Miles away, in the gothic-jagged-creepy-place HQ of the Backdraft, the
Count watched with open mouth as the Berserk Fury was sent to dust. His
secretary person skidded in. "Count, the Committee of Seven wishes for you
to mobilize all the troops of the Backdraft to get the Liger Zero!" He
nodded wordlessly before turning and going into the souped-up Gojulas that
was their portable base, with the Committee of Seven following.
Shadow was worried. Raven was unconscious, sprawled on the zoid core. His skin was milky white, with the red tattoo standing lividly out of the white. The eyes were rolled back into his head, and he was silent and still. The Hellfire's black wings beat steadily around him, as he picked up his master. *Liger, how much longer can you keep the Hellfire going?* The answer was wearied and somber. [About fifteen minutes.] Shadow cursed.
The Blitz Team picked themselves up off the floor. Jamie was ashen, but not too weak to stagger over to the computer. Loud beeping filled their ears as Jamie shouted in fear, "The Backdraft's coming!" Brad snapped, "How many troops?" Jamie said somberly, "Three thousand Iron Kongs with heavy artillery, four thousand Command Wolves, six thousand Helcats, five hundred Lightning Siax, and one Gojulas." Leena screeched in fear, "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!"
Bit shut his eyes and focused on Liger. Liger would save them, he had to. But the cold edge of truth cut into his thoughts. No zoid, no matter how powerful or strong, could stand up to thirteen thousand five hundred one zoids; much less beat them.
The Hellfire swooped into the north, where dust was rising. The squad commanders looked up at the blood-red zoid flying above them with powerful strokes of its dark wings. The Iron Kongs targeted it and fired. The Hellfire flickered out of sight, streaking through the dusty skies, diving low and going through the battalions of Iron Kongs, making them explode and rain shrapnel.
Jamie snapped, "Destruction of all Iron Kongs confirmed!" The Blitz Team gaped, and running through the minds of everyone on Zi was one word. How?! How could one zoid destroy three thousand in less than five seconds? Even the legendary Death Stinger couldn't do that!
Raven's eyes flickered open and Shadow reeled back. Not again, never again. His eyes were dead, except for the fog that drifted across his mind. Not again, he didn't want to relive those four years in the desert, where Raven's mind was gone.
I drift. That's the best word for it. Black shadows dart across the endless gray fog. One shadow moves closer, materializing into a wraith. It's Shadow! Silently, he speaks. *Get up! You're not trapped in a battle with a Liger, Van died centuries ago. Wake up, come back to the living. The Backdraft's attacking us!* What!
Shadow yelled at Raven, while the Hellfire swooped over the Backdraft's forces, reveling in the futility of their attacks. Raven jerked upright, staring around him. "Shadow?"
"Shadow?" He nodded and spoke. *There's still ten-thousand five hundred one troops to deal with!* I cursed to the sky, and had an idea. "Shadow, why's this form called Hellfire?" He closed his sky-blue eyes and tied into the system. Ten minutes passed as I felt Shadow racing madly through thousands of battle's data. He opened his eyes and answered. *I can't explain it. I do know this. We need to force all those troops into a confined area.* I nodded and hooked into the map system.
There was a wide canyon with a circular area at its end. None of those puny zoids could get out of there, if I could block it. The rock was fairly loose, and wouldn't be too hard to break. I sent the coordinates to Hellfire along with a request to let the troops follow us.
I winced at the scathing rebuke that followed. Hellfire didn't understand reasoning, nor did he want to. He was filled with the wildness of a hunt, the smell of blood. Hellfire! Just trust me on this! He sullenly agreed. I smiled, before getting yanked back with the G-forces.
The commander snapped at his troops, "Follow it! Just don't let it get away!" The blood red Liger landed, folding its wings with a snap. It whisked around, slashing through a Lightning Siax, and ran to the north.
Jamie geared the Hovercargo and followed. Bit ran to his room, where he had a laptop. Huh? There was an email flashing on the screen, which he opened. A video popped up on the screen. Liger Zero was looking at him. From the date, the email had been recorded about five days ago. A voice penetrated into his mind as he watched the Liger. *This is Liger Zero. Well, one-third of Liger Zero, anyway. Listen carefully; get out of the Hovercargo and head to this location at coordinates A-7, Z-3. It's the best place to watch what going to happen.* Bit nodded quickly, unsure what Liger wanted. *Good. If the Hovercargo follows, so much the better. There's a downed Lightning Siax about fifty yards to the northwest. Hurry!*
Bit ran to an outer door and slipped through it, running to the Lightning Siax. It responded to his touch, barely giving him enough time to buckle up before racing to the north, following the dust cloud.
Jamie looked at the radar, seeing a lone Lightning Siax running across the dusty plain. He brought up a com-link, and screeched when he saw Bit. "Bit! Where on Zi are you going!?" Bit answered as he steered a completely unknown zoid effortlessly, "Liger told me in a message to go to coordinates A-7, Z-3. I don't know why, but he seemed preoccupied. It doesn't really matter if you come, but he'd like it if you would." Everyone glanced at each other uneasily. Taking orders from a zoid? That went against their sensibilities, but they had no choice. Jamie altered the course.
Shadow was worried. Raven was unconscious, sprawled on the zoid core. His skin was milky white, with the red tattoo standing lividly out of the white. The eyes were rolled back into his head, and he was silent and still. The Hellfire's black wings beat steadily around him, as he picked up his master. *Liger, how much longer can you keep the Hellfire going?* The answer was wearied and somber. [About fifteen minutes.] Shadow cursed.
The Blitz Team picked themselves up off the floor. Jamie was ashen, but not too weak to stagger over to the computer. Loud beeping filled their ears as Jamie shouted in fear, "The Backdraft's coming!" Brad snapped, "How many troops?" Jamie said somberly, "Three thousand Iron Kongs with heavy artillery, four thousand Command Wolves, six thousand Helcats, five hundred Lightning Siax, and one Gojulas." Leena screeched in fear, "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!"
Bit shut his eyes and focused on Liger. Liger would save them, he had to. But the cold edge of truth cut into his thoughts. No zoid, no matter how powerful or strong, could stand up to thirteen thousand five hundred one zoids; much less beat them.
The Hellfire swooped into the north, where dust was rising. The squad commanders looked up at the blood-red zoid flying above them with powerful strokes of its dark wings. The Iron Kongs targeted it and fired. The Hellfire flickered out of sight, streaking through the dusty skies, diving low and going through the battalions of Iron Kongs, making them explode and rain shrapnel.
Jamie snapped, "Destruction of all Iron Kongs confirmed!" The Blitz Team gaped, and running through the minds of everyone on Zi was one word. How?! How could one zoid destroy three thousand in less than five seconds? Even the legendary Death Stinger couldn't do that!
Raven's eyes flickered open and Shadow reeled back. Not again, never again. His eyes were dead, except for the fog that drifted across his mind. Not again, he didn't want to relive those four years in the desert, where Raven's mind was gone.
I drift. That's the best word for it. Black shadows dart across the endless gray fog. One shadow moves closer, materializing into a wraith. It's Shadow! Silently, he speaks. *Get up! You're not trapped in a battle with a Liger, Van died centuries ago. Wake up, come back to the living. The Backdraft's attacking us!* What!
Shadow yelled at Raven, while the Hellfire swooped over the Backdraft's forces, reveling in the futility of their attacks. Raven jerked upright, staring around him. "Shadow?"
"Shadow?" He nodded and spoke. *There's still ten-thousand five hundred one troops to deal with!* I cursed to the sky, and had an idea. "Shadow, why's this form called Hellfire?" He closed his sky-blue eyes and tied into the system. Ten minutes passed as I felt Shadow racing madly through thousands of battle's data. He opened his eyes and answered. *I can't explain it. I do know this. We need to force all those troops into a confined area.* I nodded and hooked into the map system.
There was a wide canyon with a circular area at its end. None of those puny zoids could get out of there, if I could block it. The rock was fairly loose, and wouldn't be too hard to break. I sent the coordinates to Hellfire along with a request to let the troops follow us.
I winced at the scathing rebuke that followed. Hellfire didn't understand reasoning, nor did he want to. He was filled with the wildness of a hunt, the smell of blood. Hellfire! Just trust me on this! He sullenly agreed. I smiled, before getting yanked back with the G-forces.
The commander snapped at his troops, "Follow it! Just don't let it get away!" The blood red Liger landed, folding its wings with a snap. It whisked around, slashing through a Lightning Siax, and ran to the north.
Jamie geared the Hovercargo and followed. Bit ran to his room, where he had a laptop. Huh? There was an email flashing on the screen, which he opened. A video popped up on the screen. Liger Zero was looking at him. From the date, the email had been recorded about five days ago. A voice penetrated into his mind as he watched the Liger. *This is Liger Zero. Well, one-third of Liger Zero, anyway. Listen carefully; get out of the Hovercargo and head to this location at coordinates A-7, Z-3. It's the best place to watch what going to happen.* Bit nodded quickly, unsure what Liger wanted. *Good. If the Hovercargo follows, so much the better. There's a downed Lightning Siax about fifty yards to the northwest. Hurry!*
Bit ran to an outer door and slipped through it, running to the Lightning Siax. It responded to his touch, barely giving him enough time to buckle up before racing to the north, following the dust cloud.
Jamie looked at the radar, seeing a lone Lightning Siax running across the dusty plain. He brought up a com-link, and screeched when he saw Bit. "Bit! Where on Zi are you going!?" Bit answered as he steered a completely unknown zoid effortlessly, "Liger told me in a message to go to coordinates A-7, Z-3. I don't know why, but he seemed preoccupied. It doesn't really matter if you come, but he'd like it if you would." Everyone glanced at each other uneasily. Taking orders from a zoid? That went against their sensibilities, but they had no choice. Jamie altered the course.