Fan Fiction / Zoids Fan Fiction ❯ a tale of (now) three warriors ❯ the customary backdraft group interference ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I own none of the Zoids in this fanfic, but most of the characters are mine. I'll be broke from when the people behind Metroid come after me, so there's no point trying to sue me. That's all.

A few hours later, Robert sat in the cockpit of his new zoid. Trey watched from the back door of the hangar, leaning against the edge of the large door.

"Ok buddy. Let's see how well we get along." Robert said to his new partner.

He was happy to discover that when he nudged the controls forward that the Liger roared. It was a good sign.

Robert began with a slow jog, then began to perform simple evasion moves. Pushing the speed a little higher, Robert repeated the moves. Confident in his new zoid, Robert pushed the Liger to full attack speed and began to perform a variety of combat manoeuvres, some more complex than others, but the zoid was precisely responsive every time. Slowing the Blade Liger to a halt, Robert sat back in his seat and marvelled the success of the transfer.

"Great work Liger. Even with that cannon on your back you haven't lost any speed. Speaking of which, I wonder how the targeting system works." Robert said, engaging the Vulcan cannon.

The pilot pointed his zoid at a nearby cliff face, and began to target random spaces of rock. Eventually, he began to fire short bursts at spots that he targeted, and when he enhanced the visual display, found that the bullets had landed with over 80 percent accuracy, amazing considering the distance from the cliff and the relative inaccuracy of Vulcan cannons. Of course, there was no real way to test out the Liger's trademark attack…

That night, Robert asked Trey a question that had been on his mind for a while.

"Why don't we change our name? Our team name." He asked.

"From the Strike Team? What to." Trey replied, turning around from the Gustav.

"Maybe the Blade Team. Think about it, both of our zoids have blades now. So it's only logical."

"The Blade Team huh? Sounds good." Trey smiled, and pulled two cans of beer from the Gustav cockpit. Tossing one to Robert, he cracked opened his and held it up. "To the Blade Team then!"

Returning the gesture, Robert replied the toast. "To the Blade Team!"

The Blade Team did well, as to be expected from such expert pilots. Hey smashed their way up the ranks, and were soon at the top of Class A.

Trey walked into the living room - a scattering of couches in a corner of the hanger - with a sullen look and an interested smile on his face.

"What?" Robert asked, when his partner sat down heavily across from him.

"We have our next opponent." Trey got straight to the point. "It's the Blitz Team. Battle Mode Zero-Nine-Eight-Two."

"Hmm. No restrictions, huh?" Robert replied, not in the least concerned about their chances against the Blitz Team and, more precisely, the Liger Zero.

"They should only be using three. Their Gunsniper shouldn't be a problem, but the Shadow Fox and the Liger Zero will pose a problem." Trey said.

"There's a good chance that Bit Cloud will use the orange Liger transformation. The one with the blades on it. It makes sense." Robert replied.

"Leon Toros beat it with his Blade Liger. I can't see why you won't."

"But I will. You know that." Robert smiled.

The next day, the Blade Team Gustav rolled to a stop. They were in the bottom of a wide canyon, almost vertical cliffs hemming them in. There would be no high sniper spot for Trey in this battle. The two pilots made all the necessary preliminary checks to their zoids, and waited for the judge to start the battle of their careers.

The Hover Cargo made good speed towards the designated battlefield, and the three pilots inside ran over their combat strategy with Jamie.

"Ok, for the third time, it's pretty simple. Stay out of close range for as long as possible. Wait for them to come for us. Then Brad and Bit engage the opponents as quickly as possible, use the element of surprise to your advantage. Meanwhile, Leena provides covering fire. You all got it?" Jamie said, as he tapped rapidly at his control station. Dr Toros sat behind him in his usual perch, arms crossed, a trademark smile on his face.

"All loaded up and ready. Let's get out there!" Leena replied, playing out the scene in her head over and over, of her Gunsniper single-handedly blowing the opponent zoids to pieces.

"This will be good. It's about time I got a good run for my money, right Fox?" Brad said, arms crossed.

"We'll show that Blade Liger who's boss, won't we Liger?" Bit mused.

The Hover Cargo rumbled to a halt, and immediately the Gunsniper and Shadow Fox were deployed. It took little time for the Liger Zero's CAS to finish, and when it was ready the Liger braced itself on the catapult as it was fired out.

"Go…SCHNEIDER!" Bit yelled, as the now orange Liger coasted through the air, landing heavily.

The Blade Team were waiting.

"They'll try to avoid close combat straight away. But that's fine with us, isn't it?" Trey said to Robert.

"It turns out that we have just as much firepower as they do, since the Liger Zero is already in its close combat armour." Robert replied. Then they heard what they were waiting for. Well, sort of.

"Ready…ugh!" The judge grunted as what seemed like a meteor landed on top of it.

"This battle has been hereby taken over by the Backdraft Group." The dark judge announced, as a pink Whale King came into view from behind a cloud and landed after deploying a small squadron of Zabats.

The mouth hatch to the huge zoid carrier opened, and waves of Rev Raptors trotted out, followed by Helcats.

"Shit. (just thought I'd take the opportunity to say what the real Zoids characters wouldn't be allowed to :P) These scum again." Trey cursed.

"Sorry Blitz Team, but it looks as if this battle won't count." Robert had opened a communication line with the Hover Cargo, before turning his attention to his opponents.

"Battle mode, zero-nine-nine-nine. The Backdraft group versus the Blade Team and the Blitz Team. Ready…FIGHT!" the dark judge cackled, before Trey annihilated it with three well-placed sniper shots.

Inside the Hover Cargo, Dr Toros thought to himself. "That Whale King looks familiar…Oh not him again!" His suspicions were soon confirmed as Dr Leyon's face appeared on the large display screen.

"Sorry for the abrupt interruption, but this time you won't escape!"

"What is it this time, Leyon?" Toros replied half heartedly.

"This time? The destruction of both you and the Blade Team!"

Outside, Jamie had already mobilised the Raynos, and was taking on all of the Zabats alone. And winning.

On the ground, Bit, Trey and Robert tore through the ranks of firing Rev Raptors, their blades reducing enemy armour to nothing. Brad used his Vulcan cannon to hunt down the cloaked Helcats, and picked them off a few at a time. Those lucky enough to get close to him were usually obliterated in the hail of ballistics from Leena's Gunsniper, others hit by a strike laser claw.

Eventually, Jamie's increasingly irritated voice buzzed in Bit's com-link.

"Bit, there's too many of them. I need a little help!"

"Sure thing Liger. Doc! Get the Panzer Unit ready!" Bit called out turning back towards the Hover Cargo. Then he said to the Blade Team "I'll be right back!"

"Better be quick if you want any more of these scum, because there won't be many left soon." Trey replied, side-sliding to a halt, arm cannons and missile pods blazing. His missiles rained from the sky where Robert had launched them, and caused havoc among the ranks.

Back on board his Whale King, Leyon clenched his fists before growling. "More…" (Agent Smith-Matrix Reloaded style).

More Rev Raptors poured from the Whale King, and now things got ugly.

The last of the Zabats was blasted out of the sky, and the Raynos swooped down to engage the fresh enemies. Leena aimed her guns back down from the sky, and got to work too. Then the Panzer popped out of the Hover Cargo.

"Finished already? Oh well, guess I'll just target these Rev Raptors. BURNING BIG BANG!" Bit said, before firing the many missile pods mounted on the Panzer. Many of the Rev Raptors and Helcats fell from the assault, and more when the Hybrid Cannons fired, the twin streaks of firepower slamming into Leyon's Whale King. Dropping the Panzer, Bit transformed again into the Schneider, and with his allies defeated more of Leyon's zoids. But there were still more. The dark judge cackled continuously, until the official judge reached up from beneath, and grabbed it. In the resulting grapple, the official judge succeeded in ripping the dark judge's head from its shoulders, before ordering an immediate strike at Leyon's zoids. The noble warriors were quick enough to avoid being obliterated in the bombardment, and Leyon's voice trailed from his almost crippled Whale King as it limped away through the sky.

With a loud hiss, the emergency heat dissipaters on the haunches of Robert's Liger opened as the blades shut off and retracted. The canopy opened and Robert took a deep breath of fresh air. Trey shut his zoid down and did the same, before hopping to the ground to meet Bit Cloud. Robert, Brad, Leena and Jamie soon joined them.

"That was intense! Your Liger's amazing. That Vulcan cannon did its job." Bit exulted.

"Your's isn't so bad either. Anyway, thanks for helping us." Robert replied.

"Why wouldn't we help out? We are an honourable team after all." Jamie replied.

"It's just too bad the mercenary won't get his pay this time." Trey joked to Brad. "You'll be needing it to replace all the ammo your Gunsniper used up."

"Hey, at least I hit something!" Leena shot back, riding the joke.

"Still, money would have been good…"said Brad. "We would have needed it to replace all that ammo, anyway."