(Moonbay) Now where has that poor excuse for a writer got to? I mean, I
graciously offer to fill in for Irvine, who's still trying to get over his
trauma from his last interview with this guy, you'd think the least this
guy could do is actually turn up on time for his own story! Now, look
everyone, I'm as fed up of waiting to start this chapter as I'm sure you
are, so let's get started with this anyway, this so-called Mercenary Pen
can explain himself when he actually bothers to turn up.
Chapter nine: The Gauntlet.
Garth was led to a seemingly abandoned warehouse, blindfolded for much of the way. Inside there were dozens of fully-armed and fully-equipped combat zoids, most of them in operable condition, although some were undergoing repairs at the time.
"Now," asked the boss of the Hellfire syndicate, the man known to most only as the fallen one, "let's get down to business, which zoid do you choose for our little melee?"
Walking down the line of zoids, Garth examined each in turn, finally selecting a specially enhanced Iron Kong for his night's work. Armed with a heavy pulse cannon, a Vulcan gun containing what looked like armour- piercing rounds, and a pair of retractable energised blades in the forearms of the zoid, this machine would prove a very useful tonight if only he could bring out its full potential.
"Good, good," the Fallen one replied, "now let us see how you fare against the six zoids that my men have selected."
Within moments he was outside the city in the Iron Kong he had selected, admiring the other optional extras that had been fitted to it, whether the component in question was a multispectral sensor array or an emergency use booster, he tried to work out how these components would help him defend against the six pilots who, in just a moment, would attempt to slaughter him wholesale.
Sure enough they arrived within the space of a minute, two of them Spinosappers, which would have to be his first targets when they got in close to try and slice his zoid into pieces. The next pair were Gunsnipers, which moved into positions from which they could box his zoid in if he tried to escape the embrace of the Spinosappers. The third and final pair of zoids were an optical stealthed pair of hellcats, which showed up only on the multispectral scanners of this Iron Kong.
"Now," came the voice of the Fallen One, "we shall see exactly how good a zoid pilot you actually are, defend yourself!"
The six zoids sprang to life, the Hellcats firing off early volleys from either side which lacked both the power and the accuracy to punch through the traditionally thick armour of the Iron Kong, the Spinosappers waddling slowly towards him while he was bracing his zoid for the onslaught. Suddenly, snapping his pulse cannon into position he fired three blasts in quick succession, the Spinosapper that was his target rocking back under the force of the blasts but remaining upright, its armour still intact. He switched to his Vulcan cannon, pumping armour-piercing shells into his target as he dived to one side to evade the energy saw that crashed down on him from behind. Now with one Spinosapper down, its pilot ejecting in a hurry, Garth had the problem of trying to turn round safely to attack the Spinosappers behind him. As he dodged to his right to dodge yet another energy saw he reached forward, his Iron Kong lifting the defunct Spinosapper in front of him bodily, he turned, throwing his cargo at the second Spinosapper with a mighty heave, roaring "take that you scum" as he did so.
(Moonbay) The Author would like to remind you that Garth has, until now, led an incredibly sheltered life, so no gratuitous use of swear words. Unfortunately the author hasn't actually got here to say it, so it hasn't really been said, okay. Now folks let's just get back to the story.
Mercenary Pen run's into the chapter, gasping for breath, sorry I'm late folks-Oh, you started the chapter without me, did you. Moonbay, why are you frowning at me? Ah, its gonna be another one of Those days. Hey, you guys, keep on reading the chapter while I sort things out here, will you.
Garth snapped off a couple of seconds of continuous fire from his Vulcan Cannon, punching a stream of shells through the defunct Spinosapper to hit the one that was still functional, which had been using its immobilised colleague for defensive cover. As the pilot of this second Spinosapper ejected, both zoids toppling back into the sand beneath them, the Gunsnipers behind them fired, both using the armour piercing shells of their tail guns to try and take him out. Garth activated the booster on the back of his Iron Kong to throw himself forwards out of the crossfire, only his zoid's right shoulder being grazed by the glancing impact of an armour piercing shell. The Gunsnipers turned, disengaging their foot locks to try and engage the Iron Kong that was closing on them with their main assault weapons.
"Too late," chuckled Garth coldly as he turned his zoid, releasing the full force of both his pulse- and Vulcan-cannons on one of the Gunsnipers, causing it to fall to the ground, sparks flying from the freshly exposed hip of the zoid. Then, whirling the Iron Kong around to face the Gunsniper behind him, his zoid literally, very much by accident, punched straight through an armour-piercing bullet where the 'sniper behind him had set up his tail gun again.
Without warning, a loud voice interrupted their combat, its deep, hollow tones booming through the speakers of all of the zoids on the field, crying out, "I see, having a little war here are we? What happened to inviting along the might of the Chaos Storm? Due to your frankly impolite behaviour we will have to teach you some manners. Prepare to taste the wrath of the Asp team, who will obliterate you, allowing us to claim both you zoids and your territory. Get ready TO LOSE!!!"
"This is Iron Kong to Hellfire leader," Garth shouted through the microphone in his zoid's cockpit, "suggest that we call a truce for now. I've faced off against the Chaos Storm before. If you buy me some time I'll go fetch reinforcements to back you guys up."
"Agreed," came back the terse reply, "but I'm sending my Lieutenant with you to make sure that you don't double-cross us."
Hey folks, that's all of that for now, now let's see if things have settled down enough for the planned interview with Moonbay.
(Moonbay) You double crossing S.O.B. you never said anything about time travel! I'll get you for this! Pulls out bazooka
Uh-uh Moonbay, you remember what happened to Irvine when he pulled a weapon on me. Pen materialises in hand, MP already has notebook in other hand.
(Moonbay) Yes, but you have forgotten rule one, here, read this.
Moonbay hands MP official looking piece of paper.
Rule 1: The woman is always right!
Yes, I had forgotten about that, Moonbay, but you have forgotten something equally important, Puts pen down I make the rules here!
Moonbay suddenly finds herself wearing a pink chicken outfit and dancing embarrassingly. Her hair is covered with jelly (that's jello for any Americans out there-and hello from England).
Now, for the people out there who have nothing better to do than review my story, firstly, to Kegger007, hey, I didn't know that you had MP's in Canada, also, thanks for bearing with me, just as a reminder, the battles are gonna get way tougher from here on in, especially when the Paladins advance up to class A (they're only class B at the moment)- and finally to everyone who thought that Garth's friends should have looked out for him just a little better, they got cut off from him, you know how it can be sometimes. Anyhow, Mercenary Pen signing off before the time travelling lynch mob arrives.
Chapter nine: The Gauntlet.
Garth was led to a seemingly abandoned warehouse, blindfolded for much of the way. Inside there were dozens of fully-armed and fully-equipped combat zoids, most of them in operable condition, although some were undergoing repairs at the time.
"Now," asked the boss of the Hellfire syndicate, the man known to most only as the fallen one, "let's get down to business, which zoid do you choose for our little melee?"
Walking down the line of zoids, Garth examined each in turn, finally selecting a specially enhanced Iron Kong for his night's work. Armed with a heavy pulse cannon, a Vulcan gun containing what looked like armour- piercing rounds, and a pair of retractable energised blades in the forearms of the zoid, this machine would prove a very useful tonight if only he could bring out its full potential.
"Good, good," the Fallen one replied, "now let us see how you fare against the six zoids that my men have selected."
Within moments he was outside the city in the Iron Kong he had selected, admiring the other optional extras that had been fitted to it, whether the component in question was a multispectral sensor array or an emergency use booster, he tried to work out how these components would help him defend against the six pilots who, in just a moment, would attempt to slaughter him wholesale.
Sure enough they arrived within the space of a minute, two of them Spinosappers, which would have to be his first targets when they got in close to try and slice his zoid into pieces. The next pair were Gunsnipers, which moved into positions from which they could box his zoid in if he tried to escape the embrace of the Spinosappers. The third and final pair of zoids were an optical stealthed pair of hellcats, which showed up only on the multispectral scanners of this Iron Kong.
"Now," came the voice of the Fallen One, "we shall see exactly how good a zoid pilot you actually are, defend yourself!"
The six zoids sprang to life, the Hellcats firing off early volleys from either side which lacked both the power and the accuracy to punch through the traditionally thick armour of the Iron Kong, the Spinosappers waddling slowly towards him while he was bracing his zoid for the onslaught. Suddenly, snapping his pulse cannon into position he fired three blasts in quick succession, the Spinosapper that was his target rocking back under the force of the blasts but remaining upright, its armour still intact. He switched to his Vulcan cannon, pumping armour-piercing shells into his target as he dived to one side to evade the energy saw that crashed down on him from behind. Now with one Spinosapper down, its pilot ejecting in a hurry, Garth had the problem of trying to turn round safely to attack the Spinosappers behind him. As he dodged to his right to dodge yet another energy saw he reached forward, his Iron Kong lifting the defunct Spinosapper in front of him bodily, he turned, throwing his cargo at the second Spinosapper with a mighty heave, roaring "take that you scum" as he did so.
(Moonbay) The Author would like to remind you that Garth has, until now, led an incredibly sheltered life, so no gratuitous use of swear words. Unfortunately the author hasn't actually got here to say it, so it hasn't really been said, okay. Now folks let's just get back to the story.
Mercenary Pen run's into the chapter, gasping for breath, sorry I'm late folks-Oh, you started the chapter without me, did you. Moonbay, why are you frowning at me? Ah, its gonna be another one of Those days. Hey, you guys, keep on reading the chapter while I sort things out here, will you.
Garth snapped off a couple of seconds of continuous fire from his Vulcan Cannon, punching a stream of shells through the defunct Spinosapper to hit the one that was still functional, which had been using its immobilised colleague for defensive cover. As the pilot of this second Spinosapper ejected, both zoids toppling back into the sand beneath them, the Gunsnipers behind them fired, both using the armour piercing shells of their tail guns to try and take him out. Garth activated the booster on the back of his Iron Kong to throw himself forwards out of the crossfire, only his zoid's right shoulder being grazed by the glancing impact of an armour piercing shell. The Gunsnipers turned, disengaging their foot locks to try and engage the Iron Kong that was closing on them with their main assault weapons.
"Too late," chuckled Garth coldly as he turned his zoid, releasing the full force of both his pulse- and Vulcan-cannons on one of the Gunsnipers, causing it to fall to the ground, sparks flying from the freshly exposed hip of the zoid. Then, whirling the Iron Kong around to face the Gunsniper behind him, his zoid literally, very much by accident, punched straight through an armour-piercing bullet where the 'sniper behind him had set up his tail gun again.
Without warning, a loud voice interrupted their combat, its deep, hollow tones booming through the speakers of all of the zoids on the field, crying out, "I see, having a little war here are we? What happened to inviting along the might of the Chaos Storm? Due to your frankly impolite behaviour we will have to teach you some manners. Prepare to taste the wrath of the Asp team, who will obliterate you, allowing us to claim both you zoids and your territory. Get ready TO LOSE!!!"
"This is Iron Kong to Hellfire leader," Garth shouted through the microphone in his zoid's cockpit, "suggest that we call a truce for now. I've faced off against the Chaos Storm before. If you buy me some time I'll go fetch reinforcements to back you guys up."
"Agreed," came back the terse reply, "but I'm sending my Lieutenant with you to make sure that you don't double-cross us."
Hey folks, that's all of that for now, now let's see if things have settled down enough for the planned interview with Moonbay.
(Moonbay) You double crossing S.O.B. you never said anything about time travel! I'll get you for this! Pulls out bazooka
Uh-uh Moonbay, you remember what happened to Irvine when he pulled a weapon on me. Pen materialises in hand, MP already has notebook in other hand.
(Moonbay) Yes, but you have forgotten rule one, here, read this.
Moonbay hands MP official looking piece of paper.
Rule 1: The woman is always right!
Yes, I had forgotten about that, Moonbay, but you have forgotten something equally important, Puts pen down I make the rules here!
Moonbay suddenly finds herself wearing a pink chicken outfit and dancing embarrassingly. Her hair is covered with jelly (that's jello for any Americans out there-and hello from England).
Now, for the people out there who have nothing better to do than review my story, firstly, to Kegger007, hey, I didn't know that you had MP's in Canada, also, thanks for bearing with me, just as a reminder, the battles are gonna get way tougher from here on in, especially when the Paladins advance up to class A (they're only class B at the moment)- and finally to everyone who thought that Garth's friends should have looked out for him just a little better, they got cut off from him, you know how it can be sometimes. Anyhow, Mercenary Pen signing off before the time travelling lynch mob arrives.