CHAPTER 11

A Paladin Falls, a Demon Rises

The Republican and Imperial ground forces were being torn apart by the combined efforts of the Chaos Saurer, Psychosaurer and the Genosaurers. The Psychosaurer and Chaos Saurer would annihilate many a foe at once while the Genosaurers would pick off the stragglers. In short, things weren't looking good for the fate of planet Zi. Crow and the Stealth Dragon swooped down, catching the Psychosaurer off guard and landing a vicious blow to the Zoid's head with its hardened alloy tail club. The Psychosaurer fell back from the impact as Crow followed up with another blow to the Zoid's head, nearly cracking the armor around it.

The Chaos Saurer swung around, firing a Super Charged Particle Gun between the two quarreling warriors. The shockwave threw them both apart, the Chaos Saurer sending a stern message to the Death Wraith that he had other things to worry about than his rivalry with Crow. Though the ground forces had suffered many losses they continued to push forward, hoping to regain the dominance they had achieved earlier. A regrouping of the last Dibison by Gabriel began to turn the tides, as Megalo-Maxs combined with other gunfire tore through a Death Wraith's Genosaurer.

"All we need is one more hit on that damn leg and we can cripple the Chaos Saurer!" Gabriel yelled. The Dibison lined up and began charging their most powerful attacks as the Chaos Saurer turned to finish them off. Golden energy streamed from each Dibison and in unison they struck the damaged leg of the Chaos Saurer with amazing force. The Saurer began toppling over but fired its SCPG as it went down, leaving only Gabriel and one other Dibison standing. The others had disappeared in the massive, smoldering crater next to them.

As the Chaos Saurer hit the ground, its leg lying in two pieces the ground forces pushed forward, disabling another Death Wraith. Soon the Saurer found itself swarmed with smaller Zoids like ants attacking a small dog. Oz and the Iron Kong pounded the armor of the Saurer again and again with the Zoid's hardened alloy fists. Soon a small dent appeared, then widened. Oz was filled with the anticipation of breaking off a piece when the Chaos Saurer rolled, tossing a majority of the Zoids off and crushing a few unlucky ones. Then the behemoth flapped its powerful wings and flew toward the White House, charging the Super Charged Particle Gun as it went.

The attacking forces stopped for a second, none even moved as they watched in awe. The White House literally evaporated from the blast, leaving not even a simple piece of paper left in its wake. Crow nearly stuttered when he yelled "Drake!" The organoid, who up till now had been watching the fight as a safety precaution, rocketed into the air and melded with the Stealth Dragon. A wave of green energy revitalized the Zoid and gave it new fighting spirit. The Stealth Dragon gracefully flew toward the Chaos Saurer, firing with its AZ40mm machine guns and aiming for a wing mount.

The Chaos Saurer whirled around, facing its familiar opponent. The demon Zoid roared in the air and took off as fast as it could, flying toward the horizon. "Don't let it escape!" Crow yelled, flying after it and opening fire. The aerial forces swarmed the retreating behemoth, covering it in a layer of bullet spray. The Saurer annihilated them left and right, continually firing its Super Charged Particle Gun in any direction and killing scores of men and Zoids without remorse. Crow hated it, almost as much as he hated Craven. "Speak of the devil!" Crow exclaimed, searching the ground for his arch foe. All he saw were the carcasses of fallen Zoids and the ground forces as they tried desperately to follow the Chaos Saurer.

"This is Herman, calling off all attacks on the Chaos Saurer, return to base for regrouping" Herman said as he watched the Saurer disappear. The armies of Zoids slowly came back, the soldiers happy for a short reprieve from the fighting.

"Herman! Why'd you call off the attack? We almost had it!" Crow yelled as he stood face to face with the man.

"How many more lives needed to be lost? How much more blood spilled before you would've been happy?" Herman yelled back. "I withdrew the men because we have an opportunity here," Herman began, "now that we've fought it we know it's not flawless. We can defeat it, look at the damage we've done. Now we can assess the danger and put plans into action for defeating it and the Death Wraiths. Now come on, we have no time to waste, every second counts."

Crow, Victor and the other Paladins followed Herman down to the secret underground meeting room from before. Crow approached Herman from behind, grabbing the older man's shoulder. "Sorry about earlier, now where's the Chaos Saurer headed?" the boy asked.

"It was last seen retreating into the same underground hideout it came out of, probably getting ready for round two just like us," Herman said, "this Zoid is unlike any other. It has the ability to make decisions that other Zoids can't compare to. It's almost like a person." Crow nodded in understanding, he knew they were up against more than just a killing machine. The Chaos Saurer had a conscience that allowed it to make its own decisions, like ridding itself of Necros. Truly it was much more frightening of an opponent now than before.

"So what's the plan?" Crow asked.

"Well, its not like the Chaos Saurer's going to come back here again," Herman said, "he's headed for Guygalos. I've decided to send you and the Paladins to try and stop it before it can get there, as well as the remaining Attack Arachs. But if you can't defeat it don't take any unnecessary risks, we're going to need you at Guygalos." Crow smiled and saluted the man who saluted back. The Peace Paladins approached Crow from behind.

"Ready to go put a stop to this thing once and for all?" Juliet asked. Crow nodded and the Paladins said their goodbyes, heading toward the Chaos Saurer. "So what's the plan for beating this thing?" Juliet asked.

"I say we just crush it with firepower!" Oz yelled, his Iron Kong pounding its chest.

"Hey meathead," Nicholas said, "we need more of a plan than just go out there and shoot." The Paladin of the Sea's Hammerhead roared in agreement.

"Yeah well I didn't see you out there earlier!" Oz shouted back.

"Silence damn it!" Crow yelled. The other Paladins suddenly got deathly silent. "Stop fighting and listen to me," Crow said calmly, "the Chaos Saurer is crippled. All we need to do is remove a wing and we've got it. Now focus on the battle ahead and quit bickering amongst each other. Juliet, Nicholas and I will cover the aerial attacks while Ace, Oz, Gabriel, Scar and the Attack Arachs handle ground warfare. It's too bad that Herc's Double Sworder was destroyed, he would've been some good help in the aerial department."

The Peace Paladins and Special Force Attack Arachs approached the secret underground base of the Death Wraiths and Chaos Saurer cautiously. "So am I to assume that the ground forces also deal with the Death Wraiths?" Ace asked. The Paladin's Green Horn was a Dark Horn painted green and equipped with dual 60mm Laser Vulcan guns, a chin mounted 30mm machine gun, a 3-shot rocket launcher and a pair of 50mm cannons atop the mount between the Vulcan guns.

"We'll share responsibility for them, remember that we're all in this together" Crow said. Just then the Chaos Saurer rose from the underground base, heading toward Guygalos. "Juliet, Nicholas, we have to cut it off so that the others can get in on the action!" Crow ordered. The other Paladins nodded and the three aerial Zoids rocketed after the much slower Saurer. Juliet reached it first, her blue Raynos screeching and passing by with a casual amount of fire from her tail-mounted machine guns. The attack was enough to catch the behemoth's attention, the Chaos Saurer spinning around and seeing its familiar opponents.

"Right here Big Boy!" Nicholas yelled, his Hammerhead's face mounted rocket boxes opening and firing three anti-Zoid rockets. The projectiles struck the Chaos Saurer just under its wing and the pilot cheered in triumph.

"Don't get cocky just yet, we still have to bring the Chaos Saurer to the ground!" Crow reminded him. The Stealth Dragon flew circles around its opponent in tight up close and personal quarters, spraying bullets from its mouth. Juliet attacked the Saurer from the front, making the Peace Paladins' assault a triangular one. Confused, the Chaos Saurer nervously grabbed the end of the Stealth Dragon's tail. "Damn, he got me!" Crow exclaimed. Next the Saurer pulled the Stealth Dragon up, using its other arm and held the Zoid out, charging up its Super Charged Particle Gun. "Let go you bastard!" Crow yelled, shooting anti-Zoid bullets down the behemoth's throat as a particle cloud formed.

Suddenly a stream of flashes exploded near the Saurer's wing, distracting it momentarily. The Chaos Saurer turned its head, looking down at the Attack Arachs. Crow used the chance to squirm free of the Zoid's grasp. The SCPG fired, taking three Special Forces Zoids with it. Crow winced at the loss, wondering if Victor was one of them. The Saurer swatted around at its aerial opponents, trying to strike one of them from the sky as the Stealth Dragon and Raynos swooped in, Nicholas still barraging it from behind.

Crow's Zoid maneuvered under the giant claw being thrown at it and flew around behind the Chaos Saurer. The Raynos expertly boosted out of the way and accelerated behind the behemoth as well. Together, all three Paladins aimed for the Saurer's weakest wing mount. A combination of rockets, beam fire and anti-Zoid shells ate through the weakened mount quickly and blew the wing off, sending it and the Chaos Saurer plummeting to the ground. "We got it!" Nicholas exclaimed. The Saurer crash landed roughly on a pile of rocks below, sending dust and debris in the air.

"Ground forces attack!" Victor yelled. The Attack Arachs swarmed forward like a colony of ants, opening fire once again. The special shells from their weapons began eating away at the fallen Zoid's armor as the Chaos Saurer struggled to get to its last leg. The Iron Kong, Green Horn and Whitz Wolf descended upon their opponent as well. A beam of charged particles sliced through the Iron Kong's left arm and Oz watched in horror as it evaporated before him. The CPG then split and slammed into the ground all around the Green Horn and Whitz Wolf.

"The Death Wraiths, we'll handle them, you guys just keep your assault on the Chaos Saurer going!" Juliet yelled. The Raynos, Hammerhead and Stealth Dragon turned their attention to the oncoming Death Wraiths and their CPG-wielding Zoids.

"Give it up Craven, how's the Chaos Saurer ever going to win with just one leg and one wing?" Crow asked mockingly.

"Stupid village boy," Craven said, "look at my master very closely and you'll understand its true powers!" Crow looked back at the Chaos Saurer carefully. Small amounts of the leg and wing had already begun to reform, the atoms that made up the Zoid's structure regenerating. "The Chaos Saurer is revived more and more with each shot fired at it, so unless you can cause some massive damage all at once you will never defeat it!" Crow sat back and took a deep breath as a fresh wave of shots from the Attack Arachs fueled the Chaos Saurer's regenerative abilities, the armor absorbing the energy and converting it into atoms to rebuild the Zoid.

"How . . . how do we beat a monster like that?" Juliet asked.

"We don't have enough Zoids or firepower to take it out now, the smartest move would be to retreat" Crow said coolly. Craven smiled and charged up his Max CPG, aiming for the Stealth Dragon.

"No way!" the Death Wraith yelled. "You'll never escape!" The Max CPG fired, splitting and slicing through the air and toward its draconic target.

"I've heard that more than once!" Crow shot back. The Stealth Dragon used its wings to beat the air and throw it backward just in time to dodge the ensuing destruction. The CPG's struck the ground, creating small craters all over. "Retreat! Head for Guygalos!" The ground forces confusingly fired a few more shots before stopping and swarming over the top of the Chaos Saurer and toward Guygalos. All except for Oz.

"You disarmed my Iron Kong, you'll pay!" Oz bellowed, the Iron Kong charging toward the Psychosaurer.

"Oz, get over it, retreat!" Crow commanded.

"Fool! Let's finish this freak shall we?" Craven asked. The Genosaurers surrounding the Psychosaurer followed its example as it charged up its most destructive weapon. Multiple beams of charged particles struck the Iron Kong, piercing its chest, head, arm and legs. Crow shook his head in disappointment as he watched what was left of the Zoid collapse into a heap on the ground. As the Peace Paladins headed for Guygalos Crow turned back one last time, watching as the Death Wraiths shot at their master, regenerating the demon as quickly as possible. All the defense forces' hard work, disappearing almost instantaneously.