Here it is, after all this time the fic finally will go on! Sorry for the long wait, but it was due to laziness and all the large projects I had to do.
Nikita: Yeah, you'll have to excuse him, he's lost most of his marbles already!
Naomi: (sigh) yep, he's a regular nutjob!
Black: HEY!! NOT NICE!!! . Anyway, the fic continues!!
Chapter 13-Battle on the Dunes: Nikita's defeat
Begin Flashback
This is where it begins, and where it ends… Kayla thought bitterly, initiating the startup procedures for the White Panther.
This is when I become the strongest warrior on the face of Zi, and my asshole of a brother gets what he deserves…
She piloted it out of the Whale King, and soon found her way to the Blitz Team base.
She sneered an evil sneer that spread to all of her otherwise beautiful and innocent features, and she depressed as hard as she could on all of the weapon triggers.
End Flashback
The base was shaking now from what felt like shells.
Everyone on the team was already up and running to the hangar, with Nikita and Bit in the lead.
"Dammit, why'd this hafta happen now?! I was havin' the best dream!" Bit huffed as he started to pick up speed.
Nikita growled. "I dunno…this thing just don't feel right…almost as if its something evil…"
"It's probably just another faction of the Backdraft Group or some bandits or something!" Jamie sighed from behind them, grabbing the call key to his zoid out of his pocket.
Brad shook his head. "No, I agree with the kid. It doesn't seem right. This thing's got someone's stink all over it…and it sure as hell don't smell good, either…"
All of them quickly jumped into their zoids, and secured themselves into their crash belts.
[Alright team, get out there and teach this bastard a lesson!] Doc shouted over the intercom unit from inside the base.
Nikita sighed, and put on some sunglasses to shield his eyes from the sunlight of dawn (A/N: The base is facing east.)
The doors slowly yawned open, revealing one small zoid on the horizon. Painted white with red trim, and shaped almost exactly the same as Nikita's Black Jackal, and armed with an AZ-30mm special laser vulcan gun, and a pair of blades.
"What the hell is that?" He muttered to himself, increasing the zoom on the zoid. "White Panther?" He asked, reading the name off the side of the zoid, which had obviously been painted there for a reason.
[So, I guess I finally got you attention…] The pilot cackled evilly. From what he heard, it was a woman's voice, with a very slight British accent.
That voice…it sounds familiar… He thought to himself curiously. But where from?
[Who the hell do you think you are?!] Bit shouted angrily. [You interrupted my dream! Now prepare to feel my wrath!]
[Bit Cloud, do us all a favor and shut that sinkhole you call a mouth for a few moments, will you?] The pilot asked irritably.
[Yeah, Bit, calm down! We're all in the same boat here!] Leena added spitefully.
"Who are you?!" Nikita shouted from out of the clear blue sky.
He heard her cackle at that comment.
"Just what the hell's so goddamn funny, coward?" he grunted, after slamming his fist onto the console.
[Sorry, just thinking of a joke…but I've decided to honor your request…] She sighed.
The vid-link on everyone's screens instantly turned on, and then only Nikita knew who it was.
"KAYLA?!! WHAT THE HELL?!!" He exclaimed in surprise.
She smirked, and started chuckling. He noticed that her eyes were now dark black, as if a pair of coals. [Yes, its me…dear brother…]
[What the hell are you talkin' about?!] Bit interrupted, slamming his fist on the console. [Nikita has no sister!]
Kayla waved a finger mockingly, as if scolding him like a small child. [You don' t know anything, do you Bit Cloud?]
"Shut up! You can't be my sister! There's no way you can!!" Nikita bellowed, clenching his eyes shut in anger.
[You know, I thought it was funny when I saw your face on the vid-screen also…you were the first person I had met in that city…] She looked downward at the console, and her expression changed into a saddened one. He thought he saw her eyes fading back to their original brown color. [The first one I ever talked to…I thought I liked you…maybe even loved you…] She looked up, and her expression hardened again, her eyes seemingly glowing back to black. [But, you're also the one I've been searching for…the one I've wanted to find…then one father wants to find so he can execute his revenge on your pathetic teammates…]
"Revenge?!! What are you talking about?!!"
[Doctor Layon…] Bit and Leena growled in unison.
[Why can't you just leave my father alone?! It happened so long ago, and I thought he was over it already!] Leena shouted, her teeth grinding with the newfound rage that washed over her features.
Kayla never even dignified Leena's outburst with a response.
[...And, you're also the one I've wanted to kill for a long, long time...] She sneered, her smirk flashing to everyone in the group.
Nikita slammed his fist on the console of the Jackal. "Fine, then. You wanna go?! Then, you and me right now, one-on-one!"
She shook her head as if she had expected him to say such a thing. [No. You still don't get it, do you, brother? I'm going to decimate you all right here and now!]
Brad chuckled, and started to laugh. [What are you, amateur, some kind of idiot?! There's five of us, and only one of you!]
[Oh, believe me, Mr. Hunter, I can definitely take care of myself...] Kayla said, her sneer growing even more than before. [Well, lets get started then, shall we?!]
She opened fire with her AZ 30mm Vulcan Gun, tracing a line across the sand next to their feet, causing them to scatter their zoids in different directions, in a seemingly haphazard kind of way.
[Kid, you take her left, and I'll go for the right! We can box 'er in that way!] Brad shouted over the private comm channel to Nikita.
"Sure, let's do it!"
Nikita and Brad aligned their zoids side-by-side, and started to charge Kayla's zoid, splitting about midway, skidding to a stop on either side of her.
"Oh, trying to box me in, eh?" Kayla muttered to herself, another sneer on her face.
[Now, kid, fire!] Brad shouted, depressing the weapon's triggers on the Shadow Fox.
Nikita nodded, and opened fire with the standard 50mm rifles above him, firing them as quickly as he could.
Kayla made no attempt to move her zoid, and took the brunt of Brad and Nikita's onslaught of bullets, kicking up sand and dust all around them.
"Did we get her?!" He exclaimed after they had fired.
[Yeah, I think so…] Brad muttered.
The dust cleared, and her zoid stood there, almost completely unscathed from their assault.
[What the hell?! What's this thing made out of anyway?!] Brad shouted in surprise.
"Hmph, must be some thick-ass armor…" Nikita muttered. "Luckily, these sniper rifles are using armor-piercing bullets…"
A plan slowly formed in his head.
"Alright…this could work…" He engaged the private comm channel. "Brad, I want you to keep her occupied for me, I'm gonna go set up a sniper point, and take her down with some AP bullets…"
[What the hell are you, crazy?! We don't have that kind of time here!] The mercenary shouted back.
"Just trust me! I need five minutes to set up about a quarter of a mile east of here, okay?"
He heard Brad sigh. [Fine, just hurry up. We can't hold her attention forever.]
"Thanks Brad!" And with that, he tore off into the direct rays of the sun, running as fast as his zoid could without triggering the boosters.
Meanwhile, Jamie's Raynos dove out of the sky at lightning speed, the machine guns howling to life while tracing a line of fire towards Kayla's unsuspecting zoid.
[You're not gettin' away with this, lady!] The Wild Eagle shouted as he opened fire on Kayla.
[Not so fast, flyboy…] She muttered, lining up the Raynos in her sights. Her controls gave her a satisfying "beep" to tell her it was ready to fire, and she did so with extreme prejudice.
Five pinpoint accurate shots hit Jamie's Raynos from her AZ 30mm, knocking the Raynos out of the sky. Somehow, his expertise piloting skills got him to crash-land safely with too much bodily injury.
[You're gonna pay for that you bitch!] Leena bellowed over the comm from seemingly nowhere as she opened fire on Kayla's White Panther with her vulcan cannons.
Kayla smirked, and made no attempt to move her zoid, and decided to catch the full feel of Leena's barrage, kicking up more dust around her.
[Ha! Take that!] She shouted, happily.
The dust cleared, and there was Kayla's zoid, again, completely unscratched.
[Please, don't tell me that was supposed to hurt me…it felt more like a gust of wind…]
Nikita, who had stopped and wheeled around to start sniping, heard Leena growl. [You bitch! Are you some kind of masochistic freak?!]
Nikita ignored their chatter, and deployed the scopes to start aiming at Kayla's Panther.
Leena, meanwhile, shouted, signaling she had had enough. [That's it! See if you can survive this you loser! WEASLE UNIT TOTAL ASSAULT!!!!]
Missiles, bullets, and warheads galore erupted from her zoid's firearms, exploding all around her and Kayla, striking Kayla's zoid with such sheer force that it would have likely split in two.
Nikita, as an instinct, moved his crosshairs closer towards the smoke cloud.
Unfortunately, it didn't. Instead, it was there, completely unscathed as before.
[Godammit!] Leena bellowed in fury.
Kayla shot at Leena's zoid a couple of times, resulting in a system freeze.
Nikita zoomed in up to the maximum magnification on his scopes, and primed his rifles with their bullets. Time to die…
His console gave him a satisfying "beep" to tell him that she was locked on, displaying the words, "LOCK" in red underneath his crosshairs.
Suddenly, Kayla appeared in his cockpit, an evil sneer spreading across her face, and her black eyes gleamed with fire, causing him to look away from the scope and at her. [Brother…let's play a game shall we?]
"I don't have time to deal with you, Kayla. I've got to get some sleep…" he grunted as he lined up the leg of her zoid in his crosshairs.
She fired her zoids guns again, quickly incapacitating Bit and Brad's zoids.
[Fine…I guess Leena's death won't have any effect on you…] She sneered.
"What?!" He shouted in surprise.
[Let's see who makes it there first: I'll be performing a Strike Laser Claw, which will slow me down considerably during the charging, and you have your boosters. Can you make it in time with your blades in order to stop me from hurting your precious girlfriend?]
Nikita gasped in fright. "You sick, twisted-"
[Its not nice to insult people brother…I might be tempted just to shoot at her cockpit…and that wouldn't be very nice…] She chuckled.
Nikita gulped down the lump in his throat. He didn't have any choice, he knew Kayla wasn't bluffing. "Okay, I'll play your sick little game. But once this is over, I will kill you…"
[That's a very mean thing to say to your older sister, isn't it Nikita?] She said in a somewhat hurt-sounding tone. [On the count of three, we go…]
Nikita deployed his boosters, removed his scopes and put the sniper rifles back in their place, and got his finger ready on the button to ignite them.
[…3…]
The Jackal quickly moved closer to the ground in order to spring upward faster with the added power of its legs.
[…2…]
He hit the trigger to deploy his blades.
[…1…]
His zoid roared at the challenge.
[…ZERO!!!] She bellowed as she started her zoid towards its destination, Leena's zoid.
He fired the boosters, and his zoid sprang into action, running with god-like speed towards his target; Kayla's White Panther zoid.
Its claws began glowing bright orange, as it went into the charging process for the Strike Laser claw.
The Black Jackal roared again, this time louder than it had before, and its speed almost seemed to increase with the urgency of the situation.
The blades gleamed, and the Jackal's computer registered the attack currently in use: The Twin Blade Attack.
Kayla's zoid was edging closer and closer towards Leena's immobilized GunSniper; Nikita gritted his teeth, and pushed the boosters well beyond their limits.
The White Panther roared at the challenge the Black Jackal posed; each jockeying for position to get to Leena's GunSniper first.
The Black Jackal inched ahead slowly until he was noticeably in front, and the White Panther jumped in order to execute the move.
Nikita's zoid skidded to a halt, sliding on its legs to the side, in an attempt to charge Kayla's zoid in midair.
Before he could straighten out, however, Kayla hit her boosters, using Nikita's zoid as a stepladder of sorts to reach Leena's cockpit with her attack, using the leverage of Nikita's zoid to turn it into a deadly drill of pure energy.
[Thanks a bunch brother!] She exclaimed in a somewhat gleeful and bloodthirsty tone as her zoid's claws inched closer and closer towards Leena's cockpit. [STRIKE LASER CLAWW!!!!!!]
"NOO!! LEENA!!!" He screamed out, his zoids movements suddenly becoming sluggishly slow as he tried to jump upward in an attempt to knock away Kayla's attack.
His efforts were in vain, as the White Panther's claw collided with Leena's cockpit like a punch, the whole neck of the GunSniper snapping to the side, and ripping off in a display of tearing wires and framework and oil, splattering it all over the place like blood.
Kayla cried out in joy, her face appearing on the comm channel on Nikita's frequency only as her zoid landed, and bounded off into the sun. [Thank you, dear brother. Now that my objective is complete, I can go home now!]
Nikita's hands trembled on his controls, and soon his entire body joined in the spasming, until his teeth gritted in pain, and his knuckles began to turn white.
He looked quickly towards where the GunSniper's head had landed, the wires still flailing about and sparking. He saw that the cockpit glass had shattered, and Leena had been thrown out onto the sand about twenty or thirty feet away, lying in a twisted heap on the dunes.
Nikita let out a scream, and gave chase to her zoid, just as Kayla had predicted, for she had turned around, and armed her blades, and had already started charging him.
Since his blades were still out, he charged her, hitting his boosters so hard he was thrown into the back of his pilot's seat by the sheer force of gravity on his body.
"TWIN BLADE ATTACK!!!!!!" He shouted, his zoid's blades glowing an ominous green color as he moved towards her.
Kayla smirked, and jumped her zoid over his just as he was about to hit her, twisting in midair, slicing the top rifles of his zoid, but failing to knock them off, but cutting some vital circuitry.
His zoid keep moving for a few feet and then stumbled down in a heap.
He struggled with the controls, desperately trying to get his zoid to stand. "C'mon buddy, don't fail on me now…" He grunted.
The console just gave him a message saying "COMMAND SYSTEM FREEZE," and he slammed his fist down on the controls in frustration.
Kayla sneered at his now incapacitated zoid, and decided that at last it was time to leave. She discharged some smoke from her zoids smoke dischargers, and disappeared in the smoke.
When it cleared, she was no where to be found.
[Dammit! Where'd she go?!!!] Bit shouted in surprise.
[I dunno…] Brad said, genuinely surprised. Then something dawned on him, and he opened a private channel to Nikita's zoid. [Kid, are you okay?]
Nikita grunted. "Yeah, I'm fine, unfortunately."
Brad sighed. [Well, that's a relief. But we've gotta go check out Leena's zoid and see if she's alright…]
Nikita nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I'm gettin' out right now…" He sighed as he removed his crash belts and removed his sunglasses, and opened the cockpit.
He jumped out of it, and ran towards the wreck of the GunSniper, skidding to a stop next to Leena's body.
He jumped down, and turned her over on her side. She was unconscious, with many scrapes and cuts on her face, and at least a dozen on her arms, all of which were bleeding. She was also bleeding from her mouth. She also had a cut over her right eye.
"Leena! Leena! Please wake up! Please!" he shouted desperately, tears welling up in his eyes.
"…Ugh…" She groaned softly, her form stirring softly.
"Leena?!" He exclaimed in joy.
"N-Nikita? Is that you?" She whispered, her left eye slowly opening.
He wiped some of the tears from his eyes, and smiled. "Yeah, its me. I'm here…"
She tried to sit up slightly, but quickly went back down after a large pain shot through her entire body. "Oh, damn that really hurt…" She grunted. "I can't move anything without something hurting…"
"Don't worry about it…everything's gonna be fine…" He whispered softly, moving some of her red hair out of her eyes. He turned towards Brad. "Hey, Brad! Call an ambulance!"
Brad shrugged. "Already did, kid. It's on its way." The mercenary said.
Nikita smiled slightly. "Thanks Brad." He turned back towards his hurting girlfriend. "Where does it hurt?"
"A-almost everywhere…I think I must've twisted something from that fall…it hurt me pretty bad…"
"Does anything feel broken?" he asked her, leaning a bit closer to her.
She tried to nod, but grimaced in a painful way when she realized not to do that. "Y-yeah. I think I might've broken my right arm…" She sighed, trying to tilt her head towards her arm.
Nikita looked at it. It didn't look too bad, except for the cuts on it. He decided against touching it.
"It doesn't look broken, but let's not take any chances…how do you feel?" he asked, wiping away some sweat from his forehead.
"I guess so…but I feel a bit strange…" She trailed off. "Feel funny…" She started slipping into unconsciousness as her entire world began to go black.
"Leena! Stay with me!" He exclaimed, trying to keep her conscious. His efforts were futile.
She was out cold.
Black: Well, that's all! The next chapter's already in the works, so expect to hear from me soon!