Keemew2: Well, here's four. Hope you like it. And sorry for it being a day late. I know I said hopefully in 3 days, but four ain't that bad, is it? Oh, by the way, I don't swear so there won't be any in my fic unless I'm really into it and it's really heated, so if you see some slang feel free to replace it with a swear word. It looks better if you swear. I just have a problem doing it thanks to my mom.
Zoids
Ptera&Shasta
Ch. 4: The Zoid and More Questions
G
Jamie sat and watched everyone in the room. It was kind of crowded. Didn't they have anymore cells? They had big enough Whalekings for it. Why were all these people still here anyway? Things just kept getting more darned complicated! He thought about everything that happened since he woke up. There were a number of air type warriors here. They had all gone already, why weren't they being released? And what was going on with Pierce? What was so important that they beat her up so badly? And wasn't she staying with those other two ex-Backdraft warriors? Last, he seen of them was at the royal cup match. They had all three congratulated Bit.
Jamie looked over at Pierce. She was talking to Shasta. Who'da thought she had a little sister? Shasta had finished bandaging Pierce and now they were having a slightly heated argument. Several of the other warriors were watching them. Others were talking to each other.
Suddenly Jamie heard footsteps outside again. All conversations were stopped as they heard the keys rattle in the hinge. The door opened quickly, letting bright light flow into the dimmed cell. A shadowed figure stood in the doorway. You couldn't see him very well because he was standing in front of the bright light. Two soldiers appeared next to him, blocking the rest of the light.
"Grab 'em." The first man ordered the soldiers.
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Jany said standing up, "What are you doing? What's with the guns? You don't usually have two soldiers with guns!"
"Shut up wench. We got our reasons." One of the soldiers replied.
"Don't insult such a beautiful woman." The first man said smoothly, "My apologies miss, but like my friend here said. We have our reasons; we are here for more than one person this time. Also, don't expect to see them again any time soon." With that, the soldiers entered the area. The first soldier brushed past Jany and walked right up to Jamie. Grabbing him by the arm, he started pulling Jamie towards the cell door. Jamie started to struggle a bit but he felt the cold barrel of the gun stick into his back.
"No time for games kid." He whispered to Jamie. The other soldier looked around till he saw Pierce and Shasta and walked over to them. Shasta stood up immediately and stood in front of her sister. You aren't touching her." She said defiantly. The soldier smirked at her.
"Never even thought about it." He grabbed her by the wrist instead, attempting to take her out of the cell. Instead, he wound up on the floor. Shasta having twisted her wrist around and kicking him in the face.
"I ain't goin anywhere with you guys!" she said
"You don't have a choice." The smooth talker said.
"And why not?"
"Because, we now know for sure that our…Ex, comrade," he looked at Pierce with a sneer, "is your sister. As long as you cooperate, we will let her live that much longer." Shasta glared at the man. You could practically see the hate rising thriugh her. Then she looked at her sister. Pierce gave her a little shake, as if to say not to do it. Shasta looked away again. She looked at Jamie who looked like he was about to have a heart attack, then the other people in the cell. Out of the six other women in the cell, four wore shocked expressions. Jany and Pierce were just glaring as well as the eight men. With a last glance at her sister Shasta dropped her shoulders and sighed. She looked up at the man and glared again.
"Fine! But I ain't talking!" The guy walked over to her and leaned in.
"Who said you had a choice?"
Oscar Hemeros walked through the Blitz base. He was thinking about Jamie and the reasons he sent him to live with Steve. He had thought that Steve would have been the safest person to send Jamie to. He had never thought that this would happen. He knew he wasn't the best father in the world, but that didn't mean he didn't love his son.
"Oscar." Oscar turned to see Toros standing in the doorway of the kitchen.
"Oh, hi Steve."
"Oscar, it isn't your fault. They have no idea. That isn't the reason they got him."
"Yeah, I know, but what if they somehow found out?"
"I'm sure that didn't happen. I'm sure it won't happen. They don't know your real name."
"I guess your right. Has the ZBC contacted you yet?"
"Not yet."
"Darn. You'd think that after everything, the least they would do was send some word on their progress!"
"Hear, I just made some fresh coffee." He said handing him a cup.
"Thanks."
Bit was sitting on the couch when the radar started to go off. He went over to the screen to see what was out there and saw two Zoids on the perimeter. One was the Elephander.
"Doc!" Bit yelled through the com., "We got a problem!"
"What is it?" Toros crackled from the other end
"Two Zoids on the perimeter. Ones the Elephander."
"I'm on my way." Bit looked at the screen again. The Zoids didn't look like they were looking for a fight, but better safe than sorry. He started to run towards the Launching bay when the screen flashed on and Stoller's face appeared.
"Bit Cloud?"
"Stoller. What do you want."
"To talk."
"Talk?"
"Yes." Just then, Toros and Oscar entered the room. When Oscar saw the face on the screen, he paled somewhat and stepped back through the door frame. Stoller saw him anyway.
"Dereck?" Oscar cursed himself and stepped through the door once more.
"Hello Stoller. Long time no see." Stoller smiled.
"Yes, it is a pleasure to see you again. I take it Dereck isn't you real name?"
"No." Stoller looked back to Toros.
"I would like to ask to see you in private."
"Why?"
"I have some information that I'm sure you can get to the ZBC. Pierce was on her way there, but she disappeared enroute. Several days ago."
"Are you no longer with the Backdraft or are you trying to trick us?" Bit interrupted.
"Well, if I was trying to trick you I wouldn't tell now would I?" Stoller replied
"Good point. So how are we supposed to trust you?"
"You don't have to. It is us who need to be able to trust you."
Jamie cringed a little as the barrel of the gun pressed up against his back. He looked over at Shasta who looked like she was ready to start a fight. She reminded him an awful lot of Leena. Strange coincidences seemed to be happening all over today. They were led to a hanger and Jamie saw all sorts of Zoids, but one in particular grabbed his attention. It looked weird. It had the body build of a Storm Sworder, minus the jet pack type thrusters on the back, instead having a single thruster in it's place. The wings were set more to the back, and had a pair of small arms in the front, and a single forward facing 40 mm canon sat on both wings, instead of dual 40 mm canons. The tail was twice the normal length. Its neck was longer, of about the same size of the body, maybe a foot smaller. And as for the head, it seemed to have a more canine resemblance. It was a reddish color with black under tones. The man noticed Jamie looking at the Zoid.
"Ah, I see you've noticed the mysterious Zoid." Jamie looked at him, then back at the Zoid.
"What kind of Zoid is that?" He breathed.
"No one knows. Some think it's from the same design specs as a Storm Sworder, for obvious reasons that is."
"Your ignorance is amazing." Shasta spoke up.
"I don't believe I was talking to you Miss." He sneered at Shasta.
"Does it really look like I care?" She asked sarcastically. The man walked over to her and slapped her in the face hard.
"I have had just about enough of your mouth." He said in a low deadly growl, "This is your last warning. Speak only when you're spoken to or else. Got it?" Shasta looked at him for a moment. A look of pure hatred on her face. At first she didn't do or say anything, but after a minute, she slowly nodded her head.
"I understand." He smirked in satisfaction, "I understand that you're a big Bafoon that doesn't know twice two." She spat out suddenly, trying to hide a smile. She knew she was in trouble. Then, unable to contain her laughter, she started laughing at what she just said. The man's face went dark and he backhanded her hard enough to send her sprawling on the floor. She looked back at him holding her cheek.
"As I said. Your last warning. Another word from you and you'll get worse."
She just sat there holding her cheek, glaring painful death at him. The other soldier stepped closer to her and pointed his gun at her, letting her continue to sit, but not giving her leeway for escape. The man turned back to Jamie who had been watching the whole thing with a gun stuck up to his face in warning not to help her. Not that he could do anything anyway. He felt pretty helpless right now. Not to mention angry with this guy.
"Time for your test flight." He grabbed Jamie roughly by the arm and drug him over to the Zoid. As soon as they got close to it, the Zoids eyes started to come to life. The reddish color glowing faintly. It turned its head in there direction.
"Don't worry, it does that all the time." The man said as Jamie stepped back a little. The hatch popped off by itself.
"How'd that happen?" Jamie asked.
"Our guess is the Zoid got tired of us prying it open. It pretty much complies with us but we don't have any real control over it. We think that the only reason it hasn't gone off by itself is because of the girl. That relationship is still in the dark." He looked over his shoulder at Shasta. "But we will bring some light to it soon." He smirked a little, then turned back to Jamie.
"Get in." The guy took a gun out of his coat to emphasize his point. "No choice."
Jamie looked from him to the Zoid and back again. He turned to the Zoid and headed to the cockpit. There was a latter to get up to it, so he could get in. Once inside the Zoid the lid closed. At first, Jamie felt frightened, but a sort of calmness spread over him. He felt like he was in the presence of an old friend, or a close family member. He never felt like this with his Reynos or Pteras, even though they were the only Zoids he ever felt connected to.
He looked at the strange controls. At first he couldn't make heads or tails of them, then a flashing button came to view. He took a chance and pressed it. Everything came on.
"Okay, now what?" He said to himself.
Suddenly he got a feeling inside. Kind of, like a mental brush. Similar to someone brushing a hand across your face. The Zoid itself screeched when he felt the mental brush. It was a high shriek with a growlish undertone. It was almost as though some one had spoken to him. He somehow knew what the controls did.
"Maybe this is what Bit feels when the Lyger talks to him." Jamie said to himself. The Zoid screeched again in reply. He actually did understand it. It was amazing. "Well, lets see what you can do, shall we?" Jamie took the controls and the hanger door opened. As he took the Zoid out, he thought about his options. Escape was his first thought, but then he saw the other Zoids blocking his path. There were a lot of them. Mostly Zabats. A couple of Storm Sworders too. He clicked on the weapons system and saw the arsenal he had to work with. It wasn't much at all. He had the single canons on each wing plus a 30 mm canon stationed on the under belly. It was hidden and came out only when used. He saw a particular piece of weaponry that didn't look right. It was a small particle canon. Uncharged. But it was stationed in the neck so it could shoot out from the mouth. He wasn't sure how that could be there, yet still have maneuverability there. There wasn't much else. The claws and talons were made of a high strength allow, with hardened allow wing cutters. In other words, the wings were just about the same as the Storm Sworder. Almost. The Zoid was highly adaptable to the surrounding terrain and took a 2AAA power cell, same as the Sworder. It could reach speeds of about 2.8. Slower then a Reynos and Storm Sworder, but just as fast as a Zabat.
"Looks like you were designed after the Sworders. Or perhaps they were designed after you huh?" He received a confirmation screech from the Zoid. Jamie looked at the surrounding Zoids. The com. crackled on and the smooth talking jerk came on screen.
"Your job is to try and escape. Don't worry, you won't be able to, it is just a test. That is if you. can get the Zoid to cooperate." The guy chuckled a little as he broke communications. Jamie looked at the other Zoids and saw them start to maneuver. Suddenly a barrage of bullets from behind him hit him. He hadn't even seen the enemy there. The Zoid screeched in response.
"I know, I know." Jamie said to the Zoid, "That was pretty stupid." He turned the radar on and saw how many enemies he had. There were quite a few, maybe 20 or so. They started attacking him and he maneuvered out of range, just enough to be able to turn around and go head on. He wasn't sure why exactly, but it seemed like a good Idea. He shot at some of the enemy while going head on and got two Zabats. Another group of Zabats headed his way and he started to turn left, but instead of veering left his hands somehow went right.
"What the…?"
He realized that that was the best way to go because a Storm Sworder he hadn't noticed had just started firing at him. He suddenly got a rush of emotion run through him. It was a mixture of excitement, and anger. "What is going on?" He whispered to himself. Jamie shook off his questions as he took another barrage of ammo to his side. Suddenly he noticed something. The remaining Zabats had tried to form a ring around him. And the four Sworders were above him. He thought about his choices and saw an opening he could use. They had tried to box him in, unfortunately for them, they had forgotten to take account of the bottom. Jamie sped downwards fast and was about to pull up when he was shot again, only this time he was sent out of control. He tried desperately to gain control again but was failing miserably. Suddenly Jamie's line of sight started to darken and he felt detached. Then darkness spilled in.
The man was watching the scene before him. He turned to Shasta.
"You might want to see this." He said, "Your Zoid seems to have found it's new friend." She looked up at him curiously. She was still sitting there on the floor, only now she was fiddling with her sandal straps absently. She got up and walked over to see what he was talking about. Sure enough, the Zoid had yet to mess anything up for the kid in the cockpit. He had even shot down two Zabats. Still, the Zoid wasn't performing to full capacity. Something was missing. Suddenly she saw the Zoid careen to the ground, out of control. The guy saw this as well.
"Well, guess that's that. Pity, I thought that this boy was someone else. If he were who I thought he was, he would've been able to get out of that. Oh well." He started to turn when he saw the Zoid suddenly lurch upward. It made a complete loop and turned on its attackers. It easily shot down two Zoids. A crazy cackle came from the comm.
"Hahahahaha! No one can keep the Wild Eagle leashed!" With that three more Zoids came down
"Change of plans everyone!" The guy shouted, "This is who we were expecting." He turned to Shasta with a satisfied look on his face. "I'm sure you and your Zoid friend never even noticed this little device." He said showing a small box; "I took the liberty to install a remote device that will completely shut down that Zoid from here. I knew it would be the only way to stop that Zoid. If the right pilot was in the cock pit that is." Shasta looked at him incredulously, then shock as he pushed the button on the box while the Zoid was still in mid air.
As Jamie blacked out the Wild Eagle took over.
"Geeze! What is this all about! I actually had to fight to get some control! That never happens!" Suddenly he let go of the controls. "Okay. Where am I? The only thing I remember is the wrong moves." The Zoid screeched and he stared in shock as he understood it. His shock was temporary. "Hey, did you keep me from gaining control?" He asked the Zoid who gave a confirming screech.
"Well don't do that again! Do me a favor though. Let's give these guys a head ache, shall we?" He asked as he shot down two Zoids and turned on the comm.
"Hahahahaha! No one can keep the Wild Eagle leashed!" He turned the comm. Off and shot tree more enemy Zabats. "Let's shoot em down!" Just as he targeted some of the other Zabats, the system started to go awry.
"Hey! What's going on?" The Zoid let out an awful screech and the system blacked out. The Wild Eagle tried vainly to pull up out of the super dive and just barley pulled up as the Zoid made a crash landing on the ground close to the base. Some enemy troops already on the way. The wild eagle got out of the Zoid slowly, slightly dazed, and landed next to it. He stumbled a little as he started to walk away, then he felt the darkness close in.
Keemew2: Okay. I know this was a bad place to leave it. For you anyway. (evil grin)! Don't worry, I promise the next one will be out soon. Maybe. One thing is for sure; I will be dealing with some unasked questions, like what is it that Pierce knows? Or why did Jamie's dad leave him? I may not answer these yet. But 'Don worry, Be happy!' (like the song ^_^) I'll take care of everything. The story is all planned out. It's been that way from the start. Even though it may not seem that way, the general idea was out. The thing is all these side stories pop up and the are just so good I have to use them. Makes good plot twists though, don't they?
