get to work on the security clearance panel at the door. Time was ticking, they had ten minutes maximum left.
Door unlocked, the engineers gave the clear. Karl nodded and waved them behind him.
Silently Karl edged the door open. He peered into the darkness, the warehouse was not yet active. A quick glace told him that there was no movement, thus the alarm had not been triggered yet.
He closed his eyes and envisioned the layout of this warehouse floor, and all the locations of the alarm triggers. There should be no problem; his memory and instinctive spatial orientation should easily get them across.
Karl entered through the door, gun at the ready. His men filed through behind him, rifles pointed in all directions. He remembered from the schematics that there was a sweeping sensor a few feet ahead of him. He located the laser pointer on the wall and quickly skirted it, his men following suit.
Many Zoids stood in docks, Karl noticed many unreleased experimental models among them. Two zoids stood like silent sentential close to the entrance, if the alarm were to be triggered the two zoids would be silent no more. Even as he proceeded inwards, Karl spotted what he had hoped to find. A Spark Liger was docked at a bay close to the warehouse door. He memorised its location to collect it later.
They proceeded up the stairs at the side of the warehouse, carefully avoiding sensors and cameras. The schematics of the warehouse had shown that the mainframe was within a locked and most probably guarded room on the floor above the warehouse hanger. The third door Karl recited.
There were no traps set on the top floor which indicated the amount of faith they had in their hanger security. The lack of standing guards alone was a testament to their over-confidence. Karl used this to his advantage by proceeding faster towards their destination, their steel shod shoes ringing against the metal of the grated floor.
They had less than five minutes left, how much less he wasn't sure of.
They reached a heavy steel door with a num pad lock. The ion mine's effects made electronically hacking the door impossible, this was the last obstacle and they were just about out of time. The game of subtlety ends there.
Karl made a sweeping hand gesture and the engineers stepped forward. They quickly plastered plastic explosive over the hinges and the lock latch, the weak spots.
The soldiers stepped far to the sides and crouched low. The engineers blocked their ears and detonated.
With a tremendous roar the door was blown off its hinges. Through the dust and debris they charged through, guns raised ordering everyone to the floor.
Two very alarmed security guards did as they were told and they were quickly disarmed and shoved into the back corner of the room. The engineers got down to work disabling the security of the warehouse.
"Secure the room, nobody gets in or out! Open fire against hostilities and hold fort till backup arrives!" Karl ordered and with that he switched on the radio he confiscated off the security guard and tuned it to military frequencies.
"Panzer squad one has secured location priority. Squads two, three and four, move in and apprehend all individuals."
The message was received and an "Affirmative" was given. Karl resumed his position beside his men; there was no way their entrance went without notice.
However as it was, nobody came to confront them. Curious, and more than slightly unnerved, Karl risked a peek and peered around the door frame. It was still dark and silent. He ventured out to the edge of the platform and peered over the railings into the murky darkness.
"Get the lights up." Karl ordered. His sharp eyes were picking up signs of movement on the floors below.
The lights flared up causing spots to appear before his eyes, it took a few moments for him to adjust, and when it did, it was just in time for him to swear and duck back.
A round of fire flew up at him as the once inert zoids sprang to life. Karl slid back into the room as the platform he was just standing was shot to pieces.
"What's going on?" Karl shouted over the sudden upsurge of noise. "I thought you disabled the zoids!"
"We disabled the sleeper controls! Those zoids are under pilot control!"
Karl did a double take, they were under pilot control, which means...
"They're trying to escape!"
Karl dashed back and grabbed the radio.
"All Infantry units pull back! Target is making their escape in zoids. Dispatch Lieutenant Schubaltz and Lieutenant Flyheight."
Karl took one last look over the shattered railing to confirm that at least ten of the zoids stored there had been taken. His heart plummeted as he realised that the Spark Liger had been among those. He quickly radioed it in but received an unwelcome reply.
"Yeah about that Karl..." Thomas answered with a nervous laugh. "We kinda found it..."
Van snorted, "You mean you kinda scrapped it?"
"Shut up you! But Karl... that wasn't the only one right?"
...
...
Karl face-palmed.
Thankfully that wasn't the only one. A quick search in the database turned up three of them, one of which was rented out as of the moment. It was a pity they couldn't apprehend the third but at least they had one Spark Liger...
Which, on hindsight was probably more than he could have hoped for.
A/N: To any and all confused Americans, Germany (like the rest of the world) uses the metric system and I assume the Empire does too. After all with names like Karl Schwarz (original last name) how could they not be German?
