Zoids Rhapsody
Into the Mist
Chapter Four: Reminisce
Time seemed to stop as the Liger Zero X slouched over and crashed into the desert sand. The Republicans stopped firing, the Shadow Fox slid to a halt that was the product of an evasive dive, and the Gunsniper slowly turned around to stare at the scene.
"Josh!" Jamie cried in earnest, opening up the 'sniper's throttle and flat-out sprinting the laden Zoid to the site. Across the plain, the Republican Zoids regrouped, seemed to converse shortly, and retreated without a second glance. Jamie noticed with a degree of panic that the Blade Liger Mirage was indeed headless.
As he came upon the fallen Ligers, he leapt from the Sniper, snatching the portable communicator with him. He switched the channel to an open-circuit frequency used only for emergencies and yelled into it "Mayday! Mayday! I need a medical unit at sector… L67-A54! Repeat! Medic to L67-A54! Over!" Not bothering to wait for a response, he flung the communicator to the side and searched the Liger Zero's paw for the emergency override panel. He found it on the inner step, close against the claw. Tearing it away, he examined the unfamiliar switchboard only briefly before drawing his fist back and punching his weight into it. Oddly enough, this worked; a hiss of steam escaped the canopy, and it flew open, exposing Josh to the desert air.
He ran around to the Liger's head and was overly surprised to find Chesnee already there, hauling the unconscious Josh from within the cockpit. He laid the man on the sand and simply stood, staring off into nowhere.
"Well? What are you—"
"Shut up. Birdie coming fast. Two thirty." Jamie paused only briefly before understanding, then turned to face what must have been 2:30. There on the horizon, still just a speck, was the Medical Transport of the Elemia Desert: the Salamander. It would only be a few minutes now. He sat on the sand and took Josh's vitals, which were low but present. Satisfied that there was no more he could do, he just simply waited.
Josh was lost in his own mind, trapped in a fitful reminiscence.
-----
(15 Years Earlier)
-----
"Major Bishop, are you in position, over!" A dry, throaty voice called over the airwaves.
"All clear, sir; Death Stinger in position and ready to fire, over," John Joshua Bishop said in a voice that would send chills down a Dark Spiner's fin. He was the key aspect on this mission; with this new Zoid in his hands, the Republicans didn't stand a chance. Today, the Imperial Army's 27th Expeditionary Task Force would be made famous. Today, the rocks of Nyx would shine with the blood of the Republic. Today, though he new it not, Major John Bishop would die.
"This is Major General Carlisle Banks, calling all right flank artillery, are you in position, over!" The voice that was rough as dry tinder called again. A chorus of "Yes, sir!" was the response that twenty-three Heldigunners, five Dark Horns, and two Deadborders issued. The same was the scenario for the left flank, a line of twenty-four Great Sabers, five Geno Saurers, and the Maj. General's Zoid, the Geno Breaker. Three decameters back and dead center, raised high on a rocky monolith, was the menacing form of the Death Stinger.
"All CPC Zoids, drop anchor and charge cannons!" There was a massive thunk as six sets of Achilles anchors slammed into the rocky floor of Nyx. The air crackled as it was de-ionized, the negative and positive ions collecting in the gaping maws of the six CPC Zoids. "Gravity Cannons, drop anchor and charge!" The two Deadborders followed suit, leveling their massive Gravity Cannons and collecting all the latent energy within the Zoid, readying for a shot.
The Republicans appeared over the summit.
"All artillery support, fire at will! All heavy weaponry, sustain charge!" The Dark Horns spun their gatling cannons, the Heldigunners lobbed rounds from their CP-07's; the Great Sabers opened fire with the Heavy Beam Cannons mounted over their right shoulders. Most of the Republic's front lines went up in smoke, but the return fire was instantaneous; five Great Sabers and seven Dark Horns were put out of commission almost seamlessly, merely dropping as though tired to the point of exhaustion. They exploded belatedly.
"Gravity Cannons, fire!" The Deadborders unleashed their rounds deep into the center of the Republic force, blasting massive chunks out of the platoon, sending flaming debris for decameters. "Reload!" The Deadborders stepped back into position and began charging for a second volley. Before the Maj. General realized it, one of the Deadborder's Grav Cannons was struck by what had to have been a sniper's round, and the resulting mushroom cloud enveloped the rest of the right flank. There was no telling how many survived. The Maj. General swore angrily, and ordered the CPC's to open fire.
As the six CPC's were launched, something came over Major Bishop. A dark cloud seemed to block his working conscience, and with it came staggering hate, lusty anger, and the dire need to kill. All at once, the tide of the Battle of Nyx turned.
The Death Stinger's massive fore claws clacked together menacingly as it readied itself to advance. With a soul-shattering screech, it propelled itself over the edge of the monolith and fell to the battle floor below. The Maj. General's angry protests were cut short as one powerful claw closed around the still-anchored Geno Breaker. The red Zoid writhed once and then exploded in a violent shower of flames. The Death Stinger lifted the warped, smoldering carcass high and flung it into the line of Geno Saurers, whose Particle Beams were only just diminishing. The first fell easily, slamming into the next, and so on, in a would-be-comical domino effect. Before the pilots knew what had happened, the Death Stinger was anchored and gathering a massive ball of glowing ions into the CPC at its tail tip.
By now, the entirety of the left flank knew that something was incredibly wrong. The Great Sabers turned and were seemingly taken aback. Before they could even hope to fire, the Death Stinger screeched and threw its claws wide in animosity as it released its massive Charged Particle Beam, first absorbing and disintegrating the Geno Saurers, then sweeping through and cleanly disembodying the Great Sabers.
The Stinger turned and re-anchored, drawing energy to its tail-tip even as it readied the mortar cannons on its back. The few Dark Horns left of the Right Flank turned as if to flee, but the mortar cannon's rounds tore into the rock wall looming up over them, bringing a veritable avalanche down upon the helpless Zoids. The Charged Particle Beam that followed reduced the rubble heap to nothingness.
For one staggering second, the Republicans stared at the enigmatic Death Stinger in awe, and then realized that it wasn't a simple traitor. The realization was punctuated by the sweeping of another Particle beam through their ranks, decimating the majority of the platoon instantly. The few remaining broke and scattered.
No one survived that battle. In essence, even Major Bishop had died; after every last Zoid had been disintegrated and most of the terrain carved out, he stumbled from the Death Stinger, screaming as though possessed. He tried to take his life, but the recovery team the Empire sent bound him and sedated him. He was taken back to the base at the center of Nyx, and diagnosed as Shell-shocked, Schizophrenic, and irresponsible for the mass fratricide that threatened to have him executed.
The Death Stinger was not recovered. Intelligence went to say that it went out to sea, slipped under the waves, and was gone. John Joshua Bishop, by now demoted to a mere test pilot for unstable/experimental Zoids, could not help but have a nagging feeling that the Death Stinger would return for him one day…
-----
(Present Time)
-----
Josh Bishop sat bolt upright in his hospital bed, hyperventilating, with sweat coating his body. He shook his head several times, trying to clear the painful memories of that dark day. He'd been only nineteen… it had been the absolute end of everything…
"I can not think like that!" He said harshly. There was a rustle, and the curtains to his right were drawn back.
"'ey pal, ya mind keepin' it down over dere, eh?" The overweight bald man in the bed next to him asked. Josh nodded almost imperceptibly, earning an annoyed grunt from his roommate. The curtains fell back into place. 'Where the blue hell is this place?' He thought peevishly. His mounting doubts were confirmed when a nurse fairly glided in, hips swaying, blonde hair flying out behind her.
"Well hello, Mr. Bishop, glad to see you're awake! Do you know where you are?" She asked in a voice cheerful enough to churn Josh's stomach.
"Evidently, a hospital," he stated flatly.
"CONGRATULATIONS, CHUM! YA GET FIFTY MIL!" the man in the next bed shouted in a voice that was beyond annoying. The nurse sighed and vanished long enough to gently chide the man, whose attitude seemed to… change… upon seeing her. There were a few cursory giggles, and she returned.
"Now, can you really tell me where you are, Mr. Bishop?" She asked again, batting her eyelashes ever so cutely. She was greeted with a deadpan stare. "Ooo-kay… Well. You are in the Northern Elemia Acute Care Center for Injured Pilots. Your friends called a transport to your location, which was obviously a battle, and we brought you here. They are also here, and I believe they brought your Zoid. Would you like—"
"Bring them here." She stared as if thunderstruck that she'd been interrupted. She then took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and left. Shortly thereafter, the curtain parted again.
"So whatcha really in here fo'?" The man asked with a sly grin. He bounced his eyebrows a few times, causing an unpleasant stir in Josh's innards.
"Evidently I lost consciousness at the end of the last battle I was in. Why?" It was a struggle to remain calm, with the chubby man nodding as if to say 'Yeah right, that ain't gon' work w'me!"
"Hah. Me, I gets in here jus' fer the nurses. Lemme tell you, chum, that lil' blondie jus' left'll give you one helluva good—"
"Oh! Jamie, Chesnee, thank TOMY you're here!" Josh exclaimed dramatically as his friends entered the room. 'Thank you!' Josh thought gratefully as the curtain fell back. He sat up and flashed his teeth happily as the duo stood a little apprehensively at the end of the bed.
"Way… too… weird…" Chesnee muttered. He received a sharp elbow to the ribs, and clamped his hand over his mouth. Josh could see through his eyes that he was suppressing laughter.
"What's going on here?" He demanded, more than a bit annoyed with the oppressive silent treatment. He perched his hands akimbo and waited for an answer.
"Well, ya see…" Jamie began haltingly, "Because you passed out an' all, like without a single damn MARK on you, 'n everything… theysortahadtohookyouuptoanelectroencephalogramtomakesureyouwereokay." Josh stared at him dumbly, having not the faintest idea what he'd said.
"What the blue hell did you just say?" He asked, bewildered. Chesnee sighed, slumping as if defeated, and picked up a mirror. He bit his lips as though holding back pained tears, and thrust the object towards the man. Josh steadied the mirror and observed himself. He sneezed rather anticlimactically.
"So, I have a few wires glued to my scalp, it's a simple electroencephalogram, no?" Jamie now held a hand over his mouth. After a moment, the two gave up and threw their arms around each other, laughing hysterically.
"You look SO ridiculous!" Jamie cried, tears of mirth streaming down his cheeks. Josh crossed his arms indignantly and huffed. 'Well, at least they're not distancing themselves anymore, what?'
-----
A few hours later, the trio was back in their Zoids, which had been repaired through the remaining 25,000 credits of their reward from the mayor of Little Rusty Rock. Evidently, Josh's trip to the hospital had pushed them forward twenty minutes, and the border of the Elemia desert was only a few hours hike away. Of course, they should have been nearing the Crater Valley by now, but well… Josh had been out for a few hours. Now, it was nigh on dusk, and so, they decided to make camp.
They set the Zoids up in a triangle, each facing outward with all weapons (including the Liger's Long Range Rifle, which had been recovered) at present arms. They threw down sleeping bags around a small but cozy fire and drifted off to sleep soon enough, completely unaware of what was lurking just a few hours west and closing fast…
-----
"Major Gordon, do you copy?"
"Yes, General Banks, what can I do for you?"
"Have you located the rebels?"
"Gunsniper, Shadow Fox, Liger Zero X, all red with gold accents, sir?"
"Affirmative. Kill them all."
"Roger."
-----
Fin.
Yay! I finally have a story that makes it into the 10,000 words and up section! Time to break out the… (Drum roll, please!) … Hot tea! Please keep reviewing; I love it!
Oh, and MuggleBuddy: umm… sorry about Major General Malenfant… she hath fulfilled her purpose. Don't hate me! Just stick with it, I promise it'll be okay without her.