- The Death Dragon's Heartbeat!! (1)
ZAC 2101, August
| Continent of Nyx
| Vigrid Plain
| Your highness, please become a good leader, for the sake of the many people who have fallen in your service. May your kindness not become your own death... Let our glorious homeland be revived, on the foundation of our corpses!
(From the communication records of Captain Signer Feuer, Deputy Commander of the Eisen Dragoon unit.) |
Power surged through the Zero. Ray was no longer looking at the instruments. He wasn't even holding the controls. A mental link with his beloved machine. That was all he needed to face the Berserk Führer. That was what he had decided.
The Ray Force began their counterattack. Following Ray's example, the other pilots disarmed their Zeros.
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— I can do this!
Zero understood the enemy that Ray must defeat. He could fight it.
Now for the Laser Claw. The armor plate on the Führer's shoulder cracked, but right after that, the drill counterattack came.
"!"
He was able to dodge it, but it was a close call. He broke out in a cold sweat. If the current Zero, which had no armor, were to take that hit, the fight would be over in a single shot. Of course, he knew that. He knew, but he wasn't going to back down. He had to defeat the ghost of Zenebas, Wolff Muroa, right then and there. In order to avoid the nightmares of their history, where the people of the Central Continent killed each other. Ray was born in the former Zenebas territory. That's why he felt so strongly about this. In his hometown, there were still many people who adored Zenebas. What if Wolff returned to the Central Continent? A civil war would start all over again.
— I must defeat him! Even if it means my life!
As if in response to Ray's thoughts, the Zero surged forward, far beyond its original performance limits.
In response to Zero's unexpected counterattack, Wolff cursed his own naivety. He was confident in his skills as a Zoid rider, but the Zero's onslaught didn't give him a chance to go on the offensive. He didn't have enough hands-on experience to seize his opportunity. It was the result of having only fought in relatively safe battles. As a commander and Zoid rider, he had been too kind during this last minute gamble for his life.
- The Death Dragon's Heartbeat!! (2)
— Heh, A smile appeared on Wolff's face. He could only remember one other time where he had fought to the death. It was during the retreat from Nixie base. At that time, his opponent had been the Zero. For some reason, he figured its pilot back then must've been Ray.
The Führer collapsed. It was unable to dodge the Zero's claws. A follow-up attack was coming. Wolff was aware of his death. Would it make him feel better? Then it happened. A corner of the Eisen Dragoon base glowed violently.
- The Death Dragon's Heartbeat!! (3)
The true origin of the luminescence. It was the form of a demon to the Ray Force.
The experimental Bloody Demon from the Death Saurer Revival Plan had been launched to save Wolff from danger.
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Someone muttered.
— The Death Saurer. The death-calling dragon that had driven the Helic Republic to the brink of extinction in the Old Central Continent War. The strongest giant Zoid ever created by the Zenebas Empire. And now it had suddenly appeared. Even the Zero force wouldn't be able to fight it in their wounded state. It was a monster on an entirely different level of power.
The Death Saurer Revival Plan was complete.
Or was it? No, its shape was slightly different from the Death Saurer.
"Bloody Demon? Who's piloting it?"
Wolff shouted. This was an experimental machine, carrying with it a small Zoid that acted as an interface for the OS. This base had been built for the Bloody Demon. However, the machine's level of perfection was terribly low. It wasn't something that could withstand a real battle.
"Get out of here, Your Highness!"
A voice called out, heard by Wolff and Ray alike.
"Signer?"
It was his second-in-command, who had followed Wolff like a shadow ever since he was a child.
"You can't rebuild with your current strength. Please run away!"
He was right. At this time, the main forces of the Eisen Dragoons were elsewhere on Nyx. For one important purpose...
"Even if this experimental machine can't exert half its power, I can at least use it to buy enough time for Your Highness to escape."
"We can't leave you behind!"
"Have you forgotten our long-cherished wish?"
Our long-cherished wish. For Wolff, those words were absolute. It was a phrase that had been drilled into him like a curse, since before he could even remember.
"... As you request."
Wolff's voice was as emotionless as ever as he rolled his Berserk Führer back over.
He then activated the Verniers at their maximum output. Behind him, the roar of all of the Bloody Demon's guns firing began.
- The Death Dragon's Heartbeat!! (4)
The Bloody Demon wasn't a machine that could withstand actual combat. Its internal circuits quickly burned out, and it lost its power.
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The Bloody Demon's immense firepower rivaled that of a battalion of heavy artillery Zoids. A Large-Caliber Charged Particle Cannon, Laser Vulcans, and a rain of missiles obliterated the Zoids of the Ray Force as if they were simply being swept away.
"Ray! Go after him!"
The division commander shouted. He wanted them to go after Wolff. Any Republic soldier knew how dangerous it was to let a man who called himself Muroa escape. And only Ray's Zero, who had received the least damage, could chase the Führer.
However, Ray had doubts. Pursuing Wolff would mean abandoning his fellow division members who were in danger of being destroyed. The faces of his men who had died at Nixie Base still haunted him.
"Ray, go!"
As if kicked by the angry voice, Ray ducked his beloved machine to the side. But, it was in the opposite direction from which the Führer had fled.
Up ahead was the mobile base for the Ray Force, the Hover Cargo. That's where he'd arm himself. The Bloody Demon's super-heavy armor couldn't be defeated by Zero in its naked form.
— We have to save our companions.
That was the decision that Ray had made. No matter the reason, no matter the fate between Wolff and himself, he could not abandon his friends. Whether or not it was the right thing to do was for someone else to decide later.
The Hover Cargo he ran into was in a terrible state. It was on fire. They were right behind the Zoids. There was no way it was going to survive this attack.
"Arm me. Any form will do."
The workers shouted back at Ray.
"Can't you see the fire? Where do you expect us to pull proper spare parts from?"
"I don't care what they are, just stick them on! I'll take care of the rest!"
Signer was still alive and well. The damage to the Bloody Demon was severe, but there were no Zoids left in the Ray Force that could move properly.
"Can you manage one more strike?"
Signer put his hand on the trigger of the Charged Particle Cannon. This would wipe out any remaining enemies.
Something was coming from the front. How fast. Was there still an intact Zero? No, it was an aberration, clad in halphazard parts from the four other armaments. He decided. This would be his last trophy. Signer's finger moved.
The Hover Cargo no longer had any decent spare parts. Can they defeat the Bloody Demon with the CAS they have on hand?
- The Death Dragon's Heartbeat!! (5)
A torrent of light from the Large-Caliber Particle Cannon burst out in front of Ray.
— The Jager boosters completely opened. They dodged it. No, it grazed them. That's all it took for the armor on his right side to disappear. If he'd still been in his original form, he would've been finished just then. He lost his balance. He couldn't jump like this, but it was right in front of him. What do we do? The Panzer missiles. They hit. His head went down. Good. They could reach him now. Don't move! There are claws coming from the left. We should be fine, though. Schneider's blades are faster than they are. Maybe. Go! Go, Zero!
The Zero's Laser Blades pierced the Bloody Demon's throat.
The Bloody Demon was defeated. Everyone thought this death toll would be over with Zero and Ray's victory, but...
- The Death Dragon's Heartbeat!! (6)
Wolff's Führer released its armor by its own will. It was the same strategy that Ray had used against Wolff.
— It's over.
As he thought that, Ray looked around, feeling a sinking depression. The Ray Force was devastated. They formed a mountain of wrecked medium and large scale units. However, an incredible number of pilots had survived. As expected, they were elites who aimed to be the strongest in the Republican Army.
They had to quickly rebuild the division. And then they'd go after Wolff. With their friends.
Suddenly, Ray looked back at the crumpled Bloody Demon. The cockpit was safe. The pilot must still be alive.
There were so many questions he wanted to ask. About the Eisen Dragoons, and about Wolff.
As he was thinking about it, behind him, a Zoid roared. A heavy metallic roar, unique to the tyranno-type Zoids.
The Berserk Führer was there. Had he come back? The only heir to the throne, to a battle field where he'd already been defeated? Ray didn't understand Wolff's true intentions.
In the Bloody Demon's cockpit, Signer, breathing hard, was even more surprised than Ray.
"Your highness... Why...?"
He already knew the answer. He had come to save him. What a foolish thing to do. No, there was no time to think about the position of their heir.
The problem was that he could not win. The pilot of the surviving Zero was no ordinary pilot. The injured Berserk Führer was no match for him.
Suddenly, the Führer's armor plates burst away. It wasn't that he had been attacked, but rather, it was willingly throwing away its own armor. It was for the same reason, because he would bet on the Führer's wild instincts, just as Ray had.
— I know I can do it. If my will to win is as strong as Ray's, I can do this!
The Führer lunged. He spun the giant drills, the Buster Claws, towards the Zero.
Ray's Zero also jumped. The warrior's instincts overpowered his puzzled mind.
— They momentarily crossed by each other. Two metallic sounds echoed across the battlefield.
Zero's Laser Blades dug into the throat of the Führer as he landed, but it was a shallow wound.
The drills burst through the Zero's shoulder. It easily penetrated the armor and reached the Zoid core. The Zero's power was slowly diminishing.
It was a wound that could be regenerated eventually, but for now, he couldn't move.
— You've won.
Ray muttered. Then the Führer turned its nose towards them again.
- The Death Dragon's Heartbeat!! (7)
The time had come to settle the battle between the two fateful machines that had been going on since Nixie Base. Would it be the Zero who won? Or would it be the Führer?
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