Legacy of the Ancients
Chapter Six: The Clashing Destinies
By: Sci-Fi-Raptor
Disclaimer: What! I own Zoids! Oh no, its just a dream. I don't own Zoids, but I sure wish I did!
On a side note, the names of the villagers are names of people I actually know, I AM NOT RACIST!
Warning! Warning! Unknown entity has blocked all invasive attempts!
"No! Not again!" cried Jani as de ja vu hit home.
Warning! Warning! Unknown entity is downloading all databases available!
Jani quickly ran to his desk and took out his EMP rifle.
Warning! Warning! Unknown has uploaded an unknown agent!
Jani frantically started firing the rifle at the Zoid.
Warning! Warning! Virus detected! Virus is taking over all syste…
….m…Intruder system taken over. Objective one complete.
Jani liquefied the bots, but they reassembled them selves faster than he could freeze them.
Destroying all enemies in range of escape route…Processing…
The dragon stirred to life. It seemed to be stretching at first, then its eye lids opened. They revealed burning red eyes, with a even redder center; the retina of the machine's eye. Hen it blew off steam, and all the cables attached to it came off. All the nano-bots that where disabled by Dr. Jani's EMP rifle reactivated and went to their spots. Suddenly, the dragon turned to Jani, and hissed. Jani could swear it said his name.
"I told you I would make you pay, Jani" snarled the augmented Dragon Zoid.
"But…how…how did you survive? CABAL deleted you!" said Jani in disbelief.
"FOOL!" snapped the dragon. "You deleted my surface programming, but my real programming was kept intact, and it resurfaced when my nano-bots multiplied. But my surface programming has been replace by this Zoid's; and it urges me to kill all things that are alive. And that means I will start with YOU!"
Mother…Father…I have failed you…thought Jani. The dragon breathed in a huge volume of air, and spewed out flames that licked everything in their path; all that remained were ashes. "No!" said Jani in agony as the great Dragon burned him to a crisp. The red flame engulfed him and burning chunks of flesh could be seen coming off of him. When the smoke cleared, all that was left was Jani's charred, black bones, still in their final positions. The Dragon did a Leyon type laugh, and stepped on his remains. When it removed its foot, ashes and dust was left. The air circulation system of the lab blew it away outside. Satisfied with its revenge, the dragon fired its hidden PPC's (Particle Pulse Cannons, which popped out from under its wings) at the nearest exit. The area it hit simply disappeared, and made a shockwave that forced the dragon to clap down (like a Zoid when it uses a charged particle cannon), to keep it from falling over. Then it opened its massive wings, and hidden boosters popped out. It started to run, and the boosters ignited, accelerating it to Mach 1 in less than a second. It went straight to the nearest cloud, leaving a trail of smoke and burned blood behind it.
In a nearby village…
Babba was harvesting the wheat at this time. This season promised a great harvest, one that might bring his village out of debt, and even prosperity. He and his friends were cutting the stalks down, since they couldn't afford the machinery, and throwing mud balls at each other once in awhile. Aku was almost done cutting his share of the crop, when they heard a loud explosion in the distance. He and his friends looked up and saw what they thought was an angel…or devil. It was black with red stripes all over it. It had two great wings that were almost as large as his house. And there where four bright things on it. Two red lights where the eyes would be, and two blue lights right under the wings. But it disappeared in an instant, leaving only a trail of smoke behind it.
"What…was that?!" Manzi said in shock.
"It was most certainly a demon spirit!" said Hajji, in his Indian accent
"No way, it was a dragon!" argued Simit.
"No, you're both wrong…and right. It was a Zoid. A Zoid that most people don't know about. My father searched for that Zoid all his life. It was made by the Imperials at a secret base. It was a copy of an evil Zoid, but they abandoned it since it killed its own creators. My dad said that its name was the Fist of Mercury." said Babba. "Lets go and see where it came from" he said as he ran toward the mountain.
"But we're not done yet!" said Manzi
"And what if it comes back?" said Simit
"Oh, come on you cowards. He's gonna beat us there!" said Hajji as he tried to catch up to Babba.
Back at the restaurant…
Leena headed towards the bathrooms. When she finally reached it, she saw something that broke her heart. Bit was hugging that _!
Leena crumpled the note that Bit had secretly put in her food. It was something that kept Leena preoccupied, since it was something that explained how much Bit Loved her, and it made her love him even more. Bit heard the sound and looked at her in shock, unaware that she was watching. She threw the note at him and screamed "How could You!", and ran away, a trail of glistening tears behind her.
Leena ran and ran until she could run no more. Then she collapsed on the floor; the pain and exhaustion had took its toll. She collapsed on the floor and just cried. How could he? He loved me, but he was with another woman the whole time!
"Leena!" yelled Bit as he finally caught up to her.
"Go away! You've hurt me enough. First you say you love me, and then you go frolicking with that…that _!" said Leena, her anger taking control. When he was close enough, Leena got to her feet and started pounding him. But all he did was wrap his arms around her. Her blows became weaker and weaker as Bit's comforting arms caressed her, melting her anger away; the pain came back full fledged. She buried her head into his chest, Bit continuing to soothe her.
"Why did you do this to me Bit? You know I love you…" said Leena, the tears making a big wet spot in Bit's shirt.
"Leena, I would never do anything to hurt you…" he said reassuringly.
"Then who was the woman!" she said, her anger spiking. She ended the embrace and looked at him coldly. The tears were still there, and still coming.
"Leena…she's not what you think she is. She's my cousin Anne. Anne Cloud." said Bit, realizing that he had not covered his tracks well enough.
"She…she's your cousin?" Leena said in utter disbelief. She realized that she shouldn't have mistrusted Bit, they loved each other too much to do something like that to one another. Then she got the connection. They were both Clouds! She seemed to have missed her name when the ringmaster was introducing them; she was preoccupied with hate and jealousy. "Then… what were you two doing behind my back?" she said, mad that Bit was dong something secret.
"Well, we were making you this." Bit said, taking a black velvet box out.
Leena opened it, and gasped. It was a gold and silver alloy necklace with two intersecting hearts hanging on it. There was one outline of a heart that was made of gold. It was about one millimeter wide, with a stone about half a millimeter wide following the outline in the middle. (||ß think of the smaller lines as the edge of the gold, and the bigger line where the stone would be. And the stone is not a stone, like a diamond would be, it is a bunch of stones put together to look like a solid stone that is in the shape of an outline of a heart.). The stone was the color of Leena's eyes, and it was very brilliant, even though there wasn't that much light where they were. There was another identical heart behind it, and north east of it (higher and to the right of it), but this was made of silver, and had stones the color of Bit's eyes.
"Its…beautiful" said Leena. She hugged him very tightly, to the point where he was having trouble breathing. When she realized this, she let go of the embrace…blushing when she saw his blue face.
When he recovered, Bit told her to try it on. "You look beautiful in that". He saw that familiar glow in her again…
Later that night, Leena was formally introduced to Bit's cousin Anne Cloud. They were old friends, they had talked to each other, via e-mail, since she became an acrobat. She had been urging Bit to make a move on Leena for some time now, but when they were heading towards the resort, she told him to make his move with greater amplitude. She did this, since her company was going to set up some time around when they would arrive, and she wanted to see their relationship through. Bit had the idea of getting Leena the necklace, but wanted it to be a secret, so he secretly make it, via Anne ordering the specifications at the jeweler's shop.
Then they started to go into gossip mode and Anne started to spew all the things Bit felt for Leena, but would never say. Embarrassed, Bit went home, to leave the girls to themselves for the night, laughing when they saw his red face when he left.
The next day…
Leena woke up again, satisfied with everything. She now had the man she loved; a man that loved her as desperately as she loved him… He was up before her, as usual. He was watching TV, knowing Bit, it would probably be cartoons or something. She got up and went to him, memories of yesterday night still fresh…
(flashback, with a watery transition)
"So, Anne, how long have you and Bit known each other?"
"Ever since we were babies. I always pushed him around, like a bully. Now that I think back, I don't think I should have been as hard on him, but I guess it prepared him for his hermit-like life he led."
"Oh, so when did you decide to become an acrobat?"
"When I turned thirteen. By then Bit and I were so close that we were like brother and sister. We knew all of each others secrets, and always turned to each other for help. The day I decided to leave, we both were devastated, but we moved on, and kept in touch."
"So, what do you want to know about me?"
"I don't think there is anything I'd like to know" this disappointed Leena. Quickly, she added "Bit has told me so much about you and how he felt towards you. It's pathetic how much he liked you, once he (things I dare not speak)"
"He what! So that's where it went."
And the conversation carried on till late into the night, Anne telling Leena embarrassing things that Bit did, and Leena telling her things Bit might have not mentioned. (end flashback, with a watery transition)
She sat next to Bit, and saw that Bit was actually watching the news. She wrapped her arms around him, slackening his tense muscles. He looked at her and the worry left his face. She put her head on his shoulder and started dozing off, just enjoying the presence of the object of her affection. She could still hear the news.
"…dragon has been sited in many villages around the Fujakashi mountain range." Said the anchor. " All eye witness accounts said that the sky becomes dark all of a sudden, and a lightning storm occurs. Then a dragon like beast appears and sets the village aflame. Only a handful of people have survived, most of them in a critical state. Authorities have not released any information saying 'All information that we have does not have sufficient evidence backing any group'. When asked his opinion, the spokesperson said he thought it was the Back Draft group, but only because they are known for testing their inventions on innocent people." The little picture of a dragon changed to a picture of the Blitz team's logo (I have NO idea what hat is). "On a lighter note, the Blitz team owner, Dr. Toros has announce that the Blitz team will expand to include three new members. Naomi Fleugal from the Fluegal team has accepted a merger from the Blitz team. When asked why she decided to join it, she said 'I have had enough time being solo, and I wish to be part of something' When asked what happened with Leon Toros, she replied 'He decided to join the Circus!'. We could not locate Leon Toros for a quote, but did affirm that he has joined the circus, joining the Amazing Bandoleers. The second member to join was a previously unknown pilot named Harukichi Matsumi. She was not a registered Zoid pilot, but has a Konig Wolf. When tested for registration, she ranked as number one, and had the highest score in most fields. When Dr. Toros was asked why he accepted the pilot, he said 'You wouldn't believe me if I said it…' when miss Harukichi Matsumi was asked why she wanted to join the team, she replied 'I like the kitty'. The third member of the team is a person whose name we weren't told, just given her call sign for future battles, Little Lady. Dr. Toros declined to comment on this individual, and we could not find this individual to quote." the picture changed to the Back Draft Group's symbol and reported on their latest Zoid battle theft.
Leena nudged Bit. "Did you invite her in?" asked Leena.
"Who, Naomi or Harukichi?" he said
"Harukichi"
"No, it was all your dad's fault." he said jokingly.
"And I assume Brad got Naomi to join"
"Probably" he said.
"And Pierce was trying to get in since she left the Back Draft?"
"That's what she told me."
"Then what happened to my brother?"
"Well, it seems that Anne liked your brother, so I introduced her to him when we got here. I guess they fell in love and now they're in the same circus…" he replied.
"Strange…I never knew he liked the circus, I didn't see him there once." said Leena, in a perplexed tone.
Back at the village near the secret lab…
Bilal, the chief of the village was surrounded by the head of three four families. One of their youths (from each family) was missing and they wanted to know where they were.
"Bilal, what happened to our kids?" asked one.
"I don't know. No one saw them since they were in the wheat patch. I guess we should go there and see if we can find any clues." The group went there and found a path that led to a nearby mountain. They reached the mountain and found a previously unknown entrance. They climbed up to it and reached the entrance. Then they saw the children. Their parents went up to hug/scold them, when they stopped, dead in their tracks. They saw their kids sitting lifeless on the ground, holes all over their body; they collapsed and wept.
What has happened here, thought Bilal. All of a sudden, hidden machine guns popped out of their secret locations. Bilal didn't have time to even realize what was happening when the guns opened fire. The guns stopped firing, going back to their holding positions. The now lifeless bodies fell back, taking positions similar to the children's. The parents tears still somehow falling.
Back at the village
He sky suddenly grew dark. A lightning storm suddenly started. Then some people noticed something coming down from the sky….
The next day, the Blitz team bitterly went back to the hover cargo, thusly ending their vacation. Doc called everyone to the Command Center to introduce the newest member, and to go over future plans…
"Well team, its been a nice stay, but all good things end, don't they?" said the Doc, in a cheerful voice. He had actually been lamenting the vacation, since they didn't get any income, and he couldn't blow their money on models or accessories. But it was over, so they could start battling once again.
"Well, you don't have to sound so happy about it" said Brad.
"Ya… Ok, you all know Naomi, so we don't really need an introduction, but miss Harukichi" Doc was saying, but was cut by Haru.
"You can just call me Haru" said Haru.
"Ok, Miss Haru is a new, and for the most part an unknown person" he finished.
"Actually, we met her in the circus during our stay. Say, where'd that guy go?" said Naomi.
"Um…" she hadn't thought of that.
~He travels a lot, so I'll see him once in awhile~ suggested Hiro. He had been listening to the conversation via the electronic surveillance equipment onboard.
"…Ya, he travels a lot, so I'll see him once in awhile. He went to um… the Empire for some…business." She said, trying to keep her cool. "That should about cover it" she thought to herself.
"Oh…so, where'd you get your Konig Wolf?" asked the Doc with obvious anticipation. He had been trying to get his hands on one for some time now.
"I…built it myself" she answered. It wasn't a lie. She simply converted a boulder into nano-bots and made it look like a Konig Wolf.
"Really? Can you tell me how?" said the dumbstruck Doc.
"…No?" she said hesitantly. "It was from an assembly kit I found one day. All I did was follow the instructions"
"Oh…" said the Doc in disappointment. "Well, anyway, we are scheduled to fight the Raider's team tomorrow at 3:00 PM local. That means we fight about 12 hours from now. Its battle mode 0982, and we have agreed to a limit of only 2 Zoids."
"These are the possible Zoids that they may use" continued Jamie, showing four Zoids. One was a green Rev Raptor (which was rumored to have a stealth generator that also acted as a shield), one was a pink Kit Fox (a Zoid that was made from scratch by its pilot, the only data available on it was that it had similar properties to a Command Wolf, but they were radically stronger), one was a white Gun Sniper (with a huge radar thing on its back, like the ones on spyplanes), and the last was a sand colored Gogulas (it had four CPC's, and an assortment of missile pods and assault weaponry. "I'm pretty sure that they'll use the Gogulas, but I'm not sure about the rest"
"What makes you say that?" asked Brad.
"Well, in all of the 0982 battle modes that they've been in, in the last month, they always use the Gogulas as support fire, and they rotate the rest. So far, the pattern they used was Raptor, Fox, and Sniper. But they broke the pattern last time by starting with the Fox" said Jamie
"So, who wants to go?" asked Doc
"I nominate Bit and Haru" said Naomi
"Why them?" asked Jamie
"Bit is probably the most experienced at fighting something like a Gogulas, and we've never seen Haru fight, so I guess we might as well start here" she explained.
"Yes, that makes sense, do you two agree?" said Doc
"Yes" they said in turn.
"Ok, so you two prep for battle while we…do other stuff" said Doc.
"In other words, they work and we do nothing" said Brad
"Or that…" said the Doc.
Later that night…
"Well Liger how was the break?" asked Bit. Bit was working on the Liger to make sure it was at peak performance for the next day's battle.
~Better than I'd expected. I met someone I haven't seen in awhile~ he said
"Ya, who was that?"
~Oh…no one…~ Hiro sounded like he was daydreaming or something. Bit didn't bother him anymore. He knew when someone needed to be left alone. And Liger and Bit were best friends… he would tell him eventually
"Hello" Haru said as she walked in.
Bit turned to see her, and helloed her back. It was odd though, she was looking at the Liger and not him. It was like she was talking to the Liger.
"Oh, hello" she said again. "How's the kitty?" she asked.
"Kitty? Oh, you mean Liger. Well, he's in tip top shape, I'm just checking everything over to make sure I don't have any problems tomorrow" he said.
"He's a pretty kitty…well, I better work on my Wolf" she said. She went to where her wolf was and started to work on it. But it seemed to Bit that she was distracted and not really thinking about the Wolf.
Bit worked a little bit more until he was satisfied. He left and went to Leena's room. As he went up, he saw Haru go toward the Liger. As he rounded the corner, he thought he saw her go inside the Liger. He was about to turn back, until something in his head said "Liger's smart. He wont let anyone harm him. And maybe she just wanted to see the Liger. Everyone has curiosity…"
After Bit left…
~Hey Hiro, how you like being stuck here?~ Haru teased.
~Sorry to disappoint you~ said Hiro ~But I actually enjoy being here. I've been here long enough to basically do whatever I want. I can spy on the team, letting me know what everyone is doing (via the electronic surveillance equipment onboard), I can see the news, watch TV, and the like. I also can secretly convert my armor units, so when we go out tomorrow, they wont be as sucky as they are now. And finally, I can watch you make a fool of yourself!~
Haru gave a face of hurtfulness, even though she was smiling inside. She was very awkward and sped-like among the humans; she wasn't used to these new customs or beliefs. ~Count on Hiro to make a hell into heaven…~ she finally said.
Hiro telepathetically chuckled. It was an interesting thing to do. You don't here the telepath laughing, you feel the joy the person felt from the funny. Then Hiro paused for some time, trying to think of the best way to word this. ~Haru, when you woke up, what did you plan on doing. Also, did you take me over by accident, or did you sense me?
Haru lost the smile that had formed on her face; she looked like stone now, the Haru that threatened to destroy all that opposed it. She sat down on Hiro's paw, and laid her back on the shin (I think), in a position that would mimic a sunbather on a sun chair thingy. ~Well, when I was reactivated, I downloaded the bases files, and all that I got from it were plans for these horrible weapons. When I realized that these people might actually have built some of them, my self preservation protocol forced me to leave.~ her face became gloomy ~I wasn't in full control on myself, and the protocol made my kill all those people…~ she seemed to be deeply upset by this memory, but something inside her forced to go on. Maybe it made her think it was justifiable if Hiro thought it was the best that she could have done in that situation. ~Then my life-preservation protocol made me take out that base, since it didn't want those things to be used. After I regained total control, I still didn't trust the humans, but ever since you showed me this new world, it just seems like our old one; there are good people, and there are bad people. I don't want to destroy these people anymore. I would try to save them if I could. And how I took over you…I just wanted a quick kill, well more like my protocol wanted a quick kill, so I just took the closest, and easiest to get in Zoid. Hey…is that why you tool that Liger?~
~Yes~ he replied ~It was easy to take over, but the real reason I took it was because I was just tired of looking for you and wanted to be left alone. So I went to some shop and took it over. And every time they tried to sell me, I just rejected the pilot. Then Dr Toros bought me, and I rejected everyone as usual, but when I saw Bit, something told me to let him pilot me. So I did it, and now I have you~ then he said in a dreamy tone ~It's kinda funny that you found me, even though I spent all that time looking for you…But it was worth the wait.~ He gently lifted his paw and put her in his cockpit. He closed the cockpit and she melted into him once again. If anyone was watching, he didn't want to give the secret away, now that they were all alone...All Haru did the rest of the time was express her happiness for being with her love once again. And expressing her disappointment that she wasn't his pilot.
Man is evil. All that is associated with man is evil. Man kills himself over petty things. Men are more humane to animals then they are to themselves. Man's inhumanity to man! It's sickening…It was man that doomed their home world, and it will be man that will destroy this world; their weapons are too destructive. Man must be stopped before he can do anymore damage. It is Nature's will, and Nature is the ruler of all…It has been said, and it shall be done!
MerHaru woke up from its trance. Its fuel had been replenished. Now it could destroy more evil men. But first it had to destroy their only protector. Haru must die… MerHaru Ignited its boosters and headed towards where Haru was headed. Time to die, slave of man. Time to die, destroyer of worlds…
The next day…
The Hover Cargo finally reached the battle field. It was a desert zone, with jagged rocks jutting out in random spots. Probably meteors from the Armageddon of long past. They threatened to destroy something if hit at high speeds. This particular desert was composed of three things. Sand, rock and sand. The terrain was sand with the aforementioned rocks jutting out. And due to its particular location on Zi, it had very fast winds which were heavily filled with sand. Dr Toros estimated a density of 1 kg of sand per cubic meter. That and the wind speed (about 20 km/h) was what would have made aerial assault impossible. Also, since there was so much sand, stealth units would show, so it was basically the one with the better guns and armor would win.
Everyone that wasn't fighting stayed in the Command Center, while Jamie and the Doc monitored their status.
"Liger 0 Panzer CAS complete" said Jamie. He didn't mention that the computer didn't recognize the armor as Panzer armor, but as Shruken armor. It looked the same, and the battle was about to start, so he decided not to tell Bit or the Doc about the anomaly.
"Mobilizing Liger 0 Panzer" said Bit as the Liger was dropped from the side panel.
"Mobilizing Konig Wolf" said Haru as she was launched.
Both the Zoids nearly got stuck where they where; the sand was too soft.
"Oh man…" said Bit
"Bit, you see that flat rock over there?" said Jamie "Go to it and stay there it should be able to take your weight. As for you Haru, just don't stop walking, that should keep you up."
"Right" they said in turn. Bit walked slowly, since he didn't want the circuits to fry, but for some reason, all the circuits were cool…
The Judge capsule came a few minutes later. It made a vacuum of air in its path that was quickly taken up by the sandy wind. Its landing was muffled; obviously, the sand wasn't a good base for it. But the ZBC was always prepared, and a large support frame from within it came down to stabilize the capsule. The Judge came out and started the formalities. (I forget what he says exactly, but the limit he said for the battlefield was a radius of 250 kilometers). "Ready…Fight!" it said, symbolically starting the battle by crossing its arms.
No sooner had the judge said fight, four emissions originating from a CPC were fired in their directions. Haru dodged them easily, but Bit didn't move an inch. When everyone could see again, Bit could not be found!
"Bit!" cried Leena, fearing the worst.
What happened to Bit?
And what evil thing is MerHaru planning on doing?
Find out in the next chapter "The Beginning Of The End". Who will survive?