The Zoids Battle Commission had canceled the last season for unknown reason. Ben figured it was due to Backdraft issues. However, a new season had started and with his trusty little Gun Sniper, he had capped off two victories in the new season which made him the pilot with the best record, for now at least.

The last few months had been rather uneventful. Ben's parents wanted him to go to college somewhere but Ben didn't really feel like hitting the books again just yet. He yearned for a break for a year or two and if he was any good at Zoid battles, he could just make a living doing what he was now. Five thousand dollars for a victory wasn't too shabby, especially since that five thousand was earned in less than a minute. Anyways, with the last season cancelled, Ben simply stayed on his family's island which double as his team's base.

There was absolutely no desire to head back to Romeo City since the island was tropical and there were plenty of hot girls just across the channel at the resorts. Ben was seventeen after all and he was easily pleased.

Currently, Slate found himself firing fully automatic bursts with his M4 at various targets. Rolling behind a rock outcropping on the slope of the dormant volcano, he stayed crouched down for a second before jumping up and firing bursts at three different targets while running for cover. All he had done since the season was cancelled was to practice with the various weapons he had and show off his piloting skills near the resorts.

The only reason Ben had all sorts of small arms was because he used to be in the Peace Keeping Orginization but they seemingly dissappeared, leaving him with all sorts of weapons. At first, he had only been decent with a pistol or a rifle but now he was adept with every weapon except for sniper rifles. Ben simply couldn't calm his nerves enough to tag the bull's eye at long ranges but for some reason he could do it in his Gun Sniper. He could hit the target with a sniper rifle but not with a significant amount of percision.

The reciever on the M4 clicked twice and Slate lowered the weapon, breathing hard as he walked over to the targets. "I really need something more productive to do with my time," he thought as he examined the number of bullet holes in each target.

"Oh shit," muttered Slate as the ground began to shake. Seismic activity on the slope of a volcano usually only meant one thing. An erruption. Slate hit the deck and crawled behind one of the abundant rocky outcroppings as boulders rushed past him and were swallowed by the dense jungle.

Slate looked left and right but boulders were rumbling down on either side of him. During an apparent lull in the landslide, Slate popped his head around the corner only to whip his head back around as a boulder whizzed by, cutting the end of his nose. Another boulder bounced on the ground parallel to Slate's position, causing shards of rock to go flying. A shard pierced the fleshy lobe of Slate's ear and he roared in pain. As soon as he roared, everything was calm again.

"Wow," he thought, looking around semi-impressed with himself. He knew that he didn't stop the earthquake but it was an amusing thought. Ever so cautiously, he peered around the edge. All clear. Standing up, Ben shielded his eyes against the sun with his right hand. He was scanning the ridge for signs of what had happened and if any magma was coming out because that would've royally sucked. He saw nothing but a glint caught his eye. Not being quite able to make it out, he brought the M4 to his shoulder and looked through the scope but he could only see the top of the object. Whatever it was, it was shiney and being Ben Slate, he damn well had to find out what the hell the shiney thing was.

The next half hour was spent hiking up the volcano, reloading his M4 on the way. Eventually, he reached the object and was taken back. He'd heard rumors around the PKO guard hanger a couple months ago about these. Organoid eggs. "What are the odds?" muttered Slate in nothing short of pure amazement. With the butt of his M4, Ben smashed the obsidian which covered the control console. The big red button drew his attention and he just had to press it.

Steam rushed out and a raptor type organoid popped out. Slate leaped back, eyes wide, as his M4 came to his shoulder through pure instinct. His index finger was tense on the trigger. It was dark gray and predominantly black with some purple along its neck and joints but the lower jaw was silver. The silver claws were long and sharp, especially the first toe on each foot of the organoid. The organoid's eyes glowed in a powerful red light and it cocked its head to the side and stared at Slate through one eye. It leaped up and roared at Ben but Ben held his ground, tightening his grip and aiming in-between the eyes of the organoid, his eyes hardening with resolve to kill it if he had to.

The stand-off lasted for what seemed like ten minutes but it was just barely over forty-five seconds. Then in a sudden fit of submission, the Organoid bowed low and then looked up at Slate. In return, he nodded to the Organoid and it stood up as he lowered his M4. "You're with me now?" asked Ben, slightly baffled at all of this.

The Organoid simply nodded.

"You need a name..." and again the Organoid nodded.

Slate knew of the perfect name. "Imperius," he said firmly and to this the Organoid howled into the sky. The Organoid then looked Slate in the eye again and made a couple of barking sounds. "Imperius it is then. Let's go." Slate was bewildered by all of this. Did he really just find an Organoid? It was all as if nothing more than a dream.

They made it back to the manor in a few minutes. "Stay here," Ben shouted back to Imperius as he opened the door to the manor but Imperius wasn't really paying attention, more enthralled with the flowers in the garden than anything else. Ben had to call the ZBC and tell them not to ship that Organoid he had just won in the tournament against the Berserk Fuhrer.

"Hello. Organoid and Evolutions Department, please." he said calmly to the operator.

After a few seconds of nothing, a gruff voice came on. "OED, how can I help ya?"

"This is Ben Slate. I'm just calling to say that you don't need to ship that Organoid I won because I... kinda found one."

"What do you mean? You found one?" asked the clerk in a slightly accusing voice.

"There was an earthquake and it caused some parts of the volcano on my island to break off and I saw the egg. I opened it and I found an Organoid."

There were a few seconds of dead air before the clerk replied. "Hold on. Let me transfer you to Cronus' ARC." ARC stood for Archeological Research Crew. They specialized in the location of ruins and what not. Slate was put on hold for a couple of minutes during which he watched Imperius examining all that was around outside. Ben began to wonder how long it had been in stasis but his thoughts were cut short by a female's voice.

"Hello. I see that you've stumbled across and Organoid. Where exactly on Cronus did you find it?"

She sounds hot, Slate thought as he listened to the question. "On Corona. An island on the West Coast of Cronus."

"Hmmm," she replied as she brought a map of the area marked with different colors. "There doesn't seem to be any ruins on or near that island. Do you still have the Organoid's capsule?"

"Yeah, I didn't move it."

"Excellent. Do you have a beacon you could mark it with so we could pick it up?"

"Sure, I'll do that."

"Thanks. Bye."

Slate just hung up without saying goodbye. He rarely did say goodbye anymore. He grabbed a beacon from the hanger and jogged back up to the egg site and set it up, Imperius followed suit but got distracted along the way by birds, insects and flowers. After the beacon was set, the two made their way back down to the beach. Ben watched as Imperius snapped at the crabs as they scuttled into the waves as Imperius gave chase. He just sat there and thought about what had just happened. It all was just so odd. One minute he was blasting away at targets and the next, Imperius was trailing him.

"Just roll with it," Ben muttered as he glanced up at the resorts which dotted the mainland's coast. "Imperius! C'mon, let's go to the mainland." The Organoid knew exactly what Ben was saying which surprised him.

Popping over to the hanger, Slate made his way past his Gun Sniper and jumped into the cockpit of his Heldigunner. "Hop onto the back," and Imperius did so almost instantly. Scuttling out of the hanger, the Zoid slid into the water and made its way towards the resorts.