-Rebirth of the Guardians – the long awaited sequel to chapter 4
Chapter 5 – The final mission – a boy and his reddler
So I can get this out of the way…
-Ahem- DECEMBER FIFTH INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE NINJA, CELEBRATE IT
Blunt, but exactly what I plan to do. Now you should too.
That was NOT copied directly from chapter 3…
So far no-one is taking any guesses. Come on guessing games are more fun for me if you guess then fail. (I am cold and heartless)
-Begin-
Reddy had just ceased radio communications with the main commander of the entire war front when the most dangerous foe he could ever face came up behind him in a Zoid the pilot opened the window and glared down at him.
"Surrender or I beat you up with a flick of my wrist and make you come along in double binds." Were his sole words to the little boy. In reddy's head the most evil theme music he knew began playing.
Then reddy extended his hand and Tom jumped down and quickly scooped up the young boy and hopped back in the cockpit throwing reddy with John in the backseat.
"So kid." Tom started but didn't continue.
"What. What are you gonna do to me. You stupid military bastards are always trying to manipulate me because of my skill with Zoids but I'm goddamn sick and tired of it. So say what so I can tell you no."
"I was gonna ask how did Zenebas bribe you."
"Huh?"
"Yeah surprised, well they sent me a message, tried to bribe me and blackmail me but since I was such a loner before the war they really couldn't hold anything over my head at all. I guess Zenebas probably contacted at least the top 500 warriors on the continent and tried to get them on. I know quite a few who are still just battling even today. And I know more split on either side. But you were one I didn't expect to see in battle on either side."
"Why because I'm still a kid."
"You're exactly right."
"WHAT!" Reddy shouted.
"I can live with kids in zoid battles because zoid battles are nothing like real war. They are the closest thing to a controlled environment that a battle can be. War is another matter. Unless it is in an act of self defense I can never stand children being forced into battle."
"I see."
"You still have yet to answer my question."
"I joined Zenebas cause' they took away my parents."
"But I thought you didn't have any parents?" John intervened using his public knowledge of the infamous child zoid champion.
"Wrong." Tom replied. "He has no biological parents that the world, I and he included, know of. But he does have adoptive parents." Tom sighed, "I'm sorry to hear that. I thought they really did love you too."
"Wait how do you know his parents?" John asked completely surprised and somewhat confused.
"Well I don't know them personally but in exhibition battles and after tournaments I would meet reddy and his foster parents at the after party/celebration/event. I've fought him several times in a battlefield and though to this day I still have no losses he was one of my toughest opponents so we got to know each other well."
"Oh." John said understanding it all.
"Yeah." Reddy lamented. "Zenebas killed them although it was reported as a regular homicide they had been threatening me for some time and since I was a Zenebas orphan resident the government took me with just a flick of a finger."
"I am truly sorry. I can't do much now other than give you a way out."
"A way out, into a jail you mean right?"
"No I mean in a black reddler. We have one back at our base and since I'm headed that way I think we'll drop you off and I'll send you off in that."
"You can't do that!" John intervened, "It's against protocol, and not legal at all!"
"Wrong on both accounts. I placed the reddler in the war to pilot campaign and then bought it for myself for nothing. So it is private property that has a potential double use as a military weapon. But today will be an escape pod."
"No."
"Huh?" Tom and John both said staring at reddy.
"I'm gonna stay and fight."
"No you're not." Tom replied bluntly returning to the controls and preparing to max out the command wolf's speed.
"Yes I am." Reddy jumped at tom over the top of the seat in an attempt to gain control of the zoid. With a flick of his wrist Tom had reddy back in Johns' seat with a bloody nose.
"No you're not. I don't approve of child soldiers and how can I adopt you and become you're legal guardian if you're dead kid."
"Yes I, huh?"
"Look I've been thinking. This fighting all alone thing isn't working. I think I need a partner, and while I can't say if anyone in the base will stick around with me after the war, they all seem to be the type to stay in the army, I think you would be a good teammate."
"What?" John and reddy asked as one.
"Look reddy what I really want to do is give you a family that no-one can take away. So I guarantee that I will become you're new adoptive parent once this war is over and you'll keep a family with you as long as our mortal lives permit."
"Well if you put it that way it won't help if you're dead either." Reddy put his head down and became slightly depressed.
"Well seems someone doesn't have confidence in the skills of the man who beat him and his entire squadron."
"You're 300 kills are nothing, not even a drop in the bucket compared to what the Zenebas army is about to throw at everyone!"
"What!" John shouted, "You know about their plan!?!"
"Yes. They have 13 ultrasauruses ready, four just for the southern front we're on. As well as over 50,000 Zoids ready for combat. Some of them may be over 200 years old but almost all of them are well maintained and at least all that they will deploy can walk and shoot. Also they have the Gael fury headed towards that town there. I called in for reinforcements a little while ago and they said they would send the Gael fury to deal with it. Also they said that an Ultrasaurus would be headed right here to crush your pitiful base." Reddy sighed, "You, ghost fox, are the number one person they want dead. You should be the one to run because the assault is already under way."
Tom chuckled and then began to laugh out loud. After a few minutes of near insane laughter tom lowered the head of the command wolf down. He opened up the cockpit. "John get out, run reddy with you back to the base and tell everyone to evacuate."
"Tom what about you!?!"
"I'm gonna face the enemy head on and destroy this accursed Gael fury because it undermines my one greatest triumph the battle of Gael. Then I'm gonna charge into the enemy and see if I can last long enough to damage that Ultrasaurus."
"You think you can live in a fight against the Gael fury!" Reddy shouted. "Apparently you've got almost no intelligence about it. It'll rip you to shreds. You have no chance! Go with your team mates and get out to a larger group of troops. Maybe you can hold them off then. Maybe with people at your back you can beat the Gael fury, possibly even an Ultrasaurus! But don't go die alone if you die I'll be stuck in Zenebas's clutches for sure!"
Tom laughed again. He got up and forcibly removed Reddy, John got out of his own free will. "Don't worry about me. I'm a man who may one day be known for making miracles." Besides, tom thought, death looses it's chill when you've been alive for 10,000 years.
Finally after the two left running with a radio waiting for the first moment of radio contact to call the base call for support and tell everyone else to leave tom turned around. "Well you've been a good friend." Tom said patting the command wolf he was in. "But I don't know if you'll survive the night. And fact is you are a gift for me I was not meant to have. Every bone in my body should naturally reject Zoids. But…" Tom closed his eyes he had many memories with this zoid, "I don't regret a minute of it, do you?"
Then a charged particle beam ripped through the town. Destroying the small village and traveling partway up the hill. Not far and not in tom's direction by any judge of perspective.
"The Gael fury eh? Seems to have a charged particle cannon. I'm gonna enjoy defeating one of those. How about you partner?"
In a response to this question the command wolf howled at a volume that could be heard from the base to the advancing Zenebas armies.
Tom leant forward in the cockpit. "The ghost fox will never die. He'll just haunt a new spot, Hell." And with that he charged into the face of some unknown monster.
Meanwhile John and reddy ran towards the base, when all of the sudden John made a revelation, "We'll take over a week to get back to the base on foot!" He shouted.
"No shit Sherlock." Reddy grumbled, "What we need is a car or a zoid. Either works." He looked around, "Hey what is that in those ruins?" He said as he pointed towards a thing in the ruins. "Looks like crap, but I think we can use it."
John stared at reddy, "Stop cursing!" He shouted and smacked him on the back of the head. (The origin of that little 'parenting' technique)
The two still ran to find whatever the object in the hole in the ground was, they found it was a blade liger, one in a very bad condition, but still usable nonetheless. They got inside and got the ancient zoid moving, after some effort was exerted, and once they did they turned up the boosters to max and let the zoid run as long as he could. Then once the booster was red-lining they let the zoid move as fast as it could normally.
Of course once the booster stopped the two began to talk. "Isn't it odd that we'd just find a blade liger in those ruins for no apparent reason?" Reddy asked john from the pilot's seat.
"Yeah, I'm no zoid expert but I do know that a blade liger is a very, very good zoid. That and I do know it's very rare."
"Yeah, you have to wonder who left it there and why." And why do I feel a connection to this zoid? Reddy asked himself, Zeke… For a moment he became lost in thought and began to drift.
"Hey bub you're drifting."
"Oh god!" Reddy said forced back into reality, "Whoops sorry bout' that!" He straightened the zoid up, "Hopefully we'll get there to get back and help tom with the Gael fury."
"I'm not worried about that." John chuckled. "I feel sorry for the pilot of the Gael fury. He's gonna die scared and beaten."
"Have you ever seen the Gael fury in action?" Reddy asked the over confident John.
"Nope, never even seen the zoid period."
"Then trust me, no matter how good tom is he's screwed."
"Before you judge, remember the battles he's done against you, and never lost. Did you ever feel like he was just too strong, no matter how good you became he was always three levels higher or more? I've been his gunner and seen how he is without a gunner. His gunning ability far surpasses mine. Despite having thousands of hours training and plenty of combat practice. It's almost like he uses me as a handicap. And he still will charge recklessly into battle where he should have no chance of winning. He's the type of guy, who will only show his best, better than what he could do with me as his ally or you as his foe in this battle, of that I am certain."
Reddy reflected on what John said. When he had versed tom in the past whenever Reddy had been on the top of his game Tom had trounced him the best, it had nothing to do with over confidence, tom simply had mental barriers that he erected to limit the power he used on weak enemies. Those barriers came from him being someone who was just so used to utter destruction coming from his actions that he simply hated it. On the other hand Reddy knew what the Gael fury could do. He had seen it first hand. A moment of thought led to Tom as the victor in the battle of his mind.
Tom charged towards the Gael fury ducking and weaving his custom command wolf through the trees rocks and even the occasional building. He begun the battle with Gael only moments before and was already resorting to Guerilla tactics. Darting around in a random shape of unknown size and shape tom released random bursts of fire at the Gael fury some more damaging than others, but none did much. However on the other hand the Gael fury, despite its apparently massive arsenal had yet to hit tom once, maybe it was because neither combatant knew what the other zoid looked like, and the fact that tom was invisible too helped. However tom had only seen a vague outline of his foe. All he could figure was that the zoid was a giant dragon, maybe. It had wings like one as well as the ability to shoot fire. Whoever created the zoid was perhaps going for the dragon image.
Tom ran along, suddenly three loose missiles went directly at him, "Shoot!" He grumbled as he turned his gun at the missiles, with three short bursts he knocked each one out of the sky. Then with two more he aimed at the Zoids wings. One hit dead on at the body wing joint, the second shot missed by a hair but still hit and exploded near the area desired.
Then tom entered a clearing, here the Gael Fury, if it looked, would be able to see tom's dust trail. But tom would also be able to see the Gael fury. And he looked hard once he was in the open. "Oh my god." Tom said, and for a moment he was overcome with awe. The zoid was like the stuff out of legend. A massive red dragon the zoid had metallic scales everywhere. It was physically closer to the European conception of the dragon in appearance. There were two sets of wings, and dual boosters on the Zoids back. There were missile pods that seemed to have unlimited ammo in them under the front plates forming the 'dragons' chest. The tail had obvious joints for a charged particle cannon charger. And apparently the mouth could spout fire too. The claws were capable of acting like grappling hooks and hooking into enemies. The tail could probably be its own weapon, as the wings could too. Tom didn't look for long, but he got a good look and quickly knew what to do next. Rather than running in circles he was headed straight towards that monster and ripping the Gael stone right out of it.
-End-
Well that was a cliff hanger ending, but I think it came out better than I thought it would. So enjoy!