Disclaimer: Same as the usual. But just in case, I don't own Zoids.
Be warned: More abrupt scene changes and nonsense ahead.
Raven: You're serious now?
And when haven't I been?
Raven: Just about every time you've said something.
DarkMetalist: Raven, let's have a talk.
This might lead to trouble.
Chapter 4
The Attack
"This is a problem." said Irvine in a rather sarcastic tone of voice. "Couldn't have seen that coming."
"Irvine, if you're here then you must be a member of the Guardian Force." Fiona stated matter-of-factly.
"Look! I'm not part of the Guardian Force alright!"
"Yeah, sure, say whatever you want." Van said picking his ear
"Can we continue with this briefing now?" asked Colonel Herman
"Yeah" Irvine replied
"Thank you. Now, because we are dealing with a new type of enemy, I'm open to any suggestions on how to approach the situation."
"What is there to not know about the enemy? IT'S A DESTRUCTIVE FLYING FRUIT! If it hasn't been provoked to attack and it attacks us first, we need to retaliate." suggested Moonbay.
"I'm with her. If there is no chance of any peaceful contact with this papaya, we blow it out of the sky." Irvine agreed with a big grin on his face about the "blasting out of the sky" part.
"Agreed. We shall take the approach and strike tactic. I'll send out the soldiers since the Guardian Force does not need to deal with such a petty task. Dismissed" said Colonel Herman.
Time passes:
"All pilots report to the hanger for briefing!" came on the loudspeakers.
"Hey, what do you think this is all about?" a shadowed soldier asked another while running towards the hanger.
"I don't know, they'll tell us at the hanger, you should know that, it's procedure and was announced, don't you remember?"
"Of course I remembered, I just thought I could find out earlier. I am eager for a fight."
"Yeah, I can't wait to go out either. Hey, what's with the silver briefcase?"
"Just a pack of food in case I get hungry at the briefing."
"But did you have to carry it in a suspicious briefcase?"
"Yes, it makes me look cool."
The pilot gave a weird look at the other before running ahead. Little did the soldier know that the shadowed soldier was an operative for the flying papaya. Actually, the shadowed soldier was a regular guy, but had inhaled the scent of the papaya and now he was under the control of the flying papaya.
The hangar:
"Is everyone present?" the leading officer asked while he looked around the room. He noticed all of the chairs were filled except for those reserved for Guardian Force operatives.
"Okay, I am sure the missing operatives know what's going on, so I'm going to start this briefing. We have received word on a...flying papaya on an attack run on the base."
The mention of a flying papaya approaching the base roused some murmuring in the crowd.
"I am aware that this sounds crazy, but you'll believe me when you see this."
The officer turned around and activated a view screen with the same footage everyone at the briefing room saw.
"Now you know what we are dealing with, supposedly. Now Colonel Herman wants an all out attack on the papaya, is that understood? Good. Let's mobilize the Zoids."
"A moment if you please sir?" asked the soldier with the essence of papaya within him.
"Yes Miller, what is it?"
Without saying another word, the pilot opened the briefcase and the room filled with orange smoke.
"Miller! cough what is this stuff? cough cough" the officer asked. He took in a breath through his nose and noticed the orange smoke had the smell of papayas. He inhaled the sweet smell and fell because the smoke was sleeping gas. Miller also fell with the rest of the pilots. The papaya scent within him dissipated leaving little trace of it ever being there.
Several minutes later:
"Where are the Zoids? Why haven't they launched their attack yet?" Colonel Herman asked.
"Sir we might have a slight problem in the hanger." came Van's voice over the radio.
"Well, what is it?"
"It appears that everyone is asleep, apparently from sniff sniff papaya scented sleeping gas."
"I suppose we will just have to commence the attack with you Lieutenant Flyheight."
"Understood" Van responded. He ran over to the Blade Liger and jumped in.
"I'm coming with you Van!" Irvine shouted from behind "I want to blow up this flying papaya." Another smirk spreading on his face "I'll never get tired of thinking about that."
"Me too. I'm not going to let all the glory go to you Flyheight." said Thomas.
The three pilots exited the hanger and were running through the desert. They were a little apprehensive to what they would expect. The papaya came into view a few moments later. The three stopped at a safe distance and thought about a strategy.
"So, do we go with a planned assault or a fire at will attack?" Thomas asked.
"I'd like to go with the fire at will attack, those are my favorite." stated Irvine.
"We need to go with a planned assault because that would guarantee us success against this enemy." said Van.
"Right" Irvine and Thomas agreed.
"We'll go with the delta formation, minus the shields; I don't think we will need those. It's a fruit, what's the worse that could happen?"
"Whenever someone says 'what's the worse that could happen', the worse usually does happen." said Thomas
"Like what!" Van asked
"We'll find out when it happens." stated Thomas
The D-Bison, Lightning Saix, and Blade Liger ran to their positions around the papaya and began firing. There was a barrage of bullets heading for the papaya when the unexpected happened.
"What happened to our ammo?" Thomas asked "It just disappeared inside the papaya."
"Thomas" Van started "It's a fruit. It's soft and squishy and it must have absorbed our attacks."
"Then why didn't the great almighty Van Flyheight notice this earlier?" Thomas inquired, anxious for what response Van had to give.
"Uh...would you believe I had a brain fart?"
"Yeah it's understandable. I get those around Fiona when I get ready to tell her that I OOPS!" Thomas stopped himself before giving out any more information.
"WHAT DO YOU TELL FIONA!"
"That's not important, right now we need to retreat to think about another strategy. I think you two should retreat to a safe distance while I fire my Mega-lo-Max at the papaya, blasting it to smithereens."
"Aww, I wanted to do that." pouted Irvine
Thomas got into position while he charged and targeted his guns. Before he could fire, the flying papaya shot green papayas into the barrels of the guns and clogged them.
"Oh no! BEAK power down the guns." wee woo "Unable to comply! BEAK eject!"
Thomas ejected out of the D-Bison as well as the BEAK control stick, and the D-Bison's guns blew, effectively tearing the body of the Zoid to shreds. Miraculously the Zoid Core and memory banks remained intact.
"Thomas!" shouted Irvine "Alright you flying fruit, prepare for my attack!"
Irvine started to run towards the flying papaya with the intent of taking a bite out of it with the Zoid. Upon the approach of the Lightning Saix, the flying papaya secreted juice in a 100 meter radius around it. Because the Lightning Saix was approaching at a fast speed, it slipped on the juices at the jump and skidded to a nearby mountain wall.
"Ugh! A command system freeze. Van you're the only guy left to combat the papaya, make it count."
Van was thinking about a strategy since the others didn't work.
"Well a direct attack with the cannons won't work since they will just be absorbed. A speed attack won't work either since I'll slip on the juices. Hmmm...I've got it!"
Van ran back a considerable distance to prepare his plan. The Blade Liger deployed the blades and got ready for a run. It ran towards the papaya until it reached the juices, then the Blade Liger jumped. Van activated the boosters to add distance to the jump. The blades came into contact with the papaya and it was cut in half. The papaya halves fell to the ground and the seeds fell out also.
"Well then, the threat has been eliminated. A cleanup crew will take care of this tomorrow." Van stated.
Van rounded up Thomas and Irvine then returned to base.
"Aren't you worried about the papaya regenerating?" Thomas asked.
"If it could regenerate, it would have already, and it's been a good three hours with no activity." Van responded.
"Still..."Thomas said and let his mind wander again.
BEAK – I forgot the acronym
Raven: You forget just as well as DarkMetalist does.
What happened to that talk with DarkMetalist?
Raven: Strangely enough, I don't remember that talk.
Where is DarkMetalist anyway?
DarkMetalist: walks in Hey guys!
Where have you been?
DarkMetalist: Somewhere
Raven: Do you smell papaya?
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