One for the Road – Chapter 2: Breakdown.
By Neev
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"Jack! Breakfast is ready!" Kelly Tasker yelled in the general direction of Jack's tent. There was no response from Jack. Kelly glanced across the small camp table at Chris. Chris just shrugged.
"He always is a bit hard to wake up," she commented. Kelly frowned and nodded.
"Yeah, but…"
"It just requires a little finesse," insisted Chris. She turned around and yelled at Jack's tent. "If you don't hurry the hell up, I'm gonna eat your food, Jack!"
There was only silence from the tent and Chris turned back to her sister, beginning to look worried. Kelly was half way to standing up when there were sounds of movement from within the tent. There were some general grumbling sounds and Jack's voice floated out of the tent, as clam and controlled as ever.
"Get your hands off my food, woman."
Kelly grinned with relief and sat back down.
"Get out here then!" yelled Chris in response to Jack's comment. She too looked relieved that Jack was apparently back to his normal self.
Jack made his appearance moment later. He looked slightly rumpled but not, Kelly noted with further relief, as dead tired as he had yesterday. It must have been a passing thing then. At least, she certainly hoped it was. He seemed to be his normal self as he sat down the end of the table and swatted Chris' roving hands away from his portion of breakfast.
"We have another battle today," said Chris several minutes later, once the trio had finished.
"Already?" asked Jack. "They're just queuing up to be beat by us, aren't they?"
"Yep. The Nightstalker team this time," Chris replied. "The battle is going to be late in the day, for obvious reasons."
"Trying to give themselves an advantage, eh? They must be worried," commented Jack. He seemed totally unaffected by yesterday. The way he was acting it might as well have never happened. Kelly glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, trying to tell if he was really feeling well or just faking it. Where those lines on his face signs of fatigue? Kelly couldn't tell. Jack had always been hard to read and today was no exception. Of course, that meant Jack was acting like he normally did, but then again he had been fine for most of yesterday too. Until after the battle. Kelly bit her lips, hoping her worries were unfounded.
----
The sun was setting as the two teams arrived at the battlefield. The clouds, dyed red and orange and yellow by the setting sun, seemed to be on fire. They seemed to be burning and melting into the red-orange of the rock formations off to the right side of the battlefield. Opposite to the rock formations and taking up over half the field was a thick forest. In the slowly fading light the leaves looked as if they had been dipped in gold and the whole forest seemed to almost glow. Between the forest and the rocks was a thin, 400-foot wide strip of mostly flat ground, dotted with rocks and a few small bushes.
"What type of Zoids are they using?" asked Jack.
"Ahh…Two Helcats and a Stealth Viper, I think," said Chris after a moment of thought.
"They made a good choice of battlefield," commented Kelly as she surveyed the field from the open cockpit of her Lightning Saix.
"Yeah, the forest may be a problem," Chris said, glaring in the general direction of the forest.
"So we don't let them get to the forest," said Jack with a shrug. "We'll rush them when the battle starts and cut them off. They'll be easy to pick off if we can pin them against the rocks over there."
"Right." Chris settled herself in the seat of her Lightning Saix and closed the cockpit. Kelly followed suit. For a moment Jack starred at the three suits that had just taken up their positions at the opposite end of the strip of flat ground, then he too closed the cockpit of his machine and prepared for battle.
The judge capsule hit near the base of the rocks, midway between both teams. Jack grinned as he felt the shock of the landing shake the ground, traveling up the legs of his Zoid as a faint vibration. All thought of yesterday, or anything else for that matter, was gone as his mind focused on the battle about to begin. Nothing else in the world mattered.
Long years of practice kept Jack from tensing up as the Judge deliver its little spiel. He watched it with eager, hawk-like eyes as he waited for it to finish. Even years of battling couldn't keep him from becoming excited though. If anything, his excitement was heightened. Adrenaline flooded through him as the Judge neared the end of its speech.
"Ready? FIGHT!"
The Lightning Saix were off and running in a split second. Long years of practice had made them a formidable team. They didn't need to talk to each other anymore; they knew their places and roles. Jack took the lead as the three machines sped across the flat in their customary single file line. There was a grin on Jack's face that was rarely seen off the battlefield. Jack knew his role all right. Nothing would ever change that. He didn't care about the suddenly light-headed feeling or the press of the high G- forces or the fact that he shouldn't have been feeling them as badly as he was. He was a warrior and he reveled in his battles.
The three Lightning Saix headed along the edge of the forest as they neared their top speed, still in single file. The Nightstalker team was slower, but had less distance to cover and the two teams converged at the very edge of the forest. They were close enough to it that Jack could feel, very faintly, the occasional leaf-covered branch hit the side of his Zoid. Less than a dozen yards away from him the lead Helcat tried to escape into the forest. What a foolish thought from that pilot. Jack smirked and fired the twin beam cannons mounted on the back of his Zoid. The Helcat stumbled and jumped back, damaged but not out of the fight yet.
The three Lightning Saix broke file as the other team retreated back into the flat land. Jack had to admit that the other team did work well together. The Stealth Viper covered the retreat of the two Helcats, while at the same time making another bid for the trees. Kelly broke away from the group to cut it off and Jack realized her mistake almost immediately, as did Chris.
"Kelly! Don't slow -!" Chris cursed as her sisters Lightning Saix slowed to keep from overrunning the Stealth Viper. A few well-placed shots from the second, undamaged Helcat slammed into Kelly's Lightning Saix. It shuddered and slowly fell over on its side. Meanwhile, the Stealth Viper made its way into the forest.
"I got the Helcats," yelled Chris over the comlink. Jack just nodded and turned his machine sharply and racing into the forest after the Viper. As he did so his vision began to blur for a second, going gray around the edges. Jack very nearly lost the Stealth Viper then, but he ignored the stab of panic that went through him and concentrated on navigating through the trees.
Part of him was glad that he was in the forest though. The sun had almost set, making the tress indistinct and hard to travel through, forcing the Lightning Saix to slow down. He felt less light-headed now, allowing him to concentrate on the Stealth Viper, just barely visible through the trees on his left. The machines were on even footing now. The Viper could navigate through the forest easily without dropping its speed, while Jack was rather restricted. The equilibrium was only temporary though. The sun would set completely soon, allowing the Viper's infrared gear to come into play. Jack knew he had to get to the other machine before that happened.
Then, fate seemed to step in. The trees ended suddenly and both machines burst out of the forest into a narrow strip of clear ground. They had come to the shores of a large lake secluded in the forest. Jack's grin turned predatory. It wasn't much space, but it was enough. The Lightning Saix turned, its feet crunching on the gravel of the beach, and headed towards the Stealth Viper. At the same time the Viper made a bid for the water, but Jack cut it off. The Lightning Saix was using more of its speed now and Jack was feeling light headed again, but he didn't care. Victory was almost his and damned if he was going to stop now.
Seeing its first escape route cut off, the Stealth Viper spun and headed down the beach, with the Lightning Saix close on its heels. Jack fired the twin beam cannon at it but his aim was off – why couldn't he see straight? – and the Viper remained unharmed. Then, suddenly the Viper made a sharp turn and tried to head into the forest. Jack's eyes narrowed and he sped up, intent on cutting it off. The Lightning Saix came along side the Stealth Viper. Jack, hands clenched on the controls, grinned. He had the Viper now. It didn't matter that he was feeling dizzy and light-headed. It didn't matter that his vision was going dark again. He was going to win. Nothing else mattered. His eyes were narrowed with concentration, but still sparkling with anticipation as he wrenched the controls to the left in a sharp turn…
And then, everything went black.
The Stealth Viper came to a halt and its pilot watched with wide eyes as the Lightning Saix that had been about to demolish him crashed headlong into the trees. There was a sickening crunch and shrill metallic screech as the left leg of the Lightning Saix was sheered off by one of the trees. Inside, Jack, still unconscious, was tossed around like a rag doll in a gale and slammed against the side of cockpit. The machines own momentum carried it further though, carving a deep furrow in the sand and rocks of the small beach. It came to a halt lying on its side, looking like an animal gunned down by a hunter.
----
The first thing that Jack became aware of was the insistent beeping of the Lightning Saix's frozen command system. Then he became aware that someone was frantically shaking his shoulders and calling out his name. Slowly, Jack opened his eyes, trying to make sense of everything. Why was Kelly shaking him? And why was his command system beeping at him? And what about…
"Jack!" Kelly attached herself to his neck in an awkward hug and Jack winced. His chest hurt horribly and she really wasn't helping much. Noticing his discomfort, Kelly pulled back, smiling with happiness, now that he was awake again.
"What happened? The battle…" began Jack slowly. He felt tired and his brain didn't quite want to function. Kelly's smile slipped.
"We lost."
"What?" Jack tried to sit up and made a choked sound as pain exploded in his chest and side. He suddenly felt chokes and unable to breath. One hand pressed to his mouth, he doubled over in a fit of coughing that sent stabs of pain through his chest. Once it passed he leaned back in his seat; eyes closed and feeling utterly drained of any energy he might have had.
"Jack…?"
Jack opened his eyes and focused on Kelly again. It took more effort than he really liked to get his eyes to give him a clear image of Kelly's frightened face.
"What?"
"There's blood on your lips."
"What?" Jack ran his fingers over his lips, feeling something warm and sticky there. He pulled his hand back and stared at the little spots of red on his fingertips. He stared for a long time, then his hand dropped to his side and he closed his eyes again with a tired, shuddering sigh.
By Neev
----
"Jack! Breakfast is ready!" Kelly Tasker yelled in the general direction of Jack's tent. There was no response from Jack. Kelly glanced across the small camp table at Chris. Chris just shrugged.
"He always is a bit hard to wake up," she commented. Kelly frowned and nodded.
"Yeah, but…"
"It just requires a little finesse," insisted Chris. She turned around and yelled at Jack's tent. "If you don't hurry the hell up, I'm gonna eat your food, Jack!"
There was only silence from the tent and Chris turned back to her sister, beginning to look worried. Kelly was half way to standing up when there were sounds of movement from within the tent. There were some general grumbling sounds and Jack's voice floated out of the tent, as clam and controlled as ever.
"Get your hands off my food, woman."
Kelly grinned with relief and sat back down.
"Get out here then!" yelled Chris in response to Jack's comment. She too looked relieved that Jack was apparently back to his normal self.
Jack made his appearance moment later. He looked slightly rumpled but not, Kelly noted with further relief, as dead tired as he had yesterday. It must have been a passing thing then. At least, she certainly hoped it was. He seemed to be his normal self as he sat down the end of the table and swatted Chris' roving hands away from his portion of breakfast.
"We have another battle today," said Chris several minutes later, once the trio had finished.
"Already?" asked Jack. "They're just queuing up to be beat by us, aren't they?"
"Yep. The Nightstalker team this time," Chris replied. "The battle is going to be late in the day, for obvious reasons."
"Trying to give themselves an advantage, eh? They must be worried," commented Jack. He seemed totally unaffected by yesterday. The way he was acting it might as well have never happened. Kelly glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, trying to tell if he was really feeling well or just faking it. Where those lines on his face signs of fatigue? Kelly couldn't tell. Jack had always been hard to read and today was no exception. Of course, that meant Jack was acting like he normally did, but then again he had been fine for most of yesterday too. Until after the battle. Kelly bit her lips, hoping her worries were unfounded.
----
The sun was setting as the two teams arrived at the battlefield. The clouds, dyed red and orange and yellow by the setting sun, seemed to be on fire. They seemed to be burning and melting into the red-orange of the rock formations off to the right side of the battlefield. Opposite to the rock formations and taking up over half the field was a thick forest. In the slowly fading light the leaves looked as if they had been dipped in gold and the whole forest seemed to almost glow. Between the forest and the rocks was a thin, 400-foot wide strip of mostly flat ground, dotted with rocks and a few small bushes.
"What type of Zoids are they using?" asked Jack.
"Ahh…Two Helcats and a Stealth Viper, I think," said Chris after a moment of thought.
"They made a good choice of battlefield," commented Kelly as she surveyed the field from the open cockpit of her Lightning Saix.
"Yeah, the forest may be a problem," Chris said, glaring in the general direction of the forest.
"So we don't let them get to the forest," said Jack with a shrug. "We'll rush them when the battle starts and cut them off. They'll be easy to pick off if we can pin them against the rocks over there."
"Right." Chris settled herself in the seat of her Lightning Saix and closed the cockpit. Kelly followed suit. For a moment Jack starred at the three suits that had just taken up their positions at the opposite end of the strip of flat ground, then he too closed the cockpit of his machine and prepared for battle.
The judge capsule hit near the base of the rocks, midway between both teams. Jack grinned as he felt the shock of the landing shake the ground, traveling up the legs of his Zoid as a faint vibration. All thought of yesterday, or anything else for that matter, was gone as his mind focused on the battle about to begin. Nothing else in the world mattered.
Long years of practice kept Jack from tensing up as the Judge deliver its little spiel. He watched it with eager, hawk-like eyes as he waited for it to finish. Even years of battling couldn't keep him from becoming excited though. If anything, his excitement was heightened. Adrenaline flooded through him as the Judge neared the end of its speech.
"Ready? FIGHT!"
The Lightning Saix were off and running in a split second. Long years of practice had made them a formidable team. They didn't need to talk to each other anymore; they knew their places and roles. Jack took the lead as the three machines sped across the flat in their customary single file line. There was a grin on Jack's face that was rarely seen off the battlefield. Jack knew his role all right. Nothing would ever change that. He didn't care about the suddenly light-headed feeling or the press of the high G- forces or the fact that he shouldn't have been feeling them as badly as he was. He was a warrior and he reveled in his battles.
The three Lightning Saix headed along the edge of the forest as they neared their top speed, still in single file. The Nightstalker team was slower, but had less distance to cover and the two teams converged at the very edge of the forest. They were close enough to it that Jack could feel, very faintly, the occasional leaf-covered branch hit the side of his Zoid. Less than a dozen yards away from him the lead Helcat tried to escape into the forest. What a foolish thought from that pilot. Jack smirked and fired the twin beam cannons mounted on the back of his Zoid. The Helcat stumbled and jumped back, damaged but not out of the fight yet.
The three Lightning Saix broke file as the other team retreated back into the flat land. Jack had to admit that the other team did work well together. The Stealth Viper covered the retreat of the two Helcats, while at the same time making another bid for the trees. Kelly broke away from the group to cut it off and Jack realized her mistake almost immediately, as did Chris.
"Kelly! Don't slow -!" Chris cursed as her sisters Lightning Saix slowed to keep from overrunning the Stealth Viper. A few well-placed shots from the second, undamaged Helcat slammed into Kelly's Lightning Saix. It shuddered and slowly fell over on its side. Meanwhile, the Stealth Viper made its way into the forest.
"I got the Helcats," yelled Chris over the comlink. Jack just nodded and turned his machine sharply and racing into the forest after the Viper. As he did so his vision began to blur for a second, going gray around the edges. Jack very nearly lost the Stealth Viper then, but he ignored the stab of panic that went through him and concentrated on navigating through the trees.
Part of him was glad that he was in the forest though. The sun had almost set, making the tress indistinct and hard to travel through, forcing the Lightning Saix to slow down. He felt less light-headed now, allowing him to concentrate on the Stealth Viper, just barely visible through the trees on his left. The machines were on even footing now. The Viper could navigate through the forest easily without dropping its speed, while Jack was rather restricted. The equilibrium was only temporary though. The sun would set completely soon, allowing the Viper's infrared gear to come into play. Jack knew he had to get to the other machine before that happened.
Then, fate seemed to step in. The trees ended suddenly and both machines burst out of the forest into a narrow strip of clear ground. They had come to the shores of a large lake secluded in the forest. Jack's grin turned predatory. It wasn't much space, but it was enough. The Lightning Saix turned, its feet crunching on the gravel of the beach, and headed towards the Stealth Viper. At the same time the Viper made a bid for the water, but Jack cut it off. The Lightning Saix was using more of its speed now and Jack was feeling light headed again, but he didn't care. Victory was almost his and damned if he was going to stop now.
Seeing its first escape route cut off, the Stealth Viper spun and headed down the beach, with the Lightning Saix close on its heels. Jack fired the twin beam cannon at it but his aim was off – why couldn't he see straight? – and the Viper remained unharmed. Then, suddenly the Viper made a sharp turn and tried to head into the forest. Jack's eyes narrowed and he sped up, intent on cutting it off. The Lightning Saix came along side the Stealth Viper. Jack, hands clenched on the controls, grinned. He had the Viper now. It didn't matter that he was feeling dizzy and light-headed. It didn't matter that his vision was going dark again. He was going to win. Nothing else mattered. His eyes were narrowed with concentration, but still sparkling with anticipation as he wrenched the controls to the left in a sharp turn…
And then, everything went black.
The Stealth Viper came to a halt and its pilot watched with wide eyes as the Lightning Saix that had been about to demolish him crashed headlong into the trees. There was a sickening crunch and shrill metallic screech as the left leg of the Lightning Saix was sheered off by one of the trees. Inside, Jack, still unconscious, was tossed around like a rag doll in a gale and slammed against the side of cockpit. The machines own momentum carried it further though, carving a deep furrow in the sand and rocks of the small beach. It came to a halt lying on its side, looking like an animal gunned down by a hunter.
----
The first thing that Jack became aware of was the insistent beeping of the Lightning Saix's frozen command system. Then he became aware that someone was frantically shaking his shoulders and calling out his name. Slowly, Jack opened his eyes, trying to make sense of everything. Why was Kelly shaking him? And why was his command system beeping at him? And what about…
"Jack!" Kelly attached herself to his neck in an awkward hug and Jack winced. His chest hurt horribly and she really wasn't helping much. Noticing his discomfort, Kelly pulled back, smiling with happiness, now that he was awake again.
"What happened? The battle…" began Jack slowly. He felt tired and his brain didn't quite want to function. Kelly's smile slipped.
"We lost."
"What?" Jack tried to sit up and made a choked sound as pain exploded in his chest and side. He suddenly felt chokes and unable to breath. One hand pressed to his mouth, he doubled over in a fit of coughing that sent stabs of pain through his chest. Once it passed he leaned back in his seat; eyes closed and feeling utterly drained of any energy he might have had.
"Jack…?"
Jack opened his eyes and focused on Kelly again. It took more effort than he really liked to get his eyes to give him a clear image of Kelly's frightened face.
"What?"
"There's blood on your lips."
"What?" Jack ran his fingers over his lips, feeling something warm and sticky there. He pulled his hand back and stared at the little spots of red on his fingertips. He stared for a long time, then his hand dropped to his side and he closed his eyes again with a tired, shuddering sigh.