Dark Continent
0600 Hours
John Shepherd's favourite place had always been in the cockpit of a Zoid. He'd piloted many different Zoids over the course of his career in the Vinterlands army, but his favourite of them had to be his current Zoid. Fuunsaki, his Evil Pegasus, one of the most powerful machines in the Vinterlands army.
At the moment, it was flying over the bleak grey lands of the Dark Continent, hidden in the pre-dawn darkness. Following behind it was a trio of Storm Tigers, then a flock of Dragon Flies. Despite the conditions, they stayed close to the ground, trying to hide their presence.
Fuunsaki's sensors bleeped, detecting an object ahead. Checking it against the map coordinates he'd been given, John confirmed it as the target. Diving into a valley, his Pegasus and the Storm Tigers closed on a small, barely visible bunker built into the side of a cliff. The Dragon Flies broke away, leaving the others free to attack.
"Fire." John commanded. As one, the squad opened fire on the bunker. Shells, beams and missiles tore through the concrete and steel structure, reducing it to rubble. The Tigers swooped away, while John hovered in front of the ruined structure for a moment, surveying the damage. When he was confident that it was destroyed, he ordered the Zoid to rejoin the others.
He opened a secure channel to Pie's Whale King. "Mission accomplished, sir." He reported. "The bunker has been destroyed. I do not believe our squad was detected before they attacked."
"Excellent work, Major." He replied. "Return to the ship. We'll commence the attack as soon as your squad is ready"
"Yes sir." John replied.
-----
Gate Control Centre
Old City, Dark Continent
0615 Hours
The Gate Control Centre was important to the defences of the city for numerous reasons. Besides controlling the massive gates that provided one of only two known entrances to the city, it was also the hub for control of all external security. The control centre was the hub of a network of external monitoring stations that would provide the city with advance warning of an attack.
Major Kurt Dremmler was the duty commander and, as such, currently in charge of all external defences. He was a stern looking man, tall and of an average build, with short, dark hair that was beginning to grey and bluish-grey eyes. He'd spent all his career thus far in the city's external defence control. Right now he was looking at possibly the biggest dilemma of his career.
He leaned on the back of a technician's seat. "Well?" He asked.
"Nothing sir." The tech replied. "They're now fifteen minutes past check in and not a peep."
"Damn." He swore. The number one monitoring station, which covered the only land approach to the city's front gates, had missed their 0600 check in "And the others?"
"They're still all coming in fine." The tech replied. "No reports of any activity."
"Major!" A tech called form the other end of the control centre. "I've got something!"
He walked over to the station. "Well?"
"The IR, Radar, MAD and Seismic sensors at the far end of the valley are going nuts, sir." He reported as Kurt examined his screens. "We've got something coming. Looks big." The sensors showed a trio of large 'blobs' and numerous smaller ones, all moving slowly towards the valley that lead to the front gates of the city.
"Let's see..." Kurt leaned over and flicked several switches. The display went through various sensory options before switching over to visual. A video display came on, swinging around an arc to locate the source of the disturbance. It stopped, focusing on a large, blurry lump. The camera refocussed, zooming back to reveal a massive from lumbering slowly forwards. It was a Zoid, with a huge body supported by four thick legs, and a long neck topped with a comparatively tiny head. Four massive cannons sprouted from its side.
"What is it, sir?" The tech asked.
"Ultrasaurus." He replied, nervously. "One of the biggest damn Zoids there is." The camera swung around to show another Zoid next to it, a hunched-over, gorilla like machine. "And an Iron Kong." A pair of Gustavs, both heavily laden, followed them.
"Sir?"
Before he could reply, the Iron Kong stopped and the fired its two back-mounted missiles. Behind the Ultrasaurus, a pair of smoke trails indicated that there was a second Kong. "Sound the alarm!" He shouted. "We are under attack!"
-----
"Wha? Alarm?" Rick muttered to himself as he sat up in bed. He'd just woken up to the sound of sirens blaring in his room and, he suspected, in everyone else's rooms as well. He hopped out of his bed and pulled a shirt on, and then knocked loudly on the door. "Hey!" he shouted. "What's going on out there?"
There was no reply. "Hey!" He shouted, knocking harder. "I need an answer in here!"
Nothing.
"Dangit." He muttered. He grabbed his Zoid pilot suit from his cupboard and hastily put it on. It was what he always went for in an emergency, and it usually worked. He also quietly wished Rose had let him and Sandra keep their guns. They probably would be very useful about now.
Finishing with the suit, he opened the door with the card that Rose had left behind. Slipping out into the corridor, he could see that there was nobody around, but he could hear the sound of troops running in the background, as well as the ever-present alarms. He could also hear a banging sound from Sandra's room. Yeah, she was awake, he thought. And probably thrilled at being woken up so early in the morning by the sirens too.
He swiped the card through the reader, then opened the door. Sandra was standing there in her pilot suit, glaring evilly at him. "'Bout frelling time, you big tool." She muttered.
"Sorry took so long." He replied with a grin. "I would have come earlier, but I needed to get some clothes on."
"Thank you for small things." She muttered. "So any idea what the frell is happening?"
"None whatsoever." Rick replied. "I haven't heard a thing."
"And has anyone come for you yet?"
"Nope." Rick replied. "There doesn't appear to be anyone around. I think they've all run off to do... well, whatever it is they do."
"Great." Sandra replied. "The carpet hits the fan and we're left here."
"You don't think this could be something to do with Vic?" Rick asked.
"Naw, if it was, Rose would have dragged us out of here by now o use as human shields or feed us a fresh load of carpet." She replied. "Besides, I don't think even Vic could set off this many alarms."
"So what do we do now?" Rick asked.
"Well, three plans occur to me." Sandra said. "The first is that we do the sensible thing and stay in our rooms and wait for someone to tell us what's happening. The big disadvantage with this plan is so far they've been reluctant to explain anything to us, and I suspect they're not going to start now."
"Besides, us and sensible just doesn't work." Rick replied. "So option number two?"
"We grab the first passer by and shout at him until he tells us something." She continued. "Problem here is that I doubt they'd take well to shouting. And they have guns while we don't"
"Not good." Rick replied. "So what's behind door number three?"
"We sneak off and try to find someone in charge like Rose or De Leon-"
"De Lyon."
"Whatever. Once we find them, we shout at them until they tell us what's going on."
"Funnily enough, that's what I used to do to my editor." Rick replied. "So I say we go for it."
The two of them slipped down the hallway, trying to remain quiet as they went. The sound of marching soldiers ahead alerted them, leaving them to duck back around a corner and wait in silence as they went past. Finally, Sandra spoke. "So, Rick, what happened when you shouted at your editor? Did you get a result?"
"Well, I don't have a comics job right now, do I?" Rick replied.
-----
Sel was surprised when she was woken by the alarms. Alarms like that simply didn't go off. The only time they did was during a drill. The only other alternative was… No, it couldn't be, she thought. Somebody slammed her door opened and shouted. "We're under attack! Briefing, now!" Before she could say anything, he slammed it shut, presumably to move onto shouting in the next door.
An attack on the city. They'd probably find some way to trace this all back to her. Great. If she wasn't done for before, she would be now.
She rose and dressed as quickly as possible, trying to reach a passably presentable state given the circumstances. Stepping outside, she saw Matt, and the rest of her squad waiting for her.
"Anyone know what's happening?" Bob began, for some reason looking the best of them.
"City under attack, I thought you heard." Alex replied, looking by far the worst.
"Strange that they've let us out." Matt commented. "Given that we've been under a virtual house arrest since we got back."
"Things must be bad." Alex replied while yawning. "Either that or it's just a ploy to get us to confess to something."
"Let's go." Sel simply replied. She didn't want to think about the implications of what may be happening. If it was an attack on the city then someone in the outside world must have discovered its location. The most likely way for them to do that would be through the Quentin journal, which it had been her job to hunt down and eliminate any remaining copies of. So she would probably somehow end up with the blame for this.
Of course, any attack on the city was a bad thing. That their safe sanctuary, their haven from the outside world was under threat was more important then her own concerns about her future. She mentally scolded herself for being so selfish in at a time like this. She still couldn't shake the feeling that, regardless of what happened she was in trouble.
The briefing room was packed to capacity when they arrived. She and her squad managed to find seats at the back. Listening carefully she could make out snatches of conversation between the gathered pilots. "Attack… outsiders… bombardment… enemies at the gates… giant Zoid… Kandrak…"
She also noticed that Bekka was still sulking and silent, as she'd been since they got back. She still felt bad about that. Bekka had been under a lot of pressure not to mention her relationship to Rick at all. Sel had requested that she do that out of concern for both Bekka's and her own careers. She'd figured that if the worst came to the worst, Bekka, Alex and Bob could probably salvage their careers by playing nice and lumping her with all the blame. Still, it was hard on her, being forced apart form him by military regulations.
She'd never asked how 'involved' she and Rick were. She felt it'd be a little tasteless to do such now.
The crowd fell silent as a woman took the podium at the front of the room. She instantly recognised her; while of average height, she had an athletic build and firm body that belied her years. She had shoulder-length brown hair and dark brown eyes. A pair of diagonal scars ran down her right cheek, scars similar to the face paint designs that Sel preferred. She wore a standard uniform, an officer's cap now perched on the podium.
It had always surprised Sel that the command of her mission wasn't given to her. Maybe they just wanted to keep her at home for just such an emergency… like if she failed. Sel quickly glanced at Bekka; the other woman's face betrayed no emotion at seeing her mother addressing the crowd.
"Listen up, people." She shouted. "What you are hearing is true. Our city has come under attack." There was a round of murmurs form the crowd. "At the moment, the main gate is under attack from a trio of heavy Zoids." Behind him, a holographic map activated, showing the layout of the outside of the city. A trio of red dots appeared, showing the position of the enemy Zoids. They were at the end of the Twilight alley, essentially shooting straight down it at the front gates.
"The enemy has been identified as an Ultrasaurus and a pair of Iron Kongs." She continued. A pair of rotating images replaced the map, showing the Ultrasaurus and iron Kong, highlighting various features such as weapons. "At present, they're attacking from standoff range with their long-range cannons and missiles. Additionally, there are a pair of Gustavs stationed with them, probably providing ammo reloads. In turn, they are being escorted by a number of smaller Zoids, probably medium size units like Command Wolves."
There was another murmur around the crowd, with mutters about taking on an Ultrasaurus. Somebody in front of Sel said something about needing a Deathsaurer to stop it. She winced inwardly.
"In addition, our own air force is being tied up by the enemy's air support. They have a number of Reddlers, a trio of Battle Cougars and at least one Evil Pegasus. None of our pilots have been able to break away from the fight to get a shot at the enemy. Thus we need to take them out on the ground."
"Sir." Major De Lyon spoke. "How are we meant to approach an Ultrasaurus? Especially when it's bombarding our front gates? Our troops would be slaughtered before thye could attack."
Before she could reply, somebody stood. Sel recognised her immediately. Rose O'Bannon, one of her crèche siblings and fellow officers. She and Rose both served directly under Major De Lyon. She'd suspected that Rose had also been surprised when Sel had gotten the assignment, but at least hadn't shown it. "I have an idea, sir."
"Yes captain?" the commander asked.
"My special unit, sir. We could launch them out the top Reddler launch bay and then flank the enemy position." Rose explained. "If I can distract them for long enough, they might need to break off the bombardment to deal with us. That way the rest of the army can make it out the front gates and begin their attack."
"Good thinking, captain." She replied, narrowing her eyes to look directly at Sel. "I'm giving you the go-ahead for your plan."
Sel could tell that Rose would be beaming. The two had once been friends, but had grown apart over the years. The biggest problem was Rose herself. She was, in Sel's opinion, incredibly self-centred and self-important. She'd probably been looking for an opportunity to do something like this just to prove how good she was.
"Everyone, I want your Zoids at the elevators in fifteen! With any luck, the front doors should last that long! Go! Now!"
As one, the room's occupants stood to leave. As Sel stood, she heard Major De Lyon shouting for her form across the room. "Captain Magyari!"
She turned and saluted. "Yes sir."
"You unit has been assigned as a reserve support unit for the core and the access elevators." He began. "I'm returning control over lieutenants Kay and Carlyle's squads to you, since you're back with us."
"Yes sir." Sel replied. Translation: You're still under suspicion, so you're being left behind where we can keep an eye on you.
Rose walked past her. "Don't feel to bad about it, Sel." She said. "We all must do our duties." Translation: I'm not you and I'm loving it.
Point scoring as normal. "You be careful out there." She replied.
"Oh, I'll be fine." She said, and left.
"What's happening, captain?" Matt asked as the rest of the squad joined her.
"We've been assigned to reserve duty." Sel replied. "I suspect we're still not to be trusted, even under these circumstances."
"It's no problem to me." Alex quipped. "I wasn't in any rush to get stepped on by an Ultrasaurus anyway."
"They didn't tell you anything about Rick or Sandra, did they?" Matt asked.
"Sadly, no." Sandra replied. "I'm just going to assume that, for the moment, they're safe."
-----
Rick and Sandra were lost.
The pair of them had set out to find someone in authority to shout a few questions at. Instead they'd gotten sidetracked with trying to avoid the local authorities and ended up wandering around aimlessly trying to find a route that got them to someone important, while avoiding patrols of people with guns.
So they'd gotten lost very quickly.
It was relatively easy to do. They weren't in the city proper right now, rather in a huge complex that included barracks, briefing rooms, armouries, Zoid hangers and the massive Whale King shipyards. In between all that was a literal maze of corridors, hallways, gantries, stairways, balconies and tunnels that were more then just a bit confusing. The fact that there were people running everywhere wasn't any real help. Rose's card gave them plenty of access, which also meant that there were more options for getting lost.
Sandra's biggest fear was the fact that she had no idea how high up they were. She suspected that they might have somehow slipped into the nightmarish maze that was the sub-levels that existed between the new and old cities. She'd recently been there while searching for Vic, and had no desire to return.
"Hokay, how about this one?" Rick asked, indicating to a heavy metal door at the end of their current hallway.
"Why not?" Sandra replied, shrugging. "We've tried just about every other damned tooly damned door we've stumbled across. Why not stick our necks out a little more?" She added. "I mean, we're probably already completely tooled regardless of whatever happens, so why not throw ourselves in a little deeper?"
"If I recall, this was your idea." Rick said.
"Yeah. I should know never to listen to a thing I say."
"So open it?"
"Why not?" Sandra said. "We might just find something. Probably Vic at this rate."
They stepped out onto a gantry, overlooking a Zoid bay. Or, more to the point, a series of Zoid bays. They stretched off, eventually curving around and out of sight. The gantry was connected to a whole mess of other gantries, as well as cranes, platforms and other such industrial junk.
"Shall we proceed?" Rick asked.
"Yeah, why not?" Sandra replied. "I guess if we just look hard enough, we may be able to find someone to shout at… and then maybe a way down from here."
"Could be hard to find someone shoutable. It looks a bit busy right now."
The bay below them, as well as all the other ones they could see, was buzzing with activity. Deadborders, Darkhorns and Heldigunners were being prepared to deploy, or moving onto massive elevators that were in turn lifting them up into the ceiling, presumably transporting them up into the old city. Numerous technicians milled around, loading Zoids, loading weapons, checking Zoids and the like, while pilots scurried into their machines.
"See anyone you recongise?" Sandra asked.
"Maybe if we looked out for a Heldy with a Shot cannon." Rick replied. "That's a start."
"Uh, Rick, not to burst your bubble, but…" She indicated to an elevator going past them. There were three Heldigunners on the back of it, all of which had Shot Cannons. "Its all Dark Zoids here. We're going to find bog all."
"Fignuts." Rick swore.
"Come on. We may find something."
They slowly walked across the catwalk, looking down into the various bays. "What do you think is going on?" Rick asked.
"It's too early in the morning to be this busy." Sandra replied. "Judging form the sirens, it must be an attack."
"Out here? Before breakfast?"
"Well, I can't think of a better explanation." Sandra said.
"Great. An attack." Rick replied. "And now I'm hungry."
"Don't worry about it. We're deep, deep underground. Aside form getting a million tons of rock dropped on our heads, what's the worst that could happen?"
"You're so reassuring Sandra."
"I try." She said and smiled.
They walked in silence for a minute, passing several more bays before Rick spoke. "There's something unusual." He said, pointing towards a lift. Sandra followed his finger, then spotted the lift in question. Rather then the usual Dark Zoids, it was carrying a silvery-grey Blade liger, and a quartet of black and grey Greatsabers. The Bladey, she noticed, had a CP-15 pod on its back. She'd meant to get one for Spud for a while.
"That's something you don't see every day." She said.
"Notice that they're still black." Rick added, then laughed.
"Good call." She replied. "Now let's find someone important."
"Actually, I think we just did." Rick said. The next bay along had a Darkhorn, Deadborder and three Heldigunners being prepped. One of the Heldies, she noticed, had a CP-07 cannon on its back.
"So what?" She replied. "its just another buncha Dark Zoids."
"Yeah, but check out the splash of colour." He explained. "Over in the corner of the bay." A trio of blue Zoids stood out from the general greyness of everything else; a Command Wolf, a Gunsniper and a Shield Liger.
"Spud!" Sandra shouted excitedly. Rick glared at her. "Um, I mean, my Shield Liger. And, yeah. Your Command Wolf."
"Want to check them out?"
"Sounds like the proverbial plan."
They found an access ladder a bit further on that dropped down into the bay. After a zillion or so rung decent, they arrived on the bay floor, to be greeted by a set of angry glares. Sel was talking to another pair of pilots; a tanned, muscular-looking woman and a vaguely nondescript man, both of whom were looking a might annoyed at the intrusion.
"I'll handle this." Sel began. "I'll catch up with you two in the city." The other two saluted and walked off, while Sel walked over to the pair of them. "Can I just ask one question?"
"Shoot." Rick said. Sandra rolled her eye.
"What the hell do you two think you're doing?"
"We're trying to find out what's going on." Sandra replied. "We were woken up by sirens and the sound of people running. Nobody wanted to tell us anything, so we got enterprising and decided to find out for ourselves."
"What's happening is that we're under attack!" Sel hissed. "And the pair of you are probably best off finding a nice quiet place to hide and try not to get into any trouble until it's all over." She looked around for a second. "Right now, I'm in it up to my neck. The last thing I need is you two making things worse for me."
"So who's attacking us?" Sandra asked.
"Some tools with an Ultrasaurus and some Kongs" Sel replied.
"And you have no idea who?"
"No." She admitted. "Not that it makes much difference, since my company's assigned to garrison duty rather then the actual attack. So we're not likely to see any action anyway."
"Right." Rick said. "So… you don't need us."
"No." Sel said, firmly.
"Okay, how about a pair of tactical advisers who have a lot of experience fighting a diverse array of opponents?" Sandra asked.
Sel looked at the pair of them. "The Zoid lift can be controlled from a hand-held remote stored in the control panel over there." She said, quietly. "Wait about five minutes after we've gone, and I'll send it back down for you." She glanced at the others. "I'll make sure the other squads aren't looking. And if you're caught, you did this entirely of your own choice."
"Thanks for that, Sel." Sandra said. "Oh yeah, one more thing."
"What?"
"You said 'tool'."
Sel stopped. "Did I?"
-----
The black and green Reddler John was casing broke away from him just as he squeezed the trigger. The trio of energy beams from Fuunsaki's three projector horns blazed through the air where it had been moments before. Cursing the enemy pilot, he set off after it. His opponent, however, had already fired his pod-mounted boosters, and was getting away from him.
A beep from the communicator momentarily distracted him. "Shepard here-" He began and then was cut off as a shot hit Fuun's hindquaters. "Just a second." He pulled away, leaving the attacking Reddler behind. "Yes?"
Pie's face appeared on the screen. "What's the situation there, John?"
"Captain Hugh's force is continuing the bombardment of the enemy fortress. We have no firm figures, but he believes that something is going to give within the next fifteen or so minutes. We've also completely occupied their air force."
"Excellent!" He replied, grinning. "And their army?"
"No sign beyond the Reddlers, sir." John reported. "But we suspect they're hiding behind the doors, probably looking for an opportunity to charge."
"Good, good." Pie said. "My force is in position now to begin our attack. John, I want you to join me in the invasion of the city. No sense in having my best officer waiting on captain Hugh's breakthrough."
"Yes, colonel." He replied. "I'll be with you momentarily."
"Good, good. I look forward to it."
He closed the signal and sent Fuun soaring upwards. Below he could see captain Hugh's Battlesaurus, the two Iron Kongs and their escort of Strike Zillas. They should be able to mount a breakthrough without him or, at the very least, hold off the enemy long enough for Pie to get through. The Evil Pegasus swooped over the mountain and down to the other side where Pie's own group was waiting.
The Thunder Trictops headed up the group. Claws, Sabers, Zoidzillas, Strike Zillas and Evil Scorpions trailed behind it. It was a brilliant plan, he thought to himself. He'd devised it himself, based on the material found within the Quentin Journal. One force attacks the front gates and draws out their army, while another takes advantage of an unknown weakness.
Fuunsaki landed next to the Thunder Trictops. Ahead of the pair of them was a pile of rocks barely visible amongst the rest of the cliff. Time, erosion, weather and the movement of other loose debris had resulting in them blending in very well with the rest of the landscape.
"Well, this is it, John." Pie said, smiling. "Let's go." The Thunder Trictops slowly marched forwards, its two horn-drills spinning. The tips reached the rock wall and dig in, sending chips of stone flying.
-----
The top doors to the Reddler launch bay opened, revealing a dull, grey sky above. Rose's Blade Liger crouched at the end of the ramp, the four Greatsabres waiting behind it. A tech's face popped up on a comms screen. "Uh, captain?" The tech asked. "You sure about this? I mean, uh, we've never done this before. I mean, with a land-based Zoid…"
"Yes, I am." She replied. "So stop worrying and just launch me."
"Y-yes, captain." The nervous technician replied.
She leaned back in the command seat, then flicked a couple of switches on the control panel. The Blade Liger's rear boosters deployed, but didn't activate. At least, she didn't want them to yet. "Launch!" She shouted into the communicator.
Below her, the Magnetic Catapult activated, using a series of powerful electromagnets to shoot the Zoid out of the launch bay like a round form a railgun. Leaping into the air over the end of the bay, she fired the Zoid's boosters, giving it extra momentum as it landed on the top of the mountain. Behind her, the first Great Zaber shot out from the bay, activating its flight system to give an additional boost.
The Liger reached to the edge of the mountain and leaped again, spreading its twin blades out as it went. The combination of speed, blades, boosters and the catapult enabled it to leap a considerable distance, sailing down to the ridges above the twilight valley. Behind her, the Great Zabers used their flight packs to cross the gap and land behind her.
"Nadia, status?" She shouted into the comms system.
"We're all down." Her pale skinned, dark haired second replied. "All systems functional."
"Good. Assume Triangle formation on me." She throttled back the Liger's engines so she was matching speed with the Tigers. Despite their limited flight capability, they were somewhat slower then she was, so maintaining the formation was important. She didn't want to get too far ahead of them.
Checking the sensors, she could see the enemy group ahead. They were looking down the valley, not at the ridges above it. Reasonable, she thought. They probably didn't know we had any high-speed Zoids. The Liger and Tigers were recent additions, acquired from a group who had been trying to hide out from, well, who cared who at the far end of the Dark continent. Rose had lead the force that had dealt with them, ensuring that they wouldn't need their Zoids any more. She'd claimed the Blade liger as her own. It far better suited her then a clumsy Darkhorn or Deadborder.
The sensors began to ID the various enemies. Iron Kongs, Gustavs, Strike Zillas… Heck, she could even see the white form of the Ultrasaurus… probably the Battlesaurus type then… hmm… The two Gustavs were parked behind the Kongs. She suspected that they were feeding the Kongs with a continuous supply of new missiles. Good plan, she thought. Only one drawback.
"Nadia, Rena, I want the pair of you to hit the Gustavs. I'll clear a path for you."
"Yes, captain" They replied in stereo.
Firing the Blade Liger's boosters again, she dashed in front of the Tigers to a considerable degree. Cecking the enemy's positions, she noticed the location of a pair of the Strikezillas. Perfect, she thought. And a great way to make an entrance.
The Liger leaped off the side off the ridge, firing its boosters and extending its blades as it went. It sailed past a pair of Strike Zillas, neatly decapitating them as it went. She landed, the two headless Zoids coming down behind her.
"Hello boys." She said. As one, the enemy turned to face her Liger. "Glad to see I have your attention." She broke into a run, just as the enemy began firing. Deploying the forward shield, she smiled with some degree of satisfaction as most of the rounds bounced off it. Breaking sharply to one side, she sprayed a trailing Strike Zilla with rounds from the CP-15 cannon. "That's right, just keep on following me."
Nadia and Rena's Zabers leaped over the ridge, firing their boosters as they went. As they sailed through the air, both deployed their back-mounted missile pods and fired. The missiles arced over, striking the ammo-laden cargo trailers of the two Gustavs. Both burst into spectacular explosions, one of the Iron Kongs staggered by the blast.
She charged towards the Battlesaurus, locking the missile pod onto its starboard cannon array. Before she could strike, however, the ground in front of her erupted. A pair of Evil Scorpions emerged, opening fire with their tail-mounted cannons. She hastily raised the shield and then dropped the blades out to her side as she went. One of the Scorpions ducked enough to let her past, while the other lost its tail to her blade.
"Clever bastards." She said to herself, then opened up the comms system. "Everyone, watch your step! They've buried Evil Scorps around the place." She fired on the damaged Scorpion, shaking it with her hits.
"Captain, how long do we have to hold them for?" Nadia asked, looking more then a bit worried. At these odds, who wouldn't be?
"As long as it takes." She replied.
-----
Unlike the other Zoid bays, this one was deserted. The few technicians on site had been moved off to deal with other Zoids, while the security troops were preparing for an invasion of the city. It was silent and empty save for the sole Zoid occupying it.
A supposedly secure vent that hypothetically shouldn't have gone anywhere rattled a few times. And then crashed open, flying a good distance to the floor. For a minute, everything was silent, then a figure emerged.
Vic Hagen looked up at the massive bay. Unlike the other Zoid bays she'd passed, this one was fully enclosed, with four complete walls that stretched al the way up to the cavern roof. She'd only gotten in here through a number of long-forgotten passageways leading from the maze of tunnels and sub-levels below the old city. Most people would have been lost in that mess, but she'd been… guided here, almost as if by a voice in the back of her head telling her where to go. Now she knew what it was.
The bay was occupied by the massive form of a blood-red Deathsaurer. Its head was bowed, and its red eyes were dim as if it was deactivated, or asleep. Numerous cables were connected to the back of it, trailing off into the ceiling. However, it looked to be complete and, more to the point, ready to be used.
She looked up to look it in its dull eyes. "I'm here." She muttered to herself, or maybe to the Zoid.