(Disclaimer: I do not own the Zoids franchise. Copyright goes to Tomy for making this fantastic series. All I own are this story, its characters and some concept Zoids that might appear.)
Zoids: Lost Eden
Chapter 3: First Strike
Outside the city gates, things were a little more chaotic. With no more civilian bystanders to worry about, the Zoids no longer hesitated on using the full capacity of their weapons. The situation was even more advantageous to the Shield Liger MK-II; whose heavy beam cannons hampered its capability in the urban confines of Kalanes City.
On the other hand, the Geno Saurer had more room to maneuver. Strangely enough, Sakura wasn't too keen on using her Charged Particle Cannon, seeing that her Zoid's melee and ranged prowess are sufficient enough to get the job done.
"Take this!" Sakura took aim and fired her Pulse Lasers at a Command Wolf, disabling it as she hit its weapons loadout. With it out of the way, it turned its attention to the other Zoids, lugging along the non-functional left claw with it as it charged.
The remaining Zoids proved to be more of a challenge, attacking in close succession, leaving no room for the Geno Saurer to hone in on any one of them. Taking a direct hit from the Liger's impressive arsenal could be her downfall, even if Sakura's Zoid surpassed it in terms of specs. Her best hope was for one of her adversaries to make a mistake.
"Damn!" Sakura suddenly cursed as she found herself flanked from both sides. The two Zoids fired their best shots. Her only hope of escape was to jump away with her Ion Boosters at full power. Before the shots connected, the Geno Saurer leapt up, dodging the fatal rounds. The Command Wolf was daring though. It immediately followed up by leaping up after the Guylos Zoid, its fangs aiming for the vulnerable spot which is its cockpit. Its bravery ultimately proved to be its undoing.
"Don't underestimate me!" Sakura angrily yelled out as she shifted her Zoid's body a little to the left, dodging the Command Wolf's blow by a few inches. Not satisfied with that, the Geno Saurer's head lurched forward towards the enemy and upon reaching its neck, its jaws clamped down full force. Upon landing, she twisted the enemy Zoid's head violently in her Zoid's jaws before tossing it aside as it turned to face the remaining Shield Liger.
"This is it eh?" Captain Ash muttered as he rallied his troops towards the area where the mayor pointed out an escape route. While the rest of the Zoids were tucked safely back in the trailers, both the Dark Spiner and the Elephander were outside, guarding the surrounding area. Without the Geno Saurer, these two were the only ones who possessed significant capability needed to blast through the rocks.
"Blindly shooting at everything won't work. In fact, it might only make matters worse for us if it causes a landslide." Gerard, the gruff soldier, mentioned as he carefully checked the stone formation with his Elephander's sensors.
"Indeed." Captain Ash agreed; the head of his Dark Spiner nodding in agreement with his subordinate's idea. "The mayor told me of a hole here that was merely filled up. We should probably blast through that."
"Over there Captain." Gerard pointed to a haphazard arrangement of large boulders. "See how the rocks there appear younger than the ones around it? I'm willing to bet that's where the hole is at!"
"Okay, I'll leave it in your hands Gerard." Captain Ash then turns to the rest of the troops under his command. "Recall Vishna and patch me a channel to Sakura's Geno Saurer. We're pulling out of here!"
"Let's do this!" Gerard grunted, shifting his Elephander into full power as it plowed straight on to the stone wall. The walls gave out much resistance but four full powered stomps with the Elephander's heavy feet took care of the problem, emerging only with a few bruises as the stone wall gave way before its might.
"Forward!" Ash led the troops with his Zoid as they passed through one by one, taking great care not to leave anybody behind.
"You're mine now!" Sakura roared out in anger as she finally closed in on the Shield Liger MK-II. Taking the earlier encounter into account, she immediately took a swing with her Zoid's tail, aiming for the Liger's generator in its mane. This Zoid won't be much of a problem once it loses its shield.
Although the Liger was hit hard, it did not deter it from charging Sakura's Geno Saurer, managing to embed its long canines onto the Zoid's left shoulder, effectively piercing the armor.
"You never learn do you?!" Instead of wedging it away, Sakura shifted the non-functional arm a little closer to her cockpit, putting the Liger's canopy in range of its remaining Killer Claw. With a great swing, the Geno Saurer's claws buried itself deep into the canopy, piercing the cover and the pilot's soft body underneath. Yet the Liger wouldn't let go. The pilot used the last of his fading strength to stall the controls for the Liger's biting mechanism, completely locking the Geno Saurer's claw in its teeth.
"Very well-!" Upon seeing this act, Sakura continued hacking at the Liger's mane, shredding armor and hydraulics with every strike that connected. The Guylos Zoid hacked furiously at the Liger's neck until it finally got through to the joint that connects it to the body. With one more slash at full power, the Geno Saurer decapitates the enemy Zoid. Forcefully removed from its primary source of energy, the Liger's jaws loosened. It now lacked the strength to hold on, allowing Sakura to wrench it off with her Zoid's own jaws. The battle outside was over and somehow, she had managed to defeat all three Zoids that intercepted her outside.
"The city-!" Sakura suddenly remembers. Driving back inside, she surveyed the roads, looking for any sign of her allies and enemies. A look at the radar revealed that the remaining enemy forces were a few more blocks away. Her allies were nowhere to be found though there was nothing to indicate that they had been destroyed. "They must've probably escaped somewhere…"
A new signature popped up in her sensors though. It didn't match anything she had fought so far. And it was coming fast, right near the fork that leads to the Disaster Building.
"Another one?" Sakura's Zoid turned to face the direction the unknown Zoid was expected to emerge from. Her Zoid was damaged but it still had quite a bit of fight left in it.
Finally the Zoid arrived, stopping for just a moment as it made a sharp turn before heading straight into the street where Sakura's Geno Saurer stood waiting. To her surprise, it was the Liger Zero they handed over to the Kalanes authorities in exchange for the Zoid core.
"The Liger Zero? Who's piloting it?" Sakura wondered as she tried to open a channel to reach her allies. To her surprise though, the Liger accelerated at full speed, bumping into her Geno Saurer along the way. She had to deploy a footlock in order to stop their momentum and regain their balance. With that gesture alone, Sakura knew that this Zoid was no ally of theirs.
She needed to take it out as well.
It took a while before Alyx could stop the Zero from running and just in time too as they were about to collide head first into one of the buildings.
"Well, I think I've got the hang of it now!" Alyx sighed in relief.
"Stay alert Alyx! We've got company…" Naruse pointed to a signature that suddenly appeared on their radar. Turning the Zero so that it faced the Zoid blocking its path, Alyx could hardly believe what waited in that street.
"The Geno Saurer? There's no way we could fight that thing on our own!" Alyx felt panic rise up upon seeing the Zoid blocking their way.
"No, look." Naruse calmly pointed out the damages the Geno Saurer has sustained. "Its left claw appears to be broken. Plus, we're in the city. There's no way anyone can use their guns here. For now."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that we can take it. The Geno Saurer has solid melee capabilities but then again, so does this Liger Zero. Charge ahead at full speed!" At the girl's command, Alyx reactivated the Ion Boosters and charged, colliding with the Geno Saurer blocking their path. The Guylos Zoid responded by deploying a footlock, allowing it to stop the momentum of Alyx's charge.
"Now, pull back! It's about to counterattack!" True enough, Alyx saw the Geno Saurer attempt to swing its tail at them. Immediately, she pulled back disengaging the Zero and narrowly dodging the Geno Saurer's blow.
"Now's our chance!" Again, Naruse gave the command and again, Alyx responded. Running towards her opponent, she drove the Liger to leap up, activating the left Strike Laser Claw. The Zero's claws burned with energy as it brought the strike down towards its opponent.
Upon seeing the approaching attack, the Geno Saurer maneuvered slightly to the right, narrowly dodging the incoming blow. Countering back, it took hold of the Zero's left shoulder armor with its fangs and tossed the Zero aside, ramming it into one of the buildings fencing them in. Seeing as it wasn't enough to completely disable it, it swung its tail again, completely shattering the shoulder armor.
"Nggghhh! This guy's good-!" Naruse commended whoever was piloting the Zoid in front of them. Taking a look at Alyx, she seems to be holding on well enough. In her case though, her vision was slipping away fast. The battle's making her already terrible condition worse.
"It's coming-!" Alyx exclaimed as the Geno Saurer slowly made its way towards them, like a predator walking over to the corpse of its prey. "Naruse, what should we do now? Naruse? Naruse?!" Alyx asked her friend instructions but to no avail. Suddenly, Naruse collapsed over her, her face bleeding from a fresh wound on her head. Her body temperature was a little warmer than usual, indicating a slight fever. She would have to fight it out on her own.
"Is it over?" Sakura wondered from inside the cockpit of her Zoid. Whoever the Zero's pilot was, he was quite skilled, managing to go head to head against her Geno Saurer in a melee. Still, she wasn't planning on taking her chances. Towering over the Zero, she raised her remaining Killer Claw with the intent of bringing it down on the Zero's cockpit. Before she could though, the Zero lurched forward and knocked the Geno Saurer away with its head.
"Alright-!" Alyx brought the Liger to speed and ran past the Geno Saurer who immediately pursued. She led it out of the alleyway they were fighting in and out into the main square; a more open field that allows more maneuverability for larger Zoids. She wasn't intending to run away.
"Let's do this Zero, Naruse!" The Liger Zero roared as its fins deployed, taking in energy and sending it to its right claw.
"Oh no you don't-!" Likewise, Sakura charged with the Geno Saurer, its Hyper Killer Claw at the ready.
"Strike Laser Claw!" With raging fury, the Liger Zero leapt up and dived at the Geno Saurer, its right claw burning with a different kind of intensity than before. The two Zoids collided, with both of their attacks connecting. But while Sakura's Geno Saurer only managed to cripple the Zero's right shoulder, the Liger Zero's attack cut straight through the Geno Saurer's right arm and also damaged its right leg.
"Right components failing…Damn!" Sakura cursed as her Zoid staggered while she tried to reorganize her position. The warnings on her consoles also reminded her that she doesn't have much energy left. Any way she looks at it, she's the one at a disadvantage.
"Sakura Nagisa…"
Sakura suddenly received a call from the convoy. Bringing it up, she saw Captain Ash gesturing that she pull back. The convoy appears to have escaped alright. The message was immediately followed by a map data that showed the convoy's trajectory.
"Better live to fight another day…" Sakura thought to herself as she retreated, using the last of her energy to propel the Ion Boosters at full speed.
The Liger Zero looked on at the retreating form of the Geno Saurer. Alyx didn't have any intention to pursue though. Right now, tending to Naruse is her top priority. She wasn't sure where to take her though, since all the facilities at Kalanes are empty.
"Liger Zero pilot, do you read us? State your name and affiliation!" A sudden call caught her attention. Looking around, she saw the remaining Helic forces gather around her Zoid. They were Shield Ligers and Command Wolves though there is a Saberlion mixed in among them.
"Uh…Alyx Ledesma and uh—I'm just a local from this city." Alyx replied.
"Really?" The voice was coming from the Saberlion. "You fight well for someone who's grown up in a peaceful town. I do not know many pilots who can go head to head with a Geno Saurer without the benefit of a Laser Blade."
Suddenly, Naruse got up and spoke on their intercom. "You are the Helic guerilla unit known as the Retaliation Force right?"
"That's right." The Saberlion or rather, its pilot answered back. "And who are you? You're not the one I was talking to earlier."
"I request that you take us under your protection. I need to speak with the person in charge as soon as possible." Naruse sounded urgent but she did try to keep a polite voice as she spoke. She didn't want to give the Helic Zoids a cause for alarm.
"That's fine by me; we have questions we want to ask as well. But first, tell me who you are. And what is your purpose for calling out to us?" The Saberlion continued with its barrage of questions.
"I am—an independent envoy of the Guylos Empire left on the Central Continent. And I bring you important information pertaining to the man you seek: the masked hunter known only as the Viscount."
At this point, Alyx felt confused. So many things have happened in just one day. Somehow, she felt that she and Naruse were about to get swept up in bigger things. The only difference is that Naruse knows what she's doing and Alyx didn't. She doesn't have any strong motivation for the decisions she took in the last few hours. Nevertheless, would she still try to walk the same fiery path as her newfound friend?
The answer was yes.
The Helic Zoids seemed to murmur amongst each other, possibly discussing what they should do with the two girls and their Zoid. Finally, the Saberlion turned back to them and spoke up.
"Very well. Follow us to the Alexander then."
Writer's Note: Chapter 3 is finished as well. Not too surprising since it's such a short chapter after all. Now, the Helic Republic enters the scene...or at least, what's left of it in the Central Continent.
Special thanks to RougeBaron for leaving a review for this story! I'll try to keep as interesting as possible. Well, see you all again in the next chapter!