ZOIDS CRUSADERS

EPISODE 1: PARTNER DESTROYED

The sun beamed bright upon the dry desert ground. An almost unbearable heat that nobody welcomed. It was about to get much hotter though for a Zoid battle was imminent. In the distance flew a blue Whale King transport followed by a Hover Cargo on the ground. The Cargo came to a halt but the airborne whale king continued forward about two miles and settled down near a mountain. There was a long moment of silence in the area, neither of the two teams launched their Zoids but instead waited patiently for the Judge Capsule. The Capsule broke orbit and plummeted toward the earth until it crashed hard in the ground. The capsule raised up from the massive crater and opened its hatch to reveal the white robotic judge. He spoke. "The area within a twenty mile radius is now a designated Zoid battlefield. All non personnel must leave the battlefield at one. This is not a drill. Battle mode approved. Area scanned. Battlefield set up. Battle mode 0990. Attention Kaiju team, attention Blazing X team launch your Zoids now. The Kaiju team's hover cargo opened its top hatch and launched a Lightning Sykes and two Saber Tigers.

The Whale King opened its mouth as the Blazing X team readied themselves for the battle. "Attention Tidus, Sasha, and Yuraki. We have to get out there now." The young technical genius, Zut Kunzaki, managed the launching procedures and battle overview alone for the first time. His father usually was there to help but something came up. His father was confident in him, however so he held his head up high.

"Yuraki moving out!" The only female member of the team, Yuraki Jiku, was always the first to launch. She twisted her short, green hair around her index finger as she waited for her teammates.

"Tidus ready to rock!" The cocky yet eager Tidus Zankura pushed the controls forward and sped out of the Whale King's mouth in his Berzerk Fury.

"Sasha Bangzer here! Lets go!" The blue Shield Liger piloted by their ace pilot, Sasha, ran out of the Whale King to join the others. Sasha scratched his head as he observed the opposition. "That Sykes will be the tricky one."

"Tell me about it." Yuraki tensed up with excitement. The judge gave them the okay to fight and the two teams charged. Sasha and Yuraki focused on the Saber Tigers while Tidus and the Berzerk Fury broke formation and engaged in battle. "Get out of my way pussy cat!" Yuraki rammed her opponent then fired continuously till her open's Zoid ceased functioning. She observed Sasha who was battling nearby. The toyed with the Saber Tiger for a moment then pounced. Sparks flew everywhere as Sasha's Shield Liger slashed the missile launcher of it's back.

"Gotta do better than that! I'm through toying with you! Time to put your Zoid on ice." He flipped a switch causing the Ligers mane to stand up generating a power shield around its body. The enemy was helpless without its missile launcher. Sasha charged hard and delivered heavy damage to the Saber Tiger as its pilot screamed over the intercom. "Yea now for the final warrior." He ran his fingers through his spiky brown hair and smiled as he thought about their tenth straight win. The two rushed to aid their comrade against the speed hungry Lightning Sykes.

The battle raged on as Tidus defended against the heavy fire from his opponent. "Can't defend forever. I need to use the shield generators for my finisher." The Lightning Sykes ran circles around the Berzerk Fury. "Zut what should I do!?"

Zut though hard for a moment. "Just wait a second. Sasha and Yuraki are right behind you. Sasha charge the Sykes with your shield attack. Do that a few times to see which direction he dodges to. Yuraki watch the Sykes for a pattern." Sasha complied eagerly and charged full force but the Sykes dodged left easily. They went at it three more times with the same results.

"Alright! Firing pulse cannon!" The Sykes jumped right in the way of her attack and was knocked off its feat.

"Alright I give up just don't wreck my Zoid!" Cried the opposing pilot over the intercom.

"Aaw! I wonted to disable wit." Yuraki exclaimed sarcastically.

"The battle is over! The battle is over! The winner is....the Blazing X team." The judge raised his left arm. "Congratulations on your tenth consecutive win warriors." The capsule closed and the capsule rocketed toward the Judge Satellite in space.

"You fought well. Train yourselves and challenge us again." Tidus in his Berzerk Fury sped toward the Whale King.

"Hey warrior do you need any help?" Sasha asked.

"No thank you. What's your names?"

"I'm Sasha Bangzer. The guy in the Berzerk Fury is Tidus Zankura. And our only female over there, in the Blade Liger, is Yuraki Jiku."

"My name is Vlad. The other two are my brothers, Chad, and Rad."

"Come on guys we have to get back to the base." Zut yelled. The two rushed to the ship.

"Goodbye warriors."

******

About an hour passed as the Blazing X team flew over the grass planes toward their home. Tidus sat in front of his rare Zoid in the maintenance bay. His blond hair glowed under the white lights and his green eyes shined as he starred at his Zoid. "So you feeling good buddy?" The Fury road softly. "Yea I thought so." He hopped up and straightened his wrinkled yellow tee shirt. "I'm gonna grab a bite to eat now so sit tight."

Yuraki crept up behind him and smacked his behind. "Did I hear you say food?" Tidus admired her for a moment and put his arm around her. "I want some noodles." They walked out into the hallway and were greeted by Zut. "Hey Zut what's wrong?"

"Some strange activity is going down fifteen miles north of us. I think the Shadow Knights may be up to something." He wasn't in his normal outfit but instead he wore his battle gear of a black leather bomber jacket with loose fitting black leather pants and a black tee shirt.

"So that's why you're wearing your gear?" Yuraki scratched her head.

"I hope nothing is wrong but we have to go check. Where is Sasha?"

"Right behind you." The four nodded and reentered the maintenance bay.

"Hand me my necklace over by you Sasha." Tidus extended his arm behind him as he laced up his boots. He grabbed the gold necklace with the large X shaped charm. Yuraki stripped down to her undergarments and threw on a tight blue belly shirt with a long blue, split dress and black boots.

"Alright lets go Blade Liger." She got into the cockpit and secured herself in her seat.

"Ready Fury?" Tidus asked. The Fury roared loud.

Zut pulled a small control unit out of the wall and set the auto pilot to increase speed. Sasha slipped his shoes on and threw his gray bolero on over his bright orange tee shirt. "How much longer till we're there?"

"We should be close enough to go by foot or paw or whatever and arrive in one minute. Looks like a raid down there." Zut opened the Whale King's mouth and the three others jetted out when they were low enough. "Get there quick!"

They sped over the planes toward the battlefield. Large explosions could be seen in the distance. Zabats flew over the small base dropping missiles and taking out the small Cannon Tortoises on the ground. "Look everyone we have to shoot down the Zabats! I'll distract the Hellcats to our right while you consent fire above. They broke formation. "Shield attack Liger!" The Shield Liger roared as it collided with the Hellcats. They weren't going to go down that easy however, his friends now had ample time to attack. Tidus activated the charged particle blaster of his Berzerk Fury and it bolted itself to the ground. Zabats dived toward him like kamikaze fighters.

"Either the pilots are dumb or they are self automated Zabats. It doesn't matter! FIRE!" The charged particle blast completely annihilated the Zabats. The charred remains plummeted to the ground and exploded even more upon impact. "Yea!" He yelled in excitement but his celebration was halted by a barrage of missiles.

"Look up there!" Yuraki directed their attention toward the elevated ground surrounding the base. There stood a large army or Gun Snipers armed with Wild Weasel Assault Units. "Shadow Knights no doubt!"

"Too many of them for us. Zut fire at them from the Whale King!"

"Hold it warriors!" A Gun Sniper stepped forward. "We are the brave soldiers of the Shadow Knight organization. You have no business here! Do not try to resist us warriors! We have you surrounded so just leave here now or suffer death!" The pilot sounded quite furious.

"We wont back down!" Sasha exclaimed.

"What are you doing Sasha!?" Zut yelled over the intercom. "We have to pull back!"

"What was that warrior!? You would defy the future rulers of Planet Zi!? Your bravery will the death of you." Gun Snipers directed their attention toward Sasha's Blade Liger.

I've never backed down from anything! But the odds are heavily stacked in their favor. Ooooh! "Damn it!" Sasha charged up the hill with his shield at full power. Missiles cut through the air toward him but he didn't care. The ground erupted and the Shield Liger flew through the air.

"Sasha!" Zut, now back in the Whale King's control room, fired a massive barrage of missiles at the Knights. The others consented their fire as well. The Shield Liger charged once more. Though it had suffered heavy damage Sasha was not willing to give up. The Shield attack barely worked now but he still gave it a try. About thirty missiles flew toward him this time. He knew he didn't stand a chance and in a blink of the eye his ravaged Zoid fell hard off the cliff and onto the tallest building on the base. The ceiling collapsed and the Liger fell through. The impact caused the ground beneath him to give way as his Zoid fell deeper into the basement.

"Sasha!" His teammates cried.

"Now we'll finish off the rest of you punk kids! Attack!"

****Will Sasha make it out of this battle alive? Will his team be wiped out? What's so important in the base that the Shadow Knights are after? Find out in the next chapter.****