The blow was sudden and severe. The shot wasn't sufficiently on-target to take the Liger offline, but came dangerously close.
Bit nearly blacked out again, nerves echoing the excruciating sting of the Zoid being struck. He could really do without this part of being in touch with the Liger.
As everyone else's heads snapped around trying to make sense of the unexpected attack, the Shadow Fox decisively wheeled and discharged smoke, bounding into obscurity. A half-second later, another crack , but it hit nothing.
"Backdraft! " Layon yelled in warning.
"Shit," Naomi hissed, shifting her scope to scan the direction the shots had originated. She'd not even considered that the Berserk Fury's presence could have indicated Backdraft's involvement - and that it meant there could be even more units at the far reaches of the area. Naomi fought uncharacteristic panic as her mind flooded with thoughts of the nighttime ambush. "Jaime, shots from due west. Get me a terrain scan!"
"Already on it!"
The Fury's angular head surfaced from the curling smoke, the damaged Zoid clearly having regained its footing.
Vega had been pacing, but his head snapped in the direction of the Blitz base. They were too far away to see what was happening from their vantage point - but he started to shake his head, suddenly breathless. He ran up to a soldier.
"What are they doing? Don't interrupt the fight."
"The Fury's surrounded. This is as good as over if we don't intervene. We'll just take down the Liger and..."
Vega's increasing pallor made the soldier trail off. The child just sneered with disgust and started to bolt, but paused. He ran back to find Sara, seized her wrist, and began to drag her.
"Vega," She scolded with surprise, and tried to pull away. For being such a small child, his grip was intense, and his eyes were wild.
"Sara please"
"Vega," Resistance.
"Sara-"
The woman ripped her wrist out of his grasp and scowled.
"Mom!" Vega screamed at her, ratcheting straight to hysterical and seizing her arm again. He whistled and several Zoids turned their heads. The child swiftly beckoned a nearby Helcat and ran to it, still dragging Sara. She'd stopped resisting after a point and started running with him, now alarmed at his urging. "Go go go get in get in! "
Some of the other Backdraft soldiers took pause, seeing Vega's blind panic. They glanced at each other, unsure. Vega clambered into the small Helcat cockpit and sat on Sara's lap, his gaze unfocused and movements barely managing coordination as he directed the Zoid to run.
Sara could feel Vega's whole body shaking. It felt like anger but looked like terror. What-
They'd barely cleared the area before they both perceived the characteristic air-pressure drop - then deafening roar - of a charged particle beam. Seconds later came the pressure-wave, which bowled the Helcat forward and shoved the two every-which-way, given neither were secured in the seat.
Sara regained her bearings after a few seconds, grabbing Vega tightly as he'd managed to keep a hold on the controls. The stunned Helcat turned to regard the wide glassy scar in the sand, where the entire group had been with equipment only moments prior.
The equipment was gone. As were the people, and a number of Zoids. Some Zoids, wisely acting on Vega's panic, had scattered far enough away to avoid the blast. They were cowering with bewilderment.
Vega barely registered the scene. Sara could tell from his empty stare and flicking eyes that he was talking to the Fury. When his focus did return, Sara saw by the set of Vega's jaw that it wasn't her son.
"Ridiculous. Do not interfere." The Fury said through Vega's clenched teeth.
Naomi gasped in shock over the comms. "Jaime…"
Jaime stared at his readouts incredulously. In addition to the two Gun Snipers to the west, there had been - had been - another small group of Zoids and people, presumably also Backdraft units. They were far to the northwest of the base, far beyond easy notice. Jaime had only just become aware of them, scanning the direction he'd watched the Fury turn. He was having difficulty processing what the sudden and complete lack of data now meant.
The two Backdraft Gun Snipers and their pilots were clearly stunned. Not directly, but because everyone they'd been taking orders from seconds ago had simply been obliterated.
The Berserk Fury disengaged its maglocks, shifted unsteadily, and glanced through the thinning smoke in the direction of the Snipers. Both were retreating.
"You selfish idiot." Brad said quietly, looking back at the Liger. The Fury's glowing red eyeglass leered through the haze. "How many more people are gonna have to die for you today, Bit?"
Bit glanced between videscreens blankly, himself trying to grasp the information Jaime fed through. He looked up at the Berserk Fury, mortified. Both at the fact that it had somehow managed to stand again, and at what had just happened.
"Brad… come on man. Get it to stop."
"Not an answer."
"That was like a dozen people." Bit's voice quivered, upset.
The response was a scream; frantic, enraged. "You think I don't know? You think I'm fucking joking?! This is your fault!"
"Brad." It was Leon, and the Blade Liger stepped warily in beside the Liger. It was joined nearby by Steve in the Gun Sniper LT, with Jaime's Raynos back-winging to perch on the hangar's ledge, and Naomi's Gun Sniper watching carefully from the distance.
Silence.
Blue eyes swept the group, then closed.
They opened again, lost to the Zoid. "Guess the answer's ALL OF YOU!"
Vents still hot flared again, the Fury's jaws parting with a bright and violently charging orb. There wasn't much time to react but Leon did, lunging forward in front of the Liger Zero. The Blade Liger's shield deployed, and one gleaming blade was shoved into the hexgrid.
The light went blinding.
It was so bright it was impossible to open one's eyes.
Leon smelled burning wiring, felt the sear of heat on his skin. His every other sense drowned in the ear-splitting shrieks of colliding power.
Steve watched in horror as both Ligers vanished in the CPG's glaring focus, before the shockwave sent him and the Gun Sniper tumbling violently back. To its credit, the Zoid was quick to regain its footing, and wisely scrambled far back from the mess.
Steve's chest tightened with panicked relief as he saw distinct shapes re-emerge from the blaze of light - the particle beam was fraying against the Blade Liger's shield. Nearby sand had started to go molten, and the rising heat wildly distorted the air.
The beam didn't taper off. Vicious and near-senseless, the Fury kept on, intakes and exhausts alike glowing white-hot with the ongoing draw. Any sane Zoid would've stopped. The Berserk Fury wasn't sane.
"What do we do?!" Bit could feel the Blade Liger's desperation through his own Liger, and heard the two shrilling to each other with a rising panic. The shield was trying to fail on the side of the red Liger missing a blade; the Liger Zero shoved forward to slam a laser claw on the inside edge of the shield, trying to support it. "Liger! "
The feeling wasn't much unlike being punched in the chest.
It hurt - a lot - then things went very numb. A deep warmth overtook him, softly tracing his veins. Despite himself he closed his eyes, this warm silence much preferable to that awful, deafening reality. Time seemed to slow, then stop.
Bit hung content in the silence, aware only of his own heartbeat.
Then another; he knew it to be the soft pulse of the Liger's core.
Then another; smaller, quicker, more like his own. He didn't recognize this one, but he knew it.
The warmth became a tangible embrace.
~Hold on.~
Blinding white light pooled and blazed upward from the Liger Zero, arcing back down to stab into the Berserk Fury. It went clean through the battered Zoid, trailing conduit, Core fragments, a spray of silver blood and a very, very angry, slime-coated black Organoid.
The charged particle beam faded away, as did the red blaze from the Berserk Fury's eyeglass. The Zoid collapsed heavily, unmoving.
Leon's Blade Liger also gave out and crumpled to the ground, vents flaring and jaw gaping in a pant as it dropped the shield, trying to cool down.
But everyone simply stared at the massive white Organoid that now stood pinning a smaller black one to the sand. The white Organoid's bladed face dripped with Zoid blood as it regarded its fellow. Its optics were a soft, vibrant orange - and the smaller Organoid's were simply black voids, dark like every other part of its gloss-black carapace.
"Oh, wow." is all Steve could say.
From beside the base, Layon watched intently. The Shadow Fox dipped its head, pawed the ground and snarled deeply at the Organoids.
The hidden Helcat, employing its optical camouflage, slowed from a run to a careful stalk as it neared the Blitz Team base. Sara and Vega had seen the distant glare of the CPG, and had seen its unnatural light die out a few minutes later. As they drew closer, they saw why: the Berserk Fury lay defeated, still as death.
Vega perceptibly tensed but didn't say anything. His eyes flicked with unheard conversation, and started scanning the ground.
The Organoids. Vega gasped in surprise when he spotted them and reflexively reached out; Sara tightened her grip.
"It's him." Vega said with wonder. "It's him!"
Sara did not share his wonder. The massive white Organoid leering over the smaller black one looked intensely threatening - yet something about the smaller one disturbed her on a very deep level. She struggled to hold Vega in place. "No, it's not safe. Stay here."
"And that's the Liger…" The child said absently. He shifted his grip on the Helcat's controls. Even before any command was issued, the Helcat reflected a polite but extreme desire to stay away from the Organoids. It innately understood something was off.
"He's going to hurt Fury." Vega pushed against Sara again, panicked. "We have to help!"
All Sara could think of was Alteil being absolutely destroyed by the red Organoid. "How do y- no. Those things are dangerous!"
A twinge hit them both at once. They glanced in unison, and noticed the base-distant Shadow Fox was looking right at them. Layon's apprehensive face came up in a videscreen.
"...okay, good. It's you."
"What are you doing here?" Sara snapped.
Layon considered his answer. "Making an attempt at being a decent human being. You?"
Sara opened her mouth, then closed it. Having very nearly been wiped off the planet a few minutes prior, she was considerably less certain of her answer.
She wasn't even sure she could go back to Backdraft safely at this point. She'd effectively lost not only an entire support unit and an substantial amount of valuable equipment, but the Berserk Fury itself. Failure of that magnitude wasn't tolerated well in the Organization, no matter who you were. She was relatively certain they'd never touch Vega, but her...
It was strange; she'd never thought twice about issuing commands to make "problems" go away.
She'd also never thought she could be one of those problems. Sara pulled her arms slightly more taut around an increasingly-resentful Vega. "I don't know."
The black Organoid's thrashing tapered off as the situation solidified. The violent dust cloud cleared and the larger white Organoid continued to bear down, snarling. Fatigued, the Liger Zero rumbled something from where it lay, and the white Organoid glanced back at it.
~...I disagree.~
The Liger's rumble became a growl.
~You have forgotten.~ The dark Organoid said quietly.
The larger looked back. ~Silence.~
Bit regained his senses, abruptly aware of being tightly bound somewhere dark. While the overwhelming sense of safety staved off any panic, he was very confused. Exhausted, his eyes fell closed.
Jaime ran out to the Liger Zero as Toros helped Leon down from his Blade Liger.
Though Leon's expression and demeanor betrayed nothing serious, his eyes told a different story: he was clearly shaken, and in pain. Toros frowned as he caught a glimpse of one of Leon's arms; he grabbed it and turned it over. Leon's palms and wrists were badly burned from where he'd been gripping the overheated controls.
Toros groaned and grabbed first aid materials from the hangar. He quickly but gently wrapped bandages around his son's hands, all the while scolding him by way of poorly-masked anxiety. Leon didn't say anything or argue, just silently nodded when appropriate.
Leon didn't expect Toros to grab and pull him close in a hug, an unusually fatherly gesture.
"Dad. I'm fine."
"No, you're a moron."
"Probably. But I'm also fine."
Jaime made it to the Liger Zero, running up beside the sprawled and damaged Zoid. The Liger was clearly awake and aware, but exhausted - it quietly turned orange eyeglass to the young man as he approached.
Jaime found himself daunted by how direct its regard was. He struggled to look through the eyeglass and into the damaged cockpit. "Bit! Are you okay!?"
The Zoid made a sound easily parsed as uncertainty. It dipped its head and disengaged the cockpit hatch. Jaime ran up, expecting to see the blonde pilot - but the seat and harness were empty. Jaime seized the edge of the cockpit and stared into it incredulously. It was alarmingly bloody, but contained no-one.
For good measure he looked under the Liger and all around it too, coming to the unwelcome conclusion that Bit was simply not there.
"Uh… Doc!"
Naomi hit the ground running, leaping down from her cockpit the moment she'd reached to base - the issue was that she didn't know where to run first. The serious heat emanating from Leon's panting Liger, combined with its reassuring rumble, prompted her to go for the Berserk Fury - a Zoid that was now very clearly dead. It had already started to ossify.
The Shadow Fox was creeping cautiously closer to the Berserk Fury as well, and trilled gentle acknowledgment of Naomi as she ran up alongside the Fury's massive head. Like the Blade Liger, the saurian Zoid was also radiating heat - along with the stench of burnt electronics and hot metal.
It was too hot to comfortably engage. She tried several times to climb higher on the Zoid's face, as to access the cockpit hatch - and each time dropped back, hissing sharp intakes of breath. Layon's voice broadcast from the Fox as it reached a paw forward.
"Move, Fluegel. Here."
The Fox pried open the stiff cockpit hatch, and Naomi clambered up to the cockpit with Layon and the Fox's help. Brad wasn't unconscious but also clearly wasn't aware of much, his gaze fixed forward at nothing even as Naomi touched, then shook his shoulder.
"Brad. Brad."
It was difficult to see on his dark clothing, but the entire front of his shirt was soaked in blood - blood which still drained from his nostrils, down his face with every labored exhale. Naomi undid the piloting harness and tried to move him, but it proved impossible - his muscles were corded with the effort of staying there.
"Fuck." Naomi wasn't expecting that, nor was she expecting how truly rough the man looked up close. He'd lost enough weight for it to be noticeable, and looked like he hadn't slept for a week. While it was obvious none of this was of his own volition, she did struggle with the idea he'd been the one piloting when the Fury wiped away all those people in the blink of an eye.
Her voice wavered. "Brad. Snap out of it. Come on, we need to get y-"
He grabbed Naomi's arm - she startled, but the grip eased quickly. With obvious effort he shifted his eyes to her. They read a deep terror, and he spoke through his teeth. "Get out of here."
She shook her head. "It's over. The Zoid's dead."
Brad met her eyes directly, and in that instant Naomi saw the deep hollow of another being entirely: one that not only wasn't Brad, but wasn't human.
"But I'm not."
With massive strength he flung her to the side. Naomi would've fallen completely to the ground if not for the Fox's quick catch. The Shadow Fox keened in confusion as Brad tore up and out of the cockpit, cresting the back ridge of the Berserk Fury's head and leaping off into empty air.
It wasn't empty for long. From beneath the white Organoid the darker one suddenly flared massive wings, surprising and unbalancing the larger. Two massive wing-beats threw sand before the creature dissolved into an inky slash and disappeared.
It reappeared fractions of a second later under Brad - its underside splitting, pitch-black wiring lashing out and snaring the man before they both vanished again.