The very very very last chapter guys. Thank you for following this fic for so long. My very first fic in fact. I CAN'T believe I actually finished it!
Thank you to randomcat23 for being the first reviewer this week and for reviewing regularly throughout the entire story. Love yah! Let's celebrate our love of detail accuracy with this last chapter!
To Darkened-Storm: Indeed I love torturing the readers, but that is the way I show my love! Really! And the sequel... I really dunno... I'm still leaning to the no.
Before I forget, Merry Christmas to you all! *Throws snowflake confetti* AHHHH! JAMMING SNOW! *ducks*
The title picture I drew for this fanfic is linked on my profile page. Please take a look for a visual on Ren 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.
Darkened-Storm's fic is Zoids: Rebirth Century, another fic based around a failed assassination attempt lol.
DuskStarDragon's fic is A Bounty hunter's Gentleman, another Karl fic.
Affinity
Epilogue
A morning mist cast over the cemetery, enshrouding the mourners with its moist embrace.
Seven coffins lay side by side, each covered with the dragon crested Imperial flag.
Line upon line of soldiers stood in attention, each one of them bearing a black armband upon their left arm. The First Panzer Division stood before the seven coffins, farewelling their own.
To the front of the congregation, the men's families stood. Five of the seven had been from Guygalos, the other two had been from elsewhere in the Empire. Their families had been flown over for the ceremony.
Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives and children, watching the ceremony with muted grief.
Beside them stood the young Colonel, his mint green eyes stared unfocused upon the unfolding ceremony. Colonel Schubaltz stood at the head of his soldiers, garbed in his ceremonial uniform, standing next to the grieving families. Their grief weighed heavily upon his shoulders.
The lives of these men were his responsibility.
Lieutenant Braun's body had been found at the entrance to Riv Town, not long after his murder, the jagged tooth marks upon his neck told the tale of his last moments. His wife stood in front of his coffin, head bowed in mourning.
The other families came to farewell the other six.
The six that were with him that fateful day.
The six that died in his place.
Karl watched on numbly as five of the coffins were laid into the earth, their families walking forward to pay their last respects.
Karl called to attention the men at his back.
Together they saluted their farewell.
Sergeant Eichel's coffin was borne upon the shoulders of six pallbearers. He was one of the soldiers who came from beyond Guygalos. His coffin was being carried from the cemetery to an awaiting hearse; he was to be taken to the airbase to be flown home with his parents.
Karl watched as Eichel's coffin was placed into the hearse, remembering the moment he made the decision that saved Karl's life, and traded six lives his one.
A decision Eichel never lived to regret.
A decision Karl has to live with for the rest of his life.
Karl wanted to approach the families.
He wanted to offer his condolences.
But he found he could not face them.
The moment the ceremony ended, Karl strode briskly away, headed for the military chartered car. As he shut the door behind him he was greeted by the chauffer already in the driver's seat.
Karl sat back in his seat, eyes unfocused, cast far over the misty cemetery as the car began its slow journey back to base.
"Brooding is so unlike you."
Karl started, then turned, he had been unaware another person joined him in the car.
That person sat across the car from him, white eyebrow raised in an inquisitive look.
"Doctor D? I wasn't aware you were at the ceremony."
"Not surprising considering you didn't even notice me in the car."
Karl did not answer; he was in no mood to humour the good doctor.
After a passing moment of silence, Doctor D leant forward to close the glass separating the back seat from the driver's seat, obscuring the sound so they could converse privately.
"Colonel Schubaltz, I came with a purpose." Doctor D began, "it's concerning the artificial Organoids."
Karl frowned. Couldn't this wait till he was back in base?
"Both the Republicans and Imperials rounded up over a hundred Organoids altogether, all of them shut down at the same time. There's probably more, they are still examining cores of remaining zoids, most of which had been restrained the moment your warning came. When you took out their human commander every one of them shut down, and not a moment too soon."
"I didn't kill him." Karl corrected wearily.
Doctor D smiled not unkindly. "But without you, the Diablo Tiger might not have acted as it did. Don't put yourself down so hard. Those soldiers died to save more lives than your own."
Karl looked at him sharply.
"The zoids that invaded Guygalos had made their way through the districts unopposed, but stopped before they reached the bunker in which the Emperor was taking Shelter. There was some civilian casualty but on the whole it was far less than it could have been."
Karl nodded, eyes cast down.
Doctor D watched him, empathetic.
"Oh there's some good news Colonel." Doctor D said, a strange look dawning upon his face. "You reported that there are others involved in the incident. Others of certain degrees of influence within the Empire and possibly the Republic as well. Well we believe we've made a breakthrough."
This snapped Karl out of his wallowing misery. "What of it?"
"We found a data cache in the Organoids, a registry of secondary pilots if you will, about twelve of them. Apparently they were able to obey the commands of any of those registered within them, but they were not programmed to actively seek them out in case they drew attention to them." Doctor D paused, his face twisting, like he's trying to keep his face straight in the delivery of a joke. "Interesting thing though, when the military went to arrest them, they found most of them had gone into hiding. Only three are accounted for, one of which is dead."
Karl frowned, that wasn't good news.
"So we've decided on another approach. You see, we brought out nine of those frozen Organoids. Played around with their settings, now they're programmed to seek those pilots out, with a tracking bug on board."
Karl finally smiled. "Clever." He shook his head slightly. "I would never have thought of that."
"Of course not, that's why you have your brother here, to do all the technical thinking for you."
"He came up with that idea?"
"Yes, ingenious don't you think?"
Karl nodded his agreement, Thomas was clever, he never doubted it.
"Speaking about secondary pilots... we found the pilot registry in the mountain-top base in Blare Ridge." Doctor D looked at Karl meaningfully.
Karl frowned. "You found who the other secondary pilot was?"
Doctor D smiled and nodded, and handed him a sheet of paper, a print out from an identification record.
On the top right hand corner was the black and white photograph of a fifteen year old boy, dressed in the uniform of a student of the Officer's Academy, his name printed in bold next to it.
A look of surprise crossed Karl's face as recognised his own younger visage. "But that's me..."
His eyes wandered to the details below and spotted the name of the one who registered him.
"Niklas Schubaltz..." Karl murmured in astonishment, eyes lingering to the date. "A week before his death..."
"Do you know what this registry is for Schubaltz?" Doctor D put forth. "When you have exactly the same rights to the system as the rest of the pilots did?"
Karl shook his head.
"It was to hide you."
Karl looked at the doctor, bewildered.
"Have you not noticed? Every pilot registered in there is dead. The only one still alive is you." Doctor D paused. "I believe your father created this catch secretly, he probably knew something was afoul..." Doctor D turned meaningfully to Karl. "He probably knew you would finish what he started. You're so much like your father."
Karl's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You knew my father?"
"Well of course," Doctor D replied casually with a smile, "we had a chat once."
"You..."
"Was a researcher of one of the undisclosed research facilities. Yep. Not the one your father worked for mind you, nor was I with the Organoid developers, but we've crossed paths."
Karl couldn't wrap his mind around it.
"Of course, this was when we were both younger. I was working for one of the facilities that was about to break from the Empire, one of the first your father had questioned. Quite a polite man he was, though not very thorough, never did figure out that we were leaving the Empire.
Karl had to smile at that, he couldn't imagine his father as a young man, about to begin his first major assignment.
"Back then, there was much political turmoil. Understand that those that left to form the Republic wished independence, not harm to the Empire. Your father figured that much out, rather, he had mostly focused on looking for facilities deeper within Imperial territory, believing they were placed for more sinister purposes. I don't know how and why he joined with the Blare Ridge facility later, but considering he was developing a zoid to counter those Artificial Organoids, I can only imagine it was for good reason."
Karl nodded, from the moment he pulled together the details around the Organoids, he knew. His father was not a traitor.
Seeing the relief upon Karl's face Doctor D smiled, satisfied he fulfilled his role as a Doctor in the more human-sense. "Well then Schubaltz, I do believe this is your stop."
The car was slowing down, Karl looked out of the window, surprised. It should have taken much longer than this to get back to base. Wait a minute... this isn't base! This was the hospital!
"Remember to buy flowers."
Karl swivelled around, horrified. "I have to go back to work!"
"Now Colonel, I've already debriefed you with everything they were going to tell you at base." Doctor D procured an official looking document ordering Karl's release for immediate service leave. "As of now you're on a month's vacation!"
Karl's jaw hung open. What?
"I-I- work-" Karl stuttered, unable to pull a straight sentence together.
"In one month's time!" Doctor D replied, before reaching across to unlatch the door, ushering Karl out. "You haven't even finished your last vacation yet, so your superiors decided that considering the amount of mental and physical strain your last mission put on you, you are to be put on immediate vacation to recover your spirits. Under the doctor's recommendation of course" he added with a wink. "And don't worry. Your brother is taking care of the rest of the reports."
Karl stood outside the car, still dressed in his uniform of formal occasions, a look of distress across his face. Doctor D scooted over to the open door to offer one last piece of advice.
"Trust me, when you get to my age, that age gap becomes completely insignificant."
With that he pulled the door shut and the car took off, leaving Karl standing dumbstruck in the street.
Deep breath, deeeeep breath.
Black Lily in hand, Karl strode down the hall to the private ward of the third floor of the hospital. Serenity had been taken a local medical centre when the Whale King dropped in a flying scout and Karl had waved it down. The moment she was stable she was transferred to a Guygalos private hospital and had been here for a few days now. Karl had planned to visit her before, discretely, but he kept putting it off. Now he felt guilty.
As he reached the door, his hand held forward ready to knock, he heard a commotion from within.
"-back to bed young lady!"
"Hell no! I'm out of here!"
"Don't make me- Hey! Come back here!"
The door swung inwards as Karl's knuckles paused against the wooden planes, and out strode an fuming Serenity, whose expression quickly turned to that of surprise.
Before anything could be said a nurse appeared behind her, grabbed a fistful of her shirt collar and pulled her back inside.
Karl stood at the door, unsure as to what proper etiquettes dictate under such a situation, and opted to knock awkwardly on the door frame.
The nurse turned around to Karl, about to order him out before recognising who he was, then she positively swooned.
Serenity sat on her bed, suddenly well behaved, looked sullen and apprehensive. She sported a gauze padding taped to her cheek and her right arm was through a sling. Karl felt even guiltier for not visiting.
"Umm.. may I come in?" Karl asked, unsure of how to interpret that look.
"Of course! Of course! Make yourself at home!" The nurse blustered, suddenly star struck.
Karl looked to Serenity, she did not answer. He decided that was about as close to an invitation as he was going to get and stepped inside.
After a moment, the nurse finally got the message that the patient and the war hero wanted some privacy and tactfully stepped out. Before the door even closed she was tearing off down the hall, headed for the gossip room.
Unsure of how to begin, Karl cast his eyes about the room awkwardly, trying to find a conversation starter. His eyes fell upon the cupboard, the place where the patient's belongings and clothing were stored, open and bare, a padlock laid broken on the ground. The plastic covered coat hangers had been strewn across the floor, the patient's smock thrown over them for good measure. Karl acknowledged the implications but decided that it was not the appropriate topic for a conversation starter. It was then he suddenly remembered he had the conversation starter clutched tightly in his hand.
"I bought you this." Karl said, stepping forward, offering the lily, neatly clipped, stem wrapped in a fancy gift paper. "I didn't know what your favourite flower was... So I brought you mine..."
... Smooth...
Serenity's eyebrow shot up, attempting to hide her amusement, she wasn't about to throw him a line there.
"Umm..." Karl continued, realising Serenity wasn't about to accept his gift, causing him to panic. He wasn't trained to handle these situations! "I'm sorry I didn't visit till now... I was-"
Busy with work?
Depressed?
Too nervous to come see you?
As true as these may be none of them seemed like the correct answer to give.
Karl gave an inward sigh, his struggle precipitating onto his face. "I'm sorry ok? I did mean to come. I was worried about you."
Serenity continued to stare him down with a cold expression until Karl had been all but convinced that he was not forgiven, that was until her lips twitched upwards.
Serenity burst out laughing, finally giving in, to Karl's immense relief and confusion.
"The look on your face!" Serenity choked with tears in her eyes.
A small relieved smile touched Karl's face. "I see, you were just joking with me..."
"Nope. I'm mad." She answered, crossing her arms and composing her face into a stern look, then softening into a small smile she said, "however if you meant what you said, I'll forgive you."
She reached out to pluck the lily from his grasp, a meaningful look in her eyes. "I think this has become my favourite flower too..."
Karl caught the undertone in her voice, his logic puzzling out what the hint probably meant. She was giving him an opening. He opened his mouth. "How are you feeling?"
He screwed it up.
Serenity almost face-palmed, but played along with it anyway. "Not bad, but I'd feel much better if I was out of the hospital."
"They're not letting you out?"
"No, I'd be out if someone had come around to sign my release papers."
"Oh... They didn't accept your signature?"
"Apparently someone had signed me into the hospital under his name."
That's right... Well in his defence she wasn't an Imperial citizen and wasn't exactly eligible for healthcare, signing her in under his name was the only way he could secure a transfer to this hospital.
"Well... I'm here now. I'll fix that."
"What about you? Are you ok?" Serenity asked, tone changing. "I remember you were hurt pretty bad too."
"I'm fine."
"Liar."
"I really am. Apart from my concussion the rest of my injuries were all superficial."
Serenity leant forward and poked his cheek causing him to wince, he completely forgotten he still had a heavy bruise there, albeit fading. He turned away trying to away to hide the bruise that must still exist on the left side of his face but Serenity stopped him. Hand cupped to his cheek, she turned his face around, surprisingly gently, and brushing his hair aside.
"Right... fine..."
"I was until you poked me." He turned to face her, spotting the mischievous grin on her face and he suddenly flushed a deep crimson from Déjà Vu. However it seemed this time she was to behave herself, she retreated a few paces back, leaving Karl feeling oddly disappointed.
"So... What do you plan to do now?" Karl asked, trying desperately to cover up his embarrassment.
Serenity paused for a second, looking like she was actually seriously thinking about it, before answering. "Construction work."
Karl gave a start of surprise.
"I mean why not?" Serenity continued. "After all Guygalos is in need of rebuilding and I heard Construction pays well."
"But... but..."
"I'm joking! Relax! I can't do anything with my arm in a sling."
"Then I was thinking..." Karl began, then suddenly remembered his house was one of those that sustained damage that day. "Oh wait...My residence is in no condition to take guests..."
"That's fine." Serenity said, twirling the lily between her fingers. "I was about to return to the Republic anyway."
"You're leaving?"
"I think so."
"But..." Karl paused, unsure of what is supposed to say. "I don't want you to leave..."
"Karl..."
A though dawned upon Karl and a look of pondering crossed his features. "How about I come with you?"
Serenity did a double take.
"I'm on vacation right now... and I have to for a month." Karl said reasonably, "and I thought, since I haven't seen much of the Republic before... at peace anyway..."
"You want to come with me...? To see the Republic?"
"I want to come, to see you."
Serenity paused, a strange look flickered past her eyes.
Karl took a deep breath, "I want... I... Will you..." He swallowed hard, "Will you give me another chance?"
A silence permeated the room, neither eye leaving the other. Slowly Serenity approached again, eyes locked fast to his, she leant forward breath upon his lips. "Only if you give me another."
With that Karl leant in, brushing across her lips gently and hesitantly then pulling her into a deep kiss.
Clang-crash!
They leapt apart in surprise, turning to the source of the commotion.
On the floor sprawled Thomas, back pressed against the open doorframe, a look of shock and horror upon his face. Behind him gathered a cluster of nurses (and doctors), peering intently into the ward, who upon Karl's notice, darted quickly away, attempting to pretend they were just passing by.
Thomas pulled himself to his feet, face still set in a grimace of disbelief. Karl flushed furiously for a reason he could not fathom.
Thomas cleared his throat, attempted to say something but ended up gesturing to the door. Karl turned to Serenity and excused himself with the promise that he'd straighten things out with the hospital then strode out quickly with Thomas following at his heels. It wasn't until they stepped into the elevator did Karl finally turn to Thomas, only to discover his grimace was replaced by a triumphant grin.
"Hey Karl, remember what I said to you two weeks ago in this very hospital?"
"No..."
"I accused you of getting in trouble due to chasing girls... and behold, I was right! I never thought I'd live to see the day! Who'd have thought? My brother? The stick in the mud!"
Karl bristled with annoyance. "I may not be your officer right now, but I am still your elder."
"Not one hour into your holiday and already you're getting some..." Thomas puckered his lips together to make a sappy kissy face.
"Thomas!" Karl cried indignantly, turning beet red.
The elevator opened, and not a moment too soon, Karl stormed out into the lobby. Thomas chased after him, realising he might have crossed the line a tad.
"Don't get me wrong, I think it's wonderful." Thomas said hurriedly, trying to mend the situation. "Congratulations."
Karl did not answer, opting simply to march straight for the receptionist desk and ask for the release forms. Thomas felt utterly dejected, maybe he shouldn't have started pushing his brother's buttons so early in his holiday.
Karl sorted out the paperwork with professional efficiency and arranged for a doctor to go upstairs to sign the release papers. He headed back for the elevator, Thomas dogging his heels.
"I'm sorry Karl."
"..."
"You know I don't usually get to catch you off-guard."
"..."
"Can I at least give you a message from HQ?"
"... So you didn't come just to annoy me?"
"No, actually I was getting your vacations papers sorted. They were sort of expecting you to arrive to sort them out yourself, but you know how it is with Doctor D."
"So I was meant to return to base?" Karl exclaimed aghast as he stepped into the elevator and hit the third floor button.
"That's no big deal. Your superior seemed more than happy to kick you out for the decade of holiday leave you refused to take." Thomas answered as he stepped in beside Karl. "Everyone agreed that you really need a holiday now, whether you think so or not."
"Just when the house is in an unliveable state too..."
"It's not as bad as you think."
"Wasn't it damaged in the assault?"
"You... didn't see for yourself?"
"I was busy."
Thomas sighed, figures. "Then you'll be happy to know it's in good enough shape that your documents and flower survived."
Karl perked up at those words.
"And yes" Thomas continued, "I went and picked them up for you. You're welcome."
"Much obliged."
Thomas glowed, feeling a little more forgiven.
The elevator opened to the third floor, which, was surprisingly empty compared to how it was when they left for the lobby. Thomas swivelled his head around cautiously, before finally giving Karl the last piece of military news.
"One last thing..." he started. "About the... three special zoids."
Karl paused mid-step.
"Of the two Ligers, neither was salvageable. Both lost their entire structural integrity."
"And what of the Tiger?"
"Nothing... we found nothing. We found the body of that ex-military but not the zoid he came down with."
Karl breathed in slowly, memory clicking as he slowly turned a possibility around in his head. A creature like that could support its entire bodyweight upon a vertical slope... as well as self-repair extensive chassis damage in less than twelve hours...
Luck of the devil indeed. Karl thought with a smile. No body to be found meant it survived, for nobody could have moved something that size out of the area without the military of the two nations noticing, they had secured the area the moment the crisis was over. However what they might have missed was the Tiger cloak and sneak away.
Karl lowered his head in acknowledgement. Now that it finished what it was created to do, would he ever see it again?
"But more importantly Karl..." Thomas said, lowering his voice, "about the 'other two'..." He glanced around the hall, satisfied Karl was the only one in earshot. "Of the two Ligers, both cores were salvaged."
Karl looked to Thomas, eyebrows raised, understanding the implications but not the extent.
"These cores are to be shared" Thomas continued, still barely higher than a whisper, "One for the Empire and one for the Republic... as a gift of friendship, for their support through this crisis."
Karl nodded, that was a sensible diplomatic step.
"Now, both sides are beginning development on the two cores as a joint project. The Republic requested the mountain-top research data, they're planning to recreate the Liger..." He trailed off, eye suspiciously following a doctor who strolled down the hall past them and waited till he was out of sight. "The Empire, however... are planning something a little more grand."
"What do you mean 'grand'?"
"Remember how I told you the core was created through the fusion of a Liger's and a Geno's?"
"Yes... Oh. The empire is developing that core into a Geno?"
"Now you're getting it." Thomas paused, looking suddenly haughty. "And guess who's been selected to head the project?"
"You?"
"How did you guess?" Thomas smiled brilliantly, happiness etched upon every fibre of his expression.
A smile touched Karl's lips, he felt a surge of pride for his younger brother. "I never realised you were coveted for your zoid development skills as well."
"Not at all!" Thomas exclaimed cheerfully, "they want me for Beek. Those cores only work when linked to External AI circuits!" He suddenly fell silent, his face solemn. "Karl... this is the biggest thing that's ever happened to me..."
Karl nodded, taken aback by the sudden mood change.
"I've always been trying to live up to you... I've never been able to get out of your shadow."
Karl did not respond, this was not something Thomas talked about, but Karl knew.
"But Karl... I think, because of it..." Thomas said, a faint smile touching his lips, "that I finally achieved what I have today."
Karl smiled. Thomas worked hard all his life to become someone more than just 'the younger brother of Karl Schubaltz'. Nobody deserved this more than him.
"Which is why." Thomas continued, a wide grin breaking across his features. "I want you to become the first registered pilot of my new Organoid System!"
A look of surprise touched Karl's features, then quickly changed into a matching smile. "I'll be honoured to accept."
"Well, after your holiday, I should have the program updated enough to register. Come around to Blare Ridge Research Facility, that's where project Fury will take place!"
"Project Fury?"
"Yeah, I came up with the name myself. Pretty catchy isn't it?"
"It's certainly... unique."
"Well during time of development, we'll have you gain practice in a Geno Saurer simulation. When the Fury development confirms the final set up of the cockpit, we'll upgrade your simulator as needed."
"I can hardly wait."
They were walking again, headed to Serenity's room, a smile upon both their lips. They spotted the doctor who passed them in the hallway, exiting from the room, Serenity walked out after him. Upon spotting Karl she bounded over and took a hold of his hand. "Okay! Let's go tour the Republic!"
Thomas gave a start of surprise, Karl sent him an apologetic look, he had forgotten to mention the fact he'll be travelling the whole month. No doubt Thomas had been looking forward to visiting him when off-duty.
"I'll see you... after a month then..." Karl said apologetically, before adding, "I thought I'd try spending this holiday like a real holiday..."
"You should..." Thomas agreed with a smile, "Have fun. After all, this is your special day."
"My holiday?"
"No..." Thomas said, with a look of disbelief.
Karl turned with a start as a soft familiar object landed on his head.
He felt it and to his surprise he realised it was the hat he thought he'd lost. He turned to face Serenity with surprise on his face.
"Happy Birthday Karl." She said reaching up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his bottom lip. "Today you turn thirty."
That's all folks! Its over!
Omg... this is surreal! I did it! I actually did it! I finished something I started!
So a holiday for Karl huh? Buahahaha! I just had a mental image of Karl wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt, shorts and sunburn! I can't stop laughing! xD
-Zoid Data-
This section was created to give readers some idea of the power comparison of each zoid mentioned in the fiction. After all, not everyone has the privilege of having an entire zoid encyclopaedia at one's beck and call.
Berserk Fury
Alliance: Imperial
Pilot: Karl Schubaltz
Weight: 127t
Speed: 340km/h
Main Weaponry: (Power based on a point evaluation system)
Buster Claw - 280
Diffuse Particle Cannon - 250
Electron Shield - 400 def
Strike Laser Claw - 220
Armour defence: 100
Note: Did anyone catch me hinting about this zoid in this chapter? That's what I truly think happened. The fact is this zoid and the Liger Zero share exactly the same components needed for development, the Ultimate X core and the Wild Zi Data. The Ultimate X core, under its description claimed it to be a zoids core plus an organoid system, unique to that of the Berserk Fury and the Liger Zero. The wild Zi Data was just a data cache... possibly of Thomas' Beek data?
Conspiracy Theory: Ok here goes. This "black box organoid system" of the Ultimate X zoids, anyone else think "BEEK!" the moment they saw it? How it makes the zoids talk to their pilots in indistinguishable ways like Beek did to Thomas. My idea was that the black box organoid system was just an upgraded version of Beek. My theory is that Thomas was the developer of the Liger Zero and the Berserk Fury's organoid systems. Because think about it! These two zoids have exactly the SAME CORE as well as the data cache to boot. They share the same Organoid data thus why they recognised similar people as their pilots. Because like I said before, Bit looks an awful lot like Karl's younger days. So imagine that, the Liger stumbles upon a young pilot that looks like Karl but sounds like Van, voice and face recognition goes ding ding ding! Two pilots for the price of one! Same deal with the Fury. It picked up a pilot that looked like Raven but sounded like Rudolf! Think about it! Those zoids must have been trippin! My theory is, that during development, Karl would have been registered as a pilot, and be trained in a Geno Saurer simulator thus giving him his lvl 1 Geno piloting ability, afterwards he would assume the piloting of the Fury thus granting him his lvl 2 Fury pilot title. At some point along the line Raven will be recruited into this due to his pre-existing Geno skills, as will Van who's the Republic's best Liger pilot. Rudolf would probably be registered just 'cause he's the Emperor or his curiosity got the better of him and Thomas is a loyal Imperialist. At some point in time the Liger Zero disappears and starts making rounds in zoid dealerships and the Berserk Fury gets sealed into a metal box and tossed into the ocean, only to end up eventually in their respective locations at the beginning of New Century. Liger Zero with the Blitz team after Dr. Toros buys it from a shady zoid dealer, and Berserk Fury with the Backdraft after it gets fished out.
One last thing: If there's one thing I learnt from Disney, it's that one should leave well enough alone. Badly made sequels destroys everything the original creates. I am still personally recovering from the Mulan 2 fallout, every day I tell myself ten times in the mirror that the Mulan cannon ended with 1 and that the events of Mulan 2 are a part of my hyperactive imagination. Unless a follow-up story could be thought up that matches or surpasses the first in quality, it is an abomination and should not exist! This is why, I will endeavour to leave well enough alone.
Some of you will say "Yay! We hate Disney Sequels!" and others will go "Nooo! We want more!" but all I'll say is. If I write another story, it'll be about the creation of the Ultimate X zoids and how they ultimately end up where they do... however that being said... scientific developments of such a massive scale take on average ten years to finish... and even then it's still the bloody prototype. My point is if I write a sequel, Karl will be over forty. Yeah, that's right, I can totally mind-picture you guys backing away slowly buahahaha!
For those of you who'd then go "How about a fic about their adventures travelling?" I'd have to decline yet again. I can't write anything so plot-less... I'm simply no good at random romantic drabbles. I'm terrible at the two aspects that'd make something like that... Romance and social interactions... and frankly I personally I'm not a fan of Travelling... Why travel when everything you want to see can be seen on Google Earth? So altogether I'd be major fail at writing something like that.
See? It's better if you use your own imagination to fill in the gaps. I've done enough conspiracing.
That being said, if anyone wishes to take my ideas about the creation of the Ultimate X be my guest. Conspiracies are made to be spread!
Actually... I'm not completely unreasonable. If I get a huge influx of people wanting a sequel I will do one. Personally I think sequels are abominations... but who am I to oppose the opinions of the valued readers?