EIGHT

MATCH OF THE APOCALYPSE
PART 1

Port Estuaria, Owl City,
Eastern Continent, Planet Zi,
January 29, 2128

The blue expanse of Florencio Ocean took Saskia back 5 years prior, the first time she took her Gilvader out to glide over the water. The reflection of the ocean seemed like thousands of diamonds twinkling under the sun. It seemed like yesterday when she soared above the water for the first time. The sea had no end in sight, giving her goosebumps. And she reckoned her Gilvader felt the same way, after 60 years of being dormant inside the dark cave.

She missed her zoid, badly. She missed its growl, snarl, grunt. She missed talking to it, although there had never been a real conversation between her and the beast. She missed sitting in the cockpit, having her hand caress the joystick, playing with the toggles, and watching the Gilvader's mightiest weapons – the quartet compact Gravity Cannons – turned hot without her command. She always laughed at the thought of the constant battle for control between her and her zoid, since she was cursed with a zoid partner whose sole intention was to kill everything in sight. But she wouldn't have it any other way. It saved her life. And she it.

"I have acquired two passes to board the Whale King," Royce sneaked up behind her, cutting off her daydream. "We depart in 30 minutes. ETA at New Helic City is 18 hours."

"Gratitude," Saskia flashed a small smile. "Give me one minute."

"You miss home?" Royce stood next to her.

"This is not my home," Saskia huffed halfheatedly. "I merely relive an old memory longed for, flying over sea with Gilvy."

"An ample gratification," Royce sighed. "Worth spoken for."

"It could be the last…"

"You two will reunite," he put his hand on her shoulder. "I have given words. It will come to pass." He turned around and walked back toward his Command Wolf. "I will see my zoid secured in the Whale King. See you inside."

Now Saskia let out a full smile. His tan skin and blonde spiky hair blended well under the soft gleam of the sun, tickling her heart. He was wearing his black shroud that covered his entire body barring his left arm, but she couldn't get over the thought of his taut muscles, drenched in sweat under the morning sun, the first time she saw him topless after he busted her out of Fat Bob's misery.

Saskia followed Royce with her gaze until he entered his zoid, wondering what was happening to her. She had never been head over heels about a man before. Royce was rude and gnarly, compared to some male colleagues at ZOITEC. But she never gravitated toward those clean-cut, sharped-dressed, eloquently-spoken male co-workers. Not a single one of them picqued her interest the way this Rottiger bad boy did. Why? Perhaps the simplicity of a zoid pilot won over the sophistication of scientists and engineers. Perhaps she was a zoid engineer by profession but a zoid pilot at heart, like her father before her. Or perhaps she just wanted Royce's hard abs to pound into her in unadulterated pleasure. She was, indeed, at her ripe age of sexuality.

Royce's Command Wolf started climbing up the ramp of the merchant Whale King that would bring them to New Helic City when it began to shift around uneasily. Saskia knew that body language. Something spooked the Command Wolf, and she knew the canine zoid was ready for war. Nervously she looked to the other direction and out of nowhere an Arosaurer charged the Whale King, guns blazing. The Command Wolf jumped off the ramp and the Arosaurer's beam shots decimated the ramp. Half a dozen zoids and trucks plummeted to the ground. The Command Wolf, however, remained unhurt.

"What the…" Saskia watched in dismay as the Command Wolf turned around and fired its twin 250-mm beam cannons at the Arosaurer. The allosaurus zoid sidestepped the attack, and the Command Wolf's shots ravaged the port buildings. Saskia yelped as burning concrete spilled into the sky and rained down on her. Dozens of the Whale King would-be passengers were pelted by burning rain. The rest scattered themselves in a state of total panic.

"Royce! Royce, what is of this outrage?" Saskia tried to contact Royce through her personal comlink, but she got only static as a response. The Arosaurer retaliated, firing its cannons in a wide sweeping arc, hoping to catch the agile Command Wolf. But the Wolf fired its rocket boosters, catapulting the 45-ton zoid forward. Half of the shots went into the Whale King hangar bay. Within seconds fire belched from the hangar in a raucous explosion. Human and zoid body parts sprayed out of the bay and splattered on the street.

Jumping around to avoid the Aurosaurer shots, the Command Wolf blasted its cannons. The Arosaurer ducked and cringed, missing all shots, then answered the attack with its own. The two zoids were locked in a shooting contest, and each missed shots torched a building, a vehicle, or the Whale King. Port Estuaria turned into a blazing inferno where every single building was set ablaze. Panic mobs stampeded out of the port in hysteria.

Saskia wanted to stay for Royce but the mass dragged her farther and farther away from the combat zone. She spotted a group of children cowering under a pile of wreck, crying hoplessly. Their adult supervisors or parents were nowhere to be seen, probably had been killed by the zoid death match or trampled by the stampede. Saskia fought the flow of the mobs until she could reach the wreck. She dove in, and the children greeted her with terrified stare.

"Have courage, children! I will get you out!" Saskia tried to build their morale. She hailed people from the stampede to give hands, "Help! Please, have heart! Extend hands for children!"

It was difficult to get attention from frightened people, but some finally stopped and helped Saskia. The stronger ones grabbed and carried the children to safety, while others just pushed and dragged the kids to leave the pile of concrete. Just as the last kid safely left the wreckage, a stray shot evaporated the concrete pile. Saskia almost cried at the thought that she was there, hunkering down with kids she didn't even know, less than a minute ago. She had not felt so helpless, so close to death for a long time.

This was one of those times where she really missed her Gilvader. Inside her zoid, she was a goddess of war, untouchable in her throne, with weapons capable of leveling a city at the whim of her fingers. Down here, without her zoid, there was nothing much she could do. She was a victim, a human, a speckle in the dust at the mercy of zoids. She couldn't even save a bunch of children by herself. She was mortal, just like everybody else.

But in the end, she survived. Firefighters arrived and quickly aided the children, giving them comfort and relieve. Two firefighters tried to check on her but she waived them off. She tried to go back to the port as a support for Royce, who was still engaging the mysterious Arosaurer.

"What are you thinking, Lass?!" one of the firefighters grabbed her hand. "You are not to go back!"

"I will not see my friend left behind!" Saskia argued as she tried to get her hands off.

"Leave it to us!" the other firefighter dove into the scorching port, followed by a dozen more firefighter.

"No! No! You don't understand!" Saskia squirmed but she was quickly overpowered by the firefighter. "My friend is in the Command Wolf! Let me go!"

Meanwhile the zoid duel raged on, and the fire had limited them to point blank range. The Arosaurer started gaining advantage with its thick armor. Its tail whipped the Command Wolf on the side, creating a deep gash over the length of its body. The Command Wolf cried out, firing its cannons to get some range advantage, but at point blank the 250-mm cannons were next to useless. The Arosaurer pounced and clawed the head of the Command Wolf. The plexiglass canopy burst into brilliant splinters. The Wolf staggered, trying to shake off the assault before the Arosaurer could do more damage.

The Arosaurer prepared for the death blow but the Command Wolf wasn't done. Its booster jets blasted, sending the canine zoid lunging at the lanky dinosaur. The Arosaurer opened its mouth but the Wolf flinched, missing the Electron Fangs by a mere millimeter, then clawed the Arosaurer's neck. The Wolf's claws sank deep into the Arosaurer's throat, but the dinosaur flinched at the right time, taking away the murderous momentum of the Wolf's Strike Claw, preventing it from decapitation. Alas, the Wolf's Strike Claw tore a deep gash on the Arosaurer neck, coming very close to the power line.

The Command Wolf rode the momentum and peppered the Arosaurer with razor-sharp cannon attack, but the Arosaurer pulled itself together quickly. It lurched left, missing all but one beam stike that punctured the heavy armor on its shoulder. The dinosaur shrugged off the effect of the damage and lunged at the Command Wolf. The 'Wolf jumped off to safety but the Aurosaurer tail tripped it. The 'Wolf stumbled; legs spread wide open as its head ground the hard pavement. The Aurosaurer dove headlong at the 'Wolf, and as the 'Wolf blasted its booster jets, the Aurosaurer took a mouthful of the 'Wolf's left shoulder. With a mighty heave it tore a big chunk of Command Wolf flesh. Sparks and machineries burst like a geyser, and the 'Wolf's fore left leg quickly lost power.

Limping, the Command Wolf tried to utilize its booster jets to put some distance from the Aurosaurer but the damaged leg couldn't sustain the impact of the thrust. So it jettisoned the booster jets and spread legs, forming a stable platform for its twin assault cannons. Bright energy beams lanced the Arosaurer, and since the turret could pivot 360 degree on the 'Wolf's back, there was no safe place for the Arosaurer. The Arosaurer mustered every bit of its animal instinct to dodge this vicious attack but took two hits center mass. Tongues of fire bled from its torso as the allosaur zoid fell on its back, crushing a train of cargo vehicles. Fireballs swelled in orange fury, devouring the vehicles and the zoid in a blink of an eye.

Thinking the fight was over, the Command Wolf hurled a long victorious howl and limped away from the blazing port, just as the Aurosaurer rose up from the bonfire. Flame and steam covered every inch of its body but the zoid marched forward, cannons pointing at the Command Wolf. The 'Wolf's turret swiveled to bring the twin cannons to bear but the Arosaurer was faster. A hail of high-energy beams rained down on the Command Wolf, scourging armor and actuators to bits. The 'Wolf wailed, leaning on one side as the Aurosaurer obliterated the other side. Shredded armor flew in the air every which way. Burning coolant gushed out of the charred side like blood.

The Arosaurer ceased fire and moved in for the kill, but the Command Wolf still had life in it. As the Arosaurer came closer, the turret swiveled and the twin cannons barked in unison. The beams missed the Aurosaurer's head but managed to score a critical heat on the shoulder. The Aurosaurer cried in agony as its left shoulder exploded, taking out the left beam cannons. It halted its advance and was forced to take a step back, abandoning its killer mode for the second time.

On the ground, Saskia watched the two zoids tear each other apart with awe. It was her understanding that Rottiger agents were extremely well trained and their zoids were as intelligent as the pilots. She had seen how Royce fought barehanded, and she had seen how the Command Wolf sniped zoids with lethal precision, even though the AC cannons were not designed for sniper duty. These two zoids were equally matched, fighting with similar skill and conviction, almost to the point that she believed they were both Rottiger agents. But if that were true, why would two Rottiger agents try to kill each other? Why, instead of aiming their guns at Neo Zenebas fugitives like they were supposed to, were they aiming their guns at each other's head?

Something was amiss in this new development.

"Miss," two cops came by Saskia. "You affirmed that you know the Command Wolf pilot?"

Saskia looked at them and immediately smelled trouble. "Indeed."

"Who is he? What are you doing in Owl City?"

"We are going to New Helic City," Saskia tried to deflect the cops' inquiries without sounding like she's avoiding questions. "We merely stop here to acquire tickets to the Whale King. The Arosaurer attacked us out of reason."

"Out of reason?" the other cop shot a probing stare. "There is no such thing. Zoid carnage this magnitude is not absent purpose." He looked at Saskia from head to toe, trying to decide if he would believe her or held her as an accessory to the entire situation. "State your name! Who is your friend? What is of business in New Helic City?"

"His name is Captain Royce DesGagne of Rottiger Special Operation Force," Saskia played the Rottiger card, hoping the cops would leave her alone. "We are tracking the trails of Neo Zenebas criminals to Helic Republic."

"Are you of Rottiger?" the first cop asked.

"I am… uh, no, I am not," Saskia stammered.

"Do you know you are not to intervene with military affair, least of all Rottiger?"

"Look, it's a long story…"

"You need to produce an official statement, done and signed under oath," the cops grabbed Saskia's arms and ushered her to a police car.

"Wait, wait, I've done nothing wrong!" Saskia tried to break free, but the two cops were too much for her to handle. "I cannot see my friend left fighting alone!"

"Owl City PD will deal with him," one of the cops gave Saskia a stern look. "The truth will come out. And when it does, I will see you and your friend accountable for this mess! You think you can come to Owl City and spread mayhem at your whim?"

"I did not do anything!" Saskia squirmed around but the two cops kept dragging her away.

But Saskia's break came at the most bizzare time. Owl City Police Corps came flooding the vicinity in Rev Raptors, trying to take control of the situation. Instead of complying, the Command Wolf – barely shrugging off being gutted by the Arosaurer – shot the nearest Rev Raptor. The police zoid instantly exploded into brilliant fireworks, flinging various zoid parts into the air. One of Rev Raptor's schythes flew spinning in the air before crashing onto the police car the cops were dragging Saskia to, splitting it in half. One of the cops was too close to the car, and the impact threw him off his feet, rendering him unconscious.

"Holy sh… Officer down! Officer down!" the other cop tried to resuscitate the fallen cop, but with more burning zoid parts strafing the area, he had no choice but to let Saskia go and drag his partner to find cover before getting pelted by flaming debris. Saskia didn't waste any time. She ran as fast as she could to find cover, away from the cops.

The remaining police Rev Raptors tried to restore order but the Command Wolf and Arosaurer completely disregarded authorities. The Arosaurer eviscerated two Rev Raptors in quick succession, while the Command Wolf shot and disintegrated another Rev Raptor with its beam cannons. Police Sinkers glided toward the port, trying to support their Rev Raptor partners. But both the Arosaurer and Command Wolf raised their weapons and fired barrages of beam shots, shooting down most police Sinkers in little time. The remaining few chose to turn around and left the vicinity.

Cleared from police intervention, the Arosaurer and Command Wolf resumed their battle. A quick burst of beam shots from the Arosaurer cannons defiled the Command Wolf's armor to nigh nonexistence, now hanging on the body on mere rivets. Smoke billowed from various body parts. The 'Wolf's fore left leg had completely lost its power, so the zoid staggered on three legs only.

But although the Command Wolf was about to fall, it still had a few fights left. Its turret barked, blanketing the area with energy shots. The Arosaurer took a few steps aside, but as it began to pounce, the Command Wolf cut the field and intercepted the allosaurus zoid midway. The Arosaurer dipped its head to attack the lower-profile Command Wolf, but in an unprecedented maneuver, the 'Wolf rose to its hind legs, now towering over the hunched Arosaurer. Its right paw cocked behind its shoulder, and before the Arosaurer could retract its head, the Command Wolf slammed home a Strike Claw at it. The canopy burst and the right panel caved in. The Arosaurer staggered hard, swaying and shuddering in epileptic spasms, fighting to keep standing. But the pilot and the zoid had clearly lost all coordination. The allosaur zoid slouched to a complete halt, kneeling haplessly at the mercy of the Command Wolf.

Saskia followed the proceeding with zest, thinking that now the Command Wolf had the upper hand, it would finish the Arosaurer with its cannons. But much to her confusion, the Command Wolf turned around and dragged its feet away from the still-alive Arosaurer. She thought she had lost touch with reality, as if everything was a dream. But nothing in this fight made sense whatsoever; from the moment hell broke loose until its vexing, inconclusive finale. The only one that could make everything sane was Royce, assuming he was willing to shed some light.

As the Command Wolf limped away, Saskia came out of her cover and followed the beast.