Zoids: Awakening

[Shade Leshyr]

Black Arrow stared in shock as the "Fanged Rose" charged its armament. It was madness, the willingness to fire so close to the young lives just to the side that watched them intently. The Rose's words struck Arrow like a slap of cold ice water and she hissed angrily. She lowered her head, practically spitting Spider out onto the ground relatively safely, glad to be rid of the nasty taste, before rising up proudly and letting out a bellow at the Rose, rushing the Pantera unit, the claws on her feet heating up with energy, charging into the infamous Strike-Laser Claw.

Arrow knew this was going to be her last glorious moment of attack and intended to leave her mark upon her traitorous sister zoid for everyone to see. She was almost in striking distance, the pantera's large weapons unable to move fast enough to keep up and Arrow opened her mouth to give her final yowl... but a pitiful squeak broke out, breaking her concentration. Her head turned ever so slightly and she saw the infant zoids... she... she couldn't risk the crossfire hitting them and even if it didn't, a full grown zoid falling into the pool might well do as much damage.

Her claws cooled and she felt the force of another zoid slamming into her...

____________

Samuel nearly fell on his face as the tongue lifted beneath him, drawing him into the zoid's maw, the clanging teeth echoing in Sam's ears as he swiveled about in a mild panic attack, the flashlight only illumination the interior of the zoid's mouth. He forced himself to slow his breathing down, noting the closed off throat, at least it's not going to eat me he thought to himself.

The dim pink lights that came on in the mouth offered Sam a little more comfort, although it also inspired a case of claustrophobia. Another beep from his datapad broke him from his thoughts and he read the zoid's message as quick as he could, choosing this time to simply to as it advised rather than puzzle it out. With nothing else in timely reach, Sam turned and laid himself out along the zoid's tongue, gripping the tongue's tip gently.

It was a good thing he did as he suddenly became aware of acceleration and grinding from just outside the closed maw as well as a shift in gravity. An explosion of rock sounded, one that Sam assumed meant the zoid had dug its way out, further proved by the exclamations of his fellow recovery units...

[Arratra]

It was not the Fanged Rose that had hit Black Arrow; instead, the Gairyuki Shin had body-blocked her, shoving her away from the pool, hard.
<STAND DOWN!> the Tyrannosaur-type roared, <There are children here! What are you thinking?!>

By this point, the Blade Liger had deployed its laser blades; they had snapped down into position, and waiting to be charged with the energy that would make them so dangerous to enemies. Both had been startled, and more than a little scared, by the two voices. When the roar of the Gairyuki reached them, however, the Blade Liger straightened up and folded its blades back. And that's when the pilot recognised the voice from a movie he'd once watched.
"Ha, ha, very funny," he said sarcastically, "Scare the life out of us, why don't you?"
He shifted in the seat, folding his arms, his hands away from the controls.
"Why use Vader's voice, though?" he asked, "I- huh?"
The Blade Liger had just turned to look at a Blox Zoid that had just turned up.
"That's a Lord Gale. What's a Neo-Zenebas unit doing this far into Helic territory? Liger, any human life-signs?"
A rumbled, but understandable negative.
"Zoidian? Zian? Anthromorph?"
Another negative.
"A stray? This far into Helic territory? How strange."

The rescue workers scattered, and the Zian shot upwards into the air, carried by his magnesser wings.

[WolfyWetFurr]

Rock and dirt were forced aside as the angular head of the zoid pushed up into the ground. His head aligned with his neck to form an effective ram posture and his thick lengthy tail pressed against the ground to form a tripod with his hind legs. He planed to dig out at an angle and suppressed a growl, considering his passenger, when light beat down on his face. There was not much ground for him to break through and when he raised his for paws up over the surface to get a grip on an edge, that part of ground just fell in.

Fortunately for the crew near the downed zoid, he was not close enough to disturb them, yet. They would need to watch their step and the waking zoid needed to redirect his efforts to avoid further cave in. With a sigh, it did a small turn around like a dog about to lay down to judge the hole in the ground that was his den.

The tongue beneath Samuel moved slightly as the beast processed his situation, and his guest. The husky had been in the sun, the dirt, and had been under physical strain today. His heart and scent suggested a little fear too and that made the zoid grin to himself. 'Cute.' he thought silently to himself. Now he had to think of what to do with him. He could lower his head and open his mouth over the ground for the husky to hop out and seek out what ever help he needed from the people up there dressed like him, or keep him in his mouth and sort everything out once he got out of this hole.

Rather than get rid of his first taste of life so soon, the hybrid lowered his body to bend his legs and sprang up and out of the hole with a forward motion. He had leaped out and away from the hole to land on solid full ground and rather than approach the team right away, he kept his distance with himself on one side of the hole, and the fallen zoid and recovery team on the other so that none of them could reach him in any good time.

Parting his lips slightly, he waited to see what the huskies reaction mite be once he recovered from the jump, which to his pleasant surprise was rather smooth. It was not the first time this zoid had to carry some one in his mouth. Making no noise beyond his body mechanical sounds, the zoid swayed its heavy tail and looked at the crowd ahead of him and sent his guest another message:
"From No User Data: I need to know many things. First off, are these people dressed like you with you and what will they try to do about me. I'm keeping hold of you until things are sorted out unless you truly wish to leave the safety of my mouth. It would be in your best interest to stay however, since you have made a discovery that could further your career..."

The Zoid then stopped and waited, leaving his lips parted just enough for the husky to look out. The hybrid scanned over the team idly and kneaded at the earth. There were no active zoids close by, but some could be called in. This on top of having been out of the loop for so long, the beast felt he was at a disadvantage and did not want to make any actions that would create conflict around himself. Anxiety made his tail sway a bit faster as he awaited the reaction of the husky and the small crowed on the other side of the pit.

[Buzzwolf]

The Rose simply snarled at the Gairyuki <Back off! or I will gut you as readily as her if you interfere with my mission!> She shouldered her way past the Gairyuki <I don't miss my targets> baring her strong Metal Zi fangs, she pressed them to the Saix's neck, the four small cannons set into the panteras cheeks began to glow as they charged. Point blank on the Saix's neck. Not even the heaviest of armor would stop a plasma lance being lethal at that Range <This is your final warning Saix, before I start tearing you apart piece by piece and I drag you back legless if I must. Submit and return with us to base and become something more, or die in the mud like the rest of the filthy ferals before you>
______


Italy huffed "Now why did you have to go an do that Hazel! I had 'em on the edge of their seats with that one!" she crossed her arms and kicked her feet up on the console again "Bah, those nuckleheads were getting boring anyway" she flicked the channel she'd been listening to them whine at her on, off with her foot as she glanced back down at the battle below, her attention suddenly pulled to the events "Holy shit..." she caught the Saix taking a blow to the side by the Gairyuki "oohhhhh oh oh..." she grinned and grimaced as she watched the zoid go down "That one SO had to hurt" she laughed. hmming to herself as she watched the Pantera unit take charge and move in for what could very well be the killing blow "Damn...something's pissed that Panther thing off good..."


She glanced down at her panels, waving off the Neo-Zenebas on the scan. This fight between the feral and the GF was faaaaaar more interesting in her opinion

[Nelle Kozera]

Spider was just looking at the scene that was developing between all the Zoids that where currently on display, choosing that he was going to ignore it for the moment. The reason being his SNARKY HORSESHITOMETER explodes, It simply cannot take this much horseshit. Before turning towards one of the birthing pools, one of the infant Zoids was near the edge looking at him. “Hey little guy I won’t hurt you…” He held out his hand to one of the small Zoids who in turn Nuzzled the inside of his hand, it wasn’t fully formed yet but it looked like it would grow to be a lion type Zoid sometime in the future but for now it was just an small little zoid…

___

Hazel shared Italy’s opinion and moved along the ridge to get a better view of the fight. “Well this looks like it’s going to ether get really ugly and we have a tragic case of infanticide on our hands, or this is going to go nowhere because no one feels like firing while in the pools. That or one of those zoids will get torn to pieces and we get to watch and somehow they magically avoid any collateral damage.

Hazel moved to a lower rock outcrop closer to the birthing pools but actually positioning them ahead of them in relation to the group of zoids in the pool. “This looks like a good spot…” She had a much better view of the scene from here.

[Arratra]

Leonids swore under his breath, as the Gairyuki chivvied the infant Zoids back into the pool.
"Axel, Fanged Rose, you are ordered to stand down," a voice said firmly, "Fighting is strictly forbidden near birthing pools, or have you forgotten?"
"Sergeant Raven," Leonidas said, startled, "Sir, I was just-."
"Doing your duty, soldier," Raven said firmly, "Axel, if you continue on this path you're setting yourself up for a court-martial, both for insubordination and for discharging a weapon near a birthing pool."
The video link opened to show the matte-black Zian Fury somehow managing to look stern despite the lack of facial mobility common to all Zians.
"I outrank you, Corporal," he added to Axel, "I am a Master Sergeant."

The Zian pteras slowly lowered himself through the air and hovered partway between his comrades and the unknown Zoid.
"What's going on here?" he called, hoping that his gift of understanding Zoids held true.