Chapter 10: Speed, Mischief, And Ice Cream Cones
The whine of turbine thrusters spinning up, combined with the ground shaking force of a Liger Zero in a High Speed Jager Armor, and a Lightning Saix with a High Maneuverability Backpack, made for the start of a ZBC zero-zero-zero-eight, point-to-point race. The Zoids leaped forward, and onto the newly defined battlefield. Massive chunks of dirt flew from the claws as front legs pulled, and rear legs pushed at the ground.
The ZBC camera pods zipped into motion, and captured the action as Zoids accelerated with the ferocity of competition. The hum of leg servos filled the air as each Zoid threw dirt and rock from their claws on the sparsely grassed area west of Capital City.
Five hard strides into the race, the roar from ignited thrusters glowed on the back of each Zoid before the after-burners fired and sent several tons of Zoid metal forward even faster as they accelerated violently across the competition ground.
Neck and neck, the high speed strides of the Liger and Saix were evenly matched as the mecha raced across the battlefield towards the finish line twenty-miles out at the base of Grahams Hill. The camera pods danced along the ground and tried to keep up, while new camera pods joined the race as the Zoids' claws tore at the terra, and headed swiftly down field.
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In an old abandoned airfield fifty-miles to the North of Capital City, a meeting took place in a broken down large building marked with a rusted, and worn sign that read "Hangar 5."
"You have your orders?" Count stared at the three men dressed in black soldier uniforms.
"Yes, sir." The tallest man in the center stepped forward. "Are you sure, you want us to strike in the early evening? We've always performed the missions after dark."
Count clasped his hands behind his back. "Your Zoids have been fitted with the modified Helcat cloaking system."
The soldier squinted his eyes. "I know, sir. But it's incompatible with our Zoid systems. What if it fails?"
Count turned his side to the soldier. "It's of little matter if it does. Make your move on Capital City, and the target. Re-cloak with the modified Helcat system, and then land at our facility in Namer Hills."
The man to the right of the tall soldier looked confused. "Out of curiosity, sir, why are we not coming back here?"
Count turned away from the men. "We're restructuring for the current situation."
The man to the right of the lead soldier stepped forward. "You mean we're really ready to move forward?"
Count pulled his cloak over his shoulders. He rubbed his leather gloved hands together. "Not yet. But soon enough, we will make our move, and the whole world will know who really funds the Backdraft Group."
The lead soldier thrust his hand in the air. "For the glory that was once ours, and ours alone."
Count frowned. "As long as we control everything, then everything will be in control. You have your orders. Carry them out."
"Yes, sir!"
In the shadows behind the three soldiers, the lines of three avian Zoids could barely be discerned.
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Jamie sat on the park bench in the middle of the Summer Festival Grounds. He held two ice cream cones in his hands, while Tiana visited the lavatory. Families attending the Capital City Summer Festival passed in front of him, and the kids pointed at his ice cream cones more often than not, and then a family ruckus started. Jamie sighed. "I should charge the ice cream stands an hourly rate for this." He looked down at his comp board where it rested in his lap, but two hands full of ice cream cones meant he couldn't access any Zoid data to work on his strategies.
Tiana plopped down on the bench next to him. She smiled broadly. "See? I told you it would only take me a minute."
Jamie rolled his eyes. It felt like he'd been sitting here for an hour. His comp board sounded a tone, and the screen illuminated with a text message. He read the screen.
Incoming video conference call from: Mom and Dad.
Tiana picked up Jamie's comp board out of his lap. "Oh look. Your mom and dad are calling." She put her arm around Jamie, and held the board out in front of them, so the device's built-in camera would capture them.
Jamie stuttered, hands effectively cuffed with ice cream cones. "No! Wait!"
Tiana pushed the acknowledge button with her thumb, and the text screen was replaced by a video conference application that showed Jamie's parents as they sat in their living room. "Hi! I'm Tiana. I'm Jamie's girlfriend. It's very nice to meet you."
Jamie felt his face turn hot. "Uh. Hi mom. Hi dad." He could see the astonished look on his parents faces.
Jamie's wide-eyed mother spoke on the comp board screen. "Jamie, you did not tell us that you have a girlfriend." Jamie's mother straightened her hair. "It's very nice to meet you, Tiana. I'm Jamie's mother, Valerie, and this is Jamie's father, Oscar."
Jamie's father waived on the comp board screen. "Nice to meet you, Tiana. I hope we didn't interrupt anything?"
Tiana shook her head, and became serious. "Oh, no sir, Mister Hemeros. Jamie, and I, always make time for family. We're here at the Capital City Summer Festival. He brought me out here for a date. He's such a wonderful young man, Mrs. Hemeros."
Jamie's mother blinked on the comp board, and then rested her hands in her lap. "Well, thank you, Tiana. Oscar, and I, have done our best to raise him well." She crossed her legs, and smoothed her skirt. "Tell us about you?"
Tiana crossed her legs, and adjusted the comp board in front of her and Jamie. "I grew up in Capital City, and two years ago, my parents relocated to Guylos for their consulting work. I stayed behind to finish school, and live with my Uncle Niller, who runs a Zoid Salvage operation. So, when I'm not doing schoolwork, I've been helping Uncle Niller expand his business efforts. I recently joined Capital City's Entrepreneurs Consortium, and am currently growing Uncle Niller's business. We've grown twelve percent in the last two years, thanks to my marketing strategies. As I'm sure you and Mr. Hemeros can appreciate, Zoids are very serious business in Zenevas."
Jamie watched helplessly as his parent's facial expressions became astonished then serious.
His mother spoke on the comp board. "Jamie, I'm impressed with your ability to find such an interesting young woman like Tiana."
Jamie's father, Oscar, just sat on the couch with his mouth slightly open on the comp board application window.
Jamie tried to think of something, anything, to cut the conversation short, but with two ice cream cones in his hands, Tiana's arm around him, and stuck with a video conference call with his parents, he was ultimately trapped. "Uh. Yeah. Well, we kinda just started dating."
Jamie's father leaned forward on the comp board screen. "Jamie, it would seem that your mother, and I, have got some things to talk about. Why don't you give us a call another time. And by all means, make sure that Tiana knows the hospitality of a Hemeros."
Jamie desperately wanted to sink outside of life. "Yes, dad."
Jamie's father turned his eyes toward Tiana through the video conference application window on Jamie's comp board and grinned. "Tiana, it has been a sincere pleasure to meet you. We hope to hear more from you in the future."
"Thank you, Mr. Hemeros. I am very honored to have finally met you, and Mrs. Hemeros, as well." Tiana leaned closer to the comp board. "Please, have a great day."
The video conference terminated.
Jamie felt something on his hand. "Tiana! The ice cream is melting."
Tiana giggled, and leaned forward.
Jamie squinted his eyes as people passed by, and gave weird looks as his girlfriend licked the melted ice cream from the back side of his hand. "Just . . . take . . . the freaking ice cream cone!"