Katrana's position wasn't hard to find. The tracking beacon, hidden deep
within PAC-4's body, sent a highly encoded signal that very few hackers
inside or outside of the Republican Army could break.
One of them was Sifen.
The signal was strong and clear, coming about three hundred kilometers southeast of the Southernmost Outpost, smack dab in the middle of the Cengari Desert.
The Guylos Empire used to have its own outpost down there, about fifteen years ago. Why they would place an outpost in such a wasteland was beyond anybody in the Republic's mind. It was eventually just abandoned, but not by order of the Emperor. The guards just stopped checking in one day, and no one bothered to come see why.
The trip down was uneventful. Communication must have been slow. Mt. Hoploy had very few aerial Zoids—they could reveal the secret base too easily. That was why there were so many Command Wolf Patrol Units: security and recon.
Kavid and Sifen managed to get some sleep, but I felt that I had had enough. Bruno wasn't really an engineer, just a shipment trucker for the Engineering Department, but he was quite the storyteller—or at least he thought so. He wasn't very old, but he'd seen his fair share of war. A couple of his tales were intriguing, especially one about some epic battle that started over a spilled shipment of pulif seeds, but I ignored most of his rambling.
When the radar beeped, I saw it as my saving grace.
"Well, I'll be! Looks like somethin' is out here after all." Said Bruno. "I was beginin' to think you were full of crap, Cap'n!" The snacking driver smiled and wiped poka chips from his mustache.
"Kavid, Sifen, wake up. We may have found Katrana."
Kavid groaned and rolled over, but Sifen sat up without even a yawn. These guys had been moving for far too long. Sifen switched right into strategy mode, though. "I suggest we leave the Gustav here and investigate with the PAC-Wolves, sir."
Sifen was always too cautious, but this time, so was I. "Sounds good."
"I got a load of them anti-Zoid rifles in the back there, Cap'n. Would you like to use 'em?" Suddenly, I liked Bruno a whole lot more.
The blue skies were beautiful, but the wind was leaving its mark. A gray haze formed a ring around the horizon in every direction. Freshly blown sand crunched under the table-sized feet of our PAC-Wolves, but there was no need for stealth here. It was not possible on the vast open dunes. There was nowhere to hide, either for the attacker or the one under attack.
A single object stood at a tilt on the southern horizon. My Zoid's database told me that it was an old Guylos Empire pre-fab Outpost Tower. It wasn't much bigger than the Helic pre-fab tower, but it had the look of the Empire built into it. It was always odd to me just how similar these two warring governments were.
As we drew closer, we came across deeply buried sections of broken fence. The crunching of sand turned into the crunching of metal as our Zoids' paws stomped across the stripped and abandoned carcasses of Molgas, Rev Raptors and Hel Digunners entombed in the desert sand. Apparently the Empire had no desire to salvage their assets from this waste of an outpost, but someone else did.
I flipped on my HUD-Comm. "Sergeant, any sign of PAC-Wolf 4?"
Sifen's image appeared. "Negative, Captain. There are no readings of any Zoid life around this outpost." I cursed to myself. "I am reading small levels of electrical activity inside the tower, however. The beacon signal is also coming from inside the tower."
"That tower would be a tight fit for a Command Wolf, don't ya think?" said Kavid. He was right. Maybe it was standing diagonally? "I recommend proceeding with caution, sir. Old defense systems could still be in active mode."
I doubted it. "Looters had their way with this place long ago." I replied. "Let's get out and have a look inside that tower. Lieutenant Deen, check the opposite side of the structure and start a defensive patrol." Experience taught me not to ignore Sifen's advice. "But Kavid, keep a light foot."
"Roger, Captain."
I turned off my Comm and lowered PAC-1's head to the ground. Kavid didn't call me by name. Either he was still tired or really nervous.
When my Command Wolf's canopy opened a gust of sandy wind nearly knocked me back into my seat. I picked the anti-Zoid rifle up out of the back of the cockpit, and jumped to the ground.
The Guylos Outpost Pre-Fab Tower wasn't any wider than the Helic one, but it was a story taller. This one's surface was scratched by the desert winds, and it leaned at a ten-degree pitch to the northeast. But its holes and broken windows had been repaired, either with metal panels or sloppily hammered wood. Someone was trying to keep the air out.
The front door was barred shut, and I was in no mood to try moving it. I leveled my rifle on my arm, aimed at the bar and fired. The explosion knocked the bar's halves to the ground. I kicked the door in.
The inside of the tower was quite a surprise. It was obviously being used as a storage and repair shed for a small Zoid. A hydraulic platform laid to the right of the room, with big doors behind it. On the platform were the footprints of a Zoid, probably a Gun Sniper. Parts were scattered about, and a storage shelf for tools and ammunition stood to the left.
But that wasn't the strangest site.
"Sir," called Sifen from behind the repair platform, "over here."
I walked over to him to find him standing next to a small oven, with burnt food and spilled water lying around. There had been a fight here.
But that wasn't the strangest site, either. A transmitter was lying on the ground, with its power on full. This had to be the source of the tracking beacon. But the shock came from next to the transmitter.
Katrana Sared's dead body was lying next to it. She had been shot.
The sound of a loud metallic clang came banging into the building from outside. A Command Wolf's growl shook the walls. I dropped to the floor and Sifen ran behind a table. Another clang sound screamed in the building. What the heck was happening out there?
I tapped my Wrist-Comm. "Kavid! Report!"
"A Gun Sniper is shooting at me, Jeremy! I can't—!" Clang number three smacked him, and was followed by another clang that didn't come from didn't come from outside; it came from a shell ripping through the tower! The shot had ricocheted off of PAC-2 and flew into the pre-fab!
"Kavid, can we get to our See-Dubs?" I barked. Sifen jumped up onto a table and looked out the new peephole.
"Negative, Jeremy. I still haven't found him yet. I'm pretty sure he's firing from the southeast." A forth clang, but this time softer; Kavid was moving away from the tower.
"The Lieutenant is running east." Said Sifen.
Kavid's voice came screaming through the Wrist-Comm, "OKAY GO! NOW!"
I ran for the busted front door and dropped the heavy Anti-Zoid rifle in the process. Kavid's PAC-2 was about fifty meters away, firing large twin bursts to the southeast. Sifen sprinted for PAC-3, and threw his rifle in ahead of himself.
I dropped into the seat and pulled my helmet on. All systems started to activate as the Command Wolf's windshield began to close. Just as it clicked shut a gunshot smacked into the bottom of the transparent window. I jumped fiercely and hit my head on the top of the cockpit. If that shot had been a second earlier...
"Twenty degrees southeast of here, at ten kilometers. I see the bastard now!" called Kavid. He hit his boosters and ran off at an obscene sprint towards the Gun Sniper. That son-of-a-....
"Kavid, get back here! Kavid! Lieutenant Deen!" But it was too late. Kavid was totally pissed off and way too far ahead of me. Since my Wolf didn't have boosters, there was no way that I could catch him. But Sifen's did have jets.
"PAC-3! Stop PAC-2, immediately!" I called.
"Yes, sir!" responded Sifen. But with those two big flat-panel missile launchers blocking airflow on his Zoid, there was no way that he would catch Kavid, either, and Sifen knew it...but he was still the only chance I had.
As PAC-2 and PAC-3 grew smaller and smaller, a rock formation to the southeast started growing bigger and bigger. I still had no visual confirmation of the Gun Sniper, but radar said it was out there, and man was it fast for a little GS.
Radar showed PAC-2 close in on the Sniper, and soon after I could see flashes of white and red in the hazy horizon. After a few seconds the sounds reached my Zoid, and I could tell that Kavid was doing most of the shooting. The Gun Sniper was just making Kavid waste his ammo.
Finally, the radar showed that the two Zoids had stopped, and were duking it out. Soon Sifen's Zoid entered the fray. It was like watching some simplistic video game of old, with the two red dots—PACs 2 and 3 dancing around the blue dot—the GS. Every weapon shot could be seen, pouring out from the little dancing dots, but they just couldn't stop each other from dancing.
I finally closed in on the rock formation, and prepared to join the fight. Explosions were the only things to be heard, since Kavid had stopped answering my pleas long ago.
Behind the formation was a cleared out section of desert, surrounded on three sides by towering rock walls. If this formation had been in an ocean, it would look much like a bay.
A black, silver and gold Gun Sniper was running along the top of the eastern wall, as Kavid's blasts chased it. Sifen lobbed up a missile or two, but the GS was so fast it was dodging everything. I could see how, now. Booster jets were attached to the little monster's back legs. Very cunning.
"Kavid, stop wasting your ammunition! He's too fast for you. Let's get this guy as a team!" I begged, "That's how we've always done it!"
"Forget it, Jeremy. This little bastard thinks he can make a fool of me, then I gotta teach him who's the best!"
I should have known. Kavid had always hated snipers of any kind. He preferred brawn over stealth any day. This Gun Sniper had been pegging him from a distance and making him look weak. He was just trying to regain his self-esteem. Damn.
I moved PAC-1 into PAC-2's line of fire. "What are you doing, Jeremy?" barked Kavid.
"We are a team, pal, whether you like it or not, whether we're in the Army or not. We swore that to each other a long time ago."
"But he--!"
"I know. But I need you, man. If I'm gonna take down Colonel Sared, I need you. I can't have you flipping out over some stupid Gun Sniper attack. Now let's kick this guy's ass but let's do it together. No buts."
Kavid was silent, but I knew I had reminded him of a lot of things. A lot of things we swore to each other when we joined the Army together. When we went through Basic together. When we bribed the Placement Officer to put us in the same unit. We were a team.
"All right, asshole, but we better win this."
"Let's do it."
The Gun Sniper had been walking along the top of the ridge, studying the delay in our assault. Sifen had been keeping an eye on it, though, so I wasn't worried.
I flicked on my Comm. No need for secrecy here. "Fly Swatter Attack. Mode 2. Go!"
The PAC-Wolves all howled in unison, hopefully confusing the heck out of the GS pilot.
Then, they ran.
They ran and ran as if in some crazy un-rehearsed panic attack, doing figure eights around each other and jumping each other when they ran out of room. The Gun Sniper seemed to ease its attack and stood a little taller to get a better view of this wild show. The Wolves kept frantically running and skidding and jumping all over the place. Had they gone mad?
Then, the GS lowered its guns to help with the view.
Bingo.
My first shot sprang out of the Wolf dance, smacking the Sniper hard in the chest. The GS stumbled a few steps back, and Sifen fired up three missiles and destroyed the edge of the cliff it stood on. The ground came tumbling down beneath it, and as it fell, Kavid hit it with a series of shots. He never missed.
The Gun Sniper crashed to the ground, and was buried by a pile of boulders.
"Yes!" cried Kavid.
"Yes, indeed." Said Sifen.
"Way to go team. Confuse 'em, get 'em to lower their defenses, then POW!" I liked that trick. Too bad it only worked once on an enemy. Hadn't met any dumb enough to fall for it twice.
Suddenly my Comm speakers turned on. As I frantically tried to shut them off, all I could hear was the sound of a laughing man.
One of them was Sifen.
The signal was strong and clear, coming about three hundred kilometers southeast of the Southernmost Outpost, smack dab in the middle of the Cengari Desert.
The Guylos Empire used to have its own outpost down there, about fifteen years ago. Why they would place an outpost in such a wasteland was beyond anybody in the Republic's mind. It was eventually just abandoned, but not by order of the Emperor. The guards just stopped checking in one day, and no one bothered to come see why.
The trip down was uneventful. Communication must have been slow. Mt. Hoploy had very few aerial Zoids—they could reveal the secret base too easily. That was why there were so many Command Wolf Patrol Units: security and recon.
Kavid and Sifen managed to get some sleep, but I felt that I had had enough. Bruno wasn't really an engineer, just a shipment trucker for the Engineering Department, but he was quite the storyteller—or at least he thought so. He wasn't very old, but he'd seen his fair share of war. A couple of his tales were intriguing, especially one about some epic battle that started over a spilled shipment of pulif seeds, but I ignored most of his rambling.
When the radar beeped, I saw it as my saving grace.
"Well, I'll be! Looks like somethin' is out here after all." Said Bruno. "I was beginin' to think you were full of crap, Cap'n!" The snacking driver smiled and wiped poka chips from his mustache.
"Kavid, Sifen, wake up. We may have found Katrana."
Kavid groaned and rolled over, but Sifen sat up without even a yawn. These guys had been moving for far too long. Sifen switched right into strategy mode, though. "I suggest we leave the Gustav here and investigate with the PAC-Wolves, sir."
Sifen was always too cautious, but this time, so was I. "Sounds good."
"I got a load of them anti-Zoid rifles in the back there, Cap'n. Would you like to use 'em?" Suddenly, I liked Bruno a whole lot more.
The blue skies were beautiful, but the wind was leaving its mark. A gray haze formed a ring around the horizon in every direction. Freshly blown sand crunched under the table-sized feet of our PAC-Wolves, but there was no need for stealth here. It was not possible on the vast open dunes. There was nowhere to hide, either for the attacker or the one under attack.
A single object stood at a tilt on the southern horizon. My Zoid's database told me that it was an old Guylos Empire pre-fab Outpost Tower. It wasn't much bigger than the Helic pre-fab tower, but it had the look of the Empire built into it. It was always odd to me just how similar these two warring governments were.
As we drew closer, we came across deeply buried sections of broken fence. The crunching of sand turned into the crunching of metal as our Zoids' paws stomped across the stripped and abandoned carcasses of Molgas, Rev Raptors and Hel Digunners entombed in the desert sand. Apparently the Empire had no desire to salvage their assets from this waste of an outpost, but someone else did.
I flipped on my HUD-Comm. "Sergeant, any sign of PAC-Wolf 4?"
Sifen's image appeared. "Negative, Captain. There are no readings of any Zoid life around this outpost." I cursed to myself. "I am reading small levels of electrical activity inside the tower, however. The beacon signal is also coming from inside the tower."
"That tower would be a tight fit for a Command Wolf, don't ya think?" said Kavid. He was right. Maybe it was standing diagonally? "I recommend proceeding with caution, sir. Old defense systems could still be in active mode."
I doubted it. "Looters had their way with this place long ago." I replied. "Let's get out and have a look inside that tower. Lieutenant Deen, check the opposite side of the structure and start a defensive patrol." Experience taught me not to ignore Sifen's advice. "But Kavid, keep a light foot."
"Roger, Captain."
I turned off my Comm and lowered PAC-1's head to the ground. Kavid didn't call me by name. Either he was still tired or really nervous.
When my Command Wolf's canopy opened a gust of sandy wind nearly knocked me back into my seat. I picked the anti-Zoid rifle up out of the back of the cockpit, and jumped to the ground.
The Guylos Outpost Pre-Fab Tower wasn't any wider than the Helic one, but it was a story taller. This one's surface was scratched by the desert winds, and it leaned at a ten-degree pitch to the northeast. But its holes and broken windows had been repaired, either with metal panels or sloppily hammered wood. Someone was trying to keep the air out.
The front door was barred shut, and I was in no mood to try moving it. I leveled my rifle on my arm, aimed at the bar and fired. The explosion knocked the bar's halves to the ground. I kicked the door in.
The inside of the tower was quite a surprise. It was obviously being used as a storage and repair shed for a small Zoid. A hydraulic platform laid to the right of the room, with big doors behind it. On the platform were the footprints of a Zoid, probably a Gun Sniper. Parts were scattered about, and a storage shelf for tools and ammunition stood to the left.
But that wasn't the strangest site.
"Sir," called Sifen from behind the repair platform, "over here."
I walked over to him to find him standing next to a small oven, with burnt food and spilled water lying around. There had been a fight here.
But that wasn't the strangest site, either. A transmitter was lying on the ground, with its power on full. This had to be the source of the tracking beacon. But the shock came from next to the transmitter.
Katrana Sared's dead body was lying next to it. She had been shot.
The sound of a loud metallic clang came banging into the building from outside. A Command Wolf's growl shook the walls. I dropped to the floor and Sifen ran behind a table. Another clang sound screamed in the building. What the heck was happening out there?
I tapped my Wrist-Comm. "Kavid! Report!"
"A Gun Sniper is shooting at me, Jeremy! I can't—!" Clang number three smacked him, and was followed by another clang that didn't come from didn't come from outside; it came from a shell ripping through the tower! The shot had ricocheted off of PAC-2 and flew into the pre-fab!
"Kavid, can we get to our See-Dubs?" I barked. Sifen jumped up onto a table and looked out the new peephole.
"Negative, Jeremy. I still haven't found him yet. I'm pretty sure he's firing from the southeast." A forth clang, but this time softer; Kavid was moving away from the tower.
"The Lieutenant is running east." Said Sifen.
Kavid's voice came screaming through the Wrist-Comm, "OKAY GO! NOW!"
I ran for the busted front door and dropped the heavy Anti-Zoid rifle in the process. Kavid's PAC-2 was about fifty meters away, firing large twin bursts to the southeast. Sifen sprinted for PAC-3, and threw his rifle in ahead of himself.
I dropped into the seat and pulled my helmet on. All systems started to activate as the Command Wolf's windshield began to close. Just as it clicked shut a gunshot smacked into the bottom of the transparent window. I jumped fiercely and hit my head on the top of the cockpit. If that shot had been a second earlier...
"Twenty degrees southeast of here, at ten kilometers. I see the bastard now!" called Kavid. He hit his boosters and ran off at an obscene sprint towards the Gun Sniper. That son-of-a-....
"Kavid, get back here! Kavid! Lieutenant Deen!" But it was too late. Kavid was totally pissed off and way too far ahead of me. Since my Wolf didn't have boosters, there was no way that I could catch him. But Sifen's did have jets.
"PAC-3! Stop PAC-2, immediately!" I called.
"Yes, sir!" responded Sifen. But with those two big flat-panel missile launchers blocking airflow on his Zoid, there was no way that he would catch Kavid, either, and Sifen knew it...but he was still the only chance I had.
As PAC-2 and PAC-3 grew smaller and smaller, a rock formation to the southeast started growing bigger and bigger. I still had no visual confirmation of the Gun Sniper, but radar said it was out there, and man was it fast for a little GS.
Radar showed PAC-2 close in on the Sniper, and soon after I could see flashes of white and red in the hazy horizon. After a few seconds the sounds reached my Zoid, and I could tell that Kavid was doing most of the shooting. The Gun Sniper was just making Kavid waste his ammo.
Finally, the radar showed that the two Zoids had stopped, and were duking it out. Soon Sifen's Zoid entered the fray. It was like watching some simplistic video game of old, with the two red dots—PACs 2 and 3 dancing around the blue dot—the GS. Every weapon shot could be seen, pouring out from the little dancing dots, but they just couldn't stop each other from dancing.
I finally closed in on the rock formation, and prepared to join the fight. Explosions were the only things to be heard, since Kavid had stopped answering my pleas long ago.
Behind the formation was a cleared out section of desert, surrounded on three sides by towering rock walls. If this formation had been in an ocean, it would look much like a bay.
A black, silver and gold Gun Sniper was running along the top of the eastern wall, as Kavid's blasts chased it. Sifen lobbed up a missile or two, but the GS was so fast it was dodging everything. I could see how, now. Booster jets were attached to the little monster's back legs. Very cunning.
"Kavid, stop wasting your ammunition! He's too fast for you. Let's get this guy as a team!" I begged, "That's how we've always done it!"
"Forget it, Jeremy. This little bastard thinks he can make a fool of me, then I gotta teach him who's the best!"
I should have known. Kavid had always hated snipers of any kind. He preferred brawn over stealth any day. This Gun Sniper had been pegging him from a distance and making him look weak. He was just trying to regain his self-esteem. Damn.
I moved PAC-1 into PAC-2's line of fire. "What are you doing, Jeremy?" barked Kavid.
"We are a team, pal, whether you like it or not, whether we're in the Army or not. We swore that to each other a long time ago."
"But he--!"
"I know. But I need you, man. If I'm gonna take down Colonel Sared, I need you. I can't have you flipping out over some stupid Gun Sniper attack. Now let's kick this guy's ass but let's do it together. No buts."
Kavid was silent, but I knew I had reminded him of a lot of things. A lot of things we swore to each other when we joined the Army together. When we went through Basic together. When we bribed the Placement Officer to put us in the same unit. We were a team.
"All right, asshole, but we better win this."
"Let's do it."
The Gun Sniper had been walking along the top of the ridge, studying the delay in our assault. Sifen had been keeping an eye on it, though, so I wasn't worried.
I flicked on my Comm. No need for secrecy here. "Fly Swatter Attack. Mode 2. Go!"
The PAC-Wolves all howled in unison, hopefully confusing the heck out of the GS pilot.
Then, they ran.
They ran and ran as if in some crazy un-rehearsed panic attack, doing figure eights around each other and jumping each other when they ran out of room. The Gun Sniper seemed to ease its attack and stood a little taller to get a better view of this wild show. The Wolves kept frantically running and skidding and jumping all over the place. Had they gone mad?
Then, the GS lowered its guns to help with the view.
Bingo.
My first shot sprang out of the Wolf dance, smacking the Sniper hard in the chest. The GS stumbled a few steps back, and Sifen fired up three missiles and destroyed the edge of the cliff it stood on. The ground came tumbling down beneath it, and as it fell, Kavid hit it with a series of shots. He never missed.
The Gun Sniper crashed to the ground, and was buried by a pile of boulders.
"Yes!" cried Kavid.
"Yes, indeed." Said Sifen.
"Way to go team. Confuse 'em, get 'em to lower their defenses, then POW!" I liked that trick. Too bad it only worked once on an enemy. Hadn't met any dumb enough to fall for it twice.
Suddenly my Comm speakers turned on. As I frantically tried to shut them off, all I could hear was the sound of a laughing man.