DR: I hope everyone enjoyed the last couple of days...

Van: Not so loud...

Fiona: (Groans from within Van's arms)

DR: Hangover?

Van: (Nods)

DR: The stats for the Iguanosaur zoid are true to the 3D model I made, except speed and weight which I guesstimated. The barrels, and the zoid, are THAT big! And the ammo for the main guns and the missiles are exact (could be made larger, I suppose...)

Chapter 50: The Gauntlet

Slowly and reluctantly, Leena pulled her eyes away from the new zoids to face Christian who was slowly walking up. "It's wonderful," she breathed in awe.

Christian smiled warmly. "So you approve?" he gently teased. Her eyes narrowed for a second before she realised that he had been kidding.

"Yes, thank you for this…"

Christian looked around the gathered zoid pilots. "Now then, let's give these new zoids a workout shall we?"

Grinning with excitement, Van took a hold of Fiona's hand and pulled her toward the new Liger. Both the Liger and Shadow knew what to do, both dipping their heads to allow access to their cockpits. Naomi made her way back to her new Snipe Master, a smile of anticipation on her lips.

Leena turned to her new zoid, unsure how to proceed. She had never talked directly to a zoid before. It was almost surreal!

Bit leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Just treat it like you treat anyone else. It's alive just like the Liger, or me." The zoid gave another gentle roar.

#Bit is right. I know this is new to you, but you'll find that it's not as surreal as you think#

The watching people received another display of the zoids range of motion as they watched each leg fold up tightly, until the zoids belly was practically resting on the floor, the elbows tucked under the knees. The zoids chin rested just before Leena, and the canopy opened with a slight hiss. Smiling brightly, Leena stepped onto a convenient ledge above the zoids upper jaw line, before hauling herself up to the rim of the cockpit.

She looked around inside with awe. The zoids cockpit was larger than any other zoid cockpit she had seen, with the exception of Mnementh. The main cockpit was at the front, a standard looking single seat wrapped on three sides by consoles and displays. But behind that was a dual seat arrangement, with very few controls near them. Shrugging to herself, Leena swung her legs over the rim and slid down into the pilot's seat. It was surprisingly comfortable, nice and soft with what appeared to be a leather cover. Of course it couldn't be real leather, but it was a very nice facsimile. As she settled in, Leena came to realise that everything was arranged perfectly for her. All the controls were at her fingertips, without her even having to stretch to reach anything.

"You may need this…" Christian's call made her look up, and so she saw him holding a set of zoid gear. Hers. He clearly had removed it from the Gunsniper before they had begun the fusion process. As he stepped onto the raised lip of the zoid, he slid it over the rim of the cockpit. Quickly catching it, Leena slid it home into the proper slot. Within seconds of do so, the zoids cockpit came alive, the displays lighting up. As the canopy came down with a gentle hum, Leena studied the text that was scrolling up the central display alongside a schematic of the zoid stood in a relaxed pose. So intently was she reading the information displayed, she didn't notice the zoid gracefully standing up again.

ZOID DESIGNATION: Iguanosaur

ID CODE: ZDI6-0001X

SIZE CLASS: 6

PATTERN: Iguanodon (Dinosaur sub-type)

GRADE: Level 3 - Ultimate X (organoid fused zoid)

SIZE (relaxed state)-

-LENGTH: 62.4m

-HEIGHT: 17.4m

-WIDTH: 13.3m

WEIGHT: 210.2 metric tons

MAX SPEED: 213 Km/H

REQUIRED PILOTS: 1

MAX PILOTS/CREW: 3

ASSIGNED TEAM: Blitz Team (Class S)

ASSIGNED PILOT: Toros, Leena

WEAPONRY:

-Twin AZ Hyper-Velocity 60mm Vulcans – 10000 rounds apiece

-Four AZ 60mm pulse lasers in 2 twin mountings

-Twin AZ 420mm Shock Cannons – 50 rounds apiece

-4 Quad Long Range Missile Pods – 48 missiles apiece

-1 Grade 3 Hybrid Laser/Particle Cannon

-Hardened Alloy Paws

SECONDARY SYSTEMS:

-Enhanced Actuators

-Twin Secondary Pilot Positions

-Conversion Armour System

Leena felt her jaw drop. This zoid carried more firepower than she had ever thought possible on a single zoid! While there was nothing too exotic about most of the weaponry, the scale was! Nearly all Vulcans were 30mm, simply because of the rate of fire, and the space required to store enough ammo to make such weapons worthwhile. While 60mm versions were not unheard of, they were rare indeed. And as for the Shock Cannons and Hybrid Cannon… any other zoid that she was familiar with would have had to be totally dedicated to supporting either of them! The Liger Zero in Panzer armour had a pair of grade one hybrid cannons, while the shock cannons he carried were only 180mm! She had never even heard of a 420mm version!

"Leena, are you just going to stand there all day?" Naomi's face popped up in a comm window. "Or do you intend to move soon?" Leena glared at the older woman, whose tone and face were jovial. Closing the window, she gripped the controls and yanked to the left.

Or at least, tried to. The controls moved only a few millimetres, jerking her arms. As she stared at the unresponsive controls, the zoid moaned again.

#Leena, you must be calm. Anger is not helpful now# The controls shifted under her hands, and the zoid turned smoothly towards the exit. It then stopped, clearly waiting.

#In battle you have to remain focused# The zoid told her in a gentle tone. #It was your one failing. You let your emotions rule supreme. Anger can be useful, but uncontrolled anger is not#

"That's easy for you to say," Leena snapped. "You're a zoid!"

#The same rule is true of both of us. Leena, to be a great zoid pilot, you have to provide the logic and reason to a battle. We zoids have plenty of instinct, but instinct alone is often not enough. Once we start acting as one, you seeing how my instincts and talents can be used effectively together with your skills and strength of character, we will be equally as good as Bit and Zero#

That final statement caused Leena to hold her tongue. Could she do it, become regarded as equal in skill to Bit? Was it possible? The Zoid seemed to think so… once she gained control of her own emotions. Thing is, controlling herself was something Leena had never been very good at…

Taking a deep breath, Leena gave herself a second to calm down before she gently worked the controls to start the zoid walking. Without a trace of resistance, the zoid broke into a gentle amble, all four feet being used. In the back of her mind, Leena was innately aware of how to manoeuvre the large zoid so as to not to brush anything.

To those watching from outside, the zoid was gently strolling, like Leena had been piloting that zoid for years. The legs took long strides, the huge tail swinging from side to side almost languidly behind it. Naomi followed behind, keeping her new Snipe Master far enough back as to not get clobbered by that thick tail. Naomi herself was amazed at how fluid her new zoid moved compared to her old Gunsniper.

Hanging back, Zeke, Shadow and Mnementh watched the two new zoids walk out of the hanger bay. #You think they will adapt?# Zeke growled.

#Naomi certainly will. Her new zoid is not radically different from her last one# Mnementh rumbled. #However, we will need to keep an eye on Leena. So far the Iguanosaur has been patient with her, and can keep her in check. It remains to be seen if Leena will adapt#

#You think she will?# Shadow rumbled.

#She is a descendent of my pilot, a master of adaptation. I believe that she can, and will#

"Once you guys have finished chatting," Christian called up to the three zoids. "Maybe you can follow them. Mnementh, could you stoop down again please, old friend?"

Rumbling the equivalent of zoid laughter, the huge dragon lowered his head to the ground while Van and Raven, smirking with fond memories, piloted their zoids after the two others. Fiona and Resse sat behind them, bursting with pride. The rest of the Blitz Team were soon seated within the huge dragons head, and quickly followed the others.

Samantha watched them go, her eyes lingering on the Iguanosaur. She had always had a fondness for her daughter that had inherited her hair, which was why she had given her the second necklace. Ever since, her direct female descendents whom maintained that gene had always sparked her interest. Now that line rested with Leena Toros…

Her jet-black panther zoid nudged her gently. #You don't need to worry about her…# It purred. #She is still young and impetuous. Given a little time and the attention of a certain blond-haired young man, she will blossom into a woman you will be proud of#

"I know Panthro, I know…" Sam absently rubbed the zoids eyebrow. "But I can't help worrying, since she doesn't worry enough…"

X-X-X-X-X-X

"Okay, here we are again. Naomi, Leena, since you weren't with us yesterday…" Chuckles drifted out of the radio from somewhere behind Christian. "…I'll quickly run though the details. This course is designed to test your skills, reaction times, coordination and inventiveness. Points are scored for hitting the targets, lost for being hit, and the final score is adjusted by the time you take to complete the whole course. The targets are using paint guns; so don't worry about any damage. There are a few other things about point scoring, but you don't need to worry about them. You'll run though one at a time. Naomi, care to go first?"

Leena turned her head to watch the lithe Snipe Master step up to the start line. Yawning ahead of them was a sweeping valley in the upper reaches of the mountain that the City was built on. The first part was flat and open, while the sides were a mixture of slopes and cliffs. Up ahead, beyond the point where she could see the lay of the valley, Leena could barely make out the shining blue form of Mnementh sitting high upon a cliff. The huge dragon zoid had gone on ahead to a point that overlooked the entire course. The control room for the whole thing was built into that outcrop of volcanic rock, and had an eye everywhere.

"From now on those waiting to run the 'Gauntlet' as we call it will not be able to receive any data from those within. Prevents cheating. Naomi, stand by…" Outside Leena saw a set of red lights begin flashing at the mouth of the valley. After a couple more seconds a claxon sounded. "Go!"

The Snipe Master swung into action, accelerating to full speed rapidly. Naomi stuck to the left, amongst scattered boulders near the cliff face. Using the rocks as cover, she powered into the course.

Almost as soon as she was out of sight of the waiting zoids, she came under fire. A turret popped up ahead of her and started spitting shots at her. Naomi reacted on instinct, jinking right onto a larger boulder, before leaping across to another. As she landed she snapped off a burst from her wrist guns, shredding the turret. The Snipe Master powered past the smoking ruin.

After a sharp bend, she found herself in the fire zone of three turrets, one almost directly to her left. Jinking to the left, she used her mortar rockets on the left flank, while sending a burst of fire towards the turrets ahead. She nailed one, but the other escaped. The rockets missed their target, but the splash of the explosions was enough to take it out. Naomi dashed past the last one and rounded the bend before it could fire.

As she pushed deeper into the course, Naomi began to tell the differences between each type of turret. They each had a single weapon, similar to standard zoid weapons. Some were fitted with fake shock cannons, others rapier thin Vulcans or long range rifles. Some even used missiles, the warheads detonating to create clouds of ink. And they soon began to show up all over the place. Not only ahead, but both sides as well.

Naomi rounded one bend, began to track the three turrets ahead, when something glinted out of the corner of her eye. Acting on instinct she ducked her zoid, just in time as a banshee's hail of shots tore though the space her Snipe Master's head had been. A short return burst from her own guns wreaked the Vulcan turret before it could reacquire her. Glancing back ahead, Naomi smiled as she keyed in sniper mode. The Snipe Master spun round, the raised foot claws hammering into the ground and sinking deep. The zoid crouched as the tail straightened and extended, the muzzle of the hyper-sniper rifle pushing out the end. Quickly grasping the familiar sniper controls, Naomi took a moment to get the feel for the new weapon. The zoid twisted on its feet slightly as she panned the barrel back and forth. Naomi's smile widened as she felt the responsiveness of the new zoid. It was far better than the old Gunsniper! She zoomed in on the far left turret, and gasped when she realised how powerful the Snipe Masters scope was. She was able to count the rivets used to bolt the turret together! Pulling back a little, she lined up her shot carefully.

Pulling the trigger, she felt only a slight shift in the zoid; the tail had adsorbed all the recoil. Watching through the scope, she was stunned for a second as she saw the sheet metal of the turret fold inwards so sharply it shattered. The turret exploded in a display of pyrotechnics, while beyond the explosion she saw the impact of her round strike the cliff face. Grinning with pride, she quickly snapped off another two shots towards the other turrets. The first was dead on; the second a little high but still smashed the turret to fragments. Happy with the first test of the rifle, Naomi reset the system before pushing on past the ruins.

A couple more turns and about a dozen turrets later, she ran across something much worse. While a pair of long-range turrets bottled her up behind a rock, half a dozen small vehicles raced towards her. They looked like little more than a set of wheels, some thin armour and a pair of 30mm guns in a small turret. 'Mobile guns, as if the fixed ones weren't bad enough.' If they had been firing real rounds Naomi would have been worried. She had managed to evade most of their fire, but still she had taken a few hits. On a thinly armoured zoid like hers, even a lightweight shot could do heavy damage. Triggering her mortar rockets to knock out the turrets, she dived out from her cover and started snapping of bursts from her own 30mm guns. The small vehicles blew quickly, while both turrets were reduced to smoking ruins. She took a couple of light hits, both nothing that would be critical. On her secondary MFD Naomi had a schematic of her zoid pulled up, on which the 'damage' she had taken was displayed. So far the only concern was a rifle hit to the right thigh.

Pushing on, she rounded the bend to see a line of turrets ahead. With little cover, the half dozen long-range rifle turrets could pick her apart at their leisure. Looking about, she spied a ravine just to one side that led past the turrets. She dropped down into it, and almost landed on another turret at the foot of the cliff. Blasting it before it could turn towards her, she set off at a sharp pace though the ravine, taking her past the other turrets above. There were a couple of tight points, but the Snipe Master was small enough to get through.

Rounding another bend, she came across a swift river that cut across her path. To the right was a towering waterfall, with a deep but narrow section just before it. To the left the river broadened and slowed. Further on there was a bridge across, but the far side there was studded with turrets. Anyone crossing the bridge would be under constant fire. And while it was tempting to attempt to jump the river at the narrowest point, its depth gave cause for doubt. As she considered her options, she noticed the waterfall was not tight to the rock face it fell over. Using her sensors, she was able to see that there was a narrow path behind the curtain of water, just large enough for her Snipe Master to slip though.

Past the river she found a mock up town, and encountered the second type of mobile gun. Rolling slowly forward on tracks, it appeared to be a block of armour with a turret mounted cannon. Her 30mm guns barely hurt the thing, so she jinked away before it could fire. Luckily its turret was slow to track her.

Looking down at her main MFD, Naomi's heart leaped as she realised that she was almost though. The turrets were coming thick and fast, with several mobile guns, both wheeled and tracked versions, patrolling about. Rounded the penultimate bend, a screech of warning from her zoid was all she got before a missile struck her in the back. The explosive yield of the missile was tiny, just enough to shatter the casing and release the ink cloud. Spinning around, Naomi saw what had hit her was a third mobile gun, this one airborne. Spinning rotor blades on its top held it aloft, while a rack of missiles hung from stubby wings below. Her first burst of gunfire missed as the thing sidestepped, but her second nailed it head on. The helicopter was shredded.

Turning back, Naomi approached the final bend cautiously. The map showed that the last stretch was open and wide, quite barren really. Deciding that she had better take a look before stepping around that sharp bend, she pushed her Snipe Master to climb the rock to her right, towards the last stretch. The zoid easily mounted the rocks, finding hand and foot grips were no other zoid could. Gingerly she eased the zoids head up so that she could peer between two spires of rock.

She gasped at the sight laid out before her. The last valley was an open plain, without a shred of cover. That region was criss-crossed by patrolling vehicles, an even mixture of the light and heavy ones. Turrets were positioned along both sides, but the biggest concentration was at the far end. A huge wall closed off the mouth of the valley, with a single massive gate in the centre. Turrets lined the upper edge of the wall, and she could see several helicopters idling at the base, their rotors spinning slowly.

Naomi thought hard. A direct assault was out of the question, not with that much firepower and her zoid. Her only chance was to snipe each defender off, one at a time. Looking around as she lowered the zoid back to the valley floor, she searched for the best position to snipe from. At last she found it, a narrow ravine that joined the main valley opposite the last stretch. But to get there, she'd have to expose herself to their guns…

Her map gave her the clue. That ravine's other end also fed into the main valley, a little way back. Just after the mock town. Sighing since she had not wanted to face that thing again, she turned back and raced along. Once the town was in sight she stopped, before arming the rifle again. Naomi rested the sights on the main street. As she had expected the tank had resumed its patrol pattern, and rolled right into her sights. The heavy armour was no match for her AZ-18 sniper rifle, the round punching right through and sending the tank spinning round as it exploded. Satisfied, Naomi set off up the cliff face to the ravine entrance.

It took her a few minutes to reach the other end, having to work her way along some tricky sections and deal with a pair of turrets en route. But it was worth it when she reached the end. The ravine mouth may have been made for sniping, a 'V' shaped cut in the rocks allowed her Snipe Masters tail through while concealing the rest of the zoid. Settling into the controls, Naomi took a long look again at the defences ahead of her.

'The vehicles can't get me up here, and most of the turrets are out of range.' She set her sights on the idling helicopters. 'Those things have to go fast, before they take off.' She suited actions to words, snapping of a shot at each craft. The first shattered under the impact, while another pair were snapped in two. Another one lost the tip of its tail, and the last two shots missed, though one did clip a rotor, shattering it. Naomi watched as the last three attempted to take off. The one without its tail rotor spun madly until it wrecked itself, while the others got off the ground. The one with a damaged rotor however was very unsteady, swerving about all over the place. Smiling sweetly, she lined up on the only undamaged one, heading right for her.

'Here's your reward for getting airborne.' The hyper-velocity shot hit the craft dead centre, shattering it. With that threat gone, Naomi began to methodically take out each turret in turn, before turning her attention to the tanks. Once the last one was gone, she decided to push on. No point wasting rifle ammo on those thinly armoured vehicles.

The Snipe Master proved to be just as good going down a cliff as climbing one. It gracefully leapt from rock to rock like a mountain goat, while the wrist guns snapped off bursts at the nearest vehicles. Within a couple of minutes the last one was a smoking wreck, and she approached the formidable gates. For a second she wondered if the gate would open by itself, but when nothing happened she scaled the rock wall to one side and climbed over the top. Pushing her zoid to full speed, she raced for the finish line. As the Snipe Masters nose crossed it, a klaxon sounded.

"Well done Naomi Fluegel, Well done! Good shooting there at the end. I think you topped the board in the accuracy category." Naomi flushed at Christian's comment. "You made it though in twelve minutes, thirty-seven seconds, with a total of 12690 points scored out of a possible 15000. Minus 1350 for the hits you took, and taking into account your time, you've scored a final total of 11057 points. Just two points shy of Brad." Naomi gently eased her Snipe Master towards the cleaning area, were a set of techs waited with hoses to wash her zoid of the paint used by the defences. She sagged in her seat as the Snipe Master came to a stop. That had been one of the most intense twelve minutes of her life! While there were other times when she had gotten just as excited, this was by far the longest.

"Well then, who's next?"

DR: I didn't intend for this to be so long... but once I started writing, I couldn't stop!

Zeke: Get on with it! I want to see that new zoid in action!

DR: Well you're in luck, cause that's coming next time!