This is a good prequel to Van and the Mercenary, which is another of my favorites, posted here. (Tim Seltzer, seltzer@seltzerbooks.com
Sakura's Disclaimer: I,Sakura Courage Solo,do not own Zoids,Star
Wars,or any other Television Show,Movie,Video Game,Song,Book, Comic,etc.featured
in this story and I do not get paid for writing these,so don't sue!This
goes for all
chapters,so I don't have to write this disclaimer over and over again.Thankyou!And
enjoy!
Oh,and many thanks to my best buddy Shadowwolf for posting these for me,seeing as my computer's a baka! Shadowwolf's fics are REALLY good!
I thought to myself as I entered the cantina of Starscape City, having just arrived in town minutes before.
The cantina was full of them, all right. I could tell that they were mercenaries because they seemed to look a little different from other people. They looked more...independent. Don't ask me how I know that. It's sort of a sixth sense, actually.
"Man. Somebody's bound to hire me if I just wait here a little while."
I sat down at a table and ordered a chocolate milkshake. I felt like I was the thirstiest person alive. Then again, I had been traveling in the desert for about 2 days straight. I guess that would make a person a little dry. Then...
"Well, you're a new face."
One of the mercenaries said as he came over to my table.
"Aren't you that...Sakura? The one who fought for the Fleugal Team the other day against the Rapid Fire Team?"
"That would be me."
I replied as my milkshake was set down in front of me.
"And you would be?"
"Brad Hunter."
"Oh yeah, I’ve heard of you! You're that other mercenary everyone dreads who pilots a blue Command Wolf, right?"
"You got it."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Brad. You wanna sit down and talk a while?"
I thought it a bad idea after I had said it and scolded myself.
"Are you nuts, Sakura?"
I asked myself in thought.
"You can't make friends! You can't have anyone in close relationship! Don't you remember what happened before? With your parents? And your foster parents? Do you want that to happen again? I think not!"
But still, I had already invited him to talk. What would I look like if I took off now? I decided to talk a while, but keep from making friends. I had almost made that mistake with Naomi before. I had to be more careful, or I was going to get somebody killed with my weird "loneliness" curse.
"I also heard you got in a fight with Jack Cisco."
Brad continued.
I nodded in response and said,
"Yeah. Jack's a complete jerk. He thinks that I can't handle myself just because I'm a girl."
"Well, you seem to handle yourself pretty well. Truth to tell, I saw that fight."
My eyes grew wide. He had BEEN there?! When I took Jack down?!?!
"I think Jack's gonna think twice before messing with you again."
"He'd better."
I took a gulp of my milkshake, and immediately wished I hadn’t. I had a near brainfreeze. Man! I hate it when that happens!
I could then see Brad stifling a laugh, and I knew what at. I reddened a little with embarrassment. Then...
"I'd better think twice, huh?"
A voice flowed from nearby. I whipped my head around to see...
"Jack!"
"That's my name. Don't wear it out."
Brad looked first at Jack, then at me, and then back at Jack. He could tell that we REALLY didn’t want to be in each others' presence right now.
"You may be a good warrior, Squirt. But that fight was just a fluke. You got lucky."
I turned red as Naomi's Gun Sniper with anger. There were two things in this world I wouldn’t tolerate being called. The first is Princess, and the other just happens to be Squirt!
"NOBODY CALLS ME SQUIRT AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!!!"
"Bring it on, Squirt!"
We got ready to go at each other, electricity seemingly crackling between our eyes. We both wanted nothing more at the moment than to take each other down. Then...
"All right, cool it! Both of ya!"
Brad said, stepping between us.
"Don't tell me you're DEFENDING that little punk, Brad!"
Jack said angrily.
"Come on! Move it, Brad!"
I yelled, anger lacing my voice as well.
"Let me show him he can't push me around!"
"Now look, I've been in some fights myself, but not over nothing."
Brad continued, not moving.
"And I'm surprised your last fight didn’t teach you something, Jack. You can't just knock on someone because you think they're incapable. I SAW Sakura kick your tail, and was hoping that would be a lesson to you. A REAL mercenary doesn’t pick on someone because they SEEM lesser. You're NOT a REAL mercenary. Sakura had every right to whip you like she did."
I simply grinned as Brad had his back turned to me and stuck my tongue out at Jack. We both knew that Brad was right. Jack was facing another miserable defeat.
"You're crazy, Brad. She's...a kid. She's...a girl. She's..."
"About to kick your sorry tail again if you don't shut up within the next 2 seconds."
I told him.
Brad sighed.
"Would you two cool it?"
Jack sneered and said.
"This isn’t over, Solo. I won't let you get away with humiliating me. I'll make you see yourself for what you are soon enough. A kid."
With that, he turned and walked out of the Cantina.
"I can't get rid of the cockroach."
I muttered.
"I think you should steer clear of Jack for a while."
Brad said.
"Just for a while. He needs to cool his heels."
"He needs to cool his motor of a mouth."
"That too."
Brad chuckled as we sat back down.
"Anyway, thanks for defending me back there."
I said, even though I WOULD have rather beaten Jack up again. I mean, he DID call me squirt after all. Still, Brad HAD stood up for me, and he deserved some thanks.
"You two REALLY don't get along, do you?"
"I COULD get along with him. I WANTED to at first. But he started pounding on me because of my age and gender, so there ya go. And he DID dare me to attack him before."
"Yeah. He'll warm up to ya. He just needs time."
"When Shield Ligers fly, maybe."
Brad chuckled again as a young man and woman came over to our table.
"Brad Hunter and Sakura Solo, right?"
The young woman asked. She had short, pink hair and wore a black, one-piece suit.
"Yeah, that’s us."
Brad replied.
The young man, who had blue hair and wore a white outfit similar to the woman's stepped forward.
"And you both pilot Wolf-type Zoids, right?"
"Yep."
I said in response.
"We need you two for a job."
The young woman said.
"My name is Elena, and this is my twin brother, Fazz."
"We're the Howler Team."
Fazz added.
"And we have a battle against the Wild Team tomorrow. We'll pay you 20,000 a piece if we win. How’s that sound?"
Brad and I both had heard of the Howler Team. They weren’t half bad from what we had heard. Fazz was the leader of the team who piloted a Konig Wolf, while his twin sister Elena piloted a Command Wolf. They were moving on up in the ranks, too.
I decided to try haggling a bit. I had been watching other mercenaries do it and decided to take a whack at it and see how well I came out.
"Raise my pay to 25,000 and you've got yourself a War Wolf pilot."
"That goes for me, too."
Brad added.
Fazz and Elena looked at each other, then back at us before Fazz answered,
"22,000."
"24."
I continued to haggle. It was sorta fun.
"23,000,but that's as high as we go."
Elena said.
I nodded.
"I'm in."
Brad said before taking a sip of his coffee.
"All right. Meet us at the city Zoid Hangars at 3:00."
"I'll be there."
Brad said.
"So will I."
I added.
"Great. We’ll be waiting."
Fazz agreed just before he and his sister walked out the door.
"Well, this should be interesting."
Brad told me.
"I did want to see that Zoid of yours in battle close up."
"Thanks! Hey, since we both have a job with the same team, why don't we stick together for a while?"
I scolded myself again. I was being too friendly again. Man, how hard
was it to be a loner?! Some lone
mercenary! I can't even keep from trying to make friends!
"Sounds good."
Brad replied.
"I would like to hear you talk a little more."
Brad asked a while later as he looked up at my Zoid.
"Not bad. Never seen a Zoid like that before."
I couldn’t help but grin. I was proud of my War Wolf.
"Thanks! That’s the same Zoid I used to escape from the..."
I clamped a hand over my mouth, just now realizing what I was saying. I had almost told him about my escape from the Zoid Battle Commission! Man I felt like a baka!
"Escape from the what?"
Brad asked.
I knew I was in trouble. I had to make up something quick!
"Uh...the...uh...what's their name again? Oh, yeah! The Desert Hawks! You know, that gang of bandits that uses Redlers in the Kichiwa desert out near Romeo?"
"I've heard of 'em."
"Well, uh, they came after me once to...uh...try and steal the War Wolf! Yeah! I couldn’t battle them since there were so many, but man I left 'em in the dust! The War Wolf went so fast they didn’t know what happened!"
"Seems like I would've heard something about that."
"Well, uh, it was out in the middle of the desert, so no one saw it! And I didn’t bother to tell anyone, ‘cause they'd be long gone by the time the police got there anyway! So...well...y'know!"
"Right."
The War Wolf nudged Brad with its nose, as though it were getting his scent.
"Don't worry, War Wolf. He’s good."
The Zoid gave a low growl.
"Of course I'm sure! Brad is NOT going to hurt anyone, okay?"
Another growl followed.
"I don't care if YOU trust him or not, War Wolf! We’re going to be fighting
on the same team tomorrow and
that's that!"
The War Wolf made a grunt.
"Watch your language!"
Brad blinked, utterly confused.
"She's talking...to her Zoid."
He thought.
"Never seen that happen before. Does she REALLY understand what it's saying?"
I looked at Brad, who had an eyebrow raised. "What?" I asked.
Brad blinked and replied,
"Uhh, nothin'. Just...nothin'."
It was at that moment we saw Elena and Fazz walking toward us through the hangar.
"So, there you are."
Fazz said as he and his sister stopped next to the War Wolf's leg.
"You two ready to go?"
Elena asked, a smile on her face.
"I am."
I replied.
"Ready when you are."
Brad told her.
"Well then, let’s get going."
She said.
"Our transport is just out back. Bring your Wolves around and we'll hitch 'em up."
Brad and I jumped into our Zoids and followed our employers. It was way past cool enough to just be near Brad's Command Wolf while it was doing a normal walk. I could hardly wait to see it in battle!
Once outside, Fazz and Elena showed us to their transport. It was one I had never seen before.
The transport didn’t look like a Gustav, which is what I had expected
it to be. But no. This looked like a
horse with wings, carrying traction platforms behind it!
"Way past cool! What is that thing?"
I asked in an excited voice.
"This,"
Fazz began,
"Is a Pegasus. It’s a new type of transport Zoid. It's very hard to find, but much faster and more efficient than a Gustav, like most people use."
"It's not as nice as a Hover Cargo,"
Elena added,
"But we like it just fine."
On two of the transport's four traction platforms I saw a light blue
Konig Wolf and a pastel pink command
Wolf.
"A pink Command Wolf. Now I've seen it all."
I thought.
"A pink Command Wolf. Now I've seen it all."
Brad thought.
"Well hey there,"
The War Wolf said in it's language of growls and roars, eyeing the pink Command Wolf.
I lightly punched the top of my dashboard and said,
"Knock it off, War Wolf! We’re here to work, not to flirt!"
"Ooops. Sorry Sakura. She is cute, though."
I sighed. The thoughts of my War Wolf having a crush sickened me.
"Yo, Sakura! Are you just gonna stand there all day?"
Brad asked, already having his Command Wolf on one of the platforms.
"Uh, coming!"
I said, bringing the War Wolf onto a traction platform.
"Why am I here?"
I wondered aloud.
"How did I get here?"
Clouds suddenly darkened the sky, blocking out the stars and twin moons. Lightning then began flashing.
"What's going on?"
Evil laughter suddenly flowed from behind.
I whirled my Zoid around, ready to attack.
But there was nothing there.
"Wha...?"
"Hmmhmmhmm. Little Callista, you're in trouble again."
The voice said smoothly. It was definitely female.
"But THIS time, big brother isn’t around to save you."
I looked up. The voice was coming from above.
A Zoid of some sort was standing on an outcropping. It looked like a dragon out of Chinese legend!
"Who...who are you?"
I asked, a bit of fear lacing my voice.
"And how do you know my real name?"
"I have my ways."
Was the reply.
That's when the Zoid above burst into action, leaping down at the War Wolf!
But I was faster, turning my Zoid sharply and making a dash, in evasion of the attack.
"Impressive."
The pilot of the dragon said.
"Most impressive."
I was ready to fight now. I had her where I wanted her. She was trapped between me and the cliff.
I moved in swiftly with my Zoid's "signature move".
"DO IT WAR WOLF!"
I yelled as I closed the ground, claws glowing.
"STRIKE LASER CLAW!!!!!!"
But my enemy was quick, too; leaping up and over my Zoid at the last
possible second. My Strike Laser Claw was a
complete miss.
"Now you die!"
My opponent cried as I whirled around. She had two Gatling Rifles aimed right at my cockpit!
"WHOA!"
I yelled in surprise, leaping up to dodge the fire.
But she wasn’t through with me yet.
She aimed her Gatling Rifles up ate the outcropping above, firing at them and causing them to crumble.
On me.
I hadn’t had time to dodge that, as I was in mid-air at the time. And
it resulted in my War Wolf being trapped
under a pile of rocks.
"Not much fight in you now, is there?"
The Dragon Zoid loomed over now, the fangs glowing like my Zoid's Strike Laser Claw.
"Well, looks like this is it for you!"
"I BEG TO DIFFER!"
Another voice suddenly boomed, just before the dragon-type Zoid was knocked into the cliff nearby.
"Who...?"
Another Zoid appeared, it’s white armor seemingly gleaming in the moonlight.
"What kind of Zoid IS that?"
I thought, observing it.
"Is that some kind of a Liger?"
Man, how many questions was I gonna ask that no one could answer? It
was annoying. But I couldn’t help but
ask them.
"YOU!"
The dragon's pilot screamed in anger.
"You two have foiled my plans for the last time!"
She fired off some kind of bizarre weapon at the Liger, which it barely managed to evade.
"That's why I'm gonna finish this HERE and NOW!"
The Liger pilot told her, coming in at her with what looked like...
"STRIKE LASER CLAW!"
He yelled, slashing into her Zoid's heavy armor.
"But...I thought that MY Zoid was the only one who could use that attack!"
The dragon suddenly thrashed, sending the Liger flying. It hit the ground
hard some 50 yards away, the pilot
apparently knocked unconscious.
"Get up Liger!"
I yelled.
"She's coming for you! Get up!"
But the pilot couldn’t hear me. He was out cold.
"You're finished."
The dragon's pilot said, then shooting the cockpit with the same bizarre weapon I had seen earlier.
I then realized what it was.
"A...a Charged Particle Cannon!"
I speculated, no longer able to see any sign of the Liger's cockpit.
"Th-that pilot just died..."
I thought bitterly.
"Trying to help ME. I really AM a curse."
The dragon turned back to my system frozen War Wolf now, still buried in the rocks.
"Now you're the only one left to take care of."
The pilot sneered, aiming the Charged Particle Cannon at my cockpit.
I knew I had had it.
I then gave a scream as I saw the blast come at me
from the barrel.
I heard someone yell, feeling my body being shaken.
My eyes snapped open, and there was Brad. Elena and Fazz stood behind him.
"Are you all right?"
He asked, looking right into my aqua eyes.
I wasn’t able to even answer him for a second, but I finally managed to reply,
"Yeah. Just...just a...bad dream. That’s all."
"I tried to tell ya that eating jelly doughnuts before bed was a bad idea."
Fazz told me.
Brad shot him a look that almost screamed,
"You could be a little more considerate! The girl just woke up SCREAMING from a nightmare!"
I shook my head and said,
"Sorry I woke you guys up. It won't happen again."
Elena handed me a glass of water and asked,
"You sure you're all right? You were saying something about a dragon and a white Liger."
I gulped down some of the cool water and replied,
"Yeah, I'm all right. Thanks. Let's uh...let's all go
back to sleep."
Brad put a hand to my forehead and said,
"You're a little warm. Maybe you should take something."
"Thanks, but I'll be fine."
I replied, laying back down and turning over.
"'Night."
With that, everyone else decided to go back to bed aswell.
But not long after the rest of us had fallen asleep, Brad looked over at me and thought,
"Guess escaping from the ZBC'll do that to ya. 'Course, you don't think
that I realize that was YOU that escaped, do you? I know exactly where
that Zoid came from. You’re a runaway. But why? What reason has an orphan
like you got to run away like that? Well, you must have some good reason
deep down inside that you're not showing. And you seem to be doing pretty
well for yourself. You don't need to go back."
Brad turned over on his other side.
"But I'd still watch my back for the ZBC if I were you."
He then closed his eyes, falling asleep soon after.
The judge said as 8 Zoids made their way onto the battlefield.
Our Zoids; 2 Command Wolves, a Konig Wolf and my War Wolf; And our opponents' Zoids; a Bear Fighter, a Redler, a Zaber Fang and a Dibison.
"Area scanned. Battlefield set up! The Wild Team versus the Howler Team! Battle mode 0982!Ready, FIGHT!"
7 of the 8 Zoids charged out onto the field, ready for battle.
"That Dibison is staying on the back lines."
I thought.
"I see their aim."
I headed past the other Zoids, making a beeline for my target.
"Keep 'em busy, guys!"
I yelled.
"I'm going for that fixed heavy cannon of a Dibison!"
I charged at it, claws already glowing.
"I've been waiting to use this attack in battle!"
I said, leaping up over the Dibison, ready to strike.
"STRIKE LASER CLAW!!!!!"
I yelled, tearing into the 9 barrel cannon on the Zoid's back.
It fell into the sand without other movement.
"Registration number 7839,out of the battle!"
The Judge cried.
"One down, three to go."
I thought with an overconfident smirk. Suddenly...
"Sakura! Watch it!"
Fazz yelled from his Konig Wolf, but it was too late. The Bear Fighter had already hit me with a hard Bum Rush!
My War Wolf left a huge trench in the sand when it slid, but it wasn’t system frozen.
"You all right, Wolf?"
I asked.
"I'm fine."
The Zoid replied, getting to its feet as the Bear Fighter came at us again.
But we were still quicker.
I jerked back on my controls, bringing the War Wolf into a reversed leap that evaded my opponent's attack.
"You're mine!"
I yelled, hitting the Bear-type with my Laser Vulcan Gun. But it still wasn’t out.
It gave a quick, unexpected charge, managing to pin us to the ground.
"Lord help me."
I prayed, cockpit to cockpit with the Bear Fighter.
Then...
BAM!
The Zoid fell to my left.
"What the...?"
I looked to my right to see Brad's Command Wolf.
"That's two down."
He said.
"You all right Theresa?"
"Yeah, thanks Brad. I owe ya one."
"Registration numbers 8776 and 8777,out of the battle!"
The Judge yelled.
"Aren’t those Fazz and Elena's registration numbers?"
I asked.
Brad looked over to see the Redler and the Zaber Fang coming at us at top speed.
"Oh yeah. That was Fazz and Elena, all right."
I looked up at the Redler. I knew I could take it. I had good aim with fast-moving targets.
"Brad! You take out that Zaber Fang!"
I told him.
"I'm going after the Redler!"
I dashed to the left, not waiting for Brad's response.
"A flying type Zoid won't be easy for her."
Brad thought.
"But then again, like I said, she can handle herself pretty well."
He turned his sights on the Zaber Fang. It looked like it was equipped
with a 50mm double barrel rifle and
quad ion boosters.
"Speed's the enemy here."
He thought, looking at a nearby desert cliff and heading for it; the Zaber Fang right on his tail with all 4 ion boosters kicked in.
"Perfect."
He thought, coming closer to the cliff.
The Zaber Fang was gaining on him.
"Here, kitty kitty kitty."
He thought to himself, veering sharply to the right at the last possible moment.
The Zaber Fang, unable to stop at such a high velocity or turn for the
passing air currents and wind
resistance, slammed right into the rocky cliff.
Its system froze on contact.
"Registration number 5623,out of the battle!"
"Sounds like Brad's done on his end."
I said to my Zoid.
"Looks like it's up to us to finish the job, War Wolf."
The Redler fired numerous shots at me with an AZ 60mm Hyper Laser Gun,
but we evaded easily until it flew
past.
"Now it's our turn to play."
I said with a grin as the Wild Weasel Units revealed themselves from underneath the War Wolf's side panels.
"WEASEL UNIT TOTAL ASSAULT!"
The war Wolf roared as it let loose 20 missile at once, the Redler pilot
completely oblivious as to what
was happening and getting hit several times before finally going down.
"Battle over! Battle over!"
The Judge cried.
"The winner is...the Howler Team!"
"All right, War Wolf! Another win, no sweat!"
The War Wolf gave a victory roar as I yelled happily.
"Yeah! We're invincible!"
Brad watched from a distance as we celebrated.
"She's even better than I thought."
He said to himself.
"Maybe you and I will battle one day, Sakura. I would really like to
test my strength against you."
All right, War Wolf! Two straight wins and not a loss yet! We rock!
Say what? I moved up a rank? To a class C mercenary?! Way past cool!
What? Who’s this guy attacking me in the desert in the middle of the
night? Can’t a mercenary get any sleep
around here?!
Wait a second! He’s from...THE EMPIRE!?THOSE GUYS ARE STILL ON MY TAIL!?!?NOT GOOD!
Huh? There's Brad again! Hey, thanks for helping me out! I
owe ya one!
Next time on "The Lone Mercenary"
"The Empire Returns: Sakura Strikes Back"
See ya on the battlefield!
______________________________________________________
Well, what'd you guys think of chapter 3? The next one's gonna be REAL good!
If you have any questions or comments, post a review or E-mail me,anks
to my bestest best buddy Shadowwolf for
posting these for me! Please read her fics, because
she's even better than I am! See ya!
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