Building Zoids in a World of Titans

The Threadwhip on the Iron Mule's hull reared back, fangs scraping against the door seam, searching for a weak point. Its whip-legs tapped a rapid rhythm against the metal, signaling the others that prey was trapped inside.

Then the Iron Mule's cargo bay door opened from the inside.

The Threadwhip's eight eyes swiveled toward the sound. Before it could react, the Arosaurer burst from the darkness like a blue-and-silver avalanche. Rhian didn't think. She just moved. The Zoid's shoulder slammed into the spider-thing with the full force of sixty-two tons, crushing it against the Mule's hull. Chitin cracked. Legs curled inward.

The Arosaurer's jaw clamped down on the Threadwhip's thorax. Rhian squeezed the trigger. The twin 105mm autocannons roared once, twice, three times. The spider-thing came apart in a spray of ichor and shattered shell. The body dropped to the ground, twitching, then went still.

"GRRR-RR-VUMMM..."

The Arosaurer's growl rumbled through the clearing. Rhian's hands shook on the controls, her breath coming in short gasps. She'd done it. She'd actually done it.

No time. Alex still needed her.

She turned the Arosaurer toward the treeline, where the Liger Zero's golden flashes flickered between the trunks. The spider-things were everywhere, dropping from the canopy, circling, probing. Alex was fighting three at once, his damaged leg dragging.

Rhian charged.

The Arosaurer's autocannons barked twice, and the spider-things scattered. One took a shell to the thorax and crumpled. The others retreated into the canopy, their tapping frantic, disorganized. The Liger Zero's damaged leg sparked as Alex pivoted to face the new arrival. His cockpit display showed the Arosaurer's IFF signature, but the pilot readout was blank. Then the comm crackled.

"Alex! I'm here to help!"

Alex's hands froze on the controls. That voice. Small, determined, and coming through his own Zoid's communication channel.

"Rhian?!" His voice cracked. "Why are you piloting the Arosaurer?!"

"Because you were surrounded!" The Arosaurer moved to flank the Liger Zero, its head swiveling to track movement in the trees. "I couldn't just watch!"

A Threadwhip dropped from above. The Arosaurer's tail swung upward, catching it mid-fall and hurling it into a tree trunk. The spider-thing hit with a wet crack and slid to the ground.

"Stay behind me," Alex said, his voice shifting. No time for arguments. "And don't do anything reckless."

Rhian grinned inside the cockpit, her hands steady on the controls. "Too late for that."

Rhian spotted a cluster of Threadwhips regrouping in the canopy to her left. She didn't wait. The Arosaurer lunged forward, jaws snapping at the nearest spider-thing. Her aim was off. The Threadwhip sidestepped with unnatural grace, its whip-legs tapping a rapid rhythm against the bark. The others responded instantly, converging from three directions at once.

"Rhian, fall back!" Alex's voice cut through the comm.

She tried to reverse, but the Arosaurer's turning radius was too wide for the dense forest. A Threadwhip landed on the Zoid's back, fangs scraping against the blue armor plating. Another latched onto the tail, its legs wrapping around the segmented appendage. The Arosaurer roared, thrashing, but the spider-things held fast, their tapping synchronizing into a single pulsing rhythm.

Then the Liger Zero blazed through the treeline like a comet. Golden claws severed the Threadwhip on the Arosaurer's back. The shock cannon roared, blasting the one on the tail into the undergrowth. Alex's voice came through the comm, calm and precise.

"Stop charging in. You're not fighting alone anymore." The Liger Zero pivoted beside the Arosaurer, its damaged leg sparking but steady. "Follow my lead. I'll draw them off. You hit what I leave open."

Rhian swallowed hard, her hands still trembling on the controls. "Okay."

"Okay," Alex repeated. "Now move."

The Liger Zero surged forward, golden claws carving arcs through the darkness. Alex's voice came through the comm, steady and clear.

"Three o'clock. Two of them."

Rhian swung the Arosaurer's torso, the motion clumsy but fast. The twin autocannons roared. One shell caught a Threadwhip mid-leap, punching through its thorax. The other spider-thing twisted away, but the Liger Zero was already there. Strike Laser Claws severed two of its legs. It hit the ground, twitching. The shock cannon finished it.

"RROOOO-AAARRR-GHRRR!"

The Liger Zero's roar shook leaves from the canopy. Rhian felt it in her chest, a vibration that made her teeth buzz. She'd never heard Alex's Zoid sound like that before. Not angry. Excited.

More Threadwhips dropped from above. Four of them, moving in perfect sync, their whip-legs tapping that same rapid rhythm. They landed on all sides, fanning out, herding the two Zoids toward a cluster of thick-trunked trees.

"They're trying to box us in," Alex said. "Rhian, tail sweep. Now."

She didn't think. She just moved. The Arosaurer's smash-up tail whipped sideways, catching two Threadwhips before they could find their footing. One went flying into a tree. The other skidded across the forest floor, legs curling inward.

"SKREEE-CHAK-CHAK-CHAK!"

The Arosaurer's mechanical scream split the night. Rhian grinned. She understood now. The Zoid wasn't just following her commands. It was helping her, guiding her movements, showing her where to strike.

The remaining Threadwhips hesitated. Their tapping faltered, the rhythm breaking apart. Without the queen's coordination, they were just scared animals facing something bigger.

The Liger Zero didn't give them time to regroup. It launched forward, ion boosters flaring white, and the forest lit up like daylight. Golden claws carved through the nearest Threadwhip. The shock cannon roared twice more. Two more spider-things crumpled.

One tried to flee into the canopy. The Arosaurer's autocannon tracked it, Rhian's hands steady on the controls now. She squeezed the trigger once. The shell caught the Threadwhip in the abdomen. It fell, hit a branch, and crashed to the ground in a tangle of legs.

Silence.

The tapping stopped. The red eyes in the darkness blinked out, one by one, as the surviving Threadwhips retreated into the deep forest. The ground was littered with broken chitin and twitching legs.

Rhian's breath came in ragged gasps. Her hands were shaking again, but not from fear this time. From something else. Something warm and bright that made her want to laugh and cry at the same time.

The Liger Zero limped back toward the Arosaurer, its damaged leg sparking with every step. Alex's voice came through the comm, quieter now.

"You did good, Rhian."

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "We did good."

The Arosaurer lowered its head, the amber glow in its canopy pulsing soft and steady. Rhian reached up and pressed her palm against the cockpit wall, right where the Zoid's chest would be.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"GRRR-RR-VUMMM..."

The Arosaurer's growl was gentle this time. Almost like a purr.

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