New Age Chapter 1, a Zoids fanfic by Sh33p

Hats off to this fic. It tops most fics I've read....including most of the ones I posted here. Tim Seltzer, seltzer@seltzerbooks.com

Monotone thuds filled the room. It had been one day since the Blitz Team had emerged as the victors of Class S, and this morning was obviously the proof that just because they`d effectively surpassed any and all of their former challengers for the time being, the Blitz Team still had it`s failings and they had them in spades. It was so obvious because at present, the newly Class S team was mostly gathered around watching one of their own act in an extremely uncharacteristic fashion.

More monotone thuds, until Bit spoke up. "Brad, stop or you`ll break the table," he advised cautiously. A groan and another series of thuds followed in response. "What happened?" Leena asked while entering the living room, sipping off of lukewarm coffee and staring at Brad in bemusement. Brad paused and sat up straight, robotically turning his head to view Leena and timing himself perfectly. With any luck, his announcement would cause her to choke, cough, possibly gag or at the worst, blow her coffee out of her nose in laughter.

"I lost the Shadow Fox in a game of cards," he stated dryly. Exactly as planned, Leena keeled over, spewing coffee out of her nose and choking loudly. Brad turned back to the table and resumed smacking his head into it over and over again. "Did you sign a legal document on it?" Jamie asked with concern, taking a seat across from Brad. "No, worse... Roadies` honor," Brad answered, craning his head back extra far this time and slamming it back into the table with the sound of a crack as Brad`s skull contacted the wood once again, leaving a noticable dent this time around.

"Smooth move Brad," Bit commented sourly. "Good thing the Doc isn`t here yet... And we still don`t know where the heck he is," Jamie grumbled annoyedly with a shake of the head. "This sucks," Brad thought aloud, still thumping his forehead into the table at least once every three seconds. "Giving yourself a concussion won`t make it better," Bit reminded him. "Sure it will. Maybe I`ll forgot where I am, move to the Sheed Islands and start smoking opium rectally," Brad replied. "... Okay, that is a visual I did not need to think of," Jamie cringed. "Did I mention I`ll do it while wearing pink knackers with Leena`s underwear draped over my head while orally servicing someone called Noise Marine Bubba?"

"... I`m just gonna go die of disgust now," Jamie shuddered, an action followed by Bit and Leena, the latter of whom was just beginning to scrape herself off of the floor. "Joy... And I didn`t even get to the part about prancing gayly across the open sea with my life mate, Big G-" "ENOUGH BRAD! We get the point, jeez," Bit interrupted for the sake of the food he`d eaten last night. "No. You don`t, that Zoid is my life Bit, if I can`t use it, what use am I to the team and what point is winning the bet with Naomi for the next Royal Cup?" Brad asked annoyedly, smacking his head into the table once again.

"Well... When`s this Marcus guy supposed to be here? And does he know we haven`t even finished repairing the Shadow Fox yet?"

"Any second now and yes," Brad answered, smacking his forehead into the table once more. As if on cue, the doorbell rang through the intercom of the base, making itself most apparent right in the living room. "So much for my Zoid career..."

"I`ll fight him for rights to ownership of your Zoid," Bit announced sternly. "... Well, if not for the fact he`ll likely rip all of the Shadow Fox`s legs off and then behead it, I`d almost say that`s a good idea," Jamie stated. Brad soberly glanced up from the table, twitching slightly. "Go for it," he ordered before the resumation of table against forehead.

"Sure," Jamie replied. Leena only glared at the numerous stains on her pajamas and Brad simply continued banging his forehead into the table. "Come on then," Bit said with a grimace, darting out of the living room and heading towards the hangar. He and Jamie arrived in all of a quarter of a minute, passing by the downed hulk of the Fox and the trashed remains of the Gunsniper, right up to the garage door, which Jamie lazily opened by smacking a seemingly random button near the door.

They were greeted by the same scruffy looking individual that Brad had lost to the night before, accompanied by a custom painted Gustav that had the shell as the same extremely dark blue color as the vest he wore, while the parts that were normally gray had been redone as a dull black. The last noticable additions were that this Gustav had teeth, namely two automated looking machine guns - one on each side - with a good firing arc in any direction.

"You the guy who beat Brad in a card game?" Bit asked, stepping outside into the morning light. "Yeah, Marcus Harlock," Marcus stated, extending a hand. "Bit Cloud," Bit replied, shaking the other`s hand before pointing over at the still pajama-wearing Jamie. "And that`s Jamie Hameros. Here for the Fox, I`m guessing?" Bit asked. Marcus gave a nod. "I don`t want any trouble but I did win it so..."

"No problem... But since you seem so intent on having it, how about we raise the stakes a little?"

"You in the Shadow Fox against me in the Liger Zero. If I win, Brad gets the Fox back, if you win, you keep it," Bit explained simply. "Works for me, I guess," Marcus said with a shrug. "You`d need to give me a week to finish my registration and the repairs on the Fox though," he added. "Fine by me, just saves us money in the long run... Vega did one heck of a number on it."

"I don`t mind," Marcus replied, motioning with his thumb back at the Gustav. "I just need to finish setting myself up. Already got a basic pair of trailers but I`m tradin` `em in pretty soon for something better suited to carrying and maintaining a Zoid," he stated. "Offhand, go for the MWS-90," Bit advised. "Eh?" Marcus asked. "I`m an ex-parts dealer, MWS-90s are the best out there you can easily afford right now," Bit explained.

"I`ll think on it. Mind helpin` me load the Fox up?" Marcus asked. "You can use the loading equipment, no big deal," Bit shrugged before stepping off to the side. "Thanks again," Marcus said, certain the other hadn`t heard him before turning around and darting back to the Gustav. Climbing into the cockpit, it wasn`t long before Marcus had commandeered one of the loading cranes and brought the slightly disgruntled seeming Shadow Fox up onto the trailer, dropping it down before getting back out and personally undoing everything.

Fox didn`t exactly like him though, as evidenced by the gnashing of it`s jaws when he first started undoing the loading pieces. "Ease up big guy, I`m not your owner," Marcus explained, casually ducking between the Shadow Fox`s jaws and undoing the cable from around it`s neck. "Just your new partner!" He cheerily stated, patting the Fox on the back of the head and gleefully avoiding a swipe from it`s remaining forepaw. "We`ll have you fixed up in no time!" He stated just as cheerfully, climbing down from the trailer in avoidance of the Shadow Fox`s teeth before casually opening the manual locking controls. "How high?" He asked.

Fox shrieked at him. "`Kay, too high... How`s that?" He asked. Fox shrieked again. "Here?" Marcus asked a third time, resetting the magnetic holding mechanisms of the trailer for the third time in a row. Fox stopped growling and seemingly resigned itself to fate`s mechanations, flopping it`s head down on the trailer and letting out the mechanical equivelent of a whimper. "Ah don`t gimme any o` that, you`re tougher. You`d be bitching and whining if you weren`t," Marcus grumbled, walking casually around the Gustav and climbing back into the cockpit before pulling out of the hangar, only to stop at the entranceway and glance around for Bit and Jamie.

Both of them were standing in plain sight at the controls for the garage door. "See you in a week, Bit Cloud!" Marcus shouted with a wave before the cockpit glass slid shut and the Gustav drove off, dragging along one trailer with the Shadow Fox in it and a second loaded up with an oversized cargo container. He apparently hadn`t quit his day job yet.

"And I thought you were weird," Jamie mumbled dryly, pressing the button to shut the garage door. "You aren`t one to talk, mister Wild Eagle," Bit chided in response, turning back towards the Liger and grinning ear to ear. "Hey Liger!" He shouted. The Zoid roared once in response and seemed to tilt it`s head to get a good look at him. "Ready to get Brad`s Zoid back!?" Bit asked. The hangar rattled violently as the Liger roared it`s response.

"I`ll take that as a yes," Bit grinned. "... You`re both weird," Jamie shrugged. "Like I said, you aren`t one to talk Wild Eagle," Bit retorted. "Don`t joke about that!" Jamie yelled.

An hour and a half later, Marcus pulled the Gustav up to one of the dozen or so local Zoid maintenance shops and climbed out, a list of repair needs in hand, along with the service form for the parts and ammo he had delivered with his Zoid and the required paperwork to make a trade-in of his two Zoid tow trailers. Mark wasn`t exactly a pro, he was only nineteen, but he was the type to come prepared when he could, and since this was such an occasion that`s exactly what he did.

Walking around the width of the Gustav, he wasn`t too keen on leaving the downed Zoid behind even if only for a little while. "How ya holdin` up Fox?" Mark asked, calmly deactivating the locking mechanisms on both trailers before stepping back over to the Zoid and waiting for an answer. The eyes of the Fox seemed to regard him like a sniper regarding a target, and the Zoid 'said' nothing. "I`ll just go out on a limb and guess that the glare means you`ve been better. No offense taken," Mark replied to the silence, turning around and starting to walk away. "Don`t worry though, you`ll be good as new by the end of the week. Probably better in fact," Mark stated before speed walking towards the door and darting into the shop.

He was greeted instantly by the weighted stink of rubber and deactivated explosives, as well as the sound of welding torches, saws, cranes and virtually anything else that could be used on a Zoid in the distance. The ceiling was easily thrice the height of a typical Zoid, probably taller, and it was obvious that the place had probably once been a warehouse.

Stepping off balance for a few seconds before shaking the heavy odors out of his senses for a short while, Harlock closed the distance over to the counter and tapped the bell for someone to come, doing so several times since the foul air was actually starting to get to him. He hadn`t ever been one for heavy odors, even a slightly heavy perfume had the potential to make him anything from lightheaded to queasy. "And you are?" A middle aged woman with dark auburn hair that was starting to turn a little gray at parts answered the bell. She looked like she`d had one heck of a long day already.

"Marcus Harlock, here for the parts delivery and I need my Zoid repaired and modified," Marcus stated with a nod, setting down the papers for both transactions. "`Bout time one of the haulers showed up," the woman griped annoyedly. "Something going on that I should know about?" Mark asked with a quirk of a brow. "You`re the only one of seven shipments that`s had the damn decency to show up," the woman answered grouchily. "... That`s odd," Marcus commented surprisedly.

"Yeah, safer that way," Marcus admitted. "Figures. All the others were guys I knew, slackers always took the main roads," the woman stated with audible annoyedness. "... These are some odd modifications you`re orderin` son," the woman mused as she read over the list of equipment that he wanted replaced, added or enhanced.

"Not to mention the repair bills... Sweet Jesus kid, you`re nuts if you think you can pay for all this as is," she muttered in disbelief. "All payment from the transport bill goes to repairs, royalty charges and whats left to modifications and if I have to I can trade in one of my trailers to finish it up," Mark replied almost automatically. "Tight squeeze but I think it can be done," the woman sighed. "Got your head set on battling, eh?" She asked. "Better pay than transporting," Marcus replied with a shrug. "Only if you win," she shot back. "Then I`ll just win a lot. I can`t really afford to lose," Mark stated firmly. "Then for your sake I hope you don`t," the woman mumbled.

"I`m not sure if it`s legal for a competitor in Zoid battles to be usin` an auxilliary combat system," the woman stated uncertainly. "Well, if it is. If not you can take that off the list," Marcus replied. "Alright. That should be about it... Oh, and the turret?"

"360*/180* degrees of movement, feeding right off the main power supply," Marcus advised on how to change around the 30mm Laser Vulcan Gun. Doctor Leyon would likely be having a conniption if he knew what was being done to 'his baby.'

"I think he`s starting to wake up," Steve said with a yawn. "Took `im long enough," Oscar replied with a similar yawn. "Always was a pansy when it came to medication," he mused jokingly. "Better to be a pansy than a semi-disabled twit," Leyon managed to get out while trying to work his eyes open. "Now now, Leyon... Don`t worry, you might be disabled too!" Oscar joked with a bit of bittersweetness to it. Few could understand the morbid sense of humor the Big Three(a joke that evolved over the stature that all three seemed to have) bore around one another.

"Remind me not to try and be a hero again," Leyon groaned, trying to get at an itch on his side. Oscar did the honors, casually grabbing a fork and using it to scratch at Leyon`s skin/annoy the living hell out of him in the same moment. "Ah, come on Leyon, it wasn`t that bad... Heck, I owe you," Steven exclaimed. "You aren`t the one lying in a hospital bed with a bruised left nut and too many injuries to count," Leyon griped. "True. But you get the idea," Steve conceded. "So... Why ya here Steven? Come to finish me off or something?"

"Then why in the blue hell are you here?" The pointy headed evil genius asked in a daze, glancing sideways at Steve. It was a miracle he didn`t need a cast or anything on his neck, that was probably one of the only parts of his body that had mostly escaped injury aside from bruising. "To tell you the truth about it."

"I already know the truth," Leyon hoarsely bit out. "No Leyon, you don`t. None of this was my fault," Steven explained with a shake of the head. He didn`t even need to explain what he was trying to clear, the subject was so sensitive that both knew what the other was talking about instantly. "You took her away from me Steven, I can`t forgive you for that," Leyon growled, visibly having to blink back tears.

"I know. I don`t mind," Doctor Tauros replied. "I just want you to know the truth."

"Because, the truth can set you free," Steve quoted. "You always were a sucker for philosophy when nobody was looking," Leyon almost chuckled, holding back to keep from hurting himself. "Well... Do you want to hear or not?"

"The better question is whether or not I have a choice in the matter," Leyon replied, shifting his gaze whistfully towards the window. "No, not really," Oscar shrugged. "Figured as much... Go ahead, I`ll try not to scream since my entire body feels like hell," Leyon ordered, leaning his head back onto the bed and shutting his eyes.

"Well... You know it started with you asking me to write that letter, right?" Steven asked.

"I asked Oscar to do it since I`m not good with that stuff either," Steven explained.

"Great. In other words one of you is just an idiot, the other is a completely clueless moron and I can`t tell which is which."

"And neither can we, what else is new?" Oscar asked. Leyon chuckled gravely, wiping his eyes carefully and speaking up hoarsely. "Nothing really. Surprised it was that simple..."

"I`m sorry Leyon," Steven said. "I know. I don`t care though, I`ll just get revenge over you some other way... All I have to live for these days anyway," Leyon said with the tone of someone who`s spirit had finally been broken.

"Feel free to resume being an absolute sociopath at any time," Oscar suggested, trying to break the heavy silence that had fallen over the room.

"Hey... Oscar," Leyon began. "Think you could go pick me up some Ramen noodles?" He asked. "Sure, what kind?" Oscar asked. "Anything that ain`t beef flavored," Leyon answered. "Will do," Oscar said, catching the message hidden between the lines and under the surface. Standing up and shaking his legs out, Oscar calmly made his way out of the room, shutting the door in his wake and letting the other two be alone.

"Were you being honest just now?" Steven asked. "About the revenge?" Leyon asked. "Yes."

"To the core. All I have left to live for is to somehow outdo or defeat you, even if it`s only once. Doesn`t matter how long it takes, I`ll do it and then I`ll die."

"Don`t 'Leyon' me," the bedridden scientist ordered, breaking into a brief coughing fit. "My life`s been on a downward spiral since the day I asked you to do that love letter," he grimaced. "I waited and I waited, I watched as you and Rina got together, I even grit my teeth and stood in as one of the best men at the wedding and I held back my tears when your son was born," he began to explain. "Everyday I watched the love of my life slip further and further out of my grasp and then came the day I came to visit and the accident happened."

"Don`t remind me," Steven ordered. He still remember how Rina had incurred her injuries with frightening clarity. "I won`t. You aren`t the only one who breaks down in the memory of that, remember?" Leyon asked. "But anyway... After that... After that I watched her die in this very hospital. I stood by while you were busy trying to comfort Leon and your daughter, I tried to provide some comfort to her even though she was unconcious up to just before the end and I fought back suicidal urges for years afterward. Know why?" He asked.

"Because her last words were 'I love you both,'" Leyon stated. Steven felt his stomach tighten up drastically. "Yeah. My patience only got me that, she admitted she had feelings for me but in the end you still won because she cared for you just as much," Leyon explained, staring up at the ceiling and trying to blink away the stinging in his eyes.

"After that, all I had left was my revenge," Leyon finished. "You understand now, don`t you? Even if it was Oscar`s screw-up, I have to have my revenge on you," Leyon bit out. "Yes. I understand," Steven replied with a sigh. "Maybe someday when this is over we`ll be able to kick back like we used to and watch a battle," he mused. "Maybe. I doubt I`ll live to see it though," Leyon replied. "Well, since you can`t escape," Steven swiped the remote from the bedstand on the other side of Leyon`s bed. "What channel?" He asked with a slow smirk.

"Where are we going?" He asked groggily as Jamie sped through the desert towards the nearby town. "To find Doc," Jamie replied a few seconds later. "Joy," the Wild Eagle sarcastically muttered. "Not my fault you aren`t devoted to your friends off the battlefield," Jamie commented annoyedly. "Our friends Jamie, and yes, it is, because it`s your fault that you aren`t devoted to them enough on the battlefield," the Wild Eagle retorted. "Just shut up already," Jamie grumbled. "Being quiet without beating the snot out of someone is beyond me," the Wild Eagle replied. "It figures," Jamie thought. "Just why are you coming out again?"

"... Bullcrap, there`s another reason," Jamie replied, adjusting the mirror on the windshield and sparing a glance at the surrounding terrain. "And you think I`m the psycho here?" The second personality asked.

"... You`re a non-existent sub-personality inherited through some backwards genetic trait from my dad who I listen to on a once-a-day basis at the least. We`re both nuts," Jamie replied fatalistically. "Oh ye of li`l faith," the other replied sarcastically, mimicking a Scottish accent in the process. "Is that a Gustav up there?" Jamie asked. "I have no idea, my eyes are only as good as your`s in this position," the Wild Eagle replied. "Well... Looks like a Gustav but I`m not sure," Jamie commented, pressuring the gas pedal a bit more and accelerating towards it.

"Is that uh... Crap, whatshisface?" The Wild Eagle asked. "Mark?" Jamie asked. "Yeah, him," the Wild Eagle replied. "Not sure, can`t really make out any details on that Gustav at this distance," Jamie replied.

He probably saw the explosion that threw the vehicle into a rolling flip, but it was likely that he was unconcious before he could register anything else.

Author`s Note: And so begins New Age... Don`t worry folks, the chapters will get longer and other characters will get involved. I`m not letting any of the characters out of the spotlight for too long, just need to establish everything :P

New Age by Sh33p

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New Age

Chapter 1

The Challenge and the Tragedy - Leyon's Sorrows