Zoids: A New Beginning

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own zoids

Bit looked curiously at Jamie. "A Battle Royal?" Bit and the rest of the Blitz Team along with Dr. Toros were in the briefing room. The Zoid Battle Commission had sent them an invitation to fight in the Battle Royal.

"Yeah," replied Jamie. "A number of teams will be competing. There are teams from Class S, and even Class A and Class B."

"Any information about which teams are competing?" asked Brad.

"Yeah. The X Team will be there. The Shell, Sun, and Seeker Teams will be there as well. From Class A there will be the Fluegal, Lightening, Champ, and Tiger Teams."

"The Champ and Tiger Teams," said Leena, "You've got to be kidding me."

"This battle will be a piece of cake," remarked Bit.

"I don't think so," said Brad. "The Shell, Sun, and Seeker Teams aren't pushovers and the X Team is our greatest rival."

"Not to mention that the Fluegal and Lightening Teams haven't always ranked among our easiest battles," added Jamie.

"Well no big deal," said Bit, "We'll win anyway. How does a Battle Royal work?"

"The Battle Royal is one of the simplest battle modes around," said Brad. "The last one standing is the winner."

"Well, still no problem," said Bit.

"Will he ever learn?" sighed Jamie.

"Alright!" exclaimed Vega, "A Battle Royal. I've never been in one of those before!"

Derrik smiled at his young friend's eagerness. He himself had been in a number of Battle Royals and would probably be in many more before he retired from zoid battling.

"This'll be great," Vega continued, "This will be a good chance to test the Fury's abilities against different kinds of zoids."

"Now that you mention it," said Derrik, interrupting Vega, "I have something that you might find interesting."

They went into the staging area inside the greatshark. There, Vega saw something that really got him excited. "It's a conversion chamber."

"Yes," said Derrik. "The Berserk Fury's current armament is proof that the zoid is capable of utilizing a Conversion Armor System. Thus, I have designed and built the conversion chamber and three armors for the Berserk Fury. You will notice that they were directly inspired by the Liger 0 conversion armor systems.

"The three armors are, of course, the Jager, Shnider, and Panzer armor systems. Currently, the Jager armor is the only set that is operational. These armors are slightly different from the Liger 0 armors because the configuration for the Berserk Fury is obviously quite different. Of all four armors, only the original and Panzer armors have the ability to use the Fury's charged particle cannon."

"Why's that?" asked Vega.

"Both the Jager and Shnider armors rely too much on mobility. Neither armor can withstand the stresses of firing the charged particle cannon."

"I notice that the Liger 0 Jager armor uses the Strike Laser Claw, but the Fury's configuration makes that impossible. What is the Jager's primary weapon on the Fury?"

"The Jager's weapon is a double-barrel laser cannon, similar to the one mounted on a Lightening Saix. The Berserk Fury's sonic boom is nothing to laugh at either."

"Great," said Vega. "Thank you so much for doing this for me."

"It was a pleasure," replied Derrik.

The day of the battle arrived and the Blitz, X, Sun, Seeker, Shell, Champ, Tigers, Lightening, and Fluegal Teams arrived at the battlefield. The battlefield extended for a hundred miles from where the judge capsule was due to land. There was a tall mountain that Naomi noted would make the perfect sniping position. She and Leon setup at the top of the mountain.

Behind where the Gunsniper and Red Blade Liger had setup was a thick forest. Brad noticed that it would work nicely for the Shadowfox. At the base of the mountain was another forest, which would hopefully provide cover from the Gunsniper's fire.

Beyond the forest was a large, open space that would be perfect for the Lightening Saix. A fact that did not escape the notice of one Jack Sisco, or his team mates Chris and Kelly Tasker. The Tigers Team noted that the area would do well for them, so they setup out on the open space.

At the far edge of the battlefield, the X Team waited for the battle to start. The Berserk Fury was equipped with the Jager armor. "Lets hope this works," muttered Vega.

As for the Champ Team, Harry and his robots arrived and landed next to the Blitz Team. "Oh Leena," said Harry, "Here I am to prove my love to you."

"Oh boy," sighed Bit. "Let's take them out first."

"You said it," said Leena.

The judge landed. "The area within a hundred mile radius is a designated zoid battlefield. Only competitors and personnel have authorization. Danger! All others must leave at once. Area scanned. Battlefield setup. Battle mode 0975. Ready…Fight!"

All nine teams sprang into action. Leena and her Gunsniper immediately turned on the three adjacent Iron Kongs of the Champ Team. "Weasel Unit, Total Assault!" yelled Leena. The Gunsniper cut loose with every weapon it had, leveling all three Iron Kongs in less than ten seconds.

The Liger 0 Jager, charged for the Lightening Team zoids. Brad's Shadowfox made for the Tigers Team, Jamie and the Sun Team became engaged in a dogfight. Leena headed for the location of the Shell Team.

The Seeker Team's Konig Wolf was slowly making its way up the mountain, out of the line of sight of the Fluegal Team. The rest of the team was hidden in the forest at the mountain's base. After a few minutes, the Konig Wolf made it to the top, only to be confronted by Leon and his Red Blade Liger.

The Red Blade Liger lunged, forcing the Konig Wolf to jump over it. It turned around and fired its back-mounted rifle. The Red Blade Liger charged in, blades extended. Leon swerved his zoid expertly, dodging around the Konig Wolf's shots. Its blades cut the Konig Wolf in half.

Meanwhile, Naomi had spotted the rest of the Seeker Team in the forest. She fired, methodically taking out the Gunsniper, Dibison, and Saber Tiger. She shifted her aim, looking for a new target.

The Jager came up alongside the Lightening Team. All three Lightening Saix accelerated, as did the Jager. The Jager slammed into the side of Kelly's Saix, knocking it off balance momentarily. She recovered, but not quickly enough to prevent the Jager from leaping onto the Lightening Saix's back, a single slash of the Liger's claws took the cannon off the Saix's back and knocked it out of the battle.

Jack Sisco and Chris ground to a stop. Chris's Lightening Saix started to move forward, but a laser shot hit it in the midsection. The Lightening Saix fell to the ground, disabled. Before Jack could figure out what happened, a blue-white blur that was not the Jager rushed past it. The sonic boom knocked Jack's Lightening Saix off its feet. When it stood up again it was too late to dodge the Jager's Strike Laser Claw.

Bit looked over to see what the other zoid was and got the surprise of his life. It was the Berserk Fury, in full Jager armor. "Vega!" Bit exclaimed, "I didn't know the Fury had a conversion armor system."

"I just got it," replied Vega, "Do you like it, this is the Fury's Jager armor."

"Oh yeah, I like it all right," Bit muttered.

Meanwhile, the Shadowfox closed the distance between itself and the Tigers Team. The three Saber Tigers fired wildly with their heavy artillery cannons, but with little effect. The unpredictable and erratic movements of the Shadowfox made it impossible to figure out where the zoid's next position would be.

Brad waited until he was closer in, then opened up with the Shadowfox's Vulcan Laser Gun. The two Saber Tigers on either flank went down fast. The middle one managed to weather the storm, but not for long. The Shadowfox's claws were giving off a telltale glow. "Strike Laser Claw!" said Brad. The Shadowfox took one leg off the enemy Saber Tiger. Brad turned and headed for the cliff where Naomi and her team waited.

Leena was looking for the Shell Team, but she found that someone had gotten there before her. Namely the Elaphander and Raptorus. The Elaphander had been armed with its Assault Gattling Unit and its E.C.S. trunk unit. Its Missile Assault easily punched through the Gojulas's armor.

The Raptorus weaved in out of the Dibison's line of fire. The Iron Kong tried to track the elusive target, but was unaware that it was a target itself.

"Weasel Unit, Total Assault!" Leena yelled with glee. Her attack knocked the Iron Kong off its feet. The Elaphander turned to face the Gunsniper, but not before its flank was riddled by gattling gunfire. The Elaphander's own gattling unit pivoted around and fired at the Gunsniper while the rest of the zoid turned to bring its shield to bear.

Leena fired a burst of missiles but was too late. The Elaphander's shield intercepted the barrage. Leena got an idea. The Gunsniper's modifications had included four missile pods. However, there were two additional pods behind those four that fired missiles in a ballistic trajectory. She realized that the missiles would be able to go over the line of cover provided by the Elaphander's shield and strike the gattling unit mounted on top.

Leena fired her gattling guns to coax the Elaphander into activating its shield. She then fired the mortar rockets. The rockets went up and over the shield, completely catching the Elaphander by surprise. The missile attack worked better than she had hoped for. It completely disabled the Elaphander.

"Hey," she told herself, "I beat the Elaphander. Alright! Nothing can stop me now!"

"Oh," came a calm voice over the communication's channel. Derrik's face appeared on a video screen. "Would you like to bet money on that."

"Whoops," Leena chuckled nervously, "Forgot about you there for a moment Derrik." Derrik had obviously dealt with the Shell Team's Dibison.

Derrik's smile was kindly amused. "What a pity." He paused, then shouted, "Strike Sickle Claw!"

Leena knew the blow was coming and was determined to get off a few shots before she was taken out. She knew that because the attack was the Strike Sickle Claw, it would be coming from above to give the Raptorus a chance to strike with its wicked hind claws. She aimed upward and yelled, "Weasel Unit, Total Assault!"

The Gunsniper got a full barrage off, and one or two missiles detonated against the Raptorus's chassis, but it was too late to do her any good. The descending claw opened up her Gunsniper like a tin can. Leena was out of the battle.

The Raptorus turned and headed for the cliff where the Fluegal Team had setup shop. Always the observant one, Naomi did not miss the Raptorus's approach. She shifted the aim of her long-rifle and fired.

The Raptorus slipped to one side, the bullet passing by harmlessly. Naomi continued to fire but found it was near impossible to keep the Raptorus in her sights long enough to shoot it. "Leon?" she started to ask.

"Way ahead of you," said Leon calmly and positioned himself to take the Raptorus when it came up the cliff. Naomi shifted her aim to find a better target. She saw the Liger 0 and Berserk Fury, rushing side by side across the plane, perpendicular to her position. They were moving too fast for her to shoot. She shifted her aim to look for other targets.

Up above, the balance of power had shifted tremendously. Jamie in his Raynos found all four zoids of the Sun Team on his tail. The Rodan rushed past the four zoids that their pilots barely caught a glimpse of the Rodan moving at Mach 7. The sonic boom wiped them out utterly.

Jamie soon found it was now the Rodan that was on his tail. Sadly, the Rodan had caught him somewhat unprepared. Pierce smiled as she pulled the trigger. The Rodan's micro plasma cannon blew the Raynos's left wing off, sending it plummeting towards the ground. Pierce looked around for another opponent.

Naomi was scanning for another target when a blur rushed past the barrel of her gun. She began to shift her aim upward, but it was too late. The Shadowfox, having rushed straight up the cliff directly beneather her was already above her. Its Strike Laser Claw took the Gunsniper's arm off at the shoulder. "Well, I lost," said Naomi calmly. "Nice trick Brad," she said with a smile.

"Thanks," said Brad. He smiled back.

On top of the mountain, Leon charged down the slope to meet the Raptorus coming up. The Raptorus had nowhere to dodge. Fortunately however, because of the Red Blade Liger's own position, it received little more than a head butt. However, since it was coming up, and the Red Blade Liger was coming down, Leon had gravity on his side. Derrik soon found that he was flying, down. The Raptorus slammed against the wall a few times before a hard landing at the foot of the mountain. Leon was knocked off balance by the blow, but managed to slow his descent to a slide.

When Leon reached the bottom, the Raptorus was waiting for him. The Raptorus attacked with its Strike Sickle Claw. The Red Blade Liger leaned left slightly, causing the Raptorus's attack to miss. The Red Blade Liger then twisted so that its blade on the right side came slicing forward. The blade connected with the Raptorus right at the hip. But surprisingly, the Raptorus's armor held and it was merely pitched over the blade to land on its backside behind and to the right of the Red Blade Liger.

The Raptorus rolled and got its feet under it. Its fore claws started to glow with laser energy. The Raptorus raised both hands in time to catch the Red Blade Liger's laser blade with its claws. The Raptorus then kicked out with its hind claw, catching the Red Blade Liger behind the head in the neck. The Blade Liger rolled onto its side, defeated.

The Derrik hesitated, not sure where to go next. His hesitation cost him dearly. Up above him, on top of the mountain, the Shadowfox attacked with its Vulcan Laser Gun. Derrik had no idea what had hit him until his zoid was lying disabled on the ground.

Up above, Pierce saw her opportunity. She pushed the Rodan into a dive. She pulled up and rushed level with the ground on top of the mountain. The sonic boom, while powerful in the air, was a hundred times more effective against a ground bound opponent. The sonic boom picked the Shadowfox up off the ground and sent it flying over the edge of the cliff, where it went out far enough that it could hit the ground without being slowed by the cliff face.

Bit had his hands full with the Berserk Fury. The two zoids rushed side by side, ramming into one another, each trying to get an advantage. Bit decelerated slightly, allowing him to take up a position behind the Berserk Fury, where he hit it with his two cheek-mounted machine guns.

The Fury would have easily stood up to the assault except for one small problem. One of the Liger's shots went straight up its booster engine. The Berserk Fury began to loose speed. Bit saw his chance. "Strike Laser Claw!" he shouted. The Liger's attack disabled the Fury.

Vega looked at his status screen. "Aww, a command system freeze. Oh well, I'll get you next time Bit."

Bit never got a chance to respond. He was too busy noticing that the Rodan was swooping in at him. He fired the Jager's jet boosters and rushed back to the hover cargo. Once inside he said, "Doc, activate the system Panzer."

"Gotcha," said Dr. Toros.

The Jager armor was replaced with the Panzer armor. The Panzer was deployed and the hover cargo pulled away to leave it to deal with the Rodan. Bit looked around and saw the Rodan coming at him from his left, out of the line of fire for his hybrid cannons.

The Rodan passed overhead but surprisingly, the Panzer armor's weight, which had always been the bane of the Panzer unit, kept the Liger 0 firmly on the ground. "Alright, at least that weight is good for something.

Pierce looked back and saw that her sonic boom had had no effect on the Panzer. She decided to try a different approach. She came at the Liger from behind and in an attempt to send the Liger pitching forward into the ground. Bit saw her coming and began to charge the Panzer's Hybrid Cannons.

As the Rodan passed overhead, the Panzer's weight once again kept it firmly rooted in place. Bit fired the Hybrid Cannons. Two blasts of energy rushed past on either side of the Rodan, missing by bear centimeters. But the shockwave of the sent the Rodan flipping head over heals. The Rodan crashed into the ground so hard that it was almost completely ripped apart.

"The battle is over. The battle is over. The winner is…the Blitz Team." The judge capsule closed then launched to dock with its satellite in orbit.

"Alright!" exclaimed Bit, "We won again."

"Great job Bit!" yelled Toros giddily, "We're unstoppable!"

Stroma watched the conclusion of the battle on a video screen. He smiled as he thought about the Battle Royal. He pressed the intercom and said, "Garret, get your team to the briefing room. I have selected your next opponents." It would be so wonderful, he thought, to see the Blitz and X teams fall.