Chapter 29: Return to Battle
After the dramatic revival of the Fury, that day only got better. The work on the other zoids was progressing fast, and it was expected that most of them would be fully repaired within a week. Even better, someone had dug out pair of ion boosters that fitted the Jaeger armour.
But the last shock came during the evening. The team had been invited to join the mayor at the Grand Hotel where the ZBC had held the pre-session ball. When they arrived, the team found what seemed like half the city there. Heads of nearly every business based in the city, reporters, ZBC officials, judges, and the chiefs of all the emergency services were gathered. Standing in the entranceway, gazing out at all those people, the team could only stare in shock. Steve turned to the Mayor. "I take it these people aren't here by chance."
"No." The mayor smiled. "Just a little get together in your honour."
"Our honour?" Stoller repeated, unable to take in the mayor's words.
Smiling, the mayor stepped over to a small podium that had been set up near the entrance. "Ladies and gentlemen." He began. "As you are all no doubt aware, the day before yesterday zoids belonging to a group or groups unknown attempted to destroy the Blitz Team with a nuclear weapon. This weapon would have killed thousands of innocent people, including the entire population of this city.
"Thanks to the courage, honour and skill of the Blitz however, that plan was thwarted." Cheers and applause drowned down his next few words, so the mayor halted until he could be heard again. By now nearly all the battered Blitz team were blushing bright red.
"In doing so, the team suffered terribly. Many of them will be unable to compete in zoid battles for some time. Their zoids suffered far worse. And their home was reduced to a pile of rumble.
"Thanks to the valiant efforts of our cities doctors and zoid technicians, the Blitz Team will soon once again compete. But such actions do not fully thank them for their self-sacrificing conduct, their bravery in the face of overwhelming odds.
"As such, it has been decided to do the following…" He turned to the ZBC Commissioner, who passed him a small wooden box. Snapping it open, he stepped back to the team.
"It gives me great pleasure to award to each member of the team the 'Guardian Force Civilian Defence Citation'." Another sweeping round of applause filled the great hall as the mayor presented the medals to each one of them in turn. The Citation, a hold over from the days of the Guardian Force that had kept the peace across the known world for over a hundred years, was the highest award a person outside the armed forces could receive. The prestige that went with such an award was higher than being part of Class S.
After all the medals had been presented, the mayor stepped back. "Stand tall, knowing that you are considered heroes by all the people of Zi!" Each one of them stood there, their hearts beating with pride.
Stoller was so stunned at this turn of events; he could barely maintain his composure.
Pierce flushed red, and had to fight to keep her chin up. When she noticed Jamie's head beginning to lower, she placed a hand on his shoulder. He glanced up at her.
"I won't look down if you don't…" She whispered teasingly. Jamie took the hint, and kept his chin up. Pierce could out fly him, but he would not be the first to bow down here!
Leon looked at Sarah, whose face streamed with tears again. But she was smiling too. He leaned towards her. "I expect you never thought this could happen."
"Not in my wildest dreams…" She whispered back, her eyes lingering on him.
Vega, unable to stand on Doctors orders, sat proud in his chair. His face spilt into a wide grin when he heard Sarah and Leon whispering.
Brad lent support to Naomi, their arms round each other. As she looked at him, she noticed a smirk on his face. "What's so funny Brad?"
"Oh just thinking I'm on a roll now." He whispered back. "I've gained three awards this week."
Naomi was puzzled. "Huh? What three?"
Brad looked her in the eye. "You, this citation, and this…" he gently laid his hand on her belly.
"Oh Brad…" Naomi simply melted into his arms as her face flushed as red as her zoid.
Steve Toros stood back, gazing out with triumph. But he was really watching both his children. At long last his children had found their happiness, and that was award enough for him.
Bit stood with Leena, their arms round each other. Bit glanced at her, and grinned even wider. Leena's face was a picture. Flushed red with embarrassment, she was grinning with pride. Unable to resist, Bit pulled her tight to him. The look of surprise on her face disintegrated as he kissed her. Whistles mixed in with the cheers as the two of them fell fully into the kiss.
X-X-X-X-X-X
The next few days passed by quickly. The Blitz Team stayed within the Hover Cargo on the outskirts of the city. One by one, their zoids were fully repaired and returned to them. Every one of them was in top condition, each part checked and inspected. The crews even refurbished the cockpits, restoring the padding in the seats and generally cleaning away the muck that builds up in a well-used cockpit.
Vega finally got round to reviewing the disk that had been sent with the Fury. It contained extensively detailed ideas about how to modify the Fury's weapons. By using a pair of hi-grade pulse lasers mounted where the rotary arms had been, the Fury gained a substantial ranged attack. With the lasers attached, the fury resembled the Genosaurer. To allow for the shield to be projected, four of the rotary blades could be mounted along the laser barrels. With these, the Fury would be able to generate its powerful shield. An interesting modification was the means of down grading the charged particle cannon to a plasma cannon. The modifications required would be expensive, but the end result would allow the cannon system to be used in either role. Quite an advantage if another of those things attacked.
The pilot's recovery was also miraculous. Vega regained full motion in his hands within the next couple of days, surprising even the doctors. Bit and Leon's bones were knitted faster by a course of drugs prescribed to them. Naomi's leg had to heal at the normal rate, since her condition prevented any drugs. Fortunately it was healing nicely, and the doctors expected to clear her for gentle piloting again within a week.
Vega was confined to his wheelchair for a few more days, and then he was allowed to begin to gently exercise again. He was warned not to push himself too fast, since if he broke a bone now, it might never fully heal.
All things considered, the Blitz Team was again ready for competing in Class S in just over a fortnight. Shortly after they sent off the message to the ZBC, they received notice of their first new battle.
It was against the Raiders team.
X-X-X-X-X-X
"So, what do we know about the Raiders?" Pierce asked as the Hover Cargo rumbled towards the battlegrounds.
"The team is considered small in size by the other teams, but is still a powerful force." Jamie told her. The entire team was gathered in the main cabin to discuss the battle and who would be going out. At that point the Hover Cargo's autopilot was steering. "They use tactical equipment and coordination to work together as team better, with an extra pilot in the back seat of their Blade Liger acting as a battle coordinator."
"Yea, they came so close to beating us last time." Leena reminded the others. She sat besides Bit, her head on his shoulder. During their stay in Romeo City, she and Bit had gone out almost every night. Films, dinner, romantic walks, the works. Quite often they made it a double date with Leon and Sarah, who was still getting used to being allowed to wander free, without feeling isolated. The blossoming relationships were a source of joy for everyone in the team, and quite a few outside it too.
"Really? What zoids do they have?" Vega asked.
"We fought a Dibison, a Zaber Fang, a Blade Liger and a Gordos." Brad commented. "All were heavily customised. For instance, the Gordos has a powerful energy shield system."
"The team is recorded as having six zoids since the start of the session." Jamie told them. "As of yet, they have not used the latest zoid they gained. The other zoid is a Command Wolf, and has in the past been used more as a mobile sniper."
"Is there any record of that sixth zoid?" Naomi asked.
Jamie shook his head. "None." The fact that he had not been able to find anything at all vexed him, and the frustration was clear on his face. Unlike in lower ranked teams, Class S teams didn't have to put all their team data on the network. It was part of the subtle way in which the teams tried to gain advantages over each other.
"Okay. So who's going out there tomorrow?" Stoller asked. It was a valid question, since both Vega and Naomi were not cleared to fight yet. "Remember, it's a 0892 with a limit of five."
"Well, the Liger Zero did pretty well, until they caught Bit out after he switched out of the Panzer unit. I didn't do so well, and Leena managed to hold out for most of the battle. Brad and the Shadow Fox won the match for us." Jamie quickly recapped the last battle, looking pensive.
"Maybe we'd better rotate us three…" Pierce indicated herself, Stroller and Vega. "Around one at a time, until we can get our feet in this class."
"Good idea. Do you want to go first, or would you rather Stoller did?"
Pierce glanced at Stroller, who simply shrugged. "All right, I'll be the first."
Leon grimaced. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to bow out. Piloting the Blade Liger's heavy on the arms…"
"Okay, so we have Pierce and the Storm Sworder…" Jamie looked between Brad and Leena. "I assume you two are up to fighting the Raiders again?" They both nodded.
"So that's three… unless we put Stoller out there, the other two will have be me and Bit."
"I'll fight." Bit stated. "I want to get that Blade Liger this time."
"Hey, I'm going to get them…" Leena cut him off.
"We'll both get him, dear…" Bit whispered to her before silencing her with a kiss.
"Stoller, you interested in rounding out the team?" Brad asked. Stoller thought about it, before shaking his head.
"Not this time. I'm afraid I'm still not quite used to the Elephander again yet. Those techs did it up so well, it's reacting faster than I'm used to. I'm liable to hit one of you by mistake." Chuckles floated around the cabin until they were stopped when Leena knocking Bit out of his seat when he commented that being hit by your own side was something they were used to thanks to her aim.
"Okay, so we've got two fast ground zoids, one heavy ranged attack ground zoid and two aerial zoids. That will give us the advantage of mobility…" Jamie began to punch data into the mainframe. "We know the Blade Liger acts as their mobile command centre, so that's got to go down first. The Dibison has been used as fire support, so that too is a key target." He brought up a tactical display of the battle site. Jamie noticed that while Pierce, Stoller and Vega were listening to him, Leon was only half listening, while the others weren't evening looking at him. Not even Doc was paying attention, as he had a model kit box in his hands. He sighed in frustration.
X-X-X-X-X-X
The next morning the team assembled for action. After a hearty breakfast – cooked by Jamie, Pierce and Sarah – the team got ready for their battle. After a last quick kiss, Bit and Leena scrambled into their zoids. Brad embraced Naomi for a little longer, before striding with ease and a bounce in his step to the Shadow Fox.
Bit decided to again use the Schneider armour. While the Liger was changing, he watched as Pierce and Jamie exchanged a quick word. While no one would speak about it, it was clear to all that the two of them were slowly becoming an item.
Shortly the team was assembled on the sands, the Liger Zero front and centre, flanked by the Fox and Storm Sworder on one side, and the Gunsniper and Raynos on the other. The Raider Team's silver and blue Hammer Kaiser was parked on a nearby bluff, but the team itself had yet to be seen.
Brad was the first to sight them. "Heads up, they're here. Doing the same trick as before."
The Blitz watched as the four zoids from before crested a far dune. They were well spaced out in two pairs this time. Bit hailed the Blade Liger.
"Hey Derek, wheres…" Bit trailed off as he realised the person in the back seat of the Blade Liger was not Derek. "Huh? Where's Derek Calisto?"
"My Dad?" the young lad replied grinning. "He's in our new zoid."
"Okay… so where is he?" Bit asked again. "I don't see him…"
"Bit, look again…" Leena called, her voice filled with worry.
Bit looked up. The gap between the two pairs of zoids had been filled by a zoid that Bit had only seen the once, but one he would remember for most of his life. On a recording of the fight between Leena and Harry, the one the Fury had interrupted during the Royal Cup.
Like the Fury, it was in the form of a Tyrannosaurus. Chunkier and heavier than the Fury, it still had an aura of dread. The black skin contrasted with the glowing red eyes and the metallic weapons and claws. Twin long barrels protruded from a mounting over its hips right over its shoulders, and a long barrel extended from the zoids forehead. Small guns were mounted on the zoids neck above each arm, and the thick tail lashed about behind it.
"A Genosaurer…" Brad muttered. The Fox howled nervously, taking a step back.
"Hello Bit." Derek called cheerfully as his face popped up a new comm window. "Ready for round two?"
"Yea, uh, mind if I ask, but where the hell did you get a Genosaurer?"
"The ZBC impounded the three used against the Fury at the Royal cup. About a month ago, they auctioned them off. We managed to get the most damaged one cheaply. Took all this time to fix it up." Derek explained.
'This is not good' Bit thought. 'I don't know a thing about those zoids, except they're bloody powerful…' His thoughts were interrupted by the Ligers roar of defiance.
"You sure you can take him partner?" Bit asked with worry.
#Oh yes, I know I can!# Liger bellowed back. At that point the judge arrived. Bit hunkered down as the judge began its routine.
"The surrounding 50 miles is now a designated Zoid battlefield. Only contestants and support personal are allowed entrance. Danger! The Blitz Team Vs the Raiders Team, Battle mode 0892. Ready… FIGHT!"
Zeke: Oh, a cliff-hanger! What will this battle bring?
DR: Find out next time!