CHAPTER 4

The Death Wraith Strikes

The deserts of planet Zi were always a lonely sight to Crow, even when he had a good friend like Victor beside him. The endless churning waves of sand, the dry heat and the never changing horizon gave them a despairing, almost ghostly feel. The sight of Guygalos was well behind them now and Crow was well satisfied with the idea. No more blood needed to be spilled on his behalf; he had to face the murderer alone. He didn't want to tell Victor but he felt like the final battle between him and Craven would have to be one on one. Crow felt bad that it was more for his pride than Victor's safety.

"Hey bud, what's wrong?" Victor asked, his face appearing on the screen of the Stealth Viper.

"Just thinking of the future, that's all" Crow answered. To be honest, Crow was afraid to face Craven. The Genosaurer was a dangerous weapon in his hands, capable of mass destruction beyond the scope of imagination. Not only that, but Crow still didn't know why Craven wanted Drake badly enough to face off against the entire city of Guygalos. All Crow knew about the man was his name, not much to go on considering he only knew the first name, not the last. Even that might be fake, no; if he wanted to track the man down he had to get information. Somehow, he had to find someone who knew him, met him, or at least knew something about him.

"Where are we heading now?" Victor asked.

"Back to the Waterfall Colony" came the response.

"Why? Nobody's there" Victor pointed out.

The Stealth Viper turned and faced the Helcat momentarily. "Exactly, nobody there for the Genosaurer or Heldigunners to slaughter for no reason" Crow said. Victor understood, remaining quiet for a few moments.

"So what's the plan if we're attacked?" Victor asked.

"We destroy our attackers, and if Craven isn't with them then we save one to interrogate" Crow answered.

"Okay, sounds like a plan" Victor said.

"Hey Victor" Crow said.

"What?" the man asked.

"Tell me more about the legend of the white Stealth Viper will you?" Crow asked.

"Sure buddy," Victor began, "they called the pilot the 'Albino Assassin' and for ten years he brought the Republican army nothing but pride and victory. Countless times he could be seen joining a losing battle and turning the tide with his excellent skills and leadership abilities. Then one day he got involved with some shady characters, or so I've heard, and double crossed them, turning them into the authorities. After they got out it was said they stalked him with their black Gun Snipers, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. It came during the fabled 'Battle of the Forgotten Sands' in an unmarked part of the desert. Hundreds of missing soldiers on both sides of the war are presumed to have been killed there. There were no survivors."

Crow absorbed the information he'd just received. He remembered how badly his Zoid's cockpit had been damaged before Drake restored it. A Gun Sniper's tail sniper rifle could've easily caused the damage, something to ponder. "If there were no survivors then how'd the story start?" Crow asked.

"Don't know man, maybe one of the Gun Sniper pilots opened his big mouth" Victor suggested.

"What was the pilot's name do you know?" Crow asked.

"Lost with everything else, it's just a legend man, doesn't make it real you know" Victor pointed out. Crow nodded. "Hey, we got company coming up pretty quick." Crow gazed into the horizon, squinting through the searing light of the sun and seeing three shadowy figures in the distance. "My sensors tell me that the Zoids are Republican in origin, a pair of Command Wolves and a Shield Liger," Victor said, "I know the war's over and everything but its still an odd sight to see Republicans in Imperial territory. We'd better stop them and see what they're up to."

The Stealth Viper and Helcat moved to intercept the Zoids ahead, cutting them off and motioning for them to stop. The Command Wolves were both white in color, with the usual pair of 50mm cannons on their backs and smoke dischargers. The Shield Liger was also white, with small amounts of blue tied in. The Zoid was fresh from the factory, no modifications other than the numerous amounts of Republican symbols painted on it.

"Whoa there boys, where you headed?" Victor asked.

A man with short spiky black hair and hazel eyes appeared on the screen. "This is Captain Richard A. Sullivan and my personal escorts Privates Smith and Johnson, we're here on an urgent mission" the man said.

"What's your mission?" asked Crow.

"A hooded man piloting a Genosaurer was seen recovering an organoid from a private location, the Empire said it wasn't theirs so we chased after it," Sullivan explained, "so if you'll kindly get out of our way so we can recover the organoid we would be most grateful."

"Craven, he has an organoid now? Great!" Crow said sarcastically.

"As representatives of the Empire we will follow you and help you retrieve the lost organoid" Victor said.

"Great, we could use the help" Sullivan said, his Shield Liger charging forward, cutting between the Helcat and Stealth Viper. The Command Wolves continued after their leader followed by Victor and Crow. "I'm sending you the information about the pilot now, along with a picture of the Zoid" Sullivan said as the data was transmitted. One the screen of the Stealth Viper a picture of a Genosaurer boosting away from some ruins came up and underneath it was the pilot information. Basically, they had nothing, no name, no rank, and no army loyalties. But they had spotted the pilot with red glowing eyes and a hooded cloak, good enough.

"So where are we headed?" Crow asked.

"The Pteras we have following it right now says it's approaching the Avalanche Colony from the east, if we cut it off up here over this group of dunes we can save ourselves of any civilian casualties" Sullivan answered. Crow liked the plan; he also liked the fact that these guys could help him catch the murderer once and for all. A few miles up the Avalanche Colony came into view. The village was built in the center of a giant oasis, around the perimeter of a massive lake. Crow glanced to the side when his radar went off and saw the Genosaurer boosting toward the village. "He's in sight, fire at will, but try to salvage the pilot the best we can" Sullivan ordered.

"Drake!" Crow yelled. The dragon-like organoid roared, rocketed into the air and melded with the Zoid core of the Stealth Viper just as the snake type Zoid burrowed into the ground.

The Genosaurer roared when it saw the small group of Zoids approaching it and turned to face them. Suddenly the Stealth Viper erupted from the sand in front of it, catching the Zoid off guard with a head butt. The Genosaurer was pushed to the side from the force but its boosters continued to thrust it forward. Crow watched the Helcat disappear under a cloak of invisibility and the Shield Liger activate its frontal force shield.

"Fools!" the Genosaurer pilot yelled over the intercom in a deep, sinister voice. "Rex!" A bolt of crimson energy shot through the air, ramming into the Genosaurer and bathing it in blood red energy.

"He's using the organoid!" Sullivan yelled.

"Victor, we're not dealing with Craven here, its someone else! I don't recognize his voice" Crow said urgently.

"You mean there are more of these creeps out there?" Victor asked, the Helcat opening fire from the Saurer's flank. The Command Wolves split to either side while the Shield Liger charged the Zoid head on, they had it surrounded. As the ring of soldiers unloaded on the Genosaurer it boosted to the side, knocking over a Command Wolf and launching a grappling arm at the other. The claws of the Zoid dug into its helpless foe and it began reeling it in next to its fallen partner.

"Now you're finished!" the pilot of the Saurer said as it locked down its feet and bent forward. The tail fins opened as the gun barrel of the CPG extended out.

"Victor, we have to take out the Charged Particle Gun or those Privates are toast!" Crow yelled.

"Roger, aim for the foot locks and we can throw it off balance, then the force of the Charged Particle Gun will do the rest" Victor said. The Stealth Viper and Helcat synchronized their attacks, one aiming at one foot lock, while the other aimed at the remaining one. But the Genosaurer quickly let go of the Command Wolf it had hold of and turned its head toward the Stealth Viper as the particle cloud began forming, forcing Crow to quit firing and burrow underground. The Genosaurer cocked its head down at the last second, firing the CPG down where the Stealth Viper had burrowed.

The energy beam struck the soft sand below, creating a massive crater as the shockwave that went along with the blast slammed into the ground, hurling twisters of sand into the air. Finally the Saurer's foot lock gave way to Victor's shelling and it stumbled. The Shield Liger seized the moment to charge the unbalanced Zoid, using its shield as a battering ram.

"Crow! Are you okay?" Victor asked. Searching the crater frantically for his partner. Then he watched the Stealth Viper stick its head slowly out of the sand below the crater. The Zoid's entire body was dented and sparking but the cockpit opened and Crow jumped out, followed by Drake. "Alright boys, good show!"

The Command Wolves pinned the Genosaurer to the ground with shelling while the Shield Liger began tearing away at the Zoid with its hardened alloy claws. The lion-like Zoid quickly wore down the Saurer's broken armor and tore out the chest cockpit. The pilot fell out, his hooded figure collapsing to the earth below. The organoid that had fused with the Genosaurer also came bolting out, but it quickly rocketed toward the horizon and out of sight, leaving its master behind.

Sullivan, Smith, Johnson and Victor all drew their weapons and cautiously approached the seemingly unconscious pilot. Crow and Drake just watched from a far. "Pilot," Sullivan began, "by order of the Republic you are under arrest for illegal confiscation of an organoid. Have you anything to say for yourself?" The pilot just lied there. Sullivan lined up a shot and motioned for his Privates (lol) to grab the man. The soldiers grabbed the man and pulled him to his feet quickly and roughly. Sullivan walked forward and used his gun to pull up the hood.

The pilot cackled lowly, opening his crimson-colored eyes and ravenously thrashing to escape the grasp of the soldiers. But what was worst of all was the man's horribly disfigured face. His skin was a putrid brown color, with marks of discolored, wait, rotten patches of flesh all around. He was also hairless, looking a lot like a cross between a corpse and a burn victim. Scared, the soldiers released their hold of the cackling abomination and backed away.

"Did I not say you were fools?" the undead pilot asked. "Fools to think you could capture a Death Wraith, fools to think you could retrieve the organoid. The boss will turn you all into his personal slaves when we're finished with you!" the zombie-man bellowed. He started to cackle again but was cut short by the sound of a gun shot. Crow watched as the bullet pierced the flesh of the abomination and threw his head back with the impact. The undead pilot leaned his head forward and continued cackling. Then he charged forward, grabbing the Captain's gun and bending the barrel in half.

Sullivan gasped and backed up when the realization hit him, there was no way to kill this thing. They'd never keep it captive long enough to get it back to the base and contain it either. The raving lunatic just continued cackling for a moment before lunging forward and cutting into the Captain's gut with his razor sharp fingernails. The demon stared into the man's eyes with his own and watched with horrific glee as the Captain died. Crow didn't see anything else as metal tentacles wrapped around his body and he disappeared inside Drake's body.


A/N: I enjoyed writing the line about Sullivan's Privates way too much. It kinda reminded me off Duffman from the Simpsons. "Duffman is thrusting in the direction of the problem!" I couldn't stop laughing. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and the new direction the story is beginning to take.