Building Zoids in a World of Titans

Fort Caldera's gates loomed ahead, the basalt walls catching the last of the daylight. Harsk stood at the entrance, arms folded, his weathered face unreadable until the transport rolled to a stop and the queen's carcass came into view.

The Guildmaster's expression shifted. Not quite a smile — Harsk didn't smile — but something close.

"Warden Alex. Houndstooth." He stepped forward, boots crunching on volcanic gravel. "That's the biggest Razorjaw I've ever seen. You did good work out there."

Dace nodded. "Couldn't have done it without him. That machine of his broke the queen's charge when she came up from below. We'd have been fighting blind in that cavern."

"Wasn't anything special," Alex said. "Just did what needed doing."

Kess snorted. "He's always like this."

Harsk's grey eyes settled on Alex. "What are you planning to do with the carcass?"

Dace gestured toward Alex. "His call. The kill was his."

Alex had already run the scan during the ride back. The System had processed the queen's biological data in minutes, cross-referencing it against his blueprint library. A Razorjaw-type Zoid was possible — small, fast, suited for pack tactics. But he didn't need another light-class machine right now. The Liger Zero and the Lanstag were his priorities, and the Godos production run was already stretching his resources thin.

"Sell it," Alex said.

Harsk nodded slowly. "Fair enough. I'll have my quartermasters assess the salvage value. You'll get your cut, plus the Vita-Alloy and the bounty. I'll have the transfer ready by morning."

"Appreciate it."

Harsk looked at the carcass one more time, then back at Alex. "You're welcome here anytime, Warden. You and your machine both."

Alex touched the pendant at his chest. "Thanks. But I've got work waiting for me back in Veridia."

"Figured as much." Harsk turned toward the gates. "Get some rest. You've earned it."

The Houndstooth team filed past, each offering a nod or a word. Torren clapped Alex on the shoulder hard enough to make him stumble. Mira gave him that single, precise nod again. Kess waved.

Dace was last. He paused, looking at the Lanstag's damaged leg, then at Alex.

"You know where to find us if you need us."

"I know."

Dace held out his hand. Alex shook it.

"Good hunting, Alex."

Alex watched them disappear into the fort. The Lanstag rumbled beside him, its systems humming, its amber optics dimming as the sun dipped below the caldera walls.

He had Vita-Alloy waiting. A Liger Zero to build. A promise to keep.

The queen was dead. The work continued.

That was enough for today.

* * *

Morning came early at Fort Caldera. Alex woke in the barracks to grey light filtering through the cave ceiling, the air still carrying the chill of volcanic stone. He dressed quickly, his fingers finding the blue stone pendant at his chest before he'd fully registered the motion.

Harsk was waiting in the command post, a data-slate in one hand and a cup of something that smelled like burnt grain in the other. He looked like he hadn't slept.

"Transfer's ready." Harsk set the slate on the counter between them. "Sixty-two thousand Sols, adjusted for the queen's salvage value. The Vita-Alloy and your parts are in Hangar Three."

Alex took the slate, scanned the figures, and keyed his authorization. The numbers settled into his account with a soft chime. Sixty-two thousand. More Sols than he'd held at once in his entire life.

"Follow me," Harsk said.

Hangar Three was a wide cavern carved into the eastern wall, its ceiling lost in shadow. The Ion Turbo Boosters sat on a reinforced pallet — four cylindrical units wrapped in protective casing, each one longer than Alex was tall. Beside them, stacked in sealed containers, were ingots of Vita-Alloy. The metal caught the hangar's amber lighting and threw it back in pale, shifting hues.

Alex walked the length of the pallet, running his hand along one of the booster casings. The System overlay flickered across his vision, confirming specifications. Output rating, thrust vector compatibility, integration parameters. Everything matched the Liger Zero's requirements.

He picked up a Vita-Alloy ingot, testing its weight. Dense. Pure. Two hundred kilograms would give him enough margin for the Liger Zero's core housing and still leave material for the Godos production run.

"This is good work," Alex said. He set the ingot down and turned to Harsk. "I'll need to transport all of it. Do you have any containers that can be towed?"

Harsk raised an eyebrow. "Towed?"

"The Lanstag can pull cargo. Like a horse." Alex said it plainly, the way he'd say a weld needed re-doing or a circuit needed rerouting. "If you have a container that can handle the weight, I'll hook it up and drag it back to Veridia."

Harsk stared at him for a moment, then let out a short breath that might have been a laugh. "You want to hitch a supply sled to a Zoid and gallop home with it."

"That's the idea."

"We have cargo sleds for the motor pool. Reinforced frames, all-terrain runners." Harsk turned toward the hangar entrance and raised his voice. "Torren!"

The Warden appeared from somewhere in the shadows, already geared up. "Sir?"

"Get a cargo sled from the motor pool. Standard frame, heavy-duty runners. Bring it to Hangar Three."

Torren looked at Alex, then at the pallet of boosters and Vita-Alloy, and grinned. "The Zoid's pulling it?"

"That's right."

"Now I've seen everything." Torren jogged off.

It took two hours. Torren and two engineers rigged the sled, secured the boosters and alloy containers with cargo netting and locking clamps, and ran a tow cable to the Lanstag's rear hitch point. Alex supervised, checking each connection twice, running stress calculations through the System overlay.

The Lanstag stood patient as a mountain while they worked, its amber optics dim, its systems idling. When the cable was attached and the load tested, Alex climbed into the cockpit and brought the Zoid online.

The VR display painted the hangar in crisp detail. The sled sat heavy behind him, the tow cable taut. He eased the throttle forward. The Lanstag's hooves found purchase on the stone floor. The sled groaned, then began to move.

"Smooth," Harsk said from the hangar entrance.

Alex stopped the Lanstag and lowered the cockpit canopy. Harsk stood with his arms folded, the morning light from the fort's gate catching the grey in his beard.

"Thanks," Alex said. "For the contract. The payment. All of it."

Harsk nodded once. "You did the work. I just wrote the check." He paused. "Come back through sometime. I've got more problems than just Razorjaws."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Harsk stepped back and raised a hand. Alex sealed the canopy. The Lanstag turned toward the gate, the cargo sled rumbling behind it like a faithful hound.

The fort fell away behind him. The eastern plains opened up ahead, vast and ochre under a sky that went on forever. The Lanstag settled into its stride, the tow cable singing a low note in the wind.

Veridia was waiting. The Liger Zero was waiting.

Alex had work to do.