TBC Chapter 02

The Broken Chairs

Chapter Two – Team Without Name

By Rick R.

-

When Stephen, Neil, Tasch and Rose had decided to form a team, they had been thinking about all the benefits of joining the team competition. Nobody had figured on just how much work it would take to get the team all set up. And they had only a week before their first battle to do it in.

The first thing they needed was a team base. As it stood, none of them lived in the city, which meant that nobody had a permanent place to stay. Their Zoids were housed at the arena, but that was at best a temporary accommodation. The hangar rental at the arena was pretty steep, to the point were actually buying their own base would be cheaper.

Of course, first they had to find one.

There were a lot of purpose-built team bases on the market. There were also a lot of older buildings that had been built for a different use and then converted over to bases. And, finally, there were a lot of buildings that were suitable for conversion to bases. The latter types had one big advantage, being that they were a lot cheaper to buy.

The big problem was most of what was on the market had been bought out between competition seasons. Most of what was left was being fought over by the teams that were forming after the initial trials and before the season proper. Teams like theirs.

They’d spent some time pouring over classified ads, both in print media and on line. In the end, they’d found a handful of good leads on buildings that were usable and, more importantly, within their price range. Economic realities meant that most of what they had would end up being spent on their Zoids, so they couldn’t afford to splurge out on something too elaborate or pricey.

The first two days had been fruitless. However, at about midday on the third day, Rose had called them all to excitedly declare that she had found them a great potential base, and that they should all come around and take a look at it. She’d already arranged to meet an agent for a formal on-site inspection, but she wanted the others to have their say as well.

“Nice looking.” Neil began as he arrived on site, sidling on up next to her. “Really attractive in that whole dismal grey concrete way.”

Rose would have been the first to admit that it wasn’t quite what the ad had spelled it out to be. She’d read that it was a disused industrial property suitable for use as a team base. What it actually amounted to was a derelict factory that had clearly seen better days. In truth, it probably wasn’t a very attractive place when it was new. But now…

“Yeah.” Tasch continued. “And the colours flow together well, with the brown rust just providing a nice bit of contrast.”

They all turned to look at her. Rose couldn’t decide if Tasch was always like this, or if she was just being spacey because she was new to the city. She hoped the latter. She wasn’t sure if she could live with her otherwise.

Stephen rubbed his chin, stroking his morning’s growth. He’d forgone shaving in order to get an earlier start on the house hunting. ”Well, it looks like it’s big enough to handle our Zoids.” He began. “Question is, what else does it have to offer?”

“There’s a couple of broken windows over there.” Neil offered unhelpfully.

Rose glared at him. “Aw. Come on.” She began. “Its cheap, and that has to be a big plus. Besides, I don’t see any of you offering us a better alternative.”

“There’s a nice little place I know which would make a great base.” Tasch offered. “’cept its near where I live, which is on Nyx… so it’s probably not that much use.”

“…are you always like this?” Rose asked.

“Like what?” Tasch replied, confused.

Stephen stepped between the two of them before Rose could do or say anything else. “Okay, calm down you two. We’ll take a look at this place Rose has found and see if it’s any good. There’s no need to kill each other before the agent’s even arrived.”

As if on cue, a small car pulled up next to the four of them. The driver, a woman in her mid thirties with rather large blonde hair that seemed to have been glued in pace and a rather stylish blazer, stepped out and walked over to them. “I’m Betty Cleveland form the agency.” She introduced herself in a brisk, businesslike way. “I’m going to assume one of you is Rose O’Bannon?”

“I don’t know.” Neil began, whispering into Tasch’s ear. “But I’d guess the girl in the floral top with the rose tattoo would be the one.”

“You think?” She replied. “’cause you might think it was someone else.”

“That’s me.” Rose began.

“Right. Well, I’m here to show you guys the place. Let’s get started.” Betty continued in a brisk manner. She pulled out a set of keys and fumbled with the lock on the front gate for a minute before opening it and stepping in. “Well, come on.”

Shrugging, Neil followed her inside the factory’s yard, with the others behind him.

“As you can see, it’s got lots of space for your Zoids to stand around in or whatever it is you want to do wit them.” She said, waving her hands around at the vast expanses of empty concrete. A few rusted barrels, some grass growing between cracks and a handful of puddles provided for the only real break from the otherwise unbroken flat grey landscape.

“Dull grey concrete. Very nice.” Neil commented, then glanced over at Tasch. “Never mind.”

She opened a door at the front of the main building, which was located next to a huge main door. Quickly sizing it up they could see that it was easily big enough to accommodate Stephen’s Iron Kong. “Okay, here’s the place itself.” Betty continued as she stepped inside.

“I’m guessing that someone here doesn’t really like Zoid pilots.” Stephen noted.

“No, she’s crazy about us, I can tell.” Neil replied.

“Well, lets stake a look at the place.” Rose continued, trying to keep things on track. “At the very least, can we get it over and done with?”

They stepped inside, arriving in what would have been the main factory area. Now it was mostly empty, leaving just a huge room. Betty flicked on the lights, which came on after a few flickers. Looking around, they began to take in its features. The room itself was huge, easily big enough to fit all their Zoids in with plenty of space to spare. The floor was bare concrete with the walls similarly undecorated, and the roof being little more then a few hanging lights dangling form the ceiling.

“As you can see, the place has facilities for you to get into and out of your Zoids and do repairs on them or stuff like that.” She continued, her voice taking a distinctly bored tone. Several landings and gantries remained from its days as a factory, a bit rusted but clearly still usable. As Betty had indicated, they would be useful.

“So what’s it got to offer besides Zoid parking facilities?” Stephen asked.

“There’s a pre-equipped kitchen that can easily be reconditioned.” She explained. “As well as extensive bathroom facilities.”

“And living quarters?”

“There are a number of offices that are suitable for use as bedrooms.” Betty continued, adopting a casually disinterested tone. “And the living rooms come fully furnished.”

“Fully furnished?” Rose asked. “What do you mean by that?”

A quick tour had revealed that she meant ‘there’s a lot of left over office furniture lying around that you may or may not be able to use.’ There was even a storage room full of what were clearly non-functional computers, seemingly forgotten or possibly dumped there.

The building itself hadn’t yielded too many surprises. It seemed to be structurally sound and there were no obvious problems with it. It was a little run down; with peeling paint, cracked tiles and a few broken windows. On the other hand, there didn’t seem to be any problems. All the lights worked, there were no holes in it and there was a lack of strange smells.

“Well, what do we think, guys?” Stephen asked.

“It’s damp, cluttered, dark and run down.” Neil began. “But it is cheap.”

“Very cheap.” Rose offered.

“The neighbors are nice too.” He added, indicating out a window. Behind the factory was an overgrown vacant lot, home to a few piles of miscellaneous rusting machinery and a whole lot of weeds. “Not that noisy.”

“And we’re unlikely to get anything better this close to the start of the season.” Stephen shrugged. “I suspect that there’s probably three or four other teams after this place too.”

“Well I like it.” Tasch offered.

“Geez.” Rose muttered as she rolled her eyes. “From the way you carry on, anyone would think that the Dark Continent was one big, bleak, post-apocalyptic wasteland.” She turned back to face her, just as Tasch was about to say something. “Oh wait, never mind.”

“So I guess we’re sold then.” Stephen finished. “Right, lets get this over with. The sooner I can get out of that youth hostel, the better.”

A few minutes later they found Betty outside the factory, smoking. There were several more cigarettes stubbed out on the ground around her. Given that she’d only been out there ten minutes at the most, it was quite an achievement. “Well?” She began.

“We like the place.” Rose replied. “We’ll take it.”

“Lady, you have just made my day.” She replied as she pulled out a mobile phone. “I hate this time of year.”

-

Things had gone smoothly after that. They’d made the deal and forked over the first of many, many payments on the base. Despite a lot of grumbling, everyone knew that it was a surprisingly cheap base and a good deal at this time of year. Neil had noted the speed at which the agent had processed it all, and guessed that it was probably just Betty wanting to get rid of them as quickly as possible.

Despite the agent’s claims, fully furnished had proven to be anything but. In order to get it liveable, they’d spent the next two days shopping for furniture. Due to a dearth of funds (most of them had cash set aside for food and Zoid repairs, and very little for base-furnishing funds) they’d wound up searching charity stores, thrift shops and factory outlets.

In the end, they’d managed to get the base furnished to a reasonable degree. They each had their own room with a bed (never mind that all of said beds squeaked, shifted or had other less then pleasing qualities) and enough left over to partially cover the kitchen and a single room set aside for recreation, eating, planning or anything else they needed it for.

They’d informed the ZBC of their new base and given them all the relevant contact information so they could receive data on battles or other important events. Since they all were registered with the commission, they had received an e-mail address that the commission would use for such things; but the team was also given one for team matters.

“Well…” Stephen began as he flopped down onto the battered couch in the rec room. “We’ve got a base, we’re registered, we’re moved in and every thing's working.” He sighed. “So that seems to be everything under control.”

“Yeah.” Neil commented as he dropped down next to him. “I’d open up a tinnie and watch some TV now… except that we don’t have a TV and can’t afford beer.”

“There will be plenty of time for that later.” Rose commented as she walked in. “Once we start winning some matches we’ll be able to upgrade a bit, flash this place out. Things will be cool.”

“Yeah, but first we’ve got to win a match.” Neil added.

“Oh, like the one we’ve got tomorrow.” Tasch spoke up, looking up from her computer. She’d bought her own laptop with her, which was now the team’s only computer facilities outside of their Zoids. This meant that she was also their main route for communications to and from the commission.

“Like the one we’ve got… what?” Stephen looked up at her.

“When did we get a battle?” Neil asked.

“Um, well, tomorrow.” Tasch explained.

“What he means is…” Rose began. “Why are we in one already?”

“Its for the tryouts.” Tasch continued. ‘We’ve got a tryout battle tomorrow to determine initial rankings and stuff.”

“Didn’t we already do that?” Rose asked. “I seem to recall we’ve already been through that whole tryout thing. It was where we all met.”

“No, it’s the team tryouts.” Tasch explained. “We’ve got to do another tryout thing as a team.”

“Of course.” Stephen said as he got up. “They need to determine initial rankings for the Team competition as well, just like the individual tryouts.”

“But we’ve all got points already.” Neil replied. “What, do we need more of them or something?”

“It’s the difference between individual and team rankings.” Rose explained. “We have an overall team ranking, and we have our individual rankings. We get team points if the team wins a battle, and individual points for what we take down during the battle. Just because we’re all starting with individual points doesn’t make any difference to our team’s ranking.”

“So… we could be a bottom ranked team, but still have a lot of individual points.” Neil summarized. “Well that makes perfect sense to me.”

Stephen walked over to Tasch’s computer. “So what do they say about it? Any details?”

“Lesse…” She bought up the message. “Its takin’ place at the main arena at three PM, so we have to have reported in with our Zoids by midday.” She started.

“And our opponents?” Rose asked, hopefully.

“They don’t say nothing about them.” Tasch replied. “So I guess it’s like the individual tryouts. We didn’t know anything about our individual opponents either. Well, except that they could have been each other.”

“I doubt that’s going to happen this time, though.” Neil commented.

“Yeah. They’re not going to get us to fight each other as a team. That’d be silly.” Tasch explained.

“Well, I’m sure that whatever we’re up against can’t be too hard.” Rose continued, a confident note in her voice. “We all managed to beat our opponents in the individual tryouts, and I suspect that we’ll be up against foes of a similar rank and caliber this time.” She shrugged. “I’m not that bothered by it.”

“Not bothered by overconfidence, are you?” Neil asked.

“Trust me.” She replied. “If they’re anything like what we faced in the first round of trials, we’re in easily.”

“You didn’t fight that Genosaur.” Stephen dryly noted. “Trust me, that pilot knew what she was doing.”

“And the others we faced didn’t.” She answered dismissively. “We’ll be fine.”

“But wait.” Tasch suddenly spoke up. “There’s one thing we haven’t thought of. And it’s a very, very important thing at that. Probably the single most important thing we need to do.”

All eyes in the room turned to face her. “What is it?” Neil asked.

“We need to think of a team name.” She stated with a gravity that suggested that it was the most important thing in the world.

There was a stunned silence for a moment.

“Well, yeah, actually.” Neil spoke up. “We were kinda too busy with getting a base and stuff that we didn’t think about that.”

“Come on, it can’t be that important, can it?” Stephen asked.

“You kidding?” Rose began. “Team name is everything. It’s more then just a label. Its, you know, a statement of who you are and what you’re doing. It’s the first thing people will think about when they think of us.”

“True.” Stephen replied. He hadn’t thought about it that way, but Rose had a point. “So, how’s about we get some dinner and talk about it as we eat.”

“Yeah, a little food for thought would help things along.” Neil commented. “I mean, how hard can it be?”

-

“Okay, let’s try this again.” Stephen began as he slumped into the couch. He’d just finished off the last of the beers, and still they hadn’t reached a conclusion.

“Don’t look at me.” Neil shrugged. “I’ve already given you all my best ideas.”

“Right.” He dumped the can in a small pile that had accumulated near the couch. “But ‘Insert Name Here’ is hardly a useful one.”

Neil shrugged. “I thought it was good and so did Tasch.”

Stephen shook his head. They’d been at this for hours, bouncing names off each other with very little success. The pizzas they’d ordered were long dead, with nothing even left for morning-after snacks, and they’d been through anything they could have drunk long ago. “Its just not going to work.”

“Fine then.” He said. “You think of a better name.”

“I’m trying already.”

“Come on you guys.” Rose began as she slowly spun around on a squeaky office chair. “This is our name we’re talking about here. It can’t be that hard to think of something good.”

Stephen admitted that he hadn’t been focusing on Rose’s suggestions as much. Instead, he’d been focusing on the way she’d been sitting and the way her pants were sliding down and… damn it. He shook his head. “Well, what do you have to offer?”

“Well…” She began. “That’s to say…” She looked at her hand, as if she was expecting it to tell her something. “Okay, I’ve got a pretty good idea of what not to do.” She started.

“Like?”

She shrugged. “Basically anything about blood, night, death, destruction, doom, dragons, demons, black, religious imagery or the like. And red’s probably out as well. And anything in Japanese.”

“Can I ask why?” Neil began. “I want to know before I run off and join a team called the Bloody Night Killer Evil Devils.”

“Because it’s been done to death.” Rose replied. “Its one of the worst clichés out there. People give their teams supposedly ‘kewl’ sounding names, but they end up sounding like a bunch of twelve year olds trying to look tough.” She offered. “And there are dozens of teams with names like that. You’d be lost in the crowd.”

“But I like black.” Tasch spoke up. “Its my second favourite colour.”

Rose slowly turned to her. “Really? I’d have thought it was your favourite.”

“Naw, that’s charcoal grey.” Tasch replied, waving dismissively.

Rose turned to Neil with a look if ‘what the hell?’ on her face. He shrugged.

“Well there goes that idea.” Stephen began. “I’d pulled up ‘Approximate Destruction’ from randomly picking words.”

“Its nicely vague, but ‘destruction’ and variations thereof have been done.” Rose answered.

“So what do you have?” Neil asked. “You haven’t exactly been overflowing with ideas yourself.”

“I’m thinking.” She snapped.

“Okay, okay…” He grabbed a bowl which had the last few crumbled potato chips in it, and scooped them up. “But none of us are getting any younger here.”

“Well…” Tasch began. “How about something that we like? That could work.”

“Good thought.” Rose began. “So, what’s something you like?”

Tasch considered this. “Muffins. I like muffins.”

“Sold.” Neil spoke up. “We’re the muffin me-“

“NO!” Both Rose and Stephen cut him off.

“Awww…” He finished off the chips, and put the bowl down, neatly balancing it on top of a pile of drink cans. “Hey, you know, that guy Stroermer liked muffins too. It said so in a biography of him I read.”

“What?” Rose asked.

“Oh yeah. He said that one of the worst things about the Dark Continent was that, at least at the time, there were no good muffins.”

”What does this have to do with anything?” Rose asked.

“Just a thought. He likes muffins, Tasch likes muffins. Tasch has the same name and all…”

“I ain’t related to him!” She began. “Why do people keep sayin’ that?”

“We could try using that, though.” Stephen spoke up. “We could have some name that relates back to him, like, uh, the Black Dragons or the like.”

“Two problems.” Rose replied. “One, that’s emphasising a single member of the team, which I think is a bit unfair. Two, both ‘black’ and ‘dragon’ are on the ‘cheesy’ list.”

“And besides, Gilvader’s a Wyvern, not a dragon.” Tasch spoke up. “Redler’s a dragon, and so’s Gungyarados. And Salamander too, actually.”

“Well that doesn’t make any sense to me.” Neil spoke up. “I mean, Salamander’s got two legs, and is a dragon. But Gilvader has four legs and is a Wyvern, but wyverns are supposed to have only two legs.”

“Matrix dragon has two legs.” Tasch pointed out.

“Yeah, but its also got arms, while Sally doesn’t.” He replied. “And Chimera Dragon has four legs, even if one pair of them can double as arms.”

“What about Dekault Dragon? Stephen asked. “I mean, its got four legs, but it’s made up of twp bipedal creatures.”

“But the dragon’s their native form.” Neil replied. “It’s based on an ancient core or something.”

“True…”

“So why does that make Gilvy a wyvern?” He continued. “I’m beat.”

“Maybe its because it don’t breathe fire.” Tasch offered. “But wait, Redlers don’t either, and they’re dragons too.”

“Hello?” Rose spoke up. “Team name thing here.”

“Oh yeah.” Tasch began.

“Right.” Rose continued, trying to regain control of the situation. “We can’t do the Gilvader thing, as, well, there’s not much connection. And anything that’s Gilvader related would be too cliché.”

“Hey, Tasch,” Neil began. “Do people on the Dark Continent when they’re trying to be kewlzies name things after flowers and happiness and sunshine and bunny rabbits and the like?”

“Uh… I dunno.” She replied. “I never thought about it.”

“Excuse me. Team names.”

“Right.” Stephen looked around. “So, um, anything else we like? That ‘favourite thing’ idea had some merits.”

“Right. So, guys, things that we like.” Rose spoke up.

“Hmm… hubcaps?” Neil offered.

“What?”

“I like hubcaps.” He shrugged.

“Yeah!” Tasch spoke up. “That’s a great name!”

“No it’s not.” Rose objected.

“Well, it’d be different.” Neil continued. “And certainly it’d be fun. And besides, how would you feel about being beaten by a bunch of guys called ‘I like Hubcaps?’”

“About as good as I’d feel being that bunch of guys.” Stephen commented.

“Awww…” Neil sulked. “But it was a good idea, admit it. At this rate, we’re going to end up as ‘Zoid Team 89’ or the like.”

“Actually, that’s kinda cool.” Tasch spoke up.

“…how does your brain work?” Rose asked. “This is getting us nowhere!” She stood up, only to stumble a bit. “Great. I got the cord of my A-Pod caught in this stupid chair.” She knelt down to untangle it. “Stupid damn chair.”

Stephen craned his neck around to watch her. “What are you gawping at?” Neil asked.

“Umm… just getting ideas, that’s all.” He offered

“Yeah, but I don’t think ‘full moon’ is a good one.” Neil replied smugly.

Rose stood up, messing with her A-Pod. “Damn thing… I swear this cord is going to be the death of me one day.”

“Say, what’s that you’re listening to?” Tasch asked.

“Lesse…” She unclipped it and took a look at the playlist. “World Without Logos. It’s from some obscure soundtrack.”

“That sounds kinda cool, actually.” Neil began.

“You wanna listen?”

“No, I mean the name.” He explained. “That could be our team’s name.”

“World Without Logos?” Rose asked. “It’s different.”

“At this stage, we might as well be ‘Team Without Logos’ for how far we’ve gotten.” Stephen commented.

“Or even ‘World Without Muffins.’” Stephen finished.

“Hey… what’s that ‘sposed to mean?” Tasch asked.

“Well, it’s a start.” Rose said as she began flipping through the playlist. “There could be some ideas here. How does… ‘Unusual Allies’ sound? I mean, we’re form all different backgrounds and we’ve got different Zoids.”

“Allies implies some sort of temporary arrangement.” Stephen replied shaking his head. “We’re not allies. We’re a team.”

“By the same stance, we could call ourselves ‘Stray Zoids’” Neil spoke up. “We did kinda just all wander into each other.”

“Neither of which really works, though.” Stephen continued.

“I guess…” Rose flicked the playlist over again. “Little Busters?”

“What?” Stephen asked.

She shrugged. “It’s the name of a song.”

“Your playlist is weird.”

“Oh yeah. You have no idea.” She pressed the button a few more times. “’Ride on Shooting Star.’ ‘A Sincere Heart’. ‘Lifeline (Vocal Version Rare!)’. ‘Arrival on Junk’. ‘She Drives Like Crazy…’” Rose looked up. “That could be your theme, Tasch, what with that crazy hopping Redler of yours.”

“Hey… I know exactly what I’m doin’” She replied.

“Well nothing there works.” Stephen continued. “Any other ideas?”

“Yeah.” Rose flicked it again. “No, I don’t think anyone would want to be on a team called ‘Zeekdobers ate my Baby.’” She shrugged. “Heck, I don’t even know what this track is doing on my pod.”

“Well that worked.” Neil began.

“Hey, why don’t we check the playlist on my computer?” Tasch asked. “I’m sure there’s gotta be some ideas in there.”

Stephen and Rose looked at each other, then at her. “No!” They both said at once.

“Okay then.” She shrugged. “Hey Rose, if you want, we can swap tracks some time.”

“Umm… sure.” Rose nervously replied, clearly not sure if she wanted to know.

“Right...” Neil continued. “What next?”

“Well, there’s this group of back to nature people on the Eastern continent who have their own way of naming their children.” Tasch spoke up. “Y’see, the father steps out of their tent and the first thing he sees he names the child after.”

Stephen glanced at the others. “Um… and?”

“So we look around for things and we name the team after something we can see.” Tasch continued.

“Well, its an idea, its unconventional and its kidna fun.” Neil spoke up. “And it’s certainly not going to leave us called the ‘Black Evil Death Dealers’”.

“Fine then.” Rose began, and sat down again. The chair suddenly creaked, then keeled over as one of the wheels popped off. Rose leaped off it, landing gracefully on the floor as it tipped over.

“You okay?” Stephen asked.

“Fine.” She snapped. “Damn it, what’s with this base? Is it stuffed full of broken chairs or what?”

“Broken chairs?” Tasch asked. “Yeah, I can see those.”

“Wha?”

“It does have a certain… appeal to it.” Neil replied.

“Yeah.” Tasch continued. “The broken chairs. “Its so different, so unexpected, so unconventional.”

“Nothing about you is conventional.” Rose replied.

“Which means that, after a fashion, it’s a good team name.” Stephen finished.

“It is?” Rose asked.

“Well, you yourself said we should avoid cliché names.” He pointed out. “And I think that ‘Broken Chairs’ is about as unconventional as it gets.

“Well…” Rose began, but she could see Stephen’s point. It was unconventional, distinctive and original, all that she’d wanted in a team name. “Yeah, you’re right. So we’re now the Broken Chairs.”

“Cool.” Neil finished. “Hey, Tasch, e-mail that off to the commission. They’ll need to know for tomorrow.”

“Sure thing.” She replied, turning back to her computer.

“And now…” Stephen spoke up as he checked his watch. “We need sleep. Lots of it.”

-

Unlike the others, Rose had been decidedly less then happy with the results of their little discussion. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the team’s choice of name, it’s just that, well, it didn’t sound right to her. To her mind, a team name needed to have a certain dynamism. It had to be cool and catchy, but not too cool as to be cheesy.

“Mornin’” Tasch began as she entered the team’s kitchen. “Y’all ready for the big day?”

“I’m going out to do battle alongside a bunch of guys who call themselves the ‘Broken Chairs.’” She replied. “How do you think I’m feeling?”

“Oh, I know what you mean.” Tasch replied.

“You do?” She was surprised at this revelation.

“Oh yeah. It’s very excitin’. We’re gonna be fighting as a team and all, with a proper team name and everything. I can’t wait.”

“Oh, forget about it.” Rose sighed and went about hunting down something passably edible.

The rest of the morning passed without any real issues. They’d gone over a few ideas for the battle, but nothing too concrete. Since they didn’t know what team they’d be up against, they weren’t going to commit to a specific battle plan. Instead they discussed manoeuvres and ways to use the strengths of their Zoids together.

A basic plan had emerged of what to do. Tasch would be used to tie up any airborne opponents and try to take them out. In the battle, she wouldn’t be limited to only the ground, so it would be a chance to see what she could really do. Rose had idly wondered if what she had done in her first battle was a one-off fluke occurrence, or if she really had planned all that. It’d be interesting to see.

Stephen would be used to take on the enemy’s heavy hitters; he’d target their largest Zoid and engage it straight up. It made sense, as his Iron Kong had the firepower and armour to deal with all but the most powerful of opponents. Rose and Neil’s task would be to suppress any fast moving opponents and support him, making sure that nobody got around him and tried to take him out from behind.

The plan looked good on paper. Now to see if it could work in practice.

The four of them walked their Zoids to the stadium, Tasch’s Redler casually flying along with them in formation. As before, there was a lot of Zoid traffic on the streets today. Observing them, Rose idly wondered if any of the Zoids around her were from the team that they would be facing today. At the same time, she was keeping her eyes open for a blue Koenig Wolf.

She had no idea which team it was that he’d joined. She’d figured that it was likely a more experienced team, given his reputation. At the same time, however, it wasn’t unheard of for rookie teams to try and recruit experienced pilots into their teams, just to improve their chances. And having a pilot like Drake would drastically improve any team’s chances.

And that team could have been ours, she thought. No, that wasn’t true. He’d already been recruited when she saw him, so the odds were that he was on whatever team well before she even arrived in the city. So there was no point thinking about it, she reminded herself. All she could do now was try to make the best of a bad situation.

“Wow.” Tasch spoke up, throwing her train of thought. “Its just as big when you see it a second time.”

Looking up, Rose could see that they were approaching the monolithic Zoids Stadium. While she was usually rather vague, Rose had to concede that Tasch had a point. It was rather impressively large.

Their Zoids were checked in and guided to their designated launch bay by the arena’s staff, before being put through their entire pre-battle checklist. All the while, Rose had been watching the area around them, looking out for other teams. She was hoping that she could get a glimpse of whatever team they were going up against.

She would have had to admit that she was a bit nervous, possibly more so then her first battle. In her first battle, it was entirely up to her to win it. In this one, she would have to be depending on the capabilities of the other members of her team; capabilities that she wasn’t entirely sure that she trusted yet. Maybe I’m being overly cautious, she considered. But then… we’ve never worked as a team before, and nobody here has been a member of a team…

Maybe it was just nerves, she thought. But she also knew she’d feel better with someone more skilled on-side.

“Hey Rose!” Neil called out from across the hanger. She’d been watching some of the battles while trying to figure out what sort of opposition they’d be up against. “They’ve just beeped us. Its time to go.”

“Thanks” She replied as she turned around, walking towards her Liger. ''Well, there’s no going back now. Let’s show the world what we can do''.

-

The four Zoids walked into the arena, lined up at one end of it. Looking around, their pilots could see that they were the first out. “Our first team battle.” Tasch began.

“Nice day for it too.” Neil commented.

“Naw, its too bright out here.” She commented. “Can’t they turn down the sun a bit?”

He wasn’t sure if she was joking or being serious. It was hard to tell. “So, any idea who we’re going up against?” He asked, trying not to think too hard about it.

“None at all.” Stephen replied. “I’m guessing it’ll be another rookie team like us, though.”

“I guess we’ll know when we meet them.” Rose finished. Usually battles like this were arranged in advance, with both teams knowing exactly who they were fighting. That allowed them to plan for the battle and figure out what would and wouldn’t work. For the team tryouts, just like the solo ones, the teams wouldn’t know who they were up against until the battle was about to begin.

The doors at the other end of the arena opened wit ha trio of forms emerging. The center of the formation was a massive Mammoth, sporting a pair of supercannons on its back as well as additional armaments on its flanks. On its left was a dull red Saber Tiger equipped with a hyperbeam cannon, similar to the one used by Stephen’s Iron Kong. On the right was a Black Rhimos with a CP-04 mounted in place of its radar mast. A Sinker, a beam gattling mounted under each wing, hovered past them, settling down in front of the formation.

“So this is what we’re up against?” The Mammoth’s pilot called out. “A buncha amateurs, huh? Hardly seems worth our time.” The Zoid trumpeted loudly, then turned to face their team. “We’re the Black Warriors. If you know what’s good for ya, you’ll go down quick.”

“The Black Warriors, huh?” Rose began over a comms channel to the other members of the team. “I’ve heard of them.”

“Dangerous?” Neil asked.

“A bit.” She replied. “They’ve got a fair deal of experience.”

“So what are they doing here on rookie tryout day?” Neil asked. “Unless this is the Zoid battle version of hazing.”

“But could a Mammoth carry a paddle in its trunk?” Tasch asked.

Rose paused before replying. “Thing is, they’re also a perpetual looser team. They tend to get knocked out early in the competition every year.”

“So there’s a good reason why they’re here on tryout day, then.” Stephen commented.

“Pretty much.”

A Battle Commission surveillance drone passed over the two teams, then settled in the centre of the arena, cutting off any reply. “The Broken Chairs versus the Black Warriors.” An electronic voice called out. “Both teams confirmed. Arena confirmed.” The pilots watched the enemy Zoids in anticipation. “Contestants ready… fight!”

“Okay, here’s the plan.” Stephen continued. “We stay mobile and close in to avoid getting hit by the Mammoth’s big guns. Tasch, take out the Sinker and stop it from getting behind us. Rose, try to get behind the Mammoth. Everyone got that? Good!”

There was a loud retort as the Mammoth’s supercannons fired. In response, the four Zoids started running, splitting up as they advanced across the arena. The two supercannon shots went well over their mark, tearing up the arena and kicking up a lot of smoke and dirt, but doing little else.

Tasch’s Redler took to the air, taking the lead against the enemy formation, its pilot keeping her eyes out for the enemy Zoid. Rose’s Liger Zero headed out in front of the team, heading straight for the enemy, while the Iron Kong and Gunsniper followed behind it.

The Mammoth remained in place, while the other members of its team charged forwards to meet the enemy. The Saber Tiger and Sinker flanked the Black Rhimos, the latter hovering just above the ground rather then going to full flight. Seeing a chance, Stephen opened fire on the enemy formation, the two long range tactical missiles launching from the Zoid’s back, heading towards the enemy formation.

“Redjack, Paula, Hopper!” The Mammoth’s pilot called out. “Scatter, now!” The Saber Tiger suddenly swerved to one side, peeling away from the formation. On the other side, the Sinker did the same, climbing as it went. The Black Rhimos, instead, charged straight forwards. “Hopper you moron!” The Mammoth pilot called out. “Look out!”

The two tactical missiles flew straight over the Black Rhimos, not even coming close to hitting it. “What’s wrong, Boss?” He called back. “There’s nothing to worry- AH!”

Rose’s Liger Zero leaped down on the Rhimos, diving through the smoke trials left by the missiles. The Zoid’s strike laser claw carved through its hip armour, all but tearing the leg free form the body before the Liger leaped away. The Rhimos stumbled, skidding forwards before collapsing on its side.

Before anyone could say anything, the two tactical missiles struck home. The Mammoth was staggered under the impact of the hits, stumbling backwards. The Zoid battered, but still fully functional, but managed to keep its feet.

“One down!” Stephen called out. “Keep going, guys!”

-

Tasch’s Redler reached the peak of its climb just above the center of the arena, then dived dramatically, heading straight for the Sinker. She squeezed the trigger, opening fire with the two beam cannons mounted on the flexible boosters. One of the shots hit the Zoid, clipping its body. The Sinker wavered in flight, its wing momentarily scraping along the ground before its pilot pulled back on the stick, climbing upwards.

“Not bad for an amateur.” Its female pilot began. “Now its time for you to taste a little pain.” Despite its smaller size, the Sinker was carrying a lot more firepower then the Redler, especially with the two gattlings. The Zoid climbed towards her, opening fire with the twin cannons, filling the air around the Redler with shots.

Tasch twisted the Zoid’s foot pedals and yanked the control stick hard to the left. Abruptly, the two flexible boosters veered to one side, suddenly shifting the Redler out of the line of fire. Before the Sinker’s pilot could react, she opened fire with the two beam cannons again. The shots dug into the Sinker’s body, carving armour off its frame.

The enemy pilot broke off, looping around and then diving back to the arena floor. Tasch dived after it, firing her beam cannons. The other pilot was proving to have some degree of skill, managing to evade most of her shots. The Sinker dropped down to ground level and sped along with Tasch on its tail, then suddenly sharply turned to one side.

Tasch saw why as the red Saber Tiger loomed up in front of her. She abruptly changed course, the Redler leaping over the enemy Zoid. As it came down on the enemy Zoid’s far side, She swung the controls around again. The Redler spun around, its tail blade whipping out and cutting into the Saber Tiger’s flank.

Before she could do anything else, the Sinker came back, firing its beam gattlings. The Redler literally leaped away, turning a short hop into a flight. “Hey…” She began. Y’know, she’s tricky.” Down here, the Sinker could retain its full speed and agility while hovering, while the Redler would either have to run or take to the air.

The Zoid leaped away from the Saber Tiger, heading straight for the Sinker, opening fire as it went. The shots came closer this time, one of them punching through the Sinker’s armour and going through to its innards. Black smoke billowed out form the smaller Zoid as it peeled away, trying to avoid her shots.

Twisting the controls again, Tasch slewed the Redler around in mid-flight. The Zoid turned as it went, keeping its nose pointed at the Sinker. Tasch kept her finger on the trigger, spraying shots at the Sinker’s tail. The Zoid bucked under the impact of the shots, then crashed down to the arena floor for a moment, skidding along on its belly before coming to a halt. The Redler landed behind it, its claws skidding along the arena floor.

“Did I get him?” She asked.

“Uh… Tasch?” Rose asked. “What the hell was that?”

“Was what?”

“What you just did.”

“Well…” She began. “Well, I just tuned the boosters and opened fire. An’ I kept hopping to avoid the Sinker’s fire.”

“Oookay then.” Rose replied, clearly not sure what to make of it.

-

Neil served the Gunsniper, narrowly avoiding a hit form the Saber Tiger’s beam cannon. He knew a single hit form that thing could take him down, so his best policy was to avoid that hit. The Saber Tiger leaped away from the Gunsniper, ignoring it and heading for the Iron Kong.

“Hey! Don’t ignore me!” Neil called out as his Zoid turned, heading after it. “Why does everyone always do that?” He opened fire with the Gunsniper’s wrist-mounted cannons, spraying shots at the enemy Zoid’s flanks. The Saber Tiger took several hits before replying with its own tail-mounted guns.

The Gunsniper took a grazing hit to one side before leaping out of the way, continuing to spray shots at the enemy Zoid. Realising the sudden threat of this smaller Zoid, the Saber Tiger turned to face it, snarling. The Zoid opened fire with its beam cannon again, the shot only narrowly missing the Gunsniper.

“Uh, never mind.” Neil replied. “I liked the anonymity.” He ran past the enemy Zoid, firing one of the wrist cannons at it along with the chest-mounted beam cannons. By his figuring, the Saber Tiger wouldn’t be able to turn the beam cannon fast enough to track him. Well, at least he hoped that was the case. He quietly wished he had one of those Wild Weasel pods. The added firepower could be really useful right now.

When I’m rich and famous, maybe… he began as he sprinted away form the Saber Tiger. The enemy Zoid turned to face him, then broke into a run, heading after him.

“Hey! You don’t wanna eat me!” He called out. “I’m all skin and bones. Really. No meat on the frame at all!” Glancing ahead, he could see that he was heading towards the Mammoth. “That’s not much of an improvement either, really…”

The mammoth opened fire with its side-mounted quad impact cannon, the shots rippling off a series of blasts just to one side of his Zoid. That was close, Neil thought. Okay, it was a bit too close for me. Glancing around, he could see that the Saber Tiger was still after him. Well, now what, wise-arse?

A pair of shots hit the Saber Tiger on the side. Glancing around, he could see Rose’s Liger Zero charging at it, rippling off shots from the impact cannon. Angered at this new arrival, the Saber Tiger turned to face it, ignoring Neil for the moment. The Tiger opened fire with its beam cannon, Rose narrowly avoiding the shot.

Seeing his chance, Neil ducked away form the Mammoth and headed after the Tiger. Its pilot was now too focused on Rose to notice him.; she was busy ducking, dodging and weaving, and generally making it hard for him to get a good shot off at her. He relies too much on that thing… Neil noted. The pilot wanted to get a one-hit kill, and wasn’t thinking hard enough about his options.

A beep on his radar caught his attention. “Great, now wha… hey!” The Gunsniper leaped out of the way as the Sinker barreled past him, then suddenly broke to one side. “Watch where you’re going!” He called out, then was cut off as Tasch’s Redler passed straight over him. The Redler swooped down on the Sinker, then leaped over the Tiger at the last possible moment. Neil had no idea what was going on.

Abruptly, the Saber Tiger stumbled as if its legs had been knocked out from under it. As the pilot struggled to get to his feet, Neil saw an opportunity. He charged towards the Tiger, opening fire with both back-mounted rocket pods. The missiles slammed into the Tiger’s side, literally blowing it over. The Tiger bounced, then rolled onto its side, ripping the cannon free form its body.

“Ooh. Ouchies.” Neil began. He cautiously checked the tiger for any sign of movement. Nope… nothing. Which meant that he’d knocked it out of action.

“Hey!” Rose called out over their communicator. “You stole my kill!”

The Gunsniper turned to face her Liger Zero. “Well, I figured that you already had one so it’d be okay. What’s one little Saber Tiger between friends?” He could swear the Zoid was glaring at him.

-

Stephen watched as the other members of the team engaged the enemy Zoids. So far, everything seemed to be going well. Each of them seemed to know what they were doing, and were handing the other Zoids fine.

My turn now. The Iron Kong knuckled its way across the arena, thunderous footfalls marking its passage. Ahead of him was the Mammoth, which was steadfastly holding its ground. He knew why; it was an older model Zoid, not very fast or agile. It couldn’t hope to keep up with the other Zoids on its team, or any of the ones it was facing, so its pilot was choosing to stand his ground and concentrate on what it was best at: Long range, heavy fire.

There was a thunderous roar as the supercannons fired again. Stephen fired the boosters, twisting the footpedals hard to the left. The Iron Kong suddenly leaped and veered off to one side as the shots headed for where he had been just seconds ago. A tremendous explosion tore apart the arena floor, but achieved little more then shaking him up.

Nice try, buddy. He began. The Iron Kong landed form its leap, then charged forwards again. Lining up the enemy Zoid in his sights, Stephen opened fire with the hyperbeam cannon. The shot tore through the Mammoth’s back, ripping apart the armour near the base of the Supercannons. Damn, just a little higher…

He seemed to have gotten the pilot’s attention, however. The Zoid turned to face him, then opened fire with one of the missile pods on its legs. Firing the thrusters again, Stephen tried to turn away from them. Several of the missiles turned to follow him, closing in on the Zoid. Thumbing the trigger, he opened fire with several of the missiles from the Kong’s own shoulder launcher. The two flights of missiles flew straight at each other, detonating each other in a spectacular cloud of smoke and flame.

Putting the Kong into another run, he headed straight for the enemy Zoid. The Mammoth, unable to keep up, turned its trunk mounted weapon to face him and opened fire. Stephen knew he didn’t eve have to worry about it; the shots bounced off the Iron Kong’s armour with no effect.

''Nice try. That’s why they invented supercannons, buddy''. The Mammoth’s pilot, realising what he was up against, turned to face him, and decided to charge straight at him instead. The Ipact Cannon tripled off shots, slamming into the Iron Kong’s chest.

Stephen was rocked around in the pilots seat as the Zoid took the hits. Checking the damage displays, he could see that the Zoid’s chest amour was damaged but it wasn’t too severe. The Mammoth’s twin beam tusks, however, could pose more of a problem. Don’t feel like getting near those.

The Kong fired its boosters again, leaping past the charging Zoid. As he flew past it, he twisted the controls around, keeping the Zoid pointed at the enemy. Stephen opened fire with the wrist cannon and the Hyperbeam Cannon, shots tearing into the Mammoth’s side before it landed, skidding across the arena floor.

He turned to look at the Mammoth as it stood there for a second. Then, suddenly, something inside it cocked off. A cloud of black smoke billowed out form its side as its legs shifted, then drooped. The Zoid wavered, then slowly collapsed on its right side.

He allowed himself a moment’s breather before looking around. He could see the Rhimos, still lying where Rose had felled it. Likewise, the Saber Tiger was visible, lying on one side with its legs in the air. He couldn’t see the sinker, but figured that it was also out of action. At the same time, he could see that the rest of his team were still standing.

A monitor drone flew over the field, surveying both teams. “The battle is over!” It announced after a brief pause. “The winner is the Broken Chairs!”

“Huh.” Stephen looked around. They’d done it. They’d fought together as a team, and won. Nobody had been knocked out of action, and they’d beaten a far more experienced team. “Not bad for a bunch of amateurs,” he said to himself.

-

Ariel Mychelle had been watching their battle from a monitor just outside her team’s hanger. She’d been ready for the battle long ago, well before the rest of the team. Figuring that they would be ready before the battle, she was willing to wait. Of average height, Ariel had a figure that had been described as ‘stunning.’ She had long platinum blonde hair and emerald green eyes. She was dressed in a form-fitting, silver and grey jumpsuit that featured diamond cut-outs across her chest and abdomen, showing off her not inconsiderable cleavage and pierced navel.

“What a bunch of amateurs.” She commented as she watched the team in action. She saw nothing that, to her eyes, was even remotely impressive about them. The Liger Zero and Redler’s pilots showed some talent, but nothing that, to her mind, she couldn’t have easily done in their places.

And then there was the Iron Kong. She wasn’t sure, but she believed that it was the same one that had beaten her last week at the tryouts. It was the same colour and had the same weapons configuration, and the pilot moved in the same way.

How could I have been beaten by that fool? She thought to herself. It was bad enough to have been beaten by an amateur like him… but to loose to a wretched Iron Kong? That was unforgivable. She hoped that she would meet him in battle again. He wouldn’t be able to get so lucky a second time.

“Ariel Mychelle. Fancy seeing you here.” A voice came from behind her. Turning around, she could see a man leaning against a doorway. He was tall, with rather bland and nondescript features. His hair was short and neatly trimmed, and he sported a small goatee beard.

“What do you want, Lance?” She snarled.

“I had heard that you had rejoined the ZBC.” He continued. “But I wanted to see if it was true.”

“I’m no longer with your people.” She snapped. “I’m going to do things my way from now on.”

“If I recall, that was why you left the ZBC in the first place.” He replied.

“I’m on a team now. One that’s better then any of those weaklings you tried to set me up with.” She continued, glaring at him.

“I’ll have to believe you then.” Lance casually replied.

“I’m not coming back.”

“Fine.” He shrugged. “The offer’s still there if you want it. Call me if you reconsider…” He turned and walked off.

She glared at him as he left. I’m through with you and your kind. She thought to herself. I can do this on my own, without your so-called help. She turned back to the screen, where the Iron Kong was standing over the downed Mammoth. And I won’t let you or anyone else stop me.

-

“So lets hear it for the Broken Chairs!” Neil called out as he raised his glass, then took a massive swig of beer.

“Hear, hear!” Stephen called back, before taking a drink of his own. The four of them had gone out for a little celebratory drink after their battle. They had a good reason to be cheerful. Today’s results had been somewhat surprising to the whole team. While nobody had expected them to loose the battle, the fact that thy won it without a single one of their Zoids being knocked out of action was something of a surprise.

It was more so once they examined the results of the day’s battle. Not a single other team had gotten away with a flawless victory like they had. Every other team had at least one Zoid knocked out during their battle, and at least one team had only won with a single Zoid remaining. Not only had they won their battle, but they’d had the best overall performance for the day.

“Through the trials without a single loss.” Rose commented. “I must admit, I am rather impressed. I hadn’t quite expected that.”

“Yeah. And we didn’t need to fight each other or anyone else we knew. That’s nice.” Tasch added. Stephen had noticed that she wasn’t drinking anything alcoholic. He also figured that this was probably a good thing. The thought of Tasch drunk and more incoherent then usual was moderately terrifying.

“Well…. Yeah, that too.” Rose replied.

“Ah, come on.” Neil began. “Admit it. The team name is cool.”

“Well…” She admitted. Okay, so it wasn’t quite what she’d wanted from a team name. And these people hadn’t exactly been what she’d expected when she joined the competition and went out looking for a team. Certainly a team of rookies who seemed to have luck and skill in equal portions wasn’t what she’d expected.

On the other hand, she had to admit that they did have their good points. Stephen seemed to be a surprisingly good planner and organiser. He seemed to have taken over the running of the team by default, and not just because he had the biggest Zoid. He seemed to know what he was doing, and his planning seemed to have served them well both in getting the team organised and winning the battle. And he wasn’t bad looking either.

Neil was different, she thought. He was a nice guy, actually. Even though he was a bit of a smart-arse, every thing he said or did seemed to be in good humour. He’d done well enough in the battle, which had been her biggest worry about him. Furthermore, he seemed to be very good at working with others and supporting them.

And then there was Tasch. She was… unusual, to say the least. Everything about her was weird; her mannerisms, the strange things she said, the way she seemed to gawp at everything around her... and then there was the way she piloted her Zoid. She’d never expected anyone to try stuff like that in a Redler. But she was also very polite and a nice person to be around, if a little strange.

“Yeah, its cool.” She admitted. “Very different, kinda, post-modern, almost surrealist, if you know what I mean.”

“Wouldn’t that be a melted clock instead of a broken chair then?” Tasch asked.

Rose’s brain almost seized up at that one. “Yeah, sorta like that.” She replied. It was the only thing she could think to say.

“Admit it.” Neil continued as he stole the last of the chips. “You just like the idea of being a Broken Chair.” He ate the last few chips, then smiled like an idiot.

“Yeah, well…” She couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s better then being a black-obsessed madman, isn’t it?”

“See?” Neil replied. “It isn’t so bad after all.”

“But what’s wrong with the colour black?” Tasch asked.

The pair of them glanced at her; she was in a black shirt and charcoal slacks. “Never mind.” Rose replied.

“So guys.” Stephen spoke up. “We’ve done well so far. We’ve all got through our trials, and we’re now a fully-fledged team. We’ve got the whole season ahead of us still, but I think we’re off to a great start.” He raised his glass. “To the Broken Chairs.”

“The Broken chairs.” The others replied, then drank.

Yeah… Rose thought to herself. This isn’t so bad after all. She smiled as she finished off her beer. Now let’s see what the future holds.

-

A lone figure sat in a corner of the bar, watching its occupants. In particular, she was keeping her eyes on one group of revellers who were celebrating their victory.

Looking around, they noticed a man talking to a woman. She was blonde and generously portioned, and rather eye-catchingly attractive. He was tall and nondescript, with short brown hair. The two exchanged a few words, before the blonde stormed out, leaving him behind.

Oh yes, they thought as they glanced back to the four revelers. This could be a very interesting season indeed.