Fan Fiction / Zoids Fan Fiction ❯ Return of the Death Stinger ❯ Counter Attack ( Chapter 4 )

Ashley had already gone out for a test flight in the darkfire dragon, she really seemed to like it. I knew this because she constantly sent transmissions back to my cock pit telling me so. I was in my cockpit for a reason. The dragon didn't want the qpc. "Its for your own good!" I kept shouting but each time I did I would be shaken around by the dragon saying no. I finally decided to explain the situation at hand. "If you don't want it that's fine. But I don't see what the big deal is! The death stinger is causing more death and destruction by the minute! The qpc is no heavier than your laser rifle and if we exchange the two your offensive capabilities will increase by 800%!" the dragon growled deeply and a typed message appeared on my screen. `I don't want that thing because it will only cause more destruction. We would be no different than the death stinger.'

"That's where you're wrong, dragon. We are very different from that zoid. The death stinger is driven by blind rage. We have something to fight for and everything to lose. We need all the help we can get and this gun will help. Its up to us to stop the death stinger, to rid the world of this evil menace. We woke it up, we're gonna put it back to sleep."

My speech convinced the dragon. It didn't respond but it expelled the laser rifle from the back of its throat. It clattered loudly on the floor, not bouncing at all but rolling to a stop. I hopped out of the cockpit and rigged the qpc to the pulley system. The barrel of the cannon slowly disappeared into the back of the dragon's throat. I heard a click, the gun was locked in place. Dragon shook his head, getting used to the feeling of the new weapon. "You like it?" The dragon growled deeply, as if saying, `I don't mind it.' The legend of the organoids was true, the pilot can understand the zoid with time. I climbed in the cockpit and began to rewire the system, changing buttons on the joystick to make the qpc compatible with the dragon's system. The radio switched on and a transmission was picked up from Ashley. "You have got to get out here and see this! The Darkfire is amazing! Come on, come outside!"

"I'm all done in here. I'm launching out for a weapons check."

I clicked on the combat system and I heard the qpc hum as it charged up. I walked the dragon out of the hangar and shot off. It had been so long since we had flown, six weeks without a flight made it rough on my body. It rapidly adjusted, though, as we continued to gain altitude. I strapped on my oxy mask and switched into the hangar's computer system. "Computer, deploy the drones." Small, zoid shaped robots deployed from the hangar. The dragon began to lock on to them. It opened its mouth and fired the qpc ahead of the drones. A ball of energy shot toward the ground faster than I could fly. In a single shot it eliminated all of the drones.

"Nice aim, Drake."

"Thanks but even if I hadn't aimed I still would have gotten them. The qpc is powerful."

"Too true. Have you gotten a feel for it yet so we can leave?"

"Yeah I think so. Let me arm the base then we can go after the death stinger."

I flipped a switch and the hangar's main door closed. Ashley pulled up beside me. "Punch it!" we both sped to mach two off towards the place the death stinger was last seen. The world below us seemed a blur but I could easily pick out landmarks as we flew. City ruins sped past, the trail almost moving in a straight line. The tracks in the desert were easy enough to follow, but the forest was even easier. All we had to do was follow the broken trees. The forest passed below us, more tracks, then another ruined city. Mountains, another city, then another. nearly half a day had passed when we reached a ached a city that was only half ruined. "Slow down, we're here." Ashley and I banked around back towards the city. We flew low over the death stinger, drawing his attention away from the city. We flew into the desert, the death stinger hot on our heels, firing away.

"Break formation!"

Heading in opposite directions, Ashley and I began our attack on the death stinger. I pulled up high and charged the qpc. I then locked on to the death stinger and fired the blade boomerang at the tail. The blades made contact but ricocheted off the armor and took their places back on my wings. "Ashley, try a virus missile!"

I saw the darkfire dragon's belly open up and something was released but I couldn't see it after that. there was a thud outside as the missile tried to pierce the armor. It bounced off and uselessly fell to the ground. "No good. Lets try the qps." Ashley and I both fired, two balls of energy slamming into an ancient and evil zoid. The energy exploded on contact and dust surrounded the death stinger. Ashley and I both moved to hover while we waited for the dust to clear. When it settled, there was no sign of the death stinger.

"Yes! We di-" I was cut short by an alert from the dragon. The death stinger was behind us! "That's impossible! How could he-"

"Just shut up and run! He is about to blow us both out of the air!"

We turned around and blasted off for home. "You know, Drake, there is no shame in retreating. That in itself is a strategy."

"I know, but how could something be that powerful?"

"I don't know. the only thing that ever scratched it was the gravity cannon, but that technology is lost. It seems that without that weapon we will never defeat the death stinger. All Zi is lost!"

"Don't say things like that, Ashley. We will find a way."

"If you say so."

We sped off into the sunset, headed for home. Just as we passed a ruined city, I received a transmission from the Zoid Battle Commission. "Dragons team. You have been summoned to the ZBC headquarters for an emergency meeting. Please report here immediately." The connection closed. I relayed the message to Ashley and we shifted course towards our new destination, the Zoid Battle Commission HQ. The sun continued to set and was completely below the horizon before we arrived. We were nearing the destination when the worst thing possible happened. The death stinger popped out of the sand, particle cannon already charged. It fired so quickly I didn't realize what had happened. The darkfire dragon was shot down. My reflexes were too slow, the organoid system dodged the blast. "Ashley!!!!" The death stinger was gone as soon as it had appeared. "Ashley, speak to me! Oh God no, this can't happen! Ashley!!!" No matter how much I screamed, there was no response and the darkfire was no where to be found. It had been blown completely away. Sadness quickly turned to anger. Swearing that I would get that zoid, I flew at top speeds toward the ZBCHQ. It didn't take much longer, maybe five minutes. I landed in the hangar and was greeted by an official.

"The meeting starts tomorrow. Your room is on the second floor, third room to your right."

"Thanks." And I slammed the door in his face. as I walked up the stairs I passed a girl with beautiful blonde hair and sparkling green eyes. She winked at me as I passed. I wasn't in the mood so I didn't respond. She jogged up next to me and matched my pace.

"What's the matter with you?"

"My partner just was killed and I'm not really in the mood to flirt at the moment. Maybe tomorrow."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Ok, maybe later."

She left my side and I went to my room. I sat down on the edge of the bed and let reality sink in. Ashley was gone. David and Laura were gone. Our weapons can't break the armor of the death stinger. All hope is lost. What am I saying? Reinforcements have arrived. And this time we have an ultrasaurus. Zi might just stand a chance. My mind drifted back to Ashley, and that night I cried myself to sleep.

The next morning I wasn't as sad as I was depressed. I walked downstairs and found my way to the cafeteria. Everyone was already awake and turned to see who it was. I scanned the room and noticed some familiar faces. Brad, Bit, Leena, Jamie, Doc, Vega, and that girl from last night. I looked towards a corner and Harry was sitting by himself. I walked towards the buffet in the back and that blonde from last night winked at me again. I gave her a half-smile but I was too tired, depressed and hungry to give her my full attention. I made my way back to the buffet and loaded a plate with waffles and poured myself some milk. I looked around for the syrup but I noticed that it was at the tables. I scanned the room again, looking for an empty seat. The blonde girl waved me over. I figured what the hell, she obviously likes me. I walked over and sat down. "Hungry?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said with a sigh.

"You feel any better this morning?"

"A little. I saw on the late night news last night that two zoids, a storm sorder and a blade dragon, made an attack on the death stinger and were both destroyed. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse…"

I broke off and dug into my waffles.

"I never told you my name, did I? I'm May, May Summer."

I swallowed my waffle then responded. "Nice to meet you. I'm Drake Black." I continued to eat, getting down to my last three waffles. May continued to talk on. "You know, I've seen the way you battle. Very impressive. I'm not that bad of a piulot myself. My zoid is the darkblade dragon. You should see it, its amazing. But I guess you will, considering we'll be flying together-"

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, we're leading an attack on the death stinger, and me, you and Jamie are the air support."

"Oh, I see"

"Well finish you waffles and we can go out for a practice run."

"Sure."

I ate the last bite of my waffle and rushed out towards the hangar. I jumped into the cockpit of the dragon and began flipping on systems. The qpc hummed as it charged. Of to my right I saw May jump into the cockpit of a zoid that looked similar to the darkfire but it wasn't one. it galloped out of the hangar, unfolded its wings, and took off. I shot off after it. At top speeds I slowly gained on it and we were soon flying side by side. May sent a signal to the base to deploy the drones. The wings on her dragon then spit discs of energy, one right after another, and each pair flew towards a drone. Each drone was sliced in half and they then exploded. I was in such awe that I didn't notice the light on my screen that said: Maximum Data Capacity Reached.

We headed back in after I demonstrated the qpc. The moment I was a safe distance away the dragon immersed itself in a bright red light. The light was swirling, moving, it almost looked alive.

"I've heard about this. When an Ultimate X reaches a certain level, it changes its form and becomes more powerful."

"Cool."

A guard approached us. "The meeting is starting now. Follow this hall all the way down then turn right. You can't miss it after that."

"Thanks."

May an I rushed toward the room where the meeting was being held. We took our seats just as the leader of the Zoid Battle Commission took his place at the podium. He began to speak. "Hello and welcome everyone. Unless you've been living under a rock for the past six weeks, you have undoubtedly found out about the zoid ravaging our peaceful planet, the death stinger. Now, anyone who has tried to attack the death stinger has died along with their zoid. And though we have assembled the best of the best," then glancing at Harry, "or at least the best of what's left, there is one person who has gone up against the death stinger and lived to tell about it, Drake Black. Please, give us some information on this zoid and how it battles, Drake."

"Gladly. The death stinger is the most powerful zoid I've seen. Bit, if you thought vega was hard you haven't seen anything yet. Its armor seems impenetrable, even my most powerful weapon, the quantum particle cannon, only left scratches on the armor. Not only is the armor daunting, its offensive capabilities are beyond that of any other zoid. The charged particle cannon on the tail is extremely powerful, at least ten times more powerful than the berserk fury's. the claws generate electricity, don't get caught in them. The guns on the claws and tail fire armor piercing shells at a rate of 5000 RPM, which can take a zoid down in mere seconds. This zoid once had a pilot, but he was killed the first time the death stinger was destroyed. Returning from the dead gave the death stinger intelligence far beyond that of the organoids so there is no longer any need for a pilot. That zoid is so fast that it caught up to me and my partner Ashley even when we had a head start. It destroyed my teammates zoid and disappeared as quickly as it came. I will get revenge, I swear it."

"Thank you, Drake. That should give you some insight on what to watch out for. For those of you that don't know, we are making a counter-offensive on the death stinger this afternoon. Reports from scouts say that the death stinger is headed towards Gygalos. We will be there to meet it. The air forces are extremely thin with only three zoids. May, Drake, and Jamie will be the rogue squadron. Drake is rogue leader, May is rogue one, and Jamie is rogue two. Now our ground forces are much stronger. You will be split into teams based on the zoids you pilot. The Ion team is Vega Obscura in the Berserk Fury and Raven Star in the Geno-Max. The ligers team is Brad in the Shadow Fox, Bit cloud in the Liger Zero, and Leon Tauros in the Blade Liger. And finally the snipers team is Naomi Flugal and Leena Tauros in their gunsnipers. Harry, just try not to get killed."

Everyone snickered as Harry crossed his arms and hmphed.

"All right, move out! we have to get to Gygalos before the death stinger!"

We sprinted out of the room and into the hangar. The glowing light was swirling still but I heard a roar within and the light faded. What stood there was as far from my dragon as possible. It looked like a combination of several of the dragon type zoids I had come across so far. The spikes on the corners of the mouth and the qpc inside like the darkfire. Two small slits in the front of the wings let it fire the energy discs. The horns on its head looked similar to the black dragon's but they were generating electricity now. A small port on the underside of the dragon was for the mini missiles, while another in its back was for the virus missiles. The armor was still a glistening black titanium alloy, its eyes now a golden yellow. It turned its head to look at me and the color in the optic sensor shifted, almost like an eye looking around. There was a simultaneous "whoa" among our group. Brad then put in a comment. "Go get in the cockpit1 I am dying to see what that thing is called."

I rushed over and the dragon's neck bent down to allow me inside. As I sat down, the systems turned themselves on. A typed message appeared on the screen. `I am called the Death Dragon Hybrid. Data has been collected from other zoids of my type and fused together to form me. a cybernetic linkup will fuse us as one, no longer requiring human reflexes for piloting. I respond to impulses from your brain, not your body. You may feel a slight pinch, o chosen one, as the chip is implanted.'

What happened next felt like I had been poked by a pin. I reached back and felt where I had been poked. A small hole, barely noticeable, was in the back of my neck. "Is that it?" What I heard next was a growl but I understood it perfectly, it was a yes. Another typed message appeared. `I am going to link us together now. Enjoy the ride.'

Another prick, less painful this time, and we linked as DDH slid a small rod into the hole lined with metal on the back of my neck. My vision tunneled as I switched from my eyes to his. It no longer seemed like I was the pilot, I was the zoid itself. I could see around the hangar, everyone loading into their zoids. A voice from outside said, "Move out!" So I jogged out of the hangar, unfolded my wings and took off. My normal speed was mach two and though I should have felt the pressure of the high speed, I barely felt it at all, it seemed distant. I banked left, the world spinning below me. "Yahoo!!!"

"Drake, what are you doing?!"

I leveled out and answered May. "Just getting a feel for her, babe."

She didn't respond, my guess is that she was blushing. "DDH, I'm goin to switch back to manual while we cruise to Gygalos." The dragon withdrew the rod and my vision tunneled again. I was back in the cockpit. I slowed my zoid down some as I flew in low to match the pace of the ground zoids. May banked in beside me and switched to the visual radio.

"What was that little stunt you pulled back there?"

"I told you just getting a feel for the zoid, literally. When I sit in that seat, two become one. I become the zoid. I don't normally do that but the power, the speed, the agility, it was awesome. It was overwhelming. I felt like I could do anything."

"Don't get too cocky, its a weakness."

I received a message from the ultrasaurus behind us. "We will be on the outskirts of Gygalos within the next ten minutes." We moved along at a steady pace, I was beginning to get bored. I talked to May about various things and that helped pass the time. finally I had begun to see the skyline of Gygalos, with its huge buildings and busy streets. Maybe 30 seconds later I received the signal to stop. I switched to hover as did May. Jamie couldn't hover so he landed. Everyone split into their teams and took their places, with the ultrasaurus in back. Harry's darkhorn moved in front of Leena's gunsniper to "protect" her, but she knocked him out of the way with the gunsniper's tail. Bit snickered and Harry gave another hmph. I sent a message to everyone. "Listen, I've seen how this thing moves. The fastest way for it to travel is through the sand. If it knows we're here, expect an attack from underground." No response. I saw a small blip on the radar. Bingo! I fused with the DDH and prepared for battle. This isn't going to work, I can feel it. But hey, maybe we will get lucky. It knows we're here. The sand bulged and the death stinger showed itself. Shots were immediately fired on it and it began firing back. Harry was down. It then fired a single shell at the cockpit, it melted the metal like butter and killed Harry as it exploded. All of this happened within the first couple seconds. I flew around it firing mini missiles hoping to find a break in the armor. I then noticed an open spot on one of the claws. I fired a missile into the crack and blew the claw clean off. It turned towards me and fired the charged particle cannon, then everything went black.

Back on the battlefield, everyone witnessed the only chance they had fade away. It was only a momentary pause as the battle resumed. May fired energy discs, but it was futile, the discs only caused surface damage. The ultrasaurus was firing shots at a steady pace but quickly running out of ammo. Liger zero and the blade liger made attempts to get in close but were thrown back by the death stinger's one good claw. After running out of ammo on the wezel unit, Leena took a spot opposite Naomi for snipering. She quickly moved though as the death stinger completely destroyed Naomi's gunsniper. The death stinger then grabbed the blade liger and cut it in half, causing it to explode. Raven and Vega both fired their charged particle cannons and blew off the death stinger's other claw. "Guys, I have an idea. Take cover behind the legs of the ultrasaurus. That thing can't hit us back there." The few remaining units rushed behind the legs of the ultra saurus and only showed themselves to fire. It was a good strategy but the death stinger saw a flaw in the plan. It fired the charged particle cannon at the head of the ultrasaurus, blowing it clean off and causing a wave of explosions working their way down the ultrasaurus's neck. The survivors ran from the dying zoid as quickly as possible but they weren't far enough when the explosions reached the zoid core. A massive nuclear explosion erupted and though it didn't destroy the ground units, it did cause their systems to freeze. The death stinger backed up and widened the spikes surrounding the cannon to their maximum, setting it onto a "wide beam." The cannon began to chargee, and the look on every pilots face was the same, a look of horror that they would be killed by the same zoid that slaughtered so many. They didn't want to die this way, and as the cannon fired, they accepted their fate. They were going to die, and all Zi would be destroyed…