- - -
Dawnstar's Gustav stood perched on a ten-meter-high cliff, KoO's Hovercargo approaching in the distance. Kyne Xaratan surveyed the terrain with binoculars, taking note of particular details. A ravine cut the map in half, running north to south until the sun's glare off the rocks hid it from view. It looked to be only about two, maybe three meters deep and four or so meters across. The majority of the terrain was scrubland, rising up into rough hills in the west, with an abrupt cliff in the east, where Kyne stood. Some of the hills looked to be about ten meters high, though some reached as high as about thirteen.
Kyne turned around to face his pilots. They were all in their Dawnstar flightsuits, standing with that easy swagger all zoid pilots pick up at some point in their lives. "Looks to be a fairly cut-and-dried match. The Knights have a Command Wolf IC, a Red Horn, and a Gorgolauncher."
"A what?" Tim's brow knit in confusion.
Kyne sighed. "Little zoid. Not much of a threat, really. Pretty much just a missile and some guns. Hank, I want you to take it out first."
"What 'bout the Horn?" Hank had a vague recollection of seeing that hiblit vulcan. It wasn't pretty.
"Second shot."
"Gotcha."
"You two be careful." Kyne turned his attention to the younger pilots. "Walk lightly. If that Horn gores you, just roll with it. You'll take substantially less damage if you give way."
Jenny nodded, Tim a second later.
"Alright. Let's do this."

Not a minute later, Hank's Gordos stood a few meters back from the edge of the cliff while the two Ligers slinked down, landing with feline agility. Jenny's mounted the Beam Cannon modification, while Tim's was unmodified. Hank's Gordos had the Ontos modification, the six barrels lending the tank-like zoid a certain destructively powerful air.

Kanizzle: You spelled something wrong, retard.
Then let it remain spelled wrong. This is a battle. Do not edit other peoples' posts.

The Knight's Hovercargo came to a stop at the edge of the designated battlefield, leading many to wonder how the transport had managed to get this far in this type of terrain. Or how it had gotten from Delpoi to Europa for that matter. Marc stood up and left the controls, turning to face the rest of his team. He looked calm and relaxed, a rare occurance.

"Alright, Dawnstar's using two Sheild Ligers and a Gordos. The Gordos is the biggest threat, we have to focus on it first. A few shots from those Ontos cannons and things will turn ugly real quick. Sera I suggest you stay out of its line of fire unless you'd like another loss on your record."

Sera scowled at him, but kept quiet.

"The Ligers shouldn't be too much trouble, as long as they stay off my back. Let's go," he said with a confident smile and headed to the lower hanger.

Shortly after the Knights of Oblivion departed for their seperate Zoids Mario, sporting the D4WG Rocket modification, came strolling out of the transport, Nikos smiling wryly inside.

"It's been a while boys and girls. . . Hey, either of you know if Dawnstar's captain is really a Knights fan? I heard he was. . ." As he asked the question, Nikos maneuvered Mario to one of the larger hills and lay in wait near the top, staying to the western slope of the hill, as not to stand an open target when battle commenced.

"Hard to pick out the facts from the rumors, but I heard something like that," Marc answered as he and Sera took position beside Nikos, 500-meters from their opponents. Both of the siblings brought their big guns to the fight, the CP-03 was equipped to the Horn and the BESAD Autocannons on the Gorgolauncher.

"You can always go ask after we destroy them," Sera smiled and prepared herself for the match.

From high above, a small, glowing dot appeared in the sky. Screaming through the planet's atmosphere came a white re-entry vehicle, its retro-rockets burning with a white fire to control the descent. As much as the pilots loved the spectacular crash-landing whenever a judge capsule was deployed, most of the capsules these days employed ion retro-thrusters to control the descent.

Didn't make them any less noisy, though.

The judge capsule roared through the sky, kicking up a spectacular wash of dust and loose debris as it landed. Moments later, the hatch popped open to reveal the white-clad judge droid. The judge capsule, approximately two hundred meters north of the ravine's "center," that is, between the two transports, announced the fight.

PILOTS! Prepare yourself for battlemode 0982! Please move to the designated starting distance, and input pilot information at this time!

Once the pilots had input their information, moved to the starting area, and the Judge was satisfied, a blinking number appeared on the Judge's forehead screen, broadcast to the participants' machines.

Battlemode approved, area set up. Let's have a clean match, with no cockpit or Zoid core shots.

Pilots, at the ready, and...

FIGHT!

"Eh, I'll ask Xaratan about it sometime." Nikos spoke before the Wolf activated it's infrared to help the sniper aim it's gun and popped to the top of the hill. Mario's AZ200mm Sniper came about it's lock fairly quickly and as always the lock resonated as a loud beep in the cockpit. One shot was fired squarely into the Gordos' front left shoulder in an attempt to take advantage of the lacking armor. After the shot was released from the massive gun barrel the Wolf dropped back behind the overly large hill, attempting to avoid being demolished.

"Race ya there." Jenny kicked her zoid into high gear, sending the Shield Liger DCS racing across the wasteland. Tim fell into line behind her, using her zoid for a shield against enemy fire.
Jenny spotted the Command Wolf IC crest the hill and grinned. Once they leapt across the ravine, the two zoids turned towards the Wolf, Tim switching places with Jenny as the zoid closest to the enemy. He took up a position at her flank, moving using Hank's data feed to pinpoint where the Red Horn was and keep himself between Jenny and the Hiblit Vulcan.
At the four second mark, just after they had jumped the ravine, Jenny let the Wolf's legs have it with the beam cannons and laser repeaters. She set them to staggered-fire, focusing on the Wolf's exposed elbow joints. Jenny's speed rapidly declined, until she was about one hundred meters away from the Wolf, standing still and firing all guns -- including the shock cannons -- at the stationary sniper.
When Jenny stood still, Tim flashed off into the hills, relying upon Craters's data feed once more. He was hunting down the other two zoids, using the hills for cover. He wasn't about to close just yet. He kept his distance, keeping Kyne's advice in mind so he didn't get gored horribly.

Hank, on the other hand, wasn't about to deal with no sissy running and jumping about. Nah. He had big guns and he knew how to use 'em.
"Oh, lookie dere. It's a Red Horn. Now ain't that cute."
He drew a bead on the Red Horn's back mount at the get-go, then fired a single burst from his railcannons and Ontos cannons at the mount. Knowing his allies counted on the feed, he flipped on the magnetic GPS detector and piped the data down to those crazy Ligers.
While his Ontos mount reloaded, Hank kept up fire on that pansy Red Horn. "Y'know Kyne, I think I rather like these railcannons."
"Shoot the Gorgolauncher, says I. Take it out, says I. Save the Red Horn for the second shot, says I." Kyne sighed. "Can you, just once, follow orders?"
"Huh?" Hank grinned, seeing the Ontos' light go green. It was reloaded. "Sure thing. Just a tic . . ." He turned the Gordos, training his guns on the Gorgolauncher and casually blasting it with all six AZ106mm cannons and both 105mm railcannons before going back to shooting up the Red Horn.
"You have a thing against Horns, don't you?"
"You bet your sweet, sweet ass I do." Hank taped down the railcannons' firing switches, but he didn't bust out the plastic dinosaurs yet. "Damn Imp-made piece of crap."
"We're in Imperial territory. It's expected."
Hank cackled. "What's you're reasoning behind that?"
Kyne paused. "It's you. Reason's got nothin' t' do with it."

Marc moved the Red Horn as close to the hill as possible to avoid shots from the Gordos. After all it’s much harder to get hit with a mound of dirt and rock between the bullets and the Horn. He then flipped on the various sensors to keep track of those pesky Ligers.

“It’d be best to lay low for now Sera,” Marc advised.

“That’s what I was thinking,” she replied and moved the Gorgolauncher closer to the hill as well.

The battle began with a brief burst of fire from the Gordos. Eight large shells tore across the plain and impacted all over the back of the Red Horn. Being that the Ontos cannon set is fixed in place, as are the railguns, it's somewhat impossible to concentrate all that firepower on one specific spot. Still, the back mount of the Red Horn got slugged something awful, the AZ106mm rifle shots coming in a fraction of a second behind the railgun bullets and tearing up the back. A pair of them missed, due to the angles involved, but the railguns' aim was true.

The Red Horn shuddered as the firepower impacted its back mount, before it began lumbering towards a hill to hide behind. Meanwhile, its ally, the Command Wolf, crested the hill and laid a shot into the Gordos' front left leg. A resounding BANG echoed across the wasteland as a gout of smoke and fire erupted from the muzzle of the barrel. Hank's Gordos shuddered slightly as the big shell impacted the exposed structure on the upper part of the leg.

The Shield Ligers, racing across the wasteland as they were, met no incoming fire from the Red Horn, nor the small Gorgolauncher. As they neared the ravine, the Command Wolf dropped back behind the makeshift cover of the hill as a pair of blue bolts impacted the dirt. Where Jen's first volley had missed, however, she did notice that the three enemy Zoids were all attempting to hide behind the rough hill.

The Ligers breached the 100m mark just then, and began decelerating to bring their impact guns to bear. As the Ontos cannons cycled through, the Gordos managed another burst of fire, this time towards the little Gorgolauncher. This time, however, the small size of the Zoid and the fixed mount of the Ontos set worked against old Hank, and only three of the shells caught the little thing in the right side.

Damages and positions:

Dawnstar:
Gordos: Structural damage present in the left front leg. It's nothing too severe, considering the Gordos' inherent redundancy, but the Gordos should beware more damage to that leg. Is still in its starting location.
Shield Liger: Nothing. Along with the DCS, approaching the trio of enemy Zoids behind the hill.
Shield Liger DCS: Nothing. Along with the Shield Liger, approaching the enemies behind the hill. Neither Liger has decent LOS to the enemies yet, though the sensor feed indicates that they soon will.

Knights of Oblivion:
Command Wolf IC: Nothing. Behind the hill, on the left of the Red Horn, and the closest of the Knights to Dawnstar's Ligers.
Red Horn: Back armor pretty torn up. There's a set of six craters in the shape of the Ontos cannons etched onto the back, as well as some crumpled, ruptured furrows through the armor thanks to the Gordos' railguns. The back mount still works, and the power feeds are operational. Between the Gorgolauncher and Wolf, behind the hill. Right side facing the Gordos.
Gorgolauncher: Armor somewhat compromised on the right side. Some nasty craters on the right hip and flank, but the arm still works fine. The farthest Zoid from the Ligers, only barely obscured by the hill. Right side somewhat facing the Gordos.

Please continue.

"Damn dirty Gordos," Marc muttered as he scaled the hill and opened fired on Hank. The 60mm Linear Cannon, Beam Gatling Unit (in two second bursts), and even the 80mm Beam Cannon pelted the Gordo's injured leg. Meanwhile he acquired a lock and fired all seven missiles at the back of the stegosaurus, hoping to damage or possibly disable its railcannons.

"Watch the Ligers guys, they're just on the otherside of the hill," Marc informed, continuing his assualt.

Sera peeked around the hill, trying to keep her damaged side sheilded from the Gordos. Once she spotted Tim she locked the anchors down and unloaded on him with the BESAD Autocannons, alternating between the two cannons so that the Liger was constantly under fire.

Hank cocked an eyebrow as the Red Horn crested the hill, a slow grin widening on his face. "Draw, ye lilly-livered cur-dog!" Before the Horn had reached the top, he'd blasted the CP-03's main portion with his railcannons, then opened fire on the rest of the back-mounted weapons with his punitiful lasers and the 50mm repeaters.

"Think we should get mean?"
"Totally."
The two Ligers skirted around the hill, taking a page from the Oblivious Knights' book. They came around the side furthest from the Knights' gunbunnies, shields raised to prevent the Wolf's cannon from really doing damage. Tim ran along the outside, whilst Jenny ran on the slope. Only the very top of her shield was visible from above, though.
Once they had line-of-sight on the Wolf, Jenny dropped her shield and discharged the lasers, one beam almost immediately after the other, into the Command Wolf's D4WG rocket pod. She also fired the shock cannons, but those were aimed a bit further south on the Wolf -- its hips. Once they had fired, she raised her shield and continued running towards the Wolf.
Tim skirted out to the side a bit, making sure Jenny's strikes didn't hit him. He hit the Wolf first, plowing into it with a full-speed shield ram. Unlike most, though, once he had the ram he didn't let the Wolf go, making use of his heavier weight and superior agility to make damn sure that the Wolf stayed pinned as he bulldozered it forwards. "Who's yo' daddy, bitch! Who's yo daddy! . . . and could I get your autograph after this?"
Jenny ran for the Gorgolauncher. "You're mine, Sera." She dropped her shield and opened fire with the AMD repeaters, heavy beam cannons, and shock cannons while she ran in a straight line towards the smaller zoid, tackling it with the strike claws first. That out to break the anchors.

"Pumas are awesome." Nikos spoke randomly before running back to the top of the hill, taking aim, and lanching off all four D4WGs toward the Gordos' other front leg, but not hoping for too much with the inability to lock. After the rockets left the pod Mario, using that infrared of his, caught scent of the oncoming Ligers and thought to avoid death. As the Ligers neared, Mario jumped, activating the boosters on the back of the Sniper Cannon and sailing over Tim's Liger, Mario's boosters cut off at the exact time the Wolf hit the ground and the 200mm cannon pivoted quickly around to aim at Tim from near point blank range (the infrared helping that aim) and taking as many shots as can be pulled off before the end of the turn.

The Red Horn and Command Wolf began cresting the hill together, aiming to put down the Gordos. Hank, in the stego's cockpit, smiled wickedly as he pulled the triggers for the railcannons. Two high-speed shells silently whistled across the battlefield in a fraction of a fraction of a second. One tore into the beam gatling's side, wrecking the grenade launcher and plowing through a few power feeds. The other, being from a fixed source, missed the Red Horn entirely. The beam gatling was a very small target at this distance, after all.

This isn't to say that the second bullet didn't hit metal, though.

The second slug slammed into the Command Wolf's left shoulder, cleanly removing the entire plate of armor protecting it. No fuss, no mess, just breaking the plate of shoulder armor straight off its mountings faster than thought. This ended up throwing off the Command Wolf's aim somewhat, the recoil knocking the D4WG Rockets' aim just a fraction of a degree upwards. At this distance, the rockets streaked upwards, finding their mark on the dorsal surface of the Gordos, rather than its damaged left leg.

The D4WGs burst with a fireball clearly visible to everyone on the battlefield. Hank's radar flickered briefly as two of the dorsal plates found their connections blasted apart. The Horn's fire, meanwhile, had a good two seconds to burn into the Gordos' leg, and even after the gatling ceased its two-second burst, the rest of the fire was chewing into the thick structure there.

The Ligers came streaking around the hill, at a lower altitude than the Red Horn and Command Wolf. They, in turn, were met with a blistering hail of gunfire from the Gorgolauncher's BESADs, withering their shields and a few bullets even passing through. This is where things got a little pear-shaped. As the Ligers came roaring into the Gorgolauncher's fire, Jen's DCS on the inside, Tim's machine on the outside, the Command Wolf up the hill immediately found itself on the receiving end of two nasty laser shots as well as a pair of impact shells. One hit the dirt, another the Wolf's flank, and the last the Wolf's rear left hip.

The Red Horn's reticule went green, and it let fly with the missiles, which streaked into the Gordos' fore-back area and exploded, wrecking another few plates along with a good deal of the Gordos' exposed structure. The huge Gordos shuddered visibly from the impact of seven missiles at once. Still, it wasn't out of the fight by any means, and a lucky salvo of machinegun bullets managed to put the 80mm on the Red Horn out of commission.

The part where the Shield Ligers split up to go after their differing targets, however, didn't work too well. Since the inside Liger was supposed to be going after the Gorgolauncher, and the outside Liger was after the Command Wolf, the two ended up crashing together while still maintaining a high degree of forward velocity.

Which was fine and dandy for the Command Wolf and Red Horn, but...the Gorgolauncher's pilot found itself staring down a pair of high-speed machines both headed right for it.

An expression not unlike one worn by Wile. E. Coyote crossed Sera's face.

The Shield Ligers plowed into the Gorgolauncher, both sets of front legs crashing into the little demon lizard. Due to the almost ludicrous stability afforded to the Gorgolauncher thanks to its enormous tail, low stance and anchors, it didn't get knocked on its back. However, the mass of two Ligers smashing into it feetfirst was more than enough to crumple the little thing's torso, legs, and still-firing autocannons straight into its back and tail. The Ligers simply trampled the thing, and it's a miracle the Gorgolauncher's core (or its cockpit) wasn't simply crushed.

The Red Horn did avenge its ally with the last burst from its CP-03. The Red Horn's fire chews straight through the already damaged leg, and it's not long that Hank feels his Gordos give a rather horrid lurch.

Positions:

Dawnstar:
Gordos: Same place as it started. Railguns have finished cycling, but Hank's noticed a really nasty lurch in the Gordos' stability. Hank's radar is also flickering a bit more than normal.
Shield Liger DCS: 30 meters from the hill, running almost flush with her partner. Her shield's almost gone, and the front legs seem to be performing a smidgin less efficient than normal.
Shield Liger: 30 meters from the hill. Just like the DCS, facing away from the Horn and Wolf and traveling about 240 kph. Like the DCS, shield's almost gone, and front legs seem a bit off their stride.

Knights of Oblivion:
Red Horn: Atop the hill, to the right of the Command Wolf. Staring down the Gordos. The CP-03's reading fine.
Command Wolf IC: Atop the hill, alongside the Red Horn. Also staring down the Gordos. The pilot felt a palpable shudder in his Zoid this turn.
Gorgolauncher: In a smoking wreck, thoroughly out of commission, 30 meters behind the Ligers, and also behind the hill. There's no communication from the downed, crushed Zoid, as its pilot is most assuredly unconscious.

Please continue. Please send any questions to my AIM.

(Remember, rape.)

Since the Wolf failed to attack Tim's Liger as planned, Mario remained at the top of the hill. Making sure he kept a line of site on the two Ligers, Mario's aim, helped somewhat by that infrared, fell onto Jenny's Shield Liger.

"Ahh, good times. . ." Nikos grinned slightly as he pulled the trigger, firing a large cannon shell into Jenny's Liger's buttox before it got the chance to turn back around. Eh, he then commenced to fire multiple shots at the Liger with said AZ200mm Sniper Cannon.

Kyne glanced at the topographical map as the wireframed Ligers collided with each other. "Alright. You two . . ." The only reason he wasn't going to give them a tongue-lashing was that they'd taken out the Gorgolauncher. "Drop your shields. I'm not paying for burnt-out shield generators." He paused a bare second. "Hank, try going for staggered fire this time around."
"Shaddup, Kyne." Jenny sighed. "We got one of them, didn't we?" The Shield Liger DCS and Shield Liger split up, their shields flickering off as they slammed the brakes. Using that agility which only the Liger could boast, they pulled tight turnarounds and altered their positions so that Tim lined up with the Red Horn and Jenny with the Command Wolf. They charged up the hill, all guns blazing. Tim's targeting reticle picked up the Horn's big ol' butt, and then he decided to screw it and simply slammed the firing trigger, trusting the Horn's bulk and their close proximity to make the dumb-fired missiles hit.
Meanwhile, Hank pulled off the tape from the railcannons' triggers and put it on the repeaters'. He lined up a shot with the right railcannon. "Lay offa the Horn, kids. This'ne's personal." He discharged the right railcannon straight into the CP-03's center, then turned the Gordos a couple of degrees and did the same with the left railcannon. "Ya got some kinda nerve, Gabriel. But ye're simply not in the same class as me."
"Get real, Hank." Tim's Liger closed in after Hank's shots. Step lightly. Roll with it. He flicked on his shield in the last split second before contact -- preventing any horn-related injuries, then pounced on the zoid, shield still active. He flicked it off, coming down on the Horn with a charged Laser Saber he'd prepped on the run up here. He grabbed on and didn't let go, flicking his shield on to lock himself in place while he clawed and mauled the Red Horn's flank.
Simultaneously, Jenny charged at the Command Wolf. Much like Tim, her shield came on only in the last second before contact. Unlike Tim, she rammed the Command Wolf IC, not slowing down a step as she bulldozered it. “You got away once, Arthin. You will not do so twice!”
“Can we please try to cut down on the bravado, folks? It ain’t the endgame by a long shot, and Lord knows the Judgeman loves his irony.”

"We'll see about that Fisk," Marc smirked and fired off as many bursts from Beam Gatling Unit and 60mm Linear Cannon at the Gordos' back as possible.

"Think again Fry," he said as he noticed the approaching Sheild Liger on his radar. He fired off the TEZ and AEZ 20mm cannons at the opposing Zoid until it closed in. This is where the smash tail came into play, as soon as Tim got close enough Marc wacked the hell out of his Liger, hoping to keep it from pouncing on the Red Horn's back. He repeated this act until the Liger was either CSFed or out of range.

Jen and Tim split up, bringing their Ligers around for another run at the badniks. The Wolf, moving slightly around its partner to get a crack at Jen, caught her Liger with a large AZ200mm shell in the tail section right as it was turning. It connected with the base of the Liger's tail and blasted into the exposed structure. Jen's Zoid stumbled as it found one of its most effective sources of balance compromised severely. Tim had better luck, and came around in a wide arc to aim right for the Red Horn's rear.

The Red Horn kept on firing its beam gatling, shifting its aim to burn into the Gordos' back. Hank wasted no time, though, in lining up his shot and taking it. As his ally closed with the Horn, Hank let fly with the first of his railgun bullets. His first shot slammed into the middle of the CP-03, tearing right through it and bursting out the other side in a spray of oil and mechanical guts.

The second shot, about a second later, was just gravy.

It connected squarely in the main unit and blew a huge chunk of the disabled CP-03 straight off its mounting, carrying the chunk of metal just over the tail of the Horn before it crashed to the dirt. Tim took the opportunity to close in through a surprising degree of firepower, the laser and beam bolts burning into his Liger's tough legs.

His partner came tearing towards her mark a bit later, as the DCS found itself running with a bit less efficiency. The Command Wolf stood its ground, firing into the oncoming Liger. The first of the two shots it managed to get off slammed into the Liger's shield, the large, explosive shell causing the matrix to short out and fizzle. Not like Jen cared, as in she came, taking another shell to the shoulder before her Liger slammed right into the smaller Wolf. Its greater weight and momentum bulldozed Nikos' machine right over, turning the Wolf over and wedging its large cannon into the ground.

Her partner fared a bit better, considering what he was up against. The Red Horn's fire chewed into his Shield Liger's legs, eating up the thick structure before the Liger flicked its shield on. The Red Horn readied itself as the Liger came in before -

-wham! The Horn's crasher tail slammed into the Liger's front leg, attempting to sweep it out from underneath. The Liger began to lose its footing, but its momentum would not be denied, and nonetheless rammed the Red Horn in the rear right hip. Its teeth slammed down, its shield flicked on and both effectively locked the Liger in place. The Horn's crasher tail, with its guns still firing pointblank, finished off the shield, causing a faint blue flash before it shut off entirely.

Positions:

Dawnstar:
Gordos: In its starting position. Hank's specialized radar is flickering something awful, and the railguns will finish their charge cycle one second apart.
Shield Liger DCS: Effectively on top of the Wolf, pinning it down. Balance is noticeably flawed, shield is down, and performance isn't up to par.
Shield Liger: Fangs deeply entrenched in the rear back of the Red Horn, and Tim's looking at the base of the Linear Cannon. His shield is down, and his Liger's regaining its balance after the somewhat-crash of his melee attack.

Knights of Oblivion:
Red Horn: Atop the hill, staring down the Gordos. Has a Liger hanging off its butt. Crasher tail is to the outside of the Liger's front left leg, ready for another strike. CP-03 is definitely out of the fight, and the pilot knows it.
Command Wolf IC: Couple dozen meters from the Red Horn, laying on its back looking up at the Shield Liger above it. Status of the AZ200mm cannon cannot be determined presently.
Gorgolauncher: Near the base of the hill, still smoking somewhat. Still no response from the cockpit.

Order is reversed, please continue. Any questions should be directed to my IM.

Marc mumbled some unintelligible curses as a screen on the HUD notified him of the CP-03’s destruction. He didn’t waste any time regretting the loss of that precious mod though, there was a Liger hanging off his ass that needed to be taught a lesson.

“Goodbye Tim,” Marc said with an evil grin and reared the crasher tail back, beating the Shield Liger repeatedly. He continued to bash Tim’s Zoid even after it had been knocked off, the TEZ Linear Laser Guns joined in here as well. Marc felt it was his duty to knock the hell out of Fry, to avenge his sister and whatnot. Meanwhile, the 60mm Linear Cannon turned on Jenny’s Liger and began blowing away her side armor.

"Like Hell you will."
Two very different pilots uttered that same phrase simultaneously as they moved to stop the Red Horn. Hank's move was fairly simple. Continuing fire with the 50mms, he fired off one railcannon a split second after the other, just as he had the last time around. This time, though, he fired the railcannon at the Red Horn's right foreleg, and then the other a second later.
Tim, on the other hand, disengaged the laser saber from the Horn's backside and began to climb. He did this real quick-like, leaping and climbing in that unique feline manner.
Y'know. The way a housecat climbs you, using its claws far more than it needs to. But there's also no way in heck that kitty'll come offa your jeans, either.
"Not a word, Arthin. Not a goddamned word." Jenny, for her part, knew a killshot when she saw it. Eschewing weapons, she simply jammed her Liger's jaws down on the Wolf's own, keeping the laser sabers uncharged so's she didn't kill the pilot. As an extra precaution, she planted the jaws as far back as reasonably and quickly was possible, opting for covering more of the throat than the jaws. In theory, the Wolf wasn't about to go anywhere. In theory. The foreclaws went to quick work on the legs, squeezing in between the upper forelegs and the Wolf's torso. She swept the hindquarters over a little bit, planting one paw on the Wofl's body and pushing her zoid's weight into it, setting the other one down on the ground. She tilted her Liger's hindquarters up, bringing the shock cannon to bare down on the Wolf's underbelly. Jenny opened fire as rapidly as possible, aborting when the shooting became illegal.
Kyne just tried to ignore the lewd jokes he knew he would be hearing from other pilots and fans of the sport. He simply consoled himself with the fact that he knew where Nikos lived.
And that Grandpa Xaratan had been an avid gun collector.

"Kyne, I know what you're thinking and for the record, she's the one who jumped on top of me. Oh, and Jenny. . . I'm too old for you kid." Nikos joked, trying to ignore the reality of his current problem. Mario pulled it's cannon around and shoving it against the ground with as much strength as the Wolf could muster (assuming the thing would un-wedge), hoping for at least some leverage against the Liger. In the case that this leverage bit works and the Liger, who is tailless and therefor very unbalanced, finds itself on the ground beside the Wolf, Mario pushes itself to it's feet knowing the Liger couldn't do such a thing without a tail and rears back, slamming back down onto the side of the DCS and then turning slightly, charging the Electron Fangs and chomping down onto the Liger's neck, holding on and allowing the energy to surge into the other Zoid's circuitry for as long as possible without causing the Wolf to expire all of it's energy.

The Red Horn smashed the Liger right in the knee with its crasher tail, just as Tim was prying himself loose. The thing Tim seemed to forget was that the Red Horn was about the same size as his Liger, so it was rather hard for him to simply climb it. The Liger couldn't really get the same sort of purchase a house cat does on your blue jeans, but that didn't stop it from mauling Horn's rear right leg in the process.

The Horn's linear cannon swiveled around and began laying shot after shot into Jen's DCS. At this range, the shotgun was murderous, and the Shield Liger received a blast straight to the flank. It hit her not unlike a fastball hits a five-year-old, causing the Liger to stumble somewhat with each shot.

The Gordos, not to be outdone, plugged its first railgun bolt into the Red Horn's right foreleg. The Horn was a stable, low-slung Zoid, but a 105mm railgun bullet is not something you want impacting your leg any day of the week. The bolt pierced the Horn's thick armor, driving deep into the tough structure and blowing through a few motor units. The Horn, like the Gordos earlier in the match, was fortunately not moving, and managed to avoid a spill.

The Wolf had managed to somewhat wedge its cannon loose by now, but found the Liger's jaws attempting to clamp down on him amidst the constant hammering of the linear cannon on its hull. The Wolf simply didn't have the muscle power to get the Liger off it, even with the linear cannon hammering it every half-second. The Liger, however, managed to get its impact cannon in its preferred firing position, and began unloading high-caliber shells into the Wolf. Try as the smaller Wolf might, it wasn't getting away. The huge impact shells, fired from pointblank, smashed the Wolf's upper body apart with ease, and Nikeo soon found the cockpit lights blinking off around him.

Meanwhile, the Gordos' second railgun bolt, coming in on the heels of the first, smashed an equal-sized hole through the same leg, finishing the job the first bullet started. Marc felt only a slight lurch, as he wasn't moving, but the nagging feeling that something was very wrong crept into the back of his mind.

After finishing off the Wolf, Jen was in a bad way. She had expended valuable time doing so, while weathering a constant, heavy assault from the Red Horn's shotgun-like linear cannon. She wasn't sure exactly what was wrong with her Shield Liger DCS, but warning lights were going off all over the Liger's cockpit.

Damages and positions:

Dawnstar:
Gordos: In its starting location. Radar is still flickering somewhat.
Shield Liger DCS: 25 meters from the Red Horn, still atop the hill. Standing over the downed Wolf.
Shield Liger: Mauling the Red Horn's rear and rear left leg. Tim's made quite an impression on the thick armor. Quite an impression.

Knights of Oblivion:
Red Horn: Atop the hill, still staring down the Gordos.
Command Wolf IC: Downed 25 meters away from the Red Horn's right side. Chest is thoroughly burst open, with both front leg actuators shot to pieces. Core isn't visible, though. Pilot is still conscious.
Gorgolauncher: Downed at the bottom of the hill. Still no response from the cockpit.

(Jules. . . you got the name a little wrong.)

"Fuckin' Ligers. . ." Nikos groaned in the darkened cockpit.

"Jenny, get the Hell outta there. You can't afford to take another loss to your record." Kyne leaned forwards, eyes riveted on the distant battle. He saw the Command Wolf go down, and saw the fire Jenny took as she finished it off.
"Roger that." Jenny bounced off the Wolf, disobeying the order as she opened fire on the Red Horn's flank with all guns for a single volley before she took off, running away from the Red Horn and towards another hill. Once she reached the hill she turned, reducing speed as necessary, and hid behind it to avoid taking too much fire from the Red Horn. "And Nikos? That's sweet of you, but I'm just as old as you are."
Hank grinned. "So Tim, how'd ya like yer first battle?"
"Peachy." Tim pounced up again while Jenny shot, trying to get on top of the Red Horn. And then over it. And then turning, landing to the Horn's side, the one away from Jenny. All the while clawing at the sucker, taking a neat little potshot at the linear cannon with his shock cannon as he went. "Just plain peachy."
Hank cackled. He smelled an endgame. As Tim clambered about on the Horn, he fired his railcannons at the undamaged foreleg, one right after the other. Just like the last one. The repeaters continued their assault, spraying the Horn's lower portions with large amounts of 50mm shells. "The thing I love about this here zoid is that it's pretty darn idiot-proof."
"Very idiot-proof," Jenny agreed.
"Remember that idiom: The more you idiot-proof it, the farther the idiots go . . ." Kyne pointed out, remembering something his father had mentioned concerning attempts at engineering things for morons.
"Hey, I'm kicking Gabriel's ass, aren't I?"
"No. I'm eating Gabriel's ass. You're just shooting at various parts of his anatomy."

Despite his position and utter defeat that would soon be served, Marc couldn't help but chuckle at the way Jenny had decided to take Nikos out. That would not soon be forgotten. Marc fired a few more shots off with the Linear Cannon before Jenny fled the battle, he might've given chase but he was pretty damn sure the Horn wasn't moving again for this fight. Thus he tried once more to knock that pesky Liger off with the crasher tail. Once Tim leapt over him, Marc turned the Linear Cannon on him and began firing, following the Liger with the gun unless it would mean shooting his own Red Horn.

"What the hell is it with Dawnstar and sexual references?" Marc smiled "First Jenny rapes Nikos and now Tim's eating out my ass, you guys are messed up."

Jen disobeyed both her orders and better judgment, and began to turn around to fire a few parting shots at the Horn.

It cost her dearly.

The Shield Liger DCS wasn't responding well at all, and stumbled a bit when she attempted to turn. The Red Horn's linear cannon smashed her left side repeatedly, and the Liger began to groan all around its pilot. Jen pulled the trigger for the impact cannons, and not a second later, a tremendous shudder rocked the DCS as the lights in the cockpit flickered. One more blast of fire from the linear cannon and the DCS crashed to the ground, thoroughly out of commission.

The few seconds it took for Marc to take out the DCS were enough for the combined offensive power of the Gordos and Shield Liger to take out the Red Horn. Despite being a solid, well-built, sturdy Zoid, it nevertheless had a Liger taking apart its rear right leg, a deadened right foreleg and a left foreleg on the receiving end of two high-powered railgun bullets, the Red Horn's core couldn't take much more pain.

The Shield Liger's mauling was all the Red Horn could take, despite firing back with its own linear cannon and tearing up much of the Liger's back. The Horn slumped to the ground, the cockpit lights all fading out except for the emergency power systems.

The judge ruled the battle as over:

This battle is over...the battle is over! The winner is Team Dawnstar!

He sent out the battle statistics to the pilots and TV networks:

Kills:
Dawnstar:
Pilot Hank Fisk: 0 kills, 0 CSF (rank +0)
Pilot Takaiian-Xaratan: 1 kill, 1 CSF (rank +0)
Pilot Timothy Fry: 1 kill, 0 CSF (rank +1)
**The decision of the credit for the Gorgolauncher kill will be forwarded to Team Manager Kyne Xaratan. Please reply within 24 hours for records.**
Team Dawnstar: +1 win

Knights of Oblivion:
Pilot Marc Gabriel: 1 kill, 1 CSF (rank +0)
Pilot Sera Gabriel: 0 kills, 1 CSF (rank -1)
Pilot Nikos Arthin: 0 kills, 1 CSF (rank -1)
Team Knights of Oblivion: +1 Loss

Winnings:

$4000 from CSFs
$3000 from team rankings
$4200 from pilot rankings

= $11200 total. Each pilot receives $1867 for this battle.

After the winnings were announced, the damages to the Zoids could be examined more closely.

Hank's Gordos had the stabilizers on its left front leg shot to pieces, as well as some heavily damaged armor on the Gordos' back. The exposed structure needed to be replaced, along with a quintet of back plates. It was lucky Hank didn't move much, or the situation could have become much more dire. Hank's Gordos needs Moderate repairs.

Jen's DCS was simply shot to pieces. All along the left side, the source of the malfunctions was apparent. The left legs had their stabilizers shot to pieces, and a giant, gaping hole had been tunneled into the kidney area thanks to the linear cannon's barrage. Blasted stabilizers, motor units, and internals resembling hamburger meat were the source of her woe. The damage was definitely Heavy class.

Tim's Shield Liger required a new shield generator, and like Jen's, had some definitely torn-up front legs. Its back and the beam cannons were shot up pretty badly from the linear cannon's barrage, as well as the Gorgolauncher's BESAD Autocannons. Tim needs to enact Moderate-class repairs on his Liger.

Marc's Red Horn, though sufficiently disabled, was only truly blasted apart on its rear right leg, thanks to the Shield Liger. The combination of railgun slugs everywhere, Ontos surface damage, and a general hosing of 50mm repeater fire took the thick armor for a ride, and combined with the repairs to his CP-03 unit, total Heavy repairs.

The Command Wolf, though shot apart pretty savagely at the chest, only required Heavy repairs. Much of the armor needed to be replaced, and the Zoid's upper body reconstructed.

The Gorgolauncher, from which an unconscious Sera was pulled, was in a bad way. There wasn't much left of it besides its legs and tail, and a faintly glowing core was exposed amidst the twisted steel tubing. The BESAD autocannons were surprisingly fine, and the missile was disarmed. Though the Zoid didn't die, it most assuredly needs a complete Overhaul. As for Sera, nothing an icepack can't cure thanks to her migrane.

The judge capsule lifted off, engaging its onboard magnesser system and silently rising back into the sky as a glinting white dot.