Fan Fiction / Zoids Fan Fiction ❯ The Son Rises ❯ Practice and Perfection ( Chapter 10 )

"I am a transporter, of the wasteland. I'm just singing and making it up as I go along…" Moonbay and Irvine had arrived in town a day ago, but stayed away from Guardian Force Headquarters until they received a call from Van telling them Bit was home.

"It seems odd to hear those words from Van. I honestly thought he wouldn't see Bit again. What are you thinking, Irvine?"

Irvine looked over at his wife as she drove the Gustav towards the base, "I'm wondering what he'll be like. If he's anything like Van, then we're going to have our hands full. Maybe he took after Fiona. He's a lucky kid, either way."

Moonbay smiled as she thought of the time that her and Bit spent together when he was younger. She suddenly felt the urge to cry, but held it back thinking it was silly. "He really is one lucky kid."

An hour before orientation began, the purple Gustav rolled through security checks at headquarters. Irvine looked up startled when Moobay gasped.

"What's the matter? What did you see?"

She said nothing as she pointed to the white Zoid in front of her.

Irvine was taken aback, but didn't understand why. They knew Bit and the Liger Zero were here, but old memories overwhelmed them as they stopped and stared.

Van and Fiona came from behind them and spoke up, "He's as great as ever, don't you think?"

The reunion between old friends gave Fiona a deep feeling of relief. Still, there was something in the back of her mind that bothered her. She hated to worry anybody, so she remained silent.

All four friends walked into the briefing room as the new cadets began taking seats. The last ones to enter were Bit and Leena.

Thomas was all ready there and began the orientation. Fiona tried not to stare at her son, as she focused her mind on other things. Moonbay and Irvine found it hard to believe that they were sitting across from Van's estranged son.

The presentation came to a conclusion, and both colonels took questions. One caught them off guard.

"It seems the stronger my partner and I get, the stronger our opponents. There's one in particular I'm worried about. Do you have any information on the Berserk Fury?"

Van let Fiona answer the question, "The Berserk Fury is an unusual Zoid, similar to your Liger Zero."

"How's that?"

"We believe its source of power comes from a `black box', like one that you can find in the Liger."

The other cadets began to whisper among one another. Thomas caught part of their conversations and ordered silence. Whenever an officer was speaking, no one else should be talking. The answers they needed were being given in this briefing.

Fiona got up and activated a screen on the right side of the room. She scrolled through Zoid profiles until she came to the Liger Zero. An internal view of the Zoid rotated on screen as she spoke.

"This is what I'm talking about," she pointed to the box in the heart of the Zoid as the others looked on, "when I say `black box'. We've only seen this in the Ultimate X, so it would be safe to assume the Berserk Fury, another Ultimate X, would have the same characteristics. It also means that Zoid should be able to learn from its mistakes and evolve into a stronger one."

Bit looked worried as he stared at the screen. Fiona resisted the urge to comfort him, even though it went against all her instincts.

Van stepped in when he looked at Fiona's face, "We're here to make all of you and your Zoids stronger. The stonger the enemy, the stronger you become. Shall we begin?"

The new recruits prepared their Zoids, as both colonels and Irvine did the same. The battery of tests would first be performed by Van, Thomas, or Irvine. Then the recruits would perform the test.

In the distance, a man looked carefully at the trainees, "Last test kids, are you ready?"

The Blade Liger, Lightning Saix, and Dibison left the trainees alone when they were given the signal. The Genobreaker flew down from the mountain towards base as security tightened. Steel walls were raised and alarms were sounded as the assault began.

Bit's warrior instincts immediately kicked in, "Leena, get back! You need to get in a position where you can best use the Gunsniper!"

Leena hesitated for a minute, but began to run in the direction from where the Genobreaker came. When she made it to the base of the mountain, the Genobreaker set its sights on her. Bit tried to stand inbetween Leena and the assailant. Meanwhile, the other Zoids tried surrounding the enemy.

One Zoid after another fell to the superior warrior. Bit was getting tired and frustrated. When one person attacked, he would sneak up behind the enemy and try to use his strike laser claw. It never worked. Everywhere he turned, the Genobreaker was ready for him.

Leena was having trouble with the sniper mode. She couldn't control the weapon and missed every shot.

Suddenly, before Bit was taken out, the blue Blade Liger stepped in front of him. Thomas and Irvine closed in on the other side. They did the same thing the recruits did, only their strategy worked.

When Van would attack, Thomas and Irvine would give support. Bit looked on with intense interest. Leena was amazed at their speed and accuracy. They never missed a shot.

The other recruits were on the ground watching the same thing. Since their command systems were frozen, they could only lie there.

The battle ended as quickly as it began. Moonbay and Fiona made their way to the battleground in the Gustav. They went to each Zoid and reactivated their command systems. All pilots exited their Zoids and surrounded the colonels.

"OK, Raven, you need to be down here, too." Nobody said a word as the black-haired pilot exited the Genobreaker.

"For those of you don't know, this is Raven. He's the best pilot the Empire had, and he now freelances for the Guardian Force. The last test you experienced was called, `The Gauntlet'. It is a requirement for all cadets to pass in order to become members of the GF. Lately, we haven't had anybody pass this test, and that's when we decided to send out invitations to the Royal Cup participants. We were hoping that with your battle experience, passing this test would be easier. I'd like to start by critiquing each one of you about what was good and bad about your performance."

"Ms. Torros, how do you feel you did?" Raven singled her out first, but his tone was very gentle.

"It's not a fair evaluation of my capabilities." She was aggravated at herself for not being able to hit the target.

"Upon reviewing your piloting disc, we noticed you had a distinct style of fighting. You never actually use the sniper mode. Why is that?"

She didn't have an answer, "I never thought about it, I guess."

"We're not here to pick on you," Van noticed she was flustered, "We just want to see you reach your full potential."

"There's that saying again. I remember Leon talking about full potential with Bit and the Liger Zero."

"The Gunsniper has a very specific purpose. It's used for long distance battle to `snipe' at the enemy. I admire the fact that you want to use the Zoid in more versatile ways, but it's important to learn the basic functions first."

Van talked to the whole group about the relationship between them and their Zoids. He pointed out that it was important to work as a team and remain focused on the task ahead of them. Then, he looked over at Bit.

"Mr. Cloud," Bit snapped out of his daze, "what did you feel when you were attacking the Genobreaker?"

He thought about his response for a minute, "I was frustrated. I didn't even see him coming on radar, and then all of a sudden he's pounding Zoid after Zoid. I couldn't get to him no matter what I did."

Van had trouble finding the right words to say as a colonel. His thoughts were on being a father. Raven noticed this and took over.

"That's understandable. It is frustrating not being able to defeat your opponent. You and Leena work well together. It's to be expected since you were on the same team. Now we just have to work on getting all seven of you to work together if you want to be members of the Guardian Force."

Above the clouds, a Whale King hovered over the base. Angel came up behind Nick, who was staring out the window.

"Are you prepared?"

"I will be once I made contact with the targets. Do you know when that will be?"

"Sara knows of a secure location where we can land west of the base. Right now, I'm working on getting the agenda for the Guardian Force cadets. I'll let you have whatever you need to get the job done."

Nick nodded his head and continued to stare out the window. This time, with a smile on his face.