DR: Now I had better just mention that I'm no doctor (though my father is...), so please don't flame me for making an errors in the prognosis of the characters injuries...

Irvine: You really think that will save you?

DR: Irvine, do you wish to remain in here?

Chapter 27: Prognosis & Recovery

The waiting room where the few unharmed Blitz team members were shown to was thankfully quiet. As it was intended only for the ward it served, only relatives of those in the ward waited here. Since the attack, the officials had given the entire ward over to the Blitz. The crew of the delivery Hammer Kaiser had been taken to the critical ward.

Only four people waited there now. Pierce and Jamie sat side by side, glumly considering the fates of their zoids. Sarah stood staring out the window, looking out over the plains. She had wrapped her arms round herself.

Steve Toros sat to one side, a pensive look on his face. He was worried about his team's future prospects. How could they fight when most of the team members were injured and all but one of its zoids was totalled?

As the doors opened, everyone but Sarah turned to look, hoping for news. But it was only Derek Calisto. As he looked around the room, shock at seeing so few team members was clear in his eyes.

"I came as soon as I heard about what happened." He stopped besides Steve. "Where's everyone else?"

Steve jerked a thumb towards the closed doors of the ward. "In there. Most of them are just bruised and battered, but the doctors are worried about Bit's ribs and as for Vega…" He trailed off, glancing at Sarah as she continued to stare out the window.

"Yes… I can imagine." Derek showed again his intellect. "How bad were you hit?"

Steve sighed as Jamie stepped across. "The base took several hits, and the ground quake from the… detonation, caused a significant amount of extra damage. Fortunately we were going to have the base remodelled anyway…

"As for pilots, only Pierce and I escaped unharmed." He gestured to Pierce as she stood up to join the discussion.

"Nice to meet you at last Pierce. I wish it were under better circumstances…" Derek held out his hand to her.

"Likewise." She shook the offered hand firmly, if tiredly. "So you're the man who gave Bit the idea of hiring me and the others…"

Derek grimaced. "Perhaps not sure a good idea, considering what has occurred…"

Pierce waved him off. "No one could have known…"

Derek turned back to Jamie. "And the others?"

"Well, Brad, Stoller and Leena should be able to fight again quickly. Leena took a blow to the head, but it was relatively shallow. Brads got a minor concussion, and Stroller didn't take much more than a rattling, though he'll have a collection of bruises."

He heaved a sigh. "Naomi and Leon are likely to be out of it for several weeks. They both suffered possible broken bones: His arm, her leg. Bit might be okay, depends if his mending ribs held up to the strain of battle." Jamie glanced at Sarah before he lowered his voice.

"Vega's condition is the most worrying. He suffered second-degree burns to both hands, and the initial examination reported that the electrical discharge played havoc with his nervous system. We're still waiting for a more detailed report…" He shrugged.

Derek nodded. Jamie's summing up fitted with the rumours he'd heard. "How about your zoids?"

Pierce sagged. "Worse. Only the Liger Zero is operational, and its Jaeger armour is busted. The EMP blew out the circuits in its ion boosters. All the other zoids are going to need to spend a considerable time in a fully prepped workshop. Leena's Gunsniper and Leon's Blade Liger are both going to need rebuilding of their legs, while the Shadow Fox could use some of that on its right flank and canopy. The Elephanders front looks like a sieve, and Na's Gunsniper has the zoidian equivalent of a broken spine." She sighed. "My Storm Sworder needs a whole new wing and belly engine, while Jamie's Raynos needs a new canopy and a whole new set of weapons. As for the Fury…" She couldn't continue.

"The Zoid techs are not sure it will last much longer." Jamie told Derek in a quiet voice. "The damage was… quite extreme."

Derek rocked back on his heals. Anything that could tear the Berserker Fury apart to the point that it was doubtful if it could survive was a frightening prospect.

"Any idea who they were? The ones that attacked you."

"None." Jamie shook his head. "The zoids were unmanned. As for the unknown things… they didn't have cockpits. The one Leon disabled blew it self up before the ZBC crews could secure it. All we've really got to go on is scrap metal. The zoids themselves might give the ZBC a few clues though…" Jamie was about to elaborate when the door to the ward opened. A tired looking doctor stepped though.

"Sorry it took so long, but we had to be sure." Quickly everyone gathered round him. Even Sarah dragged herself away from the window.

"I'll tell you the cases in least hurt order." The Doctor looked at his clipboard. "Firstly, Mr Hunter, Miss Toros and Mr Stoller can be released tonight. None of them have any serious injuries, though they should avoid any serious activity for the next couple of days." Steve nodded.

"Bit Cloud is one lucky young man. Only one of his previously cracked ribs broke. The other resisted and has remained intact. He's going to have to avoid any form of strenuous activity for a while, but he can be released tomorrow.

"Mr Toro's arm is only fractured, not broken as we'd originally thought. He's going to need to keep the cast on until the bone knits properly." He flipped the page over. "Miss Fluegels leg is broken, but we have managed to set it and the two parts should knit again, good as new. She'll however need to be confined to crutches for at least a couple of weeks."

A terrible thought occurred to Steve. "What about…?"

The doctor smiled. "Relax. She warned us before we x-rayed her leg. Her child's fine."

Derek's eyebrows rose. "Naomi Fluegel is pregnant?"

Jamie flushed red as he nodded. "Uh huh. It's Brads."

Derek nodded, a slight smile forming on his lips. 'Wait till Anna hears about this!'

"As for Mr Obscura…" The doctor paused for a moment. "…His condition is the worse. What kind of weapon was used on his zoid?"

"Some kind of electrical discharge." Jamie told him. "We've never seen anything like that before."

The doctor hummed to himself. "Well, that explains the injuries. I've seen the same kind of injury before, on people struck by lightning, and those who got themselves electrocuted." He looked up at them, noting the horror in their eyes.

"His nervous system took a serious jolt, but we don't think it's going to affect him in the long term. Of more concern is the fact that the discharge leached a considerable amount of calcium from his bones. We've already done the initial treatment to repair the damage, but he's going to have to go on a calcium rich diet to replace the lost mineral, otherwise his bones would be as brittle as glass. I'd like to keep him in for observation, but really we can't do anything more. It's all up to him now. But he's going to have to remain in bed for a week at the bare minimum, and then he can start to exercise gently, to rebuild his strength. Fortunately lads his age tend to grow quickly, so he should bounce back quite quickly. I'd like to have weekly checkups on him, Miss Fluegel, Mr Toros and Mr Cloud, if that's possible."

"What about his hands?" Sarah asked in worry.

"Oh his hands will be fine." The doctor reassured her. "The burns were only surface ones. In under a week's time he should have full use of them again. He might lose a little feeling at the base of each finger, where he was still in full contact with the controls, but it won't be anything major if he does." Sarah sagged in relief at the news.

"Can we see them?" Steve asked.

"I don't see why not." The Doctor smiled before leading them into the ward.

It was a small ward, only four beds. A small nurse's post was by the door, while a toilet was across from it. Beyond them were the beds themselves, arranged two down each sidewall. Bit and Vega were on one side, Leon and Naomi on the other. Leena sat in the chair besides Bit, while Brad was with Naomi. Stoller sat with Vega, and was the first to notice them come in.

"Sarah." He said as he stood up to greet her. As they embraced, he whispered in her ear. "He's still a little garbled and not making much sense I'm afraid. That discharge thing really screwed him up. He's better than he was though. He'll be fine."

Sarah slowly approached the bed where her son lay. He clearly was having trouble focusing, but he made a valiant effort. "Moargg…" He crocked, his tongue barely working right.

Sarah smiled down at him. "It's okay dear. Mommy's here." She gentle picked up one of his bandaged hands in her own.

Steve walked over to his own son. "How you doing Leon?"

Leon grinned. "Aside from the arm not too bad, all things considering." His grin faded. "We got hit hard didn't we?"

Steve sighed. "Yes we did. Nearly all the zoids are out of action, with the Fury the worst off. I'm not even sure if it can be saved."

"Don't worry Dad, you'll think of something."

Derek and Jamie stepped up to Bit's bed. "You do know how to get into trouble, don't you?" Derek commented with a grin. "Do you actively look for it?"

"No need. 'Trouble' is his middle name." Leena answered. "It comes calling."

"Must really cause trouble when you're trying to have a holiday huh?"

"Oh yea…" Bit breathed. His hand was entwined with Leena's.

'Oh yes, Anna will love this…'

"So, I hear that it was you who put the last monster down, and did the heroic thing and got the nuclear weapon to a safe place?"

"Could never say 'no' to being the hero..." Jamie stated.

"Well, this hero is calling 'Time out!' Someone else can be the hero next time."

"Considering our situation, let's hope there isn't a 'next time'." Leena cautioned him.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Derek slowly walked out of the hanger were the ZBC had placed the Blitz Team zoids. After leaving them at the hospital, he'd come over to have a look at them himself. Jamie and Pierce's assessments had been spot on. Nearly all the Blitz Teams zoids were badly crippled. The damage to the Fury was… horrifying. It lay in the hanger, a charred mass, and its eye's were dull. It was so badly damaged, some of the extremities were already turning to stone, a sure sigh of how close it was to death.

He'd noticed with some amusement that the Liger Zero stood guard outside the hanger, staring out over the plains. It was as if the Liger was expecting another attack at any moment, and was determined to not be caught off guard again. It was wearing the Schneider armour, and the laser blades glimmered in the fading light. It had looked right at him before allowing him to enter.

As he climbed into the old Redler he'd used to get here, Derek was thinking hard. 'Even with their recent windfall of funds, the Blitz team is going to be hard pressed to get their zoids battle worthy anytime soon. And the Fury's life is hanging by a thread!' Kicking the Redler's engines online, Derek racked his brains, trying to think of any way that the Fury could be saved.

'I'll call him tonight, after I've called around the other team leaders. Maybe he'll have some pointers…' The Redler engaged forward flight, rocketing off into the evening gloom. Below the Liger Zero continued to stand guard for it fellow zoids, staring out over the plains...

X-X-X-X-X-X

The battered Blitz team moved into the Hover Cargo. Those who had only been lightly wounded joined Steve, Sarah, Jamie and Pierce as they were flown back to their base, or rather what was left of it. As they turned in that night, each felt the cloud of doom hanging over them…

It was only reluctantly that Steve Toros got up the next morning. Looking out at the ruins that had been his home, he stumbled to the main control room of the Hover Cargo. As he was brewing coffee from the machine conveniently placed there, a call came though on the Comm system.

"Receive!" He hollered, before taking a sip of the dark liquid. Turning, he found himself face to face with the ZBC chairman. Steve was so surprised he nearly dropped his cup.

"Sir! This is… unexpected."

"Sorry. I only just learned the full extent of what happened to you." The Chairman looked tired, as if he had not slept all night. "According to my reports, your team is badly battered?"

Steve nodded. "One pilot down for several weeks, two more for a couple of weeks, the rest okay within a week. Our zoids took the brunt of the harm. We've only got the one ready for battle. The rest are all going to need considerable time and money to get ready again. We're not sure the Fury will live in fact."

The Chairman's eyes widened noticeably. "Really? My reports didn't go that into that much detail."

"I'm afraid we're going to have to pull out of the season sir." Steve added glumly. He knew that if they pulled out, then there was no hope for the Blitz to recover. But unable to compete, what choice did they have?

"Nonsense. You will not withdraw." The Chairman lifted a sheet of paper so that Steve could see it. "The other teams have sent this petition to me, asking that the season be halted until you can return to the fight."

Steve felt his jaw drop. So did Jamie's and Leena's, who had walked in at that moment.

"But, that could take months!" Leena cried.

"Huh?" Sarah stepped in, rubbing sleep from her red-rimmed eyes as she stepped towards the coffee spigot. Leena knew the cause of that. Sarah had chosen the cabin next to her, so Leena had heard her crying late into the night, wailing almost silently about the harm done to her son and his zoid. It gave Leena an insight into the older woman, one she would never have expected.

"The other teams in Class S are willing to suspend the season until we recover!"

"WHAT?" Sarah snapped round, shock ridding across her face, driving away the last tendril of sleep. Pierce and Brad stepped in too, both clearly startled at the news.

"I did say that Class S is unlike any other class you've been in." The Chairman told them all kindly. "They won't take advantage of a team who has suffered an unforeseeable event, like what happened to you. They frequently hold up the season due to deaths of relatives and other such events."

Sarah had to sit down, her mind whirling. Never had she thought that an organisation based around gladiatorial combat would show so much honour. In the Backdraft, you show weakness and you were gone, cut down from above and backstabbed from behind. For all the other teams to willing step back and allow them to recover from the attack… it was unbelievable!

"But, we'll still have trouble paying for everything! Our zoids are mostly totalled! We barely have enough money for the critical repairs!" Jamie burst out.

The Chairman grinned. "I think you'll find that your money will go a long way over the next few days." Something bleeped at his end. Looking to his left, he was silent for a time. Turning back to them, he had an odd expression on his face.

"Listen, I just got a message. It concerns the Fury…"

"What? It hasn't…?" Sarah gasped.

"No, it's still 'alive', for now." The Chairman reassured her. "Actually, it was a message from your 'Admirer', who had that disk delivered to you."

"What disk?" Steve asked. Sarah frowned, before pulling the compact disk from the pocket she'd put it in as Vega had calmed the Fury… yesterday?

"Sorry. I forgot you didn't have time to review it." The Chairman stated. "Well, this 'Admirer' has given me a suggestion as to how to 'heal' the Fury. But I need your permission to do so…"

Sarah thought about for less than a second. "Do it, what ever it is."

"Thank you. I'll be in touch." With that the Chairman hung up.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Bit Cloud slowly drifted awake. The hospital bed was surprisingly comfortable and warm, perfect for snuggling into. Course, it would have been better if Leena had been with him…

Raising his head, Bit looked around the ward. Vega was still asleep, but he could see that Naomi was already up somewhere. Leon too was sitting up.

"Morning Bit." He called.

"Hi," Bit replied, careful to avoid calling too loud and waking Vega. "Where's Na'?"

Leon jerked his hand towards the small toilet cubicle. "Morning sickness."

"That must really get annoying." Leon simply shrugged.

A couple of minutes later Naomi hobbled out, supported by the on-duty nurse. Her leg was wrapped in a cast that ran from high on her thigh down to her ankle. Once she was returned to her bed, the nurse turned and saw that Bit was awake. Her face lit up with a cheerful smile.

"Ah the hero awakes." Bit flushed at the title. "How are you feeling?"

"Not too bad, considering." Bit thought. "Hurts when I breathe."

"Perfectly natural." The nurse stepped over to Vega to check him.

"How is he?" Bit asked, worried about his team-mate.

"He's improved already." The nurse sounded genuinely impressed. "Calcium content of his bones is already up over what it was last night. Looks like the doctor was right about him bouncing back."

"Great!" Bit grinned as the nurse returned to her desk. He sat back and allowed himself to doze. He only half-heartedly listened to Naomi and Leon talk about the new team members…

After several minutes the nurse answered the phone on her desk. After quietly speaking into it, she laid the receiver down and approached Bit. She gently shook him to wake him up again.

"Mr Cloud, I'm sorry to bother you but the press are down below. A few reporters wish to talk to you."

Bit thought about it. He had known the press would want details of what happened. Better to tell them the story rather than let them speculate.

"Okay, let them up. But only a few please."

The nurse smiled in sympathy. "Don't you worry now; I'll make sure that they behave themselves." It was well known that the staff of hospitals –especially ward nurses - did not tolerate any kind of harassment of their patients. She returned to her desk before speaking back into her phone.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Bit's head whipped round to look at Vega. Sure enough, the young lad was awake and watching him.

"Hey Vega! Glad to see you're awake! How you feeling?"

Vega grimaced. "Feels like my entire body is on fire, and frozen solid."

"Nasty." The nurse, seeing Vega awake, called the doctor up.

A few minutes later, the doctor and the press arrived. Surprisingly, there were only three reporters, none with cameras. But then again, the Press had always shown restraint and respect for celebrates, and zoid warriors in particular. There were those who tried to sensationalise any small thing they found about a person, and would dig into people's history for any dark secrets they could find without permission. They were considered the dark side of journalism, and were looked down upon by not only the public, but also their peers. It had been written into the code of conduct of the first set of papers produced that a person had a right to have a private life, and it was not for reporters to pry.

"Mr Cloud, thank you for taking the time to see us." The female reporter said gently. The two men politely borrowed chairs from Naomi and Leon's beds while she took the one by Bit. The doctor had already taken the chair by Vega.

"Hey, it's not like I'm going anywhere right now." Bit joked, and the reporter smiled. As the other two joined her, she schooled her face into a professional look.

"We've all received a brief summery of the events from the ZBC, but we were wondering if you could tell us what happened, in your own words. I suppose the first thing to ask is how does it feel to be hero?"

Bit shrugged. "To be fair I haven't really thought about it. But I'm not the hero. Everyone was."

"But you were the one to remove the nuke to a safe place!" One of the men butted in.

"True, but I couldn't have done it without the others." Across the hall, both Naomi and Leon smiled.

"We were attacked without warning. Most of our zoids were still in the hangers. If Stoller hadn't stood his ground, four of us would have been cut apart before they could engage. It was a team effort, everyone pulled together." Bit waved a hand towards Vega's bed.

"If Vega had not put himself in the path of the most horrific thing I've ever seen, Leon and Leena would not have been able to stop the bomb carrier. He bought us time to stop the weapon, and he nearly paid for it with his life." Bit left out the fact that the Fury was dying.

"Jamie also pulled a heroic move, saving Pierce when her chute failed to open. He performed a mid-air catch the likes of which I've never seen." He shrugged again. "And we have to thank Sarah…"

"Sarah? Sarah Obscura?" The same man asked.

"Yes, Sarah Obscura. She was the one to figure out what our attackers were planning. Without her warning, we'd never had pulled it off. It was a whole team effort."

"There are rumours the Berserker Fury is dying. Would you care to elaborate?" The other two reporters glanced at their companion darkly. Bit glanced in Vega's direction. Vega, watching and listening to the interview, nodded slowly.

"The Fury is… badly damaged." Bit sighed. "There is doubt about its survival. But I'm sure it can be saved."

"What would you say to the people who say that the Fury should have been destroyed once the ZBC impounded it?" The other two reporters were scowling now. They clearly did not like their companion's line of questioning.

"The Fury is not evil!" Vega screeched. Everyone turned to look at the raven-haired lad. His dark hair made a shocking contrast to his pale skin. "It's misunderstood!"

"Are you sure? Your judgement may be…"

"All right that's enough." The other male reporter cut in. He gripped the arm of the other man and hauled him to his feet. The lady reporter glared daggers at the disrespectful man as he was dragged out. Once they were though the doors, she turned to face Vega.

"I'm sorry about that. Seems our… companion is another 'sensationaliser'." She practically spat the label that had come to represent those disrespectful members of the press.

Vega sat back gently. "I understand. I know better than anyone what's wrong with the Fury."

"Well, thank you both for your time." The reporter stood up. "Oh, and I hope your right Mr Cloud. About the Fury."

X-X-X-X-X-X

Back at the Blitz Team base, everyone was talking about the surprise petition from the other Class S teams. Stoller was having trouble believing it, but it was official: Until the Blitz Team had recovered there would be no more Class S battles.

As Steve was stepped towards the comm system to call around the Zoid workshops to see who could repair their zoids at the lowest cost, he looked at the sensors. A large convoy was approaching.

Looking outside, he was amazed at the procession. Godos fitted with construction tools, Gustavs hauling multiple trailers loaded with building materials, construction/demolition Guysacks, even a couple of Redlers converted into flying cranes. There were several personal vehicles too. But leading it all was a variant Hover Cargo. Instead of the standard disc shaped zoid bay, this one had a simple boxy construct, studded with windows: a mobile hotel or apartment block.

All the assorted machines carried the same symbol, but only on the Hover Cargo was Steve able to make it out. It was the company that the Blitz had asked to do the remodelling of the base.

As the other Blitz Team members crowded in to see what was happening, the incoming Hover hailed them. When Steve answered, he was face to face with the company owner and manager.

"Ah Steve Toros. Good to see you're not laid up." The owner grinned. "You still want that base remodelling you ordered?"

Steve jerkily nodded. "Well, yes. But now it's going to be more of a complete rebuild. And I'm afraid we won't have the money to pay you, unless we don't get our zoids fixed…"

"Nonsense." The other waved. "We'll do the work for material cost only." At the teams' look of shock, the other man smiled. "Consider it our way of saying thanks."

"For what?" Jamie asked in a small voice.

"For saving all our asses." While the team tried to figure that out, he looked over the valley and ruins. "Listen, I'm afraid you're going to have to temporarily move. We're going to need the space. Good thing the ZBC has already cleared away the wreckage of the attackers."

"Ah, yes of course." Jamie quickly made his way to the Hover Cargos controls.

"Thank you. We'll pay back anything we owe you." Steve gasped into the comm.

"Don't worry about it. Like I said, we'll only charge you the material cost." The other man waved as his convoy began to encircle the ruins. As men poured off the vehicles and the zoids began to engage their tools, the other Hover settled down. "Why don't you head into the city to check up on your fellow pilots and your zoids?" The other man grinned as he pulled on a hard hat. "I think you might be pleasantly surprised."

As the Blitz Team Hover Cargo rumbled away towards Romeo City, the team could only wonder at the construction bosses parting words…

Behind them, said boss watched them go, before turning to face the ruins of the Blitz Base. "All right me lads!" He called out via his comm headset. "Let's get to work!"

As the zoids set to work dismantling the ruins safely, the workers scurried about sorting out tools and materials. In each pilots and builders heart burned the desire to build a new home for the Blitz Team, one they could be proud of…

DR: There, things are looking up already... Until next time!