The sun was starting to rise over the horizon, its rays gleaming over the crystal clear lake. The slight breeze mixing with the suns warmth felt good on Van's skin. He sat there on the grass, looking out over the water. To the left of the lake were a few mountains, most of them had snow covering them. To the left he saw nothing but trees and grass. It was a beautiful place, he knew that. He could smell the breakfast Fiona was cooking. He wished he could just stay here, but he couldn't. He had a job to do. For months there was nothing to do and he was bored, but now that something came up he wished he could just ignore it. It wasn't much, a few bandits causing trouble on some small colonies in the area. He looked over at Zeke, he was lying there on the ground, enjoying the peace that was nearly impossible to find for a while. He heard someone walking up behind him, he tuned and saw Fiona holding two plates. He took one of them from her and smiled.
"It's so peaceful here." Fiona said, slowly eating the egg she made.
"Yea, but there always has to be somebody ruining it."
Both turned around, hearing an explosion. Van got up, dropping the plate of the ground.
"Come on Zeke." He said, running towards the Blade Liger. Fiona followed them both.
Van and Fiona got in the cockpit, Zeke merged with the Blade Liger. They ran off towards the explosions, hoping they could catch them before they got away.
"Hey Fiona, can you find the information Hermann gave us on these guys." Van asked, moving the Blade Liger as fast as he could.
Fiona nodded and started punching a few buttons reading a screen that came up. "There called the Slasher Bandits, there leader is a man named Tyko." She paused reading the rest of the information. "They have five members. And also destroyed an entire Republic regiment."
Van gritted his teeth, he didn't think a group of bandits could do that. "What kind of Zoids do they have."
"They don't know, that's all of the information the Republic has on them."
Both of them heard the shots slowly getting louder, and the sounds of terror began to fill the air.
Tyko looked at the radar within his cockpit and smiled. The big man with blood-red hair looked over at the two Dark Horns causing all of noise. "Get ready, there coming just like Drake said."
Jade, a 14-year-old pilot looked down from a hill she was perched on. Her Gun Sniper ready to take aim and kill. Another Gun Sniper a few yards away piloted by a fairly old man named Jeff was also ready to take aim at the on coming Blade Liger.
Tyko in his Silver Kong looked at his Zoids combat controls. "Alright Loki, lets get ready." He said. Loki was his Organoid, a dark gold colored and a fierce look made it very frightful to any opponent. Tyko looked over a few miles away, watching the vague figure of Drake stand there, watching and waiting. Next to him was a black GenoBreaker along with his dark blue Organoid Anubis. Tyko turned around, searching for any sign the Blade Liger was near, his scanner said it was coming but he couldn't get any visual contact yet. "Todd, Carol, hold your fire and get back. There going to be here shortly."
Drake looked down, his arms folded across his chest and his patience slowly dimming. The small group of bandits he had formed were skilled and deadly. But they were all Zodians, he found them all slowly over time. Training and teaching them all the ways to fight and survive. They weren't found in pods like he had been, they were born and raised in this century. But it didn't make much of a difference, they all shared the same flesh and blood of an ancient race killed because of that physco-pathetic kid and that monster of a Zoid Drake couldn't get out of his head. Jason wanted to destroy all the life in the universe, Drake on the other hand wanted nothing more then to bring back his race to its power. He didn't remember much from the days of the Black Era, but he remembered the order he was given. "Lead are race and bring it back to power." It was a promise he made, and a promise he intended to keep. He heard the sound of a oncoming Zoid and saw the blue Blade Liger make its way through the forest. He looked over at his Organoid. "Anubis, get in the GenoBreaker and charge up the cannon." He heard the Organoid give a growl and merged with the Zoid. "Wait until I say fire." He smiled. "Target the Blade Liger."
Van stopped the Blade Liger, looking around for any sign of trouble. A small colony a few miles away had been destroyed. "Where are they at." Van said frustrated. He looked around, trying to find any sign of the bandits.
"Van over there." Fiona said quickly, pointing over at a clearing in the trees.
Van looked and saw the single Zoid standing there. He felt a chill go down his spine as he got a closer look at the Zoid. "That's a Silver King."
"But that means he has an Organoid." Fiona said, finishing off where Van left off. Both watched as a man appeared on a screen in their cockpit.
"Welcome to my little fight." Tyko said smiling. "Are you ready to die."
Van looked at him, but quickly had to activate the shield as a array of shots flew in from the Silver Kong. "This guys serious Fiona. I hope you can come up with a plan real fast."
Tyko smiled. "Nice shield, lets see how it handles this." He brought up a targeting screen and aimed for the generator powering the shield. "Put all you got in this shot Loki." He fired his gauss rifle, watching it pierce through the shield and knocking the generator out of commission.
Van was shocked at the power of that shot. "What was that."
"It's a gauss rifle, it can penetrate the shield."
"We don't have a shield any more. Fiona come up with something." Van took the Zoid and began to charge the Silver Kong. He had to make a quick jump as two Dark Horns suddenly appeared from the thick trees, both firing at him. "What is this." He felt the impact of the shots as they slammed into the hull of the Blade Liger. "Hang on Zeke."
Tyko grinned, getting ready to fire another shot at the Blade Liger. He targeted the cockpit. "Quick little Zoid." He said, trying to lock on. "Carol will you hold that Liger still."
Carol and Todd worked the Blade Liger slowly back.
Van felt the impact of each shot, they were tearing the Blade Liger apart. "This isn't fair." He yelled, he got out of the array of shots and pulled out the Blades, slicing through the two Dark Horns before they could get out of the way. Van turned his Zoid back towards the Silver Kong and charged it.
Fiona looked up from the console in the cockpit and looked over at a hill. "Van look out!" She screamed.
Van looked over at the hill and juked the Blade Liger sharply to the left, getting out of the Gun Snipers fire. "Great, just what we need." He felt the Blade Liger collapse to the ground, a gauss rifle shot pierced the neck of the Blade Liger.
Fiona looked at the console, reading the flashing words, Command System Freeze.
Van tried to get the Blade Liger up, but it wouldn't budge. "Were in trouble."
"Fiona looked out, Zeke lying there on the ground, hurt from the shot. "Van Zeke's hurt." She said worried.
Van looked out, his old friend lying on the ground helpless. "Zeke!" He got out of the cockpit, but was knocked down by a man, a woman standing next to him.
"Damn you kid." Todd, a man slightly smaller then Van said, grabbing him by the neck. "Ill rip your head off for that."
Van kicked the man in the gut and took off running to his downed Organoid.
Carol pulled out a gun and fired, just missing Van's head. "Hold it right there kid, next time I wont miss."
Drake laughed. "So we defeated the all so powerful Van Flyheight and his invincible Blade Liger. Anubis come out here."
Van made a fist as his lips started quivering with anger and rage. He didn't move though, he knew he couldn't help Zeke dead.
Two Zoids, a Lighting Saiex and a Dibision came out through the trees.
Tyko looked at them, he knew who they were. He took his Zoid and ran off, giving Jeff and Jade the same orders.
"Look at the run." Thomas said smiling. "Beek, lets make sure they go home without forgetting us." He felt his Zoid fire at the Silver Kong.
Van looked at the Zoids watching as the man and woman tried to get away, the Lighting Saiex cut both off. "Irvine jumped out wearing a dark blue uniform.
Fiona looked at him and gave a small laugh, still not over the fact that he joined the Guardian Force.
Van helped Zeke up, the Organoid ok it walked off back towards the Blade Liger.
Van turned to Irvine and Thomas. "Nice timing."
Irvine smiled. "Hermann said you were going to get into some trouble."
A few minutes went by, talking and trying to fix up the Blade Liger.
Zeke did the rest, as soon as he merged with the Zoid it got up. Van got in and closed the cockpit.
"Close call today Fiona."
Fiona didn't say anything, she felt something near her but wasn't sure what it was. Her eyes widened as she looked over. "Van what's that?" She pointed to a cliff, a few miles away. She looked down at the console, reading out the information. "It's a charged particle cannon!"
"What!" Van screamed, turning on the Liger shields. "Thomas, Irvine, look out." He watched as the blast came ripping through the forest, hitting his damaged shield. "Hang on Zeke." He said, using all of his strength to keep the Liger from flying back and the shield from collapsing.
The blast had knocked the Lighting Saiex to the ground and disabled the Dibision. "Where the Hell did that come from." Irvine yelled, looking at a cliff. He started firing but stopped as the beam died down.
Van felt the Liger drive forward as the beam died down. He let go of the controls, he closed his eyes and lowered his head. "Fiona, are you ok?"
Fiona opened her eyes and looked down at Van. "Yes, I'm fine." She looked over in the direction the blast had come from. Not finding anything.
Van let out a deep breath and looked at the Lighting Saiex and Dibision. "What about you two, are you ok?"
"Yea I'm fine." Irvine said angry.
"Same." Thomas said, getting his Zoid back up.
"Lets get out of here." Van said. The Blade Liger, Lighting Saiex, and Dibision walked out of the forest, all had questions racing through their mind. Hoping the two bandits they caught knew who shot that charged particle cannon, and hoping this wasn't as serious as it seemed.
Jason sat there, his eyes closed, watching the battle in his mind. He smiled, opening his eyes as it ended. He looked around at the rocky catacombs, damp and cool. It was part an ancient city, destroyed long before the birth of the Death Sauer or Tiger. He looked over at his gray Organoid standing next to him. "Well Phantom, looks as if were going to need to help either Van or Drake." He walked over to a few yards away, when he arrived he looked down. It was filled with water, and in the water was the deadliest creation man had ever created. He looked down, watching the blood-red eyes start to glow and the slight growl it gave off. Even without its power the Zoid still refused to die, and he knew it never would. He watched as the eyes slowly faded away, and the growls die down. "Soon Tiger, you'll be even stronger then before." Jason smiled, putting his hand on Phantom's head, gently petting his loyal Organoid. He looked back down in the pit, the water moving slightly as drips fell down from the roof landing in the massive hole. The vague shape of a orange chassis deep in the crystal clear water. "Lets go Phantom, we have work to do." Jason turned around, Phantom following his master closely, as always.
Zack, Marcus, and Paul looked down at the stone they had uncovered a few days ago.
"That's definitely it." Paul said, drinking his usual tea and liquor. "It has to be, no other stone is like it."
"Wasn't that hard to find, if this thing could bring back the ultimate Zoid you would think they would hide it a little better." Marcus replied.
Paul slammed his cup on the table. "Easy, I spent 35 years trying to get a half way decent location on this stone. Only reason it was easy for you is because I had already found a general location for it. You were only with me for about 2 years."
Marcus nodded, he didn't want to get in a fight with the old man.
"So why don't we destroy this thing." Zack said, looking at the stone under a lamp. It was the only light in the small store Paul owned.
"Cause I don't know exactly what will happen. Its best if you keep in on you at all times. That way nobody will take it without getting knocked around." Paul replied, sipping his drink again.
Zack nodded, looking over at Marcus. He put the stone in his pocket and got up. "Alright, take it easy Paul. If you find anything else out tell us fast as you can."
Paul nodded. "Make sure that stone never leaves your sight Zack. That Tiger gets resurrected were in a lot of trouble."
Zack nodded. "Sure thing Paul." Both men walked out, the sun was at its peak in the sky. They walked over to there Sabertiger's, getting in the cockpit and moving away from the Imperial capital.
"So where to, just keep moving." Marcus said a few minutes after they left.
"I guess, I just wish I knew who the Hell was looking for this rock, be a lot easier to keep it safe."
"So you kill everyone who gets near you."
Zack smiled. "Don't need to go that far. Just watch my back, need to make sure we keep this thing out of site."
"You got it." Marcus looked over at the lake they were passing, reminded him of his home. "Hey Zack, you've been with Paul a lot longer then me, what the Hell do you know about this Tiger."
"Nothing, we don't even know if it exists."
"Then why are we so worried about this stone?"
"In case it does exist. I don't know, we have only found a few things on that Zoid. It seems doubtful that something stronger then the Death Sauer exists. But then again a kid beat the damn thing twice. So…" His voice trailed off, losing track of what was going on. Trying to figure out if there was a chance a Zoid like the Tiger could exist.
"Will you wake up Zack."
"What is it?"
"So lets say this Zoid gets brought back to life, what can it do."
"I don't know, I don't think anyone knows." He pulled the stone out of his pocket. The black and orange stone was like nothing he had ever seen before. He stuck it back in his pocket. "Lets get back to the capital."
Marcus looked at him surprised. "Why?"
"We can keep an eye out better, and there's a lot more people so there's a lot less chance that someone will attack us."
"Whatever you say, your in charge."
They turned their Zoids around and went back to the massive city. Trying to figure out what there next move should be.
Drake looked over the railing at his GenoBreaker. "Why didn't you kill them Anubis." He said, not even looking at the Organoid. Drake knew that beam wasn't as strong as it could be. "You should have killed them, would have made are lives easier." He turned around and walked over to Tyko. "Any damage to your Zoid."
Tyko shook his head. "Nothing bad, Ill have it fixed up in about a few hours."
Drake nodded and looked over at Jeff and Jade. Both had incredible skill, but they were also to soft, not really willing to kill like Tyko or himself. "Tyko, get your Zoid up, we need to get Carol and Todd back."
"Yes sir." Tyko said, wrapping a cut he had on his arm. "Loki, get set." He looked at the gold Organoid as it merged with the Silver Kong. He smiled as he got in the cockpit.
Moonbay looked over at Raven, he was asleep in the back of the Gustav. Moonbay wasn't sure why she was helping him out. He had tried to kill them more times then she cared to count. But for some reason she figured he had a good heart. She wasn't sure what happened to Ryss, for some reason she simply disappeared and left Raven. Shadow was also gone, and she knew how much Raven cared for that Organoid. She had found him along the trail, exhausted and almost dead. The sun was going down and a few clouds dangled on the horizon. It was a beautiful site, made her think about her old friends. Van, Fiona, Thomas, and Irvine. She knew she had to get on with her life though, there wasn't much of a choice. Irvine had joined the Guardian Force and that thought alone made her laugh till she nearly had a heart attack. Irvine in the Guardian Force, having to take orders and actually have to follow them. She smiled, watching as Raven started waking up. "How you doing Raven?"
Raven looked at her, but didn't say a thing.
Moonbay looked right back at him. "The least you could do is thank me, I could have left you there to die."
But Raven again didn't say a thing, he just looked down.
Moonbay looked at him, she was a little angry but saw how devastated he was. She pulled out a piece of bread and a canteen of water. "Here, this will help you feel better." Raven wasn't taking them but Moonbay threw the water at him anyways. "At least drink something." She said, raising her voice. "Why do you have to be so stubborn." She turned around and looked back down the trail between the rocky cliffs. She heard Raven start to drink a little, and she smiled.
"You can let me out here." Raven said softly. "Ill walk back to a city."
"I'm not going to have your death spill all over my already guilty conscious."
Raven nodded and started falling back to sleep. He watched the side of the cliffs slowly go bye.
Moonbay looked back at him, looking at his eyes she watched as they started to water, she didn't think it was possible for Raven to cry. "Are you going to be ok?" She asked, starting now to feel sorry for him.
Raven didn't say or do anything, he just sat there, his back leaning against the side of the Gustav's cockpit. He closed his eyes, slowly falling asleep.