World of Zi (RP)

[Nelle Kozera]

The world of Zi was in an up roar of fame, violence, and corruption. The recent elections had placed a monster in the seat of power for the republic. Backdraft and Guardian force seems like major players not only on the political stage but also on the battlefields of the cities across Zi. Now though, unrest has come to the city of Vriska. Vriska like many cities had sprung up around the Zoid battles and its primary income is from them.

Even then Vriska had other sources of income, yet there has been unrest in the underground rumors of things happening. Movers have been employed something was going to happen, and Vriska was going to be the grounds for upheaval but exactly what that upheaval is still unknown. The only thing that was know, was that the Vriskan archways where to be completed today…

---

Six hours before the event:

Two guys are talking in a coffee shop, going over recent events…

“Hey mike have you heard anything about Eon Blue?”

Mike turns to Robert, “Nope I haven’t heard much about them, only rumors in passing, so far no one seems to know
what their agenda is…”

Five Hours before the event:

A hospital on the cusp of Vriska, stationed just between the Zoid battlefields, and the city itself a woman is going into labor for the first time.

“Mary? Hang in there she is almost born, only a few more hours before she will be in your hands.”

“How about you shut up and have this baby yourself!”

Four Hours before the event:

A gambling Den in the heart of Vriska looks over the recent Zoid battles; rumors abound that the amount of money going through this den alone could cover the budget of the Guardian force for this fiscal year.

“Markus, how much do you have bet on the saix…” The man smiled looking down over the match.

“None, I’m going to put fifty thousand on the liger Zero, she has been a winning streak for the last six months, no reason to see different…”

Three hours before the event:

On the battlefield Zoid pilots are trying to gain advantage over another, but the Saix’s team has gain to much tempo.

“Krissy, take left, we can flank the Saix on the right then pull out there artillery support, this match is far from over! Let’s keep this streak!”

The Liger Zero powered away as it moving through the canyon gracefully….

Two hours before the event:

On the top of one the Vriskan skyscrapers one man is writing his suicide note…

‘For all those that have looked down on me, thought that I have amounted to nothing? Fuck you, fuck your life, fuck everything that you think makes yourself a cut above the rest, Eon Blue has changed my view about the world, and now I’m going to…’

This is all that was left of the note that was found 3 hours after the event…

One hour before the event:

In the Maser tech office building in the middle of Vriska, men are working in a lab over a new type of Zoid core.

“Mason, how do the readings look?”

“Unstable, but they can be brought down under control, begin cloning in vat four, 15% rate of growth…”

“On it…”

Thirty minutes before the event:

“I can see the head its crowning…” In the Vriskan hospital a woman gives birth to her first child…

THE EVENT:

In the center of Vriska a bright flash of green light is seen followed by a huge shock wave riding through the city. The light itself came from the Vriskan arch way, a monument to the founders of the city that was completed today. Hundreds of thousands of people are vaporized instantly; few though are just knocked into nearby walls. From the center of the city, buildings have been leveled, ripped to shreds by the shock wave but leaving some people unmaimed. Though no one knows why, the event has the characteristics of a nuclear explosion but at the same time it’s not.

Over the city a large mushroom cloud is forming over the ruin of the city, even the outskirts of the town into the canyons in which the Zoid battles were fought in where effected….

[Arratra]

#Three minutes prior to event#

Marxon smiled as the Drakus landed on the plains, just beyond the canyons, its shining holographic wings casting a blue shine over the silver-and-gold armour.
"Well, there it is," Marxon commented to his Zoid, grinning to himself, "Vriska. Our destination, and near the site of our next battle. What do you think, Draco?"
The sleek Zoid rumbled in response, shifting of its own accord. Marxon's grin slid off his face, turning into a concerned frown.
"What's the matter, Draco?" he asked, fingers resting lightly on the triggers for the laser cannon and laser blades and claws.
The 3D radar display zoomed in on the ongoing battle, and Marxon sighed.
"Looks like we can't go forwards for a bit, huh, pal? Darn. Well, never mind. Let's just watch for a-. HOLY-!"

#The Event#

As the blast went off, the Drakus, under Marxon's direction, leapt into the canyons. The Zoid crouched as it hit the canyon floor, lowering its head and folding its wings to present as small a profile as possible. The blast-wave passed over them, leaving the Drakus itself unscathed, but Marxon was still slammed into the seat, driving the breath from his lungs.
"Draco, you OK?" Marxon asked as soon as he managed to get his breath back. The wire-frame representation of the Drakus on the screen just to the left of the radar display suddenly went-through the pre-deployment checklist, before coming up as all green.
Marxon tapped the controls, bringing up the profile of the explosion.
"The hell?" he spluttered as soon as he saw it, "A thermonuclear device?!"
Anomalies in the profile were instantly highlighted, and Marxon frowned.
"Hmmm... Yeah, I noticed that myself, now that you mention it," he said, tapping the mention that the blast had only flung certain people around, even though walls, "Not a nuke, then... and its radiation profile looks a bit off. Wait... the hospital! Everyone inside! C'mon, Draco, we have to go help them!"
As he urged the Zoid forwards, he turned the radio on and simply set it to all channels. Completely unencrypted
"Mayday, mayday, mayday!" he exclaimed over the pounding of his Zoid's three-clawed feet on the ground, "Dammit, whatever the emergency code for this is! (He might have a good knowledge of pilot emergency codes, but this most certainly was not covered.) I am in the vicinity of Viska City, where what appears to be a thermonuclear device has been detonated. Be advised, radiation profile is anomalous, blast also anomalous. I am moving to assist survivors but requires immediate assistance! Anyone in the area, please respond!"
The Drakus darted out of the canyons and towards the hospital, going at a flat sprint (about 240 KPH, given its current lack of ion boosters), roughly towards the massive mushroom cloud.
"Doesn't look like I'll be able to leave the cockpit," Marxon muttered, "You're shielded against radiation, but my suit isn't."
The Drakus bobbed its head slightly in agreement, leaping over the Judge capsule even as it continued to sprint towards the hospital.

[Shade Leshyr]

Not far from Vriska rested a long, grey walled building, roughly the size of a football field lengthwise and half the same width-wise. No windows graced the building and only two doors existed on one side: one for pilots, engineers, and scientists, and the other for incoming and outgoing zoids. A large prison style fence surrounded the building with a 15 foot spacing on every side. To the citizens of Vriska, the building was an emergency zoid repair station, but to the well informed, it was also home to experiments by the Guardian Force.

Within the gray walls, men and women in lab coats and hard hats scurried around in the longest room inside: the firing range. On one end rested a large metal plate, extending up to the roof some 10 meters up, with a large target painted onto it. At the other end rested Thunderhead, his camo-plates the dull white of inactivity. The rex almost looked like the skeleton of all the other rex-type zoids with the sheer amount of armor plating removed from his body to make room for the single biggest piece of equipment on him. Centered in his back was what looked like simply a huge slab of metal, a perfect rectangle from his shouders to the base of his tail.

Thunderhead fidgeted impatiently as all the squishy little lifeforms ran around the room, several eyeing computer screens and others simply judging distances. It was nerve racking for the rex who's very existence was based on action, his core knowing only aggression, but they had MADE him into a sniper. It was a bloody demotion! One that he didn't like, but they didn't care, they just cared that this new weapon was powerful. Powerful, the word sent a strange sensation down his back and he let out an impatient growl.

Finally the time came, a man gave him the signal and the roof overhead opened, letting the sun shine in. Thunderhead began locking down: straightening his back parallel to the ground, locking his 'spine' in a perfect line as his legs positioned slightly to either side, the sides of said legs opening to allow several clamps to secure him to the rough metal floor. His legs went into full lockdown while his waist lifted slightly, giving him a full range of motion. In essence, he had become a turret of long ranged death.

The final piece to open was his rifle. The block on his back gave a slight hiss as the sides folded away revealing shifting plates of photoreceptic alloy that turned and twisted toward the sunlight. The center piece folded back slightly at the front, the solid pipe of the barrel slipping out in segments until it was well past the rex's head. The inner sides along the barrel twisted and moved along the barrel, forming arcs of metal on either side to stabalize the recoil while the original front of the block moved back to become the weapon's hammer. As it finished, Thunderhead sent a green flash to the monitor just to his left, signaling he was ready.

A male, sounding about 40, spoke to him over a radio, "alright Thunderhead, nice and easy. Remember to AIM and you may fire when ready." The rex huffed loudly in response. This was the worst part...aiming...but he slowly rotated, switching his view to the scope that rose from the main body of the rifle, centering the target in the crosshairs. The self adjusting scope read the range and moved the crosshairs up slightly, making Thunderhead grind his teeth as he moved it back to the target. He froze, watching the gun's charge meter climb agonizingly slow.

90%...95%...100%! Thunderhead prepared to fire and... An explosion rocked the facility! The shockwave tore through the very walls as Thunderhead returned to his body, starting to unlock himself. The fires of the explosion breached over the open roof, swallowing the scientists to his left and right in fire. Thunderhead finished unlocking and regained mobility just as the roof came down. His only choice was to curl into a ball and go into full lockdown, shielding the few people beneath him with his body as they were buried...
__________

*30 seconds before the event, city neighboring Vriska City*

"For the last time Samuel, you are NOT authorized to be in here!" The husky was roughly shoved by the pissed off zebra girl shooing him out. Samuel twisted to protest, but the lab-uniformed zebra silenced him with a raise of her hand, "no buts Samuel! You have been warned repeatedly about coming into the ER without authorization! You are neither a pilot or engineer and have no business in my hospital!" She turned, rushing back through the door and slamming it shut, leaving the chastised husky alone.

Sam sighed, digging his hands into the pockets of his solid blue EMT uniform as he walked away, ears lowered. It wasn't fair, he decided. He brought the zoids in for repair and was just as worried about them as the engineers and pilots were! He shook his head, banishing those thoughts... Which made him be one of the first to hear the alarm!

Ears perking up, Sam sprinted to the emergency broadcast room and scanned the monitors. Background radiation was being overlapped by a massive spike and all of the emergency signals from Vriska were going nuts, flashing and blaring, and through it all a mayday hail was burning through the speakers. A thermonuclear warhead?! There was no way something like that could have been smuggled into any of the cities and officials would have been all over a new building going up in the area.

Sam's finger's danced across the keyboard, eyes flashing across the screens. True, he was no physicist, much less a rocket scientist, but he'd seen the sims of nuclear spikes and something just didn't add up, but he'd be damned if he could put his finger on it. By now, the rest of the EMTs were piling in, all calling out and producing a clamor as they read off the reports. To be getting the readings they were getting, the explosion had to be enormous. Sam's eyes widened as something occurred to him and he switched his computer over to a different sensor.

Immediately he shouted for everyone to brace for massive impact, shouting it through the intercom system as well before throwing himself to the floor and bracing himself. The shockwave rolled over the facility. Crossing the zoid battlefield, the shockwave had dissipated for the most part, but it still held enough force to send Sam rolling across the floor to slam into the far wall.

Coughing from the dust kicked up by the impact, Sam shakily rose to his feet, checking the structure of the room. Intact, but there were some big cracks in the wall as well as a particularly large piece of wall now settled on the floor. The other EMTs were rising around him where they'd been thrown by the shockwave, some covering gashes on arms, legs, and heads. The leader of the EMTs, a short tigress, wasted no time in organizing the group even as she stood, "Red team! See to the base! Blue team! Get to your stingers and get to Vriskas!"

With a chorus of "Yes Ma'ams", the EMTs split into two groups based on their uniform color. Sam charged after the other blues as they ran for the hanger. He gave a sigh of relief as he caught sight of the stingers, simple medical ships modified to be able to carry zoids underneath them, all of them still nestled in their docks despite the shockwave.

Meeting up with his stinger partner, a middle-aged coon named Vick, he rushed to the stinger in dock three, hopping up into the cockpit, taking his position at the rear facing radar and clamp station while Vick took the pilot seat.

The stingers were quick to fire up as always, the docks launching in numbered order and forming up in the air above the facility. The male voice of blue leader rang out across teamcom, "Blue 1 through 6, get to the battlefied and find the combatants. Everyone else to Vriskas." Green acknowledgement light flashed across the board before Sam's stinger and five others broke off and shot toward the battlefield.

[WolfyWetFurr]

In one of the many underground holdings, abandons after the wars, a zoid slumbered deeply. Having recovered from injuries both emotional and cosmetic, the old zoid ignored the sounds of skirmish battles over head. Now and then he even tuned in to the broadcast to keep up with score. It was something to do that did not disturb his rest. It was much better than the silence that his life consisted of before the arena was staged there. He still longed for a pilot though. There was no other way to fill the emptiness he felt.

The horns, once laid back against his head, raised and his stand by lights lit up with dim pink glows as a rumble much larger than a cannon blast or zoid body hitting the ground shook the earth. The dock he was locked down in had long ago worn too much to hold him and all but fell off when the ground shook. The supports of the place fell way too and with all the clatter is was more than enough to wake the beast fully.

With all his systems booting up he had not power left to boot up his shield right away. It crackled and fizzled out over his hull as he managed to stand himself up. Screeching announced his motions as he pulled away from the old restraints and sparks added to the glow of his fully lit status lights. Then came the after shock and the wolf hybrid looked about for any support beams that mite still be intact. But with so little time to react, it was not like he could have gotten to them if he saw any. The force of the blast destabilized the ground creating a sudden sink hole. Dirt feel in off course and the zoid beneath struggled to hold himself against it. Fortunately there was not much ground left above the complex and he was able to not only hold his own, but was able to walk up and shake off some of the dirt. How ever the loose ground was keeping him from getting any grip to climb out and he did not much feel like jumping.

Peeking out over the edge, he flicked back his horns and lowered his head. There were other Zoids around him that had been disturbed by the blast and he was not too keen on making himself visible what was a battle zone a moment ago. Sand was still falling in on him and it took no time to be covered in dust once he lay down though black parts and his urban camo head top would still be visible, not to mention any scan could pick him up.

[Buzzwolf]

=Four Minutes Prior=

A spanner wrench went flying across the maintence bay, followed by a string of curses from below and a low rumble from the beast being worked on as he lifted his head to try to see the problem. A couple foxes standing idle, chatting over a cart of supplies flinched as she spanner wrench went skittering across the floor, grimacing as they looked in the direction of the source. Gunney was pissed.

The black furred wolf stepped from under the Zoid, grumbling as she tossed a well beat component to the side, and brushed her vibrent green hair from her face with an elbow, avoiding her oil covered hands. Her bright green eyes moved over the side of the massive zoid beside her "I told you not to fucking move!" The zoid grumbled out unintelligbly in response. She rolled her eyes and waved it off "Spanner wrenches don't tickle! There's not even any sensors down there!" the zoid grumbled again and she let out a frustrated sigh and put her hand to her face as the Zoid rolled on it's side with a heavy thud in response "Fine...fine...it tickled...whatever...just don't. fucking. move. this time, got it?" The zoid let out a grumbling whine. She grabbed another spanner and the replacement part she'd been working on installing, and stepped under the zoid.

Both foxes pulled on their crainials at the same time, counting down on their fingers with goofy grins on their faces. it never took less than three attempts to get that part replaced on the Rose. They both grinned, and one held up eight fingers as another string of curses came from under the Rose.

Both looked up at the sound of someone busting through the heavy catwalk doors above "Gunney!" The wolfs tall ears stood up at the call of her rank and she leaned out from under the zoid "We've got a problem!" a panicked feline shouted down from the cat walks
=One Minute prior=

"We've lost standard lines to Vriska!" the ferrets nimble fingers few over the keyboard as she tossed out the warning across her headset "Rerouting across underground lines!

"When the hell did this start?!" She yelled at the Feline leading her through the chaos

"About five, maybe ten minutes ago, started as the simple little things, bad connection here and there, sensors going out and so on, things went completely haywire just before I came to get you. the Situation is going downhill fast!" She tossed a headset to the wolf and she held it to her ear, listening to the chaotic chatter going through the control room.

"Holy shit..." her eyes went wide as she listened

The feline put a paw to her mouth as a new display appeared on her screen "It gets worse..." She turned it to face the wolfess. a mapped network of all the sensors and comm lines in the city, each one going down one by one in a domino effect headed from the center of the city "The entire network is going down..."

"What in the hell is going on...?!" she stood and looked over at the overhead wall monitor "Someone get me a shot of the city!" She looked down at the control board nearest her as the feline went back to work, trying to pull up a view from any of the cameras before they went down. Her ear shifted as the chaos of the room suddenly died away and she lifted her head to look at the main screen.

The view from a zoid sitting atop the remains of a building, one of the testing facilitites, staring in at the source of the destruction. A mushroom cloud rising high up over the city. The headset clattered to the floor as it dropped from the wolfs hand.

"...-ders command?" the voice crackled over the comm "I repeat...thermoneuclear detonation has been detected...Readings are anamolous...but the destruction...my god...it's terrible..." The feed cut out as another shockwave washed over the zoid.

Of all the days to be the NCOIC...
____


The vixen went tumbling down the pile of rubble, tucking her arms and legs in tight as she rolled, and finally came to a stop at the base of the rubble.

She eeped and uncovered her head as she looked around, her zoid had ejected her from the cockpit after the last shockwave when a heavy piece of the buildings superstructure had landed on her. Her large light blue eyes looked down at the red streaked gloves she now wore. She was bleeding, she could feel the light trickle running through the fur down the side of her head. The was a pain in her chest too, probably landed on something on her way down the rubble pile and cracked a rib.

She let out a soft groan as she rolled herself to her feet, looking around as she got her bearings, Her soft auburn hair falling in her face as she took in hte remains of the building around her "Sara! Shit!" she started suddenly, turning to where her zoid had been. The cockpit remained open, even as the stone spread over it's surface "Sara..." Her ears fell back as she watched it spread. Her zoid had made sure she survived, even when it knew it wouldn't.

She eeped and covered her head as more rubble from the loose ceiling came tumbling down and caused and avalanche in the rubble, sending her rolling again, bouncing off the small piles of rubble and holes. she groaned and rubbed her head as she came to a stop once more, climbing carefully to her feet to avoid another collapse.

She glanced around and up. a hole in the showed where she'd tumbled down from, more of the deceased command wolf was now visible that some of the rubble had tumbled from beneath it in the second collapse, she looked away, not wanted to think about the loss of her old friend and loyal companion. She walked silently through the rubble, her mind wanting nothing more than shut the entire situation out as a bad dream, to wake up in her warm soft bed as if none of this ever happened...that it was all just one big bad dre--

*THUD*

She landed nose first in the rubble as she tripped over a large chunk of metal sticking up through it. She groaned. "This is just not...my day..." she sighed as she looked at the piece of flawless metal sticking from the rubble. and blinked. The patterning looked horribly familiar. Her eyes snapped open as the realization hit her "Thunderhead!" One of the zoids she'd worked with shortly that had been testing out some new type of weapon. she scrabbled across the rubble, trying to pry bit and pieces of the off the downed zoid, the glimmer of hope in the ruins of the blast

[Shade Leshyr]

Thuderhead waited. It was the hardest thing he had ever had to do, his desire to burst out and find whatever low life coward had done this only adding to his frustration. However, as a modified sniper, the little squishy lifeforms had pounded it into his head that he had to stop, take a breath, and analyze the situation. He started with a full systems and structure scan... nothing was broken and he was fully intact. Good, that was step one.

Step two was to send out a low level radar ping. The results came back: numerous bodies no longer giving off life signs, one zoid quickly becoming stone, and one, much to his great relief and stress, small life form giving off a steady, if not elevated, heartbeat. At that moment, his internal sensors gave off a signal that the life form had tripped over a section of his upper back and he faintly heard a voice he recognized call out his name.

Amilia! he let out in a strange purr-growl before giving his head a good wrench. Rubble cascaded off of his neck as he lifted his head free and looked around. The first thing his eyes saw was Sara, now a solid statue, a monument to self-sacrifice. Thunderhead bowed his head in a gesture of respect. There were only a few things worth dying for in Thunderhead's opinion and little Amilia was one of them. In a base full of arrogance and commands, Amilia was the only one that had treated him with respect.

Thunderhead's priorities changed. If the attackers were smart, they'd probably have a second strike ready for survivors. He had to get Amilia out of here. He twisted his neck around, catching sight of her out of the corner of his eye, and lowered his head, the upper half of his head folding up and away from the empty cockpit. Orders were he wasn't allowed to leave until a pilot was chosen, but at the moment, Amilia had the highest authority in the building and she was zoidless with the loss of Sara. It was a win-win for both of them.

"Get in" rang out the heavily synthasized voice from the onboard voice mimicking system installed in him for mechanics that couldn't understand zoid...

______________

"Picking anything up Sam?" Vick asked for the fifth time as the swept over their section of the battlefield. They'd been at it for a couple of minutes and so far none of the stingers had found hide nor hair of the combatants. Keeping his eyes on the scanners, Samuel rang out a negative, adjusting the scopes to a smaller range to try and get readings from smaller items.

Vick swore lightly, checking with his eyes for anything the scanners might miss, but all he could see was empty battlefield. No zoids. No pilots. No nothing. It was like the blast from Vriskas had destroyed them completely. Sam wasn't having any more luck. The far-flung blast residue was playing hell with his equipment, making it hard to tell a giant rock from a grain of sand.

Vick eased the stinger a little lower, skimming over the ground in an attempt to find anything that might have been buried. After a full minute, Vick sighed, "Well, that's the official end of the battlefield, let's circle back and report our findings." Sam opened his mouth to agree sadly when his GPR let out a solid ping.

"What is it Sam?"
"Hard ping, alloy consistent with zoid armor plating."
"Rodger that, let's go get us a zoid. Must have been thrown here by blast."

Their stinger zipped low into the lands just beyond the battlefield until Vick pointed of of the cockpit, "Over there Sam. In that sinkhole." Samuel looked, quickly catching sight of the bright sun reflecting off of a sand covered zoid in the middle of a good sized sinkhole. Vick swore, "I can't get close enough. If I get any lower we're gonna have that sand in our engines and then we're screwed. We'll call it in, get some better equipment and come back."

Samuel gave a frustrated sound, "Look at the ground beneath it Vick! It may not be here when we get back!"

"I don't know what else to tell you Sam."
"Lower the tow ropes, I'll do it manually!"
"Ok, that's crazy, even for you! There's no way in hell I'm letting you do that!"
"You're not going to stop me Vick."
"I could just fly away."
"And I'll jump out. Never leave a zoid or pilot behind."
Vick swore, "Forget the creed for a moment Sam, that was a nuclear bomb. As in radiation. Is that zoid down there worth your life?"
"We're far enough away that my suit will block most of it. And even if we weren't, yes, I would still do this."

Vick sat silently for a moment, then swore, donning his helmet, "Fine, but it's your ass." Sam said nothing, simply putting his helmet on and securing it to the rest of his suit. The cockpit slid open and Samuel unbuckled himself, grabbing an emergency rope as he slid out onto the wing of the stinger, clamping the magnetic lock onto the ship before signalling for Vick to lower the tow ropes.

Six bulb shaped devices slid free of the stinger and lowered toward the zoid in the sinkhole, Sam following as quick as he dared. Samuel watched the zoids head raise as he came down toward its head. He held out a hand comfortingly, "Hey big guy, just stay calm. I'm gonna get you out of here, alright? No sudden moves ok?" he spoke soothingly in case the zoid was traumatized as he gently set down at the base of its neck and made his way to the first tow rope, grabbing a pair of handles on it and swinging the bulb close to the zoid's shoulders were it magnatized...

[Arratra]

The radiation was playing hell with the 3D radar, Marxon noted, but fortunately it was still low enough that the protective layers of his pilot's suit would block it. At the hospital, however, the radiation was strong enough that his suit would be completely useless.
As the Drakus went to pass the Guardian Force outpost, it suddenly slammed the brakes on, skidding to a halt. Marxon grimaced as the restraints pressed against his chest.
"Draco, what it is?" he asked, as the Drakus in question turned on its own and proceeded over the flattened fence and onto the rubble.
Draco highlighted a shaky Zoid and organic reading in the rubble, and Marxon nodded slightly.
"Let's help them out. Better here than the hospital."
He reached up to his helmet and tapped the control. The visor, which he usually had retracted, buzzed as it slid down in front of his eyes, then tinted automatically, although not to opacity.
"Unidentified Zoid. This is Marxon, pilot of the Drakus unit-RZ Blade. I am on my way to assist."
The Drakus came into view of Amilia and Thunderhead, its glowing panels making its emergence from the dust seem almost ethereal.

[WolfyWetFurr]

Resting quietly the black top zoid moved only a little now and then to let sand fall from his head. There were no more sounds of conflict and he assumed that the combatants were not present for what ever reasons. The ground around him though was still unstable and foiled his tries to climb out. With no where to go, the zoid was not motivated enough to just jump out, which was well with in his means. One could say he was depressed.

The loud and undulating sound of air craft moving though air aroused his interest and his horns rurred as they raised up off his head and neck to point up. As the sound got louder and his internal short range radar picked up the air born signal he raised his head to have a look. The optics on the other parts of his body being covered in dust left only his 'eyes' to see with. Sure enough, a stinger recovery class ship was adjusting its course to head towards him. 'They must be looking for the competitors.' he thought as he shifted a bit. Hiss effort to get out had caused more sand to dump int the hole and he had sunk into it when he laid down.

Since he belonged to no one any more, he expected the ship to move on so he had lowered his head and was surprised and startled when the ship came to hoover over him and lowered grappling lines. He understood what they were for. During the war he had been carried by armed trance port ships into the heat of battle or near to such. He then registered a voice, speaking to him as if he were a scared pup, and was confused.

Why would the fragile being come down with the lines? If they could not do it with out leaving their ship, they should not attempt it. It puts the small being at risk and implied that the being was, by definition, stupid or ignorant. Still, it was touching at least. This husky was risking his life for a Zoid he never met and, the beast rumbled with devious joy, would have no choice but to know him better.

Though his rumble could be mistaken for discomfort and happened just as the bulbs were clanging against his shoulders. His pink eyes beamed with anticipation though and with Samuel being so close now, he mite notice that the Zoid had no pilot hatch on his head, and he was very good at keeping still.

[Buzzwolf]

The stunned silence lasted mere moments before the chaos of the command center erupted to the sounds of distress calls, warnings, simply calls for help from anyone still alive in the city.

To the entire crew staring at the main screen with the orbital shot of the city, those few moments seemed to last forever.

As the first reports started rolling in, a sigh of relief passed over the crew in the command center. there were survivors, and already reports of rescue craft sweeping the area were rolling in right along side. She smiled and patted the shoulder of the feline that had lead her in to the command center "Open up the frequencies, start work on coordinating the rescue attempts. I'll get a crew down to the hanger and open it up for any survivors and for those rescue pilots if they need somewhere to set down"

The feline nodded and her fingers flew over the keyboard as she started calling out commands across the headset. This was her area of expertise, not the wolfs. Leah stood and glanced around for her crew, finding the pair of foxes leaning against one of the control consoles watching the main screen in awe, much to the annoyance of the Lizard working the console. She put her fingers between her teeth and let out a sharp whistle, both of them looking her way, but most of the command center remaining focused on their consoles, too used to such a noise from their headsets. They hurried over and threw her a goofy salute, standing rigid at attention with slapstick smiles on their faces. Comedians. both of them, even in the worst of situations they still could do their jobs and be lighthearted about it "Get your Ligers, we're clearing out hanger six for refugees,then you two are on first patrol, got it?" the nodded and when they held the joke salute a moment too long, both recieved a smack upside the head before they went running off laughing for the hanger.

She rolled her eyes with a chuckle and followed at a jog, children...all of them...
___________

Amilia didn't even blink as she scrambled for the now open cockpit, the sudden jerk of the Rex's head had destablized the rubble once more and now it was raining chunks down around her. She eeped! and dodged as chunks of the ceiling fell around her before she literally dove into the open cockpit.

She let out a sigh of relief as she heard the cockpit close around her, protecting her from any further rubble as the screens came online and she twisted herself around to sit properly in the seat "I cannot tell you...how much I apperciate that..." she heaved between breaths. Her ears twitched as the radio crackled with the intermitant signal of the zoid and pilot on their way to assist. Her face paled beneath her black fur, and she scrambled for the comm "No! Pilot Marxon, Stay where you are! I repeat, do not approach! The entire structure of this building is highly unstable! do not proceed!" she yelled across the comm as she saw him attempting to enter through a hole in the building "I have the the means to get out...we just have to take it very...very slow...Standby" she flicked the comm off and ran her hands over the panels, doing a habitual systems check of the zoid she now rode in "Alright boy...lets get out of this place before someone brings the rest of it down on our heads, eh?"

[Arratra]

The Drakus frose without any input from Marxon, and Marxon couldn't help but agree with his Zoid. He hadn't liked the look of the ruins, but with a Zoid and a person in there, he hadn't had much of a choice about entering if they hadn't had the means to escape themselves.

Marxon eased back the controls, and the Drakus backed away slowly until it was out of the way entirely.
"When you're free, do you want to help me search for survivors?" Marxon asked, "I think they'd appreciate the help."

[Shade Leshyr]

Thunderhead closed his head as soon as his monitors registered Amilia leaping into it. A soft purr escaped the rex to her words as he lifted his head more gently, eyeing his current position as he transferred most of his systems to her so he could focus more on where he was. He snapped his head to the side as rubble skittered down from above, his eyes locking on the zoid above him. His weapons began to warm until he heard Amilia responding to another pilot.

He tuned out of the conversation as he looked around, careful not to shift too much just yet. Since she was busy talking to the other pilot, she failed to notice a screen to her left plotting out a path to the ledge above them. Once he had it plotted, Thunderhead only had one more thing to do before leaving. Arching his neck, he touched noses with Sara, planting a homing beacon on the zoid for later retrieval.

That done, he said one thing to Amilia, "Hang on." Thunderhead's entire body tensed and lifted as he pushed off with his feet, sending rubble scattering all over and bunny-hopping to a large flat piece of rubble a few feet in front of him. Twisting in mid air with a short exhaust boost, Thunderhead was already jumping again as he landed, sending that piece tumbling down.

Another jump brought him up to the top of the wall which began to crumble under his weight and a push off that brought him level with the other zoid. A gentle hum sounded as the rex's camo-plating activated, taking millions of pictures in a millisecond, mirroring his surroundings around him until only his bright blue eyes shown.

A short burst transmission sped to the other zoid and its pilot <Possible enemy patrol. Your emission level is too high. Perfect target.> Short and simple, the rex preferred it that way.

_____________

Sam's ears twitched under his helmet as the zoid beneath him rumbled, "It's alright big guy, just sit tight for a moment." He hoisted the second mag-bulb into place on the opposite shoulder, noting that the zoids head was too well angled to have a head-mounted cockpit entrance. Did this zoid even have a pilot?

He pushed the thought away for a moment, working his way down the zoids back to get the other four bulbs in place. As the last clinked into place, the husky looked up and waved to Vick signaling him to go. Vick responded with a gesture to him, then his seat which produced a headshake from Sam, who pointed to the zoids head.

Vick sat there for a moment, then turned and closed the cockpit, gently pulling up and lifting the zoid free of the sinkhole. Sam carefully made his way to the zoid's head as Vick began to ease the stinger toward the nearest unloading bay.

Sam eased his way to the nose and turned, trying to look into both bright eyes at once, "Hey there, name's Samuel, but most call me Sam. Look, I need to check your systems and your pilot. Where's the entrance to your cockpit.

From his current angle, Sam finally got a good look at the zoid. It wasn't a type he was really familiar with and several parts of its body made it look like the zoid had been stripped of quite a few things. What was it doing out here? Had it been part of the battle.

He couldn't help but look the zoid over with a sense of wonder...

[WolfyWetFurr]

The zoid kept track of ware the small creature was on his body as best he could, usually the biggest give away was which bolt was being tethered to him. His large tail sifted sands as it moved beneath them in contained anticipation. The idea of being lifted gave him some hope. He had no parts to be salvaged, and killing him would be more effort than leaving him there. So they must have some sport of use for him, potentially.

Expecting the husky to return to the ship, the zoid was surprised to see Samuel still on him as the tethers began to strain. As he felt himself getting pulled from the sand, he noticed the fragile suited creature take its position his his snout. Were his skin not made of senseless plating, that would be annoying. That not being the case, he thought nothing of it. Instead he pondered how much faith he put in the one flying this ship, and the zoid himself, to stand in such a place with out restraints.

The bright pink eyes focused into orbs rather than fully filled eyes to let the husky know he had his attention, since such beings used eyes in much of their communication. But once the husky asked to know of his pilot hatch, his eyes unfocused to shimmering pools of light once more. There was no way to get him safely inside mid flight, and once he was in he would not let him out for a good while and it would be best if there were witnesses to the husky willingly entering him when the time came so that he could keep him to himself with out causing others any panic.

Since this husky was the one to come and get him, this husky would be the one he kept. Of course, who could have any idea that was the case. The zoid remained still for the passenger that sat on his slashy camo face mask paint, musing of a more fulfilling future while leaving the husky in silent suspense.

[Nelle Kozera]

Ten minutes after the event:

Deep within the city near the center of the explosion that happened in the city of Vriska. Ruble began to move, people that have been loosely buried by the ruble were able dig themselves out to find themselves still alive even though they had been so close to the center of the blast. One thing that was way off about this event was the fact that there had been no heat with the explosion just an over pressure wave that actually at its strongest above ground level, people on the ground where able to live through the event with little injury, but they didn’t make it out unchanged. Even as they were moving to safety though those changes where becoming evident, around the city the screams of people could be heard…

---

Sam would suddenly feel a sharp burning pain throughout his body; it felt like his skin on his chest and arms was slowly burned and peeled away at the same time. Combined with this he was having trouble breathing as every breath felt like one of his ribs where slowly breaking. When he had his protective suit taken off he find that his skin and abdomen where slowing being turned to living metal.

Amila would feel a similar burning pain in her tail and low legs, combined with the feeling that of her tail slowly being ripped off; she would later find that those are where also being turned to living metal.

Axel would look down to see that the skin on her hands was peeling off; soon she would see the bone in her hands. This process though unlike the others was painless, she still had full motor control over her hands but combined with that she could tell that the bones in her hands and possibly her body where turning to metal.

Marxon thanks to his shielding was spared from the ill effects of the blast.

(Note that the living metal also includes the fur as well.)

[Arratra]

(OK, Nelle. He'll be exposed at this point so it'll still happen... ten minutes later. The exposure comes from the fact that the locking rings and some of the shielding in his suit were knocked loose when he was knocked into his seat.)
<I can't really help the energy signature,> Draco replied, speaking directly to Thunderhead, <My entire design is based around a prototype power plant, and high mobility, not stealth.>
Marxon spoke a second later, having read the transmission, "Draco's power plant wasn't intended for stealth, you know. The Drakus design is based around close combat, so it maximises agility and reflexes over stealth improvements. Plus there's the fact that Draco here can't tire out because of his ion reactor and the collector panels. So I... What the?"
Draco shifted his head, and Marxon frowned, then his eyes widened.
"Draco, that's a Zoid, and it's alive" he murmured, "It needs help. C'mon."
Ignoring Draco's warnings, he slapped the quick release for the restraints; the straps around his chest and waist unlatched and zipped into the seat, and he slipped his wings into the cases next to the life-support pack and sealed the whole system.
Draco winced internally; there were times when he wished he could communicate more clearly with his pilot, such as now, since the rad-shielding in Marxon's suit had been knocked loose, and would let the radiation in. He had only scanned it a minute before, and it would only require a simple adjustment to fix the problem. But it was also almost unnotieable unless the person started doing stretches, awkward given the wing-cases and life-support pack.
Too late now. While he was more intelligent and self-motivating than most Zoids, he could not override the controls for canopy movement. Except when he ejected his pilot, and that was not what he wanted to do.
The cockpit hinged open and Marxon leapt down, landing lightly despite the suit.

"You OK?" Marxon asked the little Battleskipper as he arrived. It was trapped between a slab that had seemingly knocked it over, and was wriggling in an attempt to get free.
It chirped weakly in response, and Marxon nodded, before signalling Draco, who hurried to comply. The less his pilot was exposed, the better. The Drakus hooked a claw beneath the slab and turned it right over. The little raptor-type scrambled to its feet and sprinted away, leaving Marxon standing in the dust.
"So much for a thank-you," he muttered angrily as he climbed back in and closed the canopy... Then froze when he saw what Draco had slapped onto the central screen.
"Forearms, hands, shins, feet, wings and eyes, all unshielded," Marxon mumbled, "Crap. Draco, how many rads?"
:218 rads: popped up on the screen, and Marxon paled slightly.
"How long before radiation sickness sets in?" he asked hollowly.
:Unknown. More than 10 minutes:
"Wha-? But that's impossible. What do yo-..."
He froze. Readings were starting to clear up, and there were unshielded survivors that weren't sick.
"Radiation anomalous," Marxon said slowly, "The survivors are... The blast. No heat. Just an overpressure wave. What's going-?"
Draco pulled up a visual; the dust had cleared enough that the ruins could be clearly seen. And the survivors that were emerging. Some of them were stumbling, however, and Marxon paled as he caught sight of what was happening.
"Something's creeping across their bodies! Draco, zoom in on that one emerging from the hospital!"
The Drakus did as ordered, feeling a trickle of panic settling in his core.
"It's... It's metal!" Marxon whispered, "It's living metal! Wh... What's happening to them?! Is it goign to happen to me, too?"
Draco had no answers and no way to communicate them to his pilot even if he did. The dragon-type cursed in the Zoid language, a short, sharp snarl, and turned to where he thought Thunderhead was.
<Any ideas what's going on here?> he asked, <Overpressure blast, but no heat, radiation that doesn't make a person sick, and now this? What happened?>

[Nelle Kozera]

(Arratra edit your post, you are unaffected by the blast)

[Arratra]

(Arratra edit your post, you are unaffected by the blast)

(OK, done. And he has been exposed now. Just have to wait for it, I think. As to the dosage; people get mild radiation sickness at about 200 rads. However, this is an overall exposure level. His limbs recieved a pretty large dose.)

[Nelle Kozera]

(Yes I do mind you getting an upgrade, you are edit out your upgrade out immediately, we are less than ten minutes in RP time, not even remotely close to getting an upgrade)

[Arratra]

(Done. My apologies, Nelle. I only meant the schematics for the upgrade, not the upgrade itself. Never mind then.)

[Buzzwolf]

((wow arratra...that was THE most poorly executed upgrade find/exposure post I have ever seen...I'm still not sure where or how you supposedly 'found' that upgrade..))


Amilia immediately grabbed the control rods the moment that thunderhead shifted and dislodged himself from the rubble, a dull aching pain suddenly starting to build in her lower half. Had she injured herself more than she'd thought? No, that couldn't be...not like this... She grimaced as thunderhead started his sequence of jumps. It was an odd pain, like one she hadnt felt before, it crept up along her legs like a thing crawling over her, bitting here and there at her legs as it climbed.


A paw roved over her leg as the ache crept up her thigh, as if the muscles were tightening, hardening beneath the skin, even to her fingers the muscle felt hard, unnaturally hard almost.


Her ears lowered as the sensation passed to her tail, tugging gently at first and growing till it felt like her tail was slowly being pulled from her spine


And it was at that point she got a glimpse of what was happening, and her eyes went wide as what she saw stunned her.


Her fur was turning from its smooth, luscious, glossy black, to a shimmering black metal, slowly creeping over her fur-- no...it was her fur, she could still feel it, just as well, if not more so. The aching pain suddenly took backseat to stunned awe at the sight.


Her attention jumped to the consoles as her fingers flew over the controls, bringing up images of the surroundings and readings from the zoids sensors "...shit...we have a serious problem thunderhead...we gotta get back to base...now"
______


"we're good to go gunney!" the voice came across her headset of one of the fox twins from up in the cockpit of his zoid. The pair had spent last few minutes clearing the hanger of any clutter that was unneeded, making space for any refugees making their way in from the inner city.


"good job boys," she tapped a hand to her headset, an unfamiliar click coming as her hand contacted the headset "let's get the hanger doors open and get a patrol going"


"got it boss!..." an unusual pause came across the line as the liger remained still, starring down at Axel "hey gunney...what's up with your hands? They're all...shiny an shit.."


"...my hands?" she asked curiously, removing her hand from the headset to look at it. What she found, surprised her, to say the least. Just past the elbow, flesh turned to metal muscle connected to what appeared to be exposed metal bones, both hands no less. A dark gunmetal, seeming to have emulated her dark fur color.


Oddly enough...she felt no pain. Hell, if not for her boys having pointed it out, she probably wouldn't have noticed it for awhile! She flexed the metallic fingers experimentally and found each to work just fine, even the feeling and sensations of touch were there, right down to the cool touch of metal on metal when she made a fist.


"don't worry about it" she waved it off as nothing. It did not empede her work, and for the time, it became secondary "get the hanger doors open and do a lap around the compound, check for damages caused by the blast and start broadcasting, it'll help narrow down where we are in all this chaos with the signal command's already giving off. I need to finish up with the Rose in the event we need all hands" the liger nodded and the fox responded


"got it boss, we'll be back faster than two shakes of a foxes tail!" the fox laughed and the twin ligers vanished out around the compound as they started their patrol, leaving axel holding an oversized torque wrench as she went back to finishing with the Rose

[Shade Leshyr]

Thunderhead let out an irritated snort <Excuses...> His head snapped up as Amilia began to speak to him, a note of panic in her voice. Thunderhead turned, orientating himself with a soft IFF ping to find the nearest functioning base, and took off in a sprint. Turning a portion of his gaze inward, he stumbled slightly as he saw Amilia's current condition. Immediately three screens came up, locking onto her vitals, brain waves, and chemical secretions. The first showed a slight flutter in her heartbeat and strange fluxuations in her muscle clenching. The second maintained a steady rate, albeit slightly heightened, which was only natural in the current situation. The third, however, was the one that concerned the zoid the most.

He brought it up on the main screen in front of Amilia to let her look at it as well. The cells in her muscles from the point of mutation weren't secreting normal bodily fluids, instead giving off a metallic liquid as she panicked and sweated. On top of that, Thunderhead brought up an emergency file containing the vixen's genetic data and compared it to the sample he was getting from her secretions, showing even the DNA starting to give off metallic properties. In any other time, he might have felt a deeper connection to her, but right now, all he knew was it wasn't normal and it could mean the death of his pilot and the person he trusted the most right now.

Inspired by genuine emotion, Thunderhead's speed maxed out and continued to rise, bubbling oil taking the place of foam around the edges of his mouth. Driven by single-minded determination, the cut down rex was willing to run himself into the ground if it meant that Amilia could receive treatment in time. Danger alarms sounded inside Thunderhead's head, but he shut them down as soon as they began popping up, using a small sub-routine in his system to bypass all the safety locks and accelerate to twice the speed limit his creators had imposed on him. Camo-panels flared and shut down to keep from burning out as Thunderhead continued to run...

___________

Sam frowned and opened his mouth to make the request again, thinking the zoid was just being stubborn, but even as he opened his mouth, unimaginable pain washed over him. A strangled yelp escaped him as he felt as if he had been punched in the gut by someone three times his size and he fell flat on the zoid's nose. He rolled onto his back, gasping desperately for breath, no oxygen seeming to reach his lungs as he began to writhe in agony as he felt himself boil from the inside out. The thought that he might be dying crossed his mind as his vision dimmed, his mind starting to shut down to keep from overloading.

The husky convulsed on the zoid's nose, arching his back with a sickening CRACK! as he felt his abdomen explode into sheer pain. His fingers danced across his suit, shaking with the sheer effort it took to blunder through the pain. He needed to breath! The suit had to come off or he'd suffocate! Giving up on the clasps, he simply dug his claws under the suit and ripped it away. For a mere moment, the pain lessened, then doubled and Sam yelled out in agony, his helmet sliding off and falling to the ground far below. His vision continued to dim as he struggled to raise his arm to eye level, strangled yelps and whimpers escaping him as every inch felt like his arm was shattering, burning, and peeling away all at the same time.

His eyes focused on his fur, every individual strand standing out in metallic detail as the mutation spread along his arm, clear to the tip of his fingers. Awe overtook the pain for a moment, but the mutation spread along his chest and breathing became almost impossibly labored. His eyes slowly rolled into the back of his head, arm falling across his face, and darkness overtook him, sparing him the agony of the change overtaking his head. His breathing was slow and ragged, but the husky was still very much alive...

[Arratra]

(Hope you don't mind me doing this, Shade, Buzz, but Draco's going to lend a hand by giving Thunderhead a lift. He's going to be out of action for a while afterwards, though. Nelle; no, the Drakus is not designed for this, so he's going to have to recover for a while before he can do anything further.)

Draco stared blankly after Thunderhead for a moment, before sighing internally. Maybe, just maybe, he could get Marxon treated before the mutation started with him, too. The sleek Dragon-type spread its holographic wings, the shining blue membranes forming as he did so, then leapt into the air.
"That Rex is pushing himself beyond his limits," Marxon said, worriedly, then yelped as Draco swooped down, and latched onto the Rex-type's frame, before lifting the whole thing into the air.
"Draco, wha-? You're not designed for this!"
The Drakus in question rumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "oh yes I am!"
<If a damn peacock can do this, than so can I!> he roared, slamming down a heavy wingbeat and jumping both Zoids up another dozen metres.
"Draco... All right," Marxon said, resolution hardening his tone, "Let's do this, pal."
His fingers wrapped back around the controls, and as he did so, the collector panels flared, and the reactor pushed to the red-line. An aura of blue energy surrounded the Zoid for an instant, before the power was diverted automatically to the holographic wings, which were larger than anything Draco had created before that point.
<We're almost there!> Draco told his likely startled passenger, as the base where Axel was currently working came into view.
He descended, and came to an unsteady hover just in front of the main doors. He then released Thunderhead, whose feet were barely a metre from the ground, and backwinged twice, before simply deactivating the wings and landing heavily.
The dragon-type Zoid immediately went into recovery mode, all the cockpit electronics shutting down and the viewscreen fading to opacity. Externally, all the collector panels dlows faded to next to zero as the reactor cooled down to more acceptable operating levels.
"Draco, are you OK?" Marxon asked in concern, leaning forwards as far as his restraints allowed.
<Remind me... not to do that again,> Draco managed, before simply opening his cockpit and lying down before settling into the Zoid equivalent of sleep to recover. Marxon stared blankly at the blank central screen for a moment, before sighing and climbing out... after making sure that he had fixed the shielding on his suit this time.

He ran over to the door, and cupped his hands around where his mouth was beneath the helmet.
"We need a medic over here!" he yelled as loud as he could, then grimaced as he felt a twinge in his wing.
Dammit, is it starting on me, too? And Amilia was unshielded for at least a minute... she'll have taken a much bigger dose than me.

[WolfyWetFurr]

The zoid was pondering where they were taking him now that the hanger was with in site and getting ever closer. The craft that carried him knew where they were going at least and that was all that mattered for now. But as Samuel cried out and fell onto the plated nose of the Zoid, he returned his focus to the husky. The zoid was too exposed to nasty things to be disturbed but became concerned in no time and feared for his future pilots safety.

Calling Vick for his hurt pilot, he delivered his message through text:
"Unknown User Data: Urgent- Samuel is sick and in need of medical care. Unknown ailment. Keep steady. Try to avoid moving him on arrival."

Though he did not want the husky out of his site, the zoid worded his message that way because he knew that in some cases moving a sick or wounded persons body before finding out what was wrong with them could have very ill effects. There was nothing more the giant machine beast could do though besides keep still, making him feel powerless. A feeling he hated. For now he remained still and vigilant, so as to cause the least possible disturbance of his precious cargo.

He guessed there was no way any one could have known of the cause. Who in their right mind would want to expose some one to this...

[Nelle Kozera]

Now that the news Vriska had trailed along the feeds to other cities, helicopters and Aerial Zoids where converging on the area. Live news feeds went out of the disaster it was estimated that ninety-four percent of the people died in the blast 50% of the survivors where horribly mutated, or scarred from the blast, further still where people that were not examined yet. As this moment, the Vriskan hospital that survived the blast on the edge of the city was now being flooded with survivors from the city to inspect their bodies. The hospital on the edge only survived because it possessed shielding to prevent damage from stray rounds from the nearby Zoids battlefield. But the hospital was meant to service families and the nearby bases and was going to rapidly overwhelmed by the influx of people.

---

Marxon would feel a pain in his leg as the muscles cramped up but it went away shortly thereafter only to be followed by ripping sensation along his leg. He could feel the blood dripping down his legs, if looked down he would see a metal blade like structure protruding from his leg, and it didn’t look like anything he has seen before, it was also extremely sensitive if it were to be touched by anything he would feel pain that would nearly cause him to black out.

Though to everyone effected they would find something rather interested in their own times. They could perfectly understand the speech of Zoids. Furthermore they could feel their individual Zoids on a level that they could never feel before, it was more emotional, primal...

[Buzzwolf]

"Lets see if we can get it right this time, hmm?" she spoke to the rose, getting an annoyed grumble from the beast in return "Less you move, the less time this takes, less time it takes, means less time I gotta be down there digging around...and trust me, it's just as unpleasent for you as for me" she would almost have sworn she'd heard a grumbled 'fine' somewhere in that rumbling, but waved it off and grabbed the spanner and the replacement part and ducked under, quickly removing the required paneling and starting the work

A grunt made her look up just as the leg shifted "rrrleft! Left!" she complied, thinking it was one of her fellow shopmates "no! no! otherrrr!" a growl filled the hanger as the leg shifted and bent the component once more "It was my left, not your left!"

"Now how in the hell was I supposed to know that?! you have to tell me these things..." she leaned around from under the zoid looking for the speaker, only to find no one but the Rose looking back at her "...hello?'

"It is common knowledge! forward to aft, left to right!" the deep rumble of the zoid spoke to her. she looked up and just stared in shock "Axel? are you alright?"

She just nodded "...your...male..." was all she got out. she'd seen a lot of crazy shit in her day...but never had her zoid talked back to her. her grip on the beast faltered and she dropped with a thud to the floor

"Axel?" The rose sat up with a start as she went down "...crap" The rose looked up and around for the men in white suits to come help her
____

Four soldiers dressed in pure white containment suits came rushing out at the call of the dragon, breaking off into pairs as they each made for a different pilot. the voices behind the masks came off as heavily synthisized as one ran some type of scanning device over the dragon, the second urging him to remain still for the duration of the scan before asking if he was capible of walking to follow them to a section of the hanger already set up for the survivors already starting to file in

The other two soldiers carefully helping Amilia out of the cockpit and carrying her off to the improvised care center, the pair of Ligers appearing around the corner a few moments later, registering the damage, and the make of the rex as being thiers as each moved to either side. a pair of control arms lifting from the back of the beasts and swinging out to connect the two before a holographic netting slowly decended from a pair of openings on each of the zoids and decended to connect beneath the injured zoid and gently lift him from the ground. both stepped off in time, syncronizing their steps to keep from jostling the injured rex as they carred him into the hanger.

A man in white was crouched beside Leah as she rubbed her head and took a drink from a bottle of water the man handed her. She looked up as another came running up, and she passed the directions along for them to take the Rex to the third dock, and that she'd be there in just a moment.

[Nelle Kozera]

(Hey, it wasn't hey take this as blades, that mutation is a cancer, not a boon. No blades, no shiny eyes, cancer, all metal protrusions are so sensitive that when touched will literally cause you to black out...)

[Arratra]

(Darn... Delete, rework later. No time now.)

[Shade Leshyr]

Thunderhead roared in surprise, wriggling and trying to snap at whatever held him, thinking it was an enemy trying to do him and his new pilot in. It wasn't until he heard the voice of Drakus talking to him that he grumbled, but couldn't do much more as the boiling oil slipped down over his jaw to fall to the ground. It took a large portion of the zoid's energy to just remain standing as he was set down by the base so a pair of medics could pull Amilia out of his head, panting the entire time and trying not to drip the dangerously hot liquid all over.

His head closed as they took her away and he tried to follow, concerned more for her than he was for himself, but the twin ligers stopped his plans short. He snarled that he was fine, trying to continue as the net descended and yanked him off the ground. Snapping and snarling, the rex tried to free himself, but with most of his oil currently expanded, the zoid was tired out, even with the lift from the Drakus, and he finally gave up, still panting, a raspy, metallic sound.

He didn't remember being brought into a dock, but as his consciousness came back into focus, he noticed a large tank of the zoid specific oil he'd been built to take. The small nozzle in his side wasn't enough, he shut the nozzle down and turned, twisting the top off, much to the annoyance of several engineers around him, and dunked his head into the blessed, delicious, necessary liquid, internally changing his "throat" over to his oil tank before he began to drain it, gulping the oil down in large amounts.

After about half the tank, he lifted his head, focusing on one of the engineers, growling out <Amilia?...>

____________________

Up in the Stinger, Vick looked out of his cockpit, cursing softly as he noticed Sam's position. His next move was to switch to the EMT line, calling out the code for 'pilot down' and adding one for an incoming zoid all in the same breath. His hands gently eased the throttle to move a little faster, cursing himself the whole way that he let Sam do something so stupid!

Meanwhile, Sam's unconscious mind felt something brush across it, a message, one about him. It thought he was ill, but in his dream state, he felt fine, I'm fine... he whispered somewhere in the back of his mind. A strange strength was flooding his body even as he continued to remain in a comatose state. He leaned into it, falling into it willingly.

Images flashed through his blank mind: the sensation of six magnetic bulbs clasped on his sides and shoulders, worry for something on the end of his nose... and a pain, dagger-like and continuous... a longing for something... unconsciously he pressed further... a longing for... a pilot?

The husky's mind didn't understand it, but he felt his longing... the longing that had driven him to apply for a pilot's licence every month for six months so far... somewhere in... his... no... something... a zoid's head, was the deepest longing he had ever felt, a longing for a pilot, a partner... he felt himself unconsciously answer the call.

He fell into the zoid's thoughts and brushed his mind across its systems, causing the tingling sensation of hands closing around the controls fill the zoid... and on its nose, Sam's hand twitched and patted the zoid....

[WolfyWetFurr]

Feeling the Stinger pick up speed, the Zoid steadily raised his legs up against his body and locked them in place for the rest of the trip while keeping his muzzle level. He was anxious and concerned to say the least. After a few moments he started to get ghost sensations in some of his systems. Systems that had not been touched in a long time, his most potentially fulfilling and sensitive ones at that, being his cockpit. Wishing Samuel to recover, he began to hum softly. At least, as softly as a creature his size could. It came out as a strong purr with heavy bass that any one remotely near could hear.

As the docks came up beneath him, his legs lowered habitually to meet the sturdy landing floor as the stinger cautiously lowered him into place. There was little one could do to restrain the zoid at this time and others may be concerned for the safety of his cargo. By they could not be half as concerned as he. His joints bent with ease to keep his landing soft and he held his position. He did not know if the stinger would let go, or keep its ties on him so he did not lay himself down. Instead he glanced slowly about for some sort of docking unit or mobile stair way. Since there was no way the others could know he was safe, he just stood still and sent out a general inquiry message to what would be the overseer tower, awaiting instruction.

[Arratra]

Marxon growled away the cramped muscles, although he knew the implications. The ripping pain he wasn't able to handle well, however; he let out a whimper, unable to scream.
When the blades sliced through his skin and out of his suit, he very nearly fainted. He fell to all fours, letting out a strangled scream.
Marxon didn't answer the EMTs, but one of them realised that his legs were bleeding heavily and quickly ripped the legs of his suit open, grabbing bandages and wrapping the wounds tightly.
"Let's get him inside," the EMT said, taking Marxon's arm and heaving him up onto his shoulder. Marxon, barely conscious, almost slipped off before the other EMT grabbed him and slung his other arm over his own shoulders.

Five minutes later, Marxon was alert, if in pain... but was staring blankly at the doctor in front of him.
"Cancer," he said disbelievingly, "At only 218 rads?"
"It's true, unfortunately," the doctor replied sadly.
"Options?"
"You're taking this rather calmly."
"Not much choice. What are my options, doctor?"
The doctor held up his hands helplessly. "Quite frankly, we have no idea what to do," he replied, "The blades are part of the growths... and because of that, we think it's already gotten into the bone."
"What about... amputation?" Marxon asked quietly.
"Unfortunately, that's impossible. Not only don't we have the facilities here, but the growths are metalic. No one has the facilities to deal with that. To make things worse, we don't know how drugs will effect them, given their... unique makeup."
"So I'm a dead man walking..."
"I'm... sorry."
"It's not your fault, doc. It's mine, and that of whoever caused the blast... I need to call my parents."
"Follow me," the doctor said quietly. Marxon stood up and followed him, wincing with each step.
The doctor indicated the chair in front of the screen, and Marxon sat down. He covered his face for a moment before entering his parents' call code...

[WolfyWetFurr]

The tower was likely unsure of what to do with him but he was salvaged by one of theirs and had one of theirs. He was given instructions how ever and the ship deactivated the magnetic anchors and the zoid was free to dock himself. Sensors on his body along with well tuned protocols allowed him to come up to the pilot dock with out effort and he remained still as he was locked in. The bridge extended to his head and made way for those needed to climb up onto his head. Patiently he waited to see who would come and silently urged his pilot to wake. Samuel WAS his pilot as far as he was concerned and no one was going to keep him from having the husky, short of killing him.

[Take it every one is busy with the holidays eh? Posted something just to ease my anxiousness.]