Alright, I've decided after taking a good look at the rate I'm writing this, I'm going to try updating twice a week. Writing this is proving to be very entertaining!
Disclaimer: I do not own Zoids or any of its official characters. Only Krater, Virilia, Jrouler, the mystery man and the new face belong to me.
Chapter 4: Alpha Team's First Battle!
"Rise and shine, Krater!" The cheerful voice of a well rested Virilia shattered the quiet of the morning and the young mercenary jumped, jostled from his sleep and bolted upright to find that his companion and hostess was standing right beside his bed. She was dressed in a sky blue long sleeved shirt, a short blue and white skirt, white stockings and the choker he saw her wearing yesterday. She was also wearing an apron, so he assumed she must have made breakfast.
"I'll rise, but I can't promise I'll shine..." He mumbled as he rubbed his eyes with a yawn and glanced at the clock to see it was already ten o'clock in the morning. "Wow, it's that time already?" He muttered his surprise.
Virilia nodded as she turned towards the door and started to walk out, "Yeah, I figured you were tired since you got back late and decided to let you sleep in a while." She then looked at him over her shoulder with a beaming grin, "Come on, I made breakfast already so come eat up before it gets cold." Then she disappeared down the hall and he heard her descend the stairs.
He yawned again and went to the bathroom, grabbed a towel and took a quick shower before getting dressed in blue jeans, a crimson long-sleeved shirt and some socks and went down to the kitchen.
He was surprised to find that Virilia had cooked up a huge spread. He saw eggs; both scrambled and sunny side up, crispy bacon, sausage, steamed rice, a nicely sized juicy piece of ham, grits, pancakes swimming in syrup, miso soup and grilled fish. Krater stood in wonder, trying to comprehend how Virilia had thought two people would need this much food.
The silver haired girl must have noticed, because she started fiddling with her fingernails and said, "Um, sorry if it seems a bit much. When I came to check on you a little earlier your stomach was growling pretty loudly so I figured you'd be really hungry. Besides, I like a healthy breakfast myself." By the time she got to the last sentence she got over her embarrassment and clasped her hands behind her with a smile.
Come to think of it, the site of all this food reminded Krater he was indeed very hungry. As if to further prove it, his stomach let out a fierce growl as if to say, "FEED ME!" and Krater let out a laugh with a blush, "Looks that way. Well then let's eat!" He exclaimed as they grabbed their plates, stacked them with food, grabbed something to drink and joyfully began eating in the dining room. The two of them chatted a lot while they ate, discussing what they'd do today. Eventually the subject of zoid battles came up and Krater asked, "So any word from the ZBC on when we have our first match?"
Virilia shook her head, "No not yet." She replied somewhat disappointed as she fiddled with her scrambled eggs before finishing off the last few bites.
Krater sighed and finished off the rest of his breakfast, grabbed some more and returned to his place next to Virilia. "Well then, do you want to get in some practice today? I'd like to see how you pilot your command wolf and that ammunition you ordered the other day should be in sometime later, right?" He offered with a smile in her direction.
Virilia nodded and returned the gesture, "Yes I think that would be a good idea. We should also discuss how we're going to handle ourselves in battle. From what I've seen of your time with the Zabre Team I've already got a pretty good idea on what to do, but I'd like to hear your input after I've shown you some things." She took a sip of her orange juice.
Krater nodded and they finished breakfast ten minutes later. They cleaned up after themselves and put the leftovers in the fridge, put their boots on and the two of them hopped into their zoids.
Raider's eyes flashed and the mechanized raptor gave a roar of curiosity. Krater smiled, "We're going to go practice in the wasteland Raider. Virilia's gonna show me some of her moves too." He answered his partner, the two zoids leaving the outskirts of town behind them and soon arriving at a secluded strip of wasteland six miles from town. A quick look around showed Krater there wasn't anyone here and that he and Virilia were quite alone.
His comm. link flared to life and Virilia's voice called out as her face showed up on his visor, "Alright Krater. Let's see what you've got!" She challenged him with an excited grin.
Krater laughed and shouted, "Let's go!" Raider roared and rushed forward towards Virilia's command wolf which stood waiting patiently, ready to move. Once Raider was closer the dark blue command wolf exploded into action, darting off to the side to avoid Raider's charge, quickly running around to try and get behind him, but both zoid and pilot were smart enough not to let that happen, whipping around in time to see and dodge her as she attempted to ram him.
The young man beamed with excitement as Raider jumped to the side. She's fast, really fast! "Raider, let's show her what we got!" He called to his zoid, the rev raptor roaring in response and chased after Virilia's command wolf, barely keeping up with her. She suddenly whipped around and tried to catch him off guard, but Raider was ready and dodged and smacked against the command wolf's left shoulder with his tail as he passed her by.
He didn't stop there; Raider about faced and charged at the mechanical wolf's back, but Virilia jumped away, turning in midair to face him again and the two stood staring each other down. The pilots were panting a little at this point, until they both started laughing and their zoids eased up again.
Virilia was the first to speak with a bright smile, "You're not half bad Krater. You and Raider react quickly and you seem to be pretty good at close in fighting."
Krater shook his head, "Yeah but if we'd actually been using our weapons we'd have been in trouble. You and your command wolf are really fast! You were running circles around me at the start there." He replied with a bit of a frown.
"That's just because I've been at this a little longer then you. And actually, if you ask me, had we been using weapons, I think I would have been the one in trouble. That time when you hit me with your tail, you probably could have sliced my zoid up pretty badly with those blades of yours." She corrected him with a knowing smile. "Now let's keep going! We've still got a long time before we need to go pick up the ammunition."
Krater grinned, "Alrighty then! Let's go!" He exclaimed and the two burst into action again. They chased each other around for several hours, their zoids wrestling and testing each other as their practicing took them all over the area. The young mercenary was having a blast the whole time and he knew Virilia was as well; he could hear her excited voice over the comm. channel the entire time.
When it was time to stop, Krater let out a tired huff of exhaustion as he slumped in his seat slightly, "Whew... that was intense." He stated breathlessly as he wiped his forehead and Virilia's face popped up on his screen again. "You can say that again. We should do this more often, I think it's good for our zoids." She said in agreement.
Raider then let out a roar and Krater saw his beautiful friend's confusion; he laughed and said, "Raider says yes, it is." Virilia smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I can tell my command wolf enjoyed it too." She said as she stroked a side panel almost like she was petting the zoid.
The two of them turned and headed back towards town, but while they were walking, Krater decided to ask, "Say, how come you didn't name your zoid?" He was curious since he noticed she always said 'my zoid' or 'my command wolf'. Virilia gave him a confused look, cast her gaze down and said, "Well, I didn't think it necessary. I mean, I like my command wolf but I don't think I'll be piloting her forever... I know I'm eventually going to end up switching to a different zoid, so I think if I name her she might get sad when I one day stop piloting her." Then she looked up again and then asked, "...Why did you choose to name your rev raptor Raider?" He could hear the curiosity and slight confusion in her voice.
He smiled as he looked down at the control panel, "Because, even if I don't pilot Raider forever, he's still my partner, my pal. By giving him a name I think it helps us bond and connect so we can do well together." Then he laughed and looked at Virilia with a grin, "But let me tell ya it was tough picking a name he liked! I must have suggested at least thirty different names before he found one he liked!"
Virilia watched him curiously, taken aback by what he said. She hummed thoughtfully to herself and looked down at the control panels for her command wolf. A rumble sounded from its mouth and Virilia smiled, looked up at Krater's face and said, "Okay... I'll try to think of a name..." Then she frowned lightly, "But I'm not good at coming up with names... so I'll need your help."
Krater nodded, "Okay. Just think about things that would fit her. First let's look at her physical attributes: she's a blue wolf that can move really fast. I don't know much about her personality so I can't give any suggestions on that... but I suggested the name Raider because it started with an 'R' like in Raptor and because of the way raptors from old earth acted." He grinned, "I also thought it sounded cool so I was glad that he liked it."
Virilia took what he said to heart and was quiet for a long time, obviously thinking deeply on the subject. After a long time, she smiled and said aloud, "Verlia...?" A little uncertain. The command wolf snorted and a rumble gave the impression she was saying 'No'. She pouted and folded her arms together, "Aw and after all the thought I put into it..." She grumbled as she tried to think of another name. She was silent for another minute or so before she spouted, "Fiona...?" But the command wolf once again turned it down.
Virilia was already getting frustrated at this point and started listing off random names at this point, most of them the names you would give to other people, some unusual names that she heard somewhere, "...Jill, Vika, Diana, Lilia, Via, Marie, Megan, Pricilla... no? Ugh! I give up! That's all I've got..." She declared with a pout as the two zoids pulled into her driveway again. She heard Krater laugh and blushed slightly, clearly embarrassed. "Well do you have any suggestions, Krater?" She finally asked as she opened the cockpit and jumped down to the ground at about the time that her companion walked up beside her.
He nodded as he turned to look at her zoid, "...Well, off the top of my head I could suggest Aoi and Saphira because of the color of her armor... then there's Navilia, Spira, Ralia... um... if those don't work I can think of some others..." He trailed off as he scratched the back of his head.
Virilia blinked and tried suggesting each name to her command wolf and almost thought she would reject all of them until she said Navilia. When that name was mentioned, the command wolf hummed and considered it before nodding slightly with a grunt. Virilia smiled and clasped her hands together behind her with a sigh, looked up at her zoid and said, "Alright then... from now on, your name is Navilia." With a satisfied smile.
At that, she about faced and tilted her head with a quirked eyebrow, "So where did you get that name from?" She asked curiously as the two of them walked over to the car and clambered in, turned it on and headed into town to go get the ammunition they ordered. Krater smiled, scratching the back of his head, "The color of her armor again. She almost looks navy blue so I chose to make a name with that for the base." He replied as he leaned against his seat, his beautiful companion at the wheel.
Virilia smiled and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "You're good at making names. Where'd you pick up that kind of skill?" She asked curiously, returning her attention to the road. Krater laughed and popped his neck, "My mom and dad told me I have a strong imagination." He answered with a slight blush; Sometimes it's too strong... He thought to himself as he remembered some of the dreams his imagination had devised for him concerning a certain rookie and a beautiful young woman in questionable situations.
His silver haired companion smiled again, apparently not noticing and said, "That's good to hear. That'll make things interesting."
Shortly thereafter, the two of them arrived at one of the weapon shops and drove around back where they found their order waiting. Virilia went around to the front to let the manager know they were here to pick up their order and Krater started hauling the big cases into the backseat and the trunk of the car.
When he went to get the last case and hoisted it up onto his shoulder he heard someone whistle and turned to see someone watching him load up the ammunition. It was another girl, this one maybe a year younger than him. She was just a hair's width shorter then him and was all curves from head to toe, even more so then Virilia. She had shoulder length crimson hair that ended in curls and big blue eyes, a small nose, red lip stick and wore a red halter top with a pair of long gloves that ended at the elbow in the same color, a maroon belt and dark blue pants that hugged every inch of her slender legs and crimson shin high boots. Tied around her waist was a darker crimson jacket, she wore several bracelets on her right wrist and she had a pair of earrings with rubies on. He also noticed she was just as 'well developed' as Virilia, if not more. And unlike Virilia, her coyly curious face mirrored the vibe her body language was sending.
"That's a lot of ammunition you've got there handsome. You really need that much?" She asked with a coy grin and waltzed over to him while he put the last pack of ammunition away, closed the trunk and looked to the girl with a smile.
"Nah, it's not all for me. Virilia needed some for Navilia too." He replied, soliciting another curious expression from the stranger beside him. "My name's Krater Vrasik by the way. What's yours?" He asked as he leaned against the car and waited for his roommate to return.
The woman looked surprised at his name for a moment before she gained another curious grin, got closer to him and leaned against him, placing her hands on his chest as she got up in his face, "If you really want to know, Mr. Mercenary, my name is Renia Krider and I have to say, you're an interesting guy." She whispered as she gazed into his green orbs with her own blue ones. "You impressed a lot of people with your performance working for the Zabre Team." She smiled with a half lidded gaze.
Krater blushed; this girl was far too close for comfort. Not that he was particularly complaining, but he didn't want Virilia to see him in this position with some random chick. "D-did I?" He stuttered and she nodded in response and began making circling motions on his chest with one finger and leaned in closer to whisper into his ear, "Indeed you did. Of course, I'm also curious, how do you 'perform' off the battlefield?" She was teasing him at this point, testing him to see his reactions and she was having loads of fun doing it.
The young mercenary couldn't keep his countenance together any longer and turned bright red, sweat beginning to form on his forehead and face as the girl continued to test him. At this point she had determined he was the type who couldn't resist the power of her feminine wiles and she wasn't too far off the mark either. It was only thanks to a familiar voice that Krater was able to escape from this situation with some of his reputation as a man intact.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Sounded Virilia's shocked and angry voice as she ran over to them. Renia backed off with a satisfied smile and folded her arms together below her chest as the silver haired girl stood beside a thoroughly embarrassed Krater.
Renia giggled and winked, "No need to worry little girl, I was just acquainting myself with Mr. Mercenary over there. I was just about to ask him if he was available for employment when you so rudely interrupted us." She finished with a pout.
Virilia was obviously very angry considering the dangerous look she was throwing at the redhead, one that Krater found he didn't like seeing on her face it just didn't suit her at all. "No he isn't available; he's working with me now." She snapped with forced calmness as she tried to settle down.
The redhead put on another pout and feigned sadness, "Oh pooh... and I was looking forward to seeing what all of his 'skills' were." She replied as she looked at the young man and winked at him.
Virilia caught the gesture and put herself between the redhead and her friend, but before she could do anything else Krater put a hand on her shoulder. She looked back at him and he shook his head. "Just don't... it's not worth it." He stated in an attempt to calm her. The red eyed girl sighed and the fierceness seemed to drain right out of her as she clasped her hands together behind her and she glanced off to the side.
"So tell me, how good is he?" Came the redhead's voice again with another coy smile. Virilia understood perfectly well what she was implying and gave her a sharp glare as a reply. Renia giggled and waved a hand dismissively, "Oh take it easy, I'm just messing around. No need to be so serious about it." She teased and winked at both of them. Virilia didn't stop glaring at her but her stance did ease up so she looked less like a cat ready to pounce.
"Anyway, since you didn't hear, my name is Renia Krider. From what I heard Mr. Mercenary say you must be Virilia, am I right?" She added with another smile. The silver haired girl looked at her perplexed for a moment, nodded and added, "Virilia Shradner", obviously wondering how she knew that. Renia winked and added, "He mentioned your name when I commented on all that ammunition." Virilia made an 'Oh' shape with her mouth and took a few steps back so she was beside Krater again.
"...I've heard that name before." The silver haired girl muttered as she thought about it. "...Renia Krider... you're a mercenary too, aren't you?" She asked as she looked to the redheaded vixen in front of her.
Renia grinned and nodded, "Yup, that's me! Class B zoid pilot of the Lightning Saix. Renia Krider the Scarlet Streak." She stated with a flourish and another wink in Krater's direction.
Virilia scowled and looked off to the side, "Psh, yeah right. More like Renia Rider the Scarlet Streaker..." She mumbled quietly enough that only Krater heard her and he glanced at her curiously. Renia must have at least caught on to what she might have said and frowned with a furrowed brow.
"So I sleep with the men on the teams that hire me, so what? It's not like its part of the job; I just do it because it's fun. And I don't think you have any room to talk anyway, Virilia Straddler." She had another one of those coy smiles by the time she finished her last sentence and winked at Krater, shifting her center of gravity onto her left leg.
Krater could see Virilia was ready to get violent here, Renia had touched a few nerves too many with her comments. So, in an attempt to diffuse this situation before it got to that, Krater placed his hands on Virilia's shoulders and turned her towards the car, giving her a gentle shove towards the driver's side as he said, "Well, it was nice meeting you Renia, but Virilia and I really need to get going. We've got to get this ammo home and taken care of."
Renia smiled coyly again and sauntered over to him as he opened the passenger door, leaned in close and whispered into his ear, "If you ever need some help... or you're just looking for a good time... give me a call." And slipped a piece of paper into his front pants pocket and caused him to blush deeply at the proximity. She then winked and pecked him on the cheek, "See you around, Mr. Mercenary." She finished and took a few steps back as the blushing Krater sat down in the car; shut the door and an irate Virilia drove them away towards the house.
Standing there alone in the lot, Renia pressed a finger to her lips with a curious hum and mumbled, "He's cute... pushing his buttons is fun... this makes things interesting." She pouted with a frown and 'hmph'd as she glared off to the side, "But how come that high-strung hussy gets to have him first?"
Meanwhile, Virilia and Krater were quiet the whole back to the house. The silver maned beauty driving was quietly fuming the entire time, mumbling incoherent things under her breath as her gaze remained fixated on the road. Krater tried several times to start a conversation but would either receive no reply or briefly become the target of her venting. It wasn't until the car was parked in her driveway and they were unloading the ammunition that she started making her frustrations known to him without him being the target.
"That cocky, insufferable, slutty, vulgar, self-centered..." She went on for at least a minute listing adjectives that she thought befitted the redhead they just encountered before she finally finished with, "...whore! I should have just punched her in the face and been done with it!"
By that time, they had already unloaded the ammo so she sat down with a huff against Navilia's front right leg. The blue command wolf let out a quiet rumble of concern and the silver maned girl let out another huff as she closed her eyes with a frown, "It's nothing Navilia... we just ran into the most annoying person I've ever met!" She snapped.
At this point, Krater was tired of hearing her be so angry. It just didn't belong, Virilia's face was not made for that frown and her voice wasn't meant to make so angry a sound. He walked over to her and sat down beside her placing a hand on her shoulder with a consoling smile, "Look, just forget what Renia said. It's obvious she doesn't know you at all... and something tells me we don't know everything about her. So let's just pretend that never happened."
Her response was a sharp glare in his direction and he flinched with an uneasy smile before speaking, "...um, besides... I uh..." He blushed slightly and looked away, "...I like it better when you smile."
Virilia gave him a startled look that seemed to drain all of the anger right out of her and her cheeks turned red. "...W-what?" She asked uncertain she'd heard him right.
He scratched the back of his head and looked at her with another uneasy smile, "...That angry look just doesn't fit you. You... you look prettier when you smile, that's all..." He finished as he looked at her.
The girl's face had become as red as her eyes at this point and she looked down at her lap as she started fiddling with her fingernails. "W-well... i-if you say so... um... I guess you could be right... I'll um... I'll overlook it this time." Her voice had grown exceptionally quiet by the time she was done to the point where he had to strain his ear to hear her.
Krater smiled and went to pack up the ammo. He loaded some of it into Raider and Navilia and then took the rest of it inside and a quieter Virilia led him to a door that led into her basement where he set the ammunition down in a neat stack.
By the time that they were done, Virilia's cell phone rang and she answered it with an excited smile when she saw the letters 'ZBC' flash on her screen. Krater was sitting on the couch beside her when she did that and waited until she clicked her phone shut with a great big grin, "So who was that?" He asked curiously.
She looked at him with one of her vibrant smiles, "The Zoid Battle Commission has our team's first battle decided! It's this Thursday! We're up against the Gun Strike Team. Battle mode: 0982. We should be getting the data now so..." She picked up her remote and tuned the TV into a connection with her computer and data from the ZBC started appearing on the screen. It listed the data on their opponents and displayed the types of zoids they use.
"Okay, let's see what we've got..." Mumbled Virilia before she started speaking, "Okay... it looks like the Gun Strike is a team comprised of one command wolf equipped with a single barrel long range beam cannon and shock cannon on the chest; a black Redler equipped with tail blades, long range blasters and light anti-zoid missiles; and last but not least a Dark Horn equipped with twin gatling guns and a missile launcher."
"Looking at this data, it seems their favorite tactic is to use a combination of attacks from the redler and command wolf to limit the enemy's movement and keep them distracted while their slower dark horn moves in and shells them with its gatling guns. Simple, but judging from their battle history, it's working pretty well. They've got other maneuvers they use as well, but this is the one they use the absolute most." When she was finished she smiled and giggled as she looked at Krater.
"I almost feel sorry for these guys. They won't know how to plan for this battle, because this is our first battle so we don't have a history of strategies for them to counter." She winked at Krater and he smiled uneasily.
"Yeah, but on the offhand we've never worked together before. If we don't handle this battle with care our zoids will get turned into scrap metal." He warned with a slightly more serious face.
Virilia nodded and looked back at the screen, "Well then... let's get started. We need to plan what we're going to do..." She said as she and Krater look at the TV screen.
"Right..." Mumbled the young mercenary.
So, over the course of the next few days the two of them began planning how to best handle their battle with the Gun Strike Team and spent a great deal of time practicing out in the wasteland to try out different formations and movements. In the end they decided on a fairly simple tactic to combat their opponents. First of all, they would need to take care of the redler by using Raider's missile launcher and Navilia's missile launcher and, if necessary, her 40mm single barrel rifle. Once the aerial threat is gone, they would be able to concentrate on the command wolf and the dark horn. Considering the dark horn's tough hide, the two of them decided it was best if Krater and Raider moved in and used his blades to take care of it while Virilia and Navilia handle the command wolf.
When the day of the battle came, Krater and Virilia woke up early, grabbed breakfast and got geared up. It was that morning that the young mercenary found out during their practice sessions over the past couple days that the skintight china dress Virilia wore was the outfit she wore into zoid battles. Krater's own getup was pretty simple and not very showy: just a pair of navy blue pants, a white shirt with a crimson jacket, maroon gloves, black boots and a black belt and of course, his crimson helmet with its green visor.
They arrived on the battlefield five minutes before the set time and took a good look at the battlefield. Unlike the battles he'd been in before, Krater was dismayed to find they would be battling in an assortment of canyons and ridges. Which meant the Gun Strike Team would definitely be making use of their redler for the battle and would make it easier for their opponents to herd them around.
Virilia's optimistic smile came up on his screen and she said, "Don't worry Krater, we'll do fine. If anything, this also means the Gun Strike team won't be able to pull its usual tactics either. We should stick together, but not too close or their redler will have a significantly easier time hitting us."
Krater nodded as they and their zoids marched into the closest of the ridges. They couldn't exactly see it, but they heard the distinct sound of the judge capsule flying from the sky and landing with a crash somewhere out of sight. Soon, a familiar voice blared across the area and their comm. links saying, "The area within a 40 kilometer radius is now a designated zoid battle zone. Danger! All others must leave the area immediately."
Virilia grinned excitedly at that, "Looks like it's time to start..."
Krater frowned, "But we can't see the other team."
"That just means they're somewhere else on the battlefield. Let's take this slow and carefully... we don't want them catching us off guard." His beautiful companion spoke calmly and evenly.
The mercenary nodded and prepared to move forward when the judge said, "Alpha Team vs. The Gun Strike Team. Battle mode: 0982. Ready..."
He gripped the controls of his zoid tightly with a smile slipping onto his face. He knew this battle wouldn't be easy and there was a good chance they'd lose, but he was excited because this battle was so different from the other ones he was in.
"FIGHT!"
Both Raider and Navilia burst into action and moved further into the ridge, following the corridors of rock with the command wolf leading and the mechanized raptor guarding their back. They moved fairly quickly, but carefully. Before long, several blips appeared on radar and they could instantly tell which one was the redler because it was passing over the different canyons and ridges quickly.
What confused them, though, was that all three of the members they could see were moving pretty fast. The dark horn shouldn't have been able to move as fast as the two blips on the ground were suggesting.
"That can't be right..." Mumbled Krater with a frown. Virilia mirrored his confusion with a furrowed brow. "Did they have any other zoids?" He asked as they moved forward, coming closer and closer to an encounter with one of the land zoids.
"No, those were their only zoids. Maybe they hired a mercenary when they saw they were up against us... you know, someone with a faster zoid like you." Replied his silver haired partner with a slight frown.
They rounded a bend in the ridge and quickly came face to face with a green command wolf that instantly opened fire the second it saw them. Navilia quickly dodged out of the way, stopping just in time to avoid hitting the canyon wall and Raider side-stepped the shot with a hiss. Navilia returned fire, her 40mm rifle striking the ground at the opposing command wolf's feet and nicking its front left leg as their opponent attempted to dodge the counter attack.
The green command wolf fired a couple more times then turned tail and ran back the way it had come towards the other land zoid on its team. "After him, don't let him get away!" Virilia shouted as Navilia and Raider attempted to give chase, but as soon as they did, the redler blazed overhead and dropped a couple of missiles on their heads.
The two barely managed to avoid the attack and both received minor damage, but nothing serious. Krater frowned; he could instantly see what kind of strategy they were facing.
"Virilia, they're using hit and run tactics against us." He said as he looked at his radar and noticed the command wolf they'd spotted was holding position further down the canyon. "Every time we see that command wolf or whoever else they're working with, they'll shoot at us, run and then the redler will come and hit us from the air."
His partner's beautiful face appeared on his screen off to the side where it wouldn't be in his way and she replied, "Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing. Our biggest concern here is that redler. Because of these stupid ridges it can attack us and disappear before we have time to lock on and fire. For now the best we can do is try to take down the land zoids first until we come up with something better."
Krater nodded and the two of them proceeded forward. Before long they ran into the command wolf again and, just like before, it shot at them a couple of times then turned tail and tried to run. This time however, Raider was able to hit it in its hind right leg with a good shot from one of his beam cannons and slowed it down considerably, but they couldn't catch up to finish him off because of the redler that came by and bombarded them from the air again.
Navilia took a fairly serious hit from one of the redler's missiles that time. Krater heard Virilia let out a frustrated shout, "Aw, my missile launcher's been damaged, I can't fire them anymore." She frowned and the two of them pressed onward.
Around the next bend they were pleased to find a much wider and more spacious section to the canyon ridges with scattered rock formations occupying it. According to the radar the command wolf was here, but they couldn't pinpoint its exact position.
"Move carefully and watch out for that redler... also keep an eye out for that third zoid." Virilia warned as she and Krater had their zoids move further in, staying in one another's sites.
Krater saw motioned between some of the rocks ahead and he grinned, "There!" He pulled the trigger and Raider started laying fire down on that position exploding rock and quickly causing the shelter of the rock formation to collapse to reveal the damaged command wolf standing there with its back-mounted beam cannon aimed right at him.
It fired off a couple of shots, but Raider was able to dodge each one and before their opponent could fire again, several rounds from Navilia's rifle slammed into its main body and the command wolf collapsed to the ground with a howl.
"Alright, that's one down!" Exclaimed a now very excited Virilia. Krater nodded and swept his sites across the sky above them. "But where's the redler? It usually comes by at about here..." He asked as he and his partner moved further in.
Just then another zoid appeared in his line of sight. It came rushing into the larger ridge from an entrance on the other side and moved almost as a black blur along the outer rim around them, easily dodging the rocks in its path. Both Navilia and Raider tried to follow its movements but it was just too fast!
"What is that?!" Krater exclaimed with a frown.
He received no reply from his partner until he pressed the question again and she finally answered, "That's a lightning saix."
At first he didn't catch implications behind that until he heard a familiar voice come up on his comm. link, "Hey, Mr. Mercenary! Looks like we meet again!" His mouth fell open and he gaped as the coyly smiling face of Renia appeared on his screen.
"Renia? You're with the Gun Strike Team?" He asked as he again tried to follow the saix's rapid movement.
"You betcha! When they found out they'd be fighting a command wolf piloted by Virilia Shradner and the rev raptor piloted by the rookie mercenary Krater Vrasik they decided that their dark horn wasn't going to be fast enough to keep up with you... so they hired me and my lightning saix to take his place."
Virilia frowned and one eyebrow twitched, "How many of them have you slept with so far? Lemme guess, all three?" She said with a sharp edge to her voice.
Renia frowned and glared daggers at Virilia's face on her screen, "Of course not! What do you think I am?!" She snapped with uncharacteristic anger, probably a result of the adrenaline they were all starting to feel. The redhead huffed, collected herself, grinned and added, "Now then, I suggest you two stop playing around and kick it up a notch or you'll never beat me!"
She suddenly changed course and rushed past Navilia in an instant, firing off a round from her back-mounted beam cannons. Virilia was just barely able to get Navilia to move and was still hit though she did avoid receiving major damage. The shot exploded against Navilia's right shoulder and the other hit a rock face somewhere behind her. Renia's lightning saix went back on its previous course and continued making similar runs against Navilia and Raider, dealing minor damage to them while they were barely able to react to her approach.
Krater frowned as he saw the redler appear overhead and fly towards them. "Oh no you don't! Not this time!" He exclaimed as he locked on and fired the missiles from his launcher into the air. The ten missiles flew with fierce precision towards their target and despite the pilot's best efforts to avoid being struck he took a direct hit to his left wing and the main body, sending the zoid sailing towards the ground and forcing him to eject before it crashed into the rocks below.
About the same time, Renia made another pass at him and hit Raider in the right arm, disabling one of his beam cannons and jostling them. By now, both Raider and Navilia had sustained considerable damage because of Renia's hit and run tactics.
Virilia was obviously frustrated though she had ceased shouting at this point her face said it all and Krater didn't like to see that look on her face. He watched from his cockpit as Renia ran circles around them, change course and headed his way. The beam cannon on her back flashed and he knew she had fired, but then he suddenly realized something as she flew past him and he barely managed to avoid her shot.
She gets really close when she passes us... if she comes at me again I should be able to hit her with my blades just by deploying them. He smiled when he realized this and watched, waiting for Renia to come at him again. He was upset to see her make another pass on Virilia, hitting Navilia where it hurt and causing the command wolf to collapse. He saw Virilia slam her small fist on one of the panels beside her as her screen read 'command system freeze'.
"She got me! Krater it's up to you! Bring her down." She called to him with a sigh as she folded her arms together.
It was then Renia's voice chimed in and she appeared on his and Virilia's screens with a coy grin, "Oh I'd like to see him 'bring me down' alright. Maybe after the battle's over... how's that sound Mr. Mercenary?" She teased with a wink and Krater blushed only slightly. The adrenaline from this battle helped keep him focused on the battle and so he was able to surprise her with a calm face and an even, "Not interested."
The redhead frowned with a pout and mumbled, "Oh... too bad. I guess I should just finish this up then." And altered course to charge him again.
Krater smirked as she blazed towards him, fired at him and came within fifty feet of him. "NOW!" Krater shouted and Raider's blades shot out just as Renia's saix was passing him by. The momentum of the blades shooting out against the saix's momentum moving the other way provided enough force to slice a jagged tear down the length of the entire right side of the zoid.
Renia let out a shocked shout as she lost control of her zoid and it fell, crashed and tumbled across the canyon floor, smashing into some of the rock formations until it came to a skidding stop. The redhead was out cold with a few bad bumps and bruises and her systems read 'command system freeze'. The judge blared his horns across the battlefield and over the comm. links saying, "The battle is over! The battle is over! The winner is... Alpha Team!"
Krater and Raider instantly went into action when they knew they won and rushed over to Renia's lightning saix. The young mercenary didn't answer when Virilia asked him where he was going because she too soon realized what he was doing. Raider skidded to a stop and Krater quickly jumped from his cockpit and rushed over to Renia's damaged zoid, popped open the cockpit and found her unconscious. He grimaced at the bruises and bumps she had and felt bad as he unbuckled her and pulled her out of her cockpit and gently set her down on the ground.
He looked up at her lightning saix and frowned. It had taken some serious damage in the crash, even more so then the damage his blades did. He almost would have written the poor thing off as totaled but he noticed that the zoid core wasn't damaged.
He sighed and looked down at Renia's face which sported a nasty bump on her forehead and a scrape on her left cheek and leaned in close. He was relieved to find she was still breathing. He checked her pulse and then her heart beat and found that everything checked out, but that bang to the head had been the knockout.
So, he picked her up in his arms and walked over to Raider as the zoid knelt down on the ground and made it easier for him to put her in the cockpit. He didn't have a backseat, so he had to have her in his lap when he closed the cockpit and walked over to the damaged Navilia, popped open the cockpit and looked down at Virilia, "Virilia, I've got Renia with me, she's out cold. I'm going to get my gustav over here to pick up Navilia and Renia's lightning saix, wait here."
Virilia nodded and before long he was back with Raider and the gustav. He then moved Raider off and used his mechanical companion to help the damaged Navilia get up onto one of the trailers, moved to the damaged saix and did the same with a great deal more effort since it couldn't move. Meanwhile, Virilia took the unconscious Renia and laid her across the back seat and bandaged up some of her scrapes and treated some of her bumps.
Once everything was together, they went to check on the others from the Gun Strike Team only to find that they had already vacated the area along with their damaged zoids. Krater was disappointed to realized that they had just left Renia behind. What, they think just because she's a mercenary they don't have to look out for her? Those jerks! He thought with noticeable anger.
Heading home, Virilia drove the gustav while Krater rode in the backseat with Renia to keep an eye on her, with Raider following along on his own. The ride back to town took a couple hours and when they got there Krater carried Renia into their house and laid her down on the couch, put a blanket over her, a pillow under her head and waited to see if she would wake up...
--
Originally, this was going to be longer, but I decided the next bit would fit better in its own chapter rather then sticking it in here with Alpha Team's first official battle. I'm glad I seperated the two parts, because it gave me a bit more leeway with the next chapter and also gave me a chance to reveal a bit more of Krater's character, Renia's character and give some development to Virilia as well.