- Zoids Fan Book 2
- Beast King Vs. Demon Dragon Vs. Berserker
ZAC 2100, October
| Northern Europa
| Red Rust (Red Desert)
The two units finally met on the final stage of the Western Continent War. As if it were destiny.
| "I know. I know, Blade. He's the only one we shouldn't let live. So stand. Give it all of your remaining power. I'll go with you."
(From the pilot record of Major Arthur Borgmann, Republican Special Combat Corps) |
After breaking through the defensive line of the escort team, the Geno Breaker approaches the Ultra.
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The moon was round. It was a half circle when he was dispatched. Seven days had passed since then. Ritz' calculations suggested that the Ultra Saurus would seize Nixie base within the range of tomorrow morning (the fact that his allies' radios were still blocked was evidence that the Ultra was still alive.) Tonight was the true match. Already, the Geno Breaker had broken through the defensive lines of the Republican escort troops, which had been piled up to a ridiculous degree. The Ultra was near. If he really wanted to stop the Geno Breaker, he would have come by now. The Blade with the red crest.
— Better come fast, Blade Liger!
Ritz thought as he slammed on the controls, opening up the thrusters for a boost.
The Blade had enhanced Attack Boosters. Their strength was equal.
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- Beast King Vs. Demon Dragon Vs. Berserker (2)
Arthur knew the fight was near. They had already received information about the Geno Breaker approaching the Ultra from around the West-Southwest area. If he waited there, they'd surely see each other again. If the enemy was the "R" pilot, there was no way that they could pass each other by.
— What kind of pilot is he?
Suddenly Arthur was thinking about his nemesis, whose name and face he did not know. They were a rough, but powerful pilot. He felt like they were probably a young man. A youth with an infinite future. Was he aware of that? Then again, with the "essence of OS-equipped Zoids" he realized. No, he probably wasn't aware. If he himself had been 10 years younger, he wouldn't have realized it either. Youth only wants pure power.
— I'd like us to meet and have a talk.
That thought was at the corner of his mind. He felt like his opponent was a man who could become the Best Zoid Rider if only he survived for a little while longer.
A smile came to him. His survival meant that he himself would die. He had no intention of dying. If he lived, he'd still be able to meet many more Zoids.
Suddenly, the Blade raised its head. In the distance, he could see the flames bursting from the thrusters. The time for their battle had come.
The two beasts roared at the same time. That was the sign of the battle. First, the Geno Breaker started. A beam gun instead of a greeting. The Blade dodged it. Just a light jump. Although he sailed through the air, the Blade changed his trajectory towards the target by using his boosters, avoiding all of its bombardments. Both reflex speed and maneuverability were different from his previous battle with Ritz.
"I see. So you've strengthened your unit, too?"
The strengthening of the Blade was also what Ritz had wanted. He had no intention of winning simply because of a difference in unit performance.
"If that's the case, then I won't let you go!"
Geno Breaker charged with a swing of its X-Breaker. The Blade dodged around the side of it, and fired a beam. It was a high-density beam. Even the Free Round Shield was devastated.
The battle to the death between the high-mobility Zoids who danced in the air, and ran across the ground continued...
How much time had passed? At some point, the two units were lost in a strange place.
Both army's Zoids were torn to pieces. At that moment, an "incident" unrelated to the war was about to occur.
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- Beast King Vs. Demon Dragon Vs. Berserker (3)
The Zoids they saw had been twisted up in a cruel manner. There were Imperial Zoids and Republic Zoids. It was the wreckage of the Imperial Special Forces which had gone to destroy the Ultra, and the Republic Escort Forces. But it was strange. The wreckage appeared to have been demolished by someone, rather than destroyed in battle.
"What the hell is this...?"
Forgetting the battle for a moment, both Ritz and Arthur muttered in a stunned fashion. There was something else different. The Blade and Geno Breaker were nervous. It wasn't about the opponent they'd been fighting up until now, but a tension over "something" that they couldn't see. Ritz felt that the Geno Breaker was feeling a fierce, unprecedented fighting spirit. The same applied to Arthur's Blade. But now, Arthur could read the emotions that were hidden behind its fighting instinct.
The Death Stinger appeared from the remains of the dismantled Zoids. The battle was now split into two.
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"Are you scared, Blade?"
Arthur felt his hands starting to sweat as they gripped the control stick. Was this invisible "something" scaring the two strongest OS-equipped Zoids?
Out of nowhere a pile of debris broke apart. The Blade and Geno Breaker roared like fully-furled beasts. Then the devil appeared. More than two months ago, a runaway warrior had smashed the elite Zoids of both armies with a single machine, and disappeared into the depths of the earth. A demon named the True Organoid, the Death Stinger.
The nest of the berserker, the Death Stinger. It was a Zoids graveyard.
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Suddenly, the Death Stinger fired a shot from its charged particle cannon. The stunning energetic particles churned up the wreckage of the Zoids, approaching the Blade and Geno Breaker. Both units suddenly ignited their boosters, barely managing to dodge it.
"We should draw it over here."
Both Ritz and Arthur made the same decision. In the mind of this killing machine, which couldn't be controlled by any human, the Blade and Geno Breaker were enemies that were too dangerous to fight. At least right now, while it had a more serious mission, it wasn't one to pick a fight. No, it didn't want to be pinned down by a battle between them. Instead it escaped through the dust that was kicked up by and rolled around the particle cannon. The two tried to
Death Stinger was giving the extracted Zoid Cores to its young.
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Ritz was agitated. It was an unexpected rebellion of the unit that he believed to be one with himself.
"What's the matter, Breaker? Move! Your enemy is the Blade!"
Despite pulling on the control stick, the Geno Breaker kept an eye on the berserker that was behind the dust.
"Breaker!"
The Death Stinger's infants, who continue to grow quietly in the nest. The time of ruin approaches.
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It was a set of decayed ruins. Ancient, forgotten ruins. They had been converted into the Death Stinger's nest. Juvenile Death Stingers were growing there, using the countless cores taken from the dismantled Zoids as nourishment. Over a mere two months, the berserker had been multiplying at dreadful speed.
- Beast King Vs. Demon Dragon Vs. Berserker (4)
Arthur shuddered.
"If the Death Stinger continues to multiply..."
There would be no victory for the Empire nor the Republic. Without a doubt, Planet Zi itself would be destroyed.
Death Stinger shreaked in a metallic, shrill voice. The Blade and the Geno Breaker. It was as if it was licking its lips just thinking about going for the cores of these two powerful Zoids.
Arthur decided. He had to destroy this demon, along with its nest. He knew that was what the Blade wanted as well.
"Go!"
He pulled the trigger. A high-density beam was fired into the Death Stinger. It was the latest weapon of the Republican Army, that couldn't even be stopped by the Free Round Shield. However, it didn't work against the Death Stinger, which was given super heavy armor.
"Out of the way—!"
Ritz's Geno Breaker pushed the Blade aside and charged forward. He hadn't gotten over his anger from earlier, and if this thing was going to get in his way, he'd eliminate it. After that, he could finish his decisive battle with the Blade. He was trying to inspire his energy by thinking those thoughts.
"Only the maximum power of the Charged Particle Cannon can defeat this thing!"
The True Organoid was created by a combination of the ancient super-civilization and Imperial technology. Ritz, who knew more than enough about the horrors of it, put everything into his first attack.
A direct hit. Moreover, a pointblank hit. Overwhelming energy enveloped the berserker. Ritz was convinced of his victory. Even the Gojulas, against an output this powerful would be entirely destroyed. But...
Suddenly, something was moving beyond the energy wave.
— No way!?
The shock hit. The Death Stinger. How can that be? There wasn't a scratch. He couldn't even get through its strong E-Shield with a full-powered particle cannon.
"You—!"
He fully opened up the Charged Particle Converter and continued firing the particle cannon. However, the Death Stinger was slowly approaching the Geno Breaker, even with the powerful energy wave. Ritz was scared for the first time since the Geno Saurer's field test. After all, he felt like he had become one with the Geno Breaker. The OS-equipped Zoids, which had only fighting instincts, couldn't be scared.
Despair was trying to seize the energy from Ritz. But, then, the Geno Breaker roared. As if trying to bring back his weakened energy.
"Was that for me?"
At first, Ritz thought so, but immediately reconsidered. He was wrong. The Geno Breaker roared to shatter his resolve.
"Are you scared, too?"
At that moment he noticed it, the various emotions hidden within the heart of his machine were flowing into Ritz. It was awakening.
Suddenly, the Blade was lined up beside him. It fired the high-density beam in succession to the Geno Breaker's particle cannon, right into the Death Stinger's E-Shield.
— Crack! Finally, it couldn't withstand the force, and the E-Shield generator short-circuited.
- Beast King Vs. Demon Dragon Vs. Berserker (5)
The only damage was to part of its armor. Is the True Organoid really an immortal demon?
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— This time, I've done it!
It's no wonder that Arthur and Ritz both thought so. It was such a powerful blow. But there was something incredible still there after the flames went out. It was the Death Stinger, which had evolved into a more vicious figure. This demon had taken the equipment from the disassembled Zoids and was further self-evolving.
The Geno Breaker, which temporarily stopped functioning due to the recoil of the particle cannon firing at maximum output, was the first to be targeted. Death Stinger hit the Geno Breaker with great power. It was a merciless attack.
After secretly self-evolving, the Death Stinger finally released all of its abilities.
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"Monster!"
Arthur's Blade challenged it from the opposite direction. He fully opened the boosters. It was an assault at a speed of over 300 kilometers. That was easily stopped. With incredible reaction speed, its tail cut through his stomach. There was no doubt that the Zoid Core suffered fatal damage. Death Stinger's particle cannon fired at the two machines, as if to chase them. The Blade desperately put up its E-Shield. But how many seconds could it survive in this state? 10 seconds, maybe 15?
- Beast King Vs. Demon Dragon Vs. Berserker (6)
The Blade, whose core was destroyed, opens up the E-Shield with its final ounce of strength. Is there a way to reverse this fate?The Blade was beyond help. No matter how powerful an OS-equipped machine is, the core was pierced through. Recovery was impossible. Arthur understood the Blade Liger's regret painfully well. Ever since that custom parts experiment, Arthur had been able to understand the Liger's emotions. For the Blade Liger, which hated the OS more than anything else, yielding to the True Organoid must have been more painful than dying.
A dying Blade attacks. However, its speed seems to stop in the face of the deadly warrior.
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— I'll beat you no matter what, Death Stinger. For my dying machine!
There was a chance of winning. It wasn't much, but it wasn't zero, either. Arthur looked back at the Geno Breaker. Although it was still phased, it seemed to have recovered enough to move.
— All right!
Follow me, he signaled with his neck. If he didn't notice, everything would be lost.
Then, the Blade rallied the last of his power, and rushed the rogue warrior!
- Beast King Vs. Demon Dragon Vs. Berserker (7)
The Blade Liger was shot through like a honeycomb... Was it a reckless assault after all? But, what's following behind it?
- Beast King Vs. Demon Dragon Vs. Berserker (8)
When the Geno Breaker was thrown to the ground, the shock caused Ritz to lose consciousness for a moment. It took less than 10 seconds, but in that moment, he had a long dream.
It was a dream about when he rode a Zoid for the first time. He was fascinated after one shot. He vowed to be the best Zoid Rider. Then, he entered the army and chose the test pilot path. He didn't like fighting and killing. However, his encounter with the Geno Saurer had changed him. The joy of winning the battle became greater than the bitterness of competing with others. Because he was dragged along by the fighting instincts of the Geno Saurer.
— But is that true?
Was the joy he felt each time that he had killed an enemy really only the result of the Geno Saurer?
Wasn't the joy of winning something that a test pilot could never taste, and the joy of proving he was an excellent Zoid rider, was that not his own?
Certainly, the OS affects the spirit of the pilot. However, because Ritz had the ability to accept that fighting spirit, he was able to manipulate the Geno Saurer that couldn't be controlled by anyone, but was he also able to control the Geno Breaker?
— I'm sorry, Breaker.
He finally understood. He was using the OS as an excuse for battle.
Once he reached that point, Ritz slowly regained his consciousness. He could see the vortex of light. The light of the Death Stinger's charged particle cannon. The E-Shield of the Blade was desperately enduring it. It wasn't likely to last for long. He could tell at a glance that the Blade was dying. The moment the E-Shield was broken, the Geno Breaker behind it would also be done for.
Suddenly, the Blade looked back at him. Then, it faintly shook its head. He felt motivated. However, he didn't have the strength to fight the Blade anymore.
— But if you're the pilot that has the red crest...
He was sure he wouldn't give up easily.
Suddenly, he grabbed the nearby Laser Blade. Perhaps it had been torn from the Blade by the Death Stinger's attack.
The Blade flew forward. Ritz instinctively opened up the thruster throttle to push forward. Full power. Still, the acceleration was so slow it was frustrating. However, the Blade's movement was even slower. The attacking Death Stinger seemed to have stopped. He suddenly understood. The intentions of the Blade's pilot. He wanted to be a shield. To entrust himself to the enemy.
— Move, Breaker! Faster!
Death Stinger's back glowed. The Lasers fired in a shower to intercept him. The Blade was shot through like a honeycomb.
"Graaaahhhh!"
A scream burst out. Feelings, neither anger nor sadness, welled up from the bottom of his stomach. He raised the Laser Blade. His aim was the Death Stinger's head, unarmored and exposed. Death Stinger swung its laser claw up from a low position. He had no intention of avoiding it. He'd been given only one chance by the Blade pilot. And, he bet everything on that.
"Gaaaahhh!"
There was a scream again. He felt the sensation of the Blade piercing into the devil through his right hand.
As the death battle between the three major beasts was coming to an end, the Destroyer Corps were finally coming within range of the Nixie Base.
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