Building Zoids in a World of Titans

The Arosaurer crested the ridge overlooking Veridia, and Alex's stomach dropped.

The eastern wall was gone. Not breached—gone. A massive section had been reduced to rubble, the reinforced stone and Titan-bone supports scattered like kindling. Smoke poured from the gap, thick and black, curling into the morning sky.

"What the hell happened here?" Fia's voice crackled through the external comms.

Alex said nothing. His hands tightened on the joysticks.

Anya leaned forward in the seat behind him, her voice tight. "Those are cannon emplacements. All destroyed."

"Concentrated fire from a single point," Lyra added, her tone clinical despite the tension. "Something punched through the defenses like they were paper."

Seraphine pressed her hand against the canopy. "The people inside…"

Another explosion rocked the city. Then another. The sound reached them a heartbeat later, deep and concussive. And beneath it, rising above the chaos, a roar that Alex recognized.

The Stormclaw Liger.

It echoed off the remaining walls, a sound that vibrated in his chest. Not just a roar. A declaration.

Alex pushed the throttle forward. The Arosaurer surged down the slope toward the ruined wall, its damaged leg protesting with every step. Through the gap, he could see flashes of blue light between buildings. The Liger's mane, crackling with discharge.

It was inside the city.

The Arosaurer's damaged knee ground against the socket as Alex pushed it toward the broken wall. Another flash of blue light erupted from somewhere near the market district, followed by the crash of collapsing stone.

"That's a Liger-type," Lyra said, her voice flat. "Minimum Rank C. Possibly B."

"I know what it is." Alex's hands moved across the controls, bringing up a secondary display. A small blue dot pulsed on the map. Rhian's signal. Still active. Still in the city.

Anya shifted behind him, her armored glove gripping the seat frame. "Alex. We need to engage that thing before it levels half the city."

"I'm dropping you here."

The Arosaurer skidded to a halt just inside the ruined wall. Rubble crunched beneath its feet. The smoke stung Alex's eyes even through the cockpit filters.

Anya's voice sharpened. "What?"

"You can stall it." Alex killed the boarding ramp sequence. The canopy hissed open. "You're Celestia. You know how to buy time."

Fia was already climbing out, her gauntlets cycling with a low hum. "And what are you going to do?"

Alex pulled up Rhian's tracker on his HUD. "I need to find my friend."

Anya paused halfway down the ramp. She looked at him. Not with suspicion. With something closer to recognition.

"Go."

She dropped to the ground and raised her shield. The Celestia team fanned out, moving toward the sounds of destruction.

Alex sealed the canopy and pushed the throttle forward. The Arosaurer turned away from the battle, away from the Liger, and limped into the burning streets.

The blue dot pulsed. He followed it.

The smoke parted, and Alex saw them.

Rhian was crouched beside Ziya near a collapsed awning, her small frame half-shielding the older girl. Ziya's face was pale, one hand pressed against her ankle.

The Arosaurer lowered its head, and Alex popped the canopy. Rhian looked up. For a moment, her expression was pure relief.

"You're here," she said.

Alex was already climbing down, his boots hitting the rubble. He crossed the distance in three strides and dropped to a knee beside Ziya.

"You okay?"

Rhian nodded. "I'm fine. But Ziya's foot—she can't walk."

Ziya's jaw was tight. "Twisted it when the wall came down."

Alex reached into his satchel without looking. His fingers found the roll of field bandages, the small vial of numbing compound, the splint material he always carried because that was what you did when you spent years cutting into Titan carcasses and sometimes cutting yourself in the process.

He worked quickly, his hands steady. Ziya hissed through her teeth as he cleaned the abrasion and wrapped the ankle, but she didn't pull away.

When he finished, Ziya looked past him at the Arosaurer. The machine stood silent, its cobalt plating smudged with smoke and dust, its damaged leg cocked at an odd angle.

"So," Ziya said, her voice carrying a thin attempt at lightness, "is this the project you finished recently?"

Alex's hands stilled on the bandage roll.

"It looks amazing," she said. "Even damaged."

Ziya shook her head slowly, her gaze tracing the Arosaurer's lines. "A mechanical Titan. You actually built a mechanical Titan." A smile tugged at her lips despite the pain. "If you were going to make something like this, you could have invited me."

Alex shook his head. "It's not a Titan. It's called a Zoid."

Ziya tilted her head, testing the word. Her smile widened, genuine now.

"Zoid," she repeated. "A nice name."

"We can't discuss this right now." He helped her to her feet. She tested the ankle, grimaced, then nodded.

"I can walk."

Rhian looked up at him. "Alex. Are you going to fight it?"

The question hung in the air. The Liger's roar echoed again, closer now. A building collapsed somewhere behind the smoke.

"Yeah." He turned toward the Arosaurer. "But I need to fix the leg first. The knee joint's shot. I'll join Celestia after."

Ziya limped a step forward. "Let me help."

"You don't know Zoids."

"I'm a craftsman too." She met his eyes. "I know tension loads and actuator alignment. Show me what to do."

Alex hesitated. Then he nodded.

Twenty minutes. That was all they had.

Ziya worked beside him without complaint, handing him tools before he asked, following his lead. She was quick and precise, her fingers finding the same rhythms she used at her father's bench. Alex replaced the damaged piston seals while she reinforced the outer casing, and when the knee joint clicked back into place, the Arosaurer's stance settled, weight distributed evenly again.

"Good enough," Alex said.

Ziya stepped back, wiping hydraulic fluid from her hands. "It'll hold."

Alex turned to Rhian. "I need you both at the evacuation center. Now."

Ziya nodded and took Rhian's hand. Rhian pulled free and stepped up to Alex, her eyes fixed on his.

"Promise you'll come back."

"I will."

She held his gaze for a beat longer, then nodded and let Ziya lead her away.

Alex watched them disappear into the smoke. Then he climbed back into the cockpit and sealed the canopy.

Alex's hand drifted to his chest, fingers closing around the blue stone pendant on its leather cord. Rhian's promise. His promise. He wasn't planning to die today. Not when he had a Liger to hunt and a friend to come back to.

He settled into the pilot's grip, feeling the familiar weight of the joysticks beneath his palms. The Arosaurer's systems hummed around him, green status lights painting the cockpit in soft emerald.

"Alright," Alex murmured, more to himself than the machine. "Let's go hunt that Liger."

The Arosaurer's response was immediate. Its head snapped upright, optics flaring crimson, and from deep within its chest came a sound that shook the canopy and rattled the rubble beneath its feet.

"SKREEE-ONK-KRRRAAAK!"