DR: Since it's Easter, I decided to give you all a present of the next chapter!
Zeke: What about all of us?
DR: (smiles) Simple. I hid 100 Easter eggs throughout the grounds. Let the hunt begin!
(sudden commontion as 30 people rush to get out of room first. Teal'c raises eyebrow when Zeke and Shadow barrel right throught the pack, then follows sedately)
DR: That'll keep them entertained for a while. Romie, mind keeping an eye on them?
Romie: Are you trying to reduce me, A High Guard ship of the line, to a baby-sitter!
DR: Oh come on, you like them all really...
Romie: (sighs) All right... (walks out)
DR: And now, we see just how Miranda fares against the Liger Zero, the Fury, and of course the Iguanosaur (fresh images with man and VW Golf for scale):
http/ Against that kind of hardware, anyone would be scared!
Chapter 14: Contrast & News
For a second Miranda could only watch in fright as the three most powerful zoids on Zi broke into a charge. The Liger Zero with its frighteningly large number of laser blades pushed forwards fast, while the Fury matched Bit's pace, the rows of teeth gleaming. Just behind them both the monstrous Iguanosaur rose up onto its hind legs and raced forwards, seemingly even larger than before. Miranda could almost feel the ground trembling at its footfalls!
Nicholas Calisto, Derek's son, started snapping out orders, breaking the paralysis that had gripped Miranda. "Ok Dad, we've got the Liger Zero and the Blade Liger coming at us! Michael, get Leena's attention! Jane, can you hold off Vega for the moment?"
"And how do you expect me to do that?"
"Run rings around him?"
"That's not helpful Jacob!"
"Jacob, see if you can slow down either liger!" Nicholas butted in. "Miranda, see if you can get behind the Blitz team. Don't stop to fight, just get round behind them! Everyone watch out. They deployed the Shadow Fox, but I'm having trouble finding it!"
"Oh great…" Jane groaned.
Miranda tuned out the voices of her teammates as she pushed the Rev Raptor forwards. She knew her only chance was to keep moving and make herself the smallest target possible. As she piled on the speed, she watched her displays. Derek was trying to avoid going head to head with both the Blade Liger and Liger Zero, but their combined moves were bottling him up. Jane was having equal trouble with the Fury, whose hover jets allowed Vega to make incredibly tight turns. Jacob had started to lay down fire to cover Derek, but Leena had responded with a barrage of her own, and the Raiders Dibison was unsteady on its feet as a result.
She looked up again on instinct, to see the Shadow Fox almost on top of her, the zoid seeming to grin at her. Gulping in shock, she threw her zoid to the right, barely evading the Foxes claws. After they had passed each other, she cursed herself. 'Had I deployed my scythe blades, I could have taken him out!' She looked again at her displays, only to notice something new. 'The Fox is not showing up on my sensors! Shit!'
Twisting and turning, Miranda raced forwards, while around her the Blitz demonstrated how they lived up to their name. Jane was trying to stay ahead of the Fury, but those jaws kept on getting closer. Derek was locked in a dance of death with Leon and Bit, while Michael reeled as Leena poured fire into him.
A rising whistle heralded the arrival of a barrage from Jacob, but Leena had already moved aside, bringing her massive zoid almost on top of Miranda. She looked up at the towering behemoth, her eye bugging out at the shear size of the zoid. It could squash her zoid like a bug! The laser turret above the shoulder spun round and snapped of a string of energy darts. Almost a dozen burned neat holes through her armour, strung out in a line across her zoid. Miranda powered forwards, but then had to jink left to evade the larger zoids leg that suddenly kicked out.
A sudden explosion behind her signalled the fading of the Dibisons signal. She glanced over her shoulder to see the Dibison slumped down, the head practically cut off. Off to the side, the Shadow Fox stood, black against the skyline as it howled in victory.
Looking about in worry, Miranda saw that the Fury was snapping at the heels of Jane's Zaber Fang, while the Gordos was limping. Derek was blade to blade with the Blitz's Blade Liger, and the Liger Zero was closing fast on him. So far her little Rev Raptor was ignored, and that stung worse than being a target.
'Do they think I'm not worth their time?' Then realisation struck home, painfully. 'They're right. I'm nothing more than a cadet, and these are experienced warriors. How could I be so stupid as to think I could best one of them here?'
When she looked about her, Miranda realised that she had gotten behind the Blitz, just as Nicholas had instructed. "Nicholas, I'm behind the Blitz, now what?"
"Distract them!" His voice could barely be heard over the sounds of battle. "Anything! Just get them focused on you!"
Miranda took a deep breath before kicking her zoid forwards, towards the massive Iguanosaur. 'Get their attention huh?'
With a snarl, the Rev Raptor leapt upwards to grasp onto the larger zoids thigh. Miranda clung onto the larger zoid as it suddenly bucked. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the laser turret spin round. 'Got to get out of the fire arc!'
With a speed born of desperation, the Rev Raptor began to climb up the heavier zoids leg, scrambling up to get behind the larger zoids body. Miranda didn't care about hurting the Iguanosaur. Her only concern was getting out of the line of fire!
The turret fired just as she pulled herself up; the bolts stabbing past seemingly close enough to burn the armour off. Miranda took a second to pull herself together as she squatted her zoid behind the Iguanosaur's main weapon. From her elevated position, she could see the Fury had caught Jane, her zoid trapped in the monsters jaws. Derek's Blade Liger lay besides the Blitz's one, both zoids side blades deployed. It appeared that they had taken each other out. Bit and the Liger Zero were closing in on Michael's Gordos, and she could see the Shadow Fox loping towards them.
Suddenly Leena's main guns spun round, catching her off guard. The Rev Raptor was inside the arc of the barrels, but that was the point. The smaller zoid was knocked clean off the Iguanosaur by the ringing impact, even as Leena primed her main weapon. Miranda was too stunned to watch as the larger zoid straightened out before firing its hybrid cannon. The bolt slammed into the Gordos and punched in deep. The heavy zoid was pushed to the side by the hit, before falling flat onto its belly.
Slowly Miranda pulled her zoid upright, but then an orange and white shape jumped over Leena's zoid to land just before her. The Liger Zero pushed forwards, and Miranda caught a glimpse of the laser blades of the Schneider armour all deployed.
Then the Liger was past, and the Rev Raptor continued to stand. 'I don't believe it! He missed!' But when she tried the controls, nothing happened. Then she felt it, the head moving forwards and down slightly. It slid for a few seconds, before tipping forwards. The snout was buried in the sand during the impact. Miranda looked at her displays, but they were all dead. Sighing, she pushed the canopy open. Once she had wiggled free, she looked back towards her zoid.
What she saw took her breath away. Her Rev Raptor had been decapitated! The Liger Zero's laser blade had sliced right through her zoids neck with ease, leaving a perfect cut. 'One pass. It took him only one pass to take me down…'
x x x x x x
Derek sighed as he looked across at Miranda, sitting slightly apart from the two teams, later on. "Well, she was the last to go down…"
"That was simply because she was the last one targeted." Cassie pointed out.
"Maybe so, but she had a chance to take me out during the battle." Brad commented over his mug. Naomi was snuggled under his free arm. "If when she had passed me she had deployed her blades, I doubt my zoid would have remained operational."
"And if that had happened, then I'd I've been free to continue firing…" Jacob began, his face pensive.
"We could spend forever batting around the "What if…" question." Jamie stated firmly. The fact he was sitting with his arm round Pierce, and hers round him, was not lost on the Raiders. "The real question is, did today's battle teach her the lesson she needed Derek?"
Derek leaned back, a frown on his face. "Not sure at the moment. Certainly she showed initiative, climbing up onto your back Leena, despite not taking your zoids abilities into account. And at the start she showed fear, something that we have not seen before."
"I noticed that too. Odd, considering her reaction to a Cerberus was to ask if it was a joke." Cassie mused. The gathered pilots sat up straighter.
"She thought the Cerberus was a joke?" Vega gasped, his eyes round.
Cassie nodded. "Yea, she commented that it lacked any logical layout, since the weapons were exposed and the outline was made of simple blocks. And that the balancing act would be impossible." She shrugged. "Guess you have to see one in action to fully understand."
"What was her reaction to your zoid?" Stroller asked, his voice containing a note of curiosity. Cassie looked at him for a moment before replying.
"Well, she was made of sterner stuff than the other cadets that took the same exercise. One fainted dead away at sight of me." Chuckles rose at Cassie's comment. "It was when she first saw the Cerberus that things went downhill."
While the others continued to talk and discuss the battle, Vega slipped away and walked over to Miranda. Now that they were face to face, Vega had to admit that she was an attractive young woman. Her blond hair, while not as pure as Bits, was an interesting shade, and her face held hints of future elegance.
She looked up at him as he approached, her eyes roving across him. At last they met his dark orbs. "Vega Obscura, what brings you over here?" She asked quietly but firmly. It was clear from her tone that she fully expected him to rub her nose in her defeat.
Vega was taken aback for a second by her hostility, but his warm nature quickly returned. "Actually, I was wondering if you would care to explain why you thought the Cerberus was a joke." He asked as he slid into the seat across from her.
As he did so she looked him over again, more slowly this time. She took in his almost jet-black hair and dark eyes, which made him look like a Goth when compared to his pale skin. The effect was softened though by his choice of clothing, a rather odd looking tan jacket with a dark blue body suit underneath. Also his face was filled with honesty and compassion, and Miranda felt herself responding to that, despite her naturally confrontational nature. His eyes were wide, making them even larger in his head than normal, and in them she could see only a desire to know what she thought.
With a sigh she gave in. "It just doesn't make any sense. The whole thing is stacked together like some simple child's toy. There was clearly no thought to deflecting hostile fire, or speed. The weapons look tacked on, like an after thought."
"Zoid weapons are external…"
"Yea, but at least in zoids the weapons try to fit in with the rest of the zoid, most of the time. Those ones didn't. It was like they were using the bare minimum in building that thing. And the name 'Cerberus' is totally wrong."
"Why?"
"Cerberus was a three headed dog that guarded hell in one Ancient Earth mythology. But that zoid had no cockpit, and a single eye, like a Cyclops. That would have been a more appropriate name." Miranda shrugged. "Anyway, the thing would never have been able to move. It would have fallen over on the first patch of rough ground."
Vega shook his head gently. "You don't know the truth do you?"
"The truth?" Miranda asked, her voice curious and condensing in equal measure.
"Those things are very well named, because they are hell to fight…"
As Vega launched into telling Miranda the real nature of the Cerberus, Sarah watched quietly from the main table. She was still wondering just how to tell him that she was carrying Leon's child, but seeing him with Miranda brought a smile to her lips. Maybe it was time for him to also find someone to love and cherish. He had pushed her to find her perfect partner… maybe it was time for him to do the same.
x x x x x x
Later that evening the Blitz returned home, most of them dead on their feet. The zoids were moved back into the hanger, the team deciding to put off any repair work till the next day. Although only Leon had gone down during the fight with the Raiders, all the zoids had taken damage to varying degrees. This was typical of their recent battles; one or two of them would be taken out, but everyone would receive serious damage.
One by one the team made their way to their rooms, Brad and Naomi last so that she could take her time. Now just over eight months pregnant, getting up and down the stairs was difficult at best.
Sarah however stood back from entering her room along with Leon. "You go ahead love." She whispered to him, laying a gentle kiss on his lips. "There's something I need to do first…"
"Need any help?" He asked.
"Not for this. I have to do it alone…"
"Well, you know I'll always be here for you…" Leon told her, wrapping her in his arms as he did so. Sarah was reluctant to part from him, but as Vega passed them both she knew she had too.
"Thanks Leon." With a smile she stepped after her son. "Vega?"
For a second Vega didn't respond, but then he turned to face her. "Mom? What is it?"
"Can we talk for a moment? It's important…"
Together the pair of them stepped through into the garden, listening to the sounds of everyone else head to bed. They sat down on the pools edge side by side, facing each other.
"Vega, son… "Sarah paused, unsure how to continue.
"What is it mom?" He asked, concern flitting across his face.
"Well… it's me and Leon." Sarah began. Vega's eye widened.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothings wrong. Well, not yet…" Sarah took a deep breath. "It's just that we… want to, well…" At Vega's motion to continue, she managed to say what she had to say. "We want to start, raise a family. Have children of our own." She clarified, biting her lip as she braced for Vega's reaction.
For a long moment Vega was too stunned to think. He didn't know what to think! Only one thing ran through his mind at that point. 'My mother wants to have another child…'
"Vega?" Sarah asked out of concern. His silence was dragging on.
Slowly Vega began to get his brain back into gear. His mother wished to have Leon's children, and was asking his permission. But she didn't need his permission! It was her life; she should do as she wished!
But still… he was her son. If she had a second child, he would no longer be her only child. Could he cope with that? Being her first born son, half-brother to any other children she had with Leon, the man she loved? The man he had pushed her towards from the moment they had met? He could understand her concerns about what he would think…
Slowly he brought his head back up to look at her face. Written plain across it was her concerns and worries. No longer could she hide her feelings and thoughts behind a cool, calm facade. Even when they had been in the Backdraft he had always been able to tell what she had been thinking, when everyone else was clueless. Now it was as clear as day that she really thought that he was the one to decide whether or not she could have children again.
Vega's heart melted at the look on her face. "Mom, you have as many as you want…" He told her. "I'm old enough now to cope with it."
With tears streaming down her face, Sarah pulled him into a hug. "Thank you Vega. You know you'll always have a place in my heart." The relief in her voice was almost palatable.
"I know mom," he answered, hugging her in return. As the hug continued, he could hear her trying to hold back tears of joy, and he smiled. But then he frowned. Something was different… He pulled back to look her in the eye. "You already are, aren't you?"
Sarah's head dropped. "Yes. I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, but I wasn't sure how you'd…"
"Mom…" he cut her off, lifting her chin with one hand. "I understand completely. I knew that this might happen when I told you to find happiness for yourself, especially when you married Leon. You just took me a bit by surprise that's all." He smiled again. "How long?"
"Just under a month."
"So we'll have time to adjust and adapt with Naomi's kid before yours arrives…" He joked. The pair of them embraced again, rejoicing in their mutual love of each other. Sarah knew that Vega would always love her, regardless of how many other child she had. And Vega knew that she would always love him the most of all her children, not because he was her first, but because he had helped her through one of the most difficult times in her life and had given her the confidence to grasp her chance for happiness.
"Vega, you're the greatest son any mother could have wished for…"
DR: And on that sweet note, we say goodbye to the world of Zi for another week.
Kaylee: (walks in holding a basket aloft) No power in the verse can stop me! (Mal follows her in)
DR: I take it she won?
Mal: Shefound 12! Gorram it girl!