Zoids: Chaotic Century Graphic Novel Volume 4

Tears from the Heart

The bandits try and take the treasure, however during the handover Zeke and Moonbay manage to surprise the bandits and momentarily gain the upper hand. This swiftly ends when the bandits take Fiona hostage.

Calling their bluff, Irvine dared them to kill Fiona. He knew very well that she was their only defence. If they actually did try and kill her, he would swiftly kill all of them. Thus the bandits were caught out, they could not actually harm Fiona, and were caught without a bargaining chip.

This quickly changed as one of the Bandit's appeared in a Redler. Van and Zeke try and take chase, but ultimately fail in catching up to the flying Zoid.

When Irvine confronts Van, he finds him moping amongst the dunes, revelling in his inability to protect Fiona. Yet Irvine presses his buttons, insulting Van's father. The comment immediately grabbed Van's attention (and got Irvine punched clean in the face) it gave Van the resolution to take back Fiona and retain the treasure clutched firmly in his hand.

The next day, Van and Moonbay decide to take the handover, they meet the bandits and offer up the treasure when Fiona is presented for trade. Yet the bandits don't stop there, they also insist for Zeke as payment for one night's board keeping Fiona.

Van agrees to hand Zeke over, but rather than doing so peacfully, he launches Zeke right at the bandit. Zeke manages to tackle the bandit, take the treasure, and rescue Fiona, all in one fell swoop.

They begin to flee in Irvine's Zoid, but are swiftly chased by the Redler. They couldn't outrun the Zoid, and burrowing wouldn't evade their tracing. Instead they rely on Caesar, the Zoid appeared at the sound of gunfire. Van promptly returned the treasure to the Shield Liger's cockpit.

Although Caesar defeated the Redler, there was no time for celebration. A massively powerful long-range shot pierced Caesar. Cutting all the way through the liger, the shell revealed to have come from the Red Horn equipped with a powerful imperial rail cannon.

Van, immediately attempted fusion, even knowing it was impossible. He pleaded for anyone to help open Caesar's heart so that Zeke could heal it. He could not bear the loss of another Zoid, not after the death of Zeke (the Command Wolf). Fiona responds to his cries, and Van finds himself inside the memories of Caesar. He finds that Caesar was waiting for a worth pilot to replace Jadow, someone who would love Zoids so much that they shed tears over a Zoid. Van was such a person.

With Caesar revived, Van takes aim at the bandits.

The Shield Liger evades the powerful rail gun

Life and Resurrection

The newly-revived Shield Liger shocked almost everyone. None of the people present aside from Van and Fiona knew that Zeke could heal downed Zoids. The bandits found their conventional weapons were too slow to strike the fast Liger. In a Red Horn and Molga, the stood no chance of outrunning it either.

Instead they opted to fire the rail gun again. They knew the weapon couldn't be used more than once without overheating, but breaking the gun would be worth it if they could defeat Van.

Despite firing the gun, and the whopping 5 kilometre-per-second speed of the projectile, Van was narrowly able to evade the bullet. This jaw-dropping feat caused the Bandits to turn tail and flee. (even knowing they could not escape). As expected, Van promptly caught up and disarmed all their Zoids.

Van showed the bandits compassion and allowed them the leave. The Bandits had genuinely been defeated and knowing not to try anything, promptly listened to his words.

With Caesar no longer rogue, Moonbay pays a visit to Jadow's grave. Moonbay mentioned that Jadow could feel the energies of Zoids, and this is likely what brought him to the nearby ruins where he found the treasure.

Fiona, without saying a word, ventured far into the ruins. When Van catches up, she points to a broken capsule. On the wall behind it was a large arrow-head symbol.

Touching the symbol caused Fiona to collapse, she muttered:

"I must be there for ... Zoid Eve"

A change in scene reveals that the bandits had obtained their Zoids from an acquaintance of Raven. This man destroys their Zoids as to not leave evidence of Imperial troops helping bandits.

Trivia

• ISBN: 1-56931-763-1