Building Zoids in a World of Titans

(Three Days Later)

The sun hung low over the rocky plateau, casting long shadows across the scrubland. The Iron Mule sat parked on a ridge a kilometer back, Ziya watching from the cab with a cup of something warm. Down in the basin, two Zoids faced each other across thirty meters of cracked earth.

Alex settled into the Liger Zero's cockpit, the panoramic display wrapping around him. Across from him, the Arosaurer shifted from foot to foot, its tail swaying with barely contained nervous energy.

"Again," Alex said over the comm.

Rhian's voice came back tight with concentration. "Okay. I'm ready."

She wasn't. He could see it in the way she held the Arosaurer's stance, weight too far forward, autocannons raised too high. Three days of training and she still hadn't learned to stop telegraphing her movements.

The Arosaurer charged.

Alex didn't move until the last moment. Then the Liger Zero sidestepped, fast and clean, letting Rhian's momentum carry her past. He caught her tail with his own, a controlled sweep that knocked the Arosaurer off balance. She stumbled, caught herself, spun around.

"Good," Alex said. "But you dropped your guard when you turned. Again."

Rhian reset her stance. The Arosaurer's jaw servos clicked, a nervous tic she'd picked up. "You're too fast."

"Then be faster."

She came at him again, this time trying to feint left before striking right. Alex read it in her shoulder shift before she'd completed the motion. He stepped inside her guard, the Liger Zero's Strike Laser Claws flashing across the Arosaurer's chest plate. Not enough force to damage, but the scoring was clear.

"Dead," Alex said.

Rhian's frustrated sigh crackled through the comm. "That's the seventh time."

"Eighth. You miscounted." Alex kept his voice level, no room for argument. "You're thinking about the attack instead of the whole fight. Watch my shoulders, not my claws. The body tells you where the strike is going before the limb moves."

The Arosaurer straightened. Rhian took a breath he could hear over the open channel.

"Okay. I see it this time."

She didn't. The next exchange lasted twelve seconds. Alex drove her back with a series of controlled strikes, each one landing on a different joint, a different weak point. The Arosaurer's autocannons fired twice, both shots wide. Rhian was reacting instead of acting, her movements a half-beat behind his.

He could hear her breathing hard, the strain of keeping up with his pace.

"Stop," Alex said.

The Arosaurer froze mid-step.

"You're fighting the machine instead of working with it. The Arosaurer knows what it can do. You need to trust it." He paused. "Again. And this time, don't think. Just move."

Rhian was quiet for a moment. Then the Arosaurer settled into a lower stance, its tail curling behind it. Different. Better.

She came at him faster this time, the Arosaurer's movements flowing instead of jerking. Alex met her charge, their Zoids colliding with a crack that echoed off the rocks. The Arosaurer's claws scraped across the Liger Zero's flank, not a hit but close. Closer than she'd gotten all day.

Then Alex saw the opening. Her left side, exposed for a fraction of a second as she committed to the strike.

The Liger Zero moved. One burst of speed, a pivot, and he was behind her. His claws caught the Arosaurer's legs, sweeping them out. The sixty-two-ton Zoid hit the ground hard, dust billowing up in a cloud.

Alex pressed the advantage. The Liger Zero planted one foot on the Arosaurer's chest, pinning it. He leaned closeiger's jaws inches from the Arosaurer's cockpit.

The Liger Zero's mane vents blazed with blue light.

"RROOOO-AAARRR-GHRRR!"

The roar shook the air, a declaration of dominance that needed no translation. Below him, the Arosaurer's systems flickered, its core pulsing with amber light. Not fear. Acceptance.

Rhian's voice came through small and breathless. "You won."

Alex released the pressure, stepping back. The Arosaurer lay still for a moment, then slowly pushed itself upright. Its tail drooped.

"You lasted longer that time," Alex said. "And your stance was better. You're learning."

Rhian didn't answer right away. When she did, her voice had that stubborn edge he'd come to recognize.

"Next time, I'll last even longer."

Alex felt the corner of his mouth twitch. "Good. Because we're doing this again tomorrow."

The Liger Zero and the Arosaurer walked side by side across the plateau, their massive forms casting long shadows in the late afternoon sun. Alex could feel the ache in his shoulders from the extended session, the neural feedback leaving its usual dull throb behind his eyes. Worth it, though. Rhian had improved more in three days than he'd expected.

The Iron Mule came into view, parked on the ridge where they'd left it. Ziya stood on the cab's running board, one hand shielding her eyes against the glare. She waved.

As they approached the transport, the Liger Zero's docking clamps engaged automatically, guiding the Zoid into its berth. The Arosaurer followed suit, settling into its position with a hydraulic hiss. Alex popped the cockpit seal and climbed down, his boots hitting the ramp with a solid clang.

Ziya was waiting at the bottom, a towel draped over one shoulder and a water flask in her hand. She tossed the flask to Alex without a word. He caught it, drank. The water was lukewarm and tasted like the filtration unit, but it cut through the dryness in his throat.

"You were out there for four hours," Ziya said. Not quite disapproval. Just fact.

"She needed it."

Ziya's gaze shifted to the Arosaurer, where Rhian was still visible through the amber canopy, unbuckling her harness with fumbling fingers. A small smile tugged at Ziya's mouth.

"She held her own out there. I watched the last few rounds from the cab. Her footwork was better."

Rhian's canopy opened. She scrambled down the Arosaurer's leg with more enthusiasm than grace, hitting the ground in a tumble that she somehow turned into a roll. She popped up, grinning.

"Did you see that last charge? I almost had him!"

"You almost had nothing," Alex said. "But your timing was better."

Rhian's grin widened. Ziya shook her head, the smile still there.

"Come on. I made something that isn't ration paste. You both need to eat."

The field kitchen was already set up, the two-burner stove hissing under a pot of something that smelled like actual food. Ziya ladled portions into three bowls, some kind of grain stew with chunks of dried meat and vegetables that had probably come from their dwindling fresh supply. Alex took his bowl and sat on the fold-down bench near the bulkhead. Rhian dropped onto the floor cross-legged, blowing on her spoon.

Ziya sat across from Alex, her own bowl cradled in both hands. She took a small bite, then set it down.

"We'll reach a settlement tomorrow. Millcross, if the maps are right. Small place, but they should have a market and a fuel depot."

Rhian's head snapped up. "A real town? With people?"

"With people," Ziya confirmed.

"I've never been to another town. Just Veridia." Rhian's eyes were wide. "Do they have shops? What kind of shops?"

"I don't know, but we'll find out soon."

"Everything's exciting if you haven't seen it before."

Alex took another bite of stew. It was good, better than he would've managed. "We stop for fuel and supplies. Nothing more. We're not there to sightsee."

Rhian deflated slightly, but only slightly. She kept eating, her spoon moving with renewed energy as she talked through a dozen questions about Millcross that Ziya answered with patient, measured responses. Alex listened without adding much. A stop meant exposure, meant people seeing the Zoids, meant questions he'd have to navigate. But Ziya was right. They needed fuel. They needed supplies.

He finished his bowl and set it aside. Through the Iron Mule's small window, the sun was touching the horizon, the sky going orange and purple. Tomorrow they'd reach Millcross. Tonight they'd rest.

The stew sat warm in his stomach. That was enough.

Advance chapters on my p@tR$0n/Najicablitz.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!