TBC Chapter 01

The Broken Chairs

Chapter One

By Rick R.

-

The black and green Redler passed over the busy city streets, its pilot watching the traffic below from through the green-tinted view screens. Below her, she could see a procession of Zoids and transports passing through the city. Even though they were restricted to their own special lanes, the queues were still substantial. Several large transports, Gustavs and Hovercargos and even a Dragoon Nest were amongst them, only serving to further congest the roads.

She was glad that her Zoid was flying over the city, keeping her away from the traffic. Up here was mainly transports; a handful of Whale Kings and Whale Sharks. A few airborne Zoids were amongst them, all following predesignated routes like she did.

There was a beep from the control panel as the Redler banked, heading towards center of the city. Looking ahead, the pilot could see a series of large buildings that stood out form the area around them. The very scale of them was colossal, dwarfing the other buildings.

“NJR-397-44/GE, this is control.” A voice came over the communications system. “Come in please.”

“Ah… yeah.” She replied as she fumbled with the switch. “This is NJR-397-44/GE.” It was her Zoid’s serial number, which it was currently broadcasting as an identity signal. “Go ahead.”

“We have cleared your approach. Please follow the landing instructions and proceed to bay 45 west.” “Sure thing.” She checked the navigational systems; they were indicating a flight pattern and specific bay. Disengaging the autopilot, she began the descent. The Redler descended, passing over the series of large arenas that dominated the city’s center and her objective.

A few minutes later, the Redler was down, sitting outside the bay. The cockpit swung open, its plot looking around.

“Aaah! Too bright!”

She ducked bellow the console for a moment, fishing around for something before emerging, a pair of dark sunglasses over her eyes.

“Much better.”

The female pilot stepped out of her Zoid. She was of above average height, and clad in a grey pilot’s suit that seemed to show off her figure. She had long, straight brown hair and light green, almost yellow eyes that were hidden behind the glasses.

“Why’s the sun always gotta be so bright?” She muttered to herself as she looked around at her Zoid. The Redler was a rather shiny black, with bright green wings and grey talons. A pair of flexible booster units were mounted on top of the wings, an unusual configuration for the Zoid.

“Tasch Stoermer?” A voice behind her began. She turned around to see a technician approaching, a clipboard in hand.

“Yeah, that’s me.” She replied. “What’s up?”

“I’m just here form the commission. I need you to just sign a few things for us. Then we can park your Zoid and you’re all ready to go. Oh, and I’ll also need to check your ID”

“Uh, sure.” She replied and took the board. It had been a long trip so far, going all the way from her home on the Dark Continent over here to the Eastern one. She’d set out to see the world. So far, it was going well. “This all okay?” She asked as she handed it back, along with her Battle Commission ID card and Zoid pilot’s license.

“Lesee…” He began. “You’re from Nyx? We don’t get many people from there. Most of the Guylos people we get are from the Western continent.”

“Yeah.” She replied. “I’ve been traveling a lot.”

“Streormer? Is that ant relation to that guy from the old war?” He asked.

“Who?”

“You know, that Gilvader pilot? He destroyed the entire Republic army or something like that.” The tech commented.

“Naw, I ain’t related to him at all.” She replied.

The tech shrugged. “Okay, here’s your copy of everything.” He handed her a copy of the form and her ID cards. “If you just want to bring your Zoid in, we’ll check it up and make sure it’s ready for the preliminaries tomorrow.”

“Thanks. I just need to get some stuff from it.”

“No probs.” He replied as she climbed back into the Zoid. “Just be back here by nine tomorrow morning. They’ll have the times for the preliminaries available by then.”

Tasch stood up in the cockpit, a bag over one shoulder, seemingly ignoring him for the moment.

“Excuse, miss?”

“Isn’t it bright today?” She asked. “And the sky’s really blue too.”

“Yeah.” He said. “You got all you need?”

“Sure.” She climbed out of the Zoid. “And thanks.” She walked off, heading to the exits towards the city proper.

“Well that was… odd.” The tech finished. “Nyxians. Go fig.” He checked her form. Wait a sec… that couldn’t be right. Unless… “Hey, miss! Excuse me!” He looked around, but she was gone.

“Well, I guess she already knows.” He began. “Gotta admit, it’s not the first thing I’d have expected.”

-

Stephen Chesterton climbed off the bus, carrying his backpack with him. He was a tall, heavily built man with short brown hair and brown eyes, and a recently shaved chin. He was currently dressed in fatigue pants, a plain grey shirt topped off with a coat, and carrying his backpack and a rather large duffel bag that clanked as he walked.

He’d just arrived in the city along with his Zoid, along with about a billion other people, it seemed. And, like the rest of them, he was going to need accommodation overnight until the tournament tomorrow morning. He’d been stupid enough not to book in advance, and had to take whatever he could find. Fortunately, he’d been able to find a place in a Backpacker’s hostel.

Great, he thought as he trudged up the steps to the entrance. I’ll probably have to share a room with a bunch of unwashed young yobs. At the very least, he figured that most of the people cramming the city would be Zoid battle fans who’d come for the start of the season. So, at the very least, maybe stating that he was a Zoid warrior would get him some privacy and sleep.

He entered the building and approached the reception, trying to ignore the various leaflets littered around the place. “Scuse.” He began. “My name’s Stephen Chesterton. I booked a room here.”

“Sure.” The vacuous blonde behind the counter replied. She glanced down at a careen, then back at him. “You got any ID?” He handed her his Zoid pilots’ license. “Thanks fer that…” She tapped a few buttons on her computer, then handed him the card and a key. “Ok, you’ve got room B28. You go downstairs, and to the very end of the hall. It’s the last room on your left, just by the laundry. Can’t miss it.”

“Thanks.”

She handed him a pile of sheets. “When, you check out, just bring the sheets back up. Oh, and I need to ask if you’re carrying nay weapons.” She pointed to a ‘No guns allowed’ sign by the door. “Gotta check them if you are.”

That seemed fair. At least she wasn’t going to lecture him on how bad it was to carry them or anything like that. He reached into his coat and produced a large pistol and put it onto the counter.

“Thanks for-“ She began, before he cut her off by putting down a second pistol. “Ok, thanks for-“ He unzipped his duffel bag and pulled out two clips for the pistols, and put them down as well. “Thank you, mister-“ He then reached into the bag and produced a massive combat shotgun, putting it down on the counter.

“Um, thank you.”

“Do I need to fill in a form?”

“Er, sure.” She replied. “I’ll just need your name and some details and the serial numbers of these guns. You can pick them up when you leave.”

“Not a problem.” He filled in the forms, then handed them back to her.

“And, um, here’s a ticket for the guns. You just present it when you, um, want to get them back.” She seemed a little nervous.

“Anything else?”

“Oh no!” She squeaked. “That’s fine, really! Thanks! Enjoy your stay.”

He proceeded downstairs and down the hall, carrying his bags and blankets. The lower floor was rather gloomy and, he suspected, only used when the place was full up, like it was now. He reached his room; it looked the same as any other room on the floor, save for being right at the end.

He stepped into the room. Immediately, he was greeted by an unexpected sight; a young woman kneeling down to get something out of her backpack, her back turned to him. He couldn’t help but notice that not only had her pants crept down as she knelt, but she was wearing a g-string with a green triangular logo on the small triangle of material at the top… and that she had a rather shapely rear end.

“Um…” He began, unsure of what to say. He tried to concentrate on anything else. The rose and thorns tattoo that was spread across her shoulders was a good start.

The woman stood and turned to face him. “Oh, hi there.” She began rather casually, either not knowing or not caring that he’d just gotten an eyeful of her rear.

“Hi.” He replied, trying to act casual while getting a better look at her. She was rather tall and rather attractive, with a pleasing face and nice figure; not overly thin but rather fit. She had long, honey-brown hair and bright green eyes. She was wearing a pair of baggy khaki pants that came up way too short, a floral minitop that showed of her figure, and a black mesh top over that. He also noticed a rose tattoo on her abdomen, matching the one on her back, and a thorn pattern winding down her right arm. He wasn’t sure whether he should apologize for his inadvertent ogling of her, or just pretend it didn’t happen and hope she didn’t figure it out.

“You here for the Zoid battles?” She asked casually.

“Yeah.” He replied. “I’m just staying here overnight before my turn in the qualifying rounds.”

“So you’re a pilot then.” She replied. “Same here. Rose O’Bannon.” She offered him her hand.

Rose, uh? That explained a lot. “Pleased to meet you.” He took her hand and shook it. “Stephen Chesterton.”

“So what do you pilot?” She asked.

“Iron Kong. Yourself?”

“Nice.” She whistled. “I got me a Liger Zero. Just a base one though, I haven’t got any CAS for it yet.” She smiled. “Of course, if I do well…”

“Yeah. So you on a team yet?” He figured that they were both in the same boat; amateurs that had no real experience in actual battles. He’d had a few test fights, and a couple of mock battles, but nothing that he’d have called a ‘real’ battle.

“Not yet, no.” She replied.

“Me neither.” Stephen admitted. “I’ve been looking for one though.”

“Same here. Not much luck yet, but, well, maybe if I get a win tomorrow and start the competition with a few points it’ll help things out.”

“Hey, if all else fails, we could team up.” Actually, he wouldn’t mind working with Rose and getting to know her a bit closer. Certainly after what he’d seen of her so far.

“Yeah, we could to.” She replied. “Anyways, I’ve already called dibs on the top bunk.” She patted the bed next to her. “No idea if there’s anyone else in here.”

A knock on the door cut Stephen off before he could say anything. “You all decent?” A voice called out, then the door opened. A man entered; he was average height, possibly even a bit on the short side. Certainly he was a bit shorter then Rose. He had long, straight black hair worn in a ponytail and blue eyes, and was dressed rather casually in jeans, a grey shirt and a jacket.

“Hey.” He began. “Anyone taking this bunk?” He indicated to the bottom bunk next to where Stephen was standing.

“Er, no.” Stephen began.

“Cool.” He threw his backpack on it, then stood. “Name’s Neil Notbob.” He began, and offered his hand to Stephen.

“Notbob?” Stephen asked as he shook Neil’s hand.

“Yeah. It’s a name. There’s some of them in the phonebook.” He turned around to Rose. “Hi!”

“Rose O’Bannon.” She replied as she stepped forwards. “You here for the fights?”

“I’m in the qualifiers, yeah.” Neil replied. “You guys?”

“The same.” Stephen replied. “We’re both amateurs here.”

“Steve’s got an Iron Kong.” Rose began. She hadn’t asked about using the shortened version of his name, but he didn’t mind for now. “And I’ve got a Liger Zero.”

“Beats me.” Neil replied, holding up his hands. “All I have is a stock Gunsniper.”

“Not bad.” Stephen began. “You’re getting a lot of grunt for your size there. And it’s pretty agile.”

“Yeah.” Neil shrugged, then sat down on the free bunk. “’sides, in my price range, its pretty good.” He continued. “So you two a team or something?”

“Us?” Rose asked. “We’re just sharing a room. We’ve known each other for about five minutes now.”

“Heh. Didn’t think of that.” Neil began. “I guess we all got the last room in the last place free in town.” He eyed the remaining bunk bed next to where Rose was standing. “And so is there a claimant on that last bed? I just managed to scrape in here and they said they had a couple of spaces free, so I’m guessing its not taken by anyone you know.”

“Not that I know of.” Stephen replied. “But you’d need to be desperate or ill-prepared if that was your only option; the last bed in the last room.”

“Yeah. And I can’t see that happening.” Rose commented.

“Ah!” A woman’s voice called form outside. “B28. Guess this is my place then.”

“Don’t say anything.” Stephen muttered. Neil shrugged.

A woman entered the room, carrying a rather overstuffed backpack. She was shorter then Rose, which still put her on the tall side, Stephen figured. She had long brown hair and light green eyes, with a pair of sunglasses pushed up onto her forehead. She was wearing an oversized black turtleneck skivvy and dull grey slacks. “Hey, this ain’t so bad.” She began. “Not too bright down here.”

“Don’t tell me.” Neil began. “You’re a pilot here for the qualifying rounds of the tourney, right?”

“Yeah, I am.” The girl began as she entered the room. “How’d you guess?”

“We all are.” He said, indicating to himself, Stephen and Rose. “We just all got the last room in the place.”

“Funny that.” Rose began. “I guess we all should have been here earlier.”

“Yeah. Or we coulda booked in as a group.” The woman replied. “’cept that wouldn’t have worked, as we didn’t know each other then.”

There was a bit of a pause. “Well...” Stephen began. “At any rate, I’m Stephen Chesteron.”

“Tasch Stoermer.” She replied as she dumped her oversized backpack onto the last free bunk. “Pleased to meetcha.”

“I’m Rose O’Bannon.” Rose spoke up. “And this is Neil Notbob.”

“Rose, huh?” Tasch asked. “Like the flower you got on yer belly, right?”

“Yeah.” Rose replied, a bit put off for a second.

Neil got up, and offered his hand to Tasch. “If we follow pattern, you’re just an amateur like the rest of us, right? No actual battle experience?”

“Me? No.” She replied. “’cept for the fact that I flew here myself. But that don’t really count, does it?”

“Flew?” Rose asked. “What Zoid have you got?”

“A Redler.” Tasch replied.

“Well that would round things off nicely.” Neil commented. “Redler, Gunsiper, Iron Kong-“ He indicated to Stephen. “-And Liger Zero.” He pointed at rose. “Nicely mixed much there.”

“Yeah, actually.” Stephen began. He considered this. They had firepower, speed, agility, a flying Zoid… actually, they were coming off as a rather well-rounded bunch.

“I’ll say.” Tasch began. “I mean, black, blue, white and shiney metallic grey. It is a bit of a mix.”

…that too.

His stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten since an early breakfast, and it was getting late already. The daylight saving time around here was deceptive, he thought. “Hey guys?” He began. “I was going to head out to get a bite to eat. Anyone care to join me?”

-

Despite the best effort of both geography (the backpackers’ being located on the outer edge of the city) and finances (virtually everyone was down to travel money and reserves for repairs), they’d managed to find a decent place to eat nearby. There was a reasonably local pub that, besides having decently priced beer also did great burgers. Neil had commented that this place was perfect for the backpacker market. The presence of a veggie burger (100% pure meat substitute!) on the menu had confirmed this.

“I mean, pure meat substitute?” He spoke up between bites from his own rather extravagantly sized burger. “What does that mean? It’s got no artificial fake ingredients?” Stephen and Rose laughed at this idea.

“Actually, I think it means that they make it out of one type of substitute, like soy or something.” Tasch added.

He looked at her, then shrugged. Tasch had been making a lot of good one-liners so far. Her comebacks were amazing, he thought as he reached across the table and stole one of the chips from Stephen’s plate, then dipped it in the ‘special’ salsa on the side of Rose’s plate. You’d say something, and then she’d come back with some other really weird line.

“Hey, that’s my chip!” Stephen began.

“It looked lonely.” He replied, and then ate it.

“Well, now it’s got company.” Tasch added.

Stephen nodded. “Good one. I’ll pay that.”

“So where are you guys from, anyway?” Stephen began. “I’m just trying to figure out how diverse a bunch we’ve got here.”

“As if we could be any more diverse then our Zoids.” Neil replied as he sipped his Mogla-Cola. “But I’m from Europa, myself.” He began. “I’m from a small town none of you have ever heard of in the south-east of it.”

“Go on, it can’t be that small and boring.” Rose commented.

“Oh, it can.” He said. “On Saturday nights, the most fun you could have was to hang around at the Laundromat and play decade old video games.”

“Wasn’t there anything better nearby?” Stephen asked.

“Yeah, only about fifty klicks away.” He shrugged. “It’s why I got into Zoid battling; it gave me something to do.”

“Huh.” He replied. “Well, I’m about the opposite then. I’m from the Zenebas Empire originally. And I’m a big city guy myself. Born and raised in the wilds of the concrete jungle.”

“So how did you end up here, joining the Zoid fights and all?” Rose asked.

“Well, I used to have a normal job.” Stephen began. “But I got tired of it and wanted to try something else. I gave Zoid piloting a try and found that I liked it. And it was better then my last job”

“Which was?”

“Internet technical support.” Stephen replied.

“So you found that shooting at other people was actually easier then trying to help them.” Neil commented. “I can buy that.”

“So how about you?” Stephen asked, turning to Rose.

“Well, I’m from the eastern side of the Helic Republic. I’m originally a beach girl; you know, sand, surf, sun and all that.”

Stephen all of a sudden found himself thinking about his first look at her, and then about what she’d just said. It was a pleasing enough mental image.

“For me, Zoid piloting was more of a family thing.” She continued. “My father was a famous Zoid warrior, as is my older sister.”

“So what did your mum do?” Tasch asked.

“Oh, she was a bikini model.” Rose casually explained. “I got my looks from her and, hopefully, my piloting skills from him.”

“Better then the other way around.” Neil replied.

Rose laughed. “I guess so.”

“Hmmm…” Stephen thought. “You’re not related to Violet O’Bannon? She’s a Zoid pilot, has a Zero Phoenix?”

“My older sister.” Rose replied.

Stephen was suddenly liking this a lot more. Violet was one of the better Zoid pilots out there. If Rose was as skilled as her, then she’d be quite a pilot. She certainly was as good looking. Possibly better. Well, especially her rear end…

“So then, where are you from, Tasch?” Neil asked.

“Me?” She replied. “Oh, just a little town by the sea. Nothing to special, aside from the views.” She admitted.

“The view?”

“Oh yeah.” She replied. “On a good day, you can see the Chaoscape an’ all the way out to the sea of Blood.”

“...you’re from Nyx, aren’t you?” Rose asked.

“Yeah.” Tasch replied. “It’s a pretty neat place.” She sighed. ‘An’ on a clear day, the sky goes a real nice blood-red colour when the sun’s settin’, so it kinda looks just like the ocean. It looks kinda romantic, actually.”

There was another long pause.

“Hey, your last name’s Stoermer, right?” Neil asked.

“Yeah?”

“And you pilot a Black Redler, right?”

“…yeah?”

“And you come from the Dark Continent, right?”

“…yeah?”

“You’re not related to that Stoermer guy form the Dark Continent war, are you?” Neil asked. “Its only that he was from the Dark Continent, and he piloted a Gilvader, which is a big black dragon thing…”

“Why does everyone keep askin’ that?” She replied. “I ain’t related to him at all. ‘sides, a Gilvader’s nothin’ like a Redler. Gilvader’s a Wyvern and Redler’s a Dragon.”

“But it has four legs and wings.” Neil offered. “Doesn’t that make it a dragon?”

“Naw, it’s a Wyvern. There’s lots of differences.” Tasch explained.

For some reason, with all this talk about the Dark Continent and black dragons, Stephen found himself thinking about Rose’s underwear again.

“So you’re trying out tomorrow as well?” Neil asked.

“Yeah.” Tasch replied. “Why do you ask?”

“Just unexpected, that’s all.” He shrugged. “What with you in a Redler.”

“I like Redlers.” She replied.

“Well I guess that’s fair then.” Neil replied, then took another chip from Stephen’s plate.

“I was thinking about tomorrow, actually.” Stephen began. “We’ve got a diverse range of Zoids, but between us, we’ve also got no real experience. I was thinking that it may be better for us if we entered ourselves into the team competition.”

“What, the four of us as a team?” Neil asked.

“Yeah.” Stephen replied. “Think about it. We’ve got a large sized, heavily armed Zoid, a fast close-combat Zoid, a nimble support Zoid and a flying Zoid. It’s a pretty good line-up.”

“I like the sound of that.” Rose replied. “But what if it turns out that one of us is fighting another one tomorrow? What are we going to do them?”

“Well, we’d fight, and then one of us would win.” Tasch replied. “I’d have thought it was kinda obvious.”

“We’ll worry about it if it happens.” Stephen commented, ignoring her for the moment. “And, as a bonus, any points we accumulate tomorrow would transfer over to our team.”

“So, if we all win our fights tomorrow, that’ll give our team a leg up at the start of the competition.” Rose began. “I like that idea.”

“Yeah. So all we gotta do is win. Unless we’re fighting each other, in which case one of us has gotta win and the other one won’t.” Tasch finished.

Well, I guess you could put it that way, Stephen thought to himself. “So, what do you all think?”

“I like it.” Neil began. “I figure that in a small Zoid, I’m gonna do a lot better in a team then on my own.”

“Count me in as well.” Rose continued.

“And me too.” Tasch replied. “Cause if I don’t fight any of you to start with, I may end up fighting you later otherwise.”

Once again, Stephen couldn’t find the fault with Tasch’s rather strange logic. “So it’s settled then. We’ll re-register as a team after the qualifiers.” He raised his glass. “So, everyone. It’s going to be a big day tomorrow. Good luck to you all, and I hope you all win your matches.”

“-unless they’re against each other-“

“Unless they’re against each other.” He finished.

-

”Rise and shine everyone!” Rose announced as she threw open the curtains, letting the sunlight flood into the room from the beautiful, clear morning outside.

“Aaaah! Its too bright!” Tasch almost squealed. She ducked her head under her sheet, her hand searching around the end of her bed for something left there. Grabbing a pair of sunglasses, it vanished under the sheets. A moment later she sat up in bed, her glasses now down over her eyes. “Much better.” She began.

Neil shook his head. He’d heard that people from the Dark Continent were sensitive to bright light, but he’d never actually met one. But then, very few people actually had. The Guylos Empire was rather insular and secretive, and very few people ever traveled beyond its borders.

Ah well, don’t worry about it now. “Morning all.” He began, enthusiastically. He was feeling rather good about today for some reason. Maybe it was because it was too bright and nice a day for anything awful to happen to him. Or it could just be Tasch’s little act earlier.

The four of them were up, showered and dressed very quickly. After they rushed through their breakfasts, they wound up on the footpath outside, waiting for the bus to the arena. Neil noticed that there were a fair number of people there, and suspected most of them to be other Zoid warriors going to the tryouts.

“I wonder if I’m fighting any of ‘em today.” He muttered. The four of them spent the trip there casually talking amongst themselves. Well, three of them. Tasch seemed to spend a lot of her time staring out the window and occasionally adding something.

The arena itself was a rather impressive site. Most of the facilities and the like were underground, leaving the arena standing alone, separated from the city around it. This seclusion only seemed to make larger to his mind.

“Its pretty big, isn’t it?” Tasch began as they stepped off the bus, along with most of the others onboard.

“Yeah.” He replied. “Well, lets get going, guys.”

“I shoulda bought my camera.” Tasch muttered. “Oh well.”

The four of them checked in with the arena staff and were directed to their hangers. They descended down to the hanger bas that were underneath the arena itself, passing the mazes of support equipment that made the arena possible. Due to the risks, the battles weren’t done in front of live audiences. Instead, a complex network of cameras and sensors to record the battle from every conceivable angle. From there, the images of the Zoids and the battlefield were transmitted to a “virtual” arena where the audience were seated, and rendered as full-sized holographic images. That way the crowd could see the battles without the risk of being injured due to stray weapons fire.

They’d each changed prior to the start of their battles, swapping their casual wear for their flight suits. In the old days, people had just worn standard-issue uniforms provided by the military. Nowadays, in the big-money industry of Zoid battles, flightsuits were fashion statements.

Neil’s flightsuit was a rather plain light grey, with several pockets on the legs. He wore a sleeveless vest over it that had a couple more pockets in it. It was rather simple and unexciting looking, but he liked it.

“Hey guys.” He began as he stepped out of the change room. “All ready to go?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Stephen grunted. His suit was a dull khaki colour and, like his, rather plain in design. He wore a long grey coat over it with somewhat padded shoulders. Neil quietly suspected that he had room to hide several firearms under there if he wanted to.

Compared to the pair of them, Rose seemed to be on the edge of current fashions. Her suit was largely red with a black trim, save for the abdomen and lower arms, which were both made of semi-transparent tan materiel. “Likewise.” Rose began. “So let’s get out there and show ‘em what we can do.,”

“Or show each other, if we have to.” Tasch added. She was wearing a charcoal, form-fitting suit with a few grey areas that seemed to be emphasising some areas of her figure… Areas that he hadn’t noticed as much under a baggy top. “Well, if we’re fighting each other, which I hope we ain’t.”

“Yeah.” Stephen replied.

“Could Tasch Stoermer please report to bay 45.” A PA system called out. “Repeat, Tasch Stoermer, please report to bay 45.”

“That’s me.” She began. “And they ain’t callin’ any of the rest of us, so that must be good.” She smiled as she turned and walked off. “Well, I guess I’ll see y’all later.”

-

Rose had a couple of minutes to kill before her battle, so she’d gone prowling around, more of looking to see what she could find and what was happening. Also, if she bumped into some sort of incredibly skilled or famous pilot, she would have to see if they were interested in a slot on a rookie team. It wasn’t that she was completely against Stephen’s idea. Its just that she figured that her odds would be improved if she was on a team with a little more experience, even if it was only one man.

Something caught her eye; a glimpse of a Zoid in a bay as she was passing. She spied a blue and grey Koenig Wolf, a dual sniper rifle folded over its back. More interesting was the man working on it. He was tall, with long ash-blond hair that fell to his waist, tied off into a single long ponytail. At the moment, he was wearing a simple technician’s jumpsuit, but didn’t look the part of it at all. He looked more like a pilot, one of those rare ones that worked on their own Zoids.

“Hey, that’s…” She began to herself. She recognised the pilot and the Zoid. He was Drake Storm, one of the top-ranking pilots in the league. A skilled pilot, he was also tall and handsome, yet cool and professional. She would have been the first to admit that she kind of liked him, Well, more then that, actually.

What was he doing here on amateurs day, she asked herself. Unless he was here to check out prospects, which would be perfect for her.

She quickly checked her hair and outfit, making sure everything looked okay. After all, it was the first impression that counted the most. She simply aimed to make a good one. Confident that all was okay, she turned to head into the bay. It may seem a little rude, but at the same time, the direct approach often worked.

Before she could enter, someone else cut her off. A blonde woman walked past her, entering the room. She was shorter then Rose, dressed in a miniskirt, cut off top, knee-high boots and jacket. Who’s this, she wondered. A fangirl or what?

Drake turned, and started talking with the girl. Peering in, while trying to remain unobserved, Rose noted the red-and-yellow flame logo on her jacket. She figured it for a team logo, but couldn’t figure out which one. As she was trying to place it, she noted the same one on Drake’s jacket.

A team? She thought. ''But he’s never worked on a team before. Unless''… Then it clicked. ''Oh crap. Someone’s already beaten me to it''.

She glanced in again. The blonde girl was laughing and talking to him, but she couldn’t make out what she was saying. However, she noted, the girl was standing rather close to him… and maybe moving a bit closer. Figures.

“Could Rose O’Bannon please report to bay 70.” The PA system called out. “Repeat, Rose O’Bannon, please report to bay 70.”

That was her cue. Time for her to show the world what she could do. Leaving Drake and his friend for the moment, she headed back to the Zoid bay.

-

The Redler rose up on an elevator platform inside the hanger bay, then stopped behind a pair of massive doors. Tasch nervously waited inside the cockpit, anticipating what would happen next. She had no idea who she was facing or what they were piloting. She just hoped that it wouldn’t be one of the people she had met last night.

“Excuse me, Ms Streormer.” A technician standing outside the cockpit spoke up. She opened the canopy for a moment, then glanced down at him, realising it was the same one that had met her yesterday.

“Yeah?” She began. “What’s up?”

“Um, you do know what you’ve entered, right?”

“Yeah, it’s the tryouts.” She replied. “They’re for determining initial rankings and all that.”

“Well, um, it’s just you’ve specifically entered the tryouts for land-based Zoids.” He replied. “And you’ve got a Redler.”

“Yeah?” She continued. “And?”

“Well, um, while there’s nothing forbidding you from using it in this battle…” He nervously continued. “Well, um, you’re just not allowed to fly anywhere.”

“Wha?” She began. “What do you mean I can’t fly?”

“Well, if you go any higher then the top of the arena, you’ll be disqualified.” He replied. “It’s a part of the conditions of the battle.”

“So, um, what can I do?”

He shrugged. “Well, we thought you knew so… uh, you’re in the battle. Unless you want to forfeit it and enter the competition unranked.”

She considered this. She could give up now and loose, or go out there and face an unknown Zoid at a severe disadvantage. Neither one looked like a good option… but still, she wasn’t about to give up, not so early and not like this.

“Well I’m going ahead anyway.” She replied. “I’m gonna just have to beat him with a Redler that can’t fly.”

“Um… good luck then.” He replied. “You’ll need it.” The technician scurried out of the way as she closed the canopy.

“Right. I got to do this. I gotta win.” She looked ahead at the bay doors, ready to go. The hanger doors slowly opened, bright light flooding in from outside. “Owww… too bright” She began as the glare momentarily dazzled her. She blinked as the Redler’s displays adjusted their brightness to compensate for it. Much better, she thought.

The Redler slowly walked out into the arena. Unlike most other aerial Zoids, the Redler did have some capacity to operate on the ground and engage in land-based combat. Only, well, it wasn’t very good at it. Glancing around, she could see the battle commission’s monitor drone hovering over the battlefield.

The other doors at the far end of the Arena opened, the opponent’s Zoid entering. Zooming in on it, she could see what it was; a dull grey Command Wolf, sporting a long-range rifle on its back and a pair of missile launchers on its shoulders. She quickly sized the other Zoid up. It ran faster then her, was more agile and carried more weapons.

Okay, so that’s not all good. But she still had some ideas.

“Tasch Streormer versus Bill Peterson.” An electronic voice called out. Looking up, Tasch could see a battle commission surveillance drone hovering above the arena. “Both contestants confirmed. Arena confirmed.” Tasch kept her eyes on the Wolf as she gripped the controls. “Contestants ready… fight!”

“Nice Zoid, lady.” Bill called out. “But you’ve picked the wrong one for this fight.”

“Yeah, but I’m gonna fight anyway.” She opened up the Redler’s throttle, while keeping its engine off. The Redler leaped out of the hanger, running towards the Wolf. Or, at least, it was trying what passed for a run for a Redler. In fact, it more of resembled a sort of skipping bounce, the Zoid basically bounding along taking short hops rather then actually running.

Bill had reacted almost as soon as the battle started, his Command Wolf setting off in a zig-zagging run across the arena. “Yeah!” He called out. “Let’s see you try and… um… what the hell are you doing?”

”I’m runnin’! What does it look like?” She replied.

The Command Wolf shook its head and broke into a run again, trying to close the distance between the two Zoids. The top turret swivelled to face the Redler, the long-range cannon firing. The first shot sailed over the Redler as it landed from a bounce. The second went straight under it as it took off again.

“Damn it, stop playing around!” Bill shouted. “This is a fight!”

“I ain’t playin’! Tasch called back. “I’m tryin’ to fight!”

“They fight properly, you idiot!” he called out as the Command Wolf launched its missiles.

“I am!” She replied. She yanked hard on the control stick, slamming her feet down on the foot pedals and twisting them as she went. The two Flexible Boosters suddenly flared to life, and twisted sharply to the right. The Redler suddenly swerved to one side, faster then the missiles could respond to. Banking hard to catch her, they instead tore into the floor of the arena, leaving a trail behind the black Zoid.

The Redler surged towards the Command Wolf, now hovering just above the floor of the Arena rather then running along the ground. The Wolf twisted, leaping to the right and firing the twin cannons on its back. Again the Flexible boosters twisted, swerving the Redler out of the line of fire.

Tasch saw her chance as she closed in on the other Zoid. The Redler’s tail blade flicked out as she closed in on the enemy Zoid, while she twisted the boosters again, trying to bring the tail in on the Command Wolf. The Command Wolf saw this, and again leaped to the other side, away form the tailblade.

“Nice try, girl.” He called out.

“I ain’t done yet!” Tasch called back. The Redler suddenly in the other direction, sliding in towards the Wolf with its talons pointing straight at the other Zoid, then boosted upwards to leap at it. There was an ear-piercing screech as the Redler’s claws raked across the Command Wolf’s side and top, tearing through its armour. The screeching intensified as she ripped into the turret, the claws tearing off the long-range cannon.

The Redler swerved and came to a rest on the other side of the damaged Command Wolf. The Wolf staggered on its feet, but managed to remain upright. “What the…” Bill began. “Damn it! I’ll get you for that!”

The Wolf broke into a run, charging at the Redler. He didn’t seem to fire his cannons, she noted. Maybe she got them as well. Instead, the Wolf was snarling, clearly going for the teeth.

“I ain’t gonna let you get me that easy!” She replied. The Redler leaped and fired its boosters again, landing on the Command Wolf’s back. The Zoid dug its claws in again, and then leaped away, accompanied by the sounds of tearing metal and components. The Redler spun around in flight and skidded to a halt on the arena, its claws trailing parts behind them.

The Wolf turned to face her, then suddenly collapsed, flat on its face. “Did I get him?” She asked herself.

“The battle is over!” A voice called out as the monitor drone moved in, hovering over the Command Wolf. “The winner is Tasch Streormer!”

“Yeah!” She shouted out to herself inside the cockpit. “I did it! I beat him! I won my first match!” She was happy; not only had she won her first ever real Zoid battle, but she’d done it against the odds too. And she’d had fun doing it, which was what counted.

-

“Well that was interesting.” Stephen commented as he watched the battle on a monitor.

“Kinda fun, though.” Neil replied. “I mean, a hopping, skipping Redler is very unusual and different.” He smiled. “I like her, you know.”

“Yeah.” Stephen replied in a noncommittal way. “I guess she’s all right.”

“Could Neil Notbob please report to bay 86.” A voice called out. “Repeat, could Neil Notbob please report to bay 86.”

“That’s me.” Neil replied. “Guess I’ll see ya later, buddy.”

“Sure.” Stephen replied, wondering when he’d get his shot.”

-

Rose studied all the readouts on her Liger Zero’s control panels, making sure that everything was working for the umpteenth time. She wanted to be sure that everything went okay on this, her big debut. She wanted to win this match; not just for the points and the boost to her initial ranking, but because she wanted to show everyone just what she could do.

They bay door opened, the Liger Zero stepping out into the midday sun. It was a very bright day out, she noted, with not a cloud in the sky. The arena was spotless, despite the numerous battles that had already taken place there today.

Perfect.

The door at the far end of the arena opened, her opponents Zoid stepping out. Like hers, it was a white feline Zoid. But it was also a lot bigger, and sported a large canopy instead of the Liger Zero’s eyes.

A Blade Liger Mirage, she thought. Compared to her Zero, the Mirage was holding most of the cards. It had a higher top speed and better acceleration courtesy of the two boosters on its sides. And its energy shield would boost its defenses. On the other hand, she was more agile. And we both suck at ranged combat, she thought.

The Mirage roared loudly, as if it was trying to intimidate its smaller opponent. Fat chance, she thought. Her own Zero roared back, sounding louder and angrier then its opponent. She didn’t know if that helped, but it made her feel good. The other Zoid looked taken back for a moment, as if he was surprised that she wasn’t afraid of him.

A small surveillance drone passed overhead, then stopped, hovering in the middle of the Arena. “Rose O’Bannon versus Karl Schnauzer.” An electronic voice called out. “Both contestants confirmed. Arena confirmed.” Rose smiled to herself. “Contestants ready… fight!”

Ok, she thought. Let’s do this, Zero.

The two Ligers broke into runs, heading straight for each other. The Mirage fired both its attack boosters and its back mounted boosters aiming to close the distance between the two of them as quickly as possible. “Predictable.” She muttered as she swerved the Zero to one side, heading off on a tangent to her original course.

“You chickened out.” Karl’s voice came over her communicator. He sounded very smug and confident. Perfect. “Guess this won’t take long. I’ll rip that inferior Zoid of yours apart.”

Whatever. The battle had only just started. She ignored him, instead focusing on what she was doing. The Zero made a sharp turn, then charged in at the Blade Liger, firing its impact cannon at the other Zoid’s flanks. A pair of shots hit its side, tearing out chunks of its plating and exposing some of the systems below that. Karl seemed to have wised up to what she was doing, as he suddenly swerved, managing to evade a couple of her shots.

He turned, trying to bring his own weapons to bear on her. Unfortunately for him, he still had all four boosters running at full burn, drastically reducing his turning ability. The Blade Liger skidded as it went, sliding around in a wide circle. He abruptly killed the attack boosters, flipping them into their attack position in an attempt to improve his turning. All it managed to do was throw him off, causing him to skid some more.

Rose slowed her charge, turning to keep on the Liger’s flank. She opened fire again, one of the shots blasting into the fins on the side of the Liger’s head. Before she could fire again, the Blade Liger activated its energy shield, throwing off her shots.

The Blade Liger pilot stopped and turned his Zoid by the simple expedient of ramming shield-first into a wall and bouncing off it. Apparently undeterred, the pilot charged straight at Rose, dropping his shield and opening fire with the Impact Cannons. Caught off guard, she didn’t have time to evade. One of the shots struck the Zero on the top of the head, slamming into the frill on top of the cockpit cover.

Rose tried hard not to scream as she was shaken around inside the cockpit, her Liger staggering under the impact. “Not so tough now, are we?” Karl shouted as his Zoid charged at her, the blades sweeping out from its sides. “It’s all over now!”

Rose shook her head, blinking for a moment. Realising what was about to happen, she fired the Zero’s boosters. Her Zoid charged forwards, leaping over the charging Mirage. No sooner had she come down then she charged away from the Mirage, aiming to make him turn again. At the same opened fire with the tail cannon, the shots tearing into the Mirage’s hindquarters and legs, carving out a lot of the unprotected structure.

“I’ll get you for that! Nobody gets away from Slash Schnauzer!” The Mirage pilot tried to circle around again to come back for another pass.

“Slash Schnauzer? Are you into gay dog porn or something?” Rose commented as she also turned her Liger. She was ready for him, and had figured what he would do next. And since he was determined to turn this into a close-quarters battle…

The Zero charged at the Blade Liger’s side, remaining well inside the other Zoid’s turn circle. As it closed, Rose readied her Zoid to strike. Golden energy built up around the Zoid’s claws as it closed in, readying for the right moment.

“I’ve got you now!” Slash shouted as his Mirage turned a bit more, closing in on her..

“Yeah, right.” She muttered. “Now!”

The Zero’s boosters fired again, the Zoid leaping into the air, sailing over the Blade Liger’s charge. The gold-glowing strike laser claws flashed in the air, then left a golden arc as they swung down, slicing through the Blade Liger’s armour. The claws carved through the Blade Liger’s shoulder, slicing apart the armour and systems underneath it. The Liger Zero leaped away as its opponent continued its charge, albeit momentarily.

The Blade Liger suddenly stumbled, its right foreleg collapsing and making a hideous metallic screeching noise as it tore free from the body. The Zoid skidded forwards, then stopped, lying on its side.

Rose’s Zero turned around and stalked towards its downed opponent. She watched it from the cockpit, waiting to see what would happen next.

“The battle is over!” A voice called out as the monitor drone flew over the pair of them. “The winner is Rose O’Bannon!”

“Yeah!” Rose couldn’t help but shout out. She’d done it; she’d won her first Zoid battle. She opened the Zero’s cockpit, and stood up, arm in the air. “Oh yeah!”

“Hang on a minute!” A loud voice interrupted her. Looking down, she could see the Mirage’s pilot had climbed out of his Zoid and was stalking towards her. He was tall, with a muscular build and ridiculously spiked black hair. His outfit got her however; it was a ludicrous, skin-tight blue bodysuit with armoured plates in several places.

Who is this clown? She asked herself. “Hey!” She called out. “What’s up?”

“You cheated, that’s what!” He shouted.

“What?” She was taken aback. As far as she could tell, she’d done everything clean and by the rules. ''Was there something going on here? Was it against the rules to dodge him or something?'' “What did I do?”

“You deliberately aimed at my cockpit!” He shouted, pointing back at the Mirage’s body.

“Huh?” She began, then looked over at it. Sure, she’d hit the side of its head and knocked out some of the shield generator fins, but that was nowhere near the cockpit. “Hey! She shouted. “I came nowhere near your cockpit!”

“Yes you did! Don’t pretend you didn’t!” He shouted. “Judge! I want her disqualified! In fact, I want her fined and banned too!”

“Huh?” Rose replied. “Hang on! You damn well shot my cockpit!” She could see the burnt mess that had been the Zero’s top fin from here. As far as she could tell, she was lucky to have been unharmed. “Judge! He shot my cockpit!”

The drone hovered down between the two pilots. “Deliberating.” The electronic voice began. “Analysing combat data. Playing back records.”

“You are so busted.” Slash began. “You’re career will be over!”

“Just hang on a minute, Slappy.” She replied. “Wait to see what the judge says.”

The two watched each other in tense silence for a minute as the judge contemplated the situation. “The Battle Commission has reached a verdict.” Slash smiled, a smug look on his face. “We rule that Rose O’Bannon did not deliberately fire on Karl Schnauzer’s cockpit.”

“What?” He shouted.

“Furthermore, we rule that Karl Schnauzer did deliberately fire on Rose O’Bannon’s cockpit. It is the verdict of this judge that Karl Schnauzer be fined two thousand ZBs and be penalised five competition points.”

“This is an outrage! I demand a retrial!”

“Sorry, boy.” Rose replied. “Better luck next time.”

“You!” He shouted. “I’ll get you for this! And you-“ He turned to the judge. “I demand a retrial! This is totally unfair!”

“It is the verdict of this judge that Karl Schnauzer be fined five hundred ZBs for baseless and needless disputing of a judge's ruling.” The floating drone levitated up and away from the battlefield.

“Sucker.” Rose said, and smiled.

-

Stephen watched the battle from a monitor in the Zoid hanger. He smiled as he watched Rose in action, observing her technique and the skills she used against the Blade Liger. She’s good, he thought. He winced as the shot hit the Liger’s head, but was relieved to see her shake it off and keep going.

She’ll do fine, he thought as he watched her come back and attack the Blade Liger. Glancing up at his own waiting Zoid, he could only wonder who he was fighting, and if his battle would go so well.

-

Neil’s Gunsniper stepped out of the bay and into the arena. As he suspected, he was the first out; it’d gone that way for everyone else so far. Maybe it was a luck of the draw thing, he thought. Oh well, not to worry. Just so long as he didn’t get put up against anything too nasty, he figured he’d be fine.

The doors at the other end of the arena opened, his opponent’s Zoid steeling out. Neil blinked a couple of times, wondering if he was seeing things or if this was some kind of a joke. Nope, it was real.

The enemy Saberlion roared at him. Well, it tried to at least. Somehow, it just wasn’t that intimidating or impressive. Especially not when he considered that the enemy Zoid was half the size of his.

“Uh, hey?” Neil began. “You don’t think that, um, you may have been a bit mismatched here?” Well, a bit was an understatement. More like a lot.” He did think that it wasn’t the best match. He kind of had it all over the Saberlion.

“No way!” The other pilot shouted back. He sounded like an overenthusiastic kid, Neil thought. “Me and Saberlion are not gonna back down from anyone!”

“Oookay then.” Neil replied, the Gunsniper raising its claws. “Your call.”

The surveillance drone passed over the pair of them, then settled in the center of the arena. “Neil Notbob versus Kuro Onishi.” An electronic voice called out. “Both contestants confirmed. Arena confirmed.” Neil shrugged. Maybe he got the luck of the draw on this one. “Contestants ready… fight!”

The Saberlion charged forwards, sprinting across the arena floor at him. Not what Neil would have done, he thought, but still… The Gunsniper turned and ran, sprinting across the arena to one side, out of the way of the Saberlion’s charge.

“Look, um, kid, I’m gonna feel bad about this.” Neil called out. “You sure you want to do this?”

“You’ll feel worse when I’m done with you!” Kuro called back.

“Fine. Be like that.” The Gunsniper turned its arms towards the Saberlion wile still running, and opened fire with its dual gattlings in the wrists. Several shots peppered the Saberlion before it abruptly changed course, sprinting away from the Gunsniper. Neil took off after it, firing as he went. Opening up its throttle, Kuro increased the distance between the two of them, weaving out of the way of the Gunsniper’s line of fire. The small Zoid scampered up against one wall of the arena, then stopped, snarling at him.

Neil bought the Gunsniper to a halt, momentarily considering his options. Despite its small size, the Saberlion could still be dangerous to him if it closed and used its head blade. Simple solution, he thought. Don’t go near it.

The Gunsniper opened fire again, remaining still while spraying fire at the enemy Zoid. He was happy to keep his distance for now. The Saberlion was hit a couple of times before again breaking into a run, trying to evade the Gunsniper’s fire.

“Hey!” Kuro shouted out. “You’re not playing fair!”

“Huh?” Neil asked. “What do you mean? I’m fighting you. That’s how it works.”

“You’re supposed to come closer to me so I can fight you!” He called out. “You’re cheating by not letting me get close!” The Saberlion ducked and weaved between several shots, then charged at the Gunsniper.

“It’s not really cheating.” Neil replied as the Gunsniper scooted away from the Saberlion’s charge. The Velociraptor Zoid skipped out of its way, then sprinted across the arena. Turning around, he opened fire again “Its more of thinking tactically. Deny your enemy any advantage you can.”

The Saberlion took several hits and skidded to a halt. The small Zoid lay on the arena ground for a moment, before rolling back to its feet. “You’re just a chicken!” Kuro called out as his Zoid roared loudly. “You’re afraid to fight fair!”

“No, I’m just smart.” Neil replied. “I know how to win.” In truth, he was feeling a bit bad about beating up on this kid. The guy just didn’t seem to know what h was doing, and had been thrown into a fight that he probably couldn’t win. Neil wondered if someone in the battle commission had done this deliberately, or if it was just a random matchup.

“No way! I’m not going to let you win!” he shouted as the Saberlion charged straight at the Gunsniper. Neil opened fire with both gattlings and the chest-mounted beam launcher, spraying shots at the charging Zoid. The Saberlion was hit and rolled over, skidding along on its front before coming to a rest.

Neil watched the Zoid for a second, checking to see if it was moving. He was just worried that he may have hurt its pilot. Attack Zoids often had poorly protected cockpits, which was one of many reasons why they were unpopular in the arena. A moderator drone buzzed overhead, and checked the two Zoids. “The battle is over!” It announced. “The winner is Neil Notbob!”

“Well…” Neil began as he shrugged to himself. “I guess you just did.”

-

Tasch had left her hanger, having completed the post-fight check-up of her Zoid. It didn’t appear to have suffered any damage during the battle, so it was a rather quick and simple process.

She’d decided to take a walk around while she was waiting for the others to finish their battles, just to see what was going on, or to see if she could catch any of the others battles. She was hoping that they all did well and won theirs.

She turned a corner, coming across a large wall-mounted monitor showing the current battle, with a small crowd of [people gathered to watch it. Most of them looked like technicians and support personnel, but there were a few pilots amongst the audience. One of them, she noticed, was Rose.

“Hey there.” She began as she approached the other pilot.

“Hi.” Rose replied, a bit distracted. Looking around, Tasch could see that she was watching the battle in progress on the screen. A blue Koenig Wolf was currently firing on its opponent, a Dark Spiner. As she watched, the Spiner took several hits to its flank and upper leg, staggering in place.

“How’d your battle go?” She asked.

“I won.” Rose casually replied.

“Well that’s neat.” Tasch continued. “I won my battle too, even though it turned out that I was in the wrong battle to begin with.” She explained. “Silly me, I’d entered the land battle tryouts instead of the aerial ones.”

“Oh.”

“So I had to fight a Command Wolf, and I wasn’t allowed to fly.” Tasch continued, not noting that Rose wasn’t really paying attention. “But I managed to beat him when I leaped on his back with my Redler’s claws.”

“Oh. That’s nice.”

“So who did you fight?” Tasch asked, rather curious.

“Um, a Blade Liger.” Rose replied, not taking her eyes off the screen. The Dark Spiner was trying to limp out of the way of the Koenig Wolf while firing its one remaining cannon. The Wolf was proving to be rather good at avoiding the Spiner’s fire while it closed.

“Hey guys.” Neil spoke up as he approached. “How’s things?”

“We won our battles.” Tasch replied.

“I saw yours.” Neil commented. “Nice stuff there. That whole ‘Hopping Redler’ thing was very interesting. How’d you think of it?”

Tasch shrugged. “It just seemed like a good idea at the time. And it worked, so it musta been”

“Well, he certainly didn’t seem to expect it.” Neil stated. “But then, neither did I.” He smiled. “Hey Rose, how’d things go with you? I didn’t see the battle.”

”Me?” She asked, glancing at him for a moment. “Oh, I won. I beat a Blade Liger.”

“Battle of the Pointy Kitties, huh?” He commented.

“Yeah.” She continued watching the screen. The Koenig Wolf leaped at the Dark Spiner, sinking its fangs into the other Zoid’s neck. The Spiner roared out as the Wolf’s fangs discharged their energy into its body, shorting out its systems. The Wolf leaped off the large dinosaur Zoid which swayed on its feet for a moment before collapsing on its side.

“The battle is over!” The voice of the battle commission’s monitor came over the speakers. “The winner is Drake Strom!”

“Drake Storm?” Neil began. “How ridiculously macho.”

Rose turned and glared at him.

“Wha?” He began. “I was just sayin’, that’s all.”

“Boy, that Koenig Wolf looked tough.” Tasch spoke up. “I’d hate to have to fight him.”

“Me too.” Rose commented. “But on the other hand, he’d make for a great team member.”

“Yeah, but we already have a full team.” Tasch commented.

“Well, I guess we’ll see how Stephen does then.” Rose replied.

-

Stephen checked all the systems of his massive Iron Kong as it waited inside the hanger bay. He’d been giving its systems one final check before the battle started, just to make sure that everything was in order. So far, it all looked good.

So far, things had gone well for their small group. Neil had gotten away with a stupidly easy win courtesy of a weak opponent. Rose had also gotten off well, mainly because her opponent didn’t seem to know how to use his Zoid properly. And Tasch… well, her win had been surprising; both that she’d beaten her opponent and the way she did it. So now it was his turn.

The hanger bay doors opened up, his massive Iron Kong stepping out into the arena. The huge metallic grey and red Zoid knuckled its way out of the hanger, then stopped, waiting for its opponent. Stephen wondered if they’d be ready for what he was packing. His Kong not only boasted a CP-11 maneuverer thruster unit, but it also boasted an extra set of weapons that were originally designed for the Iron Kong PK. Some Guylos company had, of late, taken to packaging them with standard Iron Kongs. He didn’t mind. It meant he had more firepower.

OK, let’s see what I’m up against, he thought,

The bay at the other end of the arena opened, providing him with his answer. A large, tyrannosaur-shaped Zoid stepped out from the hanger, its shiny grey and purple body glinting in the sun. So, it’s a Genosaur. He began. Nasty piece of work too. He knew that the Genosaur’s CPC could knock him out of action in a single hit. Or at least, it would if he let it.

Unusual colours though, he thought. He’d never heard of a shiny grey Genosaur before. Flat black, yes, white, yes, but not like that. Odd. The other Zoid stopped just outside its hanger, staring straight at his. It growled, and then roared loudly as the hanger dors closed behind it.

The Battle Commission drone passed over his Zoid’s head and then stopped in the middle of the arena. “Stephen Chesterton versus Ariel Mychelle.” The electronic voice announced. He recognised the name of his opponent; she had been an up-and coming pilot until she abruptly dropped out of the competition midway through last year. Now, apparently, she was back. Interesting. “Both contestants confirmed. Arena confirmed. Contestants ready… fight!”

Stephen had figured the Genosaur pilot’s likely response straight out, and had already figured a counter of his own. He stomped on the Iron Kong’s foot pedals and twisted them sharply to the right. The Kong’s boosters fired, its manoeuvre vanes twisting to propel him swiftly to the right. At the same time, he launched the two tactical ballistic missiles on his Zoid’s back.

The Genosaur’s pilot seemed to be monetarily taken back by this, opening fire on the space that he had briefly occupied. However, she quickly recovered, her Zoid leaping into action. The Genosaur twisted around, charging towards the Iron Kong.

The first of the ballistic missiles didn’t react fast enough and plowed into the arena floor where the Genosaur had been, detonating in a brilliant fireball. The second one remained a little closer to target, but fared little batter. The Genosaur’s twin back cannons twisted around, opening fire on the incoming missile. Several shots struck it, detonating it in mid-flight.

So much for that, he thought. Still it had given him a chance, one that he intended to exploit. The Kong landed, then leaped away again, leaping across the Genosaur’s path. Seeing his chance, he opened fire with the Hyperbeam cannon on the Zoid’s shoulder, sending shots at the enemy Zoid.

The first one hit the Genosaurer, blasting armour from its flank. The pilot was fast, however, twisting her Zoid around and leaping out of the path of the next few. “She’s good”, he muttered as the Genosaur swung around and opened fire with its own back cannons. Stephen twisted the footpedals, to bring his Zoid around, but didn’t quite manage it.

Several shots tore into the Iron Kong’s heavily armoured chest, gouging out huge chunks of armour. Several more narrowly missed him, but came far closer then he would have liked it. The force of the blows staggered his Zoid, sending it momentarily reeling back.

The Iron Kong crashed to the ground, Stephen barely managing to keep it upright through clever use of the boosters. His Zoid wavered in place, then settled for a moment. His opponent wasn’t going to give him a chance, however. The Genosaurer lunged at him, opening fire again.

Stephen desperately fired the boosters again, the Iron Kong leaping out of the Genosaur’s way, at the same time, he fired the shoulder-mounted missile launcher. So she can get one missile, he thought. Let’s see her get ten while she’s charging. The rockets slammed into the Genosaur’s side, enveloping it in flames and smoke.

Did I get her? Stephen asked as the Iron Kong landed. As if to answer his question, the Genosaur lunged out of the smoke, baring its fangs at him. He twisted the controls, the huge grey Zoid barely avoiding the smaller one’s charge. As it twisted around, he opened fire with the wrist-mounted pulse cannons. The shots peppered the Genosaur’s flank, but wasn’t enough to put it down.

The black Tyrannosaur spun around, firing its back cannons as it went. A couple of the shots hit the Kong’s chest, again shaking the Zoid. “Crap!” Stephen shouted to himself. Any more of those and he was through. The Genosaur charged at him, aiming to take advantage of his momentary weakness. He desperately rolled out of the way, the Iron Kong interjecting its right arm in front of the Genosaur’s charge.

A plan formed in the back of his head. It was risky, but it might just work.

He fired the boosters again, twisting the vanes so he leaped away from the Genosaur. This time, the Iron Kong leaped backwards, trying to get out of the way of its opponent. The Genosaur followed, firing its own boosters as it leaped intro the air, snapping at him.

Just what he’d expected. He suddenly reversed the direction of the boosters, so the Kong was leaping forwards again. The huge Zoid descended, heading straight for the Genosaurer, swinging its arm around in a massive punch. Its huge fist smashed into the side of the Genosaur’s head, crushing the armour plating and sending the other Zoid reeling with the force of the blow.

The Genosaur crashed to the ground, skidding along on its side for a moment before stopping. The Iron Kong, on the other hand, came down on its feet. Stephen could see a chance to end this, and took it. The Iron Kong opened fire with its Hyperbeam cannon, tearing huge chunks out of the Genosaurer’s underside. The enemy Zoid bellowed in pain, and then collapsed.

A monitor drone flew over the pair of them, surveying both Zoids. “The battle is over!” It announced after a brief pause. “The winner is Stephen Chesterton!”

“Cool.” He muttered to himself.

-

The four of them had met up after Stephen had finished his last battle. There were a few more fights scheduled for today, but they didn’t feel like hanging around for them and spending their time mugging the monitors. Instead they decided to go out for drinks, so they could discuss their plans from here.

“And then…” Neil excitedly continued as he gestured wildly with his hands, trying to indicate the locations of a pair of Zoids. “Well, the kid in the Saberlion basically chucks a tempter tantrum, saying that it’s not fair that I didn’t come over there and let him attack me with his sword. So I said that I was just trying to win the battle, which made him cry even louder.”

Both Rose and Stephen burst out laughing at this. “So who was that kid?” Stephen asked. “And what the hell did he think he was doing in a Saberlion?”

“Maybe he thought that he had some kind of midget Blade Liger, and was looking for the E-Shield switch.” Rose commented.

“Yeah. An’ he thought he could fit a CP-12 onto it as well.” Tasch added. “Well, it could happen.”

Neil noticed that she was the only one of them who wasn’t drinking, and yet she seemed to make the least sense. Odd that. “So, what’s the plan from here, guys?” He asked.

“Well, we’ve put in for the team registration.” Stephen replied. “We’ll probably get a confirmation of registration tomorrow sometime. After that we’ll need to get ourselves a place to live. We can’t house our Zoids at the arena indefinitely.”

“Right.” Rose began. “So as soon as we know we’re confirmed, we go house hunting. So what about matches?”

“The commission should handle that.” Neil commented. “They’ll set us up for a battle as soon as we’re ready. The good news is that the team competitions haven’t begun yet; there’s usually a week before they get going to allow for the organisation of new teams like ours.”

“So then we’ve got everything under control.” Rose finished. Her assessment of this team had been going up. They’d all won their battles today and done reasonably well at it. And Tasch had proven to be a very surprising pilot. She wondered if it was just a one-off, or if there was more to her piloting abilities.

“’cept for a name, that is.” Tasch finished. “We’ll need to think of something there.”

There was a long pause. Nobody at the table seemed to have thought of that one.

“Don’t worry about it now.” Stephen replied. “We’ll think of something.”

“That’s fair.” Tasch replied. She wasn’t too worried about the team’s name for now. Instead, she was happy about what’d happened today. She’d met a whole bunch of people, gotten herself onto a team and won her first ever Zoid battle. Not bad at all.

Things were looking good.