DR: Since it's getting late and I'm online any why, here's the next chapter for you all. you lucky people. Please note this has nothing to do with Halloween, possibly the most pointless...

Zeke: Ah, you'd better stay on topic.

DR: Good point. Shadow, can you keep those 'Trick-or-Treat'ers at bay?

Shadow: Easily.

DR: Good...Just a few things to sort out before hand, then we can let loose!

Shadow: Oh yes...

Chapter 23: Special Delivery to Blitz Base

The next few days were hectic for the Blitz Team. With three new zoids, their pilots and an extra support person joining, the existing Toros Base was simply inadequate. Luckily the work on the Hover Cargo was completed the evening that the new members were registered, so the team would have a place to live while the contractors rebuilt the base. Acting on Sarah's suggestion, they hired a temporary twin-zoid hanger to expand the base enough to handle all the zoids that now formed the Blitz team.

The next day was spent mainly moving their stuff out of the base and into the Hover Cargo, to allow the contractors to work freely. Most of Naomi's gear was still packed up in her Gustav, so she was able to concentrate on helping the others. The whole of Bit's cash of parts were placed into storage within the bowls of the Hover Cargo, with the Doc under firm orders not to sell them.

Towards midday, the Obscura's Gustav approached the base, followed by the Elephander of Stoller. He stopped his mammoth shaped zoid just before the hanger. Jamie had already moved his Raynos out to the temporary hanger along side. The Blitz gathered round as Stoller climbed down the Elephanders trunk: dropping out of the cockpit would have resulted in nothing more than a stain on the ground that had been Stigma Stoller.

"Hey!" Bit called out. Stoller turned and gave him a small smile in response. "You got everything?"

"Yes." Stoller nodded. "I travel light."

"At least someone does." Brad commented. "Both Naomi and Leena have mountains of stuff. We had to use nearly all the space in her Gustav to carry all of Na's." Naomi glanced over at him, and was about to reply when the crash of a sonic boom resounded overhead.

Leon looked up at the thin contrail that traced a path overhead and was now turning about. "Three guesses as to who that is."

Sarah shook her head. "She was always doing that, even at the Backdrafts secret bases."

"Must have got her into trouble."

Sarah nodded. "Oh yes. But that didn't stop her one bit."

As they talked, Pierce was bringing her Storm Sworder in. Larger than the Raynos, Storm Sworders were even rarer flying zoids. While the Raynos was more of a high-speed dragster of a zoid, specialising in dogfights using its guns, the Storm Sworder was a mêlée fighter, with up to three laser blades built into its head and wings. They could carry a substantial amount of firepower, but they were at their best when used for high speed slashing attacks on other flyers, and using their sonic boom wakes on ground targets.

Pierce gently set the zoid down, before using the long legs to position it next to the Raynos. Shutting down, the body lowered till it was horizontal, and the belly engine was almost resting on the ground. The lower jaw swung down, and Pierce leapt gracefully to the ground. Shucking off her flying helmet, she shook out her long hair as she walked over to join the others.

"Nice entrance." Leon commented as he shook her hand.

"Thanks. It's been a long while since I could do that."

Now that the final members of the team had gathered, arranging who had which cabins in the Hover Cargo could begin. Naomi and Brad politely requested the largest cabin together, and the rest of the team agree. When Stoller asked why, both he and Pierce were told about Naomi's condition. Their reactions caused laughter all round. Stoller tried to maintain his calm exterior, but he only just managed it. It took him a few seconds to effectively form a reply.

"Ah, well in that case…" He trailed off, unsure how to continue.

Pierce had felt her jaw drop, before she pulled herself together when Stoller failed. Hugging Naomi, she congratulated her warmly.

The next couple of hours were spent with the new teams getting familiar with each other's zoids, and the done up Hover Cargo. The workshop had done a brilliant job in refurbishing the aging transport, and had in fact exceeded the intended design changes. Externally the central drum was a little wider and had a larger diameter. The foreman had told the team that the old structural members had been corroded like hell. It had been simpler to rebuild the whole transport, rather than try to replace the rotten parts. Nearly every system had been overhauled and upgraded, to bring the ancient transport more in line with modern ones.

The central drum now housed eight zoid pads, each capable of supporting the Elephander with ease. The lower bow area had been expanded to include a fully functional repair bay, capable of handling two class four zoids at once. There was plenty of room for larger zoids, like a Gordos, within than bay with room to spare. It and the rear ramp allowed zoids to enter and exit the transport without using the catapult.

The engines had been upgraded to modern versions, providing an extra twenty percent speed boost, despite all the extra mass. All the crew cabins had been refurbished, which came as a pleasant surprise to the Blitz, and many of the old flaws with the transport had been fixed. Even better, deployment of zoids was much faster as the electro-magnetic catapult built up its charge faster now.

When asked about the cost, the foreman had shrugged and had not charged them more than the initial estimate for the work they had put it in for. When asked why, he told them had he did it because they had brought the Backdraft down, and with the fame of the Blitz Team, quite a few teams were looking at, and even buying, Hover Cargos. And as one of the few people to sell and maintain Hover Cargos, he was gaining business thanks to their success. By asking for material costs only for his work, he was saying thank you for the extra business they had generated for him.

The team was nearly settled in when the radar alerted them to a large incoming aerial contact. Rushing outside, they watched as a Hammer Kaiser painted in the livery of the ZBC flew in. Only two thirds as large as the one that Hiltz had used to terrorise Zi years ago, modern Hammer Kaisers were the most often used team transport after the Gustav. Capable of hauling a dozen zoids at once over long distances, Hammer Kaisers were quite often used by zoid teams that could not afford a Whale king, leading to the label of 'A Poor Mans Whale King'. The latest versions exchanged the deadly missile based weapon systems for heavier armour and expanded cargo space, while point defence was made up by a number of small laser turrets. Several commercial companies relied on people travelling around the world for their income, and the most used zoid for the role was the Hammer Kaiser, modified to transport people instead of zoids. Bit and Vega grinned at each other as an official stepped down the personal boarding ramp towards them.

"Blitz Team?" He called as they stepped over. "Hi, I here to deliver the Berserker Fury." He shivered as he said that.

"Cold?" Leena asked one eyebrow raised. The day was quite pleasant.

"Na, it's just that zoid…" he jerked a thumb back at the transports belly. "…Makes my spine shiver to think what would happen if it woke up in flight."

Vega looked puzzled. "But I thought the ZBC officials disabled the self repair system back when they impounded it?"

"Yea, but before they put it on the Hammer, those systems were re-enabled." He shrugged. "Not my problem anymore. If you could just sign here…" He held out a clipboard to Vega, who signed the form where the cargo pilot pointed.

"And could the team owner…" the pilot asked. Steve stepped up and filled in the remaining part of the form. Taking back his clipboard, the pilot pulled off the top sheet and passed it to Steve.

"There you are, you're now responsible for that thing…" He turned to wave back at the zoids cockpit. Someone inside must have been watching, as the belly of the zoid opened up. A platform was slowly lowered to the ground, and laying stretched out on it was the Berserker Fury.

Bit drew in his breath at the sight of the Fury. Though he had fought the zoid twice before, it was still capable of sending a chill up his spine. He fully understood what the Hammer Kaiser pilot had meant. The head armour cover, shattered by the Liger in that last fight, was completely repaired, and the zoids eyes were a dull, muted red. The rotary blade arms that had been mounted on the Fury's back were missing, but apart from those, it seemed untouched. When Vega noticed the missing arms, he turned to the pilot. "Where are the arms that were mounted on its back?"

"Oh, the one was too badly damaged to fix, so the techs removed them both. They left the parts and the undamaged one in a crate. We'll get that out in a second. That reminds me," he finished into one of his flight suit pockets before pulling out a compact disc. "I was given this just before takeoff. Told to pass it on to you before I left." He handed it to Vega.

"What's on it?"

"Haven't a clue."

The platform carrying the Fury now rested on the ground. Slowly the Blitz team approached the sleeping zoid. Most of them felt nervous about being this close to possibly the most destructive zoid in existence. The Fury was well known for being temperamental, with a strong urge to lash out.

Overall, it was not that much larger or heavier than most other zoids. But due to its tyrannosaurus shaped design it was intimidating, with heavy, solid legs, a thick powerful tail, and a head that screamed 'killer'. It was also one of the few types of zoids armed with a charged particle cannon, one of the most powerful weapons ever mounted on a zoid. It was this weapon that people were afraid of, since such a gun could burn though anything. Shields, armour, mountains… almost nothing could withstand such power.

There were only four other zoid types armed such: the Genosaurer, the Geno Breaker, and the two 'Death' zoids, the Death Stinger and Death Saurer. It was considered fact that the Geno Breaker was an evolved version of the Genosaurer, much like a Blade Liger was an evolved Shield Liger. Unlike the Genosaurer, which had the same basic bodily configuration and main weapon system – the charged particle cannon - the Fury was quite different in several ways.

Firstly, its cockpit was in the head, where as in the Genosaurer it was in the chest, just in front of the zoids core. The reason for this difference was unknown. In the Genosaurer the charged particle cannon took up most of the space within the head and neck region, but that was not all: having the cockpit just above the barrel would have been suicide for the pilot. Charged particles would seep through into the cockpit and poison the pilot, with potentially fatal consequences. How the Fury managed it was unknown, but it was suspected that it had some kind of special shielding that protected the pilot from the charged particles. Certainly the armoured 'skin' of the zoid was critical, since without it, firing the cannon could be fatal for both zoid and pilot. The placement of the cockpit also meant that the pilot could look 'down the barrel' of the main cannon as it were, and gain a 'feel' for where the cannon was aimed. Pilots of Genosaurers did not get that feel from the displays they were forced to rely on.

The most glaring difference however was the simple fact that the Fury was an Ultimate X zoid, just like the Liger Zero. It was capable of learning from past battles, and would always grow stronger. It was well known to have strong destructive tendencies and a violent nature.

When the history of the zoid was known, the features of its head and form became much more ominous. As such, most of the Blitz Team approached the Fury with dread and trepidation.

Vega and Sarah however felt no fear. Vega was the Fury's pilot, and it had accepted Sarah. She couldn't pilot it, but it did tolerate her, and maybe even liked her. Vega passed the disk to her before he climbed up besides the massive head, its jaws lined with sharp teeth. He gently rested a hand just below the Fury's eye.

As if in response, the eye began to glow brighter.

The pilot and the rest of the Blitz team took several steps back. Even Steve was worried; for once fear overriding his natural instincts around rare zoids. The Fury was not something to be trifled with. Slowly the eye's intensity grew to full brilliance, and the Fury's limbs began to move. Vega stood beside it, smiling all the time. As it got a foot underneath itself, a single tear ran down his cheek. The rest of the team watched at the Fury slowly awakened from its sleep. It seemed tentative, reluctant to stand up by itself. Bit leaned towards Leon.

"This isn't what I expected. I thought it would jump up and Vega would have to do some fast talking to stop it tearing us apart." He whispered.

"You have to remember Bit," Leon whispered back. "It's been asleep for over three months. Imagine how you'd feel."

The Fury now stood on its own two feet. Slowly, it stepped down off the platform, as if testing the ground upon which it stood. When it had both feet off the platform, it took a few tentative steps. Each footfall was like a crack of thunder, as it stepped out form underneath the Hammer Kaiser. With each step, its latent power grew and the Fury became surer of itself. Finally it stood up straight, tall and proud. It looked out over the valley, and then unleashed a deafening roar, as in announcing to the world 'I'm back!'

From inside the hanger, the Liger emerged, and roared a reply. The whole team froze, realising that things could go very badly now…

Slowly the Fury turned around, to stare right at the Liger. Everyone cowered, except Vega who now stepped down from the platform and began to move towards the Fury. Sarah stepped close to him on the way.

"Be careful. He may not listen to reason right now…"

"Don't worry mother. I know what I'm doing."

The Fury roared again. Bit was startled to realise he could – just about - understand its deafening bellows!

#You again!# The tone was worse than Leena when she was really annoyed!

#Relax will you, old friend?# The Liger roared back. #We are not fighting today, or anymore#

'The Liger called the Fury 'old friend'?'

#And why not?# The Fury's voice was full of challenge, and it brought its head down, its feet clawing the ground. Clearly it was spoiling for a fight.

#We now fight side by side. As a team#

#Bah! I don't need a team! I always win!#

#Really? I seem to recall us fighting before several times. We've both won three bouts each. I'm counting that fall of mine as a victory for you#

'Huh? I can only recall us fighting the Fury twice'Bit thought hard. 'We won once, and we lost once. When were there the other fights? And what fall?'

#I'm still the better zoid! Don't you dare think that you're anywhere near as good! And you're forgetting the times you ran off! I'd have had you, if you hadn't chickened out!#

#Good thing you never did kill me, all things considering. Or have you forgotten Eveopolis?#

'What the hell did he say?'

#Who cares? That was then, this is now!# Bit sighed. It was clear to him that the Fury was not going to listen to reason. But at that point Vega closed with the Fury.

"Fury!" He called out to the great zoids head. Slowly it looked down, before lowering its head down to Vega's level. The chin was nearly touching the ground.

#Vega, you're alive!# Only Vega heard the Fury's soft growl, and it caused tears to form in his eyes again. Who would have thought that the Fury cared so much about him!

#I'm sorry master. I failed you…#

"No, you succeeded better than any other zoid I can think of." Vega reassured the Fury. "It was a glorious battle! People are still talking about it, three months afterwards!" Vega suddenly realised that might have been a mistake to mention that…

#Three months?# The Fury rumbled, anger creeping into its voice again. #You let me lie asleep for THREE MONTHS?#

"It wasn't my choice! People are scared of you!"

#As they should…#

"Fury," Vega began again. "You don't have to prove anything anymore. You are considered the most powerful zoid in existence! You have no need to fight unrestrained anymore!"

#But… but if I don't fight that way, they'll put me back in that cage!# Vega heard something he would never had thought he would hear in Fury's voice: fear!

"I would never let anyone encase you in stone again Fury! Times have changed; our fortunes have changed, for the better!"

The Fury was silent, brooding. The rest of the team held their breath: now was the point when the fate of the Blitz would be decided.

#Truly?#

"Yes."

The tension drained out of the Fury, slowly but surely. Its eyes dimmed a little, and seemed to relax.

Everyone breathed again.

"Well done Vega, my son…" Sarah breathed in relief. The whole time he had been talking to the Fury, her heart had been in her throat.

Leon stepped forward to put an arm round her shoulders. "It's over. He's tamed it again." Sarah could only rest her head on his broad shoulder in relief. Bit turned to the Liger, intending to ask some questions, but the Hammer Kaiser pilot butted in.

"Phew! Glad that's over! Now, I'll just leave that crate and be off!" As he spoke, a standard shipping crate was lowered from within the Hammer Kaiser as its engines began to spin up.

"Been fun!" The Pilot called as he raced back into the transport. Even as he entered the hatch, the ladder folded up and the flyer lifted off.

The team watched as the Fury slowly approached, following Vega. He stopped just before Bit. "Say Bit, did you…"

The sudden roar of gunfire cut him off. Everyone turned to see missiles shoot up from behind a dune to strike the Hammer Kaiser in the belly. Bright yellow-orange laser beams stabbed though the expanding explosions as automatic cannons continued to send streams of rounds up at the transport. The transport lurched and bucked, before sliding sideways, tumbling as it did so. The missiles had torn apart its belly, and smoke billowed out as it fell. Laser beams continued to stab deep within as it rolled over and fell to earth. With a resounding crash it hit the rocky ground on its left side. The scream of tortured metal rebounded throughout the valley as it slid along, gouging itself on the rocks. Another dark plume of smoke rocketed skywards as metal shards fell to earth around the fallen transport.

Movement on the crest of the dune caught the Blitz's eyes. A row of zoids appeared, then another just off to the side. Each row consisted of two Rev Raptors flanking a darkly painted Command Wolf on each side. As a second set of zoids appeared behind the first, Bit noticed that the eyes of the Raptors and the canopies of the Wolves had a red shift.

Before he could comment though something crested the ridge between the two groups. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before, and it sent a shiver running down his spine. Stomping forward on two thick, mechanical legs, the body was a network of simple sections and a mass of weapons. It looked as though it carried more guns than Leena's Gunsniper!

But the most frightening thing about it was in the dead centre of that nightmare of metal. A single glowing purple eye blazed out, seeming to stare right at them. The message it sent was one that no one had any trouble reading.

'I am Death, destroyer of worlds. Death awaits you!'

Irvine: Yikes!

DR: All hell is about to break loose... Stay tuned!