[PG 13] Zoids: Cataclysm (Part II)

[TheDoctor]

TO THE OOC (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=35728)

The wasteland of Zi was certainly not a place to be alone in. Not only does water have to be carefully rationed, but the environment itself could kill you. Injuring a leg or losing consciousness in the wasteland would most certainly mean death. That isn't even taking to consideration the massive bandit population, showering the planes of Zi with crime. Not to mention the constant threat of the Zealots, who would either try to recruit you or slaughter you right on the spot. Occasionally, they did both.

And Cadmus Lakonen was all alone.

The sun was low in the sky, casting long shadows from small rocks. It was going to set in a couple hours, and fortunately Cadmus was walking away from it. He stumbled through the planes, staring at his own lengthened shadow as he mindlessly walked. Brushing his now blonde hair out of his eyes, he saw that there were several zoids off in the distance in front of him. They should move. And they should move soon.

To the group in the distance, all that they saw was the wavering figure of a somewhat tall and muscular man in the glare of the fading sunlight. They didn't even seem to notice him until he was within 200 feet of them. There were three men, two Command Wolves (http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q54/InfernoRodan/CommandWolf.jpg), both of which looked to be piloted at that moment, and one Pteras (http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100617031329/zoids/images/a/a4/Oscars_pteras.png), which did not look to be piloted. Two of the men had pretty large builds, but one of the men was a bit smaller than Cadmus. The two men had rifles slung on their shoulders, and the smaller one was holding a piece of paper. As Cadmus approached them, they straightened up, noticing the incoming stranger. When he was within 40 feet of them, the smaller one waved, and Cadmus didn't respond. They should move. Now.

Then he was within 10 feet, and the smaller man, who looked like he was the leader, hailed him. "Hello traveler! How is your journey?" His voice had a jovial tone that Cadmus could tell was faked. He responded to him with silence.

When the man saw Cadmus continue walking with his eyes on the ground, he raised an eyebrow. "Alright then...anyway, have you considered joining the Zealots?"

Cadmus snapped his head up. It was only then that he spied the symbols (http://t5ak.roblox.com/38828659202c5a48df9f020639a27a6b) on the sides of the Command Wolves and the wings of the Pteras. Zealots. I'll be damned. Sure enough, when he looked at the partially exposed chest of one of the men, he saw part the symbol tattooed onto his chest. They all have it. They all have that cursed tattoo. He stopped in front of them, only five feet from the group. As a comfortable breeze blew past them, Cadmus linked eye contact with the man.

"Zealots." He let out a short chuckle. "I wouldn't join you bastards if my life depended on it."

The grin on the man's face instantly fell, and it was quickly replaced with a snarl. "And why is that?"

Cadmus shook his head. "You are all simply tools for him. All of you. Fools. And I will kill him."

This time, it was the man's turn to let out a laugh. "Kill him? You've gotta be kidding me! You can't even take out us, let alone him!"

In response, Cadmus glared at him. "I will kill the Zoid Prime. And if you do not step out of my way, I'll do the same to you."

The man grinned smugly, shruggin cockily. "Fine, your funeral." He turned away, walking towards the Pteras. "Kill him."

As the two men with the rifles cocked their weapons, Cadmus let out a short yell. He leaped forward with great speed, grabbing one of the men's rifles with one hand to push it away and smashing his palm into the man's nose at the same time. The man released his weapon with his left hand, instinctively bringing it to his nose, which was broken and spurting blood. Knowing that the other man was ready to shoot, Cadmus moved himself behind the man with the broken nose, lifting the rifle with his own hand. Locking his forearm around the man's neck to use him as a "meat shield," he raised the rifle so that the uninjured man was in his sights and fired. The man fell to the ground as several bullets pierced his flesh, and Cadmus quickly knocked the man that he held unconscious.

At this time, the smaller man turned around, almost to his Pteras. His eyes opened wide for a second, but then the grim expression returned again. He shouted at the two Command Wolves, and they quickly stood up, lowering their weapons at Cadmus.

Then Cadmus let out another yell, and he started to glow, vanishing into a ball of light. This was a technique that he had created, the one that had earned him his notoriety as the "Blue Devil." In a the ball of blue energy, he flew high into the air and then arced downwards. The two Command Wolves followed his position, firing shells in his direction. None of them hit, and then the ball of energy took a sudden turn and propelled through the Command Wolves' necks, knocking them into Command System Freeze.

The smaller man was extending the wings of the Pteras, ready to fly, but the ball of energy turned towards him, smashing holes through both of the Pteras' wings. As the Command Wolves fell to the ground with the Pteras, the ball of energy landed on the ground, quickly dissipating and leaving Cadmus kneeling on the ground, breathing quickly. The attack always had a toll on him, and he felt his body and head aching. His breathing was shallow and fast, and there was now a fine layer of sweat on his skin.

Bastards. He stood up slowly, allowing his breath to return slowly yet steadily.

Then he felt a sudden shock of pain hit his right side, and he fell to the ground again, letting out a cry of pain. Looking up, he saw the smaller man with a metal club in his hands. The Pteras cockpit was open behind the man, and he had a grin on his face. "I told you it was a bad idea, boy." Raising the club, he start to bring it down on Cadmus' head.

Then Cadmus started to glow again, vanishing in the ball of energy which then launched itself up at the man from the ground. It knocked the man to the ground and landed on top of it, and as the ball of energy vanished, Cadmus' body returned. He was holding the man by his throat on the ground with one hand, and with the other hand, he reached behind his back, pulling out a long dagger with a foot long blade (http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/355/4/d/futuristic_dagger_by_alphablue101-d4jqocs.png). Grabbing the man's shirt collar instead of his throat, he put the dagger to the man's neck, glaring into his eyes with a mad frenzy and seeing fear in response. Then he whispered to him furiously.

"The Zoid Prime can't hide any longer. I am the Blue Devil, and I will kill him. Goodbye."

And with that, he slit the man's throat.

Wiping the blood on the dead man's shirt, Cadmus sheathed the dagger in its hidden sheath behind his back, standing up from the man. As he did so, he let out another short cry of pain, clenching his right side. Lifting his shirt and jacket up, he felt around the wound, feeling his fingers travel over the numerous scars that he had gained in his travels. The skin had split slightly and it was undoubtedly going to bruise heavily, but the ribs did not feel like they were broken. Lowering his shirt and jacket, he crossed his left arm over his body, holding his side. Then he kept walking.

He arrived at his destination when the sun was setting. Dust Town. The place where it had all started. Where he had met the Paladin that had brought him into the group, which Cadmus unofficially left. Where he had met Cyrus, the man who started as an enemy and became a very close friend. Where he had escorted Elle to, the girl that he thought he loved.

It had all started here.

Pushing open the door to the closest bar, Cadmus walked in, ignoring the glances of the curious. At this point, his worn out Paladins jacket was only draped over his shoulders, for his arms weren't through the sleeves. His left arm still held his side, his right arm hanging lazily. Taking a seat at one of the stools at the bar, he ordered some whiskey. When the bartender returned, he placed the bottle on the counter in front of the blonde haired man.

Nodding at the bartender, Cadmus took a swig.

[MarchingThunder]

Sticking to the farthest corners of both rooms and the world had always served a particular patron of the Dust Town bar rather well and as a new patron very nearly stumbled into the building, she found herself all the more thankful she had taken the booth second from the corner which avoided much of the suspicion common to the corner booth while still permitting her a clear view nearly the entire room. Her clear, hard, olive colored eyes took in the room with quiet contemplation as she began forming her opinions about the new comer. he was clutching his side for starters though he wasn't bleeding so either broken or bruised ribs, and he was already going for the liquor. So trouble was clearly written all over him and with that observation she resigned herself to avoiding him if at all possible as trouble never did Agera any good, a sentiment confirmed by a wave of reassurance she felt wash over her from her partner well outside of town.

Partner, that was an understatement for her mentally linked compatriot she thought with a brief smile as she looked towards her own drink. Berserk Fury had now been her near constant companion for years, only separating from her when he absolutely had to such as when Agera entered towns to sell off the scrap they dug up and salvaged across the planet. occasionally she took him into a city, but most often the sight of the two of them was met with fear and suspicion, few trusted the pilots of tyrannosaurid type zoids for whatever reason in her experience, perhaps due to the fact their zoids were predators by nature, but Agera and Fury had never bothered delving into that, instead they had settled for simply doing what was needed to avoid fights with locals and to just make ends meet.

And this particular week, they were doing rather well. Well enough that even with that standard amount saved from excess funds after purchasing supplies she had still had enough to go out and relax a bit, and that was how she had ended up in Dust Town's bar with a small tumbler to drink from and a bottle of one of the bar's finer whiskeys. With her heavy jacket laying on the seat beside her and even her beret off to let her hair down, both literally and metaphorically, Agera knew she drew occasional glances from the men of the room but she settled for simply ignoring them and enjoying her evening, when she was finished, she would head back to Fury and they would move on to their next find, hopefully they could avoid more of the Zealots, they had been nothing but trouble and no show of force or attempt to flee was enough to dissuade the royal pains in the asses from trying to involve her in their nutty plans, and that more often than not had lead to nothing but regret on Agera's part as she and Fury had been involved in more fights and caused more pain than she wanted to imagine.

[MaskofSilence]

Not a sound was heard around the near empty workshop besides the occasionally sound of metal against metal. In the very back of the shop, a girl with long brown hair, which was put into a side braid, and gray eyes was crouched in next the joint of a rather small Zoid. The Zoid was one that very few people had ever seen before and that is because it was a Katfysh, an old model that had stopped being developed long ago. The only reason this girl owned one is because she was the one who fixed if up and upgraded it. This girl's name was Nell, and the Zoids name was Necros.

It had been one year since Nell had seen Zoid Prime. One year since she had seen Korzai and everyone else that she had met along the journey. After the experience, she had made it to the nearest small town, Dust Town, and settled down. She even opened her own shop, which was well known about and popular around town and even outside town. She had even gotten some every popular pilots in her shop, asking her to look at their Zoids. While she worked on their Zoids, they would examine and stare a Necros in wonderment. Sure, it wasn't the best life, but it was one that Nell and even Necros, enjoyed.

At this particular moment, Nell was working on one of Necros's right joint because the it needed to be tightened and redone. While working, she generally wore looser pants and a black tank top and her tools were always in reach. Right now she was just putting the finishing components on the joint, which was one screw. Once she was sure the screw was on right, she stood and stretched. "Try that," She told the Zoid, while standing slightly back. Her eyes carefully examined the leg as it moved, making sure that every was moving according. Much to her relief, it was. Wiping the sweat from her face, she smiled. She was now officially done for the day.

Walking further back into the shop, she came upon a small room with a single bead, a dresser and a small bathroom. Stripping, she stepped into the shower and let the water wash her clean. In her mind, she debated on wither nor not to go to the bar, but her mind rationalized that she needed a quick drink after a long day of work. Stepping put, she got dressed and headed out, bidding Necros good bye on the way. She was fairly close, so she just walked.

Arriving, she opened the doors and took a seat at a booth that faced away from the bar. Ordering a drink, she ignored the stares that she was getting. Sighing, she leaned her head back on the booth, Why did I come here again?. A drink was suddenly placed in front of her. Oh yeah. That's why. Lifting the drink to her lips, she took a gulp. Defiantly what she needed after a long day.

[Ushima]

"General Kinght, come in." The voice over the radio called out.

Said man, Brigadier General Michael Knight, raised a hand and brought it down onto his console. "Yeah."

"What's the progress on your mission." The image of General Ceaser (http://media.moddb.com/images/groups/1/3/2632/Badass_Anderson.jpg) appeared. "And wake up damn it."

Michael sat up. "Sorry sir." He saluted. "Was up late raiding a stronghold. It didn't yeild any results I'm affriad."

"This is troubling. You've been out in the wasteland for months. You'd think you'd have something by now." Ceaser pinched the bridge of his nose. "We have reports of down zoids and bodies several miles from you position. Check it out."

"Yes sir." Ceaser's image faded. "Delta (http://media.photobucket.com/image/organoid/BerserkFuhrer86/For%2520Sites/OrganoidBlack.jpg). We're moving."

"Affirmative." The organoid brought the Kinami Liger out of sleep mode, a mode which Michael wished he was still in.

"We got the coordinates. Let's move." The Kinami roared before taking off running. The zoidian hadn't changed much over the year. His hair a bit longer, features a bit more defined, oh and his cybernetic eyes. It amazed him what they could do. It took some getting used to but he did. Michael had only lost one eye in the battle against Zoid Prime. But when replacing his eye he demanded the other one match. Something about symmetry, he was weird like that. Thinking about the battle a year ago made him think of his friends. He hdan't seen Vega, Curtis and Cadmus at all. Michael assumed they were laying low, avoiding the war. It was smart. And it was all the more reason for him to track down Zoid Prime and destroy it. So he could end the war and reunite with his commrades. Prime was all the proof he needed that humans hadn't attacked the genezoid transport. And Michael would drag Prime's burning husk to Zyphron.

"We have arrived." Delta informed him.

Michael blinked, looking at the site before him. He had been so caught up in his thoughts he hadn't realized. "Thanks." The cockpit opened and Michael jumped out. He drew one of his guns (http://media-titanium.cursecdn.com/attachments/43/622/dahl_pistol.png) as he approached, ready for anything. Delta joined him. "Seems we missed the party."

"I wouldn't call this a party." Delta approached the bodies. "No pulse."

"The Devil's been here alright." Michael eyed the zoids, the Zealots symbol filling him with rage. People who would willingly ally themselves with that monster made him sick. Prime was responsible for the near extinction of his race. There was about three thousand still in cryogenic stasis somewhere. Delta refused to reveal the location until Prime was slain.

"A lot of people in the wasteland are wondering when the Black Knight will meet the Blue Devil." Delta spoke up, breaking Michael out of his glare.

"I'm wondering that myself. The sooner I find him the sooner I ask him to help me exterminate the Zealots. Then after that it's a straight shot to Prime." Michael clenched his fist, knuckles cracking. Deciding not to stay longer Michael and Delta scavenged the area, taking what supplies he needed before calling an Alliance team to take the zoids. The Alliance could always make use of more zoids, either for combat or parts. "Delta. What's the nearest town? That's got to be his next destination from this."

"Scanning.......nearest town is three miles west. Dust Town." Michael paled. "Is there a problem?"

"No. It's just where this all started. One could say it's ironic." Michael holstered his pistol. "Let's move out." Michael got into the Liger as Detla fused. Then they took off toward the town. Once their he parked the Liger next to a Beserk Fury, that zoid made him shiver, last time he fought one of those he almost died. Luckily back up arrived and he managed to take it out with their help. Getting out of the zoid he started into town. "Wait here Delta. Monitor radar and radio frequencies. Keep me informed." There was a spot he wanted to check out, for nostalgia's sake. Finding the bar was easy enough, it seemed to be doing well. Going inside he nearly bumped into someone. Michael stared at their back as he made his way to the bar. "Asshole." Shaking his head he looked for the bartender. "Excuse me. Bottle of your strongest." The bottle was set before him and Michael took a seat. "Now what can you tell me about the Blue Devil?"

"Well he ain't here. Other than you no zoid has showed up so he obviously is somewhere else." Michael let out a curse, he was sure he'd come here for supplies, repairs or...something. "Why you looking for him?"

It took a few seconds, and a drink, for Michael to answer. "I need his help. As badass as I am I can't take on an army on my own. And no way the Alliance can spare me troops to fight." Michael had been in a lot of close calls, being on his own was dangerous. That's why he'd been working with Curtis and Vega all the time. "If I had him on my time. Those Zealots would be dust by now and my true enemy would be a burning charred husk." His grip on the bottle tightened, nearly breaking it.

"Well good luck. Nice seeing you again, Mr. 'Black Knight.'" With that the bartender went back to serving customers.

"Good. Tch yeah right." Michael took another drink.

[The Bartender]

Mora was flying high above the desert of Zi, scanning the area inside her Raynos, Matter.
It was already getting dark as she noticed two Zoids moving in the desert and as they stopped, Mora also noticed the three dead zoids in the ground and as she zoomed nearer she could see the marks of the Zealots in the Zoids. The Blue Devil... She thought as she flew toward the next town where she hoped to find this person.
"Group 52 is dead." She reported with her radio into the HQ and waited for the answer;
"Do you know who it was Mora? That was already the fourth group inside one week." A voice of a man answerd;
"it was the Blue Devil, the Zoids were destroyed with only one hit, it can only be him..." Mora said frustrated, "I think he is provoking us into a direct warfare all by himself." She said,
"Well, if he thinks that will happen, he must be a fool. Our leader has his own plans..." Came the answer, "Mora, I want you t find this "Blue Devil" and follow him and report us his movement. Do you understand?" Mora nodded;
"Of course, you can count on me." The young woman said and flew toward the Dust Town.

-------

Mora landed a short distance from the town and tok off her mask and let her white hair fall down on her shoulders. She looked at Matter;
"Okey, you can fly back into the base and let them wash the marks on your body okey?" She patted the head of the big creature which hissed silently and then took off, flying into the direction of the Zealot HQ. Mora herself hid her mask inside her cloak and entered the town.
Such a small town, nobody outside... Mora thought and entere the bar and looked around, only few quests were inside, mostly concentrating into their drinks but looking at the door as Mora entered but returned to their own businesse quickly. The young woman walked to the bar and asked the barkeeper;
"Why is it so silent in the town? Is it because of the war?" She received a cold look and a pint of beer;
"Yeah, most of the people have fled or entered the army." Then the man returned to his own business, washing the glasses.
Mora looked around the bar; a man, propably a soldier... a woman in the corner... another, younger woman, she was maybe as old as Mora, or one year older and a big man at the bar who looked to be a traveller.
Mora sank to her drink and took a long sip before she noticed it had alcohol.... Damn, why do I drin this stuff? She thought and spilled everything in her mouth back into her glass.
"Could I have a glass of water?" She asked the barkeeper and after a long stare she got her water. Mora sighed and took a sip from her water.

[TheDoctor]

Cadmus heard the door almost constantly opening and closing as he sat there with the whiskey, feeling the slight buzz of alcohol soothe away the ache in his side. Damn, never knew the bar to be this busy. He lifted the bottle, tipping a sip of the spirits down his throat. Not that it matters. I'm staying here with this booze, and that's final. Taking another swig, he heard parts of a conversation coming from the man who had just sat down at the bar.

"Now what can you tell me about the Blue Devil?"

"Well he ain't here. Other than you no zoid has showed up so he obviously is somewhere else."

Heh, hiding in plain sight. Good luck catching me, asshole.

"Why you looking for him?"

"I need his help. As badass as I am I can't take on an army on my own. And no way the Alliance can spare me troops to fight. If I had him on my time. Those Zealots would be dust by now and my true enemy would be a burning charred husk."

Cadmus grinned. Damn right they would be. Hell, on my own, I could probably take them out by the end of this year. He glanced down at the bottle in his hands, half smirking. Booze must've gotten to me fast. There's no way I can take them all out. But hey, if this Republican asshole wants my help, I must be doing a pretty good job.

"Well good luck. Nice seeing you again, Mr. 'Black Knight.'"

As the conversation ended and the man left to tend to a small white haired girl who probably didn't belong in a bar, Cadmus' eyes grew wide. I'll be damned. I'll be fucking damned. It can't be. Is it? Glancing to the side, he saw the man that the bartender had been talking to. Shit. This is surreal.

Sitting on the barstool a couple of seats away from Cadmus was Michael. Michael Knight, the so-called "Black Knight." He was much different from when Cadmus had first met him. The man had completely different eyes, replaced by ones that were bright blue. His face had changed from cocky to sullen in the span of a year, and his posture had even changed. He went from holding his head high to slightly slouching over his drink.

Cadmus turned back to his drink, returning to a calm, relaxed expression. He doesn't need to know. He can just walk out of the bar, and I'll never see his sorry ass again. I'm different, he probably wouldn't even recognize me. I've changed. I don't need a companion for this.

He brushed a strand of blonde hair away from his dark blue eyes. But if I want to find the Zoid Prime...Michael is my best shot. Maybe I'll enjoy the company. He winced slightly, partially from his side and partially from a flood of memories from the past. From his journey with Michael and all of the others. From the battle that had killed-

No. It will only hurt. It will only remind me of what I've lost. I can't do it. Glancing down at the bottle in his hands, he took another swig. But...a reminder could be what I need. A reminder of why I'm doing this. Placing the half empty bottle on the counter, Cadmus set it out of comfortable reach. No more booze for me tonight. Then he looked down at the bar in front of him, idly locking his fingers and speaking towards the new Michael but not facing him.

"So. I hear you're searching for the Blue Devil."

[MarchingThunder]

There it was.

There was the line from the one Agera had marked as trouble that indicated just how much trouble he was. He had opened his mouth and questioned one of the other people in the bar about the fact they were looking for the Blue Devil. The one he asked was already acting like trouble on his own too with rampant bragging about his skills and the fact he was a lone soldier didn't help. That meant either a mission or a desserter, neither good for Agera's plans to stay out of the lime light.

Besides those two though, two additional people had come into the bar during this time, one woman Agera had recognized as the town mechanic from her occasional visits and the gossip through the town. The other though was a girl that didn't even look old enough to have gotten into the building much managed to order a drink, a fact confirmed by her request for a water instead of the pint she had been initially given.

As time decided to continue passing though, Agera found herself paying much less attention to the mechanic and the young girl and far more to the two men at the bar, even as she slowly refilled her tumbler with whiskey from the bottle she had purchased up front.

This was going to get interesting and she wanted no part in it other than to observe. Her expression settled in to disinterest as she kept her eyes sweeping the room, though she never strayed far from the two men at the bar.

[MaskofSilence]

By the time Nell had sat down and finished a drink, the door had opened several times and each time she found herself looking to see who it was. She knew most of the people in town and she was surprised by the fact that so many out-of-towners that had walked in within the last couple minutes. When did the bar become so popular.

One out-of-towner in particular caught her attention that she found herself staring intently at him. Something about him was so familiar, but at the same time something was distant. Sighing, she tilted her head back against the booth, thinking. Her mind was a little groggy from the alcohol, but it wasn't so much that she couldn't think. For some reason seeing that one stranger brought back memories of Zoid Prime. She had been curious about it and even asked the people that came into her shop about it, but they never said much.

Straining her ears, she listened to what the man was asking. The name "Blue Devil" was mentioned several times. This guy was looking for the "Blue Devil" because he needed help with finding...Zoid Prime. She was in shock. This guy was looking for Zoid Prime. Another voice then interfered, apparently he had been ease dropping on the conversation as well. Calling the waiter over, she ordered another drink. She had been planing on leaving after one, but his conversation was getting to exciting for her to leave in the middle of it.

[Ushima]

"Yeah." Michael answered the man who decided to speak with him. "I need his help. Anyone going after the Zealots with such ferocity wouldn't be a bad guy to get to know." Raising his bottle up he took another drink. "It's funny though. I remember when I was the most feared pilot in the wasteland. Now this Blue Devil goes and takes my title from me." Michael gave a soft chuckle. "Don't know if I should be jealous or thankful. On the one hand I no longer have a target on my back. But my reputation doesn't carry nearlly as much weight anymore." Taking a final few drinks he finished off his booze. "Suppose it doesn't matter anymore." Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out a few bills, setting them down on the bar. "Nice talking to ya." All he wanted to do was leave, get back to his mission. Stopping for a nostalgia trip was nice but he didn't have that much time.

Leaving the bar he took a deep breath and sighed. "He wasn't here Delta."

"That is unfortunate." Came Delta's response.

"Tell me about it." Michael began making his way back to his zoid. Once there he sat on a crate. Pulling out his guns he set them on another crate. "Delta. Scan for the next closest settlement. There's a chance he went there instead."

The Dino Organoid materialized next to his partner. "Scanning." While his partner scanned Michael set about taking apart and cleaning his guns. It had been awhile since he performed any maintenece on them. "Scan complete. Next town his ten miles south-west."

"We'll head out soon." Michael's hands moved mechanically over each piece of his weapon. It showed how skilled he was, that he had years of experience with firearms. He was a master of combat afterall.

[TheDoctor]

As Michael left, Cadmus still sat on his bar stool, grinning. He has no clue. I need to grab him before he leaves. When the other man passed through the door, Cadmus stood up, placing a tip on the bar counter. Stretching his aching side, he started to walk towards the door. When he reached a certain point, he saw the back of a brunette girl's head. Out of curiosity, he turned to glance at her face for an instant, then started to turn away.

Wait. Hold up a damn second. Doing a double take, he glanced back at the girl, holding a gaze with her that was slightly too long. His face showed obvious shock, one of his eyebrows raised. Is that...her? He thought he saw her, one of the ones who had traveled with him and battled the Zoid Prime. She was there when the incident happened.

But...is that really her? No...it can't be. Turning away, Cadmus shook his head. That isn't her. I've definitely had too much to drink. Sighing, he pushed open the door to leave the bar, coat still draped over his shoulders. He saw Michael over near his zoid, sitting on a crate and cleaning his gun. The bastard always loved to show off. His organoid that he gained last year stood next to him as well, still as a statue.

Cadmus walked towards Michael with his hands in his pockets. The organoid shifted, looking at Cadmus as he approached. Nodding to the organoid, he locked eye contact with Michael. Then he put out his hand, grinning smugly.

"Nice to meet you, Black Knight. You can call me the Blue Devil."

[The Bartender]

Mora grinned as she heard what the traveler said to the "Black Knight", the oh so feared soldier who even during the war hunted the Zealots such as herself. Mora grinned and took a sip, they would never know she was a Zealot, she had given the tattoo somewhere else than on her chest due of her "occupation" as a spy.
Is that traveler the Blue Devil? It seems he knows too much... Am I so lucky that I found him right off the bat? Mora thought and took another sip. She also observed the other quests in the bar from the first seat. She then took out a pocket watch from under her cloack, a quiet expensive piece these days but she didn't care about such things as this was the last gift she had gotten from her father before she left. It had been about two hours since Matter left and he would be back soon...
First then she understood that there was a soldier in the bar;
Damn, I hope he isn't one of those who checks all the people who he thinks are suspicious... Mora glared the man who walked out of the door and hoped he wouldn't find out she was category-sized "Missing". Right after the traveling man who had talked about the Blue devil left, Mora finished her drink and put the money on the bar and left swiftly the bar and quickly moved away of the open street between the houses and moved toward the meeting point where she would meet Matter.
She had a hot lead and she didn't want to lose that soldier nor the traveler so she had to move quickly...

[Ushima]

"Nice to meet you, Black Knight. You can call me the Blue Devil."

"I should call you an asshole for being so damn hard to track down." Michael finished his one gun, the slide clicking into place. He grabbed the mag and loaded his gun before holstering it. Looking up from his work he took in the person before him. Tall, spikey blonde hair blue eyes. But Michael couldn't shake that familiar feeling he got. He decided to push that feeling aside for now, it was unimportant. "I guess proper introductions are in order." Michael stood up, noticing he was taller than the other guy. "I am Brigadier General Michael Knight. Allaince Millitary."

"I am Delta." The organoid spoke. Tiliting his head, breaking his statue like state he had been in.

"Give me your name man." Michael crossed his arms. "Before we start talking about taking down those Zealot assholes."

[MaskofSilence]

Not even getting past the first sip of her second drink, Nell watched as the familiar stranger left. Seconds later, another man started toward the door. Sighing, she brushed some hair out of her face. Suddenly, she felt someone staring at her. Automatically her eyes directed her to the man that was about to leave the bar. He was staring at her like he had just seen a ghost. She was in equal shock, only she didn't let it show. I feel like I know him...could he be from the fight with Zoid Prime? No, that is no possible. Why would he come to dust town? He must have convinced himself that he didn't know her either because he continued out.

Another girl left after them, she seemed like she was in a hurry. She was curious, but it wasn't her place to know. Nell was done for the night. Placing her money on the table and started toward the door. Upon opening it, she noticed that two guys were talking in the parking lot. Walking slowly, she heard a bit of their conversation. At first it was just greetings. Turns out the blonde one that stared at her was the Blue Devil.

"I am Brigadier General Michael Knight. Alliance Military."

That sentence in itself caused Nell to freeze mid-step and her head snapped toward him. She knew he was familiar and that was why. It was Michael. His group and him traveled with Korzai and her though Devil's Canyon and fought Zoid Prime with them. So, he's looking for Zoid Prime. To approach or not approach... She questioned while finishing her step and turning a questioning glance toward the ground.

[MarchingThunder]

Get Ready to move Fury, things seem to be picking up here. Agera sent to her zoid partner through their mental link, receiving a confirmation response from her partner who was situated a small distance outside of town where he could respond to any distress Agera might manage to land herself in. As first the two men and then the other two women in the bar had ducked out, Agera stood and sealed her whiskey bottle before pulling on her coat and donning her beret, ensuring the bulk of her hair was restrained with the hat. With a brief nod to the barkeeper, Agera tucked her unfinished bottle of whiskey into one of the internal pockets of her jacket and headed out the door where upon she set off after the path the others had left in the dirt.

Truth be told, Agera was reluctant to engage in anything that wasn't a normal activity, and that included what she was doing right now, but at the moment with what felt like something significant beginning, Agera felt the distinct need to know more about the current situation as not knowing would put her in a distinct disadvantage if the shit did hit the fan with these people. Once she was close enough to listen in on the two men's conversation, Agera ducked into a small section of shadows to hide and listen to them speak. Immediately she began to pick up parts of the conversation as she listened in.

"I am Brigadier General Michael Knight. Alliance Military."

So at least one of them was a high ranking military commander, the other though...

"Nice to meet you, Black Knight. You can call me the Blue Devil."

[TheDoctor]

Cadmus let out a little laugh in spite of himself. Poor bastard still doesn't have a clue. "You must understand. I'm only tracked down when I want to be. Otherwise, I'm gone." He took one of the crates, pushing it across from Michael and sitting on it. "But names aren't important. What IS important is these Zealots. As you probably know, I've been taking out as many as I can, but I can't find a single clue about the big man. You know who I'm talking about."

He put a hand to his side. "Every lead I get ends as quickly as I find it. I need all of the information that you have about them. Anything that can give me the upper hand." He paused for a moment as if he were contemplating something. "I don't usually work with a team. There was a time that I did before..." He trailed off a bit, glancing into the darkness of the newborn night. "...but I was a different man then. I-"

Suddenly, Cadmus stopped, locking eyes with the girl who he had seen at the bar before. The brown haired one. A flood of memories from the previous year hit him again, and he stared blankly at the girl, completely trailing off from what he was saying. It's her. I think? He blinked. But damn! She's grown from last time. And she's gotten... He cocked his head slightly, mouth barely open. ...pretty hot too.

As if in a trance, he stepped off of the crate, walking a bit towards her and pausing, a look of confusion on his face. "Do...do I know you?"

Then Cadmus realized something, resisting the urge to slam his palm into his forehead. His back was to Michael now. And he was still wearing his old Paladins' jacket that had the crest on the back of it. Dammit! Unless he's incredibly dense, he'll definitely know it's me.

Then again...this is Michael.

[Ushima]

When the Blue Devil turned around he thought there was trouble. So he drew his gun, ready for action. But what he saw made him pause. It was something familiar. Something he hadn't seen in a year. His hand trembled and he nearlly pulled the trigger which would've resulted in a bullet lodging in his foot. So it was a good thing he didn't. But seeing the emblem again, seeing it on that jacket. The same jacket he gave to a very promising new member. "Are you alright?" Delta asked, breaking Michael out of his trance.

"I'm fine." He was, only slightly. "Cadmus?" Michael holstered his gun, finding no need for it. "Is that you?"

[MaskofSilence]

Another feeling of someone staring caused Nell to turn and stare. It was the guy from before, that one that had been staring at her in the bar only minutes ago. He looked like he had been talking with Micheal when he saw her. Head tilted and mouth open, it almost looked like he was in a trance of some kind as he walked over to her. Pausing only a few feet in front of her, he stammered out while looking confused, "Do...do I know you?"

Suddenly, a look of realization crossed his face, but she automatically knew it wasn't about her. The sound of a gun being removed entered her senses as she prepared for an attack. Second later, nothing happen. It had been Micheal that had drawn the gun, this guy must have startled him. The gun was then put away and Micheal whispered, clearly in shock,"Cadmas? Is that you?"

Nell's mouth fell open as the name registered in her mind. Cadmus. Cadmus and Micheal were here in Dust Town. Of all the places that she could run into them it was here. Before she knew it, she was laughing. Covering her mouth with her hand, she managed to stifle the laugh. Fate worked in funny ways.

"Well, ends up you do know me. In fact, you both know me. I traveled though Devil's Canyon and fought Zoid Prime with you." She told them with a tilt of her head and a smile. Nell had noticed that she was not the only one who had been ease dropping on Micheal and Cadmus's conversation. [B]Also, whoever is listening can come out. I know your there.

[MarchingThunder]

Fury, they noticed, be ready if I call on you to be here Agera sent to her partner in a mental missive before stepping out from the shadows she had taken refuge in to hide. Her zoid sent her was wave of reassurance that it would be ready when needed as she advanced into the group's field of view. "My apologies for listening in but given the number of people doing so I hope I won't be faulted too badly," Agera spoke up as she approached the three. Her reluctance at being brought into the group situation was clear on her face and in her pacing as she spoke and moved.

"So the three of you are part of the group that went and got the Zoid Prime up and moving I gather?" Agera asked softly after a moment of awkward silence. She was careful to phrase it so it wasn't a question that blamed them for the Prime's actions, just his being up and moving.

In the back of her mind, Agera was well aware of Fury's desire to come and get her. Generally when Agera would find trouble, Fury's assistance was needed to bail her out of most of the situations she found, and he was eager to get her out before things could go south. For the moment though, Agera pushed him to remain where he was till she pushed for him to come get her.

[TheDoctor]

"Cadmus? Is that you?"

Cadmus felt his shoulders drop slightly. Damn. He picked up on it. Glancing at the ground, he flushed slightly. So much for that short ruse. I thought the name game would last a bit longer than that. Then he looked up at the girl to see her laughing.

"Well, ends up you do know me. In fact, you both know me. I traveled though Devil's Canyon and fought Zoid Prime with you."

Cadmus gave a smirk. Huh. Looks like I was right. "Well I'll be damned, Nell. This is quite a surprise." How odd was it that he would happen to run into two of his former travelers and friends in the same night? Especially at Dust Town of all places. The irony levels just skyrocketed. Then he heard Nell call the apparent spy out, and as a blonde haired girl wandered into the streetlight, Cadmus squinted at her.

"So the three of you are part of the group that went and got the Zoid Prime up and moving I gather?"

Excuse me? Cadmus let out a sarcastic grunt. "'Up and moving?' What are you trying to say, missy? He was 'up and moving' before we even saw him." He continued, irked by the girl. "The Neo Haven bombing last year? That was him. And that was way before we even knew what he was." Turning his back to her, he went back to the crates.

Way before...that happened. As he reached out with his mind to touch his companion's mind, he let out an inward sigh as he reached fruitlessly. Nothing was there, no presence constantly pressing against his own. Although he had been experiencing this for the past year or so, it still was not comforting. It's like half of my own consciousness is gone...

He sat down on the crate next to Michael again, looking at the two ladies. Then he slapped Michael's shoulder, forceful yet friendly. "Deja vu, huh?"

[The Bartender]

Mora was observing the group that was getting bigger and bigger from a short distance using her telescope. For some reason there was a small uproar during that time and not only because of the woman who was lurking in the shadows but it seemed like the two others knew this "Blue Devil" from somewhere...
Mora turned around and scouted the surrounding area as well and noticed two Zoids, all in full attention if needed, both dinosaur type, the second seemed to even be a tyranno. She contacted Matter and ordered him to catch him in flight if the situation would heat up. Mora aslo checked her gun and dagger if she would need them but for now she just observed how the situation would evolve and make notes...

[Ushima]

"Well isn't this a lovely reunion eh Delta?" Michael asked the organoid.

"It is nice to see familiar faces after all this time." The little dino spoke.

"So the three of you are part of the group that went and got the Zoid Prime up and moving I gather?"

'Up and moving?' What are you trying to say, missy? He was 'up and moving' before we even saw him. The Neo Haven bombing last year? That was him. And that was way before we even knew what he was."

"Hell I was there when it showed up." Michael sat back down on the crate. "Damn thing took out a ton of zoids."

"We are currently tracking several high ranking members of the Zealots to ger a possible location on Zoid Prime." Delta said.

"If we can find it. The Alliance will focus all our assests against it." Michael pieced together his remaining gun. All the parts clicking into place. "I need it's corpse as proof to end this pointless war." He wanted this war to end, he wanted to see Curtis and Vega again. Michael worried about them constantly, if they were safe. "That's why I was looking for Cadmus. To trade information and come up with a plan of attack."

"We had a plan. Attack." Delta made a low rumble.

"Yes while that worked for awhile it quickly went nowhere." Michael reached out and pet his partner. "This plan will be much better."

[MaskofSilence]

Nell had noticed the girl when she walked out of the bar. Dust town wasn't exactly known for having some of the nicest drunks, which means that you have to be alert and on guard pretty much all the time. Now that she stepped into the light, Nell saw that she looked around her age, maybe a little younger.

"So the three of you are part of the group that went and got the Zoid Prime up and moving I gather?"

The comment kind of annoyed Nell. Apparently she wasn't the only one because Cadmas spoke up. "Up and moving?' What are you trying to say, missy? He was 'up and moving' before we even saw him. The Neo Haven bombing last year? That was him. And that was way before we even knew what he was."

Nell listened as Micheal talked. He wanted to end this "pointless" war, as he put it and she couldn't agree more. If they were going to be discussing a plan though, perhaps they would like somewhere else besides the middle of the lot, maybe a place where everyone couldn't hear them.

"Hey, if you guys need a place to talk, then you can come to my shop. It's a little less open." she offered gesturing around the lot. Plus, she wanted to know the plan. Life here was nice, but the thought of helping to end this war was tempting.

[TheDoctor]

"I need it's corpse as proof to end this pointless war."

And I need its corpse for other reasons. As he heard Michael speak, Cadmus raised an eyebrow. Plan of attack? I'm a lone wolf. I don't need others to come up with a plan of attack. Just kill the members off, one by one. Get as much information from them as possible. Seems to have worked for me so far.

Then he squinted, looking at the ground. But has it really worked for me? I've done this for more than a year, and where has it gotten me? I've trained myself, but what accomplishment has this gotten me? I haven't found out anything useful about this damn cult. He shrugged his shoulders. Might as well hear the man out.

"Hey, if you guys need a place to talk, then you can come to my shop. It's a little less open."

Pushing himself from the crate, he dusted off his hands. "Let's do it." As she started to lead them towards the shop, Cadmus found that he couldn't keep himself from looking at her. His mind made pathetic excuses for his eyes to pass over her casually, as if distractions from the side were grabbing his attention and he had to keep passing his vision across Nell. His eyes were drawn to one part of her back in particular...

Dammit, not this again. I can't let myself. Not like last time. His mind was drawn to one memory before the fight, the night with Aelia. That can't happen again. It took me long enough to get over that whole incident. I can't deal with that again. Forcing curiosity within his domain, he made himself look at the ground in front of him, putting his hands in his pockets. Just look at the ground, you idiot.

When they arrived at the shop, Cadmus fell in line with Michael. "Hey, you got an extra jacket? This old Paladins' shit is getting old." He linked eye contact with the man for a moment, giving him a grim smirk.

[MarchingThunder]

As the situation proceeded further, Agera steadily grew more uncomfortable with the number of new people in the area around her, but set aside her issues for the moment to listen. When the offer was made to use a nearby shop for a meeting place, she slowly moved along to join the rest of the group. She had no idea who these people were besides what they told her and that did nothing to assuage her reluctance to be involved.

Once inside the room though, Agera cautiously moved to lean up against a wall, wanting to keep herself clear of everyone else as she waited to see what was going to happen. One, the dubius 'Blue Demon' asked if he could get a jacket, the others though were being nowhere near as bothersome in her opinion as she waited to hear what was going to happen. When silence was forthcoming for the first bit of time in the building, Agera finally spoke up to get things rolling saying, "Now that we're here, why don't we just get some introductions out of the way. My name is Agera."

[Ushima]

"Delta. Get in the Kinami." The organoid fused with the liger as the group moved through the streets. Arriving at the shop Michael took off his jacket, hanging it on the back of a chair. He looked around, eyeing tools and parts. "Nice shop. Wouldn't mind borrowing some tools to do some minor repairs. Maybe I can finally fix the broken stabalizer." He compliments. The liger walked into an empty bay and Delta rejoined them. Michael started pulling some gear out of storage compartments.

"Hey, you got an extra jacket? This old Paladins' shit is getting old."

"Ugh yeah hang on." Going back over to the liger he searched through his clothing. "I got this one. It's doesn't fit me anymore so I don't wear it. Should fit you fine though." Michael handed Cadmus the leather jacket. It was all black, except the logo on the right shoulder. Going back over to his stuff he activated a holographic projector (http://www.technology-blog.com/images/blogs/dvd-hologram-projector0281e0.jpg). An image appeared and it started roatating around.

"Now that we're here, why don't we just get some introductions out of the way. My name is Agera."

"Name's Michael Knight, aka Black Knight. Brigadeir General, Alliance Millitary. That's Delta." He pointed to his organoid partner. "And meet Psycho Pete (http://media.animevice.com/uploads/0/5/3092-beanbandit1_large.jpg)." Michael didn't waste any time getting down to business. "Intel says he's pretty high up in Zealot chain of command."

"Our informant says he'll be moving near Arcadia soon." Delta wagged his tail a bit.

"Arcadia (http://hotdogjam.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/city-lights-building-night.jpg) isn't like other cities. It's not run by the Alliance or the Empire. It's run by corporations, powerful corporations. It's a neutral city." Michael changed the image to a pic of Arcadia. "A place for the social elite. And a place for criminals as well. Most hang around the Red Light District. I figure we could grab him there. He'll either know where Prime is or know someone who does. My money's on the latter."

"This is just one potential course of action we can take. We have several contingency plans. We would like to hear other imputs before deciding a course of action." The organoid looked at each member of the group, other than Michael.

"There are many courses of actions to take." Michael pushed off the table. "But they all end with Prime and it's death."

[The Bartender]

Mora followed the group after they had entered the building and sat under the window from where she could see what happened inside. She then made a tiny hole into the wooden wall with her dagger and pushed a miniature spy Zoid (http://www.google.de/url?source=imglanding&ct=img&q=http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/ninja71519862/dnest5.jpg&sa=X&ei=GKKGUJPjHIn34QTIo4GABA&ved=0CAwQ8wc4Eg&usg=AFQjCNH9WxwcygIug-D_alx-nZAPFobQBg) into the building and began to listen to the conversation inside.

"Name's Michael Knight, aka Black Knight. Brigadeir General, Alliance Millitary. That's Delta." He pointed to his organoid partner. "And meet Psycho Pete." Michael didn't waste any time getting down to business. "Intel says he's pretty high up in Zealot chain of command."

"Our informant says he'll be moving near Arcadia soon." Delta wagged his tail a bit.

"Arcadia isn't like other cities. It's not run by the Alliance or the Empire. It's run by corporations, powerful corporations. It's a neutral city." Michael changed the image to a pic of Arcadia. "A place for the social elite. And a place for criminals as well. Most hang around the Red Light District. I figure we could grab him there. He'll either know where Prime is or know someone who does. My money's on the latter."

"They are too well informed... Where the fuck do the army get such high security information...? Is there a mole in our ranks...?" Mora thought as she heard about Pete.
Mora sat there and waited how the conversation would go on just to hear that they were after Prime, and said something that seemed like their plan couldn't fail, such selfconfidence... As if they were enough to kill the leader of Zealots, Pete would be enough...

[MaskofSilence]

After leading them through the street, they finally made it to her shop. Pulling out the key, she unlocked it and let them in. She was glad that she had cleaned and organized a couple day ago. Making her way in, she sat down on her chair at the drawing bored and crossed her legs, watching as the girl leaded against the wall and her friends walked in. "Nice shop. Wouldn't mind borrowing some tools to do some minor repairs. Maybe I can finally fix the broken stabilizer."

Automatically, Nell stood back up to gather the tools that Micheal would need to complete the job. While she picked them out, she listened as the girl introduced herself as Agera. Next Micheal and of course he didn't waste anytime getting down to business. "Arcadia isn't like other cities. It's not run by the Alliance or the Empire. It's run by corporations, powerful corporations. It's a neutral city." Michael changed the image to a pic of Arcadia. "A place for the social elite. And a place for criminals as well. Most hang around the Red Light District. I figure we could grab him there. He'll either know where Prime is or know someone who does. My money's on the latter."

She sat back down just time for Delta to look at the rest of the group and then her. Other ideas... She thought while crossing her arms and closing her eyes. Back when she was younger she had made quite a few delivers to Arcadia, but she never stayed and explored because of her dislike of the city. On the other hand, she had heard of the Red Light District of Arcadia. "Well, it's not like we can go in guns blazing. It would have to be done more quietly if we were going to get him from there..." she muttered, thinking out loud to herself.

[TheDoctor]

When Michael gave Cadmus the jacket, he grinned, tearing off the old jacket and tossing it away. He then slipped on the new jacket, tearing off the logo on the shoulder. There we go. That's much better. Shrugging his shoulders, he allowed the jacket to settle onto him like a mold.

"Now that we're here, why don't we just get some introductions out of the way. My name is Agera."

Cadmus nodded grimly. "Cadmus. Call me Cad."

When Michael gave the report, Cadmus tuned in from the corner where he stood, leaning against the wall with his hands tucked in his pockets. Every once in a while, he glanced towards Nell, who was sitting in a chair with her legs crossed. Stop it, you fool. Give it a break already. You can't try it again.

But what if I can?

Suddenly, he was snapped back to reality by the mention of "Psycho Pete." He glanced up at the small holographic projector, searching through his memory for Pete. I've heard that before. That name. It's familiar...but from where? As he continued to think about the name, Nell muttered something.

"Well, it's not like we can go in guns blazing. It would have to be done more quietly if we were going to get him from there..."

Cadmus shrugged. "It's not as hard as you think, Nell. Getting into Arcadia is easy. And to find Pete, we only have to find a couple Zealots. I know how to make them talk." He gave a grim smirk. "As long as it isn't any more complicated than that, then I'd say that this is a pretty easy job."

[MarchingThunder]

"As long as it isn't any more complicated than that, then I'd say that this is a pretty easy job."

Agera was on the verge of replying to this statement with something along the lines of "You shouldn't always expect things to go that easily." when her statement was overridden by a wave of alarm and an image from Fury who had repositioned to keep an eye on the building she was in. What he had seen was that directly outside the building they were in, near one of the windows in fact was a small figure whose appearance clarified as Agera focused on the mental image while her her expression deepened into a scowl.

With a curt motion she brought a finger to her lips in a request for silence before giving a jerk of her thumb to the window where the eavesdropper was hiding. Whoever this was, they had likely been listening since the first call out for eavesdroppers to join the situation and had actively avoided entering meaning they were the enemy of at least one person in the room.

As she waited for silence to come she sent a command to Fury through their mental link. Take sim with 180mm, don't fire till I say to. She received a gruff acknowledgement from the zoid which had every desire to to blow away the unwelcome guest.

[Ushima]

co-oped with TheDoctor:

As the girl pointed to the window, everyone hesitated. Cadmus let out a scowl underneath his breath. The fools made it too obvious. Let's just keep this as our little secret, huh? He straightened himself from the wall, walking towards the hologram.

"Now Michael. Exactly how high up is Pete?" He linked eye contact with the man, winking at him and looking towards the door with a casual expression. "Because that is going to have an influence on this whole thing. If we don't know how high up this Zealot bastard is then we don't know how much of an influence he has on the rest of the city." He then linked eye contact with Agera and Nell, holding up a finger beside him to tell them to stay where they were as he took casual steps towards the window.

They better get the signals.

"If I had to guess I'd say he's mid-grade." Michael said. His eyes fixed on the target, a green triangle indicated it's exact location. "Though the Zealots have no influence on the city at all. They just use it as a safe haven to avoid the Alliance."

Cadmus arrived at a small shelf near the window, brushing it idly with his hand. "No influence at all? They don't even have other corporations working with them or for them? Factions? Spies?" He took a slow, casual step towards the window, looking at Michael. Then he nodded.

"No. Then they run the risk of exsposure. The bigger they get, the bigger blip on the radar they are. A catch twenty-two." At Cadmus' nod the target indicator turned red. He reached for his gun, years of hardcore millitary training activating. The gun was up and he squeezed off a round before rushing to the door. The mini-zoid shattered into pieces.

"Life sign detected outside the building." Delta said as Michael ran by.

Michael made it to the door and kicked it open. Turning to the right he saw a small girl standing by the window. He aimed his gun. "Freeze!"

[The Bartender]

"Now Michael. Exactly how high up is Pete?" He linked eye contact with the man, winking at him and looking towards the door with a casual expression. "Because that is going to have an influence on this whole thing. If we don't know how high up this Zealot bastard is then we don't know how much of an influence he has on the rest of the city."
Mora snugged, if they didn't even know what kind of a person Pete was then they wouldn't have no chnace against him even less against Prime.

The mini-zoid shattered into pieces.
Mora jumped up and pressed a button in her clock inside her cloack to give Matter a signal to pick her up and put on her mask as the "Black Knight" stormed out and pointed at her with his gun.
She turned around and said to the man;
"Good luck buddy, you will need it." Mora's voice was twisted due of the mask and she sound a lot like a boy. Then, in a blink of an eye, she jumped into the air and grabbed the almost invicible wire that flew over her head and flew away while Matter pulled her higher and higher into the dark night sky.

***

After they had flew away few miles, Matter landed and let Mora down so she could start her report.
"Are you okey Mora? Did you get hit?" The rather small zoid asked;
"No, they were too slow to act properly before I could get away. But I still could hear what they are planning..." She said and started the transmission of the recording she had made with the spy Zoid. After few minutes she received a reply that told that the higher-ups had been warned and they would sent units into Dust town immidately. She also was told to keep on following the group if they were to leave the town before the reinforcements would arrive...

[MaskofSilence]

Understanding Cad's signal, Nell waited patiently for them to enact their plan. She wanted to do something, but knew there was nothing that she could do that wouldn't give them away. At that moment, she wished that she had some mental link with Necros. He could have come from the outside and trapped the spy.

A loud noise brought her out of her thoughts. Micheal had shot the spy Zoid and then ran outside. Standing, she went after him, only to see the person escape with the help of a Raynos. Necros, who had been sleeping in the back, woke up to the sound of gunfire. Alert, he ran to the front of the building only to find his rider and a guy standing there. Nell wasn't surprised when Necros came around the corner of the building. Although, she was surprised when his gaze fixed on the gun and then Micheal, tail flicking back and forth in warning. An audible sigh left her mouth. "Necros, he's not enemy."

Automatically, Necros backed down. Coming to stand next to Micheal, Nell started to message her temple, she could feel the headache coming on. "There going to send reinforcements." it wasn't a question, but a statement. Looking at Necros, she found a soft smile come to her face. She knew that had been bored with Nell's current occupation, he would be happy to fight again.

Turning her attention back to Micheal, she then remembered him saying that he needed to fix his Zoids stabilizer. "I pulled out some tools that should help with fixing the stabilizer in your Zoid. They are in the red box next to the chair that I was sitting in earlier." she commented casually.

[MarchingThunder]

The attempt Agera had made to signal that they had a listener outside had gone well enough, but the attempt to capture them had not gone well enough as Michael Knight had generously signaled his intentions by shooting the scout zoid before giving the eavesdropper a chance to surrender rather than just capturing them.

Agera may have been reluctant to join all things, but she did believe that any action one took had to be decisive, not half-assed like this had been. With a sigh she stepped outside and sent a message to Fury telling him to come join her at the shop as she waited for more developments as one of the people, Nell, spoke about having parts to repair a zoid. Agera knew she couldn't fix Fury, he was as fully functional as he was going to get any time soon, Agera's fusions with him had told her that.

"You botched that," she said softly looking to Michael, "It was already clear she wasn't friendly we would have been better off if you had attempted to wound him or eliminate him." As she finished speaking, Fury strode to a stop next to her outside the building before crouching down next to her.

[TheDoctor]

Cadmus was about to break through the window and grab the spy when Michael shot at the spy zoid. What the hell is he doing?! The idiot just let the listener know that we are here! Sure enough, as he peered out the window, he saw the boy lifted up by a line from a Raynos. Dammit, Michael. This isn't what we need right now. Sighing and allowing his built-up tension to leave his shoulders, he stood up, shaking his head as he left the shop.

All of them stared at the rapidly vanishing Raynos that flew further and further into the night, its outline just barely illuminated by the night sky. It was way too fast for Cadmus to pursue on his own. The bastard got away. Then he turned, seeing the bladed Katfysh. Looking at the zoid, he nodded towards it with a slight grin. Necros was Nell's zoid, the one that she had taken through Devil's Canyon and beyond.

"You botched that. It was already clear she wasn't friendly we would have been better off if you had attempted to wound him or eliminate him."

Cadmus heard the girl speak to Michael with a quiet voice. He spoke in as well, shrugging his shoulders. "To be honest, Michael, I'm gonna have to side with her on this one. I had no idea that you were gonna shoot that zoid. I didn't even notice the thing. I was just gonna break through the window and grab the-"

He cut off as he saw the Berserk Fury crouch down next to Agera. Shit...do we have that thing on our side? It seemed friendly to the girl, yet Cadmus continued to stare in shock. Wow...well...that's pretty convenient. Then he looked over at Necros, then at the Kinami, which was a fair distance away. Sighing, he tucked his hands in his pockets and turned his back to the group, looking at the ground.

Everyone has their zoids. Everyone but me.

[Ushima]

The Raynos came and picked up his target. He drew his other gun and started firing at the zoid. Emptying both guns within seconds. "I Have recorded the Raynos' signal. I'll know if we see it again."

"Good." Reloading he holstered his weapons.

"You botched that. It was already clear she wasn't friendly we would have been better off if you had attempted to wound him or eliminate him."

To be honest, Michael, I'm gonna have to side with her on this one."

"They'll be expecting us. But they don't know when, they don't know how, they don't know where. Paranoia will set in as they wait, choas could spread through the ranks. Maybe not on the scale I've seen at Metropolis during the first war but setting them on edge will be our advantage." Michael removed his tie and shirt. "There's more than one way to fight battles other than shooting everything."

"Never thought I'd hear you say that." Delta moved over to the Kinami.

"I know. Feels weird saying that." Michael grabbed some tools and climbed up on top of the Liger. "We need to move soon. I got a safehouse not far from here we can talk more there. I need these repairs done while I'm here at the shop with adequat equipment. Nell I could use your expertise up here. Cadmus how are we on essential supplies?"

[MarchingThunder]

"They'll be expecting us. But they don't know when, they don't know how, they don't know where. Paranoia will set in as they wait, chaos could spread through the ranks. Maybe not on the scale I've seen at Metropolis during the first war but setting them on edge will be our advantage."

"There's more than one way to fight battles other than shooting everything."

Agera simmered at this declaration from Michael. She may have abhorred getting into needless fights, but her upbringing had taught her how to wage proper wars including the mental side of combat and counter intelligence. With a clenched jaw she began speaking to him again. "There may be more than one way to wage war, but if you were going to let her get away like that you should have given them more information like a false time table to put them on edge, but far worse than any information is no information. The fact that that eavesdropper survived means that they'll know you have someone in their command structure most likely that was passing you this information and they'll probably be purged. In other words you're failure will likely cost someone vital to your cause their life."

At that she began to turn away to climb up into the now open cockpit of the Berserk Fury though before she could make it that far she caught a glance from Cadmus that carried an all too familiar emotion: loss. For a brief second she locked eyes with him and gave him a brief sad smile that showed she knew the same pain as she nodded to him before climbing into Fury's cockpit which quickly closed and sealed up.

She knew the reinforcements would be there soon, but she had no interest in being part of the blood letting unless she absolutely had to. She and Fury were more than capable of handling the usual groups they encountered with ease.

[MaskofSilence]

"I know. Feels weird saying that. We need to move soon. I got a safe house not far from here we can talk more there. I need these repairs done while I'm here at the shop with adequate equipment. Nell I could use your expertise up here. Cadmus how are we on essential supplies?"

While he was talking, Micheal had taken his shirt off. For a second, Nell felt her mind stop. Shaking her head, she climbed up on the Zoid with him. "Do you know what you need done?" she asked, while starting the check over herself. She knew they didn't have a lot of time, so they had to make this quick. She found a couple things wrong; the stabilizer needed a new hydrolic line, a couple holes here and there needed plugging, software upgrades and the blades needed work. A lot to get done in a short amount of time. Pulling out some tools, Nell got started.

Her mind was focused on the Zoid, completing forgetting about the people around her. The only other person she was remotely aware of was Micheal and that was because he was working on the Zoid as well. Even while she worked, she found her mind going to what was to come. Micheal may have a safe house, but what about the people living in Dust Town? She had helped more than one on many occasions. She even made one or two friends, not matter how reclusive she was. Could she really just leave them?

[TheDoctor]

When Cadmus looked up, he saw Agera looking at him. Then she gave him a sympathetic smile, and he froze as he looked into her eyes. What is that? Is it...understanding? He kept eye contact with her after she nodded, but then she turned away, climbing into the Berserk Fury. How could she possibly understand? I don't even trust her yet, but she seems to think that she knows what I am feeling.

"Cadmus how are we on essential supplies?"

Cadmus looked at the ground, his mind distant. He had barely even picked up what Michael had said, but he nodded nonetheless. "Yeah...I'll go check on that." His voice seemed smaller than it had been before as he walked back into Nell's shop, heading into a room separate from the garage.

Closing the door, he walked into the middle of the room. The lights were all off, and starlight poured through the window to illuminate the room with a dull grey light. He paused as he closed his eyes, allowing his mind to flee from him while his face remained passive. His mind, which had previously erected impassible barriers over certain memories of his past, was wide open to him. Flashbacks bombarded him as he sorted through the memories.

Then they suddenly stopped as memories of his zoid played behind his eyelids. Memories of his companion, the Murasame Liger that had filled his heart when was empty. Memories of Rigon.

Memories of how he ceased to be.

~~~~~

Why did you do this, Rigon...Why...

I needed to, little one. I would rather see you live in this world without me than I without you. You are young. You have so much to see in this world. I can see nothing but hate.

No! Don't you get it?! Who will I have?! My mom is dead, my dad left me! I need you, Rigon! You're all I have left! You're my life! What am I supposed to do without you!?

Live. Experience life without me. Find your father, and find another zoid. We always knew that this time would come.

I can't, Rigon! This isn't right! Please, don't leave me! You don't have to go! I can help you! I can fuse with you-

No, Cadmus. You can't. My zoid core is damaged. This is inevitable...this has to happen.

Rigon...

Be strong, little one. Please be strong in my memory. I will find you again one day, and we shall run through the plains of infinity.

...Thank you for everything...I love you, Rigon.

I-

~~~~~

Cadmus did not feel a single thing as his fist collided with the wall next to him, causing the drywall insulation to crack and slightly crater. That was only a physical pain. That would leave as the body healed. But what of pain of the heart?

Tears streamed down his cheeks like raindrops, tracing lines on his skin that shined with the reflected starlight. He didn't even realize that they were there, but there was nothing that he could do to stop them anyway. He stood there silently, clenching his teeth with his eyes closed. A lump of bitter sadness was building in his throat, and he did everything in his power to stop it. However, he could not.

Collapsing to his knees, Cadmus finally submit himself to his emotions, something that he had refused to do ever since the incident had happened in the first place. Quiet sobs shook his body as he allowed the sorrow to envelope him, ignoring the urge to resist. Placing his forehead in his hands, he felt the small drops of water fall from his face, sparkling briefly in the starlight before bursting on the ground beneath him. His back trembled as he drew in long yet shallow breaths, releasing them in hushed, sporadic cries.

No one could possibly understand! She could never know what I have to deal with, the constant lingering loneliness in the back of my head! It reminds me, every second that I check it... His eyes cracked open, and through his clouded vision he saw his own shadow dimly in the light from the night sky. I touch that part of my mind instinctively every time I wake up, expecting him to be there. But no...he's never there. I'm only disappointed further every time that I try. His eyes flooded with tears again, and he squeezed them shut, causing the tears to fall. He was all that I had! The only real friend that I could always count on! The only one who stayed with me...but then he left, just like the others...

Slowly yet steadily, his quiet sobs fell to silence, and he took deep breaths again.

How could you, Rigon...how could you...

[MarchingThunder]

It was several minutes into Agera's self-imposed isolation when Berserk Fury popped a small image up on one of the side screens for her to see. Opening her eyes to look at the image, Agera gave a small grumble as she took in what she saw. "What do you want me to go do about him?" she questioned. The answer Fury gave her was rather obvious as he reopened the cockpit, leaving her sighing in annoyance. She had been there and she had no desire to go back, but trying to help Cadmus would be doing just that.

A small jostle from Fury beneath her served as further antagonism to go and help Cadmus with his grief.

"Fine. Fine..." Agera mumbled softly as she ditched her jacket in the cockpit before nimbly climbing down Fury's body to the ground. Once she was on solid ground, Agera made her way into the shop and towards the stairs that would lead her up to the next floor where Fury had shown her Cadmus was venting his anger and grief on the walls. As she reached the next landing she could hear Cadmus punch the wall above her and sighed as she quietly stepped into the room he had taken over to sulk in.

As he cried and leaned against the wall, Agera carefully balled her right fist before striking out and smacking directly into Cadmus's cheek. Unprepared to be hit, she knocked the man flatout on the floor as she said, "You need to quit sulking Cadmus. You're not the only one who has suffered the loss of a partner."

[Ushima]

"Here." Michael moved behind Nell. He placed his hands on her. "Hold that here like this. I need to secure it." Moving next to her where the line connected to the stabalizer. Grabbing his equipment he started fastening bolts to it. "Ok it's good. You can let go now." Now that was done the Kinami would be able to move at maximum speed without the risk of a leg falling off. Michael moved into the cockpit. Opening up a storage compartment he pulled out a drive. "Hey think you can install this while I do some patch work? It's simple, just pop it in and follow the on screen instructions." He held out the drive to Nell. "Unless you don't want to do software work on a rare zoid?"

[TheDoctor]

As the fist collided with Cadmus' cheek, he fell to the ground, his mind entirely blank. ...the...fuck? The punch hurt, that much was for certain. But it was more of the shock that came from the impact that perplexed Cadmus. I thought I was alone! What the hell?! As he fell back, his head hit the floor, and he stared up at the ceiling. Then he saw the girl standing over him.

"You need to quit sulking Cadmus. You're not the only one who has suffered the loss of a partner."

Growling, Cadmus quickly leaped up, grabbing the girl by the collar and shoving her against the wall. How dare she. She has no god damn right. Then he brought his face within inches of hers, staring into her eyes. That bitch knows nothing. Nothing!

"So you think that gives you the right to punch every man who has experienced a loss? You know NOTHING of what I feel, Agera. You don't know what I lost. I lost EVERYTHING." His eyes were full of a fiery rage, his teeth bared. "Don't even try to come in here and tell me what I need to do. You don't even know who I am!"

Then he stumbled back as he felt her punch him in the stomach, and he released her collar to hold his muscled abdomen. When he looked back into her eyes, he did not see fear or even sympathy. No, he only saw disappointment. Who does she think she is? I'll teach her a lesson she'll never forgot.

Then something stopped him. Well...who do I think I am? Rigon? Does that mean that I can stand up to anyone that I wish, refusing to take what people throw at me? I have no right either. I know her about as much as she knows me. His previous fury started to leave his body, and the tension is his face and shoulders faded. For all I know, she could have experienced the same. I mean, zoids...die. Nothing I can do can stop that.

Wiping the drying tears from his eyes, Cadmus let his shoulders fall and looked at the ground with a sigh. For the first time, the constantly burning fire inside of him had been smothered. Not entirely extinguished, but reduced to burning embers. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for."

Hunching his shoulders, he tucked his hands into his pockets, went through the door, and left to check on the supplies.

[MaskofSilence]

"Here." Nell jumped slightly when she felt Micheal's presence behind her. Before she could turn and talk to him, he placed his hands on her. Automatically, her body tensed as the warmth seeped through her clothes. Her pulse started to beat a little faster and she was now all too aware of the fact that he was shirtless and very close. "Hold that here like this. I need to secure it." Her mind was on the fritz, so she obeyed. When he moved next to her, she allowed herself to take a deep breath and concentrate again. "Ok it's good. You can let go now."

Releasing it, she suddenly picked up the faint sound of screaming from the back of her shop. Curiosity was about to get the best of her, but before it could, she was called upon by Micheal again. "Hey think you can install this while I do some patch work? It's simple, just pop it in and follow the on screen instructions." Micheal held out the drive to her. "Unless you don't want to do software work on a rare Zoid?"

She scoffed and wordlessly took the software from him. Climbing in the Zoid, she took a minute to look around the Zoid's cockpit. She knew a lot about most of the Zoids, like weak spots and what there programing looked like, but not this one. She had never gotten to work Kinami Liger, and probably never would again. Putting in the program, she got started, the screen glowing on her face she worked. She had a hard time keeping a small smile from finding it's way on her face. Outside, Necros laid down in front of the shop. His may eyes have been closed, but he was fully awake and aware of his surroundings.

[MarchingThunder]

Cadmus had reacted about as Agera expercted. First he had been violent, slamming her against the wall by her collar as he began lecturing her on how little she actually knew, but a solid five inch punch to his gut had been enough to drop him to the ground where he had held his stomach as he seemed to contemplate the issue at hand.

It took a few moments but eventually he wiped his tears and stood before giving her a small apology as he left to go take care of the supplies. With Cadmus moving along Agera sighed quietly to herself. He was taking the loss of his partner just as hard as she had though she didn't know how long it been since it had happened to him.

After a few minutes she headed back down stairs and into the night air. With a small smile, she looked up into starry sky.

[The Bartender]

Mora had pitched a camp between some big rocks outside the sand town and had sent Matter back into the HQ for the new upgrades that had been ordered for every member of the Zealots short time ago.
Mora laid on the ground, looking at the stars and pulled her planket higher. Blue Devil... Black knight... They want to kill Prime... I won't let them do that... I hope the plan is already getting forward as there has been no information to us during the last months... Mora sighed and fell asleep only to be woken up by Matter few hours later;
"Mora, wake up Mora. The Raynos shouted cheery as Mora slowly got up and looked around only to see Matter sitting on one of the rocks but Mora didn't first even notice him as the colour of the Zoid was different than usual; He wasn't the aquamarine Matter usually had but now his colour was dark purple with black stripes along the wings.
"Whoa, it's quiet hard to see you when it's dark. The other gadgets were also applied, right?" Mora asked and rubbed her eyes,
"Of course. It was an order from the HQ to equip the jammers to all Zoids, actually it was given already few weeks ago but you just ignored it everytime." The Raynos scolded Mora who just began to pack her gear in order to leave.

[Ushima]

Michael put on a pair of goggles and grabbed a welder before he started patching up some holes in his zoid. It got hot fast. But this needed to be done to hold up the structural integrity of the Kinami liger. "Damn bullets." Michael cursed. Still though there weren't many patches he needed to take care of.

~

Delta wandered over to Cadmus. "Are the supplies in order? Do we need to send someone into town to get anything we're missing?"

~

After finishing two welds he moved over to the cockpit, sitting on the edge he watched Nell work. She seemed focused. He admired her skill. "Hey how's it going in here?"

[TheDoctor]

Luckily enough, Cadmus was able to scavenge most of the necessary supplies from within storage units. As he lifted one of the heavy metal boxes, he grunted, placing it on top of another box. Peering inside, he found flashlights, batteries, and other miscellaneous electronics. Meh. Why the hell not? Grabbing the contents of the box, he transplanted them into a large black duffel bag with other electronic materials for repairs. There were about three other identical duffel bags filled with supplies for minor zoid repairs, two boxes full of small, compact meals, and five gas tanks full of water. We might need to resupply along the way, but we are more or less finished. Leaning back, he looked at the stars and yawned. It's late. We need some shut-eye.

As he dusted off his hands, the organoid Delta approached.

"Are the supplies in order? Do we need to send someone into town to get anything we're missing?"

Cadmus gestured at the bags, boxes, and canteens. "We're set. I'm gonna start distributing the supplies amongst the zoids so that we can leave tonight. We can set the zoids to autopilot and sleep on the road." As he lifted two of the heavy black duffel bags, he let out another grunt of effort. "Let Agera know that we're getting ready to go, and we should be out in an hour."

As Cadmus walked away with a duffel bag over each shoulder, he went to the garage where the Kinami Liger was hiding in. He noticed that Michael was on the edge of the cockpit, and Nell was inside working on the software. Snorting, Cadmus approached them, looking up at the cockpit from below. Lazy bum.

"Michael, get your ass moving and help me out with these supplies!" He threw the two bags at the paw of the Kinami, turned around, and started to leave the garage. Then he paused as he remembered something, turning back to face him. "Also, mind if I ride with you to Arcadia? I'm..." He looked at the ground, trailing off. My zoid...I need another zoid. I can't keep walking around when the others are in their zoids. I'll just slow them down. I need to get myself a new one.

But it won't be the same...

Then he snapped back to reality. "I'm gonna need a ride to get there."

[MaskofSilence]

Working, Nell barely noticed the shadow that appeared in her vision. She wasn't worried about it though because she already knew who it was. "Hey how's it going in here?" Micheal. She let her eyes flicker off the screen for a second before answering. "It's going well." The ghost of a smile was the only real indication as to what she had been feeling. She then sighed, that was cold. He had just let her work on his rare Zoid and that was all she had to say? She was about to further emphasize her amazement and thanks when Cad interrupted.

"Michael, get your ass moving and help me out with these supplies!" She let out a small laugh. It was almost like old times. When Micheal walked away, she got back to work. It wasn't long before she finished the programing. Hopping back out, she gently pats the Zoid on the side and walks to her room in the back. Opening the door, she looks around. It wasn't much, but it was was a life.

Walking over to her dresser, she pulls out a small bag. Swiftly, she starts to pack the bag with necessary items. Since she didn't have much to begin with, so she didn't have much to pack. Swinging the bag on her back, she then grabbed a tool set. Reaching in the back of her closet, she pulled out the last item. Her father's cloak. It had been a while since she wore it, after all, there was no need for it when working as a mechanic. But it was time to bring it out once again.

Smiling warmly at the cloak, she swung it over her shoulder and proceeded toward Necros, who was outside the garage. He stood when she saw her, fully aware of what was happening. Quickly she loaded everything she was carrying, except the cloak, which she threw around her own shoulders. She then went back in and loaded miscellaneous items, things that might be useful.

When she was sure she was done, she let Necros lay back down. Deciding to be useful, she then went to find out if they still needed help loading anything. She had decided to leave with them, in the dull hope that the reinforcements would follow them when they left. If not...well, Nell would deal with that if it came.

[Ushima]

"Michael, get your ass moving and help me out with these supplies!"

"Lazy?" Michael loked down to Cadmus as the teen walked away. He snorted. "I've just been bsting my ass." He was hot and sweaty from hard work. And the minute he takes a break he gets called lazy? Not fair. Jumping down to the ground he eyes the duffle bags. "Hm we might need to stop somewhere." Michael said to no one. "Well we'll cross that bridge when we get there." Grabbing the bags he easily lifted them and stored them in an empty compartment in the Kinami's underside.

"Are we ready to move out?" Delta approached Michael.

"Yeah. Get in the Liger. Nell finished the software." Michael grabbed his shirt, tie and jacket as Delta fused.

"This software is already making things better."

"Mind if I ride with you to Arcadia?"

Michael looked back to see Cadmus. "Yeah hop in." There was no way he'd say no to giving a friend a ride. He put his shirt back on. He spotted Nell wandering around and went over to her. "Hey Nell. Thanks for helping out. I really appreciate it. If you need anything let me know and I'll help any way I can. It's the least I can do." He reached out, put a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks." Giving her a nod Michael climbed back into the Kinami. "Ok everyone ready?"

[MarchingThunder]

Agera looked back to the rest of the motley group as Michael spoke up calling out if everyone was ready. She gave a brief nod before climbing into Fury as the zoid lowered his cockpit down to a height where she could easily reach a hand hold and clamber up. From there she settled back in under her jacket and prepared herself for the journey to Arcadia. She and Fury were already fully provisioned for a much longer journey, but having extra supplies was a bonus when they could be gotten.

She did take note of Cadmus hitching a ride with Michael and felt a pang of sadness for the man, she knew he needed help, and she would do what she could, but only when she could. Going out of the way would make it worse for everyone involved.

[TheDoctor]

-Four days later-

Their journey had been surprisingly enjoyable. Although the travel in the zoids was rather mind-numbing, it was comfortable for Cadmus. After a couple of days, he felt easier around Agera, and the tension between them faded. They didn't run into much trouble; no bandits, few wilds zoids, and enough checkpoints among wasteland for them to resupply when they needed.

With a wide yawn, Cadmus leaned back in the seat behind Michael, kicking his legs up on the shoulders of Michael's chair. They were very close to Arcadia, and they would probably reach it by nightfall. He stretched his arms up, his joints popping. It was midday, and Cadmus' limbs were stiff.

"Hey Michael," he stifled a yawn as he spoke. "Let's take a break. I feel like my legs are about to fall off."

[Ushima]

"You don't get your feet off my chair you won't have to worry about them falling off. I'll tear them off." Michael threatened. It was very annoying.

"A break would be good." Delta's voice came over his speaker.

"Very well." The Kinami slowed to a stop. "Hey we'll rest here for a half hour then pick it up." Michael started climbing down to the ground.

"According to my scans we are roughly a hundred miles from Arcadia." Delta materialized next to Michael.

"Good then we should get there soon." Michael sat down against the Kinami. "First things first. We gotta get a place to stay. I know a hotel owner who owes me a favor for the time I rescued his daughter from kidnappers. And then from there I have to get permission to run operations in the city. That'll be easy, just a meeting with the heads of the corporations. After that I'll contact my informant and get an update. Easy."

"And then we strategize the take down." Delta stood next to his partner.

"One step closer." Michael put his arms behind his head and leaned back.

[MarchingThunder]

It had been a relatively peaceful four days of travel towards Arcadia and things had improved quite a bit amidst the group at least from Agera's perspective and it had only taken one thing to do that.

The first day out things had still been quite cool between her and Cadmus, but after dinner that night, things had finally begun to warm between them and they were doing better and he didn't seem as angry or depressed as he had been when she had given him a wake up call.

Now though she was listening in on the cheerful chatter coming from the cockpit of Michael's zoid where he was talking with Cadmus over the group's radio frequency, intentionally or not. With a small smile and a sigh, Agera spoke up into her radio to get their attention as she said, "I know a number of people in the black market section of the city for acquiring more specialized parts if we need to along with anything else that might come up."

[MaskofSilence]

For the last four days, Nell had gotten more sleep than she had in the last year. Their was just something so soothing about the rhythmic pounding of a Zoid's feet on the ground that made her sleep so much easier. In fact the only reason that she was up now was because the chatter over her radio.

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she picked up on the conversation. Talk of a break, bantering between Cad and Micheal and then arrangements for what would happen when they got to Arcadia. Personally, Nell was excited to go to this particular city. Why? The last time she came here, she found out that if she hadn't escaped all those years ago, this is probably were she would have been sold into the Black Market. Leaning her head on the back of her seat, she took a deep breath. The past is the past. she reminded herself.

Necros started to slow down, which meant that it was time for the break. Once he stopped, she climbed out and landed on the ground with a small 'thud'. Standing up straight, she stretched and walked over to where the group was sitting. The only spot left was the one next to Micheal. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Ever since she had helped him fix his Zoid, she felt strange around him. Gliding over, she took the spot next to him, conscientiously putting some distance between them. Legs extended and crossed in front of her, she relaxed against his Zoid, Necros settling close by. A comfortable silence then fell over the group.

[TheDoctor]

As silence enveloped the group, Cadmus casually glanced around, examining their small crew. With a surprising pang of jealousy, he noticed that Nell had taken the spot next to Michael. His insides squirmed a bit as he forced himself to look at the ground in front of him, and he stretched over to grab a small handheld metal canteen.

As he took a swig of water, he suddenly felt the urge to offer the canteen to Nell before passing it to the others. No. Lowering the canteen, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Michael and Agera are the closest. That would just look out of the ordinary. Just pass it along. No need to step out of your way. Without looking up, Cadmus extended the canteen to Michael, who took it.

While Michael was taking his drink, Cadmus rolled his neck, cracking it with a sigh of satisfaction. Then he stood, stretching his back. The muscles along his shoulder blades stood out beneath his tight sleeveless black shirt. "I gotta take a leak. No peeking." With a wink, he strode off towards a large boulder.

Once he had finished his business and zipped up, Cadmus paused. Why do I keep on thinking of her? I thought that I thoroughly established how bad I am with women. It just never goes right. So why do I keep trying to ruin our friendhip by replacing it with romance?

Rigon, what would you do?

Suddenly, Cadmus heard the sound of a zoid. First there were footsteps, each one sending a slight tremble in the earth that gained magnitude with each step. Then there was a roar that came undoubtedly from a Liger model. Cadmus was sure that the others had heard, but he wanted to check it out first. He identified that the noises were coming from over a hill next to him, so he quickly scrambled up it, laying down at the top and peering over the hill.

On the other side of the hill stood an Energy Liger. (http://auroralion.deviantart.com/art/Energy-Liger-MK-II-254646316)

Cadmus had never been fond of Energy Ligers. They looked silly with their tiny wings, long horn, and lack of a neck. They were very powerful creatures with great speed to their name despite their bulkiness, but they never fit Cadmus' style. They were meant for mid-ranged bombardment with little close-range combat.

But this Energy Liger was much different. This varient lacked a horn and wings, and it was much less bulky. Its head can actually pivot and turn now. Instead of using the usual horn that is the EL's signature, this one uses the blade on its head, giving shorter range but more power. It seems to have traded firepower for agility, for the bulk that was provided by excess weapons has been removed. A set of side blades on that zoid would be deadly...

It was as if the fire inside of Cadmus roared back to life. This fire was controlled and properly fueled instead of his previous wildfire that had been smothered by Agera several days ago. He was entirely rekindled. He felt as if his body and mind had been cleaned and primed, all sluggishness banished.

I think I'm in love. Grinning with confidence, Cadmus stood. The Liger noticed him. It roared, crouching into a ready position. With a grunt, Cadmus took a step towards it.

Let's dance, buddy.

[The Bartender]

Mora was sitting on a stone near the main entrance of Arcadia and waited for the group of the Blue devil to arrive. During the last four days she had followed them and reported everything into the HQ, now her job would be to join them and then inform the Zeaolts about their movements. Mora didn't question the orders but it was still a bit unpleasant to be so near the enemy, if they would let her "join" them.
"I hope they won't need too much time..." Mora sighed and took a sip from the water bottle and looked at Matter who was now painted in bright red and yellow.
"How long should it take? About one more day?" She asked the Raynos and began to eat her bread,
"I would say they are still about 100 miles from here so if they won't rest it would take about 10 hours until they reach Arcadia, that is if the higher-ups let them into the city..." Matter spoke and moved his wings restless...

[MarchingThunder]

As the group rested, Agera had come out from the Fury, for once without her jacket in a sign of the growing comfort she had with the rest of the group. Now though, she had dual pistols in an X shaped holster on a belt at the base of her back. She had been neglecting to carry the two large caliber weapons for the past few days, but today had felt like a good a day as any to wear them as she sat with the rest of Michael, Nell, and Cadmus. And things were nice and pleasant till Cadmus decided to ruin it with a rather blunt and crude declaration.

"I gotta take a leak. No peeking."

Wonderful. Agera had obviously needed to know that tidbit of information, and the fact he had followed it up with a wink had made it even worse. Still it was barely a scant minute or two after he had left when the approaching steps of a large zoid had begun to reverberate through the ground, instantly Agera was on her feet and Fury was assuming a fighting position as she sprinted in the direction Cadmus had gone. From what she knew he was unarmed and away from the group, and thus, in the worst situation.

As she finally caught up to where he was, she found him looking at an unusually equipped Energy Liger. Cautiously she approached from his back left and spoke up saying, "If you think it'll help you, Cadmus, I would suggest doing it but be careful. I'll help if you need it."

[Ushima]

Michael took the canteen and drank. "Boy that hits the spot." Michael passed the drink along. Sighing he leaned back against the Liger.

"I gotta take a leak. No peeking."

"You say that again I'll shoot you." Michael rolled his eyes. Sometimes Cadmus could be as immature as he could be. Though his immaturity was to shake off the stress of his job, to relax. Could he say the same for Cad? Probably, he didn't really know.

"We should be leaving soon." Delta said.

"We will." Michael assured his organoid partner. After a bit of waiting Michael turned to Nell. "Hey just want you to know the Kinami appreciates your help."

"While Michael cannot directly soeak with zoids I can as we connect consciousness. I realy the zoid's thoughts to him." Delta explained.

"He doesn't mind if you work on him some more." Michael smiled.

Delta couldn't pass it up. "I believe he also said something about doing a better job on some things than Michael."

"Hey!" Michael was about to continue but a loud roar cut him off. "What the hell is that?" Delta immediately fused with the Liger. Michael stood, helping Nell up. They ran after Agera. They came to a stop behind Cadmus. "An Energy Liger?"

"It seems to have been heavily modified." Delta's voice said in the back of his head.

"What does it want?" Cadmus started moving toward it. Michael's hand went to his gun, ready to draw at a moment's notice. "Is he doing what I think he's doing?"

"I believe so."

"Damn it." Michael cursed, watching his friend move toward the wild zoid.

[MaskofSilence]

Taking the water bottle from Micheal, Nell tilted it and let the water slide down her dry throat. Pulling it away, she let out a sigh. God it tasted good. She wanted more, but forced herself to close the lid and pass it on. There would be plenty of water in the city and she could have as much as she wanted there.

Leaning back against the Zoid, she let herself get comfortable. It was nice to be able to stretch her legs after sitting down for so long. "I gotta take a leak. No peeking." Nell rolled her eyes, but allowed a small smile on her face. Cadmus could be so childish sometimes. "You say that again I'll shoot you." Just like old times.

Silence then followed. Suddenly she felt Micheal turn toward her, telling that Kinami appreciated her help. Delta then went into saying how Micheal knew that, apparently Delta relayed Kinami thoughts to Micheal. She found herself wondering what Necros thought of her. Blinking she managed catch the last part of what Delta said, "I believe he also said something about doing a better job on some things than Michael."

She found herself laughing as Micheal shot Delta looked. She was more than happy to help. Before she could tell him that, a loud roar echoed over the land. With Micheal helping her up, the rushed over to where Cad had disappeared. Necros followed close behind her. Her mouth fell open at the sight that greeted them. An Energy Ligar stalked toward Cad. Only, it wasn't a normal one. Nell's eyes wandered over the Zoid. It was beautiful. It was then she realized that Cad was walking toward it. A small smirk covered her face. Looks like Cad was about to try get a new Zoid.

[TheDoctor]

"If you think it'll help you, Cadmus, I would suggest doing it but be careful. I'll help if you need it."

Still grinning, Cadmus looked over his shoulder at Agera and the others. "Don't worry about it. I got this. Who the hell do you think I am?" Confident and full of energy, he took another step, sliding down the steep side of the hill towards the Liger on his feet.

When he approached the bottom of the hill, he jumped, landing on the flat ground in front of the Liger, which hopped back in apparent shock. Easy there. He brought his arms in a prepared stance, still grinning. Now come to papa.

The Energy Liger prowled around him cautiously, but it seemed as if it faltered on every other step. I can use that. But what's the cause of it? There were no visible wounds on it with the exception of a few bullet holes, yet it still walked as if something were holding it back.

Cadmus studied the pattern of its falter, eyeing the large guns on its sides. Don't make the first move. Let it attack first. He definitely wouldn't be able to send it into Command System Freeze, but he had a different, more risky idea...

With a roar, the zoid charged, lowering its bladed head. Now we're talking! Cadmus waited until the blade was mere feet away from him, watching the legs of the beast. Then, just before the blade hit him, he used the ability he had taught himself. Becoming the ball of energy that genezoids and organoids used to fuse with voids, he zipped to the side, evading the Liger's charge. He called it "fusing."

As the zoid skidded around, facing Cadmus again, his human form resumed, and he was still grinning. I bet Agera got a kick out of that. She's probably never seen a genezoid use fusing in combat. The Liger roared again, setting itself up for another charge. Just as I predicted. It has a pattern to how it falters. Now let's use that.

The Liger charged again, lowering its head. This time when Cadmus fused, he flew over the Liger instead, descending upon it in the ball of energy. Usually when Cadmus executed this, he hardened himself and his mind to reject the zoid, which resulted in him either knocking the zoid over or punching a hole through it. It was what had earned him his title, "the Blue Devil."

This time, however, his mind was open, and he was prepared to integrate with the zoid. Just like all of those times with Rigon.

oAkTkifj82374599dDsjfuJsd7uj27fhHHgfu7ss8Lha66g278 dHdsi1sjwi5ye65ncnBnfmbBk806nBb234n101010101010101 01010101010101010101010101011111111111111

Suddenly, Cadmus felt himself hit the ground, emerging with his normal body on all fours. What the hell was that?! He spat a bit of blood out of his mouth, looking up at the Liger that was many yards away. That thing has Republican military programming! It rejected my integration! But it is exhibiting the signs of a wild zoid! It isn't even using its guns!

Then he saw those very same guns activating.

"Shit!" Picking himself up, he sprinted away, hearing the guns unloading behind him. He dove behind a large rock jutting out of the earth, cringing as he felt the firepower of the Energy Liger bombard him. Breathing heavily, he leaned his head against the rock. Damn. Fusing is exhausting. After half a minute of constant thuds, it stopped. Cadmus took the small opportunity to peak out at the zoid.

It was...glitching. That was the best word for it. Its joints and limbs jerked randomly, and its roar was distorted and strange. Haywire military tech? Cadmus didn't question it. He now had his chance.

Sprinting from his position behind the rock, he glowed, enveloped by blue energy once again. Then he leaped into the air, propelled by thrusters used only when fusing with a zoid. The Liger had apparently gained control of itself, and as Cadmus flew towards it, it lowered its bladed head again, preparing for impact. This time, however, Cadmus reinforced his integration, prepared for the military programming.

As soon as he hit the blade of the zoid, the random letters and numbers appeared in his head. But he kept digging. He pushed past the coding, forcing his mind through the hectic jumbles of programming and into the zoid core. The programming had already been weakened by something else, but it still took tremendous effort to push past it.

Finally, he hit the core and felt instant relief. It was like sitting in the eye of a hurricane. There were traces of Republican programming, but they withered as Cadmus passed them by. It was a fortitude. Then he heard the voice.

So first you decide to battle me, a fully grown zoid, and now you force your way through the humans' programming? Your persistence is admirable, genezoid. But you will leave now.

He felt the zoid resisting the integration, but Cadmus pushed harder. Stop! Don't you realize that you obviously need my help to throw off this programming?

The zoid pushed back. I need nothing of the sort. I'll destroy this damned thing myself, and then I'll-

The voice suddenly stopped, replaced by a jumble of strange noises. Then a clear, toneless female voice resounded within the zoid core.

Emergency self-destruct countdown initiated. Destruction in Ten. Nine. Eight.

Suddenly, Cadmus was frantic. He searched through the zoid core, attempting to identify active Republican programs.

Six. Five. Four.

Oh no. You're not giving up that quickly. He found the program and forced it out of the zoid core.

Three. T-

The countdown stopped and the voice returned.

You are different, genezoid. You had the courage to challenge me, even when you do not have a zoid yourself. You fused with me, pushing your way through military programs, which is no small feat. Then you proceed to search through my own zoid core for a failsafe self-destruct program and somehow remove it. I know not how you were able to navigate the zoid core so well, but I shall not question it. You did trigger the self-destruct-

Cadmus cut the zoid off. That thing would've gone off anyway if I hadn't removed it! You can't blame me for that! It was sitting there, waiting for something to approach-

You did not let me finish. I swear, you are as hasty as a child. I was going to say that I am grateful for your removal of that. I belonged to the Republican military before, and they programmed me to follow every command. As you can tell, they made many physical alterations as well. I threw off these programs, and they declared me haywire. Their programming attempted to put me into lockdown and command system freeze, but I pushed past the programming. That was four months ago. I had been attempting to destroy the remainder of the programs when you discovered me, and that self-destruct was one of the last things I had to remove. I couldn't do it, for I was worried that I would set it off if I even thought about removing it. But you did it as if it were nothing while I was too frightened to touch it. For that, I do owe you my life.

Cadmus was stupefied. The zoid continued.

Not to mention the fact that you proved to be a worthy opponent without a zoid yourself. Please, allow me to travel with you. I saw a flash of your memories when you integrated. You are zoidless. I would gladly be your zoid. Your spirit is strong.

Once again, Cadmus was speechless. A new zoid? So soon? And this altered Energy Liger?

I...of course...yes, of course! I'm Cadmus. C-Cadmus Lakonen.

And I, Krios.

Cadmus exited from the zoid core. He appeared leaning against the leg of the Liger, grinning weakly with a pale face. A long gash ran from his left shoulder down to his right hip and although it did not bleed heavily, it bled freely. It had not clotted yet, and although it wouldn't kill him, it certainly weakened him significantly.

A fit of coughing hit him, and he placed his hand over the gash, letting out a small cry of pain as he slid to a sitting position against the leg of the Liger. It doesn't matter. I have a partner again.

A new presence entered his mind, filling the place where Rigon had been.

Yes, you do indeed.

[MarchingThunder]

"Don't worry about it. I got this. Who the hell do you think I am?"

Agera was so very close to saying she thought he was an idiot but held her tongue as she had done things as stupid in the past, approaching Berserk Fury near the top of such list so she was in no position to speak out on his approach as he charged forward.

As she watched Cadmus head towards the Energy Liger she felt the steady thuds behind her and the comforting mental presence as Fury took position standing over her. With a smile she looked up to her partner who sent a wave of comforting emotion towards her as she resumed watching Cadmus's struggle to tame a new zoid.

Cadmus's work seemed to drag on and on but eventually he seemed to succeed as he returned from his energy state to a position leaning against the Liger's leg. When he slid down though, she certainly didn't fail to hear his cry of pain from whatever wound he had suffered during the Liger's taming. With a small sigh she grabbed a small medical kit from Fury's cockpit as he leaned down to give her access to her possessions.

With the med kit in hand, Agera calmly headed out across the open ground to help Cadmus out. As she was walking she considered why she was willing to help him without her general reluctance in all things. She did consider it was likely do to their shared loss and left it at that as she came to a halt and crouched next to Cadmus.

"Well you were successful I'll give you that Cadmus, but that was still rather rash and foolish," she berated slightly as she opened the kit to begin tending to the gash running down his chest. With care, she poured the cool hydrogen-peroxide down the gash and waited for the inevitable reaction of pain.

[Ushima]

Michael moved closer to the Energy Liger. "Its got some nice mods on it. Makes it actually usable now." As he moved around it something on the underside caught his eye. It was the zoid's serial number. "Son of a bitch."

~

Michael was in another meeting with the other Generals. Ceaser had just finished talking battle strategy and was about to dismiss the meeting, but he had one more piece of information. "Two days ago our prototype Energy Liger Mk II went beserk and escaped from the containment facility." Michael was handed a piece of paper with details on it.

~

Delta approached Michael, piece of paper in his mouth. Michael took it from the organoid, reading it over. he looked up at the Liger then down at the paper again. "God damn it." Tossing the paper away he went back over to Nell, taking a seat on a large rock and laying back across it. "My superiors are gonna kill me for this."

[TheDoctor]

As the hydrogen-peroxide fell on the gash to disinfect it, Cadmus waited for it to sink in. First there was the long pause as he waited for the imminent pain. And then it hit him, a horrible stinging sensation that he was all too familiar to him, as was evident with the scars across his back and chest. Biting his lip, he squeezed his eyes shut, letting out an inward muffled groan of pain. Then the stinging subsided, and he relaxed.

His sleeveless shirt was essentially cut in half, so he grabbed the frail ends, tearing them and discarding the rags to reveal his bare chest to help Agera with her work. Looking down, he got a look at the wound. The gash was less than an inch wide, but it did run from the tip of his left shoulder to his right hip, dividing the skin right through the center of his chest. He saw that it had cut through several layers of skin, maybe into some of the muscle. Stomach churning slightly, he looked back up at Agera.

"Well you were successful I'll give you that Cadmus, but that was still rather rash and foolish,"

"But I was successful. That's what's important." He grinned at her. "It doesn't matter what I did or whether it was foolish or not. I made it out alive AND with a zoid." He shrugged as the dull stinging left his body. "You can't say that this is a bad deal."

As Michael inspected the zoid, Cadmus heard him curse. "What? What's up?" Then as Delta brought him a piece of paper, Michael read something, cursing again. Cadmus jolted as he tried to stand up, but he let out a small grunt of pain as Agera held him down, glaring at him with annoyance. She still had work to do on his gash.

"Sorry..." He glanced over as Michael lay down next to Nell and said something to her. "Michael, what is it? What's up with my zoid?"

[MaskofSilence]

Watching Cad and the Zoid in there intricate dance, Nell sighed and rocked back and fourth on her heels, her eyes never leaving the Zoid. Something felt off. Suddenly, Cad turned into a ball of light and moved. I wonder if I am the only human among this group... She was brought back from her thoughts when she noticed that Cad was bleeding. She thought about going to to help him, but knew better. He had to do this on his own.

Once the fight was done, Agera went to help Cad. She observed as they talked. Micheal then moved from beside her to go look at the Zoid. Delta then appeared with a paper in it's mouth. Taking it, his eyes scanned over the paper, "God damn it." Tossing it aside he came and laid back next to her. "My superiors are gonna kill me for this." Eyebrow knitted together, she walked over to the paper and picked it up. Coming back over, she leaned against the rock and let her eyes wandered over it.

"Michael, what is it? What's up with my zoid?" Cad shouted.

Letting her eyes wander over the paper, she only thought of one word. "Shit." She then glanced back at Micheal, "This is going to get interesting." Her eyes wandered back to the Zoid, she wondered what she could learn from it.

[MarchingThunder]

Cadmus had remained remarkably stationary while she had applied the hydrogen-peroxide Agera had reflected, but then Michael had had to go and start cursing about something as he approached which got Cadmus's attention enough that he started squirming around trying to see what it was that had Michael's attention and possible ire.

It wasn't that Agera was worried about Cadmus making the wound worse that was bother her as he moved around rather it was merely that he was making it a damn sight harder for her to put on the bandage as he shifted around. After a few seconds she was frustrated enough that she gave him a non-too-gentle tap on the top of his head as she spoke to him saying, "Hold still for a moment Cadmus so I can put on the damn bandage."

Whether he stayed still or not, Agera used that moment to forcefully apply the entirety of the bandage across his chest after a quick antiseptic spray before gently using her hands to smooth out any wrinkles in the material. The last bit of that action left her blushing though as she quickly stood and turned away trying to put the feeling of running her hands across his well-muscled chest out of her mind. She certainly didn't need to be love-struck at the moment Agera reflected, they were heading into possibly hostile territory and being distracted was the last thing Agera needed to be or she'd be dead.

[TheDoctor]

Once the bandage was on, Cadmus leaped up, forgetting the pain in a moment of frustration. Then he stopped halfway to Nell, his legs weak from exhaustion. Oh wait. I'm forgetting something. Turning back to Agera, he grinned, tapping the bandage lightly. "Thanks for the help."

Then he returned to Nell, snatching the paper from her hands. "Gimme that." His eyes scanned over the paper, reading line after the line. It was a military report, and it was about the Liger, apparently an Energy Liger Mark II model. "Well...son of...a bitch..." He turned to Michael, holding the report in his hand.

"I'm sure hoping that you don't have plans to turn this in." Still looking at Michael, he crumpled up the piece of paper, tossing it over his shoulder. "Because that Liger is now mine." Another fit of coughing hit him, and he lowered himself down to the ground, sitting down next to Nell and leaning against the rock.

As the coughing subsided, he looked back up at Michael, grinning weakly. "And just to warn you," he gestured at his newly bandaged wound. "that zoid's got one hell of a blade."

[Ushima]

Michael got up, moving toward the Energy Liger. "You are going to get me into a lot of trouble if I don't play this right."

"I'm sure you can come up with something to let Cadmus keep the zoid." Delta encouraged.

Michael thought for a moment. "Congrats Cadmus you are now responsible for field testing the prototype!" He was happy he got that out of the way. "Let me know how it handles." Going back to his zoid he grabbed a field computer (http://www.slipperybrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/dell-xfr-d630.jpg). Going over to the EL he opened a panel on the front leg and connected his laptop to it.

"What are you doing?" Delta asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

"I'm making sure its all there and that there's no problems with it. It's been missing for four months. Who knows what's happened to it in that amount of time." The blueprints appeared on screen. Each piece of the liger was highlighted as the part was inspected and information was displayed showing the result of the diagnostic. He had forgotten how many pieces there were in an Energy Liger.

[MaskofSilence]

Rereading the paper, Nell had gotten about halfway though when a voice interpreted and rudely ripped from her hands. Glaring at Cad, she watched as he took a spot next her while reading it. She was about to raise her hand and give him a light slap on the back of his head for being rude, but didn't. He was hurt right now and her pride would not let her hit someone who was already hurt. Plus, she could always get him later.

Her gaze then drift over to Agrea. The way her cheeks were heated up indicated that that she was thinking most likely about Cadmus. Then something else flashed in her eyes, uncertainty. For a second, she studied Agrea. They seemed similar in many ways, but others ways different. Nell found herself strangely wanting to befriend the girl. Although the thought made her nervous, she had never been very good with people.

Micheal moved behind her, drawing her attention. He walked over, grabbed his field computer and then linked it to the Energy Ligar. Now was her chance to learn and Micheal looked rather bored. Pushing herself off the rock, she made her way toward him. Once over, she ran her hand along the Zoid. Now that she was over here, she didn't know what to say. So, she started to draw off their previous conversation.

"You know," started started sending him a small smile. "I should be thanking you for letting me on Kinami. That was an amazing experience." Although, nothing would compare to building and creating Necros. He was her pride and joy and currently, her pride and joy was basking in the sunlight. She then felt a need to smack her head on the Zoid. It always came back to Zoids in her mind. Man, I need to work on my social skills...

[Ushima]

"You can't keep your mind off zoids can you?" Michael said with a chuckle as he watched her face darken a shade of red. "Not that there's anything wrong with that. Hey Delta, monitor this." Michael set the laptop on the ground.

"I will alert you if there is an issue." Delta's light changed from red to green before he went silent.

"Maybe we should work on that?" Michael teased. "But I'm glad you liked working on Kinami. You have great skill for someone so young. I'm impressed that you created such a successful business."

[TheDoctor]

As Nell stood up, Cadmus felt himself slightly deflate. Well, shit. So much for friendly interaction. Then he jolted up as he heard Michael speak.

"Congrats Cadmus you are now responsible for field testing the prototype!"

I haven't even driven the thing yet! Filled with energy almost instantaneously, he pushed himself up, not even noticing the pain from his wound. Running over to the zoid, he leaped into the cockpit, which opened for him. The seat was worn down, but not uncomfortable. In fact, it was perfectly used to the point that Cadmus could've fallen asleep in it. The atmosphere of the Energy Liger cockpit was very different from the old Murasame's cockpit, but it wasn't bad. More of an atmosphere that simply takes getting used to.

It's been a year...a year since I last piloted a zoid...

As he frantically adjusted his chair, the Liger stood. The cable connecting the laptop to the Liger disconnected spontaneously without being properly ejected, and Delta's light flashed on with a pulsing red. Cadmus looked out the cockpit, watching Michael protest his actions. Letting out a laugh, he used the intercom.

"I've been out of a zoid for way too long! I'll be back in fifteen!"

You up for a run, Krios? Now you can see my true piloting skills!

I'm not fond of being hooked up to another computer anytime soon. Plus, you do need another test. Let's go.

And then they ran, Cadmus laughing like a kid on Christmas day.

~~~~~

This city certainly is a beautiful place at night. All of the lights...they're so colorful. They make the place stand out. But they can't hide its true face. The gangs. The rapes. The murders. The crime lords. They show what this shit hole really is. Not even the pretty lights and glistening skyscrapers can hide that.

Aelia Auburn (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z5-wJwNwlIk/Tg4H2cLUslI/AAAAAAAAAf8/uAf00-ScIoo/s1600/yoko.jpg) stood on the balcony of one of those very same skyscrapers. It was a warm night, and she wore her signature skimpy top and black shorts. The outfits had its benefits to get information, but it did have its cons. A long rifle was slung by a strap over her back as well. Gazing over the railing, she stared down at the city as a comfortable breeze weaved its way through her long red hair. The lights from below were reflected in her new yellow eyes. Both the hair and the eye color had been obtained through the courtesy of the black market, allowing her to develop an entirely new identity.

"Mikaila!" She heard a voice call her new name from the door behind her. Shrugging the strap of the sniper rifle higher onto her shoulder, she walked inside. There was a dark room with a flickering holographic table that was obviously in bad shape. Behind that table stood a man. Aelia--or how the man knew her as, Mikaila--was his right hand. His second-in-command.

His name was Peter Nellis. Or, to many others, "Psycho Pete."

"Yes, Mr. Nellis." She nodded to him.

Pete glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She noticed that his eyes flickered to her somewhat exposed and rather voluminous bust. Cursing, he slammed a fist on the table. "Dammit, woman. I told you to call me Pete." His eyes flickered to her chest again, and she let out a small curse, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest. Then he continued.

"One of our highest informant notified us of a possible threat. A group of four people in Dust Town, two men and two women, know about our position, and they know about me." His eyes passed over the map, moving from piece to piece. "They want to know about Prime, and they think that they can get it by finding me. We sent some recruits to Dust Town to take care of them, but apparently they had already left. They're on the way to Arcadia."

Then he turned to face her. "You know the streets, Mikaila. They should arrive here any time now. Find them. Figure out what they know and how. Then report back to me." He held his gaze on her a second longer, then nodded.

Firmly, Aelia nodded back.

She took the elevator to the bottom of the building, exiting the skyscraper and heading further into the city. She had been infiltrating the Zealots for a full year now, climbing her way higher and higher in order to get to Zoid Prime. I have to know what he knows about me. About Azuroth. About my past. The passion had driven her to change her physical image and name, going as far as repainting her Zaber Fang to be black and red. Without even knowing it, she had changed her personality too, becoming outspoken and strong instead of silent, spineless, and shy.

Leaning against a wall, she looked at the ground, shouldering her rifle further onto her back. Then she listened, waiting for the rumors to pass by her waiting ears.

~~~~~

Cadmus had forgotten how much he enjoyed piloting zoids.

The rest of that day as they traveled the remaining distance to Arcadia, the Liger was sprinting ahead, waiting for the others, and then sprinting ahead again. At one point, however, Cadmus fell asleep, exhausted from his previous struggle with the Liger and allowing his body to heal. The rest of the journey had been smooth sailing.

They arrived at the gates of Arcadia that night, light pollution dimly illuminating the sky. Cadmus jolted awake in the Liger, throwing on a new black sleeveless shirt. He had forgotten to put a new one on earlier. Then he connected to the others. "Here we are. Arcadia. Anyone up for hitting the bar as soon as we get in?"

[MarchingThunder]

The trip to the entrance of Arcadia had been as pleasant as could be expected as Agera had napped in the Berserk Fury's cockpit till Cadmus had woken her with the question over the radio over who would be interested in going drinking at a bar once they were in town. The idea had appeal she immediately considered, she hadn't gotten to finish her previous bottle of whiskey in Dust Town, and their bar had been rather dull and boring compared to what she might have enjoyed normally. Even if she did tend to stay out of the spotlight during parties, she enjoyed the atmosphere a great deal.

After careful consideration she voiced her own thoughts on the matter, her voice a touch tentative as she spoke. "I'm not against it, Cadmus, but please try to stay out of trouble. You've already got one scar for today, lets try not to get any more," she said into her microphone.

[Ushima]

"A bar sounds good." It didn't really take much to get Michael to go to a bar. The group approached the main hangar where they were to check in. Getting out of his zoid he paid the hangar opperator the fee for all four zoids, and a little extra. "Skip the paperwork."

"Of course sir." The main returned to his office as the group gathered around.

"I know a bar that's close to the place we're staying. Delta, you gonna come?" Michael looked to the Kinami.

"I will stay. I'd stick out here." Delta responded.

"Ok keep things in order here. Keep me updated." They left the hangar and hit the streets. It was what you'd expect from a city run by big businesses. Lights every, as well as kiosks that sell a range of things, big boards advertising a ton of products he didn't need. But everything was neat and orderly. The industry really knew how to run things. Finding the bar was easy enough. Going in they stood at the bar. Michael ordered a beer. Cadmus seemed happy, practically bouncing in place. If he wasn't careful he'd give himself away as being underage. Once everyone had a drink Michael took the first sip of his beer.

Glancing around the bar he noticed a few people milling about. It was early in the night, more were bound to show up. Also noticing a small table he tapped Nell's shoulder. Getting her attention he gestured to the table. The went over to it, taking a seat. "Well here's Arcadia. How you liking it so far?"

[The Bartender]

Mora had lifted up as the sun had rosen but landed after the group of the Blue Devil had arrived and entered the city. Mora let Matter leave back into the HQ after she had informed that the intruders were in the city and the Zealots should prepare to "welcome" them.
Mora tried to follow the group but lost them in the masses of people and she deided to go into their head quaters in Arcadia so she could get started with her role; a prisoner of the Zealots...

---

After about half an hour she arrived at the HQ and entered it by showing the symbol of the Zealots. She had one permanent mark, hidden under make-up and one she could always remove, at the moment on the back of her hand. She was let inside and she walked into the jail area where two other Zealots, two women waited for her so she could be "prepared" for this mission.

---

After two hours Mora was laying in one of the jails. She had been stripped and she now wore a simple, old tunic. The guards had also beaten her up and now she was just trying to stay silent and not to move so the bruises wouldn't hurt so much.

[MaskofSilence]

Arriving at Arcadia, the group pulled into the hanger where they they put there Zoids. She was about to pull out some money, when she saw Micheal talking and handing money to the owner. There was obviously enough there to pay for all four Zoids. Shaking her head with a sigh, they then walked out into the city. Her eyes scanned over the builds, nothing had change from the last time she had been here. It sent small chills down her spine. She had been so busy looking at the city, she was surprised that they were already at the bar.

Walking to the counter, she ordered a beer while scanning the area. It was still early so the business was slow. She was content to just sit at the bar when Micheal tapped her shoulder, pointing over to a table where they could sit. Without a word, she followed him and sat across from him. Taking a sip of her beer, she glanced out the window.

"Well here's Arcadia. How you liking it so far?"

She took another sip of beer before she answered that one. "Yeah. Hasn't change much since the last time I'd been here." She watched his reaction to the statement. Even though it was a while ago, she still remembered it like it had been yesterday. To say the least it had been an interesting trip. "What about you?" she questioned. She studied him. Her heart beat quickened just a bit while she did. Quickly looking away, her gaze then landed on Cad and Agera. They were chatting and it looked like they were having a good time as well.

[TheDoctor]

Cadmus felt the familiar pleasant burn of the light alcohol as it traveled down his throat. It was a bittersweet liquid, and as he sipped his beer, he very slowly felt the dull sting of his injury fading away. That's better. Nothing like a nice beer to ease away the aches. Grinning, he took another sip.

As he made himself comfortable on his stool at the bar, he saw Michael and Nell leave to a separate table out of the corner of his eye. His heart sunk as his stomach leaped, and he looked over his shoulder at them as they went to their table. What the hell? What are they up to? He continued to eye them as they sat down and started casual conversation. Then he turned away, calmly staring ahead.

Sudden realization hit him. Is this really happening? Or is the alcohol just getting to me again? He was only halfway finished with his first beer, and he definitely wasn't an inexperienced drinker. Nay, it definitely isn't the alcohol. So I'm not imagining this. As his ears perked into their conversation from behind him, he heard Nell let out a pretty laugh.

The beast inside of Cadmus roared angrily, and he felt himself burn with jealousy. Damn it all. Of course, the moment that I go for her, Michael runs in and tries to sweep her away. It's just like with Cyrus and Elle... He took a large gulp of the beer, barely tasting the alcohol as his envy incinerated it. Well, Cyrus and Elle were different. He wasn't going for her. He was just going out to dinner then, simply treating her with no implications. But this?

He heard their voices travel across the rapidly filling bar. No, this is different. I guarantee it. That means that I should make a move. Do something nice for her sometime. Maybe I'll see if she wants to get breakfast tomorrow morning with me? Maybe lunch? Whatever happens, I'll take her out somewhere. We'll have a time to ourselves.

Well, only if Michael doesn't steal her over right now.

Cadmus didn't even notice himself finish his first glass, and he raised a hand at the bartender, who was rather busy with the influx of exhausted men and women wanting a cold glass of spirits after their long days of work.

~~~~~

The rumors never came. No one out of the ordinary. No odd events. Nothing.

With a sigh, Aelia ran a hand through her hair. I need a drink. She let out a yawn, stretching her arms above her head. As one group of men passed her, they let out a few rude remarks that undoubtedly involved her body. They stared hungrily as they passed, but Aelia made sure that she brought their attention towards the long rifle slung on her back. Then she made an imaginary pistol with her fingers, "firing" it at them. A couple of them laughed, but a couple of them paled as well. Eh. I'm getting better. As they passed, she began to make her way to the closest bar.

When she arrived, she considered herself lucky to be able to get a table to herself on a night like this. She set herself against a wall, enabling her to look at and analyze all of the drunks and soon-to-be drunks. As she ordered her drink, she went from face to face, checking for anything out of the ordinary from her place at her table. Same old, same old. Nothing out of the-

Holy...shit.

It was him. Michael. He was here, in the same city, in the same bar as her. It had been more than a year since she had seen him, and he had certainly changed. Heh. Not as much as I have. He won't even be able to recognize me. A smug grin appeared on her face as she looked at Michael from across the crowded bar.

As the waitress came with her drink, Aelia thanked her, then hesitated. "Wait!" The waitress stopped, turning to face her again. Aelia quickly wrote something down on a handy scrap of paper, and then she handed it to the waitress. "Consider your tip doubled if you pass that piece of paper to that man," she indicated towards Michael. "without causing him to be suspicious of yourself or me." Hesitantly, the waitress nodded, walking away to deliver the piece of paper.

It said:

"Meet me on the roof of the hotel directly across the street in 2 hours. We need to talk.

-AA"

~~~~~

As Cadmus waited for his second beer, he turned to Agera, who was on the stool next to him. He needed to get his mind off of Nell, anyway. "So." He gestured to the building. "Arcadia. You been here before? It's quite a place, isn't it?"

As he spoke, the feeling of someone approaching him touched his senses. Turning around out of curiosity, he saw a tall, built man with short black hair stand up from his group and start walking towards him. The man's face was flushed red, and he stumbled slightly as he walked with his group of four friends giving him whistles and cheers. Well. We've got our first drunk for the night, and he's coming towards me. Whoop-dee-fuckin'-do. Letting out a hefty sigh, he turned back to Agera, rolling his eyes. "Here we go."

Then he turned to face the man. The man, however, paid him no mind. Rather, he continued walking to approach Agera instead. When he spoke, he had a slight slur to his speech.

"Hey there, hun. How 'bout you and I ditch goldilocks here," he pointed with his thumb towards Cadmus. "and we can find ourselves a nice piece of pavement to roll around on?"

Goldilocks?! Cadmus' face turned almost as red as the drunk man's. Who does this drunk think he is? The man may have been larger and taller than Cadmus, but size didn't matter. He was about to speak up against the man, but he still had more to say.

"Or, you know, we could just go for it right here..." With that, the man reached towards Agera to attempt to grope her. The group behind him let out cheers and whistles.

Oh, boy. Now we're getting serious. Without exactly knowing why, Cadmus grabbed the man's wrist, pulling him away from Agera to face him. While still holding the man's wrist, Cadmus spoke to him. "Listen here, asshole. Goldilocks has got a problem with your little suggestion, so why don't you just go fuck yourself and leave us alone?" He was standing now, and he was a half foot shorter than the man.

The man let out a laugh. "You've got a lot of talk, pipsqueak. But how about you just stay out of this?" Using his palm, the man slammed it into Cadmus' left shoulder to make him let go. The shoulder that had been cut before.

Cadmus immediately recoiled, sucking wind through his clenched teeth. Ow, shit! Lucky bastard. The members of the man's group let out several barks of laughter at Cadmus, attempting to humiliate him. But Cadmus wasn't finished. As the man started to turn back to Agera, Cadmus grabbed his shoulder, turning him to face him.

"I just fucking told you to leave us alone. You made a bad mistake."

The man let out a snarl. "You know what? You got nothing on me. I could fuck you up before you could even try to beg for mercy. So I think that you should mind your own fucking BUSINESS!" The man punctuated the last word with a right hook to Cadmus' head.

But Cadmus was expecting that. It was quite cliche to make your first move by punctuating it with the last word of your speech, and he knew that this man was the cocky yet stupid type of man that would make that mistake. He easily evaded to the side, knocking the punch away. Then he landed a heavy punch to the man's abdomen. As the man doubled over, attempting to get his breath, Cadmus grabbed his head as it moved down, pulling it down and bringing his knee up to smash it into the man's nose. The man fell backwards, groaning on a recently disturbed table as blood ran from his nose. He wasn't unconscious, but he was definitely shocked and in severe pain. It was all over in two seconds.

The man's group stared in shock as the entire bar grew silent. Then the group stood, letting out angry yells. Other people in the bar stood as well and challenged the group, apparently eager for a fight.

Then the bar fight began.

[Ushima]

"Yeah its pretty much the same. Last time I was here was two months ago searching for leads." Michael stopped to take a sip of his beer. "Also to take a vacation after that. I had been working so hard without a break. Delta wouldn't let me leave until I had taken a couple days."

"Are you two close?" Nell asked.

"Yeah he's not only my partner, but my friend." He was quiet for a second after that. Delta was also the link to his heritage, his people. As the prince. He shook his head. "I'm not a prince. I'm a king." His father was dead, died trying to protect his pod and ensure the future of his people, and he was old enough, according to Delta, to inherit the throne.

"Excuse me sir. Someone asked me to give you this." A waitress handed him a piece of paper.

"Uh thanks?" He took the paper and read it.

"Meet me on the roof of the hotel directly across the street in 2 hours. We need to talk.

-AA"

"Well that isn't creepy." Mihael said sarcastically. He handed the paper to Nell. "Yeah I'm am seriously not going to this alone. Want to back me up?"

"You know what? You got nothing on me. I could fuck you up before you could even try to beg for mercy. So I think that you should mind your own fucking BUSINESS!"

"Take your time in answering." Quickly he finished his beer. "I gotta take care of this." He was out of his chair as people started to fight. He just wanted to get to Cadmus and Agera, tell them to get out and return to his conversation with Nell. He didn't know who started the fight, he wasn't really paying attention. Didn't matter.

"Come'ere you." That wouldn't happen though as he was now being assualted. Michael grabbed the offender's wrist as he tried to punch, returning with a punch to the stomach, drew him in to knee his chest then tossed him to the ground. Someone stepped up to take his friend's place. Michael ducked a punch, returning with an uppercut then a headbutt.

"Ok fuck this." Michael hopped onto the bar. Drawing his gun he aimed up, firing three rounds. "Alright that's enough!" The fighting stopped, like it usually does when someone fires a gun.

"Thank you for the assistance Mr. Knight." Men in armor (http://www.co-optimus.com/images/upload/image/reviews/time-crisis-razing-storm-header.jpg) carrying guns came in. They were wearing helmets, except for the man that was speaking, blue eyes, short spiked blonde hair, clearly he was an officer.

"Jason. Should've known you'd be here first." Michael holstered his weapon as the men with guns spread out around the bar.

"Well the CEO's don't appreciate a fight in their establishment. Ruins the image after all." Jason paced around the bar. "Now I'm in a good mood tonight so I'll let you all off with a warning. But if this happens again I assure you, you will find yourself in a cell."

"You're still the same as you were when we were back in the army." Michael chuckled and crossed his arms.

"Maybe we'll have a drink sometime to catch up." Giving orders the men filed out of the bar. With another glare to the bar Jason left after his men. Michael jumped down from the bar.

"Thank you." The bartender said, being greatful enough to offer Michael a free shot and a beer. He downed the shot quickly before grabbing the bottle and heading back to Nell. Letting out a sigh he sat back down. "I'm really sorry about that. And we were having such a nice conversation."

[MarchingThunder]

Agera had been enjoying her evening in the bar so far with a rather pleasant and contented look on her face as she sipped from a tumbler full of brandy. Cadmus's excentrics hadn't evaded her though as she had more than easily noticed the way he had watched and paid attention to Nell and Michael going to their table together leaving her to wonder just what had happened between the two of them in the past, but at the moment she wasn't going to pry.

Her pleasant evening though was suddenly disturbed by a rather belligerent and hopeful drunk who proceeded to make his own advances on her in a slurred tone, earning nothing but a hard glare from Agera that she was sure if he had been sober, he would have recoiled from.

"Hey there, hun. How 'bout you and I ditch goldilocks here," he pointed with his thumb towards Cadmus. "and we can find ourselves a nice piece of pavement to roll around on?"

Agera had been about to slap the man there, but the drunk had continued and even reached for her despite Cadmus's presence at the table and what he'd said next had nearly gotten her to draw her hand gun and remove his head if Cadmus hadn't beaten her to beating him.

"Or, you know, we could just go for it right here..."

Cadmus had reached across and reached and wretched the man's hand away from her and things had escalated from there ending with the man groaning on a table with a crushed nose and blood oozing everywhere and a trio of security troops putting things back to rest after Michael had risen from his seat and fired a trio of shots into the ceiling. Fortunately for them, it seemed Michael was well acquainted with the guards and the four of them weren't going to be getting locked up, providing Cadmus calmed down, so long as he didn't do anything stupid.

But as she looked at Cadmus, with his now bleeding shoulder, Agera's unease at the situation grew as she became more worried that he was simply going to attempt to tear the drunks who were attempting to settle back down apart. With her mouth creased into a thin frown, Agera gently reached out and set a hand on Cadmus's arm a gave a gentle pull as she softly pleaded to him, "Cadmus, please calm down. They'll be taken care of so there's no reason to make a scene please."

[MaskofSilence]

"Well that isn't creepy." Michael said while handing her the paper he had just received. "Yeah I'm am seriously not going to this alone. Want to back me up?"

Reaching out, Nell grabbed the note. When she did, she felt Micheal and her hand gently brush, causing her face to suddenly warm up. What the hell is wrong with me. Could I be getting sick? She silently wondered as she let her eyes run over the note. Micheal was right, this was creepy and there was no way she was going to let him go alone. She didn't get a chance to answer because Micheal was talking once again. "Take your time in answering." He then finished his beer. "I gotta take care of this." Seconds later, a bar fight broke out around her.

Exhaling, she leaned her chin on her hand and waited for Micheal to come back. She had a feeling that Cad had been the one who started this due to the wrong guys hitting on Agera. Poor guy. All around her, the fight continued, but no dared to lay a hand on Nell. Right as she thought about getting up and taking things into her own hands, a gun shot rang out. Casually glancing over, she saw Micheal standing to the counter with his gun pointed at the ceiling. That was one way to stop a fight. Right after that, the bar door opened and guards came it. Obviously, Micheal knew the guard because they had a quick conversation before sitting back down with her.

"I'm really sorry about that. And we were having such a nice conversation."

She waved him off. "It happens." A smirked then graced her lips. "Also, there is no way I am letting you go alone to this. So, consider me your back up." It was going to be a long night, but she got the feeling that wasn't going to mind.

[TheDoctor]

Cadmus landed another punch on his new opponent, sending the man sprawling on the ground. Then he felt a punch to his gut, grunting as he felt it hit his wound. Cheap shots! He rotated around, slamming his elbow into the face of the man who punched him. An arm with a glass bottle came down on him, but he caught the wrist with one hand, punching the shoulder that belonged to it so that his newest opponent let out a cry of pain, dropping the bottle. Then he gave the man a right hook, sending him to the ground.

Then he heard the gunshots. "Alright that's enough!"

Whipping his head around, Cadmus saw Michael standing on the bar with his gun extended in the air. Snorting, he rolled his eyes. Damn showoff. As the mercenaries came in and broke up the fight, Cadmus returned to his stool at the bar, shooting a glare at Michael and the trio of troops. They think they run this city. Idiots.

As he sat down, he winced, pulling his shirt back slightly to take a look at his shoulder. It was bleeding again. Gonna have to get that checked out sometime. Maybe stitches. It didn't matter. He could've taken on the rest of those guys perfectly well if Michael hadn't gone in and tried to be the hero. Letting out a sigh, he felt Agera grab his arm lightly.

"Cadmus, please calm down. They'll be taken care of so there's no reason to make a scene please."

Cadmus shot her a glance, eyebrow raised. How the hell did she know what I was thinking? Is it really that obvious? Now that he thought about it, his shoulders were tensed up, and his teeth were grit together, his jaw set. Damn, I need another drink. He brought his hands to his face, dragging his hands over his eyes. No, I need to get some more sleep.

He looked over at Agera, talking seriously. "Don't worry, I won't do anything." Placing his money, which had a generous tip for the trouble of the bar fight, on the table, Cadmus stood, letting out a yawn. "I don't know about you, but I'm gonna get some shut-eye. A hangover will not do me well tomorrow."

Tucking his hands in his pockets, he walked over to Michael's table. He nudged the man, grabbing his attention. "Hey. Where are we staying?"

~~~~~

As the bar fight started, Aelia felt herself itching to join in. Beating down a couple of guys would add to her new reputation, which is what she could use. No, I'll just be bringing attention to myself. I'll just stay back here and watch. A blonde guy and a man bigger than him had started it, although the blonde guy had taken care of the man efficiently. Do I know him?

Then the fight ended as Michael stood up on the bar and shot into the air. Aelia let out a quiet laugh. "You always did like bringing attention to yourself..." Then the soldiers came in, breaking up the fight. Well, I lost my chance. So much for that fight.

She continued to watch Michael, and soon enough the blonde man who had started the fight walked up to him. I swear, I know that guy. She attempted to identify him, but eventually she gave up. I can ask him about that later. With that, she paid her bill, leaving the bar and going to the hotel across the street where she stayed. Then she started to ascend in the elevator, watching the numbers climb for her to get to the roof.

Now I've got a meeting to attend to.

[Ushima]

"We're staying at Sanctuary. It's a couple blocks over." Michael finished off his beer. "It's a nice place. I'm sure you guys will like it." Standing up he waited for Nell to finish her drink before the group left the bar. He led the way through the streets until they came across a tall building. Sanctuary was lit up across the top of it in bright green. Entering the lobby a man behind the counter greeted them.

"Welcome to Sanctuary. A room for the evening?" Michael read the man's tag. Vin.

"Evening Vin. Does the name Charles Sanos sound familiar?" Charles Sanos was the owner of Sanctuary and several other businesses around Arcadia. And it was a pretty big name to name-drop. "Get him down here please. Tell him Knight is cashing in a favor." Vin picked up the phone and dialed. It was long before a man in a expensive suit exited the elevator. He had dark grey hair and green eyes.

"Mr. Knight, a pleasure to see you again." Both men shook hands. "How can I help you?"

"We need two rooms." Michael said. "And your staff's silence."

"That won't be a problem." Charles looked to Vin, who nodded and produced four plastic cards. "Two suits, top floor. I hope you enjoy your stay."

"I'll be sure to reccomend Sanctuary to everyone I know." The two men chuckled and shook hands again. Making their way to the elevator they got in. Cadmus hit the button for the top floor and the doors closed. It was silent the ride up, except for the shitty elevator music. Michael's hand twitched, wanting nothing more than to reach for his gun and shoot the speakers.

With a ding the doors opened and they quickly found their rooms. "Ok we'll leave you two to get settled." Michael watched Cadmus swipe his keycard and go in their room. As Agera went to open their door Michael reached out and took Nell's wrist. "I'll come get you when I leave for the meeting." His voice was low as he whispered. The two maintained eye contact a moment longer before Michael let go and entered his suit. The suit had a large tv, fireplace, couch, kitchen and two doors branching off to seperate bedrooms with their own bathrooms. Michael took the door on the right. As he passed Cadmus he said. "You know we never got our stuff out of the zoids. We need to do that at some point."

Inside his bedroom Michael removed his leg holsters, setting them on the bed. Removing both pistols from them he tucked them behind him in his waistband. His jacket easily hiding them. Returning to the main room he called out to Cadmus. "So how you liking the place man?"

[MaskofSilence]

It didn't take long to get checked in with Micheal calling in a favor. Grabbed the key cards, the group made their way to the elevator. Upbeat elevator music echoed in the elevator as the group stood in silence. Quickly, she grew tired of the music, wishing that she could just disconnect the speaker and be done it. Fortunately, right as she thought that, the elevator door opened.

Since Agera had the key, Nell let her open the door. Waiting, she felt someone grab her hand. "I'll come get you when I leave for the meeting." She maintained eye contact with him for a second, letting him know that she understood. Micheal was the first to let go and enter his suite. Turing back around, she walked in the room that Agera and her would be sharing.

Stopping, observed her surroundings. The room was nice, beautiful even. It had everything that anyone would ever need, including a large tv, fireplace, couch, kitchen and then two bedrooms. Nell waited till Agera picked a bedroom and then she went to the other one. Sitting down on the bed she bounced a little. It was pretty comfy, most defiantly better than the one at home.

Getting up, she unclasped her cloak and threw in on a nearby chair. While standing, she pulled on her gun and set it on the bed. She then went to sit Indian style on her bed. She was checking to make sure that everything was in order. Personally, she hated using a gun. She much prefer to use the two daggers that were hidden and other various close range weapons. After a quick check up, she placed her gun away and then laid down on the bed. Now that everything was in order, she just had to wait on Micheal to come get her.

[TheDoctor]

Cadmus enjoyed the suite, that much was for certain. The environment of it was relaxed and embracing, making him feel rather comfortable. He had no doubt that he would get a good night's rest in the bed, and the bathroom was of very good quality. Shrugging off his jacket, he lay down on the bed. Yeah, this is nice.

But something felt off about it. It wasn't that Cadmus was suspicious or uncomfortable, but it just wasn't his style. He was used to the harsh wasteland, not the luxurious life. The wasteland was a cruel mistress, that much was definitely true. But this suite just felt fake to Cadmus. His idea of a lucky night was one where he could sleep in a cheap hotel room with a thin mattress instead of underneath a rock with his jacket pulled over his shoulders.

"You know we never got our stuff out of the zoids. We need to do that at some point."

Cadmus sat up, sighing. "I'll get the stuff, don't worry about it. I figure I can get all of our bags. Just gimme a minute to get something to drink." He stood from the bed, walking over to the kitchen and filling a glass with some tap water. As he took a sip, he heard Michael call to him.

"So how you liking the place man?"

Cadmus set down his glass. "Arcadia?" He walked around the kitchen, idly inspecting it. "I mean, it's a city. There are scumbags, prostitutes, druggies, and merchants. I'm only a tad confused on how the business owners have managed to keep the place more or less in line." He shrugged. "I don't know. I'll get a better taste for it when I grab the luggage. Speaking of which..."

Taking one of the keycards, Cadmus walked towards the door. Hold on a minute... He glanced down at his bare arms, realizing that he forgot something. Right, my jacket. Going back to his room, he retrieved the black leather jacket. His large dagger was strapped to his side in a sheath over his sleeveless shirt, which made it blatantly obvious that it was there. With his jacket on, no one had any idea. Don't want to give people ideas.

As Cadmus put the jacket on, exiting the room, he called back to Michael. "Remind me to say something to Agera about placing some blades on the EL. She did mention knowing someone who dealt with specialized parts." Then he closed the door, striding over to the door for Nell and Agera's room.

He knocked, calling to them from across the door. "Hey girls, I'm headed down to the hangar to grab our stuff. Make sure that your zoids know I'm coming. I'll be back in a few." Then he continued walking, taking the elevator to the bottom of the tower. As he left the hotel with a compact luggage trolley, he tapped in with Krios.

Hey, I'm headed to the hangars to grab our stuff. Wanna help me out?

Follow my signal, I'll bring you to the hangar.

Cadmus felt the tug of Krios' mental presence, and he started his walk to the hangar.

~~~~~

Aelia was leaning on the railing at the top of Rider's Inn, the hotel across the street from the bar that she was at before. It was many stories high, one of the many skyscrapers within Arcadia. With a sigh, she propped her head up with her hand, gazing out at the lights of the city just as she had several hours ago.

She glanced to her right, seeing a man with a lit cigarette gazing out at the city about ten feet away from her. I need to convince him to leave. No one should be listening into this conversation. She had even disconnected her communicator with the central intelligence center for the Zealots. Yet still she stared at the lights, not wanting to draw attention to herself. Come on...get out of here...

It seemed as if her please were answered, for the man threw the stub of his cigarette over the railing and went back inside. Aelia let out a sigh, looking down. Well about damn time. Here's your chance, Michael.

[MarchingThunder]

Agera had remained quiet and rather coy after the end of the barfight, having finished her drink before the group had headed to their hotel where she and Nell had gotten a key for what turned out to be one rather opulent room compared to what Agera was used to staying in while Cadmus and Michael got a key to another room. Despite Agera having been the one lagging behind for the most part, Nell seemed to have decided to wait to pick a room till after she had, not in part because she had been briefly held at the door by Michael who had whispered something to her. Whatever it was though, Agera was satisfied knowing it was happening and felt no further need to pry into business that quite possibly didn't involve her.

With one room established as hers though, Agera gave a slight mental sigh at the fact that she couldn't make use of what looked to be a rather splendid bath yet as all of her clothes and her mantle were still down with Fury. With a reluctant sigh, she turned and headed for the door, setting a course for what she'd be doing for the rest of the evening. First was to check in on Fury and make sure he was doing fine and that he had been treated well in the hangar they had paid for, next was to retrieve her duffel of clothing, and last but not least was to get a long, long relaxing bath before getting what might be her first good night's sleep in a real bed in several months.

With that plan in mind, Agera left her room with a small smile as she went towards the hangar to visit Fury.

[Ushima]

"I mean, it's a city. There are scumbags, prostitutes, druggies, and merchants. I'm only a tad confused on how the business owners have managed to keep the place more or less in line. "I don't know. I'll get a better taste for it when I grab the luggage. Speaking of which..."

"Hey thanks man. I wasa gonna wait til later but if you want to go now, far be it for me to stop you." As Cadmus left Michael thought back to his friend's earlier statement. He knew exactly how this town was run. Marshal law. Anything that threatens the peace of this city is either killed or in jail for a long time. Like earlier in the bar. The security forces are usually quick to respond. Each corporation employs their own forces to deal with their problems. If Michael hadn't know Jason from back in their army days he'd be in a cell by now.

Going over to the kitchen he grabbed a glass of water. "I remember when I was offered a job on a security force here." It was right after he got discharged from the military. Normally security firms hired ex-military. Nine out of ten times it's an ex-soldier throwing you in a cell or executing you. They'd be properly trained in combat, lots of experience and still looking to fight anything that moves.

Finishing his water he set the glass on the counter and left the room. Closing the door he made sure it was locked before crossing the hall and knocking on Nell's door. After a brief period it opened and he came face to face with Nell. "You ready?"

[MaskofSilence]

Laying with her back with her hand folded behind her head, Nell waited patiently for Micheal to come. In the mean time, she let herself get a well deserved rest. Closing her eyes, she could hear Agera moving around in her room. Nell was naturally curious, but she managed to push that aside and tune out the other women. What she couldn't tune out though, was the sound of the door opening and then shutting again. Eyebrows furrowing, she hopped out of the bed and walked out of her room. Agera had left and fortunately, she didn't forget her key card. Looking out the window, Nell saw that darkness had fallen. Wonder when Micheal is going to get here. A light knock suddenly filled the empty room. Speak of the devil.

Quickly walking back in her room, she picked up her cloak and threw it around her shoulders. Clasping it, she did a mental check to make sure that everything was where it should be. She wore it for two reasons; one: It was good cover and two: It seemed to be her good luck charm. Once she done, she grabbed her key card and opened the door to find Micheal standing there. Stepping back, he allowed her space to walk out and then lock the door behind her. After that was done they walked to the elevator together. "Any idea who this person is?" she question Micheal while the elevator descended. That was one of the many things she had thought about while. The initials still bothered her.

The elevator hit the bottom floor before he answered.

[Ushima]

"Not a clue." Michael answered as the door to the elevator dinged then opened. "That's why I'm bringing you. I need someone I trust to watch my back." The two left Sanctuary. Making their way to Rider's Inn, across from the bar they had been drinking at earlier. Going insiade the woman behind the desk started to greet them but they ignored her, focused on the task at hand. In another elevator they went, up to the top floor where they took stairs up to the roof. "Ok if anything happens, start shooting." They exited onto the roof. Immediately his eyes locked on the figure standing there. "Alright. What's the reason you got me out here when I could be relaxing in a queen sized bed and drinking?"

[TheDoctor]

"Alright. What's the reason you got me out here when I could be relaxing in a queen sized bed and drinking?"

Aelia had to suppress her laughter. Oh, Michael. If only you knew what you were saying. She talked over her shoulder at him. "And how is drinking in a queen sized bed going to help you stop Zoid Prime? I thought that you actually wanted to stop him."

She turned around, flashing a grin at him as she finally linked eye contact with him. "Or did that gash across your eyes turn you soft?"

Aelia saw that another women was standing at Michael's side. I thought that I told him to come alone. Who is this stranger that he brought along? Military officer? Fellow mercenary? Romantic interest? She let out a sigh, looking at the ground and shaking her head. I can't keep up this act. It's been too long.

Grabbing her rifle strap, she pulled it off of her shoulder and let it clatter to the ground as she ran towards Michael. The man flinched, stepping back and reaching towards his holster, but before he could draw the weapon, Aelia had already thrown her arms around his neck to embrace him. Definitely too long.

She held the embrace for several seconds and then pulled back, keeping her hands on his shoulders as she looked at him. Oh, right. My changes. "It's me, Michael. Aelia Auburn!"

~~~~~

Cadmus finally managed to arrive at the hangar with the help of Krios. He approached Energy Liger, climbing up to the cockpit and hopping in as he grabbed his bag. How's it going?

It's been a long time since I was last held in a hangar like this. I would prefer to leave as soon as we can.

We might be a day or two. We have to find the Zealots' HQ, infiltrate it, and get what information we can from Pete. It's no easy process.

I understand. But I shall be ready to flee whenever you are ready.

My thanks, Krios.

The Energy Liger let out a rumble in response, and Cadmus shut the cockpit as he hopped out, his bag over his shoulder. He then retrieved Michael's bags from the Kinami Liger and Nell's bags from the KatFysh. When he spotted the Berserk Fury, however, he saw that Agera was already there. Huh. Might as well offer some help.

She seemed to be speaking with the Fury, and Cadmus noticed that he must have disrupted it when he picked up her bag and placed it on top of all of the others that were on the compact luggage trolley. When she looked at him, Cadmus gave her a thumbs up. "I got it."

Leaning back on the luggage trolley, Cadmus perked up. "Hey Agera, you mentioned something earlier today about knowing some people in the black market who could get us some specialized parts." He chewed his lip slightly.

"Do...do you think that you could help me get some dual blades for the Energy Liger?"

[MarchingThunder]

Agera had made it to the hangar and found the area quietly deserted at which point she had pulled her duffle from Fury's cockpit and dumped it on the ground next to the zoid before taking a seat inside the open cockpit to rest as she spoke with her zoid for a while. The conversation was pleasant as Agera and Fury bantered back and forth for a while through their mental link using mostly emotions and images and occasionally words from Agera but never from the Berserk Fury.

That had been one of the things the zoid beneath her had as a wound, it couldn't mentally speak to her with words the way her previous partners had been able to, though sure he could put messages up on the cockpit screens, but Agera had become adept enough at communicating and understanding the emotions and images that the screens weren't necessary. Then there were the charged particle cannons. Those never healed whenever Agera had fused to Fury for fights or at any other times and she had never been able to find the parts needed to repair the three cannons which was why she had replaced two of them.

At Fury's own behest though, Agera had left the mouth mounted gun behind incase it could ever be fixed. Privately, Agera wondered if the reason she couldn't repair all of Fury's damage was her own mental damages, and the zoid had speculated on the possibility with her and agreed with the idea it might be right, but not decided anything more to her beyond that. The conversation though, was brought to a halt as Agera was disturbed by the sound of what turned out to be her bag being placed onto a luggage trolley by Cadmus who had come down at some point to the hangar.

As she had looked down to him from the cockpit of the Fury, Cadmus had called back up to her with a question, one that made her actually roll over in her seat and burst out laughing more than loud enough for Cadmus to hear her.

"Hey Agera, you mentioned something earlier today about knowing some people in the black market who could get us some specialized parts."

"Do...do you think that you could help me get some dual blades for the Energy Liger?"

It took the better part of a minute before she got her laughter under control, and even a mechanical chortle was coming from Fury beneath her as she pulled her upper body over the lip of the cockpit to talk to him before wiping tears from her eyes as she said, "Cadmus, I get that your zoid is a more mobile and faster version of the normal energy liger, but that doesn't mean it's supposed to be used in close combat. They took the armor off of it so it could either potentially avoid enemy fire or carry more weapons, not so it could run closer and be an easier target."

[MaskofSilence]

"Not a clue." Michael answered Nell as the door to the elevator dinged then opened. "That's why I'm bringing you. I need someone I trust to watch my back." She grinned a little at the last statement, it made her feel special. Giving her head a little shake, she snapped herself out of it and continued to follow Micheal out of The Sanctuary, where she proceeded to throw on her hood. Next to Micheal, she looked like a shadow, which she want she wanted. Coming to The Riders Inn, they went inside, completely ignore everyone else and heading straight to there goal. Arraigning at the roof, Micheal and Nell walked out. She thought about concealing herself, but decided against it.

Stopping, Nell eyes landed on a figure that stood outside the building. "Alright. What's the reason you got me out here when I could be relaxing in a queen sized bed and drinking?", Micheal questioned the person. Nell on the other hand stood silent and ever aware her surroundings. "And how is drinking in a queen sized bed going to help you stop Zoid Prime? I thought that you actually wanted to stop him." The women then turned around and flashed a grin. "Or did that gash across your eyes turn you soft?"

Nell felt eyes scan over her, in return, she fixed a glare on the women, not she could see it. Suddenly, the women's gun clattered to the ground and she ran at Micheal, embracing him. Her body moved without her say so as she pulled out the gun and fired a shot. It barely missed the women's head while she pulled back, which Nell did on purpose. It was a warning. Unfortunately, what the women had said was lost to Nell due to the gun shot. "Let him go." She hisses coldly, gun still drawn and now pointing directly at the women.

[Ushima]

Michael pried Aelia off of him. It wasn't that hard. Compared to him she was like a twig. He moved over to Nell. Reaching out he grabbed her gun, his other hand her arm. He lowered it. "Hey, it's alright." He spoke gently. "It's Aelia. Remember her?" Another reason he wanted her to stop shooting was so they didn't attract attention. Michael wasn't sure if it'd be Jason showing up this time.

And how is drinking in a queen sized bed going to help you stop Zoid Prime? I thought that you actually wanted to stop him. Or did that gash across your eyes turn you soft?

Her words from earlier had sent a rush of anger thorugh him. There was nothing wrong with relaxing every now and then, especially when you worked yourself to the bone constantly. Michael was tired of sleeping in caves or his cockpit or under rocks in the wasteland. So if he could get a decent bed he'll enjoy the hell out of it. Letting one hand go, the hand holding the gun, Michael reached up and traced the scars across his eyes. The fight from a year ago flashed through his mind. The fight that took his eyesight. "I haven't gone soft." He was as much the killer as he had been. Michael hasn't lost his edge. He was in his prime. "But let's get down to business." He still hasn't let go of Nell, a comforting gesture for her. "Why did you bring me out here?"

[TheDoctor]

Aelia let out a little laugh, backing away from the two of them as she moved towards her fallen. "Easy there, tiger. Never thought I'd see you like this." She leaned down, picking up her rifle from the ground. So much for a warm welcome... She strapped the rifle back on and straightened up. Then she looked at the girl next to Michael. Something in her eyes looked...familiar.

"Nell!" She smiled at the girl. "It's like a family reunion!"

"Why did you bring me out here?"

Aelia's smile instantly turned to a frown as she raised an eyebrow at Michael and crossed her arms. "So much for family reunion." She rolled her eyes, turning her back to them to face the open city again. "I joined the Zealots to ascend the ranks. I want to find Zoid Prime even more than you can possibly imagine, and I've gotten rather high up in the ranks. I'm second-in-command to a high officer called Peter Nellis. You may know him as 'Psycho Pete.'"

She sighed, grasping the railing. "I'm ready to make a move. I've been waiting for a whole year to do this. I changed my identity. My appearance. Everything. Now I'm gonna do something. I told you to come here in case you were interested."

She turned to Michael again, fixing him with a glare with her arms crossed. "If you want to join in, feel free to come. But you better not get in my way."

~~~~~

Cadmus sighed heavily as Agera laughed. Dammit. I should just drop these bags right here and leave them to her.

Well, that is rather foolish, Cadmus. You were thinking of putting a set of blades on me? Really?

Cadmus snapped back. That's how I do battle, you can take it or leave it! He was referring back to his battle style with his old Murasame Liger using its blade of Zi. It was what he was used to. Just more flashbacks to Rigon...

"Cadmus, I get that your zoid is a more mobile and faster version of the normal energy liger, but that doesn't mean it's supposed to be used in close combat. They took the armor off of it so it could either potentially avoid enemy fire or carry more weapons, not so it could run closer and be an easier target."

Turning red with his dignity slightly hurt, Cadmus grabbed the luggage trolley and turned it around, pushing it away. "Fine. I'll throw something onto it myself. Forget I even asked." His remarks were almost venomous towards Agera, yet he continued to walk away.

[Ushima]

The fact that she joined them came as a surprise. It was risky. If they had found out what she was plotting then it could've been bad. "So you've become second in command?" That could actually be helpful. If they had friends on the inside their chances of success were better than before. "We were gonna make a move against the Zealots and try and capture Pete then pump him for information. Mind filling us in on a location? We could help each other."

[MaskofSilence]

After the first shot, Micheal pushed the girl away and walked over to her. Placing one hand on the gun and the other on her arm, he coxed her to relax."Hey, it's alright." He was speaking gently, apparently he knew the person. "It's Aelia. Remember her?" Nell blinked confused, of course she remembered Aelia, how could she not. She relaxed her body, letting Micheal know that she understood. Removing one hand, he touched the scar on his face. For what she could tell, Micheal had not gone soft. "I haven't gone soft." Apparently, he didn't think that he had either.

"Easy there, tiger. Never thought I'd see you like this." Before Nell could question it, she felt eyes on her, examining her. Then it clicked, Aelia didn't know who she was. She watched a realization entered the other women's eyes, "Nell!" She smiled at Nell. "It's like a family reunion!" Nodding, Nell allowed a ghost of a smile on her face.

"Why did you bring me out here?"

Leave to Micheal to ruin a moment, that she minded. Aliea then went on to explain that she had infiltrated the Zealots and was looking for a time to strike. She then cordially invited them to help. There is no way Nell was going to say no to that one and she knew that. She was right about that too. "So you've become second in command?" he pasued, "We were gonna make a move against the Zealots and try and capture Pete then pump him for information. Mind filling us in on a location? We could help each other."

The whole time he talked, he had not left her side or taken he hand off her. Thinking nothing of it, she finally hid her gun once again. Which caused Micheal's hand to drop. She silently sighed. She had not been directly involved with the war for a while. Sure, sometimes she would take down enemy Zoids, hack systems and give them a couple of killer viruses or two, but she had never been in the front lines. She was finding it surprisingly fun.

- - - Updated - - -

After the first shot, Micheal pushed the girl away and walked over to her. Placing one hand on the gun and the other on her arm, he coxed her to relax."Hey, it's alright." He was speaking gently, apparently he knew the person. "It's Aelia. Remember her?" Nell blinked confused, of course she remembered Aelia, how could she not. She relaxed her body, letting Micheal know that she understood. Removing one hand, he touched the scar on his face. For what she could tell, Micheal had not gone soft. "I haven't gone soft." Apparently, he didn't think that he had either.

"Easy there, tiger. Never thought I'd see you like this." Before Nell could question it, she felt eyes on her, examining her. Then it clicked, Aelia didn't know who she was. She watched a realization entered the other women's eyes, "Nell!" She smiled at Nell. "It's like a family reunion!" Nodding, Nell allowed a ghost of a smile on her face.

"Why did you bring me out here?"

Leave to Micheal to ruin a moment, that she minded. Aliea then went on to explain that she had infiltrated the Zealots and was looking for a time to strike. She then cordially invited them to help. There is no way Nell was going to say no to that one and she knew that. She was right about that too. "So you've become second in command?" he pasued, "We were gonna make a move against the Zealots and try and capture Pete then pump him for information. Mind filling us in on a location? We could help each other."

The whole time he talked, he had not left her side or taken he hand off her. Thinking nothing of it, she finally hid her gun once again. Which caused Micheal's hand to drop. She silently sighed. She had not been directly involved with the war for a while. Sure, sometimes she would take down enemy Zoids, hack systems and give them a couple of killer viruses or two, but she had never been in the front lines. She was finding it surprisingly fun.

[TheDoctor]

"So you've become second in command? We were gonna make a move against the Zealots and try and capture Pete then pump him for information. Mind filling us in on a location? We could help each other."

Aelia gaped at him, and his continued holding of Nell's hand caught her attention. What the hell is up with him?! He's acting like he doesn't even know me! What happened after Zoid Prime that caused him to be like this? Or does it have to do...with Nell? She shook her head, looking at the ground. Forget it. That's not the point.

She looked back up, fixing Michael with a glare. "If you thought that moving against the Zealots without any inside information was going to work, then the Republican military is hiring the wrong people." Her attitude was more than snarky. It was outright bitter. After more than a year of erasing her connections to reconstruct her new identity, she was ecstatic when she had found Michael. And then when I go to give him a hug, he pushes me off like a street beggar kissing his feet for petty change! And what the hell is up with Nell?! She shot at me when I was giving him a hug! She turned away from them, facing the city.

"Also, you out of all people should realize that Pete knows nothing, Michael. He may be high-up, but he knows nothing of Prime's location. No one does. It's like he vanished off of the face of Zi. It's only logical that Prime would go to an undisclosed location that not even the highest members of the Zealots know in case people like us are trying to find him through any means possible. So 'pumping him for information' is going to do nothing to help. You'll just end up with a lot of blood on your hands and a mess to clean up."

She shifted, leaning her elbows on the railing as she faced away from them. "There is a central computer that only Pete has the password for. There are so many firewalls on that thing that you couldn't work your way in if your life depended on it. That's why we need the password, which is located somewhere on his body at all times. If we access the computer, we have a small chance of being able to find traces of where Prime may have gone."

[Ushima]

"There is a central computer that only Pete has the password for. There are so many firewalls on that thing that you couldn't work your way in if your life depended on it. That's why we need the password, which is located somewhere on his body at all times. If we access the computer, we have a small chance of being able to find traces of where Prime may have gone."

"This changes things slightly." With one last look to Nell he finally let go of her hand. He moved over to the railing, crossing his arms he rested them on the railing, leaning slightly. "My strike team could distract everyone giving you time to deal wth Pete and get the passcode off him. From their we could meet up inside and extract the intel off the computers the proceed to extraction. We'll have Cadmus and Agera providing fire support as we make our way out. I have my informant contacting me tomorrow about a location and building schematics but if you tell me the location I can do a bit of pre-scouting."

Silence hung in the air for a bit. "It is good to see you Aelia. We couldn't recognize you because of how much you changed. I missed you, I missed all my friends over the year. I keep expecting to run into Vega or Curtis when I round a corner now." Turning around he leaned back against the railing. He motioned for Nell to come over and stand with them, there was room on his right. "And I'm sure Nell is sorry for shooting at you."

[MarchingThunder]

Agera felt a touch of shame at having wounded Cadmus's pride so badly as he stalked out of the hangar with the loaded luggage trolley and crimson cheeks. His caustic remarks back at her were just a sign of how she's wounded his pride making her sigh as she flopped back into Fury's command chair.

She spent a few more minutes of time communicating with her partner before bidding him a fond fair well and heading back up to her room where she found Cadmus had dumped her bag just inside the door none-to-gently. With a shrug Agera simply took the bag to her bedroom and pulled out a fresh change of underwear before heading to the bathroom where she started filling a luxuriously hot bath that she then slid into the water up to her neck, giving a sigh of contentment.

[MaskofSilence]

"There is a central computer that only Pete has the password for. There are so many firewalls on that thing that you couldn't work your way in if your life depended on it. That's why we need the password, which is located somewhere on his body at all times. If we access the computer, we have a small chance of being able to find traces of where Prime may have gone."

Hearing the word computer, Nell perked up. Hacking the computer probably would not have been an issue, if they had more time. And from the sound of this plan, they wouldn't have much. "This changes things slightly." With one last look at Nell, he then released her. Walking over to the railing with Aeila, he leaned next to her. "My strike team could distract everyone giving you time to deal with Pete and get the pass code off him. From their we could meet up inside and extract the intel off the computers the proceed to extraction. We'll have Cadmus and Agera providing fire support as we make our way out. I have my informant contacting me tomorrow about a location and building schematics but if you tell me the location I can do a bit of pre-scouting."

He said something else, but it was more directed at Aelia than everyone. Just from observing, she could tell there was history between the two. Honestly, she felt kind of awkward just standing there, almost like she was intruding somehow.Thinking of turning and going back, she heard her name called by Micheal. There a spot next to him on his right. Slowly, she walked over and leaned her back against the rail. "And I'm sure Nell is sorry for shooting at you."

"I am sorry." she said while looking at the other women. "Had I known it was you, I wouldn't have shot." Honestly, she didn't remember pulling the gun out, her body just kind of reacted when it thought that Micheal was in danger. Strange, that's never happened before. I defiantly think I am starting to catch something. she thought wearily.

[TheDoctor]

As Michael assumed a place next to Aelia, she stubbornly kept her eyes on the city with her jaw set. She was still frustrated with him despite the fact that she could use his help.

"We'll have Cadmus and Agera providing fire support as we make our way out. I have my informant contacting me tomorrow about a location and building schematics but if you tell me the location I can do a bit of pre-scouting."

Aelia perked up at the mention of Cadmus, her cheeks turning slightly red. Cadmus is here too? It's like the gang is all back together again. Damn, I'm interested to see what the past year has done to him. The year after he lost Rigon...

There was a pause as they listened to the sound of the city beneath them. It was soothing to her anger, but her emotions were still flared. Letting out a short sigh, she repositioned herself on the railing. The silence between them continued to settle. Then, Michael finally broke it.

"It is good to see you Aelia. We couldn't recognize you because of how much you changed. I missed you, I missed all my friends over the year. I keep expecting to run into Vega or Curtis when I round a corner now. And I'm sure Nell is sorry for shooting at you."

Nell approached the railing on the other side of Michael. "I am sorry. Had I known it was you, I wouldn't have shot."

Aelia allowed it to sink in. Her emotions were finally smothered, and her tense shoulders relaxed. How could I possibly stay this angry? I haven't seen them in ages! Another silence gripped the three of them as Aelia allowed her anger to drop. Then she grinned, elbowing Michael in the side playfully as she continued to stare at the city. "I know that. A year can change people more than you can imagine. Especially after encountering Prime..."

Silence assumed its stance for the third time until Aelia rotated around, leaning her back against the rail and taking a small chip out of her pocket. "The building is a skyscraper in the Red Light district called Rudford Tower. Don't worry about scouting it out, though. That'll just waste time, and you could get there attention. I've got the schematics right here. I know the place like the back of my hand." She tossed the chip into the air, catching it casually as she looked over at Michael with a grin. "You got a room in this city? I could give you an accurate rundown of the building and my plan for the operation if we go there."

~~~~~

Cadmus had delivered Nell's bag with care. Agera's bag, however, was delivered in the exact opposite manner. After unloading him and Michael's bags in their own room, he delivered the compact trolley back to the hotel front desk. Then he returned to his suite, throwing his jacket on the couch as he walked over to the massive window that gave him a full view of the city.

Well that's the last time that I ask anyone for help. I'll just find something else for the EL and put it on myself. I only needed help purchasing the blades. I could've hooked them on myself, no problem. I've made larger adjustments in the past. With a sigh, he walked into his bedroom, unlacing his boots and lying back on the bed to stare up at the ceiling.

Maybe I'll give it an energy shield. But what use will that be? An energy shield can only hold for so long. Damn it all. The blades would've worked fine if I had some sort of thrusters to go with it. He took another few moments of comfort on the bed, contemplating what to do with the Mk II. Giving up, he sat up, heading towards the bathroom for a shower.

When he took off his shirt, he looked in the mirror. His muscled chest was essentially divided diagonally by the gash, and he needed to change the bandage. Well, this shower may not be too enjoyable. He had a fine layer of sweat and dust on his skin, though, and dried blood still caked the skin near the wound. I've gone longer without a shower before, but while it's available... He took off the rest of his clothes, hopping into the shower and turning on the water.

[Ushima]

"Sorry. My gut tells me to check this thing out first. Just to scope out their outside security for a bit." reaching into his pocket he pulled out a business card and a pen. On the back he wrote down the hotel and room number. "Cadmus should be back by now. Why don't you go visit him and catch up until me and Nell get back?" He handed her the card. "See you in a bit."

Nell and Michael made their way to the door and left the roof. They got back inside the elevator and exited into the lobby. "Other than taking over a tower downtown seems Zealots are laying low to avoid attracting to much attention to themselves. If the corporate heads see them causing to much trouble they'll kick them out. Violently if neccessary." Back outside Michael hailed a cab and gave the driver directions. five minutes later they were exiting out on a street downtown. "There it is." Rudford Tower loomed over them. "I see two guards out front. Let's check the side." They moved around to the side.

Michael found a display next to a door. "Hey Nell think you can access that?" Michael pointed to it. "Might give us door passcodes."

[MaskofSilence]

"Sorry. My gut tells me to check this thing out first. Just to scope out their outside security for a bit." Nell watched as he pulled out a business card and then wrote there address on it. "Cadmus should be back by now. Why don't you go visit him and catch up until me and Nell get back?" She leaned off the rail. This was sounding like a good-bye, so she was getting ready to leave. "See you in a bit." They left almost right after that. Arriving in the lobby, Miceal commented, "Other than taking over a tower downtown seems Zealots are laying low to avoid attracting to much attention to themselves. If the corporate heads see them causing to much trouble they'll kick them out. Violently if necessary." She nodded in agreement, they were playing it safe, for now at least. Hailing a cab, they made there way to Rudford Tower.

Minutes later, they were getting out on a street. A fairly large tower loomed over them. "There it is." Nell followed the tower up, it was pretty big. "I see two guards out front. Let's check the side." Stepping carefully, she silently followed him. She had been on watch while, Micheal looked at something. "Hey Nell think you can access that?" Turning, she saw that he was pointing at a display panel. "Might give us door pass codes."

"Yeah." She moved in from of him. Touching the display. a key bored ejected from the wall. On the screen, the word PASSWORD blinked. Yeah, right. She thought while typing in code. Seconds later, the first firewall came up. She flew through it, the first one was always the easiest. After that, they would get gradually harder, depending on how many there were. Blocking out her surroundings, she continued on, fingers flying over the keyboard and only stopping when necessary.

[Ushima]

Michael drew his gun and peeked around the corner while Nell worked. He watched out for any signs of patrolling guards. Any passcodes they could gain from this would be helpful in getting around locked doors during the assualt. Nell's electronic skills are coming into play well here. He knew it was a good idea to bring her along. "So did you catch the game last night?"

"Shit." Michael said under his breath. Drawing his gun he counted, two guards were approaching. He could take them, if it ween't for the other three about fifty feet away that would hear his gunshots and raise the alarm. No, fighting their way out of this was a bad idea. There wasn't many options.

"I got it!" Nell cheered behind him.

He moved quickly, the guards were about to round the corner and spot them. Coming up behind Nell he spun her around. Michael pushed her up against the way and leaned in, capturing her lips in a heated kiss.

[TheDoctor]

"Sorry. My gut tells me to check this thing out first. Just to scope out their outside security for a bit. Cadmus should be back by now. Why don't you go visit him and catch up until me and Nell get back?"

Aelia could've punched him. "Michael, your gut is NOT something to go by. I told you, forget about a scouting mission. I know the building like the back of my hand, which you may receive across your face if you decide to go in there. What the hell are you-" She was cut off as he forced a business card with a number into her hand.

"See you in a bit."

"Michael! Michael, cut it out! You're being STUPID, just listen to me!" As him and Nell left, Aelia ran after him, but she tripped and fell to the ground. God dammit he's an idiot! She saw them enter the elevator, and the doors started closing. "MICHAEL!"

Then they were closed. Pulling herself up, she furiously pulled on her rifle strap. Why the hell did the Republican military put HIM so high up! He's gonna ruin the whole thing and blow my cover before we're ready! It'll be months before the suspicion dies down again! She booked it for the stairs, descending them as fast as she could.

But when she got to the hotel lobby, they were gone. She frantically checked the streets, searching back and forth for him. "Son of a bitch!" She kicked an empty can in frustration, sending it away as she received several odd looks. If that bastard gets out of there, I'll kick his ass.

When she was finally able to calm down, she looked at the business card. Sanctuary. Fine, I'll pay a visit to Cadmus. Varien, I'm coming back. I don't need my rifle for this.

~~~~~

Cadmus stood in the bathroom after his shower wearing a comfortable pair of shorts as he attempted to bandage himself in the mirror. It was very difficult, for he had to basically make his hands do the opposite of what his eyes were telling him what to do. He managed to place the sterile gauze, but now he was attempting to make it stick using medical tape. After that, he still had to apply a temporary cast onto it to seal the wound.

As he placed the last piece of medical tape and reached for the canister to apply the spray-on temporary cast, he heard a knock at the door. It wasn't a heavy knock, so he suspected that it was Michael. He had a key too. So it isn't him. Agera, maybe? If it is then she can go back to her room. Setting down the canister, he left the bathroom, looking through the peephole to see who was there.

On the other side was a woman with yellow eyes and long red hair tied behind her head. She didn't feel the need to cover much of her body, for all she wore was a skimpy black top over her sizable chest, a set of small, black shorts, and a pair of boots. Cadmus turned slightly red. If this is some kind of joke from Michael, I swear I'll kill him.

As he opened the door, he eyed her with an eyebrow raised. "Can I...help you?"

She shifted on her feet, turning red as she took in Cadmus' image. Cadmus suppressed an eye roll. It's like she's never seen a guy shirtless before. Then she spoke.

"Cadmus! Wow, you've...seriously changed. Wow. That's...really surprising." She turned a darker shade of red. "It's...uhh...it's been a while! More than a year since I...last saw you!" She let out a nervous laugh, avoiding his eyes.

Cadmus squinted at her. "Umm....do we...know each other?"

She let out a sigh. "Oh, right, I forgot! It's me, Aelia! I changed my identity!"

All he could do was stare. Out of all of the things that he was expecting from this girl, that was the very last thing that he was expecting. He would've been even less surprised if it turned out that she was Zoid Prime himself. He felt his mouth open as he tried to say something, but then it just hung open as he gaped at her. But as he looked into her yellow eyes, which were different from her normal violet eyes, he could see something familiar about them. Is it...no...no way. His jaw still gaped at her. Damn it all, it's actually her.

Cadmus closed his jaw, shaking himself out of the trance as he turned red as well. "W...wow...damn, Aelia! I...yeah, come on in!" He stepped to the side, allowing her to come in. As he closed the door behind him, he gestured towards the couch near the television. "Have a seat! I'll grab us something to drink." Going to the mini fridge, he grabbed some amber-colored whiskey and poured two small glasses of it.

Holy shit, what do I do? The last time that I even talked to her, I kissed her. She liked it, I know she did, but she pulled away. I still don't know why...and now she comes to my door a year later! What the hell am I supposed to do?

Then the voice of Cyrus--one of the pilots that helped them battle Prime, one that became a close friend of Cadmus before the incident happened--came to his head. Just do it. Don't worry about what you say or do. Just do it.

Cadmus sighed. Your words barely helped me last time, man. Don't let me down this time. He handed a glass to her, and she nodded her thanks in response. He set his glass down on the glass coffee table in front of the couch, holding up a finger. "Lemme go grab a shirt."

When he returned wearing a comfortable white T shirt that fit to his form with his black shorts, he sat on the other end of the couch, leaning against the arm of the couch to look at her as he picked up his glass. He took a sip, then gave her a grin. "So what's up with the new appearance? Felt like changing things up a bit?" Wow, am I actually talking to her without being nervous? That's new.

"I've been infiltrating the Zealots for the past year, making my way as high as I can to get to Prime. Therefore, I had to change my identity. New hair, new eyes, new personality. New everything. Hell, I even carry a gun now! I decided not to bring it up here, though. I doubted that you would let in a stranger with a rifle on her back." She shrugged, eyes twinkling as she grinned back at him.

Cadmus let out a snort. "You, a gun? Aelia, you may have changed a lot, but not THAT much." His eyes twinkled with laughter to show that he was only joking. What is going on? We're acting like nothing even happened between us! "But that's convenient! I'm staying here with Michael, Nell, and another girl called Agera, and we recently decided to start hunting down that bastard together." He took another sip. "I mean, I've been hunting him on my own during the past year, after what he did to Rigon..." A short silence overtook them as Cadmus trailed off. Then he brought himself back to the conversation. "Anyway, I'm still surprised that you're even here! How did you manage to find me, anyway?"

Aelia shrugged. "I had a meeting with Michael because I recognized him at the bar that you guys were at. I didn't recognize you, although I did notice a tall blonde man cause quite a disturbance." He heard her laugh as he turned slightly read. "Yeah, him and Nell ran off to do something stupid together."

Cadmus' mood soured slightly. Dammit, not again. I don't like where this is going. I need to act. I really need to get in the game. She'll get away, just like Elle. But this time, would it be with Michael, my friend? Should I talk to him about it, ask him, maybe? But now Aelia's here...is she gonna join us? Does she expect something to happen between us? Because now...I don't even know! And what about Agera?

Wait, where the hell did THAT come from? He shook his head.

"Michael doing something stupid? Why am I not surprised?" He rolled his eyes, taking another sip from the glass.

[MarchingThunder]

The hot bath had done wonders for Agera, both physically and mentally. The long soak had relaxed her muscles and soothed her aches and pains, while the heat had helped clear her mind and simply given her time to think on how things had been going the past few days, including how she had let herself get sucked into the whole current mess. It had let her think about Cadmus too, and it had let her come to the conclusion that she really aught to apologize and she had decided to do so as soon as she was out of the tub and dressed.

Once Agera was out and dry, she quickly pulled on the fresh underwear she had brought with her and headed back to her bag where she quickly fished out a clean dress which she pulled on in short order. Given that she was just going next, door, she didn't feel like bothering with her arm sleeves or stockings and as such left them on her bed as she pulled on a pair of slippers for her feet before heading out the door, deciding to also forgo her customary beret as well, her blonde hair cascading down past her waist and even past the bottom of her dress.

Once she was into the hall, she went to Cadmus and Michael's room and knocked twice on the door before calling out softly, "Cadmus? It's Agera. I wanted to ask if we could talk for a little bit."

[MaskofSilence]

It had taken a while, but she had finally gotten down the last firewall. The password was seven digits and one letter. 234u094. "I got it!" she told him cheerfully. Next thing she knew, Micheal had grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. Her back was pressed up against the wall and Micheal's body melded to her. She was about to ask him what the hell he was thinking, but lip crashing against hers cutting off her ability to speak and think. The kiss was heated and passionate. For a minute, she froze. While her mind stop, her body had other plans. Just a aggressively, she started kissed him back, even going as far as nipping playfully at his lower lip. Her hands roamed through his hair and over his body. Finding the edge of his shirt, she let her hand trail his abs.

Micheal's forearms suddenly appeared in her peripheral vision, which caused him to lean into the kiss more. Then her hood slid off the back of her head. Hearing a strange noise in the background, Nell ignored it. A hand suddenly placed itself on Micheal's shoulder, causing him to pull away and look in the direction of the hand. Nell's breath came out heavy as her hazed mind started to wake back up. "What the hell are you kids doing here?!" the guard questioned, obviously upset.

Now that her mind was fully awake, Nell realized what she had just done and what was happening. Jerking her hands away, she looked to the side, away from Micheal. What the hell just I just do? Little flashbacks appeared before her eyes. She felt the color rush to her face and her heart rate pick up. This is not happening. God, I am such an idiot. Wait a minute, had Micheal did they because the guards were coming? Was this suppose to be a cover? Probably. The thought stung a little, but she ignored the feeling. Right now, she had to foucs on the cover that Micheal had just provided them.

[Ushima]

Deep, passionate, hot, addicting. When he was pulled away a part of him wanted to backhand whoever had done it and go back to kissing Nell. But another part of him managed to keep control and actually think this through. "I'll ask again. What are you two doing here?"

"Well we were just at this party." Michael tried his best to sound a bit intoxicated. "And we left to go home but I couldn't wait that long so I suggested we duck back here real quick to hold us over until we got back to our appartment." Michael slung an arm around Nell' shoulder and pulled her in close and kissed her again.

"They're obviously drunk mate. Let'em go so they can get with the shaggin'." One of the men said.

"Alright. Get out of here." Michael and Nell moved back to the street. They walked a few blocks before calling a cab. It was silent on the way back to Sanctuary. Giving Michael more time to think. About Nell. Sneaking a glance he took in her features, long brown hair, hazel eyes, almost like honey, creamy skin. His heart rate quickened as his mind, unopposed, continued his train of thought. He knew she liked working on zoids, she worked hard, which Michael admired about her. Sh also wasn't affraid to get her hands dirty which he also admired. She was smart, she can be kindhearted but stern when she needs to. And quick on the draw with a gun, he respected that. Michael knmew he was falling. But the question floated around his mind, did he not want to?

Arriving at Danctuary Michael paid the driver and the two entered the hotel. Getting in the elevator the silence remained as it climbed up to their floor. Once again shitty music filled his ears. He really would shoot those speakers before he left. With a ding the doors opened and they got out, walking down the hall. They stopped outside the doors. "Hey, um, thanks for going with me. I...I really appreciate your help." That's not the only thing you appreciate. Shut up brain, we'll discuss this later. "I'd like to repay the favor so if you need anything let me know ok?"

[TheDoctor]

"...and it turns out that the very same zoid, an Energy Liger Mk. II, was the one that Michael was assigned to recover. Pretty incredible luck, huh?" Cadmus shrugged. "Anyway, the zoid is mine now. I've only had it for one day, but I'm already itching to get my hands on it again. The bastard gave me this gash, though." He tapped his chest.

Aelia started to say something, but before she could respond, Cadmus heard knocking at the door. Again? We were having a fine conversation here. Who could it possibly be now?

"Cadmus? It's Agera. I wanted to ask if we could talk for a little bit."

Cadmus let out a quiet sigh, setting his glass down. Great. Perfect timing. Way to ruin the moment. "I'll be right back." Aelia nodded, and he stood, walking over to the door with bare feet. When he opened the door, he saw her standing there with her long hair down in a dress and slippers. He wasn't angry with her at the moment, for Aelia had made him entirely forget about that. But a bit of his forgotten anger was resuscitated. Stepping to the side, he gestured for her to come in.

After closing the door, he went towards the kitchen. "Agera, this is Aelia. She was with us when we battled Prime. Aelia, Agera." He took the bottle of whiskey out again. "Do you want a drink?"

[MarchingThunder]

"Yes, thank you," Agera replied as graciously as she could when Cadmus offered her a drink. She hadn't planned on drinks and was a little off kilter from the fact she couldn't apologize in private like she had been intending to since her wound to his dignity had been private as well.

Still she took the proffered glass when Cadmus offered it to her and then a seat as she looked over Aelia. The girl was probably about her age, maybe a little older, but she was certainly dressed in a way that demanded attention from people particularly men. The knowledge that Cadmus had known her for a while left a little pit in her stomach as it meant that maybe he had been with her and was interested in getting back to- Agera firmly stamped that line thought into the ground as it was certainly not why she was here, and Cadmus's choice in friends and what he did while relaxing was no business of hers.

After looking into the contents of her glad for a few moments, or at least long enough for Cadmus to take his seat again along with a fairly relaxed position, Agera finally looked up from her drink to meet his eyes before she spoke.

"I wanted to apologize for earlier if you'll let me Cadmus," she said, "I- I didn't consider you when I have my opinion earlier and I'm sorry." Agera had a light blush on her cheeks by the end as she looked sharply away, her own feeling making her start to feel a bit foolish doing this.

[MaskofSilence]

"I'll ask again. What are you two doing here?"

"Well we were just at this party. And we left to go home but I couldn't wait that long so I suggested we duck back here real quick to hold us over until we got back to our apartment." An arm was then slung over her shoulder and he planted another kiss. Now that she knew the plan, she could act along. Wrapping her hand around his waist, she gave the guards a sheepish grin. "They're obviously drunk mate. Let'em go so they can get with the shaggin'."

Wordless, Micheal and Nell made there way back to the street. Calling a cab, Nell unhooked herself and quickly walked around the cab and got in. It was silent throughout the ride and Nell refused to look at Micheal. But that didn't keep the thoughts of what just happened from resurfacing. Not matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get him out of her head. The feeling of his skin, his lips on hers, the heat, the se-she cut off that thought. No. Do not go there. She couldn't resist the urge any longer, so she threw a quick glance at him. His hair was midnight black and soft, as she found out during their cover-up. Eye's so blue she felt like she could drown in them if she looked to long. The scar that ran across his eyes didn't ruin his appearance either, it added to it. While his looks were good, so was his personality. First off, he respected her when most males didn't. He also may be a little rough on the edges, but inside he seemed...softer. He was trustworthy and obviously a hard worker. She admired his determination and his willingness to protect the one he cares for. Realizing that she was staring she turned away. It was not like her to think like that at all.

Arriving at the hotel, they walked in silence toward the elevator. Once they got to there floor, they paused while digging out their keycards. "Hey, um, thanks for going with me. I...I really appreciate your help. I'd like to repay the favor so if you need anything let me know ok?" Nodding, she unlocked her suite and stepped in. Closing the door, she automatically walked to her room, where she found her bag sitting on the desk. I'll have to thank Cad for that. She thought while going over and opening it. Digging though, she found her sleepwear, which consisted of just a light blue t-shirt and black shorts, and changed. She then started to pace, she was anxious for some reason. Figuring needed to distract her mind from tonight events, she threw herself on her bed and and grabbed the remote. What do I feel like watching...

[Ushima]

Michael entered his suite. "Yo." He looked around at the gathered people. Aelia, Cadmus and Agera. "Right." He wasn't sticking around here if they were all gonna hand out in his living room. Going to his bedroom he locked the door and changed clothes quick. A white sleevless shirt and black shorts. and socks. His guns he placed back in his holsters and set them next to his bed. Leaving his room his mind was made up, he just had to see her again. Plus he didn't want to have to deal with Aelia right now. She might've said he had done something stupid, but to him it paid off. In what way was to be determined later.

Exiting his suite he knocked on Nell's door. He wanted to see her again. Michael didn't know why but all the thoughts running through his mind told him to go to her and see her. Something was happening to him and he knew he didn't want to stop it.Michael reached up to knock again.

[TheDoctor]

Cadmus passed her the glass, sitting down on the couch that Aelia was on again. Agera sat on the one next to him, and she stared into her glass anxiously. Then she looked up at him and spoke.

"I wanted to apologize for earlier if you'll let me Cadmus. I- I didn't consider you when I have my opinion earlier and I'm sorry."

As Agera turned red and looked away, Cadmus did the same, blushing a little bit less than she did. Shit. This is awkward with Aelia here. I didn't even think about that. Shit... He cleared his throat, looking back at his glass. "Hey...uh...don't worry about it. It's not a problem, really. Just don't worry about it." Not well executed at all. Not one bit.

Silence assumed another temporary stance amongst them for several seconds until Michael entered the room. Cadmus had to keep himself from letting out a sigh of relief. Perfect time. He glanced over his shoulder, waving at the man as he hurriedly entered his room. What's up with him?

~~~~~

Aelia sensed tension between the two of them, and that tension proved to be strong as they're short dialogue occurred. I....probably shouldn't be here. She idly fingered the glass, pretending not to be listening in on the situation. But her instincts didn't leave her, and she took in the situation in its entirety.

Then Michael saved the moment as he entered. Unfortunately, it didn't save her calmed emotions. They suddenly flared up again as she saw him, but before she could encounter him, he entered his room, locking the door. That bastard. He's got to come out eventually.

And she was right. Moments later, he left his room, striding towards the door. Oh no you don't. Not this time. Face your problems. Standing up, she smiled at Cadmus and Agera. "Excuse me for a minute or two." Then, her face turning into a snarl, she followed Michael out of the room.

He was waiting in front of a room, and he seemed antsy as he knocked on the door. He'll be more than antsy when I'm done with him. Striding up to him, Aelia called out. "Michael, what the hell?!" As he turned to look at her, she slapped him across the face with enough force to leave a red imprint on his face. Then she moved forward to him, speaking with an angry whisper.

"You're an absolute idiot! Did you really go to the tower? Because you could've just screwed up every single damn thing that I worked for an entire year to create! You didn't think even think things through, and now our--no, MY operation may be completely wrecked! Why the hell did the Republican military recruit someone so selfishly ignorant!"

She shoved his shoulder, completely enraged. The purpose of the meeting was to gain more information on Prime and possibly gain the help of another person to help her out with the operation that she had been planning. Instead, he decided to throw caution into the wind and try to discover information that I already knew! That was one of the worst decisions that I've ever seen him make! Her passion for her mission was unbreakable. She had to know what Prime knew about her past. About Azuroth.

Taking a step back, she leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath. "You can forget the schematics, the information, or even trying to help me. The deal is off. If I can't even trust you to go by my judgement, then I can't trust you in the operation. I'll just do it myself." She looked at the floor, forehead in her hands. Her emotions had taken her mind again, and she was absolutely fed up with the man. You can't just ruin everything that I've worked for and pretend that it is ok.

"Meeting up with you tonight was a mistake."

[MaskofSilence]

Limbs streached out across the bed, Nell stared at the screen as cartoon figures ran around a house trying to catch one another. Then, by some clever and witty plan, one of the character would get away and the chase would switch. It was an old cartoon, but at the same time it was amusing and just mind numbing enough to forget about what happened, that was until a commerial came one. Once one did, her mind would automatically back to the kiss that Micheal and her had shared. In the middle of one of the commerials, knocking was suddenly heard on her door. She didn't quite want to up, she she remained in bed. A minute later, another knock. Sighing, she rolled off the bed and toward the door.

As she neared, she heard yelling on the other side of the door. She already knew who was yelling, it wa Aelia. "-absolute idiot! Did you really go to the tower? Because you could've just screwed up every single damn thing that I worked for an entire year to create! You didn't think even think things through, and now our--no, MY operation may be completely wrecked! Why the hell did the Republican military recruit someone so selfishly ignorant!" Republican Military. That means that she is yelling at Micheal.

"You can forget the schematics, the information, or even trying to help me. The deal is off. If I can't even trust you to go by my judgement, then I can't trust you in the operation. I'll just do it myself." There was a pause. "Meeting up with you tonight was a mistake."

Feeling the need to let them know she was listening in, she opened the door and leaned on the fram while crossing her arms. They didn't seem to notice her, they were too invloved with what was gong on. Letting out a cough, she felt their eyes fall on her. She was not ment to be in this agruement and she knew better than to stick her nose where she wasn't suppose to be, no matter how much she wanted to. So to possibly distract them, she raised eyebrow at both of them. "Someone knock?" she questioned.

[Ushima]

"Someone knock?"

"Nell." Michael managed to turn his attention from Aelia, who was lucky he didn't have his gun on him cause he was really tempted to shoot, and focus on Nell. Looking her up and down he noted she looked good in casual wear. "Yeah, one sec. Look Aelia, despite what you said I had to check the place out for myself. Going in cold, even with your word, is a bad idea. Reconnaissance is always done before a mission, no matter what. And I need to see it for myself to help better plan an assualt. I need to be able to visualize it in my head. A picture doesn't help me at all. All you were worried about was your cover. Which by the way is still intact. Seeing as we're here completely fine, you're not getting a frantic call from your superiors, and there isn't a shootout still raging downtown with big explosions." Michael left out the part about the kiss, not feeling ready to reveal that to anyone. Glancing at Nell he noticed she was relieved he hadn't at well.

"And regardless of what you think. The members of the Alliance's Top Brass think I'm worthy of my rank. You should see my mission track record." Nearly flawless. All the mistakes had never once been because of him though but sadly they still had to be logged in mission reports otherwise he's file would be perfect. "I'm a damn good soldier and I'm tired of everybody conveiniently forgetting that to just jump down my throat for everything I do." He was frustrated to say the least. Michael had undergone extensive training for five years before going out onto the battlefield, he knew what he was doing. "Point is you can't do this without our help. You'll end up dead and you'll never get the answers you seek. Wouldn't want that would we?" He crossed his arms and smirked and Aelia's contemplating expression. He won. "Be here tomorrow morning for mission briefing." Aelia turned and left.

Michael looked back to Nell after the elevator closed. "Sorry about all of that?" He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Can I, um, come in?" Nell moved aside, allowing him access. "Thanks." After he crossed the threshold she closed the door. He heard it lock. Now the only one who could enter was those with a key, and the only one on the other side of that door that had one was Agera. So Aelia couldn't get back in even if she tried. He was sure the younger girl wouldn't hand over her key. She was pretty smart after all. "Man that was frustrating. I think I'm getting a headache. Got anything?"

[MarchingThunder]

Agera took in Cadmus's stunted, jittering acceptance of her apology as best she could, but when Michael came through and sent the red-head, Aelia, off on what her intuition told her was going to be ballistic rampage Agera just went into a bit of a stupor for a few moments before she spoke up again. "So she was there you fought the zoid prime? What was that like, do you think you could tell me, Cadmus?" The silence was deafening to say the least and Agera was trying to do her best to at least keep things from getting any more awkward between them.

[TheDoctor]

Michael's response did nothing to smother Aelia's emotions. If anything, they made them even worse.

I would be far from dead. He thinks that he can just trample over me like that? The operation would be difficult, that much is obvious. But I would be able to do it. I've been planning ten times as much as he has! If he wants to talk down to me like that, then he will be pleasantly surprised when I don't show up tomorrow morning. We'll see how he fares without his precious information.

Unfortunately, he did provide some valid points. The human mind works much better in a situation if it has seen the setting before so that it can recognize certain points that it can use. His justification for scouting out the tower was valid, but her problem was that he had given her no warning. She could've arranged a way for them to get a fantastic image of the tower. An image that has to be better than the one they just got. No one knows that tower better than I do.

Also, she could undoubtedly use the help of the others, and he was a military official. Whether she thought that he deserved the rank or not, he had been trained physically and mentally to handle situations like the one that they had now. Not to mention the fact that his high position in the military probably gave him a different mentality, one where he doesn't fancy being questioned about his actions. I bet that this is a great wake-up call for him. I'm not in the military. I don't have to do anything that he says.

"You could've at least given me a warning, jackass. I doubt that the military works that way."

Before he shut the door, Aelia saw something in his eyes: dominance. He saw a small victory on the battlefield of their relationship. That's the thing about men. They are immediately reassured that they have conquered over you. Their confidence can be poisonous. Taking a deep breath, she glared at the door, her fire somewhat subsided.

Instead, the fire had mutated into regret. Things were different than they were when she first met Michael. He was not the same man as before, and in Aelia's opinion, he had not changed for the better. He has no regard for what I think. He leads with his head, and only his head. It's gonna get him killed. He of all people should know that while the head is strong, it's also the most vulnerable.

Then she spat a comment quietly at the closed door over her shoulder. "You aren't Michael Knight. You're the one who should've changed your name, not me." She proceeded down the hallway, to the elevator, and out of the hotel.

~~~~~

As Cadmus listened to the argument coming from the hall, he covered his face with his hand, letting out a short yawn. It was a bit late, and he needed to get some rest if they were going to plan a point of entry to the Zealot HQ in Arcadia. He knew not what their argument was about, but before he knew it, the raised voices had stopped. When he looked over his shoulder at the open door to the hallway, he saw Aelia walk past the suite, going towards the elevator. I'll leave her alone. I don't want to get involved in this. Getting up from the couch, he closed the door, then reassumed his seat.

"So she was there you fought the zoid prime? What was that like, do you think you could tell me, Cadmus?"

He took the last sip of the alcohol in his glass, placing it on the table as he looked out the massive window at the night city. Memories of the battle against Prime flooded through his head, and he picked out the ones that he deemed appropriate to discuss.

Some of the memories were still raw despite the fact that he had finally come to terms with them. They were like infected wounds. Cadmus' refusal to accept some of the memories had prohibited him from allowing his mind and his heart to heal. Now that he had finally allowed those memories to play again, they had purged the infection started to heal, which meant that he had to give them time. Sure, they would leave noticeable scars as they healed, but they would be simply a reminder of the past instead of an ache or handicap.

He was finally able to come up with a way to explain most of it to her. The rest of it would come in time. "Yeah, she was there. There were others as well, each with their own choice of zoid." He started naming them off one by one with their zoids. "Korzai had an Elephander, Cyrus and Ginger a Lightning Saix and Lanstage, Curtis and Vega a Bear Fighter and Snipe Master, Nell with her KatFysh, Aelia with her Zaber Fang, Michael with his Kinami Liger, and I..." He paused. "I with my Murasame Liger..."

Shaking his head, he focused on her again. "The battle went well, initially. The Zoid Prime had zoid called a Centipos, which was incredibly powerful. It could make hundreds of holographic replicas of itself, move with great agility, repel CPCs with an E-shield...yes, actual CPC blasts..., and blow a squad of zoids to pieces all it once. It's power was incredible, but we were able to come up with a way to defeat it eventually once its cloaking device was disabled. Oh, yes, it had cloaking as well." He gave a grin at her, shrugging. "I don't know where it came from either."

"Then, it got worse. We defeated the Centipos, but I think the Zoid Prime just let us win because as soon as we beat it, it was enveloped in some crazy pyramid of light. In one night, the zoid managed to evolve itself into something much, MUCH worse. It was some sort of Dark Spiner that was probably a bit bigger than the Elephander that Korzai had, but it was so impossibly fast that we couldn't even hit it. I was terrified out of my mind."

[MaskofSilence]

"Man that was frustrating. I think I'm getting a headache. Got anything?"

"Yeah, one second." she told him while turning back to her room. Getting to her bag, she dug around till she found a small bottle of pain reliver. Walking back out, she tossed it to Micheal, who caught it efforlessly. Hearing the televison in the background, she peeked in. The commerical break was over and the cartoon was back on. While Micheal was getting water to take the medicine, Nell walked over to the bed and laid down. Hands folded behind her head, she stared at the tv. Only, it no longer served as the distraction she needed due to the fact that the person in the other room was the one occupying her thoughts.

Hearing his footsteps approch the door, she watched as he walked in her room. His eyes went to her, and then the open spot on the bed next to her. Going on the other side, he laid down next to her. As soon as he laid down, her body tensed. Taking a slow breath, she forced herself to relax. An akward silence filled the room. It was then that Nell reached over and grabbed the remote, placing it on Micheal's chest, a simple way of telling him he could watch was he wanted, he was a guest in her room after all.


The reason he must be in here is becuase Cad and Agera were together in their suite. It was the only thing that made sense. There was no way he was over here to talk about the kiss they shared. Or could he be? Turning on her side, she looked at Micheal, who returned her gaze. For a second, she got lost in that gaze. Managing to tear away, she opened her mouth, only to shut in once again and then lay back flat. She wasn't going to talk to him about it, she didn't need to bother him with her thoughts. Sighing, they watched the cartoon, which he had no changed, in silence.

[Ushima]

Michael didn't change the channel. Nell was here first so he let her catch the ending to what she was watching. And when that stupid cat finnaly caught that mouse and ate him he mentally rejoiced, for it was over. Grabbing the remote off his chest he changed the channel. Silence continued to hang in the air, it was awkward but it eventually changed into a comfortable one as they watched tv.

"Wait Janel we have to talk about it?" The man on tv said.

"You mean the kiss?" The woman, Janel, responded. "It was a mistake John. Heat of the moment."

"Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me. What were the odds of this coming on?" Michael thought.

"No Janel. I mean at first it was. But I can't stop thinking about it, about you. I love you, I know that now." John moved closer to Janel.

The woman on screen started crying. "Oh John." She threw herself at him. Like she was waiting for him to say that so she could let herself get what she wanted. The two embraced in a passionate kiss. It got more heated as they opened the door behind them and stumbled in.

Michael wanted one of his guns, so he could shoot the screen. "Sorry Nell, normally this station plays awesome action movies not....this...." he had turned to look at Nell. But when he did she was staring right back. Her eyes were hazy and clouded with desire. It must've been infectious because Michael soon moved forward. For the third time that night he was kissing Nell. Hands, not his, tugged at his shirt and it came off. Michael clicked the tv off and chucked the remote across the room before his hands went to Nell's. Once it was off she lay before him. She suddenly seemed delicate and even more beautiful, if that was possible. Leaning down he captured her lips again.

[MaskofSilence]

"Wait Janel we have to talk about it?" The man on tv said. Snapping out of her daze, Nell stared wide-keyed at the television, stunned. What were the chances that something like this would play on the television during this particular time. As the scene contained, Nell realized that somewhere, someone hated her. When the women launched herself at the man and backed into the room, it was obvious what happening. There kiss that she share with Micheal flashed before her eyes. The kiss they shared had been more intense than that of the couple on television. Glancing over, she found that she wanted to taste him. "Sorry Nell, normally this station plays awesome action movies not....this...." When she turned to look at him, he trailed off.

He moved forward, leaning over her. At first, it was gentle. That only lasted a second as the kiss became more in depth and deep. Micheal then proceeded to roll himself on top of her and she didn't protest. Running her hands over him, she found that his shirt was getting on her nerves. Her answer: finding the bottom and then sliding it off. Apparently, he felt the same way because in the same desperation, he took off hers. For a second, they both paused, just looking at each other. Nell's minded was clouded, but she knew that at this moment, Micheal was hers and nothing was going to change that.

Leaning down, he started to trail kisses down her jaw line. His hands ran along her back, sending chills down her spine. While he did that, she nipped playfully along his neck and shoulder. Her hands traveled threw his soft hair and over his lean muscles. After that point, it's not hard to say, more clothes came off.

[MarchingThunder]

"I see..." Agera whispered softly after Cadmus finished his story for her. She contemplated it to herself for a while as it gave her a solid time table as to how long it had been since he had lost his previous zoid partner, and it also told her more about the capabilities of the Zoid prime which gave her a great deal of more to think about for a later time. For now though, she had more immediate concerns, like where she was going to sleep.

Looking back up and over to Cadmus she spoke up asking, "Would it be alright if I stayed over here for tonight? I think Nell and Michael need a bit of privacy tonight. They seemed rather... animated and I think my suite was where Michael went." She turned her head back down and looked to her lap for answers, noting how short her own dress was and trying to avoid drawing attention to the fact that she wasn't helping her own relationship with Cadmus by asking for a place to sleep in such a manner.

"A couch would be fine if you're okay with me staying here..." Agera added after a brief second, her tone even quieter than before.

[TheDoctor]

"Would it be alright if I stayed over here for tonight? I think Nell and Michael need a bit of privacy tonight. They seemed rather... animated and I think my suite was where Michael went."

What... It was as if his insides had sunk to the pit of his stomach. There they writhed, giving him a fake feeling of nausea. He knew what she was implying, and the thought made him sick. He felt his face go pale, and then his senses were enveloped by his thoughts.

He...she...they...did they really...are they actually doing what I think they're doing? The minute I go after her...and this happens? What the hell...they...dammit, I don't even know what to think!

"A couch would be fine if you're okay with me staying here..."

Cadmus stared past her, still taking in what Agera had just said. After a couple of seconds, Cadmus shook his head and looked back at her. "Oh...no, you can take Michael's bed. D-don't worry about it, it's right over there." He gestured towards the room. "Um...yeah, I should probably...get to bed..." He looked at the ground, strange feelings going through his head. "I'll see you in the morning." Getting up, he made his way to his room, shut the door, and then sat down with his back against it.

Cadmus knew that it wasn't a proper good night to Agera, but he barely even noticed. He wasn't depressed. He wasn't angry. He was shocked, surprised, and a bit perplexed. Images flew through his head at light speed, plaguing his thoughts with bad ideas. It's none of my business. It doesn't matter to me. Why do I care? Why do I care? Why do I even care?

Standing up, he took off his shirt, leaving him in his pair of black shorts. Without concentrating on what he was even doing, he turned off the lights, laid down on the bed, and placed a hand on his bare chest to feel his heartbeat. He didn't even bother to pull the covers over himself. Nothing could make him comfortable. Void of emotion, he stared up at the ceiling and whispered to himself.

"None of my business. None of my business. None of my god damn business."

[MarchingThunder]

Agera simply nodded in reply to Cadmus as he left, telling her to take Michael's room for the night. After he had gone back to his own room with the door closed, Agera did Ho to Michael's room, but only long enough to grab a pair of blankets and a pillow before returning to the couch she had been at before. Her own sensibilities were keeping her from taking Michael's room especially since he might come back later and she had never been able to sleep in someone else's bed once ownership had been given to it.

With those thoughts though, and a check that Cadmus had closed his door, Agera laid out one blanket over the couch as a makeshift sheet before pulling her dress off over her head and folding it up neatly where upon she set it on an end table next to the couch. Now in just her basic black underwear, her usual choice of sleepwear if she wasn't in Fury's cockpit, Agera laid out on the couch and ticked herself in comfortably to sleep, pulling the second blanket in tight and snuggling against the back of the couch while her bright blonde hair splayed out across the dark blankets she was using.

[TheDoctor]

Eyes cracking open, Cadmus let out a yawn. He had not been able to get a lot of sleep last night, for his thoughts had been infected by those of Michael and Nell. None of my business. None my business. Sitting up, he went through his daily routine in the morning to prepare himself for the day.

He walked out of his room and into the main room in his normal clothes, wiping grit from his eyes. His eyes lingered over to where Agera was sleeping on the couch. But...I told her to take Michael's bed. With a shrug, he noticed her dress folded up at one of the tables next to a couch. Hey. Cut it out. You don't need that right now. Turning a slight shade of red, he grabbed a key card and left the suite. He would grab breakfast in the lobby. No need to wake Agera.

As Cadmus exited the elevator to the first floor and approached the breakfast buffet, he noticed that none of the others had woken up yet. That's fine. I need time on my own anyway. He dreaded the minute that he would see Nell and Michael exiting the elevator to the lobby. Who knew what thoughts would go through his head at that minute? Who knew what things he would say and do?

He took a seat at one of the tables and quickly ate his breakfast. His hunger had left him after he found out about Nell and Michael, but he had to get something into his stomach, so he pushed through it. Then all he had left was his coffee, which he sipped slowly as he waited for the others.

[MaskofSilence]

Waking up slightly, Nell tried to turn around and fall back asleep, only to find that she was locked into place against something warm. Confused, she opened her eyes and came face to face with a peach like color. That is not the color of my bed last time I remember it... Suddenly, the thing she was attached to shifted a little, then stopped. Lifting herself up with her elbow, she saw that the thing was Micheal. His face looked peaceful and serene. Placing at gentle kiss on his lips, he shifted once more, but didn't wake.

What she noticed next caused her heart to stop and her eyes to widen. Micheal's chest was bare and bit marks littered his skin. She was now painfully aware of the fact that he was not wearing clothes. And neither was she. What the- Her thoughts were cut short as last night played through her head. Automatically panic swept over her like a wave.

Slowly, which took a lot of effort, she untangled herself from Micheal's hold. She then swiftly walked over the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Several identical marks stood out on her skin. Silently and quickly, she walked over to her suite case, grabbed clothes, got changed, made herself look presentable and then let out the door, being sure to close it once again.

She was barely thinking straight, her only goal was to get out of the room and away. It didn't matter where, anywhere was better than in that room. In a daze, she entered the elevator and started to go down. Arriving on the first floor, her eyes skimmed the sign that led to different rooms. The one that caught her attention was the Meditation Room. Perfect.

The room was empty. Sighing in relief, she sat down in the middle of the room. Now that she away, she could think straight.

[Ushima]

Michael woke up alone, which was his first clue that something was wrong. Memories from last night flooded his mind. he wouldn't lie, he enjoyed himself. What he experienced with Nell was amazing. He was hooked, wanted more, wanted her. Stretching he let out a yawn, joints popped. Michael rolled out of bed he put his clothes back on. Making his way out of Nell's room he left the suite and returned to his. He noticed Agera sleeping on the couch. He stood above her, a soft smile on his face. "You could've taken my bed. I wouldn't mind." Reaching down he put the blanket back up to her shoulders. "Rest up kid, you'll need it later."

Entering his room he closed the door, locking it. Entering his bathroom he took off his shirt, inspecting his body. His hand went to his right side, three bullet hole scars in a triangular patern decorated his skin. Along with a four inch long scar on his right shoulder. His left side and jagged scars from a shrapnel injury he received from an exploding enemy, his squad was entrenched and it was about to take them out but a Gojulas managed to take it out. His chest had several other scars, small lines from knives, tiny dots from razor wire, a wide but short one a little under his left arm where he had been grazed by a sniper round. A close call. Then there were his eyes, a single line cutting right across them. By far his most devistating one. It took his sight, if only for a couple days until he got his cybernetics implanted. He traced each scar, remembering.

Michael's body told amazing stories about all the things he had been through. All the times he could've died but lived on with only a marking on his flesh as a reminder. The body of a warrior, constant training molded him, combat tested his strength and resolve and abilities. Compared to Cadmus, who was just in the early stages of his prime, Michael was a fully developed warrior. And it showed. Big toned muscles sculpted over the years. He had been training since he was ten years old and the results showed. Cadmus, who for a teen had decent muscle mass, may as well be a twig compared to him. Michael was a soldier, lived to fight, killed many who got in his way, not because he enjoyed it because it was his job.

But now he was a King. King of a thought extinct race. But there were about three thousand more Zoidians. Waiting. Waiting for him to kill their greatest foe, waiting for him to take up his father's fallen mantle and lead them into new prosperity. Images of him as a king managed to surface, through the flashbacks of last night's sex. But with those came thoughts of Nell, she was next to him as Queen. "Could we have a future?" Michael took another glance in the mirror. "Heh seems Nell marked her territory." The upper part of his body was marked with red splotches, places where Nell had kissed and bit. Neck, shoulder, upper chest carried numerous markings.

But she had left him and that frustrated him a bit. "Maybe she just needs to think about it. Sort out her thoughts. Everything is going to be fine." Michael had decided to forgo a shower for now. It wouldn't make sense to take one right before he was about to to what he was about to do. So going back to his room he changed into a clean pair of boxers and shorts, another muscle shirt. Putting on a pair of sneakers he left the room, Agera still asleep on the couch as he walked past and out the door. Going to the elevator he hit the button for the first floor. Cadmus, if he was up, was probably at breakfast. And Nell....he didn't know. She might've gone down for breakfast.

When the elevator opened he walked out. He passed the breakfast tables, catching sight of Cadmus at one of the tables. The next room he came to was his destination, the gym. The room after that was the meditation room, briefly he wondered what that was but didn't think more of it as he entered the gym. The glass door closed behind him. Michael took off his shirt, putting it in one of the small lockers off to the side. He was the only one in here. Music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdlYMR_b8TY) played, giving him something to listen to as he worked out his frustrations. It wasn't often he had a full set of training equipment so when he does he takes full advantage of it.

Michael took the time to stretch before he worked out. Once done with that he shook his limbs to loosen up. "Alright let's get started." Going over to a banch he grabbed weight. Three forty five pound weights on both sides. Laying down he positioned his hands. Taking a few deep breaths he lifted, exhaling as he did. The bar came down and he pushed it back up, repeating this process ten more times before setting it back down. Getting up off the bench he dropped down, doing push-ups. He was supposed to do as many as he could, but if he did that he'd be here all morning. So he settled on thirty before going back and repeating the process.

[MarchingThunder]

Agera slept more than soundly through the night on the couch given how used she was to sleeping in far more uncomfortable places than that. By the time morning arrived though, she was vaguely aware of people coming and going and even someone messing about with the blanket she was sleeping under at one point. Eventually though, she did get up only to find herself alone in the room and gave a sigh of relief at that, as something told her that everyone was likely a bit edgy that morning. After pulling her dress from last night back on, Agera refolded the blankets she had used and headed back to her own room where she finished dressing for the day, getting her stockings and boots on along with her arm sleeves and finally her beret, though in a sign of mild comfort, she didn't tuck her hair up into the hat for once. Her handguns were once again strapped across her lower back as she headed down to the buffet for breakfast.

Once she had a tray loaded with a rather large amount of food, Agera spotted Cadmus and debated internally joining him for breakfast. He was down to just a cup of coffee, so if he wanted to leave, he could, something she regarded as tactically good regarding how their conversation had gone the night before. With that in mind, Agera made her way to his table and put on a nervous smile as she spoke up asking, "Morning Cadmus, may I join you?"

[TheDoctor]

Cadmus' thoughts were so distant and yet so chaotic at the same time. They were everywhere, yet nowhere at the same time. He didn't even have time to focus on a single thought before it was whisked away, replaced by something entirely different. He had been staring into the distance, letting the remainder of his coffee go cold as Michael exited the elevator. The man was apparently headed to the gym. The gym. I entirely forgot about that. What better way to sort out my thoughts than working them away?

Just as he was about to stand, Agera approached with a nervous smile. "Morning Cadmus, may I join you?"

Cadmus downed the rest of his lukewarm coffee, making a disgusted face as it traveled down his throat. Ugh. Nothing worse than cold coffee. "Actually," He tossed his cup in the trash near his seat. "the table's all yours. I was actually about to go work out in the gym." Standing from his place, he gave her an apologetic shrug. "Sorry. We'll have more time to talk later. We've got a long day of planning ahead of us today." Waving, he went back to the elevator to change clothes.

Surprisingly enough, Cadmus found that he had actually enjoyed Agera's presence. At the moment, he couldn't really gain the willpower to become involved in a conversation with someone. He just wasn't able to motivate himself to talk ever since he found out what happened with Nell and Michael. With Agera, however, he had actually felt slightly loosened from the bonds of his solidarity. He didn't feel like he had to put in serious mental effort to talk to her. And despite the awkward beginning and end to their conversation last night, Cadmus looked back at it and grinned a little. But just a little.

He had changed into some shorts, a tight white T-shirt, and some sneakers. When he emerged from the elevator at the bottom floor again, he went directly to the gym. Inside, he found Michael lifting shirtless on the bench press. With a nod at the man, Cadmus took off his own shirt to start working, making a subconscious comparison between the two of them.

The first thing that he noticed was Michael's body compared to his. Michael consisted of layers and layers of bulk muscle, giving him a strong body that many women would undoubtedly desire. It was the result of many years of military training, exercises that gave him the most strength that his body could possibly support. He was in peak physical shape, and despite his obvious injuries, he had managed to keep on top of his game.

And Cadmus? His body certainly wasn't anything to scoff at. It was covered with fine layers of muscle, giving him the strength that he needed to take out any other man in a fight. It was impressive, but it simply wasn't as impressive as Michael's. Cadmus' entire body structure had changed in the past year, evolving him from a boy to a man. As he had traveled the wasteland of Zi, he strengthened himself in as many ways and as hard as he could, training on his own and ensuring that he would be ready for the inevitable battle against Zoid Prime. Not only did he focus on building muscle, but he also focused on speed, agility, balance, and fighting techniques. It was more practical in the real world, and he felt that he would probably be in more battles than in situations where he had to lift incredibly heavy things. A pilot should be as strong as his zoid. I may not have had a zoid, but I was always a pilot at heart.

His own personal training in the wasteland, though, was not military training. He pushed himself to his physical peak every day, gaining in strength and muscle mass, but he still wasn't as strong as Michael. Maybe that was from the age difference of a couple of years. Maybe it was from their different backgrounds. Maybe it was both. Cadmus' training had done wonders to his body, but he simply hadn't been at it long enough. He wondered if in a year or so, maybe he could be stronger than Michael. I don't know about strength. But maybe a test of endurance? A test of balance, agility? Hell, I might even have him right now. Maybe. I won't test it. I've been looking up to him ever since I met him, but I never thought of comparing our physical capabilities. It doesn't matter, though. Dammit, no wonder Nell went for him. I may have some muscle, but I didn't even have a chance.

The second thing that he noticed was the red marks that peppered Michael's upper body. Turning slightly red, Cadmus glanced away as he started to stretch. What a wonderful reminder. I get to see the leftovers. He still wasn't angry, at least, not outwardly. Cadmus was a master at hiding his emotions when he wanted to. After all, for the past year, he had managed to hide his true feelings underneath a mask of arrogance and anger without a fault. When the emotions finally knocked down his door after the whole year, Cadmus had wept. But he managed to do it in apparent privacy, away from the others.

Besides, this wasn't nearly as bad as losing Rigon. Sure, it hurt, but infatuation and premature love does that to a man. Fortunately, Cadmus knew how to hide that hurt. Losing Nell was like a broken rib. He would recover from that without any visual pain. But losing Rigon? No, that was like losing an arm and almost bleeding to death. That was worse. Far worse.

So instead, Cadmus pushed back the emotional pain. It was only heartbreak, after all.

As he finished stretching, Cadmus made his way to the benches to work on his core. He wasn't a big fan of the weights, although he did use them occasionally. It's not the same as using your own body to train itself. As he laid down and hooked his legs in, allowing his upper body to slant downward as his knees stayed up, he lightly placed his hands behind his ears. Then, letting out short grunts of effort, he started his hundred crunches.

When he reached one hundred, he let his body fall back, breathing heavier than he was before. As he stood to move over to the pull-up bar, he called over his shoulder at Michael. "So what do you have in store for us at this planning session?"

[MaskofSilence]

Laying sprawled out in the middle of the Mediation room floor, Nell stared at the ceiling trying to figure out what was going through her head. Now that the initial panic of the situation was over, she was able to clearly think about what had exactly happened last night. They were watching television when a romantic movie came on. Somehow, that had lead to Michael kissing her. Which in turn lead to the sex they had. When she had first woke-up, she honesty didn't remember much, but as she laid in the middle of the floor, everything came back. She could feel her face start to turn red. If she had said that she didn't enjoy last night, well she would be lying.

For most of her life, she had always been looked at as "one of the guys", simply because she was a mechanic. Michael had been the only one, that she noticed, who had paid any attention to her in that way. Now she wasn't exactly sure what liking someone was like, or even loving someone. But if liking or loving included making someone heart beat faster, crave their lovers touch and all sorts of other emotions, then well, she had it bad. That was when realization hit her, she had it for Michael. She distinctly remember thinking along the lines of wanting to "taste him" last night. Sighing, she muttered to the room, "Well, at least I know how I feel, but what about him?"

That was the main reason she had left this morning. What if Michael woke-up and seen what he had done? Would he ashamed? Could he just possibly been too caught up in the moment to even realize what was going on? Basically, she wanted to know how Michael felt. What she would give to know. Suddenly, her stomach interrupted her thought process by growling. Standing, she made her way out of the room, happy to have figured out her half.

As she passed by the workout room, she just happened to glance in. Blinking, she stopped. The first person she saw was Cad. She had to admit, he was handsome, but compared to Michael, Cad was still a boy. Then was Michael, in all his glory. Scars covered his chest, proving his worth on the felid. Her face redder when she saw that her marks still decorated his skin. Her mind flashed back to hers, which cover her shoulders, neck and more. Eagerly, she scanned his body, taking everything in. She deiced that the scars added to his character and sexiness. Unknowingly, a grin made it's way to her face.

She stomach let out another soft rumble. Tearing her eyes away, she made her way to breakfast. Grabbing some fruit, yogurt, a began and coffee, she saw Agera sitting by herself. Perhaps she could make friends the girl now. Taking a deep breath, she walked over, trying hard to act normal. "Morning." She then shot a questioning look at the chair and then Agera. Yep, that is how she would normally act.

[MarchingThunder]

Agera was slowly working her way through the first item on her breakfast tray; a large bowl of oatmeal seasoned with maple syrup and brown sugar, a true sign of the opulence of the hotel they were in. She had just had her second bite when Nell showed up with her own breakfast and sent a questioning look to the now vacant chair across from her. Finishing her bite, she quickly struggled to put out a response saying, "Ah, feel free to join me, Nell."

She took a few more bites as Nell sat down before taking a sip of milk before deciding to breach the topic of last night with her fellow woman. "Good morning Nell," she said softly, "I take it you had a good night with Michael?"

[MaskofSilence]

"Good morning Nell," Agera greeting her softly. "I take it you had a good night with Michael?"

Right as Agera had asked her that, Nell had taken a bit of her begal. The question itself caused her to choak slightly. Taking a sip of her coffee, she washed down the begal. How did Agera know? Did that ment that Cad knew too? Well Cad had to know if he had seen the marks on Micheal's upper body. Blushing, she answered the other women truthfully. "Yeah. Very enjoyable." she paused before asked question. "Just out of curiousosity, how did you know?"

Secretly, she hoped Agera had not walked in and heard them. That thought was embarssing within itself. She didn't remember hearing a door open, then again, she really wasn't paying attention to much else other than Michael.

[MarchingThunder]

After finishing her oatmeal off and starting on a dicposable cup of yogurt, Agera decided to answer Nell's question as to just how she knew the two of them had been together last night as she said, "We'll you two have been really close these last few days, and when Michael blew through his room last night, he wasn't even really dressed when he left. Besides that he never came back which means he was sleeping in our suite last night. Most likely with you."

Agera had a light blush on her face as she explained and didn't meet Nell's gaze either. To be honest she was a bit too embarrassed of herself to admit she had figured out two of her traveling companions were sleeping together so quickly, but at the moment she supposed it wasn't as important as other things on their collective agenda.

[Ushima]

By the time Cadmus had joined him in the gym he had finished benching, he had already curled seventy five pount dumbells, worked his core muscles. Right now he was lifting. gripping the bar he pulled up, tucking it under his chin before holding it straight up for a couple seconds. The weights slammed down, loudly. That was his fifth time doing that.

"So what do you have in store for us at this planning session?"

"I'll just be going over the assualt and extraction plan." Michael put the weights back and went over to a treadmill to do his cooldown. He started at a light jog before moving up to a steady run. "Ugh reminds me when I was in basic training. All we did was run, and run, and run until we couldn't then run some more." The did other things, but running they did more than anything. While he was running he saw Nell looking in through the glass windows. She was looking at him. After getting her eyefull she left. Michael looked down at the treadmill display. "Only a mile. Meh I do enough running as it is." Shutting down the machine he did a few more stretches. "I'm heading to breakfast. We'll have a meeting in our suite after everyone's ready." Grabbing his shirt he put it on.

Leaving the gym he went to breakfast, grabbing some bacon, eggs, toast and juice. He found the table with Nell and Agera. "Morning Agera. Hey Nell." His face darkened a bit. He had it bad for Nell. "Mind if I sit here?"

[TheDoctor]

As Cadmus lowered himself from the bar after a set of pull ups, he heard Michael call over to him.

"Ugh reminds me when I was in basic training. All we did was run, and run, and run until we couldn't then run some more."

Yeah, you're telling me. Reminds me of the wastelands. Except I was running for my life from many different people and things until my legs couldn't carry me anymore. And still I had to run. Usually without a bite of food either.

"I'm heading to breakfast. We'll have a meeting in our suite after everyone's ready."

Cadmus nodded. "See you then." Without another word, he continued his workout, allowing himself to work away his stress.

Eventually, he finished with his workout, covered with sweat. Wiping off his chest and forehead with a towel, he threw is shirt back on. He made his way back into the suite, disrobed, and instantly went for a shower. He made it short. They had to plan today, and he didn't have time to linger in the shower. When he was done, he reapplied his bandage, clothed himself in his normal attire, and sat on the end of the bed, looking at his hands as he waited for the others and toyed with his confused mind.

I need to let her go. I would love to, but there's nothing I can do. My mind is made up, so now I need to force it to change. But how the hell do I do that? I can't tell my mind to stop loving someone! How can I possibly change that?!

Maybe by...replacing her with someone else in my mind?

~~~~~

Aelia had a long conversation with Varien that night. She needed to clear her mind for the days ahead. If I'm going to get my information, my mind has to be clear. I can't let emotions bog me down. There's no time for that.

Today, she wore a simple white shirt with black pants and shoes. She didn't need attention on her today. Today, she needed everyone's full attention on the task at hand. With a sigh, she entered the hotel lobby of Sanctuary. Spotting Nell, Michael, and Agera, she walked over to them with a wave, grabbing an open chair across the table from Michael. She gave a smile to everyone, eyes faltering on Michael as she forced her emotions to stay docile.

"Morning, all. Everyone ready for today?"

[MaskofSilence]

"We'll you two have been really close these last few days, and when Michael blew through his room last night, he wasn't even really dressed when he left. Besides that he never came back which means he was sleeping in our suite last night. Most likely with you”

Eye widening slight, Nell looked away as well. Well, this was a great first impression. Letting out a silent sigh, she took a small bite of her bagel. She was quickly loosing her appetite. Unsure of what else to say, she stayed silent.

"Morning Agera. Hey Nell." Looking up, her face flushed. She could already tell this was going to be a long day and she needed to talk to Micheal as soon as possible about last night. “Can I sit here?” Wordlessly, she nodded. This situation just got more awkward, if possible at all. Aegrea looked uncomfortable in this situation was well. But before anything else could be said, another figure joined them at the table.

"Morning, all. Everyone ready for today?" And with that said, the awkwardness seemed to vanish. Various answers came from around the table while Nell nodded while grinning. Today was going to be exciting, but she was also hoping to find time to talk. She knew it probably wouldn’t happen with what was going on, but hey, she could hope. Finishing her bagel quickly, she moved to her yogurt. She was ready to go when they were.

[Ushima]

"There's just one thing we have to take care of first." Michael looked up, Jason (http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/235134-maybe-you-don-t-care-but-i-have-dibs-on-axton/axton%20solutions-620x.jpg) was walking towards them in full armor. Reaching under the table Michael grabbed Nell's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. A way of saying everything is ok.

"Michael you're going to have to come with me." Jason ordered, his tone very serious.

"Why me?" He asked, just giving an old friend a hard time.

"Cause it's plain as day to everyone that you run this little band of vigilantes." Jason crossed his arms. "Fey wants to see you. She's waiting in a limo (http://www.big-limos.com/images/superbus/superbus.jpg) outside."

"Well I guess that's my que isn't it? I'll see you all in the suite in a bit. This shouldn't take to long." With one last squeeze to Nell's hand he got up. "This is so cool I get to ride in a limo! Lead the way."

"Stop horsing around!" The older man scolded but he was obviously ignored by Michael.

Jason led him through the lobby and out in front of Sanctuary. Two other men in armor waited for him. "Gentlemen." Michael said.

"Arms out." One ordered. Rolling his eyes he did so and he was patted down.

"I'm wearing training clothes. Where could I possibly keep something?" Michael asked but he went ignored. "If you bust out a latex glove I will fucking kill all three of you right here."

"He's clear." The guard said.

"Told ya." Jason got in the limo, the guard, then him then the final guard. Michael was flanked by both guards. Jason sat at the other end next to a woman. "I see you take security very seriously Ms. Fey (http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j283/txnsngr08/Anime%20RPCs/Animegirlwithglasses-1.jpg)."

"In my line of work everyone wants to see me removed from power and take the spot for themselves. So I hired the best." Fey sipped from glass, alcoholic Michael assumed. He noted it wasn't even noon yet but wisely kept his mouth shut. "Now we have a problem and your merry band of fighters are going to be a means to an end. The end of the Zealots in this city."

"As long as I get what I need I'll do what I have to." Michael said, feeling a bit more comfortable.

"Glad to hear it. What I need you to do is take some of my men in during this raid of yours. They know what to do." fey explained. "They'll help you in whatever you need while you're there."

"Is Jason involved in this raid?" Michael asked.

"He's the best man I have. So yes. It'll be just like old times for you two." Fey patted Jason on the leg.

"Very well. I could use extra boots on the ground. Consider it done." Michael smiled. happy with the results.

"Perfect. You'll be briefed privately later. Just don't muck it up to bad, or else I'll have to send my hubby after you." Fey's hand rose up to caress Jaspn's cheek.

"Wow. That was unexpected." The limo pulled up back infront of Sanctuary. "What didn't want to invite me and Storm to the wedding?"

"It was a private ceremony." Fey said. "Good bye Mr. Knight. I'll make sure things are prepared for your mission. Pleasure doing business with you." The door opened.

"Yes thank you for allowing us to operate inside Arcadia." Michael started to move.

"I'll meet you at the hangar with the rest of the men." Jason called out.

"Got it!" The door closed behind him and the limo took off. Michael reentered the hotel and quickly returned to his suite. Entering he called out. "Told ya it wouldn't take long. So everyone ready?"

[MarchingThunder]

Agera quietly ate the rest of her breakfast as she watched things play out around her, only giving silent nods when she was required to reply though she paid attention when Michael was called off by the security from before. All in all though, the situation just felt too awkward for her to actively participate in. When Michael came back though asking if people were ready, Agera could only give a tired sigh as she finished the last of her milk.

"I believe I am, so I will go ahead and wait at the suiter, why don't you go ahead and get Cadmus, Nell?" Agera asked softly as she stood up from her chair and took care of her tray. Before there was even a chance to argue, Agera was out the door.

[MaskofSilence]

They were sitting at the table, enjoying a nice breakfast when the guy from the bar last night came and asked for Micheal. Automatically, she reached to her side to find the knife that was ususally there. Only, it wasn't. She mentally cursed at the fact that she didn't arm herself when getting dresses this morning. Suddenly, a hand appeared over her's and squeezed. It was Micheal, he was trying to tell her everything would be okay. She knew he wasn't just talking about this situation. When the man asked Micheal to come, he squeezed her hand one last time and left. As the strange man left with Micheal, she glared at the of his head.

The ladies then continued their breakfast in silence. Minutes passes and Micheal still wasn't back yet. Nell had stopped eating as soon as he left, all feeling of hunger gone. Her leg moved up and down impatiently. She had never acted like this before. When she walked back through the door, she let out a sigh. "Told ya it wouldn't take long. So everyone ready?" She rolled her eyes, but she was really just happy he was fine. "I believe I am, so I will go ahead and wait at the suite, why don't you go ahead and get Cadmus, Nell?"

Eyebrows furrowed, she watched at Agera walked away and up in the elevator. She was in for a nice surprise of Cad probably already being in the suite. Shrugging, she walked over with the group and pressed the button. Hearing the ding, they all crowded in. The music played while they wait hit the top floor. Once the door open, they flooded out and went into the suite for the briefing.

[Ushima]

Michael looked at each person in the suite. "Ok everyone. The Helios Company gave us permission to run an op in the city. So that means we're clear." His holographic projector was set up and a holo of the building appeared. Behind him on the tv an image appeared. It was a man, about twenty five. "Jin (http://www.google.com/imgres?q=anime+bandit&num=10&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1229&bih=579&tbm=isch&tbnid=m3D0E0K7M1kfgM:&imgrefurl=http://banditrevolver.deviantart.com/art/Homura-Shiroka-108328730&docid=12X1liG-GiUYaM&imgurl=http://www.deviantart.com/download/108328730/Homura_Shiroka_by_BanditRevolver.jpg&w=397&h=702&ei=ncmmULLwJsW30AGr5oGQCg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=683&vpy=104&dur=436&hovh=299&hovw=169&tx=82&ty=179&sig=113218247992750438763&page=1&tbnh=140&tbnw=79&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:125). You're looking well. Where are you now?"

"I'm outside the city. I'm going back to Neo Haven." Jin explained. "Pete's going to be in the upper officies of the building. He usually is at night. Filing reports about the day's intake."

"You got a good route we can take?" Michael asked.

"Access door on the side." A door on the side of the building at the base lit up red. "There's a service elevator at the end of the hallway. It only goes up fifty floors. You'll have to fight your way up the last ten."

"Nothing I can't handle." Michael crossed his arms. "Anything else we should know?"

"They captured a girl the other day and are holding her in a cell. She looked pretty roughed up. Anything you can do about it?" Jin asked.

"I think I can squeeze in a jailbreak." Michael nodded to Jin as the cell location appeared on the holo. "Thanks Jin. See you when I'm back in Haven."

"Good luck." Jin's image faded.

"Aelia. Once we're inside and near the top contact me on the radio. The frequenc is 135.6. I'll get a fix on your location and that'll lead us to Pete and you. Helios provided us with extra support. I'll be leading them in the raid. Agera, Cadmus and Nell you'll be in the zoids. Once they get word out that they're being raided they'll be sending in reinforcements. Take them out as they show up and secure our extraction." The holo faded. "Let's move to the hangar and prep." Michael led the way out of the suite, they were carrying their things. The chances they'd be coming back were unlikely.

Entering the lobby Michael handed over the room keys before they left the hotel. Grabbing a transport they took the short drive to the hangar where the zoids stood. "Jason!"

"Good you're here. We laid out some weapons. Shotguns (http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_full_width_scaled/hash/d3/b3/d3b38666facafcffd605e81c4e25b590.png), heavy machine guns (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RvQdYTeZsmk/UF-uTNtosHI/AAAAAAAAA8g/M27RXVo9rd4/s1600/SAW.png), rifles (http://www.onespawn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Halo-4-BR1.png). We even got something for stickey situations." Jason and Michael stood over a table full of weapons.

Michael picked up the "special weapon (http://www.halobase.de/fileadmin/media/gallery/screenshots/halo-4-screenshots/waffen-render-fahrzeuge/halo-4-render-unsc-rail-gun.jpg)." He shouldered it, aiming down the sights. "Nice."

"It's just a prototype. Guess we're field testing it." Jason said.

"Gift from the wife?" Michael set the weapon down. Going over to the Kinami Liger a big case dropped from the liger. It opened, two doors swinging open to reveal his combat armor. "Been awhile since i've had to wear this."

[TheDoctor]

Cadmus simply went with what Michael had told him as they arrived at the hangar. He wasn't much of a military man, but what Michael said made sense. I'll follow him, but this plan seems more like a skeleton than a full-fledged operation. If we screw this thing up, there'll be hell to pay.

As Michael eyed and examined the weapons, Cadmus approached from behind. He also glanced over the rifles. Damn things will just slow me down. Besides, who needs a gun when you are a genezoid? Cadmus did, however, glance over at the pistols (http://cdn.ammoland.com/files/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Springfield-Compact-XDM-Pistol.jpg). But hell, I guess a little firepower wouldn't hurt. He picked up one of the handguns, aiming it with both hands. He knew how to use a gun well. It sure wasn't military training, but he was still proficient.

Holding up the handgun, Cadmus glanced at Michael. "Hope you don't mind." Then he took a holster, clipping it on to the light harness that kept his dagger against his side. He now had his pistol holstered on one side of his body, his dagger sheathed on the other. With a quick twist of his body, Cadmus found that it didn't limit him much. Satisfied, he approached the Energy Liger.

You ready to roll, Krios?

I've been ready since we got here.

~~~~~

Aelia, in the meantime, had returned to Rudford Tower. She stood next to Pete in a black formfitting jumpsuit, rifle over her shoulder as they looked at the green hologram of the city. Pete snorted, typing in a set of coordinates that turned a section of the hologram red. A small ring around the red section turned yellow.

"So you're positive that they are in Skyway District, Mikaila?"

Aelia nodded seriously, typing in a set of her own coordinates. The red section instantly became smaller. "Here in particular. I've managed to infiltrate them and get a look at their plans. They seem to be planning for a break-in in five days."

Pete scoffed. "A break-in? Here? I doubt it. A band of rebels can't do shit. Still, we need more. What are the details of their plan?"

As Aelia continued, she purposely fed Pete false information. Although there were some hidden truths within her lies, she didn't reveal anything important. After all, a lie with little truth in it was more convincing than one without. Just gotta wait for Michael's signal.

[MarchingThunder]

Agera had sat through the planning session in silence before heading to the hangar with the rest of the group where they proceeded to pick out weapons. Agera didn't pick out any additional weapons for herself like the others were doing, however, she did fill up several of her En-Bloc clips with armor piercing 20mm rounds which she tucked into pockets in the interior of her jacket.

Following that up was the addition of the bullet resistant titanium-osmium plates into the exterior (you can see these in her picture) of her jacket so that if she did start taking hits, she stood a very good chance of walking away from anything other than a .50 cal. Finally feeling prepared, she looked towards Michael and the rest before speaking up asking, "So are we ready to get moving?" She really didn't want a part in the fight, but she was part of the group, and they were going for it and thus so was she, therefore there would be no half efforts from her.

[MaskofSilence]

Co-post with Ushima:

Michael had quickly changed his clothing. A tight black shirt and pants. He reached for the leggings. Pulling on combat boots he fastened them. Next came armored kevlar pants with plates on the forelegs, knees and thighs. Attached to his thighs were leg holsters and larger pouches to carry gear. Around his waist was a belt lined with shotgun shells and ammo pouches, seeing as that's the weapons he'd be grabbing off that table. He pulled his vest over his head, securing the sides. The back already came with a metal armored plate attached. Reaching into his crate he grabbed the chest piece. It snapped into place with a loud click. Next came his arms. They slid into armored sleeves. He clasped the shoulders on once they were fit on. Grabbing his knife he sheathed.
The sheath rested on his left shoulder. Once he got in his armor he sat down, his body had to adjust to all the extra weight it was suddenly carrying.

Watching as everyone grabbed weapons, Nell adjusted her's to make sure that they were comfortable. Most likely, she wasn't going to have to use them, but she liked to have then on her just in case. Although this morning, she was actually glad that she didn't have them. Who knew what would of happened if she drew her knife on someone who was trying to help them. Sighing, she thought about Micheal and her hand over her's. She shook her head. She needed to talk to him, and preferable before they went off to fight. For a second, she watched him. She noticed that his eyes were somewhat glazed over. Obviously, she wasn't the only one. Their was no way she was risking his safety because he was distracted. So, she started toward him. Once she was next to him she stopped. “Micheal.” He turned his full attention on her, fixing her with a questioning gaze. She took a deep breath, thinking of chickening out, but the thought of Micheal getting hurt, or possibly someone else, kept her from doing so. “Ummm...We need to discuss what happened last night.” Her face was turning red and heart beat sped up. She turned her head away, hoping he didn't see the dark blush that covered her face. Somehow, she had fallen for him. Bad.

Michael stood up. Being decked out in full armor made him a tad bit bigger than he actually was. "You're absolutely right." It took several second for Nell to say anything else, if for the pure reason that she didn't know what to say. She had never been good with words. Actions had always been her department. Turning to face him, she stood up on her tip-toes and wrapped her arms around Micheal's neck. “I've never fallen in love before.” she whispered softly, “But when I see you I want you. There is always a first.” She told him while cuddling into the crook of his neck and waiting. She had never been so open before. If he rejected her, she would be devastated.

"I know what you mean. I feel the same. You've become important to me. I want you by my side. That is, if you'll have me?"

At those words, a grin found it's way to her face and relief flooded threw her . She had never been happier to hear someone say anything. Looking up at him, she placed a quick kiss on his cheek. “How could I say no?” she said with some playfulness.

Micheal’s arms wrapped around her waist and he held her tighter to him. "I hope you aren't uncomfortable because of my armor.”

"Nope." She said with a grin. "Even if I was, I wouldn't pull away." She reached up and touched her forehead to his. “I was so worried that last night was just a one time thing for you.” she said softly. She was opening up to Micheal. It felt good to feel love someone.


"Look I might have done that once or twice. But not with you. You're different. Special." Michael pecked her lips. "Which is why as soon as I can I'm taking you out to dinner. Probably when we're in the next town. How about that?"

When Micheal said that she was special, her heart flipped. The only other time that she remembered being this happy was when Necros finally came to life. “Dinner?” She pretended to think about. “Sounds like a dream come true.”

"Only the best for my girl." Michael gave her a smile.

How did I get so lucky, Nell thought. She took a breath through her nose, taking him in. She was no longer distracted, which means that Micheal probably wasn't either. She could now relax and stop worrying. “Well, Love, I'm glad we have this conversation.”

"Me to." Michael released Nell, sitting against the leg of his liger. "I'm gonna get a nap in before the assault. We got a couple hours before we start." He patted the spot next to him. "Care to join me?"

Wordlessly, she went and sat next to Micheal. She was so close to him that she could feel his warmth. Sighing happily, she she leaned her head against Micheal's shoulder. She yawn slightly, more tired than she thought. Then again, Micheal nor her got that much sleep last night. She face heated up slightly at the thought.

Michael lifted his arm and put it around her. That way her head wasn't resting against his shoulder plate. "Jason wake me when it's time to move out." Now much more comfortable, she was able to fall into a peaceful and blissful sleep.

Michael also fell asleep. He needed his rest. His head slumped against Nell's. Both of them sound asleep.

[Ushima]

IT was about ten o'clock when Michael got tapped on the shoulder. "Time to go." Michael gently shook Nell awake. When she saw him she smiled. He couldn't help himself, he gave her a quick kiss. "Come on. It's time to start." He watched as she walked over to her zoid to start.

"You ready for this?" Jason tossed him a shotgun.

"Aren't I always?" Michael shouldered the shotgun, looking down the sights. Taking shells off the table he loaded it. "Ok how are we getting close to the building?"

"That." jason pointed to the entrance of the hangar. There sat a large APC (http://images.mmosite.com/feature/huxley/vehicles/APC.jpg). "It'll get us right up to the door."

"Nice. Load'em up." Michael grabbed something out of his armor case before the large metal container was loaded back into the liger. "Delta be preped to leave at a moments notice."

"Understood." Came the organoid's voice.

Michael put the object he grabbed on. "Alright we're oscar mike." Michael looked to Cadmus. "Hold position three blocks away and watch your radar. Once they stop showing up, take them out." Michael flipped his mask (http://th09.deviantart.net/fs39/300W/f/2008/326/8/e/Devil__s_Skull_VI_Face_Mask_by_siccxdegree.jpg) down. His normally blue eyes turned red to complete the look, Overall he was quite intimidating, which was also a big part of combat. "See you guys when we're done." Michael entered the back of the APC. Loud music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gSb2A4mXtg) was playing, to get them pumped up for the raid. Michael was having a few flashback thoughts as he sat down and the APC sealed up. "So hwhat's this other mission you're on?"

"We're taking the building. We have to prep it for another assualt later. Setting up camers and all that. Then we can hit it and remove the scum from Arcadia. This way we can mask what we're doing by helping you." Jason explained.

"I see. Glad I could help." The Apc and the zoids left the hangar. Michael's head nodded to the music. "This reminds me of the time we took that genezoid base five years ago."

"I know. I was thinking the same thing." Jason and Michael bumped fists.

"ETA two minutes!" The driver yelled.

"Ok guys we just need to make it to an elevator and fight our way up a couple floors. And rescue a kidnapped girl. No problem." Weapons clicked as the men loaded them and flicked safety's off. The APC backed up to the door, the main weapons taking care of the outside guards. The group burst out and grouped by the door. Michael was first. The weapons from the APC continued to provide covering fire. Placing a charge on the door he leaned away as the explosion blew the door inward. The men poured it, weapons taking out the guards. "We're in. Procceeding to point alpha." Michael informed the others.

[TheDoctor]

As the raid began, Cadmus found himself...bored. The APC had already reached the entrance to Rudford Tower, and Michael's group was inside. Cadmus, Agera, and Nell were to secure the evacuation, holding back any reinforcements that the Zealots sent at them. And so far, not a single zoid has approached us. I suppose that is a good sign?

Keep your eyes pealed, Cadmus. If they do attack, we need to be ready to push them back.

Yeah, yeah. I get you. Rolling his neck, Cadmus piloted the Energy Liger to pace around the massive square in front of the tower. Letting out a small puff of air, he established a comm link with the others. "Stay focused, guys. They could come at any minute." He was somewhat of a hypocrite, but he wanted to make sure that the others weren't falling asleep.

His thoughts clicked back to when he saw Michael and Nell together in the hangar. He remembered the feelings that he had had when he saw their moment, and it caused his heart to sink once again. I thought that they just had a one night stand going. I guess I was wrong. I don't even have a chance, now. She's gone. Just like Elle. For some reason, he had never let himself let go of Elle. Something about her had stuck in his head, and he couldn't get her to leave. Cadmus knew that he would never see her again, and he no longer had feelings for her, but he remembered her clearly. And I was too slow. Just like this time

Dammit, I don't have time for this. This is distracting me from what's important. If this raid goes as planned, we could find Prime's location. Then I can have my revenge.

"I must say, they were not well prepared for this attack."

Cadmus almost jumped out of his seat. Turning to his right, he saw a man (http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/28100000/Simon-tengen-toppa-gurren-lagann-28143568-1024-576.jpg) standing next to his seat in the cockpit with him. Jaw dropping slightly, Cadmus started to stutter. "I...what...you...how the HELL did you get in here?!"

The man turned to him, grinning as if he were meeting in a perfectly normal place. "Name's Veerin. A pleasure." He nodded to Cadmus, turning back to the battle. "So you've got your boys in the tower, making their way up via elevator. Your mademoiselle stands at the top with Mr. Nellis, ready to strike when the time is right, which, if I'm correct...should be pretty soon. Then we have you, Cadmus. You and your comrades stay at the bottom of the tower, watching and waiting for the big boys to do their work." The man spoke with strength to his voice, yet it was rather comforting.

Nonetheless, Cadmus still stared at the man in shock. "How do you know all of this?"

In response, Veerin winked. "Don't worry about it. Now Cadmus, why are you waiting down here? Michael placed you down here because he doesn't need you. He had nowhere else to place you, so he put you at the bottom to cover his retreat. He thinks that you would just screw everything up, all because you are only a boy in his eyes. Is that really what you want to be known as? The boy in the group to clean up the A-team's messes? You know, if you think about it, you don't even have to follow his orders if you don't want to! You aren't in the military. He has nothing over you."

Looking down, Cadmus thought through what the man was saying. There was much truth to what he had said. "But...why would I jump in there like that and mess everything up? I don't have the military training that they do. They're much better than I am at this kind of thing."

Veerin rolled his eyes, crouching next to Cadmus' seat. "Cadmus, they aren't 'better than you.' They are organized, structured, and bound by the chain of command. In return, the chain of command gives them what they need to do the job. Besides, if something goes wrong in their little plan, then everything goes to hell. But you? You're not bound by anyone. You don't need a plan to get things done like they do. Sure, you may have a couple ideas of what you need to do, step stones to your goal. But if those step stones lead you in the wrong direction, you can still think on your feet. You can easily find your way out of the sticky situation, changing the path to a way that fits you."

The man stood up again, leaning on Cadmus' chair. "That's what makes you different from them, Cadmus. You've lived in the wastelands, and you've stared death in the face and spat. You know what it means to survive, and your instincts are stronger than theirs. They just haven't let you prove your worth, for they think you are worthless. Hell, some of them even feel BAD for you! They sympathize!"

Veerin let out a laugh. "You don't need their sympathy, Cadmus. So this time, I'm gonna let you show them what you're worth. I'll give you the grand prize. Then they will not look down at you like they did before. Nay, then they will be looking up."

The man then pointed out of the cockpit, and the instant that he pointed, an explosion rocked the wide street leading to the square that they were in. Then, out of the smoke, zoids started to fire, each zoid baring the symbol of the Zealots (http://t5ak.roblox.com/38828659202c5a48df9f020639a27a6b). The reinforcements had arrived.

In response, Cadmus piloted the Liger to the side, returning fire with the cannons on the sides. As Rev Raptors, Zaber Fangs, and Molgas emerged from the smoke, guns blazing, the Energy Liger easily took them out. Nell's KatFysh and Agera's Fury soon joined in the fight, destroying zoids of their own. With a cocky grin, Cadmus responded to Veerin. "What, this? This is nothing. The reinforcements arrived, so what? I've taken Zealot zoids out even without this Liger. This proves nothing."

Veerin chuckled. "Oh, I know, Cadmus. But that certainly does."

The instant that he said those words, a Genosaurer (http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080701070432/zoids/images/c/cc/GenoSaurer.JPG) leaped out of the smoke, landing in front of Cadmus. It roared at the Liger, unloading its laser cannons. Jerking the controls, Cadmus dodged the shots, returning fire to the Genosaurer.

"A Genosaurer, piloted by a commander that is renown amongst the Zealots. This is the big boy, Cadmus. And he's all yours." Patting Cadmus' shoulder, Veerin turned around, took a step, and vanished.

Turning to look over his shoulder, Cadmus stared at the spot that Veerin vanished from. I...what the fuck? Am I going insane? Suddenly, explosions rocked his sides, and he piloted the Liger away.

Cadmus, pay attention! Now, you're a genezoid, are you not? Fuse with me, now!

I...yeah, let's go! As Cadmus stood up, the cockpit opened, and he flew from the cockpit in a ball of energy. Then he fused with the zoid core, feeling the body of the Energy Liger correspond with his own. Krios' mind merged with his. He was ready.

Resuming the comm link with the other two, Cadmus spoke to them from the zoid core. "Nell, Agera, Leave the Genosaurer to me! I can take him out! Just keep those reinforcements back at all costs!"

Then the Energy Liger leaped into combat.

~~~~~

As the alarms started to sound, Aelia perked up. Now it's time. She glanced at Pete, who glared furiously at her.

"I thought that you told me they were invading in five days!"

Shrugging, Aelia grinned at him. "I guess I was a little bit off." Then, slinging, her rifle off of her shoulder, she slammed the butt of it into his head, knocking him unconscious. The two guards who stood at the doors jolted and reached for their weapons, but Aelia was ready for them. Immediately tucking the butt of the gun into her shoulder, she aimed and fired.

Two bullets were fired, and two bullets were all that was needed. They pierced through the guards' heads, and they slumped to the floor, dead.

Letting out her breath, Aelia leaned down to Pete's unconscious body, flipping him onto his back. She then pulled open the first few buttons of his shirt, reaching for a thin chain that was dangled around his neck. A small flash drive (http://highraising.com/bigpic/64/29/20110523204939.jpg) hung from it, and she quickly tugged the chain from his neck. Tucking it into her pocket, she exited the room.

[MarchingThunder]

Agera had been blazing an easy trail through the hoards of zoids till the genosaur had entered the fray, using a withering barrage of laser cannon shots to force Cadmus and his partner away from the rest of the group. Quickly after that, Agera heard Cadmus's call over the radio telling her, Nell, and Michael to continue on with the mission objective. Honestly, she was torn. Cadmus likely was a far better pilot than whomever was in the genosaur, but there fact was that he was outclassed at the moment in terms of weaponry.

Eventually though, logic won out over Cadmus's order and she and the Berserk Fury shifted to face the Genosaur, taking a position next to Cadmus and the Energy Liger. "Sorry Cadmus," she said over the radio firmly, "but you're a bit outclassed here so I'm going to give you some help. Michael and Nell can manage well enough without me." In a show of determination, the two massive sets of blades on Fury's back unfolded and opened partially in preparation for combat.

[MaskofSilence]

Necros's tail whipped across another Zoid's body, cutting it and enabling it from moving any further. Lights flashed on the screen in front of her when another Zoid ran at her. Her body moved instinctively, lunging at the Zoid and cutting it down. It had been a long time since Nercos's and her movements had been so in sync and she enjoyed every second of it. She could tell that the Zoid did as well.

As the fight raged on, Nell was aware of where her teammates were at all times. Anytime she thought that anyone needed help, she would assist and then back off. She knew that they were more than capable of fighting, she was just being over consciences and worried about her friends. When a Genosaur entered the picture to face Cad, Agera ditched her position and went to fight with Cad. Nell found herself grinning. She was perfectly fine with the women's decision. It just meant more practice for Micheal and her. She had been momentarily distracted, but when Necros suddenly moved on his own it startled her. "Sorry Buddy. Just making sure everything was okay on their end." she whisper comfortingly before charging back into the fight with blades extends and full focus back on the battle in front of her.

Everything had been going fine, that was until she found herself rammed in the side. Skidding a couple feet, red flashed in her face. Still no major damage. Sighing with relief, she turned to face the Zoid. Now, she was angry. With new found resolve, she leaped at the Zoid. They met in mid-air, but she got the upper-hand and rolled the Zoid on it's side. Necors's tail stabbed into in several time before the enemy stopped moving. Automatically, she moved to the next fight. Oh yes, she was enjoying herself greatly.

[Ushima]

The elevator dinged open. The guards aimed the weapons at it. "Huh it's empty."

Two more opened and gunfire filled the room. "Everyone we reached point bravo. Moving to charlie." Michael loaded more shells into his shotgun as the squad moved up the flights of stairs. After a few flights they stopped outside a door. Michael's eyes switched to infrared. "Four guards. Flashbang ready?" Michael asked.

"Ready." The pin was pulled.

The door opened and the flashband was in and went off. The squad moved in, easily taking out the guards. "Keys." They were tossed to Michael who opened the cell door.

He and two others moved into the cell. There was a girl laying down, curled up. "Hey." Michael crouched down, his voice soft and comforting. "Everything is going to be alright. We're going to get you out." He stood back up. "Medic."

A man, with a red plus sign on his shoulders, quickly inspected the girl. "She's ok to move."

"Jackson! Synder!" Michael said. Two men entered the cell. "Escort the doc and her back to the APC and secure our evac location."

"Yes sir!" They saluted him before leaving. "Cadmus come in. We just rescued the girl and are moving to secure the data. Aelia should've made her move by now and we're just waiting for radio contact to aquire her location within the building. We'll be done soon. Keep up the good work out there. This data means nothing if we don't get away. It all comes down to you guys out there. We're counting on you. Knight out."

"Hallways are clear. We can move." Jason informed him as he emerged from the cell.

"Alright. Me and Kai are on point." The two men with shotguns led the way as they started going up the stairs, waiting for Aelia to reveal her location so the can finish this.

[TheDoctor]

"Cadmus come in. We just rescued the girl and are moving to secure the data. Aelia should've made her move by now and we're just waiting for radio contact to aquire her location within the building. We'll be done soon. Keep up the good work out there. This data means nothing if we don't get away. It all comes down to you guys out there. We're counting on you. Knight out."

With a snarl, Cadmus unleashed another wave of fire at the Genosaurer. "You got it, Michael!" He danced the Liger away, landing next to the Fury. "Agera, what the hell are you doing?! I told you, I've got this handled! I'm not 'outclassed,' but Nell is! One zoid can't hold them all back!"

Fortunately, the Genosaurer was restricted within the city. It couldn't use the CPC without causing severe destruction outside of their battleground. However, it still had full use of the other weapons. As it shot one of its retractable claws at Cadmus, he pivoted the Liger away, landing it ten feet away from the Genosaurer's side.

"Gotcha." Then he unloaded the charger cannons into the zoid.

~~~~~

Aelia disposed of the last guard, striding into a massive empty room with a huge computer screen across the wall. (https://s3.amazonaws.com/imgspark.com/images/l/85af162bcace99f0e2c055ef1ddce34e.jpg) "Now we're talking." She moved to the central console, inserting the flash drive.

The computer started, and a spherical model of Zi instantly appeared on the screen. Tapping commands into the computer, Aelia watched as the sphere started to zoom in. She watched as an entire continent was visible on her screen. "Alright...let's see if we can do better."

She continued to type commands, and they appeared on the side of the screen. Coordinates rapidly started changing, and soon the map was focused upon a smaller area of land. But then it jumped to somewhere else entirely. Aelia cursed. "Nothing but a small trace."

Little by little, she went to each of the traces. The last known locations and traces of Prime are entirely scattered across the planet. There is hardly a way to identify where we need to start on this trail of breadcrumbs.

"Michael, come in. I'm at the top of the tower in the main console room. I've got some interesting things for you to see. Aelia out."

Then she started to triangulate the positions, honing the traces to a single path as best as she could.

[MarchingThunder]

"Hardly Cadmus, all Nell has to deal with are a bunch of Molgas, she's fine," Agera retorted back. When Cadmus dodged the claw launched by the Genosaur, Agera and Fury took the opportunity to lighten the zoid a bit. In a single smooth motion, she clamped one of the blades around the cable and then feed energy into the blades, watching with satisfaction as the metal cable attached to the claw parted beneath the edge like soft butter under a hot knife before going completely, leaving the claw and a good chunk of cable to fall to the ground.

"Besides," Agera finally said softly, "Fury and I need to get some parts off of this guy, so leave everything forward of the shoulders intact." To punctuate her sentence, she put a trio of paired 180mm laser cannon rounds into the grounds around the Geno's feet.

[The Bartender]

Mora was alerted by the gunfire and noises from the lower levels and thusknew that the blue devil and his companions were in the building.
The young woman had given no information about the attack to the lower Zealots, only Pete and those higher than he knew about the coming attack. Only problem was that Pete didn't respect most of the higher ups, or her and propably had used his own spies to search for info and thus received false information.
Mora was sitting in the cell and scratched the movements of the enemy throught the building, every shot, every kill on the wall. Her amazing hearing abilities had often shown its effectiviness in scouting and also in combat. She had made it a hobby to create exact plans of the enemy movements to correct security leaks.
As the troop invading the building entered the jail floor, Mora laid down on the ground and pretended to be unconscious.
Only few moments later she heard how the guards died, the group came in and opened the cell door. After that a medic came in and after quickly looking at her "wounds" and confirming she can walk (suprisingly), Mora was escorted back down. She kept silent, as if she was under a shock so it would be more authentic.

[MaskofSilence]

Sustaining a couple more injuries, Nell found that she had about enough playing around with these little zoids. Grinning, she unleashed the blades around Necros's feet and elongated his nails. Not quite finished, she also unloaded the light machine guns that were attached to Necors's sides. She felt herself get rammed once again. Sliding a couple feet on her side, she stopped near a wall. "Okay buddy, time to play possum." She just laid there, pretending to be down.

Seeing that the Katfysh might not get up, Nell saw them start to advance at her. They were fast, but not a fast a Necros and that is what she was counting on. Taking a breath, she waited. When they were close enough, she sprang her trap. Tail flicking across the Zoids, they malfunctioned and then fell. Getting up, she turned on her boosters and then launched back into the battle. The pilots of the other Zoids were confused, so it took a minute to figure out what exactly just happened. By the they had, she had taken out about half of their unit.

Turning, she now found that they had no where to run. She unloaded the machine guns on then. It took out most of them and left the rest unable to fight. Grinning, she relaxed a little. Honestly, she hoped they would send more.

[Ushima]

"Top floor." Opening the door the squad headed down the hall. "Jackson what's your status?"

"Evac zone secure. We got the girl wrapped in a blanket. She's resting in the APC. Awaiting your return.


"Roger that. See you guys soon." Michael held up his fist and they came to a stop. Carefully he peered around the corner. Two guards were standing by the door to the main room. "That two." He rounded the corner, firing two rounds from his gun. The guards dropped easily. Michael replaced the two shells in his gun before they entered the main room.

"Who knew the Zealots had access to this much high tech." Jason said.

"Yeah no kidding." Michael moved towards Aelia. "Secure the room!" The squad spread out, taking positions around the room. Covering doors, ready for anything that could possibly come through. Jason and Michael stood next to Aelia, looking up at the screen. "What do you got?"

[TheDoctor]

Aelia continued to tap at the console as Michael's team secured the room. She was too focused on the task at hand to spare a thought for their entry. The triangulation had to be done as quickly as possible with pinpoint accuracy. Otherwise, the entire operation would be for nothing.

"What do you got?"

With a few taps on the holographic keyboard in front of her, Aelia expanded the map on the massive monitor to show the entire continent. Coordinates started to flow in from the side of the screen, narrowing their search. "These traces are incredibly weak. This computer was built for tracking and the like, but I can barely get a thing from this. I've narrowed it down to five possible locations." With another tap, the five coordinates lit up on the continent.

"Prime is clever. He did not release his location to any one of his Zealots. Any tracks or trails that he left were immediately extinguished, with the exception of a few traces that you see here. Even those were disguised and almost erased."

She tapped the keyboard again, and complex paths between the five points suddenly appeared. "But as you can see, even these traces are essentially useless. When you take those traces and attempt to follow them, they only take you in millions of circles. It's as if Prime is constantly moving in ten different directions at light speed, yet no more paths are being made, suggesting that Prime is not moving..." She turned to look at him over his shoulder. "...if that makes any sense."

Turning back, she continued. "I'm going to attempt to narrow down the search, but the computer has some sort of failsafe security system. If I'm not extremely careful, I could cause the computer to instantly incinerate itself in a self-destruct mechanism. It wouldn't hurt any of us...but the data would be lost." Biting her lip, she hesitantly tapped a key. "Well, here goes nothing."

The map zoomed in, scanning the paths as coordinates continued to flood the screen. "Well I'll be damned...It's actually working!" Aelia took a step back, crossing her arms. "We may actually be able to get ourselves some coordinates."

Suddenly, the screen froze. A red error message flashed across the screen.

"God dammit! NO!" Aelia leaped forward again, tapping on the screen furiously. Jumbled green messages flashed across the screen, and a drop of sweat fell from her forehead. "Oh no you don't, you piece of shit!" Suddenly, the green code turned blue, and then the screen went blank.

Snatching the small flash drive from the console, she took a small metal cube from her pocket, plugged the flash drive in, waited for a few seconds, and then removed the flash drive again. Then she handed the flash drive to Michael. "Now we both have a copy." She stored the metal cube away.

"That was the most I was able to get. I was able to slow down the computer's self destruct enough that I was able to retrieve those five area of interest, but you're gonna need military-grade tech if you want anything more accurate than that. And fortunately enough..." She gestured at him, referring to his military level and winking. "Now I'm not completely positive, but--"

Suddenly, the blank screen flashed red, and an even louder alarm sounded. Cursing, Aelia picked up her rifle and slung it over her shoulder. "I thought I deactivated the alarm! We've gotta move, now! Any Zealot within a 50-mile radius will be rushing to this location! We're about to get hit hard!"

~~~~~

Cadmus wanted to ram the Liger into her Fury, but he realized that she was right. As he glanced over at the KatFysh through the Energy Liger's eyes, he saw that she was doing a fine job against the reinforcements. However, he noticed that more reinforcements were flooding in. They were going to get completely swamped soonDamn it all. And that Veerin man said that this was gonna be mine. Growling, the Liger hopped away as the Genosaurer attacked it again. "Michael, come in! You guys better get your asses out of there soon! More zoids are flooding in!"

The Liger then landed next to the Fury. "Forward of the shoulders, huh? So you only really need the head? Then I've got an idea. Follow my lead!" With a roar, the Liger moved in front of the Genosaurer and unleashed its cannons as fast as possible. The explosions caused the Genosaurer to roar in anger, and it stumbled backwards and unleashed a blind attack with its laser cannons. The Liger easily dodged, relentless with its constant cannon fire. While half of the rounds hit the Genosaurer, however, the other half hit the ground, kicking up dust.

The Liger continued its barrage and crouched down. "Agera, fire at Genosaurer with everything you've got! Knock it back and stumble it as much as you can, and I'll take it out!"

[MarchingThunder]

"Understood," Agera responded her voice becoming resolute as she began to strafe around the Geno using the Fury's thrusters. All the while though, she and Fury kept a constant barrage up from all three of her 185mm laser cannons. The ones that hit made the Geno tremble though she was careful to avoid the head and neck, the others send showers of vaporized asphalt and dust up into to the air, quickly obscuring her and Cadmus from the zoid's sight.

"Let's get this done quick Cadmus, we need to move in short order," Agera said over the radio. She was just as aware of the status of the incoming reinforcements as he was, Fury was kind enough to make sure she knew about them, and she knew that as a phrase went, 'quantity has a quality all its own' so time was certainly against them.

[MaskofSilence]

Standing over the malfunctioning zoids, Necros and Nell went by and double checked that every single one of them was not getting back up. They were on the last one when an alarm suddenly sounds. Cursing, she finished the zoid right as a bunch of red dots filled the screen behind her. Sighing, she heard her friends over the radio and then blasts filled the air. They weren't done yet and that meant that she couldn't go anywhere till they did. She refused to leave them behind.

Turning she faced the crowd of zoids. It was quite a bit more than she expected, but all she had to do was make sure that they didn't get near Cad and Agera. This was going to be fun. Guns shot at her and she felt some of the bullets land. A couple in particular caused critical damage. Hissing, she did what she could to keep them off Cad and Agera. Silently, she was prayed that Micheal and Aliea made it out of the base before reinforcements had come.

[Ushima]

"We're on our way out. Aelia tripped an alarm. Expect heavy reinforcements." Alarms were blarring as the group ran down the hallways.

"Elevator!" jason yelled.

"They'll be expecting that!" Michael said, making a right. "In case of emergency take the stairs." Quickly they descended. Guards would come at them from up the stairs but they were easily dispatched by a wall of bullets. "We're on the ground floor heading to the APC! Cadmus! Keep them off the APC as we fall back to the hangar!" Briefly he wondered if anyone could hear him over the amount of gunfire.

Reaching the APC proved to be a bit of a harder task than he'd imagined but they got through to it. "Everyone in!" Jason and Michael stayed outside, providing cover fire while the other's piled in. Soon both of them were able to climb in and drive off. The turret on the roof was firing like crazy. "Fall back!" Jason gave the order to retreat. They had gotten what they came for, no reason to stick around.

"Hangar's in sight!" The driver yelled after what seemed like an hour, but was really only five minutes. "ETA twenty seconds!"

"Incoming missle!" Someone yelled.

"Brace for impact!" Everyone held on as the APC was rocked and flipped over on it's side. It slid to a hault. "Everyone alright!"?" Michael yelled. After getting responses of yes and a proper headcount he sighed. Everyone was alright, just a few scrapes. "These Helios APCs are no joke." Michael grabbed the nearest weapon to him. The SAW. He opened the doors, having to crawl to get out. Standing up he started firing. "We're gonna have to run from here!" Everyone poured out, tacking cover behind the APC. He held the girl close to his side. "We're gonna have to run from here. Provide covering fire."

"You got it." Jason and the other's were ready.

"I hate leaving you all out here like this." Michael said.

"Don't worry about us. We didn't come this far to just go out like bitches." Jason and Michael bumped fists. "Now get out of here. You got something important to do."

"See you all later." The two started running for the hangar. Michael would turn around and fire while walking backwards, to take the heat off the girl and keep her safe. Something hot spread through him. Adrenalin, Michael thought. Only way he could still keep going through all the choas. He felt like a soldier again, back in the fight. Back in his element. It felt good, he felt great! He missed this. Inside the hanger he helped the girl get into the Kinami's passenger seat. "Delta fire it up!"

"Already done." the organoid responded.

"Great." Michael started punching coordinates into the liger and sent them to the others. "Everyone meet up here. It's an oasis (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hBPS_JrXeZk/Tv-OzCjdtnI/AAAAAAAABH4/WM6bvC965zg/s1600/desert+oasis+jpeg.jpg) in the wasteland." The liger burst out of the hangar heading for the oasis. He had been there before, which was how he knew about it. It was a large watering hole, against a large rock formation, surrounded by lots of trees. He hoped the others were alright. None of them had updated their status throughout the fight. He hoped Nell was safe more than anything. She had to be. He wouldn't know what he'd do if he lost her.

[TheDoctor]

Time to make my move.

There was a fine haze between the Energy Liger and the Genosaurer, and Agera was still firing upon the zoid. All of its attention was focused on her. The Liger accelerated, plunging into the haze towards the silhouette of the Genosaurer. As he approached the Genosaurer, Cadmus anticipated its move as it turned towards him, ready to strike. But the Liger instead hopped to the side, braced itself, and leaped straight at the Genosaurer from the side.

The dust settled. The Genosaurer lay headless on the ground, its head and neck separated from it. The Energy Liger stood on the other side, its head still lowered from its charge. The blade had severed the head of the Genosaurer clean off.

Good move, Cadmus.

You as well, Krios. Letting out a satisfied grunt, Cadmus turned the Liger to face Agera. "I'm guessing that'll do it for you?" The Liger then tensed up again as Cadmus saw Nell's KatFysh pounded by fire from the overwhelming reinforcements. "No time! NELL!"

The Liger leaped towards the damaged KatFysh. "You alright? I handled the Genosaurer, so I can give you some extra firepower!" Cadmus stepped the Energy Liger in front of the KatFysh, sheltering it from enemy shells and relinquishing the cannons on its sides. "Thanks for keeping those guys off of our asses before, by the way! You did a great job!"

"We're on the ground floor heading to the APC! Cadmus! Keep them off the APC as we fall back to the hangar!"

Cadmus growled as he started to back away from the flood of reinforcements, still firing. "You got it, Michael! Agera, Nell, let's get the hell out of here!" He continued to move the Liger back, keeping himself between the APC and the main body of Zealot zoids.

~~~~~

Aelia had gone in the APC with the others. It seemed like her safest way out of the building. But when the APC flipped on its side, she was forced to exit along with Michael. She flattened herself against the fallen APC, readying her rifle. Anti-zoid rounds...check. Varien! I need you here ASAP!

I'm on my way now!

With a humph, Aelia left her cover, shooting single-shot rounds at the incoming zoids. She hit a couple of zoids in critical places, slowing down their approach. Unfortunately, there was only so much she could do. And, also unfortunately, the enemy was returning fire.

She felt an impact in her right shoulder, and she let out a cry of pain as she fell behind the APC again, dropping her rifle and grabbing her shoulder. She couldn't lift the rifle anymore. It was as if it had become several times heavier, and wounded shoulder couldn't support it.

I'm here! And you're wounded!

The black and gold Zaber Fang--Aelia had restored the colors the night before--leaped over the fallen APC and landed behind Aelia, crouching and opening its cockpit to her. With a grunt, she stood up, jumping in the cockpit, which then closed. She was too weak to fuse with the Zaber Fang.

Right on time. I'll be fine, don't worry about it. We can worry about it later! For now, we just need to cover Michael!

The Zaber Fang unleashed upon the approaching zoids, leaping between them with blinding agility. Its cannons flared consistently, releasing hellfire upon the reinforcements. With her radar, Aelia saw the Kinami leave the hangar and Arcadia itself. Time for them to go. "Cadmus, Nell, Agera! Get your asses out and go with Michael!"

~~~~~

Cadmus continued to back up to the wrecked APC, relentless with his cannon fire. He pulled up next to the Zaber Fang. "Aelia, you're part of this too! You've gotta come with us!"

"No can do, Cadmus. Michael's got the information you need, and that's the most important thing. You three need to help him in every way you can, and that means that you have to make sure he's safe." He heard a weak laugh come from her through the comm link. "God knows he gets himself in enough trouble. You have to be there for him, Cadmus. Keep him safe."

Cadmus let loose another couple of rounds, the Liger standing proud. "Aelia...I...we...we weren't able to talk last night about....us. What's going to happen?"


There was a pause on her side. "...I don't know Cadmus, but we don't have time for this! I'll see you again when this is all over. Then we can sort things out properly." He heard another weak laugh, this one friendly. "Maybe we can go get dinner together, after all of this?"

Blasts rocked the sides of the Liger, but Cadmus barely noticed. "Yeah...yeah, I'd like that..." The Liger started to back away. "See you on the other side, Aelia. And...what I said...a year ago? I...I don't take it back."

"I know, Cadmus...I know. Hey, make sure you give Prime a very special kick from me."

This time, Cadmus laughed. "You got it."

Then the Liger turned away, running from the Zaber Fang.

"Everyone meet up here. It's an oasis in the wasteland."

Cadmus received the coordinates as he exited the zoid core, reappearing in the cockpit. "You got it, Michael. See you soon. Agera, grab what you need and let's go! Nell, get moving! I'll cover our asses!" The Liger fired upon the straggling Zealots as the other two retreated.

Veerin appeared at his side. "You see? I delivered, just as I promised."

Cadmus rolled his eyes. "Barely. Agera decided to help me out. Why didn't you keep her from interfering?"

Veerin let out a bark of laughter. "I'm not god, Cadmus. I can't just force her not to interfere."

"That brings up a good point. Who are you?"

The man smirked. "A friend. That's all you need to know. Now, rescue these two damsels in distress! Michael's out in the wastelands, having a grand old time at some oasis, leaving you to snatch the role of hero from his unsuspecting hands!"

Cadmus grinned. "Heh. I guess you're right." He turned the Liger to the side, opening up another zoid with his cannon fire. They were approaching the gates of Arcadia.

Veerin clapped his hand on Cadmus' shoulder as he turned away, vanishing. "You're doing a fine job."

[MarchingThunder]

When Cadmus made his move against Geno, Agera paused just long enough in her barrage for him to lop the entire neck and head of the Geno off. As the headless trunk collapsed to the ground, Agera moved in and scooped the head up in Fury's claws before following after Cadmus, providing extra suppression fire while they escorted the APC. Hopefully they wouldn't be encountering any more surprises like that on their way out of the city.

[MaskofSilence]

If there had only been a couple, she would have been fine. But the fact that they sent a couple hundred was too much for Nell. As more firepower rained down, more red showed up on the screen in front of her. This was not good. Cad and Agera had better end it soon, or she was done for. Suddenly, Cad's Ligar jumped in front of Necros, sheltering him. "You alright? I handled the Genosaurer, so I can give you some extra firepower!" was the next thing she heard over the radio before bullets started firing back at the reinforcements. "Thanks for keeping those guys off of our asses before, by the way! You did a great job!" She nodded, unable to answer right at that moment.

"You got it, Michael! Agera, Nell, let's get the hell out of here!" Cad then started to back up his Ligar. Necros didn't have to be told twice and neither did Nell. At that, she started backing up as quickly as she could. Micheal voice then came over the link. ""Everyone meet up here. It's an oasis in the wasteland." Receiving the coordinates, she let out a sigh. He had made it out okay.

"You got it, Michael. See you soon. Agera, grab what you need and let's go! Nell, get moving! I'll cover our asses!" Cad then responded. Turning Necors, she took off. She made sure that Cad and Agera were behind her. A couple dared follow them, but they were easily taken out by Cad and Agera. Soon, the sounds of shooting faded. Relaxing at little, Nell slowed Necros down slightly. She knew he must be hurting. "Don't worry boy. When we get to the rendezvous, I'll fix you up."

[Ushima]

Michael parked the liger next to the oasis. The others joined him not long after he arrived. Delta unfused from the liger. The cockpit lowered to the ground. Michael got out and the girl followed. "Well they seem ok."

"Apart from structural damage yes." Delta voice.

The others had gotten out of their zoids and were converging. Michael started walking toward them. He felt tired, very tired. The adrenalin was also starting to wear off. And he felt. Hot, throbbing pain in his left side. Michael touched a hand to his side. His vision started to blur. His hand was wet. Putting it infront of his face he saw blood covered his gloved hand. His legs gave out and he dropped to his knees. He saw the others sprinting towards him. Michael fell forward, his hand clutching his side in an attempt to put pressure on his gunshot wound. He hit the ground, unconscious.

[TheDoctor]

As they escaped from Arcadia, Cadmus grinned. "Well done, guys. We actually made it!" No more zoids were tailing them, and they were clear to make it to the oasis. Cadmus tapped the point on his screen. "Should be smooth sailing from here. Great job, you two."

The zoids trudged on, and the three of them finally arrived at the oasis. Michael was waiting there with the Kinami, the girl next to him. A little girl? What did the Zealots want from her? Shrugging those thoughts away, Cadmus hopped out of the Liger, a grin on his face as he looked at Michael. "Well I'll be damned! The operation worked! Next thing you know, we'll be--Michael!"

Cadmus sprinted towards the man as he fell to the ground, taking in the bullet wound on the man's left side. God dammit! I thought that we had gotten free! Cursing, Cadmus kneeled next to him frantically as Agera and Nell stood behind him. Tearing off his jacket, he grabbed his dagger from his harness, cutting the straps that kept Michael's armor in place. As the plates and Kevlar fell off, Cadmus cut away Michael's shirt, looking at the wound as he sheathed his blade. The bullet was still in Michael's body, and although the blood was not spurting from the wound, it was flowing at an alarming rate.

"Son of a bitch! Agera, I need some medical tape and gauze!" As she ran to grab the medical supplies, Cadmus grabbed his jacket, using it to put pressure on the wound. "We need to get him to a medic, fast!" We can't go back to Arcadia, that place is a war zone. But I don't see where else we could possibly go!

"Delta!" Cadmus shouted at the organoid over his shoulder. "Find us the closest hospital!"

The organoid hummed quietly for a second. "Republican military base within 5 miles."

"5 miles?!" Cadmus cursed. He might not make it that long! As Agera handed him the gauze and medical tape, Cadmus threw his bloodied jacket to the side, replacing it with a large pack of gauze, which he then tightly bandaged onto Michael. Then he tucked himself underneath Michael, lifting him from the ground on his shoulders with a loud grunt of effort. Dammit he's heavy. But I have to get him to the base!

As his staggered steps took him towards the zoids, he called a struggled voice to the others. "Delta, I need you to fuse with the Kinami and put in those coordinates!" The organoid nodded, doing as Cadmus demanded. "I'm taking the Kinami, for it looks to be the fastest zoid that we have at the moment." He approached the Kinami, his legs shaking as he carried the man over his shoulders. "One of you two, take the girl and meet us at the Republican base. Just follow the Kinami as fast as you possibly can!"

Cadmus managed to place Michael in the passenger seat behind the pilot's seat of the Kinami, releasing a grunt of relief as he secured Michael's unconscious body in place. Out of his peripheral's he saw a man appear at the edge of the cockpit next to him. He heard Veerin's voice speak to him

"Well, how terribly convenient! Michael's out of commission, and you decided to take temporary command and rescue him! This is the perfect situation for you, Cadmus!"

Cadmus snarled as he fumbled with Michael's seat belts, his voice hushed so that the others wouldn't hear. "Shut it, this isn't the time! I'm not doing this for myself, I just need to get Michael to a medic!"

Veerin chuckled. "Oh, but you are, aren't you? In the back of your mind, you can see that this is yet another opportunity for you to usurp the brilliant Black Knight, replacing him as the Blue Devil! It's the perfect set up for your rise!"

"I said shut it! You don't know what I think!" He finished with the last strap, turning to glare into Veerin's eyes. "You make it seem like I'm ruling a country! I want Michael alive, and that's all that there is to it!"

Shrugging, Veerin turned his back to him and started to walk away. "Whatever you say, Cadmus. But you didn't deny it." Then the man vanished again.

Cadmus blinked. Then Krios' voice brought him back to reality.

I'll follow you as well on my own! Be swift!

Nodding, Cadmus hopped into the cockpit of the Kinami, the controls relatively easy to figure out. It is a Liger model, after all. I know these things like the back of my hand.

[The Bartender]

Mora sat behind Michael as he moved toward the oasis in which they were going to re-group. She kept quiet and observed the zoid; a beautiful lieger, quick and strong. It was nice to be out of the cell as she had been beaten for real for the last two days so it would look real and now she was quiet in pain.
Then Mora looked outside into the desert, a sorrowful place with even more sorrowful history. She felt tired and fell asleep after few moments.

---

Mora woke up as Delta stopped and the cockpit opened. She followed Michael and saw how the others appeared at the oasis. Then Michael stumbled and then fell. Mora noticed the spot where Michael had been shot but didn't do anything strange, just fell down on her knees.
The Blue Devil quickly began to treat him with first-aid and then packed him into the Lieger only to move out. Mora remembered that in the sae direction a military base was.

[MaskofSilence]

It wasn't long till the small group arrived at the rendezvous location. When they did arrive, it appeared that Michael had already arrived. Stopping, everyone they proceeded to get out their zoid. While she got out of her's, she let her eyes wander over Michael's zoid. It seemed to have sustained minimal damage. Hopefully, that meant that Michael and the prisoner were okay as well. When the ramp lowered and he came out, she let out a sigh. He was okay.

Suddenly, her world went in slow motion as Michael started to fall and landed. Cadmas was the first one there and he started to give out orders. Before she knew it, Michael was loaded into his zoid and Cad was piloting, seeing that it would be the fastest and Nell was sitting in her cockpit. Taking a deep breath, she tried to clam herself down. First thing first, they need to get him to a hospital. She had to keep telling herself that he would be okay. He was strong.

"One of you two, take the girl and meet us at the Republican base. Just follow the Kinami as fast as you possibly can!" Sighing, Nell opened the cockpit once more and went to retrieve the girl. Gently, but with impatience, the placed the girl in the seat behind her. By the time she was done, Cad had already left. Once everything was settled, she took off after the Ligar. She was conscience that Necros was still hurt and she felt that he was pushing himself for her. She had to remember to get him some new equipment and hardware as a reward for all his hard work. Also, a long rest was due for the zoid.

[MarchingThunder]

Everything had happened relatively fast after the group had fled the city, but then they had come to a halt, only to have Michael come out of his zoid and collapse bleeding. From there everything had gone quickly towards near lunacy as the Kinami Liger had been dispatched with Michael inside it towards the nearby military base. With a frustrated sigh at Michael's foolishness for not having notified anyone that he had been wounded, Agera and the Berserk Fury made good speed as they easily kept up with the Liger by way of the Fury's thrusters.

[Ushima]

He was slipping in and out of consciousness, but he was able to tell he was moving. He also noticed the backseat of his zoid. Pain registered in his side but he just put his hand there, holding bandages in place. Michael could barely make out the person in the front seat before he was out again.

~

"General Ceaser sir. We have Brigadier General Knight's zoid on approach." The tech opperating a computer in the command center said.

"Open the gates then." Ceaser stood in front of the large screen. The inside of the Kinami's cockpit appeared. Ceaser's, and everyone else's blood, ran cold at the sight. There was a large amount of blood on the inside and the liger was being piloted by someone else.

"That's Cadmus." Storm stepped up next to Ceaser.

"You know him?" Ceaser turned to the younger man.

"He joined my crew about a year ago. He's fine." Storm responded.

"We need medical teams on standby! Move people!" Ceaser started giving orders.

~

When the Kinami entered the base and approached the main building it stopped, lowering it's head. The cockpit opened, allowing Cadmus to get out. The medical team was on the scene. "Don't worry son, we got this under control." Ceaser and Storm were out there to. they were flanked by armed guards, which was standard practice for generals.

"Damn he's heavy." The medical team complained as they got him on a stretcher and carted him off to surgery.

Delta defused from the Kinami and stood before the generals. "Sirs."

"Delta." Ceaser nodded. "Let's go to observation." The group, consisting of two generals, their guards, an organoid and a genezoid, made their way to the surgery observation room.

"We have friends who will be coming in soon." Delta said.

"We'll keep a look out." Storm said before pushing a button on the side of the glass window. "How is he doc?"

"Honestly I'm surprised he's lasted this long." The doctor held up an x-ray before putting it up against the light, stepping back to look at it. "He's got two bullets still lodged in his gut. I won't know the full extent of the damage until I get in there."

"Get to it then." Letting go Storm turned around. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the glass. "So doc says he should be dead."

"He didn't say that." Ceaser stood next to Storm, arms behind him, looking at Michael on the surgery table.

"He didn't have to. That much bloodloss should've killed him." Storm sighed.

"Yes but Michael is....different then others. Even you must've seen it in his early days." Ceaser looked to the red haired man. "Michael is on a whole other level than others. He's the very definition of a super soldier if you ask me. He'll come out of this and be back on his feet within a day or two."

"Wouldn't be the craziest thing he's done." Storm turned to Cadmus. "So, Cadmus. How've you been?"

[TheDoctor]

Cadmus stared through the window as the medics operated upon Michael. His arms were crossed, and he didn't face Storm as he spoke to him. He was too focused upon the operation. They say that he should be dead...but Ceaser insists that he'll be out soon. He will be alright...won't he? There was blood all over the cockpit. How can he lose that much and possibly survive?

"So, Cadmus. How've you been?"

He continued staring through the window, arms still crossed with a grim expression on his face. He took a moment of silence before he spoke. "Things have been different, sir. The last year hasn't been kind to me, but I haven't been kind to it either. I've been hunting Zealots, trying fruitlessly to find Prime. We were only just able to find a trace of him, and that almost caused us to lose Michael." He gestured towards the operation happening below them.

Then he pulled from his pocket the small golden flash drive, holding it up to Storm, who took it. "I took this from Michael, just...just in case. It must have been what he got from the tower when we assaulted it. I don't know what's on it. Michael was the only one who went in the tower that got out with us. Speaking of which, the others should be coming soon. We can brief you fully when they return and Michael is awake."

Veerin appeared at his side. "That's right, Cadmus. Take charge. You're ready to take command." Then he vanished.

Cadmus grunted. Krios, are you near?

Yes, Cadmus. We should arrive in a few minutes.

Good. I've got something for you. He cut his mind away from Krios's This new Energy Liger was too slow in battle. I need something different. I need to change him. And I've got something in mind.

After a short pause, Cadmus finally turned to Storm. "Sir, I would like to request an upgrade to my zoid. I would be willing to do the upgrades myself, but all I request is the resources."

[MaskofSilence]

Arriving soon after the others at the military base, Nell hopped out of the Necros and looked around. Swiftly turning, she reached back and retrieved the girl from the back. Now that she had calmed down, she realized that girl was covered in bruises and scratches. Sighing softly, she carried the girl bridle style inside the medical wing. As soon as she walked in, the girl was taken off her hands and taken to the back to get examined. Now that the girl was being taken care of, she was free to figure out where and what condition Michael was in. Briskly walking up to the front desk, she asked the secretary about Michael.

It took a little convincing, but she finally told Nell that Michael was getting an x-ray at the moment and he was probably going to have to go into surgery. The secretary then nicely informed her that she was not allowed back till Michael was in the clear, but not to worry, Michael had his friend back there with him. Automatically she knew that Cad was back there with Michael. Rolling her eyes, she nodded to the women and then started to a seat across the lobby. She only lasted about a minute sitting before getting back up and walking back and forth across the room. She was antsy and nervous, too much energy to stay seated.

Figuring she could put this energy to use, Nell then walked back out to Necros and started to work on him fixing him. Grabbing her tools from the back, she allowed herself to fall in a daze while she worked. It provided a good distraction while she waited to hear from about Michael. While she thought, she suddenly found herself wondering what happened to Agera. She was defiantly here because her zoid was in the hanger. Shrugging, she figured that the women was old enough to take care of herself and would eventually appear, if anything she was just wandering and exploring the base. Getting back to work, she waited as patiently as she could for the news.

[MarchingThunder]

Agera and Fury had settled up in the military base's hangar once Michael had been taken off for surgery to take care of the wounds he'd accrued. Her attention was distracted for a moment as she noted Nell's arrival as she looked over the head and neck of the genosaur she'd managed to secure. For the most part, it looked quite well kept and remarkably intact. With any luck she could have the proper parts pulled from it and installed into Fury within a day or two so long as nothing went wrong. The only thing that she had noted for concern was that because they were from a more basic version of her zoid, they were of a lower quality, so she'd likely only be able to push the CPC to eighty percent power if she wanted it to last, maybe eighty-five percent of Fury's maximum power if she careful with it and wasn't firing rapidly.

[Ushima]

Storm looked to Ceaser as he pulled a com out and held it up. "What is it?"

"The other's have arrived. Along with the Mk II." The Generals looked to Cadmus. "It's the only zoid not being piloted. So I'm assuming it's yours."

"I guess Michael let him keep it. What better way to field test it than to actually put it in combat?" Storm chuckled.

"Though as far as an upgrade is concerned we haven't manufactured many parts for it. It's a prototype after all. And anything else you find won't fit it due to the specs being different." Ceaser said. "We did have a vulcan gun we were going to attach before it escaped. We could show you later if you'd like?"

~

A Decalto Dragon (http://www.zoids.com.tw/image/toy/tomy/zoids/gz/017htm.jpg) and a Blitz Tiger (https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_4MUf6T4VzPw/TW3VeXk1G6I/AAAAAAAATe8/koeNwe8_-CA/zoids-papercraft-blitz-tiger.jpg) entered tha base and went straight to the main building. A with white hair exited the tiger and a woman with dark hair got out of the dragon. The entered the building and moved passed everyone, being saluted as they did. They made it to the observation room. "Ceaser! What the hell is going on?" The man barked.

"Cadmus meet Major General Kai Allers (http://www.myfconline.com/character_avatars/215187_58550.jpg) and Major General Jun Allers (http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc224/Negoran/Female%20Characters/anime-girl_011-1.jpg)." All five Alliance Generals were now gathered in the base. "Seems Michael took a hit aqcuiring us some valuable intel."

"Damn." Kai said, moving to the window.

"It happens." Jun move to peer in through the window as well. "He knew the risks going in."

"We all do. But he did it anyway." Ceaser looked at the unconscious young General. "Why didn't he tell anyone he had been hit?"

"Probably didn't realize it. With everything going on and his adrenalin pumping to null the pain, not surprised." Storm watched the scene below unfold.

"Uh sirs. You might want to come down here." The group, including Cadmus and Delta, entered the prep room leading into the OR. The doctor met them there. "This is very interesting. When looking up his file I noticed some restricted zections. Seems the science division has been monitoring him, keeping an eye on him medically. I managed to get the information by borrowing your clearance. Sorry sir."

"It's ok, this is important. What did you find?" Ceaser asked, a little worried.

"It's him. His medical records. I didn't believe it at first but." Two images appeared on a screen. "The image on the right is a strand of Michael's DNA. It's not human."

"What? How is that possible?" Kai, none of them, could believe it.

"The image on the left is from one of science divisions findings. Into an ancient zoidian ruin sight. They found fossils and managed to get a sample." The doc gestured to the image. "Of course it's not an exact match to his but the it's the same type. Michael isn't human. He's a living, breathing, Zoidian."

"Could that explain why he managed to stay alive this long?" Storm asked.

"I believe so." The doctor answered. "A race thought extinct. That's-"

A long beep was heard. "He's crashing!"

Delta's body started to glow. He turned into a ball of light and vanished into the other room. Hitting Michael. A red glowing energy caccoon engulfed him. "Now what the hell is going on!?" Jun said.

~

The area was white, nothing could be seen in any direction. Just nothingness. "I had many ideas about death but this wasn't one of them."

"Hello son." Michael turned around quickly. before him stood a man and a woman. The man had drak, greying hair and a grey beard. He wore regal clothing. The woman was blonde, long tresses down her back to her waist. She also wore regal clothing, a white dress.

"Mom? Dad?" Michael took a step forward.

"Kelran. My you've grown. You were just a baby when we last saw you." His mother took a step toward him, giving him a hug. "Oh how wished we could've been there for you."

"It's ok. I understand. Zoid Prime is to blame." Micahel pulled out of the hug to hug his father. "I just wished I could've seen him beaten before I died."

"You're not dead." The king said. "By now Delta is currently healing your wounds. It's because of this we can speak to you." Michael nodded.

"I don't even know your names. The visions I get never mention them." Michael said.

"I am King Genshi. Velora is my Queen. We ruled the Empire and lead it into prosperity. Until Zoid Prime came." Genshi explained. "He viewed us as a blight on the world, claimed he was clensing it as if we were parasites."

"Same with what's going on now." Michael said. "I'm going to stop him, I just have to find him. And I will rebuild the Empire with the survivors. The Zoidians will rise again."

"Yes you will." Velora took hold of her son's hand and gave him a warm smile.

"There's a reason he's gone into hiding. He fears you greatly. Fears what you're capable of. There is a power inside of you Kelran. With it you can overcome Zoid Prime and restore the world."

"I'm assuming that means more training. Great." Michael chuckled, causing his parents to laugh as well.

"He's a joker just like you." Velora elbowed her husband.

"Aye but he has your fighting spirit." Genshi said. "Your mother was the best pilot in all the empire. It's why I fell in love with her. And where you get your great skills from."

"Yeah some skills." Michael snorted. "I'm laid out in the medbay operating room."

"No one is perfect, we all get hit at some point." Velora said. "Even I suffered a few defeats. But I learned from them and gotten stronger."

"You're right." Michael squeezed his mother's hand. "How long does this healing thing take? Do I have enough time for some stories?" Michael told his parents about his life, the important things at least. He told them about joining the army at a young age, about some of the fierecest battles he's been in. About his enounters with Prime, the ruins, the battle that took his sight. He told of his friends. Storm, Vega, Curtis, Cadmus, Agera and Nell. He talked about Nell a lot. Genshi made the joke about the Zoidians having a queen already and that caused him to blush lightly.

"Seems Delta is done." Genshi said.

"Damn dino sure took his time." Michael complained.

"Time passes differently here. I'm sure out there it was about two hours." The family embraced, Velora kissing her son's cheek. "Make us proud son."

"I will. I'll destroy Zoid Prime. Just you wait." It was a teary goodbye as Genshi and Velora vanished and the area started to fade away."



"Damn it how long is this going to take?" Kai said. The operating room had been cleaned up and the Generals were waiting for any sign. They all knew they should've been doing other work while they waited for word. But Michael was one of them so they couldn't help but want to wait.

"Relax Kai." Ceaser said "We don't know how long this could take. Another half hour I suggest we get back to our duties. Someone will inform-" He didn't get anything else after that out as the energy surrounding Michael's body dispersed around the room. Michael stood, arms crossed. A smirk graced his face.

"Sup? What I miss?"

[TheDoctor]

As the cocoon dispersed and Michael nonchalantly returned, Cadmus did not respond. He remained at his position leaning against the wall, arms crossed. His eyes were not wide, his mouth closed. Zoidian, huh? Well Michael, you're full of surprises.

The room was silent. No one moved until Cadmus stood from his place against the wall. He slowly walked up to Michael with a serious expression on his face, keeping eye contact with him the whole time. He stopped two feet away from the man, and there was another pause. Then, out of the blue, Cadmus made for a punch to Michael's face. As if it were second nature, Michael knocked the punch aside with his forearm, landing his palm against Cadmus's chest. Cadmus stumbled back, rubbing his chest slightly with a grin on his face. "And that confirms it. He's back, folks. It's safe."

Now that Cadmus had broken the ice, the others went to Michael in a tangled cloud of words and arms. Cadmus, however, stepped away, watching the situation from a comfortable distance away in the room. Once again, he assumed his position against the wall, arms crossed, and just as expected, Veerin appeared at his side, leaning against the wall similar to Cadmus.

"So, the great hero has returned from the dead. Not surprising. At this rate, the others will be making shrines for him by next summer! His feats are well known at this point, and an almost instantaneous resurrection will do nothing but add to his reputation. And now what of his companions, the ones that supported him throughout his ventures? The ones that were absolutely crucial to his success? Nay, not a moment in the limelight. Like the backstage crew of a performance. The main actors are praised, and the ones who made the whole thing possible receive nothing but a sympathetic 'thank you.' It's humiliating, is it not?"

Rolling his eyes, Cadmus retorted. "Knock it off. This isn't the time."

Veerin sighed. "Let me tell you a little fairy tale, Cadmus. Life and Death were sitting together, watching the world turn as a small flock of birds surrounded them. Life cupped one of the birds in her hand, a small green finch with an injured wing. It could not fly because of this injury.

So Life asked Death, 'Death, why do people love me, but hate you?'

As the other birds flew away, the green finch stared at them longingly. It could not join them.

Death stood from his place, scooping the injured finch into his hands. Then Death responded. 'Because you are a beautiful lie, and I am a painful truth.'"

Veerin gestured in the air with one of his hands. "You see, Cadmus, everyone is afraid of death. When they see someone conquer death, they admire him beyond what is needed, praising his strength and persistence. The man who defeated the impossible villain, the well-known enemy! Yet everyone forgets that death is inevitable. No one is immortal. Not even Michael."

Cadmus let out a sigh. "Why are you telling me this, Veerin? How is this important? I'm nothing but relieved that Michael's ok. He did a fantastic job at Arcadia. Why do you continue to do this?"

Looking at Cadmus, Veerin grinned. "Because, Cadmus, I know you. I know your heart, and I know your potential. I want to see you rise higher than Michael ever could. And I know that you can. You can be the one that is admired for your deeds! I can take you there."

Moving his head slightly, Cadmus looked into Veerin's laughing eyes. "You know nothing."

Raising his eyebrows, Veerin stood, shrugging his shoulders. "We'll see, Cadmus. We'll see." Then he strode through the wall, vanishing again. Taking one out of Veerin's book, Cadmus left the room as well, using the door instead.

~~~~~

Cadmus arrived minutes later in the main hangar where he found Agera and Nell working with their zoids. As he passed them by, he called out. "Michael's fine. Did some crazy mojo with his organoid, which healed him to full health. Oh, yeah. He's a Zoidian, too." Shrugging, he continued to his Energy Liger.

Quite the news. A Zoidian? I don't think that anyone saw that coming. I've only seen the man for a few days, and now I find out he is one of the ancients.

Cadmus gave a tired sigh, seizing a blow torch and a visor. Yeah, you're telling me. I know the dude for more than a year, and he doesn't even bother telling me this. As he started fixing the wounds to the Liger, Ceasar's words ran through his head.

"Though as far as an upgrade is concerned we haven't manufactured many parts for it. It's a prototype after all. And anything else you find won't fit it due to the specs being different."

Heh. We'll see about that, General. I'll fit the parts on my own. Specs my ass. Cadmus grinned behind his visor. Krios, I've got quite a transformation in for you.

[MaskofSilence]

Time seemed almost nonexistent while Nell worked on repairing her zoid. First, she had started with the major damages. After those were fixed, she moved to the minor ones and continued from there. She was vaguely aware of the fact that Agera was also in the hanger with her, but both women worked in silence.

Finding some damaged under the zoid, Nell him to get lower to the ground so she could roll under and get to work. Right as she did so, Cad walked by telling both girls, ""Michael's fine. Did some crazy mojo with his organoid, which healed him to full health. Oh, yeah. He's a Zoidian, too." In her excitement and surprise, Nell forgot that she was under Necros and proceeded to sit up. The top of her head then connected with the metal underbelly of the zoid. Cursing, she laid back down and rolled out from under the zoid while gently rubbing her head. Putting the wrench down, she ran her hand along Necros before making her way into the hospital.

Upon arriving to the front desk, she secretary automatically recognized her and told her where to go. Going through the maze of hallways, she finally made it to the room where he was. All the way there, her mind never stopped racing with the information she had just received about him. Stopping at the door, she casually leaned on it. At the moment, she didn't approach him because he was surrounded by people. So, she waited. She let her eyes run over him, instinctively making sure that he was truly and fully healed. When it seemed that he was fully healed, she let out a sigh of relief. She had been worried that she was going to loose him judging from how much blood he had been losing.

[Ushima]

"What base is this?" Michael asked.

"Gamma." Jun answered.

"So what was it like in there?" Storm asked.

"You'll all think I'm weird." Michael scratched the side of his head, a small smile on his face. "I was in this bright, white area. There was nothing really there but, I saw a vision of my parents. We talked."

"Uh huh." Ceaser said.

"Uh oh I know what that means." Michael sighed.

"Psyche eval. Tomorrow." Ceaser said.

"I'm not crazy. It was some sort of ancient Zoidian....thing." Michael said.

"It's difficult to explain. But it's all because of the caccoon. The organoid turned to his partner. "Speaking of. It's only something I can do once."

"And I appreciate that." He put a hand to Detla's head.

"Still though. Near death experience. I'll send the shrink around tomorrow." Ceaser said.

Michael noticed something out of the corner of his eye. "Excuse me sirs, ma'am." Michael snapped to attention, saluted his superiors, and left their company. Out in the hall he stood before Nell. "Hey." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Hope I didn't worry...you." Michael got a little dizzy before collapsing into Nell's arms.

"That happens sometimes." Delta and the Generals entered the hall. "His body is still recovering. Some handle it better than others. Surprised he managed to stand it that long."

"I got him." Storm pulled Michael up. "If you'll follow me. I'll take you to his quarters." Storm carried Michael past the regular barracks and towards the officers quarters. The door slid open, showing a large window, the blinds were slightly closed letting in a bit of light, at the back with a large bed underneath. Two cabinets on either side. A large screen on the right wall with a couch and glass table. Immediately to the right when you walk in was a L shaped desk with a monitor and several other devices. The door to a private bath was on the left wall. There was also a door for a closet. "All the generals have their own quarters. This is Michael's." Storm placed the young General on the bed. "Watch over him will ya? I'll get crews to clean out and repair his zoid." Storm left the two alone.

[The Bartender]

Mora was brought to the medicine station and the medics began to make some tests and tend her wounds. Some of them were really painful as the wardens who had taken "care" of her had been thorough and some of the wounds would stay visible for months...

---

Few hours later was Mora laying on a bed in the medical station and was slowly waking up. The room was white and the bed warm and fluffy. It had been long since she had laid in such a bed and it felt quiet good. She was still tired but she had started to regain strength and tried to get up but some of the wounds were still extremely painful.
Mora hoped she could get out of there as soon as possible as she didn't like hospitals at all...

[MarchingThunder]

"I see..." Agera murmured quietly as she adjusted the last few bolts on the replacement parts for the CPC. Once she was finished though, she climbed back down from Fury's neck and walked over to Cadmus where he was looking over his Energy Liger.

"So Cadmus, does the fact he's a zoidian bother you? Or is there some other bug up your butt?" Agera inquired mildly. She had her own ideas and she was being curious even though Michael's actions had been enough of a bur in the saddle for anyone, but she was interested at just what was bothering Cadmus.

Calmly, quietly, she smoothed her skirt and sat down on a crate as she watched Cadmus while waiting for a reply.

[TheDoctor]

When Cadmus heard her inquiry, he turned to face her with his visor still down, holding up a finger as a silent gesture asking her to give him a bit of time. Turning back to the Liger, he continued his work on the minor wounds, blow torch flaring to life again. So how did she know that something was bothering me? Am I really that bad at hiding it?

When he finished patching up the hole in the armor, Cadmus took off his visor and tossed the blow torch aside, running a hand through his blonde hair. He took his canteen of water from the cockpit and then hopped down from the zoid, taking a seat next to Agera on the same crate that she sat on. After taking a long drink, he answered.

"I wouldn't say that it bothers me..." He shrugged, looking up at the Energy Liger in front of them. "It just seems like everything is focused around him. From the point that I met him one year ago, he was known as the Black Knight, a prodigy at combat and warfare. He battled Zoid Prime face-to-face and survived. And now, he's a Zoidian. A race that is more or less extinct."

Shrugging again, he looked at her. "You could call me self-centered, and you would probably be right. I mean, it doesn't matter that much to me. I just noticed that the world is focused upon Michael, but barely anyone knows that Nell and I were both there at that first battle against Prime."

Cadmus glanced away. "It's unimportant. Just the jealous child in me getting out again."

[MaskofSilence]

Leaning against the wall in the hallway, Nell patiently waited for Michael to finish chatting with the others in the room before going to him. Although, it seems like she didn’t have to him because he suddenly dismissed himself and appeared in front of her. He then proceeded to place his hand on her shoulders. "Hope I didn't worry...you." The last word faded as Michael suddenly collapsed. Reacting fast, Nell was able to catch him her arms.

Seconds later, Delta and the group of people entered the hall. One of the men walked over and supported Michael's limp body against his own. He then asked her to follow him to Michael's quarters, to which she responded with a small nod. Going past the usual barracks, the arrived at the offices. Opening the door, her mouth fell open slightly in surprise. Michael's quarter was beautifully simple and very large. "All the generals have their own quarters. This is Michael's." The man then laid Michael gently down on the bed. "Watch over him will ya? I'll get crews to clean out and repair his zoid." And then he was gone. As soon as he left, Nell managed to find an extra blanket in one of the closet's and laid it over him.

Unsure of what to really do after that, she simply decided to start with making herself comfortable. Sliding off her shoes and shrugging off her coat, she placed them in the necessary places. Once that was done, she walked over to the bed, which was most defiantly a king in her option, lifted the covers up and sat down. Feeling like she had just sat on a cloud, she sigh happily. Moving slowly as to not wake Michael, she then laid on her side so that she was facing him and propped her head on her hand. Laying down, she now realized just how sore and tired she really was, but she was determined not to fall asleep. Absentmindedly, she pulled the covers over herself and then sought out Michael's hand. Grasping it, she then waited form him to wake-up. All the while, her eye started to get heavier by the second.

[Ushima]

Michael's eyes opened. He let out groan as he rubbed his eyes. Turning his head to the right he say the holographic clock display. It read 6:30 P.M. The sun was slowly starting to set outside, the room was bathed in the fading orange light. Reaching over he pressed a button, the blinds closing all the way. Michael rolled back over onto his left, coming face to face with Nell. He was surprised but happy to find her here with him. He felt her holding onto his other hand and he gave it a gentle squeeze. Michael gave her a kiss. Nell opened her eyes a bit. "Go back to sleep." He pulled her closer to him, wrapping her in his arms. "I'm getting used to this."

[MarchingThunder]

"And he got himself shot and endangered our mission, so why are you jealous?" Agera replied calmly. She paused the conversation for a moment to reach up and tug off her beret, letting her blonde hair tumble down past her waist before she started speaking again. "So people know he was there to fight the Zoid Prime but don't know you were, tell them the whole story when you have opportunity to if you really want the attention. The fact that you don't seem to have been doing so very much would say that you really don't want that attention all that much really," she continued. When she finished, Agera gave Cadmus a rather intense looking over. He was certainly a bit worse for wear, but the fact he was griping about minor things like this showed he wasn't that bad off in truth.

Cadmus looked at her, gesturing with open hands. "Like I said, it really isn't important. Just me being childish, that's all." He took another drink, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "I mean, you asked, so I answered." Pushing himself off of the crate, he set the canteen where he had been sitting before, put his hands on his hips, and looked up at the Liger. "I'm more concerned about what I'm going to do with this." He raised his arms and gestured at the beast. "It was wonderful during the mission, and it performed very well. It responded perfectly to my touch and to my thoughts." Placing his hands on his hips again, he shrugged his shoulders. "It's just too slow..."

"It's too slow?" There's only so much you can do with an energy liger, Cadmus otherwise you might as well find another zoid to partner with. Besides that you might as well look into thrusters and the like for the time being and see if they'll float your boat," Agera replied calmly. She picked up her own canteen from where she had set it on the ground and took a healthy drink before recapping it and setting it down. "I mean, not all ligers were built to handle blades Cadmus, such as the case with the Panzer armor for the zero," she continued.

Smirking, Cadmus spoke with his back to her. "Agera, you know better than that. You're a genezoid, aren't you? You know that you can't just 'find another zoid to partner with.'" He walked over to the Energy Liger, running his hand along its leg. "Krios and I are partners now, and I'm not just going to replace him so that I can fight better." He turned to face her, leaning against the leg of the Liger. "Sure, it may not be meant to handle blades, but that isn't going to stop us. When the Zero wants blades, it just exchanges a Panzer for a Schneider. I'm sure we could do the same thing here. It won't be as smooth, but Krios and I can do it. We're at a military base. I can replace the armor and piece together a lighter set, install some thrusters, and replace the main cannons with blades." He was still grinning.

"I do know that all too well, and I figured you could, but I'm trying to understand why you're letting that bother you so much Cadmus," Agera replied calmly.

Cadmus's face slowly fell, and his shoulders relaxed as he felt himself deflate. Sighing, he walked back over to the crate and sat next to Agera. "On my 15th birthday, I found a Liger of my own." He chuckled dryly. "Well, I didn't really find him. He found me. It was a Murasame Liger. And it was beautiful. When I found him, he had been injured. I nursed him back to health, and he became my companion."

He paused for a moment, looking at the ground. "Fighting with the blade is just my style. It always has been. That Murasame taught me how to fight other zoids. I can't just change my style. It feels...wrong."

"That makes a bit of sense Cadmus, but surviving and stopping the Zoid Prime are the top priorities to be honest, so we can't really be to concerned with what feels right or not. In a group of only four people, with no dependable backup, we need to be count on everyone being able to handle whatever kind of combat they need to," Agera said in reply as she stood and moved to stand by Cadmus's side. "My first partner was a Dibison, so I excel at ranged combat and bombardment, but I don't grouse at being up close and personal because the fact is I know I won't always have the choice of avoiding it, and thankfully Fury is more than capable of handling both of those methods of combat. Also not all your opponents are going to be kind enough to come with reach for example that Raynose from before, it would make a terrible opponent for you with the philosophy you pursue in combat. So if you are going to equip blades and thrusters, make sure you at least have some sort of long range, high quality canon equipped for everyone's sake," Agera continued before gently reaching forward to set a hand on Cadmus's arm.

Cadmus looked at her as she placed her hand on his arm, and he shook his head. "Agera, this is a bit different. Surviving and stopping Prime are the top priorities, but if my zoid doesn't fit with me, then when we finally do find Prime, it could cost us." He looked back at the Liger. "We need to be in top shape when the time comes. Besides, if I get into trouble with air units, I'll have you to cover my ass, right?" He looked back at her, grinning. "But I suppose I could apply some pulse laser guns on the blunt side of the blades. It might just be easier to place a triple shock cannon on the chest." Shrugging again, he reached over and grabbed a wrench. "Might as well get a couple of these mods done before the night's in." Looking at Agera, Cadmus raised an eyebrow. "Care to help?"

"I suppose we'll go with that,"Agera replied calmly, watching as Cadmus went to go work on the energy liger. When he invited her to join in the help she gave a sigh as she said, "Oh I might as well," she grumbled. She had already taken off her sleeves and gloves to work on Fury so she was as ready as ever to work on a zoid as she reached down a picked up a spanner before walking over to join Cadmus in the work.

[MaskofSilence]

Having been a light sleeper for most of her life, Nell registered the movement on the bed next to her, but it was early and she thought nothing of it. In fact, she was just concerned with falling back in the dark abyss of sleep. That was until something squeezed her hand and then something touched her lips. Suddenly, everything thing came back; Michael getting hurt, laying down in the bed, grabbing Michael's hand and then falling asleep. Eye's fluttering open, she found Michael looking at her. A smile spread across her face, she was happy to see him healed and fully rested. Before she could saying anything though, Michael spoke. "Go back to sleep." She then felt his arms wrap around her waist and pull her closer to him. "I'm getting used to this."

Arms wrapped around her waist, she smuggled further into him. It only took a matter of minutes for her to drift off to sleep due to the warm and secure feeling that he provided for her. That morning, she had a rather odd, but pleasant dream.

Standing in the doorway of a kitchen, Nell watched as a women with long brown hair and a slender figure danced and sang to a radio while cooking. The whole time, the women’s back remain faced toward where Nell was standing. Next thing she knows, a little girl and boy come walking in. It is obvious that they had just woken up because they are rubbing their eyes and yawning. The kids, in her option, were adorable. Suddenly, another person arrives holding a newspaper. He goes over to the women, gives her a kiss and then sits at the head of the table, opening and reading the news paper. Second later, a familiar looking orgianoid appears and Nell feels shock run through her. That man was Michael. The women then turned around, bring food the table. and the women was...her. Once the table was full of food, the dream her then took off the apron she was wearing. A baby bump was now clearly visible. The dream her then sat down at the other end of the table and said something. Dream Michael responded. Another male walked in the room, this one older than the two children at the table. He also looked more like Michael. Obviously another kid. Talking the last seat, everyone then said grace and started eating. Laughter and smiles filled the table. A happy family.

[Ushima]

Micaehl pulled Nell closer to him, placing a kiss to her neck. "Time to wake up." His voice was low and husky as he spoke before breaking into a yawn. Beep. Michael let out a small groan as he reached over to the bedside table, grabbing a small communicator. "Knight here."

"Briefing. After lunch."

"Understood." Ending the call he rolled out of bed. He stretched, joints popping. "I'm gonna hop in the shower. Be right out." He leaned down and kissed her before going into the bathroom. He moved fast, not wanting to keep Nell waiting. Michael emerged from the bathroom in only a towel. He saw a blush on Nell's face. Giving her a wink he said, "All yours." Once she was in he dressed. Black boxers and socks, dark grey pants and a black muscle shirt, Alliance logos on the front left breast and back. After securing his belt he attached a thigh holster to his right leg. Going over to his shelf he pressed a hidden button. One of the panels opened. Michael grabbed a revolver (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YwhOnJMZfmI/Tl91iMAd2lI/AAAAAAAABXg/vAiOOVsyyWo/s800/1360DXHR_conceptart_revolver_632x409.jpg) and holstered it.

Michael went over to his desk and sat down, turning on his computer. He browsed through some files as he waited for Nell to get ready.

[TheDoctor]

With a groan, Cadmus was awakened by a knock on the door. With a grunt from Cadmus questioning who it was, a soldier responded with a muffled voice. "General Ceasar requests that you be a part of the briefing today, sir. It will be after lunch." Grunting again, Cadmus heard footsteps walking away. I'm not part of their damn military. He rolled onto his back, closing his eyes again. But...they do want me at that meeting. And hey, that soldier called me sir. I must mean at least something in this place. Rolling his neck with a crack, Cadmus reluctantly forced himself to stand and walk towards the shower.

The previous day, Cadmus and Agera had managed to remove the heavy plates on the Energy Liger's back to expose the compact energy generator. Cadmus had planned to install the thrusters first, strip the rest of the armor, apply the blades, and then place the lighter set of armor. The redevelopment would take many days, that much was obvious, but he was confident that they would be able to complete it.

After finishing his shower and dressing himself in black pants, black boots, and a white short sleeved shirt, Cadmus exited his room, making his way to the mess hall for breakfast. After that, I can hopefully work on the Liger again. Feeling surprisingly elevated, he held his head a bit higher than he usually did. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Veerin leaning against the wall. The man nodded at Cadmus and grinned, but Cadmus kept walking.

Once he had gotten his food, Cadmus sat at a table in the large mess hall on his own. He was far away from the other soldiers, who ate in their well-established groups. Silently, Cadmus dug in to the mass-produced nourishment.

[The Bartender]

Mora woke up, she had not realized that she had fallen in sleep and now first woke up, it was already morning of the next day and she was hungry. She silently got out of her bed and removed the injection from her wrist. She then slipped out of the room and searched for a information point in order to find the kantine of this garrison.
After few minutes she finally found it and after short look on the shield she began to move toward the kantine. It was still early and thus there were no many personal around so Mora had easy going to get into her destination. As the young woman slid inside the large kantine were only few persons and after short observation she found a route to the desk without anyone to notice her and then she began to move toward it...

[MarchingThunder]

Agera had been intercepted by her messenger on the way to the mess and nodded in reluctant acceptance. She and Cadmus had worked long into the night together on his liger, leaving her a bit tired Anne sore even after getting some rest. Spotting Cadmus already digging into his own massive plate of food, Agera took her plate over and gently took a seat across from him as she asked, "Good morning Cadmus, how are doing this morning? I trust you've been invited to the little military gathering later."

She gave Cadmus a warm smile, despite their initial disagreements, the two of the were certainly getting along better now.

[TheDoctor]

Looking across the table at Agera, Cadmus nodded at her, a grin on his face to complement her own smile. "Morning, bud." He shoveled another forkful of food into his mouth, grimacing as it traveled down his throat. "I'm doing surprisingly well this morning, to be honest." Rolling his muscled shoulders, he felt his joints pop and let out a sigh of relief. "A tad stiff from last night, but we'll be much worse tonight. That is, if you want to help me out again." He shrugged, grinning at her again.

Stretching his arms over his head, Cadmus let out a yawn. "And yeah, they invited me to that." Setting his arms back down, he shook his head slightly to wake him up. "Probably won't be very interesting. Not really into that official military stuff."

[MarchingThunder]

"I think I would be willing to continue helping with the energy liger," Agera replied with a smile before beginning to shovel down her own breakfast which she ate with noticeably greatest ease than Cadmus was seeming to. "Besides that, the military will probably take a good chunk of the day," she added.

[MaskofSilence]

Pushing the covers off herself, Nell quickly sat up and rolled out of bed. Gliding over the the bathroom, she shut the door gently and then proceeded to strip out of her clothes and start her shower. As soon as the hot water hit her body, she let out a happy sigh. Now that she was taking a shower, she felt much better. Minutes later, stepping out of the shower, she then proceeded to wrap a towel around herself. Her gaze then traveled to her clothes which were sitting in a neat pile on the counter. Picking up her shirt, she examined it. She could tell just by looking at it that she needed to wash it. Which meant that she could either wear it or find something else to wear.

Placing down the garment, she leaned back on her heels, thinking. The only other option in her mind was to find something of Michael's to wear. After all, they were technically a couple now, weren't they? And she got the feeling that he wouldn't mind if she did. Making her decision, she stepped out of the bathroom and into the cold air of the room. Automatically, she found his closet, walked over to it and started to go through it.

After several minutes, she managed to find a simple black long sleeve shirt. It was a little loose, but it worked. While looking she also found a pair of cargo pants and a belt. Putting them on, she then placed her shoes on and went out to meet Michael. She found him on his computer, looking at something.

Leaning against the wall, she smiled found herself smiling. "Ready when you are."

[Ushima]

Michael watched the video. It was from five years ago, back when he was a grunt in the Alliance. The screen showed total carnage as an entire city was engulfed in flames and explosions, tracer rounds were firing all over the place. The city had become a war zone, burning husks of zoids lay everywhere in the ruined city. This was the battle of Metropolis. A four month long campaign, neither side gaining any ground, constant fighting. Michael was lucky to have even survive that deployment with the few wounds he had. Unconsciously his hand went to his side where the three bullet wounds were. Sighing he flicked the screen off before opening his desk drawer. He pulled out two items, one was his dog tags, which he put on. The other an old pair of black fingerless gloves. "Back when I was a Sergeant." Michael put them on, surprised they still fit.

"Ready when you are." Nell's voice broke his train of thought.

Michael turned to her, a smirl on his lips. "Seems you raided my closet." The long t-shirt had his name on it on the right breast. Brig. Gen. Michael Knight in white lettering with his rank insignia on the left breast. Also the Alliance logo was on the back. Michael stood, moving over to her. "My clothes look good on you." He stepped in close, reaching out a hand he tilted her chin up, placing a kiss to her lips. "Though they'd look better on the floor, but we don't exactly have time for that." He gave her neck a playful bite before pulling back. "Let's get some food. Before Mr and Mrs Allers eat it all." His hand slipped into hers and they left his room. "I'm not kidding about those two, their appetites are insane." He heard Nell giggle, casuing him to smile.

Entering the mess hall someone yelled. "Officer on deck!" Everyone stood, tuned to him and saluted.

Michael saluted back. "As you were. Enjoy your meal." The couple grabbed their trays. Michael easily spotted Agera and Cadmus, leading Nell over to them. They sat down. "Morning you two. How you doing?"

[TheDoctor]

Nodding, Cadmus looked back down at his meal, taking in another mouthful. "Good to hear. We are gonna need to work hard if we want to get that beast into shape." He looked over at the other soldiers. "I figure that these bozos will provide us with any hardware we need. We're their honored guests, after all." Looking back at Agera, he winked.

"Officer on deck!"

As the soldiers in the mess hall stood, Cadmus paused, looking at the standing soldiers with an eyebrow raised. "Huh." Then they sat down again, and he saw Michael and Nell enter the hall. Cadmus's stomach twisted as he saw that Nell was wearing Michael's clothes, but he let it go and his appetite resumed. Those were old affections that needed to go. Only distractions from what was important.

"Morning you two. How you doing?"

Cadmus scooted over a bit to allow Michael to sit next to him. "Feelin great, man. How bout you two?"

[The Bartender]

Mora slid throught the Kantine and as she reached the buffet she took a tablet and began to fill up the plates she took. Eggs, bread, sausages and wegetables as well as a lot other sweet things also a lot of hot chockolate and juice. Then she moved quietly toward the door to the table near it but on the way entered the Black Knight and his girlfriend enter but she just ignored them and sat down, began to eat her breakfeast but observed the group.

[MarchingThunder]

"I'm doing well enough," Agera replied calmly, warming her hands around her cup of coffee, not even having bothered to look when all the soldiers got uppity. "So what do you know about this meeting we've been invited to, Michael? Or is it supposed to be a surprise for us?" Agera asked warmly.

[MaskofSilence]

Before she could say something back about Michael's last comment, he slipped his hand in her's and led her down the hallway. Well, perhaps we can test that theory later. She thought to herself, a smile appearing at the thought. That was not the only thing that brought a smile to her face, it was the fact that Michael was holding her hand. It was a simple action, but it felt nice.

Arriving at the dining hall, someone yelled, "Officer on deck." Everyone reacted in unison, standing and placing there hand up in salute. Seconds later, Michael saluted back. "As you were, enjoy your meal." The room then returned to their previous action. Getting their food, the found the table that was occupied by Agera and Cad. Taking a seat next to Agera, she started eating. After greeting, Agera then asked about the meeting that was happening this morning. This caught Nell's attention, for she was curious as well. So, she patiently waiting for Michael's answer while taking another bite.

[Ushima]

"You guys are at the briefing to? I thought it was just going to be a General's meeting." Michael took a few bites of his food. "But if you guys are invited as well then that means it involves the data we retrieved. Though at this point I can only guess. I could be wrong and they might just want to check up on us after everything we've been through. It wouldn't be the first time I've been tricked like that. The other generals are suprisingly concerned. Was a nice sentiment." Michael eyes darted to the next table. "Seems our new friends is out of the infirmary. Why don't you see if she wants to join us Cadmus?"

[TheDoctor]

Cadmus shrugged. "If you say so." Leaning over, he called to the girl at the end of the table. "Hey, you! Girl with the food!" Soldiers glanced over their shoulders at him, but he did not pay them any attention. The girl looked over at him, a questioning look on her face. Cadmus beckoned her over. "Come sit with us." Hesitating slightly, the girl picked up her tray that was positively flowing with food and came over to sit next to Cadmus.

Swallowing another mouthful of food, Cadmus looked at her tray of food. "Damn. Quite the appetite." After taking a drink of water, he introduced himself. "I'm Cadmus. That's Michael, Agera, and Nell." He pointed at each of the members of the group, and each one of them nodded at the newcomer.

"Now tell me," Cadmus ate his last bite of food, washing it down with a swallow of water. He then fixed his eyes upon her. "What's your name? And what did those damn Zealots want from you?"

[The Bartender]

"Now tell me," Cadmus ate his last bite of food, washing it down with a swallow of water. He then fixed his eyes upon her. "What's your name? And what did those damn Zealots want from you?"
Mora sank her head while eating, she had already made out a story that she could tell to them so it wouldn't cause any problems;
"I'm Mora and I was looking for my brother who has joined the Zealots. I wanted to stop him and bring him back home but... They didn't let me see him... And as I didn't go... They threw me into that..." Mora sobbed, a perfect show.
"Then you came and saved me... I don't even know what they had done to me if you..." Mora was now openly crying, soaking her plates with tears.

[Ushima]

Michael listened to Mora's story. His heart went out to her it was a terrible story. And it didn't make it any better for him when he came to the realization that he may or may not have killed her brother. If he had joined the Zealots then it was a very probably chance that the two have crossed paths. Or he might have crossed Cadmus' path, which unfortunatley for the lad had very similar result. If he was in the assualt in the city then Agera or Nell might have. And then there'd be the Helios raid on the tower soon. All in all it didn't look good for her brother. But with no way of knowing for sure he kept this thought to himself. "That's uh...I'm sure you'll see him again." There was nothing wrong with a bit of hope, even if the odds were highly against you. The girl soon regained herself, much to Michael's relief. He couldn't stand seeing girls cry. It was that Knight-in-shining-armor complex he had.

"Runt!" Someone called out.

A dark haired woman was coming over to the table. Black tank and sweats. "Major General Allers." Michael stood and saluted. "What are you doing here?"

"I need a sparring partner since that lazy husband of mine is still sleeping." Jun turned her attention to Nell. "You wouldn't mind if I borrow and beat up your boy toy do you?" Nell just chuckled. "You're more than welcome to watch me wipe the floor with him."

"Oh you're on." Michael cracked his knuckles. "Training room. Now. We still got awhile before the briefing. You guys can hang out here, work on your zoids, get some more rest or do some training of your own. Your call."

"Losers first." The two glarred at each other but in the end Michael moved, knowing that if the two decided to try and out wait each other they'd be here forever. As he left the Mess Hall Michael returned his tray and entered the halls with Jun. "You two are good for each other. I'd have said it yesterday if you hadn't passed out."

"Thanks." They came to the training room and Michael went to the locker room. Taking off his holster, boots and pants he replaced them with training shorts and sneakers. Back in the room he went over to the mat they'd be using. Jun was stretching and Michael started his own. Within fie minutes they were both ready. Michael removed his shirt and tags, tossing them over to the side.

"Show off." Jun said.

"If Nell decideds to watch I want to give her something to look at." Michael slipped into his stance. "Let's go."

[TheDoctor]

As Mora told her tale, Cadmus felt himself withdraw further and further into himself. He swore that he would destroy every Zealot and Prime himself, yet this girl had a family member that she genuinely cared about that was a member of the Zealots. She obviously loved him enough to bother risking her life to keep him from joining, and yet Cadmus had the earnest desire to wipe him off of the face of Zi. That would devastate her. Hell, maybe I even killed him yesterday in combat. Maybe I killed him in the field. Who knows how long she was in that cell?

"That's uh...I'm sure you'll see him again."

Cadmus shot Michael a look. What kind of condolence is that? He let out a sigh. Michael may know of the horrors of war, but he doesn't understand the loss of a loved one. As the girl regained herself and Michael left with a higher officer, Cadmus looked down at his empty tray. He doesn't know what it really means to lose someone who means the world to you. The phase of denial that evolves into emptiness. Emptiness where you forget who you are and become a husk of a person. It lasts for months, eating away at everything that you ever were. But that isn't even the worst part. The worst part is the acceptance, the pain that never really leaves you. Mom...Dad...Rigon...

He looked at the girl. And I have slaughtered countless Zealots just like her brother. I have left their loved ones dead in the dirt. They may have had friends, families, lovers waiting for them to come home that day. Most of them never found out the fate of those Zealots. The idea of it disturbed him. I've left hundreds of people in heartbreak. So many have died by my hand, simply because of my unyielding desire for revenge. Am I no better than Prime? A dry grin of acceptance came to his face. No, I guess I'm not. I guess I'm just as much of a monster.

Cadmus spoke to the girl. "Hey. We'll get your brother back. Once this is all over, we'll find him. I swear to you that I'll do everything I can to help you once we are done with all of this." Then he stood, looking over at Agera. "You ready?" She nodded in response, standing as well. Cadmus looked at Nell. "We'll be in the garage working on the Liger if you need us." Then he took his empty tray, and him and Agera left for the garage.

[MaskofSilence]

Everyone had left the table, leaving just Mora and Nell sitting there. Finishing, Nell pushed her plate aside and waited for Mora to finish. She thought about starting a conversation with the girl, but all she could think to ask was about her experience at the tower and that was a not topic to talk about. Instead, she just simply studied the small girl. Mora had short white hair and pinkish eyes. Nell, realizing that she was staring averted her gaze elsewhere.

When Mora finished, Nell picked up both of there plates and put them up. "You're welcome to come with me." she said turning and sending the girl a small smile. At the moment, her plan was to go work on Necros more. Last time Nell had fixed the major, and what she thought to be painful, damages. This time, it would be the more minor ones. Which were more plentiful than the major damages. As much as she wanted to watch Michael spar, she knew that she had other responsibilities.

Leaving the mess hall, Nell automatically made her way to the hanger. Arriving, she greeted Necors, who happily greeted her back and started to get ready. Going in the storeage of her zoid, she pulled out a jacket and pulled it over Michael shirt, not wanting to get it dirty. Pulling her tools out after that, she then started her repairs.

[Ushima]

Michael blocked the high kick. Pain shot through his left arm but he willed it away, nothing he hasn't faced before. Shoving the leg aside he countered with a right punch. Jun ducked, countering that with a right of her own. Michael caught her by the wrist with his left hand, his right hand grabbed her forearm. Turning he flipped Jun over his shoulder. She landed on her back but didn't waste time. She kicked her leg up, catching Michael off guard, the blow landing on his chest. He staggerd back, giving Jun enough time to get up. The two circled each other again. Michael attacked first, launching a round house kick. Jun ducked under it, moving behind Michael, who spun around, his left hand extended for a back hand. Jun caught it so Michael followed up with two quick jabs to her stomach. jun loosened her grip, enough for Michael to move into a grapple. His arm went around her neck. Jun's elbows were quick to find his side, causing Michael to let go. Jun dropped to the ground, landing a blow to the back of Michael's knees.

Jun wrapped her arms around his neck now. Michael knew he had to free himself fast if he wanted any chance of winning. So gathering his strength he stood up, lifting Jun with him. He leaned forward, Jun's feet coming off the ground. Michael moved his hands from Jun's arms to her neck, pulling her forward. She was once again on her back and Michael's foot was coming down. She rolled to the side avoiding it and quickly got back on her feet. The two closed the gap, trading punches and kicks. Both struggling to find an opening and land a hit. Jun leaned back to avoid one of Michael's punches, leaving him wide open. She grabbed his extended arm and pulled him forward over her leg. Michael was on his back. Jun twisted his arm and wrapped her legs around it, landing on the ground also. Michael struggled to free himself, but it was tough with his arm locked and in pain.

"They don't hold back do they?" One soldier asked another. The sparring Generals had attracted quite the crowd.

"When you're at that leverl the only way to get better is to go all out. No pads or special gloves." the other responded.

Michael of course was oblivious to the conversations around him as he rolled over onto his knees. He forced himself to stand, grabbing hold of Jun with his free hand and, as best he could, with his locked arm. Jun was now in the air, but was soon back on the mat as Michael slammed her to the ground. He straddled her midsection, arm pulled back for a punch. He brought it down, a loud pound was heard. His fist landed next to her head, as close as he could get it. "Looks like I win."

"Yeah. That punch would've ended it had it actually connected." Michael got off her and helped her up. "Thanks for not actually connecting. That could've done some serious damage had it actually hit." Michael just grinned. "Damn I forgot how much fun it was to fight you."

"Same." Michael looked around the training room. "I'm gonna stay here a bit."

"Alright. I'm gonna go see if Kai is awake." Jun started to walk away. "Damn these are gonna leave some bruises." That cause Michael to look at himself. He had several as well. But he's reasoned that he's had worse so he ignored them as he walked over to a set of weights and began lifting.

[TheDoctor]

Co post with Ushima

Michael entered the briefing room in his dress uniform. the soldiers at the door snapped to attention as he moved past them. He was glad to see the others were on time as well. Michael sat with the generals, they also in dress uniforms, at the head of the table as the others sat at the other end. It was a display/holographic table. "Ok we're all here. Let's get this started. Doc." Michael nodded to the head scientist. "What you got for us?"

"Thank you, sir." The man (http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd309/Doktor_Mysteria/Anime/Scientistyuri.jpg) nodded back at Michael. "Glad that you all could make it here today. My name is Gordon Keele, and I have been working with the data that we received from the Zealots' main computer." He tapped a couple of keys at the keyboard, and a holographic Zi appeared. "The data was heavily encrypted, and we had to experiment and substitute a great deal in order for us to extract the locations." A glowing yellow dot appeared above the surface of the miniature Zi, and five lines spread from that point moving downward, landing at five different places on the globe as it slowly rotated. "We have discovered that there are five different places that Prime could be in, but we don't know which ones. It could be the Turren Desert, the Ki Mountain Range, Lake Elnor, the Broken Isles, or the Golbund Pass." Each point where the yellow line hit the surface glowed, and data for each point regarding coordinates, environment, etc. appeared near the points.

"This is all that we have been able to extract. Are there any things about Prime that we could possibly be neglecting? Something that could narrow down our search?"

"I know a few locations that are important to Zoidians." Michael touched the screen, a keyboard appeared. He input the locations. All eyes were on the rotating planet Zi. "Does this help?"

Keele perked up as seven other red dots appeared on the planet. Three of them overlapped yellow dots. He rubbed his chin, looking at the hologram. "That does help indeed! Now its down to the Ki Mountains, the Broken Isles, and Lake Elnor." Frowning at Zi, he started to pace. "But what else could we be missing...and how is he possibly jamming us?"

Cadmus was leaning forward in his chair, his elbows rested on his knees. His hands fiddled with a black pen, and he let out a sigh, rubbing his eye. It had started to randomly ache recently, and it was starting to get on his nerves. If a military scientist can't do it...then how are we supposed to find him? He ran his hand through his hair, looking up.

Suddenly, Cadmus stopped, his hand halfway through his hair. Across the room, Veerin was leaning against the wall and looking at the ground, his arms crossed. As soon as Cadmus saw him, the man slowly looked up, locking eyes with him. The same cocky grin appeared on Veerin's face. All of Cadmus's attention was then focused on Veerin as he watched him mouth three words. Before he knew it, Cadmus found himself standing up and repeating those three words.

"The Broken Isles. He's there."

"That's the burial sight for the Royal Zoidian family." Delta spoke, causing the occupants of the room to look at him. "Michael's ancestor's. Past Kings and Queens."

Michael's head fell into his hands. He had forgotten to tell Delta not to mention his bloodline. "So you mean to say that Michael is...a king?"

"...yes." Delta looked to his partner, almost apologetically. "He carries a great responisbility. The future of his race rests on his shoulders."

"Three thousand sleeping Zoidians all waiting for Zoid Prime's defeat so they can wake up." Michael sighed. "We have three possible locations. We'll check the Isles first. It's our best bet."

Looking over at Michael, Cadmus sat down, starting to phase back into reality. What made me want to trust Veerin so much? How did he know that? His eye irritated him again, and he rubbed it absentmindedly. He can't just be in my head. He's actually influencing my reality. I need to find out who he is. Next chance I get, I'm going to get some answers from him.

"Alright then." Ceaser stood up. "I'll send Force Recon to scout the terrain. We'll-" A loud alarm interupted Ceaser. "What the hell!?"

"Sir!" One of the techs at the computers yelled. "Code Orion. We're getting a feed from Orion-Two."

"Put it on screen." The Generals stood and moved to the large monitor against the wall.

~

They were looking up at a man. He was a Genezoid, and clearly an officer. "So we have a a pair of traitors in our ranks. "You wanna know what we do to traitors?" The picture was shifted and, whoever was transmiting was punched and fell over. What filled the screen enraged Michael.

~

"Curtis!" Curtis was laying on the ground, beaten and bloody. "Is the other one Vega?" Ceaser hesitated. "Is the other one Vega!?" Michael was mad.

"Yes. They're our agents in the Genezoid military. They'd inform us of their movements so we could evac our bases before they were hit by the enemy. We'd be able to get our men and research out before they'd even show up and all they'd get is an empty base." Ceaser pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a frustrated sigh. "They've saved a lot of lives."

"What's their location!?" Michael snapped at the tech.

"Ah!" The girl typed quickly. "Dredge Fields. Two days from here."

"You're going after them aren't you?" Storm asked.

"Of course they're my friends." Michael started to leave the room. "I have to go."

"So you're just going to leave? Without asking for help?" It was Cadmus who said this, standing up from his seat.

Michael stopped, looking back at his friend. "I didn't think I'd have to ask." He gave the younger boy a smirk. "Let's go you guys. We gotta save the day."

Despite the dire situation, Cadmus couldn't keep himself from grinning. "You read my god damn mind. Looks like we're playing heroes again." Him and Agera had managed to successfully attach the thrusters before the briefing, and although piloting would be difficult to manage due to the heavy armor and the large guns still remaining on the Liger, he was itching to try it out. And what better time for that than during a rescue mission?

Looking over at Agera and Nell, Cadmus nodded towards the door, and all four of them rushed out

Michael was followed by the other Generals. They approached them as he preped the Kinami Liger. "We have a problem."

"What do you mean "we"?" Michael didn't look up from his screen.

"It's about your combat armor." This time it was storm.

"What about my armor?"

"You mean besides the fact that it has a big ass fucking hole in it?" Jun crossed her arms. "That won't protect you at all."

"We got something for you. Just a prototype but this'll be a good field test." Michael was led to the other side of the hangar. "Put this on first." Michael quickly slipped out of his dress blues and put on a skin tight black body suit. "Now stand here." Michael stood around several machines. "Ok doc. Activate it."

"Ok testing this machine as well I see. Very well." The Engineer hit the start button. "Activating."

"Wait testing?" Several arms popped out, holding pieces of battle armor. Quickly they were snapped into place. Thick, heavy metal plates covered him along with a mouth piece. "Well that worked." His voice came out a bit metalic and robotic, as it was said through a microphone. As if you heard him over a radio. "This'll work."

"Bring our troops home Michael." The Generals saluted him.

"Understood. Mission accepted." Michael saluted back before returning to the Liger. "Everyone ready?"

Cadmus stepped in front of Michael before he was able to reach the Kinami, taking in the man's new armor. Huh. Interesting. "Michael. I'm going in there with you in Dredge Field. I'm not gonna wait in my Liger and protect your ass again. This time, I'm gonna go in there and get those two bastards out of there with you. Which means I need some armor." He crossed his arms, standing like a statue.

Are you sure, Cadmus? You are not a soldier.

Damn right I'm not. But I bet I can perform better than over half of the guys they keep here. I can keep up with Michael no problem.

And looking across the hangar, Cadmus spotted Veerin leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the hangar. The mysterious man grinned at him, nodded, and vanished.

[MarchingThunder]

Agera sat through the meeting in silence before the alarms had begun to sound taking a moment to sigh as she took in the situation as it was reported. She had been enjoying working with Cadmus on his partnered Energy Liger, so this meeting was a bit annoying. Still once they were sortieing from the hangar, Agera had made sure to put her sleeves back on as well as her jacket which still had its armored plates in it before she tucked her dual heavy pistols away as she climbed into the Fury. She took note that Cadmus stared off at the corner of the hangar for a moment before returning to work. Whatever it was that had distracted him, she hoped it was gone now, she didn't need him getting distracted during the potential up coming battle.

[The Bartender]

Mora sat in the hangar during the meeting and looked how Nell repaired her Zoid, it was a beautiful creatuire and it reminded Mora about Matter. She had been told not to use him during this mission so she had to find a new zoid for now.
Suddenly there were lots of soldiers running into the hangar and an alart rang loudly. Something had happened and it seemed that Mr. Balck Knight and The Blue Devil were going to go somewhere but Mora stayed put and waited to see what would happen. It would be too suspicious for a girl without a Zoid to wish to go with them...

[MaskofSilence]

By the time Nell was done doing the repairs, it was time for the meeting. Shrugging off the outer jacket, she threw it back in Necros and then turned to observe herself. The shirt was spotless. Sighing, she turned to find Mora staring at Necros strangely. "I'll be back, I have a meeting to go to." With that said, she walked out the door and down the halls.

Arriving, she took her place a the back of the room and listened intently throughout the meeting. Suddenly, the alarms throughout the building started to sound. Looks were exchanged and the group of four rushed of the room and to the hanger. Returning to where Necros was, she quickly put her tools away and then proceeded to climb into the cockpit. That was until her gaze landed on Mora, who was silently sitting there. Right, what are we going to do with her? Nell asked herself.

Stopping herself, she looked at Mora. Turning away, she started toward where Michael was. He would be the person to ask about the girl. After all, he was the one in the Military. Maybe their was some kind of procedure for this kind of situation.

[Ushima]

Michael's eye twitched in slight annoyance. "Fine." Michael moved over to a storage locker and opened it. Inside was a black vest. Grabbing it he brought it over to Cadmus. He threw it over they boy's head and started securing it, pulling straps.

"It's tight." Cadmus said.

"It's supposed to be. You're the one who insisted on the body armor after all so deal with it." Once he was done he patted Cadmus on the back. Michael moved over to a weapon's table. He grabbed two pistols (http://images.wikia.com/halo/images/9/92/Halo3-odst_automag-pistol-02.jpg). He made sure they were surppressed, this was a sneaking mission. Michael also grabbed a surpressed assualt rifle (http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=rifle#/d3hssor).

Nell came up to him and whispered something in his ear. Michael's gaze drifted over to Mora. He moved over to her. "Now what to do with you. Any ideas Cadmus?"

[TheDoctor]

Stretching out his limbs a bit, Cadmus rolled his neck, testing his flexibility in the vest. Although he was a bit limited in what he could do, he could roll with it. His style of fighting was more fluid and quick, but the vest would protect him from the bullets. Well, at least bullets towards my chest.

After securing his pistol and his knife in easy-to-reach locations, Cadmus went to the storage lockers, grabbing a couple more clips of pistol rounds and an extra pistol and securing them onto his body as well. Checking again to make sure that he could reach everything without difficulty, he returned to Michael.

"Now what to do with you. Any ideas Cadmus?"

Cocking his head, Cadmus looked at the girl. "Let me see here..." Squatting down in front of the girl and using a hand on the ground to steady himself, he looked the girl in the eyes, searching for something. Raising his eyebrows as he found what he needed in her eyes, Cadmus stood. "Well she's a genezoid. If we wanted to, we could take her along. We'll be going into the Empire's territory, and hell, who knows. Maybe we'll find her brother on the way to the Fields. Or on the way back" He shrugged. "It's up to you, but I'd say let's bring her with us. She's not gonna get much help in this military base. But we've gotta get going, and fast." Nodding at Michael, Cadmus went to the Energy Liger.

Looking at the great machine, he sighed. The thrusters were properly set and working well, and some of the armor had been replaced with lighter and more aerodynamic material, but the heavy plates still remained on the back and sides. Maybe I could bring the blades with me? Install them on the road? Cadmus looked at the ground, shaking his head. No. We'll just have to wait until we get back to the base. Looks like I'll be sticking with the cannons for now.

~~~~~

Gazing upon the Genezoid Empire's military outpost in the Dredge fields was a tall man in a long brown trenchcoat with several holes in it (http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/ae164/MajorGeneral_/New-Vegas-ranger.png). He wore a set of buckled black body armor that had obviously seen many uses, torn and weathered pants, and black boots. On his head was a metal high-tech gasmask with red lit eye pieces, and in his right arm lay a sniper rifle.

Kneeling with one knee upon the hill that he stood upon, the man shouldered the butt of the rifle into his shoulder. He peered through the high-intensity scope. The sun had passed its highest place in the sky, and it on its way down. The glare of the sun was violating the man's eyes through the scope, but with a slight twist of a knob on the scope, he filtered the sunlight out of his field of view, gaining a clear picture of the outpost a distance from him. He focused upon a single genezoid soldier who was on patrol, a man who idly strode upon the thick concrete walls.

The air was silent, yet thick with tension. After a minute, the man grunted, lifting the rifle. He stood, staring at the base again without the aid of his scope. Apparently satisfied, he turned his back to the base, walking behind the curve of the hill as the wind blew the tails of his trenchcoat out.

[MaskofSilence]

Standing partially behind Michael and Cad, she listened in to what they were saying. When Michael asked Cad what to do, he crouched down and looked at the girl. A few tense seconds went by before Cad announced that she was also a genozoid. He then proceeded to make a suggestion about the fact that they could possibly find her brother somewhere along this mission. He then proclaimed that they should bring her along with them before walking away. Personally, she agreed with him. Taking a step foreward, she was now standing shoulder to shoulder with Michael.

"Mora." she addressed the girl. "You are more than welcomed to travel with Necros and me if you would like. The choice is up to you though."

[Ushima]

Michael jumped a little when Nell started speaking. "Gees I didn't even see you there. You're more sneaky than I thought." Michael looked back to Mora. "We'll give you a moment to decide." Taking Nell's hand he lead her over to the Kinami Liger. As he walked her removed his facemask, setting it on a table as he passed. Making sure no one was looking and they were out of sight he gave her a smile before leaning forward and giving her a kiss. After a couple seconds he pulled back. Nell's face was flushed and both of them were grinning. "I love you." Michael touched his forehead to her's. "You're gonna stay safe out there right?"

[TheDoctor]

But as Cadmus looked around, he saw that many of them were not rushing to leave. Maybe...at least I could... Grinning, Cadmus noticed a mobile framework for Liger variation zoids. Perfect. Krios, release your heavy plates, now. Watch out for pedestrians.

But Cadmus, we-

Don't worry, Krios. This will be faster, so do it!

Cadmus ran to the control deck, running a line to the mobile framework. He saw a group of military mechanics idly standing around, smoking cigarettes. Cadmus grabbed their attention. "Hey! You there!" Their heads perked up, and then noted Cadmus on the control deck. "You see those pieces of armor over there?" He gestured towards a pile of lighter metal plates. "Do me a favor and lock those up to the framework, stat. We've gotta get moving, and this change has got to be quick!" The men looked around, grumbling. Cadmus grit his teeth. "Do you want your own men to die?! Two of your comrades are out there getting tortured by the Empire! Do you want that to happen?! If not, then get your asses moving!" He watched them raise eyebrows and spit on the ground, but they did make their way to the plates, locking them on the framework one-by-one.

When they were done, which was quicker than Cadmus expected, he touched with the Liger. Alright Krios, release!

The remaining heavy metal plates on the Liger's back and sides lifted up slowly, shifting away from their interlocking positions. Then, with a heavy clunk, they all fell off the Liger. There was a loud thunk as the plates hit the ground, and several of them did damage to the concrete floor below. In less hasty times, Cadmus would've taken them off safely, but they had to get moving as soon as possible.

Guiding the mobile framework by the control panel as he did for the previous pieces of armor, Cadmus moved it around the Liger. Then, pressing a button, the new lighter plates extended towards the Liger, and the zoid accepted them, pulling them in to replace the heavy plates that it lost. The Liger was now fully armored in a set of lighter metal plates than it had before. Cadmus kept himself from holding back tears. It may not have blades yet, but its still beautiful.

As the Liger quickly calibrated itself to the new armor type, Cadmus double checked everything for their journey. While he checked, he looked around at the others. Michael and Nell were no where to be seen, but Agera and Mora were still in the hangar. Dammit, this isn't the time! "HEY!" He shouted it to the whole hangar to ensure that Michael and Nell would hear. "Are we going on a rescue mission or writing a love story?! Let's move!"

[The Bartender]

Mora had been looking at Cadmus since he had told she could travel with them and was wondering how helpful he actually was, especially toward someone he didn't know at all.
He must be troubled by the chance that he could have killed my "brother" during the last years. Mora smiled to Cadmus and after Nell had allowed her to travel with Necros Mora shined like a girl in candy shop and jumped around;
"Oh, really?! Soooooo cooooooool!!! I'd love to come with you Nell-chan!" Mora was already on her way toward the zoid while jumping around...

[MaskofSilence]

"Gees I didn't even see you there. You're more sneaky than I thought." Michael looked back to Mora. "We'll give you a moment to decide."

Feeling a hand wrap around hers, Nell found herself starting to get led away by Michael. They walked in silence, but she did noticed when Michael took off his face mask and then lead them somewhere private. As soon as they were out of sight, lip's pressed against her. Automatically, she responded to the kiss. Seconds passes before he pulled away. Both were beet red and grinning. "I love you." Michael touched his forehead to her's. "You're gonna stay safe out there right?"

"I love you too." she whispered back, while wrapping her arms around his neck. "And of course I will. YOU better come back to me safe and sound. You hear me?" Suddenly, Cad's voice rang throughout the hanger. "HEY! "Are we going on a rescue mission or writing a love story?! Let's move!" Mentally sighing, Michael and Nell shared one last kiss before breaking up and going there separate ways. Gliding over to Necros, Nell smiled when she saw Mora. "I hope you're ready, because we are heading out." Nell then helped Mora in and before getting in herself. "Ready when you guys are." she voiced over the radio.

[Ushima]

With one last kiss Michael broke away from Nell. Grabbing his facemask he put it bacl on. "Ok let's get going." Grabbing a knife off the table he put in his left shoulder sheath.

"You guys be careful out there." Ceaser, and all the Generals soldiers in the hangar, saluted them as the zoids moved passed them and into the open.

"Ok guys here are the coordinates for the enemy base." Michael pressed a few buttons, sending the location to their GPS. "I'll take point for now so you guys can rest up. Then I'll switch with someone so I can rest." As long as someone was leading the others could just rest and follow along. "Let's move." The Kinami took off, the others following.

[TheDoctor]

The zoids ran for the entire day, not stopping until the sun was down. Even then, the group continued for several more hours, running until Michael called for them to stop for the night. They didn't want to overwork the zoids, and they still had a day and a half of more traveling ahead of them.

But when Michael called for them to stop, Cadmus found himself surprisingly disappointed. Sure, he was rather exhausted, but he had been experimenting with the new plates of armor during the whole trek, and he still wanted to try them out some more. Nonetheless, he brought the zoid to a walk and then to a halt. They had stopped in the middle of a rocky territory, but the group was able to find enough space to circle their zoids up. The night sky (http://www.pxleyes.com/images/contests/time-lapse-2/fullsize/Starry-Night-4e170c4258e60_hires.jpg) was wide open to them and void of light pollution, and Cadmus gawked at the billions of minuscule pinpricks of white that dotted the endless canvas above them. The open sky provided a decent amount of light for them, and Cadmus could spot the faint silhouettes of other rock formations jutting out of the ground.

Damn...that's quite a view. He was finally able to tear his eyes away from them when Michael snapped at him to get the burner going. He grabbed the white cylinder from their belongings, setting it up in the middle of the four zoids. After configuring the device, he pressed a button and the cylinder divided into thirds, and a blue flame ignited from the center. It produced a much better light source than the sky, and soon they had a meal cooking on top of it.

The five of them, for Mora was now with them, ate their stew comfortably, and small talk, jokes, and laughter passed back and forth over the fire. After an hour or so, Michael announced that they should be getting some sleep. Cadmus, on the other hand, was hardly tired. His mind felt open and clear, and he felt the strange desire to stay awake.

"I can take first watch. You guys go ahead and get some rest. We got even more traveling to do tomorrow." They established a rough schedule for the watch, and although they turned off the fire to preserve energy and reduce the likelihood of being spotted, Cadmus could see well enough in the clear night. The crew dispersed to their respective zoids to get some rest while Cadmus climbed on top of the Liger. He then took a seat upon the Liger's back, looking out at the infinite domain of space.

Half an hour passed, yet Cadmus still watched with strange fascination the patterns of stars twinkling in the sky. Despite their situation, he felt calm and relaxed, a feeling that he never felt these days.

"Hey buddy. How's it goin?"

Cadmus glanced over at the Liger's head where Veerin sat, his legs dangling off of the side. Rolling his eyes, Cadmus looked away. "Trying to convince me that I'm better than Michael again?"

Veerin shrugged, looking out at the night sky. "Nah, I don't need to tell you that for you to know it. I figured that you had some questions for me."

Cadmus looked back at Veerin. A moment of silence overcame them. "How did you know? And how come others don't even know you're there? You're obviously not my imagination, you're influencing things in reality. What's the deal?"

Veerin grinned. "Yeah, I figured that'd be your first one. I knew where Prime was because I'm not really human. I mean, you probably knew that already. But even this image of me," he gestured to himself. "isn't really accurate. I can choose who I appear to, and I chose you."

Cadmus raised an eyebrow, looking away again. "Why me? I'm nothing. All I really know what to do now is kill people. That's all that my reputation as the Blue Devil is based upon. Killing. I don't see why you would choose me."

Veerin scoffed. "You see, THAT'S why I chose you! You're just a humble man looking for answers and vengeance. You think that you're nothing, but that isn't true! I know that there's more to you than that! And I want to bring that out and help you and change you. And I can do it well because I'm not human. I'm different from you, so I can provide you an entirely new perspective."

Cadmus glanced at him, his confidence slightly raised. "But if you're not human...then what are you?"

Veering smiled a toothy grin. "You could call me your personal angel, but that does me too much credit. No, Cadmus, this is what I am." He crossed his arms and faced Cadmus.

"I am a messenger of Zoid Eve."

[Ushima]

"I haven't seen a sky like that in a long time." Michael sighed and lay back on top of his zoid. Nell was laying next to him. The couple was spending some quality time looking at the starts before going to bed. "Not since the night my Red Horn was destroyed. I miss that thing. Don't get me wrong I love the Kinami Liger. But the Red Horn was just a hulking mass of walking destruction and it was just unstoppable. They only way they brought it down was strapping explosives to it when I wasn't in it." Michael let out a chuckle, but it contained a bit of sadness. "Good times."

[MaskofSilence]

"I haven't seen a sky like that in a long time." Michael commented before laying back on his Zoid. Smiling, Nell followed his example and laid back as well. She couldn't remember the last time she just sat back and looked at the sky. But Micheal was right about seeing the sky like this. Tonight it seemed especially clear. The perfect night for star gazing. Michael then continued his statement. "Not since the night my Red Horn was destroyed. I miss that thing. Don't get me wrong I love the Kinami Liger. But the Red Horn was just a hulking mass of walking destruction and it was just unstoppable. They only way they brought it down was strapping explosives to it when I wasn't in it." he then paused, letting out a laugh that contained a hit of sadness "Good times."

Nell hated to see him even the least bit sad, but she had not words of comfort either. She had never lost her friend before, but the feeling must be like losing a loved one and she did not want anyone to go though that, not matter how long ago it was. So she shifted herself so that she was now laying with her head on his chest and arm thrown across his stomach, grabbing on to his other hand. Now that her ear was against his chest, she could hear the steady beat of his heart. The heart that belong to her. Looking up, she found him looking down at her. Seconds passed before he impulses kicked in. Connecting her lips with his, the kiss turned passionate and intense rather quickly.

[Ushima]

Michael was caught off guard by the kiss but by no means was unaccepting of it. And it made him feel better. His Red Horn, Aggron, was his companion. They had ben through a lot. Two years of doing missions and bonding with Curtis and Vega, and just generally having a good time. But those times were over as Aggron was taken from him in a firey explosion.

Michael wrapped his arms around Nell, deepening the kiss. "I love you."

[MarchingThunder]

Agera had watched Cadmus from the cockpit of the Berserk Fury as he stood upon the back of his Energy Liger, speaking to something that Agera clearly hadn't been able to see through the external cameras in the Fury. When she opened the cockpit to get out and see what he was doing though, she was greeted by the sudden appearance of a man standing before Cadmus speaking back to him.

Stunned at the fact that she could now see someone standing on the Energy Liger with Cadmus when she looked with her eyes, but couldn't when she looked through the Berserk Fury's monitors disturbed her profoundly. Shortly after she stood up for the second time to watch the man, she watched as he faded away and disappeared into the air.

With a mildly icy sensation settling in her stomach, Agera left her armored jacket in Fury's cockpit, though kept her guns with her as she climbed down from the Fury before climbing up to meet Cadmus on the back of his Energy Liger, where she took a seat to his side and spoke up asking, "So who was the disappearing man you were just speaking to?"

When Agera asked her question, Cadmus turned slightly red, looking away. "He...um..." He looked down. "It was no one. Don't worry about it. He was...a friend I know." Turning his eyes to the sky, Cadmus felt Agera's gaze on him. Dammit, that was a terrible excuse. But instead, he just let a silence fall upon them as he gazed at the stars.

After the silence became a pregnant pause of several minutes, Agera spoke up finally saying, "You know that friend of yours doesn't show up on cameras."

Looking over at her, Cadmus gave a sigh of submission. Looks like she won't give it up. "Not surprised. At first I thought he was part of my imagination and I was going crazy. Apparently not." He shrugged, casually pulling both of his feet up and resting his elbows on his knees. He gazed up to the stars. "I thought that all of my time alone killing Zealots and such had driven me insane, and it had only struck right now." He grinned calmly, winking at Agera. "Good to know that I'm still mostly sane."

Agera felt herself blush at Cadmus's wink after his explanation before she tried to quell the almost automatic response to his action by giving a simple smile. "So what do we do now? I mean we'll need to sleep at some point, but there's still a fair amount of the night left," she asked calmly as she returned her gaze back towards the sky.

Shrugging, Cadmus followed her gaze. "I've still got another hour or so up here for my shift. If you want, you could get some shut eye while you've got the chance. As for me, I don't figure I'll be getting much sleep anyway."

A short silence followed as they feasted their eyes upon the heavens. Then Cadmus broke it again. "Dad always told me that every one of those lights up there was like our sun, except far, far away. He said that each one of those stars has its own planet like Zi, except with different things living on them. Hell, most of them don't even have zoids. Strange concept, huh?"

Cadmus looked down at the ground. "We're so caught up in this battle against Prime, but in truth, how much does it really affect those other planets? We could be destroyed by Prime, and those other worlds would have no idea." He let out a dry chuckle as he looked at the rocks far beneath him. "I guess, in a way, we're just fighting out of selfishness."

"Selfishness. Selflessness. They don't really matter in the greater scheme of things when all is said and done and we're dead and buried, Cadmus," Agera responded calmly. She considered his statement about the stars and how they could be like their own world and shrugged it off. "Motivations only matter to ourselves and those that want to care about them, otherwise our reasons aren't worth a damn," she continued before standing up.

"Michael was demonstrating how well he could fight back at the base, so I wondered, care to have a spar, Cadmus?" she asked with a small smile as she looked down at him, trying to distance herself from the more existential conversation. She could do a pep talk, but this was a bit over her head she felt.

Heh. I guess she's right. Motivations are relative. Looking up at Agera, Cadmus raised an eyebrow with a mischievous grin. "A spar, you say?" Shrugging casually, he got to his feet and dusted off his rump. "Sure, why the hell not? As long as you're not too exhausted afterwards to do your shift." He hopped down from the Liger, moving towards a small clearing amongst the rocks outside of their ring of zoids. Enough light came from the stars to illuminate their field of play, and turning to Agera, six feet away from her, Cadmus crouched into a prepared position. "Ready when you are, bud."

"I'll be more than capable," Agera replied as she unbelted her holster and tossed her pistols off to the side where they'd be out of the way of the fight before dropping into a ready stance. Once she was ready she cautiously moved forward to within three feet or so before launching a pair of quick jabs with her left hand to test his defenses.

Cadmus slapped the stabs aside with his hands, countering with an attempted palm towards the center of her chest as he tried knock her backwards. The first two jabs told him much about Agera's style. Quick and agile, placing only as much force as is necessary and nothing more. Rather different from my own style, which focuses on simply takedown moves. I'm not the type to beat around the bush.

Agera sidestepped the palm-thrust before grabbing Cadmus's forearm with both hands directly behind the wrist and right before the elbow at which point she began to pull forward on his arm to overextend his center of gravity as she ducked to lower hers and toss him over her back.

Damn. Good move indeed. As Cadmus landed on his back, he quickly jumped to his feet, circling Agera once again. "Good hit there. Nice use of my own move. But let's see if you can do it again." He stepped forward again, aiming for a cautious jab at her stomach.

Agera hopped back from the gut punch before launching forward as Cadmus pulled back his fist. With a quick twist, she brought up her right leg high over her head and over Cadmus's in fact to bring it down in a hard ax kick on his shoulder.

But as Agera lifted her right leg, Cadmus's wandering eye caught a glimpse underneath her dress. Hesitating, he flashed out of his state of mind. Wait, I....what? Then he flashed back into reality, and he saw the kick descend. He rolled to the side, just barely evading the kick. As he quickly resumed his stance, Cadmus scowled and turned red. I could've used that kick to take her leg out from beneath her, but instead, I froze up! She's showing me up, all because of an unfortunate view underneath her dress. Gritting his teeth, Cadmus circled her once again and waited.

"You slipped there, Cadmus. Why?" Agera asked, icy seriousness coloring her voice. She was clearly involved in the fight and hadn't picked up on whatever had distracted Cadmus. She circled carefully till she had an answer though, carefully shifting her footing through the loose, soft sand beneath their feet.

Cadmus cleared his throat. "Umm, heh. I...uh...that man appeared again! Yeah, he appeared right across the clearing!" Stepping forward once again to prompt Agera and distract her from his answer, he aimed a hard punch at her shoulder.

"Strange I didn't see him," Agera responded coldly as she knocked punch aside before driving a counter punch into his exposed kidney with a five inch punch. "So what was the issue?" she asked as she stepped back while his breath hissed out from the blow.

Despite Agera's counter and the pain that Cadmus received, he kept his stance, calculating in his head as he circled Agera again. "Well of course you didn't see him." Cadmus let out a small fit of coughing, still keeping his eye on Agera. "He was," he coughed again. "behind you, that's why."

That was almost enough to get Agera to drop her guard to check behind her, rather though, she backed off a foot before dropping low and attempting to sweep Cadmus's legs out from beneath him.

Evading the leg sweep, Cadmus hopped backwards. As Agera rose, he quickly advanced forward, taking her by surprise by clapping his hands on her ears, a move that usually broke the eardrums. Because this was a spar, though, he cupped his hands a bit less and used less force, causing only short, temporary deafness.

Agera reeled from the claps over her ears for a moment before snapping a hard kick straight up towards Cadmus's groin by instinct. She only knew spars as martial practice, attacking a foe's eardrums was far more than she was used to and at that point her reactions took over and normal habits for sparring dropped off the table, rolled across the floor, and hid underneath a large, heavy bookcase.

Cadmus took the kick with a loud grunt of pain, reaching for his groin as a reaction to the pain. It took only a moment for him to get himself out of Agera's reach so that he could bear the pain without fear of being attack. Gritting his teeth, he felt the initial blast of pain fade away as a much worse pain seeped into his system. It was an incredibly awful ache that was paired with nausea, a nausea that he forced himself to stomach as he reassumed his defensive stance. "That...that was hardly fair." Squeezing his eyes shut for a second and then opening them he glared at Agera as he waited for her next attack.

Agera stumbled back a step as well when Cadmus did, remorse playing out across her face as she looked at him before she spoke to him softly. "I'm... sorry. I'm not used to that eardrum thing you did in a normal spar and I reacted on... instinct," she whispered apologetically. At that point she sort of let herself slump down to the ground with her knees in front of her and her calves out to either side. "I'm sorry..." she whispered a second time, truly sorry she had hurt her friend in such a way.

Gritting his teeth, Cadmus sprinted forward and took advantage of the situation. He took her kneeling form to the ground with him on top of her, a fist raised as he prepared to strike.

But the fist didn't move, and after a pause, Cadmus's angry mask brightened into a smile. "Checkmate."

When Cadmus raised his fist for a blow, Agera wondered if he really would take revenge for her automatic reprisal, but when a blow never came and instead the word 'checkmate' did, she knew the situation had changed dramatically as she looked up with a small smile and responded.

"Nope.

Before Cadmus could likely even begin to formulate a response, Agera had lunged forward bodily and wrapped herself arms about his lower torso as she pushed him off balance and brought them both down in a tangled heap in the sand, Agera for her part, giggling slightly with a rather hefty blush coloring her face.

"Hey! I- AH! Stop that!" Cadmus stumbled with words as they wrestled in the sand, each of them attempting to gain the upper hand. "I had you back there, I- cut it out!" As he attempted to suppress her, the two of them ended up falling again. Cadmus fell flat on his back, and then Agera landed on top of him. When Cadmus's eyes opened after the impact, he found himself staring straight into Agera's, for they were face to face. "I..."

"You what, Cadmus?" Agera asked with a grin as she let herself just rest atop his chest as their fight seemed to have ended or at least paused. With a brief glance to confirm the proper direction, she pulled off her beret and tossed it to join her hand guns as she asked Cadmus a follow up question.

"Kind of nice to just rest like this right?"

"I..." Cadmus felt himself turn red for what seemed like the tenth time that night as he felt the weight of Agera remain on top of him. What do I do? I've never...never considered Agera...She's a great friend. But what if she's more? What if we actually...but do I trust myself not to screw it up like the past two times? What do I even do in this situation?

Laughing nervously, he looked up at her. "Uh...yeah!" His eyes looked into Agera's, but before he had the chance to look away, he felt suddenly enticed by them. Looking into them eased him, and although his heart still beat frantically, the rest of him was calm. With a gaze into Agera's eyes, a gaze that was even more distant than when they had looked at the stars minutes before, Cadmus released his breath, a calm smile on his face. "Yeah. It's kind of nice."

"If you. I. We live through all of through all of this, Cadmus, what do you think you'll do? Revenge seems to be all you've really lived for so I have to ask what you'd do when everything is over," Agera asked softly.

With a bit of a shift in her muscles, Agera brought herself up into a sitting position as she straddled Cadmus's chest with her legs splayed out to either side. She was aware, marginally at least, of the connotations of how she was sitting across Cadmus's abs, but for the moment she was caring too much as she looked down at him with concern etched across her features.

As she sat up, Cadmus's heartbeat thumped faster, but what she said distracted him from their position. I...I don't even know... He looked at the night sky, silent for a moment. "I'll...I guess..." Pushing his torso up with his elbows behind him, Cadmus looked away distantly. "I...don't really know. What did I do before Prime? I navigated the plains of Zi with my Murasame, Rigon, doing mercenary work. But he's gone now..." He then slowly turned, looking into Agera's eyes. His mouth was slightly open, for the question had struck him silent. "I...I don't know..." What would I do? I wouldn't even have anything else to live for.

Agera was silent for a few seconds before she leaned down and whispered a reply in Cadmus's ear. "You need to find something then. A cause. A person. A place. Anything. I've lived without a purpose before and I can tell you I don't think I want to see anyone ever suffer like I did, especially some I consider a friend," she said softly.

Taking advantage of being nearly horizontal again, Agera rolled off to the side and gently leaned against Cadmus, pressing herself against him slightly as she set one of her hands on his chest as she listened to his heart beat.

As Agera leaned against him, Cadmus blinked a couple of times, feeling his heart pulse against her hand. Laying down flat on the ground with Agera next to him, he was silent for a moment as he stared into the stars, allowing his thoughts to process. Then he turned, locking eyes with Agera. "But Agera...what am I supposed to find? My mother's dead, my father ran away, my companion was lost in combat. I want to find something...but I don't even know what I'm looking for..."

Agera blushed a bit and held her tongue at a retort she had to Cadmus's utter failure to notice the obviousness of her interest in him. It took a few moments, but she eventually did calm herself down and respond as she softly said, "Cadmus, you may not know what to look for, but I'd like you to know that I care about you at least. And I care enough to help you if I can and I'll stay if you'll let me."

"You..." Cadmus's eyes went distant again. He saw flashbacks to the times with his mother and father back in his old village, when he would get in trouble for staying with the zoids too long. Those memories had not been awakened for many years. "It's...it's been a long time since someone has said that to me..." His eyes focused again on Agera. "I..."

They were silent for a moment while Cadmus focused on her eyes. He was perplexed by them, starstruck by her. Before he knew it, he was leaning towards her, and by the time his lips touched hers, he had already forgotten what he was doing.

For Agera, the kiss was a pleasant and welcome touch, and she held it as long as she could before breaking for breath. Eventually though, as the sand cooled underneath them, Agera finally separated herself from Cadmus with a small smile as she sent him off to go sleep saying, "It's time for my watch I think, so go and rest Cadmus. We should do this some more."

[TheDoctor]

Several days later...

The journey was going as expected, and they were due to arrive at the Empire's military outpost in the Dredge Fields about midday. The group was moving at a steady pace, and the sun was just starting to rise, for every day, they had woken up before dawn to keep travelling. Cadmus lay lazily in the Energy Liger, allowing the zoid to run on autopilot. Instead, many different thoughts played in his head. Thoughts of the coming operation. Thoughts of the Energy Liger running with its new speed and agility. But mostly, thoughts of Agera.

After that night, the two of them had resumed their friendly relationship. Despite Cadmus's fears, the friendship that the two of them had established had not changed for the worse. Instead, it was like they shared a secret. Not a secret that they were scared to reveal, but more like an inside joke that each of them knew the other was thinking about. Oddly enough, Cadmus found himself even more comfortable around Agera, and he found himself subconsciously spending a little more time with her. But just a little.

Letting out a yawn, Cadmus connected to Agera. "Why do we have to keep on waking up so early? I'd much rather..." he stifled another yawn. "...much rather run late into the night than early in the morning."

[MaskofSilence]

Placing Necros on autopilot, Nell then leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, trying to catch some much needed rest. This morning and last night had been rough for her. For most of last night, she had been up tossing and turning with a stomach ache. Then this morning, she had actually gotten sick, not that anyone knew about that part. At the moment though, she felt much better, so she didn't really feel the need to tell anyone. It was the reason that she had gotten sick that really bothered her. It could have just been something that she ate. On the other hand, it could have something to do with Michael and her. She prayed and hoped beyond belief that it was just the first one. Just in case though, perhaps she should talk to Michael as soon as possible.

Sighing, she leaned forward in her chair and looked at the map, trying to distract herself. Nell then remembered that Mora was in the back of her zoid, but the girl was so quiet that she had almost forgotten. Glaceing back, she saw Mora and smiled to herself. That girl was just too adorable. Focusing forward once more, her eyes landed on Cad's zoid. It seemed to like to her that Agera and him had been spending more time together. Smiling at the thought of them as a possible couple, she slowly found herself drifting into sleep. Her last thought was about Michael before finally dozing off into a dreamless sleep.

[Ushima]

Michael and the Kinami Liger ran alongside Cadmus. They were keeping pace quite easily. "Almost there guys. Just hand a little longer."

"We don't even know if they're still alive by this point."


"Shut up Delta!" Michael snapped. "I don't want to even think about that. I am not, coming home with full boxes."

"Someone has to think realisticaly." Was all Delta said.

"Then have it be something up." Michael relined his seat back. "Take over control. I'm going to get some rest." With that his eyes closed and he was unconscious.

[The Bartender]

Mora was sitting behind Nell in Necros and was looking at the pocket clock she carried with her. The clock worked as a transmitter for Matter to track her. It was silently peeping and Mora looked out of the cockpit and saw how a dark point began to get nearer them. Mora could say it was Matter even thought he looked a bit different and it wasn't just th colour; Matter was now pink with black highlights and in the tips of the wings were blades attached and thus the wings wer even larger now.
Mora did as if she was suprised to see her Zoid and screamed;
"Nell! Stop Necros I can see Matter!" And before Nell could say anything she went forward, "It's my Zoid, he found me at last! Look, look, he is over there!" She pointed toward the nearing Raynos even thought she knew Nell couldn't see her...

[TheDoctor]

As the KatFysh jolted to a stop, Cadmus stopped the Energy Liger as well, hearing Mora's happy scream through the comm link. Wincing at the sudden blast of high-pitched noise, for it was still rather early for Cadmus, he questioned them.

"Mora? What the hell are you talking about?" Squinting through the glass, Cadmus tried to pick out a zoid along the ground or in the sky, but he couldn't see anything. "Are you sure that you aren't...like...hallucinating? All I see is this rising sun that's basically incinerating my eyes."

He laid back in his chair, rubbing his eyes with a sigh. Are you picking anything up, Krios?

Nothing. If there is a zoid, then it's either jamming my radar or cloaked. Not really sure what she's talking about.

Raising an eyebrow, Cadmus questioned again. "Are you positive that there's a zoid, Mora? I've got nothing."

[MaskofSilence]

Having fallen asleep only minutes ago, Nell was suddenly wakened by Mora shouting in the back of her Zoid, "Nell! Stop Necros, I can see Matter!" Jerking awake, she placed her hands on the controls and jerked Necros to a stop. Mora then leaned forward pointing to the sky. Following Mora's finger, Nell did see anything. "Are you positive there is a Zoids Mora. I can't see anything." Cad's voice echoed over the intercom

Just to make sure, Nell glanced at her map, but still nothing indicated a nearby Zoid. Turning to face the girl, Nell watched her. The young girl looked desperate for her Zoid to be there. "Mora, there is nothing-" Suddenly an indicator went off. Swiftly turning, Nell found a red dot nearly on top of them. How in the world... By the point, the girl was getting excited. Sighing, Nell opened her cock pit and stepped out with the girl. "Necros, be on guard." She told while him going with Mora.

[MarchingThunder]

"I'm not picking anything up either," Agera chimed in over the radar. She certainly wasn't aware of any approaching zoids visually and Fury wasn't picking anything up on his radar or any other sensors, so for the moment, she couldn't help but be curious about the possibility of what Mora was cheering about.

[Ushima]

The Kinami Liger stopped and the cockpit popped open. "What the hell is going on?"

"I believe Mora senses her zoid's approach." Delta informed the pilot who had just awoken.

"Is that right." Michael stands up and stretches, joints popping. He let out a sigh of comfort. "Well where is the thing?"

"It's on the edge of their sensors." Delta explained.

"What about ours? We have military grade equipment it should scan out farther." Michael looked down at his radar, seeing a red blip. "Yep. There it is." Michael's gaze then went to the Energy Liger. "Huh they must've only installed Military grade parts that would've been used in the field test. So for now it has standard radar. Gotta get that fixed when we get back." Michael sat back down to await the arrival of Mora's M.I.A. zoid.

[The Bartender]

"Are you positive that there's a zoid, Mora? I've got nothing."
Mora jumped out of Necros and looked upwards as Matter began to land and Mora saw the new engines that were attached on the belly of Matter.
"Look upwards Cadmus, there he is!" She shouted and pointed upwards.

Only one minute later was the pink Raynos on ground and Mora was running around him to see his new equipment.
"Finally I found you, I was worried something had happened to you." Matter said and Mora slowed down;
"No no, I was saved by these people and I decided to help them. They also said they would help me on the search of my brother." Her face was shining like the sun. Matter had been informed about Mora's undercover identity.
"See? This is Matter." Mora shouted to the others and winked.

[TheDoctor]

Opening the cockpit of the Liger, Cadmus stood up, watching the Raynos as it landed. Mora's ecstatic attitude when she introduced the zoid made him grin slightly. He felt the Raynos's mental presence weigh in, and he tipped an imaginary hat at the zoid. "A Raynos. That can be a big help in our operation."

Stretching his arms and yawning, Cadmus leaned on the top of the Liger and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Alright Mora, go ahead and hop in the Raynos. You can follow us from above. Try to keep low, though. We don't want them to see you, although I wasn't even able to see it when it was two hundred feet away from me..." Shrugging, Cadmus sat back down in the cockpit and started to close it. "If you've got stealth capabilities, I would suggest using them in about 3 hours or so."

The cockpit closed again, and Cadmus restarted the autopilot system. "Alright guys, let's keep going."

[Ushima]

After s few hours more of mindless travel michael ordered everyone to stop. The Kinami Liger stopped and Michael hopped out. He walked over to a nearby hill and cliimbed up. "What are you doing?" Delta asked.

"Observing the base. I need to watch and formulate an assualt plan." At the top of the hill Michael laid down. His pupils seemed to shift, opening like camera shutters. Michael's vision enhanced, zooming in and looking over the base. "I'm gonna be a bit. Might as well start setting up camp. Once I get enough information I'll start briefing you all."

[MaskofSilence]

When the Zoid landed, Nell felt Necros slowly stalk up behind her, making sure everything was okay. Once the zoid determined that it was, she felt him relax slightly. Sighing in relief, she smiled as Mora rejoiced in seeing her Raynos once more. Turning, Nell found the cockpit already opened for her to hop back into. Right as she hopped back in she say Cadmas stand and talk to Mora. Upon him sitting back down once again, the group started once more.

Hours had passes and she had fallen sleep once more and this time, there was no one to wake her up. The thing eventually did wake her was the rumbling of her cockpit. Sitting up in her chair and rubbing her eyes, she found the group had come to a stop. Michael's voice then appeared over the intercom. "I'm gonna be a bit. Might as well start setting up camp. Once I get enough information I'll start briefing you all." Hopping out and stretching, she did as suggested and started to set up camp.

[The Bartender]

Mora jumped into Matter and took off and followed the others while looking into the papers she had received. Most of them were about military movements of the two countries as well as where many Zealots had positioned themselves as well as some information about how she must go forward during her mission.
After she had read the papers she burned them and took a nap...

Hours later Mora woke up as the Raynos began to land. Mora got out as Michael gave information about what they should do. Mora threw a camouflage plane over the colourful Raynos and went and began to help Nell with the camp.
"Are you and Mr. Knight a pair?" Mora asked innocent...

[MarchingThunder]

Agera had climbed out of the Fury to investigate the Raynos that had landed to join them and had happened to overhear the question Mora asked Nell which made her nearly choke on the drink of water she had been taking from her canteen as she struggled not to laugh. Only a child could be that blunt while being that innocent she considered with a slight smile as she wiped off her lips to clean off the extra water that had leaked when she nearly laughed.

"I think," she said with a hint of her smile in her voice, "That that is a fairly accurate representation of their relationship, Mora."

[TheDoctor]

Cadmus took another bag from the Liger's open cockpit, throwing it to the ground. As he turned around to grab the next bag, he saw Veerin leaning in the corner with his arms crossed. Cadmus looked up at him as he leaned over to grab the bag. "Hey, mind helping me out with this?"

Veerin chuckled. "They can't see me, Cadmus. Imagine how strange it would look if one of those bags started floating in the air."

Raising an eyebrow, Cadmus lifted another bag, throwing it to the ground. "You know, Agera was able to see you a couple of nights ago. On the night that we set off again."

Looking up, Veerin shrugged nonchalantly. "No worries as long as she doesn't say anything. Don't want the rest of the group to start asking questions. I see no harm as long as you can trust her."

Cadmus paused as he lifted up a bag. Then he nodded. "Yeah, I can trust her. Won't you ever reveal yourself to the others?"

Veerin grinned. "When the time is right, Cadmus. When the time is right. Anyway, there is someone who you are going to meet very soon. I want you to accept him. Consider him...a gift from me."

Rolling his eyes, Cadmus tossed another bag of luggage to the ground. "Oh great, more surprises."

Looking down, Veerin closed his eyes and vanished. Cadmus snorted, grabbing the last bag and hopping down from the Liger with it. He then addressed the others. "Alright guys, let's get this place set up. No fire tonight, though."

[Ushima]

Michael caught the tail end of Ager's and Mora's conversation with Nell and decided to join in. "Yep. She's my better half." He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him and placed a kiss to her cheek. "I don't know how it happened but I'm not exactly complaining."

"Alright guys, let's get this place set up. No fire tonight, though." Cadmus entered the conversation.

"Once we're done with that I'll tell everyone the plan." Michael then proceeded to set up his tent. It didn't take them all to long to set everything up and soon they were all gathered around Michael. "Ok, tomorrow we'll wait for a transport truck to leave the base. On it's way back we stop it and hijack it. We get their uniforms and you two," He points at Agera and Cadmus. "Will put them on and drive the truck onto the base with Nell, Delta and I hidden in the back. We wait until nightfall the begin the op." Michael faced Nell. "Nell, get to the ops center. Hack into their security and shut it down and find out what building they're keeping Curtis and Vega in. Agera." From behind them he pulled out a duffle. *I need you to sneak into the munitions hangar and feul depot and set these charges. As we're making our way out set these off. You'll give them something other than us to deal with." Michael turned to Cadmus now. "Once security is offline and the charges are placed and Nell gives us their location we'll move to bust them out. Kill anyone who gets in our way." Then his gaze shifted to Mora. "And you'll be responsible for extraction. We'll get in the truck and you'll pick us up and fly off with your Raynos. Everyone got that?"

[MarchingThunder]

Agera took the proffered duffle and began to dig through the various items inside, rummaging around claymores, shaped charges, and at one end of the bag, a thermobaric bomb with a switch for remote detonation or timed detonation on it.

Just a few of her favorite things really.

Running over the plan in her mind, Agera began passing instructions to Fury who she would have parked out along their extraction route with a nicely charged CPC for when they needed to haul out of there. In the mean time though, Agera ran through her own belongings, swapping her navy dress, jacket, and beret for a mottled black camouflage set she kept stored in Fury's cockpit before putting the bullet plates into the black jacket before adding an extra layer that was designed to help minimize the noise made by the metal. Next she settled for changing out the cases that surrounded the internal mechanisms of her handguns with a set of matte black covers that would make them dramatically less visible as she was slinking around in the night.

Eventually, when Agera rejoined everyone else about twenty minutes later, she more resembled some exotic foreign ops soldier ready for a night deployment.

[MaskofSilence]

After Michael told everyone the plan. Agera was the first one to leave to go and get ready. Upon seeing the other women do that, Nell decided that is what she would do as well. Turning around, she walked off toward Necros.

Once there, she opened the storage hatch and looked inside. Various things were littered about; cables, tools, wires, etc. Sighing, she reached in and started digging around. "You know, for such a small zoid, you sure hold a lot a junk in your storage." she whisper to the Katfysh. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw his tail sway. Smiling to herself, she continued searching till she found a small bag and her father's cloak. Pulling both out, she placed the black cloak around her shoulders and then bent down to the bag. Inside, where several different types of melee weapons, ranging from knives to needles. Swiftly, she started loading weapons on her person. By the time she was done, she had various weapons hidden on her form. After all, if something went wrong, she could only rely on herself. Not that she foresaw having a problem.

By the time she was done, Agera had rejoined the group. Walking back over, she waited for the plan to begin.

[TheDoctor]

Cadmus nodded when he heard the plan. "Sounds simple enough. We can discuss the details over dinner tonight. Speaking of which..." He trailed off, looking at the luggage that he threw down from the Liger's cockpit. As the other crew members dispersed to their different tasks, Cadmus made his way to the luggage, digging through a bag that held several compact meals.

While he searched through the bag, he felt himself instantly deflate as realization hit him. What am I even doing? Why did I insist upon going to with Michael into the base? I know how to fight and I know how to be quiet, but an infiltration? Michael knows what he's doing, and I'm just following in suit. What's the point of trying to prove my worth when I'm not even worth anything? Sighing, he took the meals and handed them out.

As the sun set and night took them, Cadmus immediately found himself regretting his decision not to have a fire. The night was still warm, but the meals were cold. There would be no "sparring" between him and Agera like there had been that time several nights ago, for the group needed to keep relatively quiet just in case. Instead, the group spoke quietly with one another, each and every one of them slightly tense from the imminent operation.

Eventually, it came time for them to get some sleep. Cadmus volunteered first watch again, and Michael would be due to replace him afterwards. As Cadmus sat against the paw of his Liger, he retrieved his belongings for the mission the next day. Sliding on the vest and strapping it tight, he pulled out the two pistols, screwing on two suppressors. When those were prepared, he holstered them in easy-to reach places and withdrew his dagger and started to sharpen it.

Tomorrow we may have to kill men that are simply misled. They didn't do anything wrong. Vega and Curtis were spies, so they want information. Those soldiers of the Empire are genezoids, like me. If anything, I should be supporting them. When he was certain that the dagger was sharp, he picked up the smaller combat knife that he had decided to bring along and started to sharpen that one as well. But no. Instead, I'm infiltrating them and escaping with two of their prisoners. Does that make me a traitor? Hell, I must've betrayed everyone at one point or another.

"Sup?"

Cadmus jolted as Michael came up to him in his combat armor. Nodding at the man, he sheathed his knife.

(Co post with Ushima)

"Nervous about tomorrow?" Michael sat down next to Cadmus at his post. He set his rifle down in front of him and started taking it apart, inspecting each piece and cleaning it. Making sure it was all ready for the morning. He didn't want anything breaking when he needed it most. "Me too. I'm always a little worried before an op. Even more now that I have to save two of my friends. But if we stick to the plan and believe in ourselves we can do this. You've done great work Cadmus, I don't think that's gonna stop anytime soon." He shoots a confident grin to Cadmus before going back to his work.

Looking up from his hands, Cadmus glanced at Michael with an eyebrow raised. What does he even mean? "Great work?" He let out a grunt. "Yeah, sure, great work. Let's go with that." Lowering his gaze, he dug some dirt out from under his fingernail. Who does he think he's kidding? I haven't done great work. All I've done is kill.

"Hey you should be proud of what you've done." Michael blew into the end of the suppressor removing some dirt. "Every job no matter how big or small is important. You see Cadmus it's like a machine, everypiece is important and once we all come together we acomplish something great. Do you think I got as far as I did without help? I've been in nurmous battles with allies. I'd have been killed long ago if it weren't for them. I'm glad to have you as my friend and battle-brother."

This caught a questioning glance from Cadmus. "Yeah, but don't you realize what happens every time? With every mission that we've gone on, you take the lead and complete the mission. Hell, you've done missions all on your own, gaining medals and recognition for it. Me?" He looked back down. "I thrive in the shadows. I kill the wicked without a thought of their fates. At this point, so many Zealots have fallen to my hand that I don't even know how they keep recruiting. And yet everyone still sees me as a kid." Looking up at Michael, Cadmus had a determined stare. "Even you still see me as the kid from the Blue Guard. Even now."

"Look, I'm not gonna regret my skills and all the hard work I've done over the years. It's who I am. And recognition and medals are nice but I'd have done my job anyway even without it." Michael paused in his speech to mess with the iron sights. "It's who I am. I'm a warrior, a leader. And I do my job to the best I can because someone has to. Someone has to put their life on the line, to fight, kill, maybe even die. And I'd rather not have anyone else go through those horrors Cadmus. I've seen things, done things that no normal person should ever have to. There's a price that comes with my skills Cadmus and if I had known it when I was younger maybe I'd be different. But it doesn't matter now, cause I've moved past it, grown to accept that it's who I am. And at the end of the day that's all that matters. If after everything you've done you can look at yourself in the mirror and not be disgusted with yourself. If those close to you still accept you despite everything you've done. Then that's all the recognition you need."

Michael starts putting his weapon back together. "There was a time, when I was about seventeen, I just wanted it all to end. I was at my lowest and I nearly ate my own bullet. It took a lot to get over it all. But I still had the acceptance of my close friends and that helped me deal with all the stress and eventually accept the man I had become." The gun came together in a series of clicks and snaps. He shouldered it, aiming down the sights. "Remember Cadmus. Recognition from everyone is nice. But self-recognition and that of your friends and loved ones is the most important."

Looking down, Cadmus picked at his finger. But I haven't even received recognition from myself, let alone others... He sighed, feeling his shoulders fall. How could I possibly feel good about the things I have done? I don't even do it for the good of the people. I kill out of vengeance, and I can't change myself to do it for any different reason.

Picking up a small, round pebble from the ground, he rolled it around in his fingers. But if I am so undeserving of recognition...why do I keep asking for it? More importantly, why does Veerin...a messenger of Zoid Eve...want me to be recognized for what I do? "Then tell me, Michael: What if, despite everything you do, you're still disgusted when you see yourself in the mirror?"

"Oh now that's a tough one." Michael chuckled lightly. "If I had to explain it best, at least this is what the shrink who did all my psyche evals said, is that you're fighting with yourself. You don't like who you are and you know you have the ability to better yourself. That you can change into someone you're proud to be. But finding out what needs fixing is another matter entirely. It took me awhile to fix myself, believe me." Michael laid back, putting his arms behind his head and looked up at the night sky. "Or you could just break the mirror and not have to deal with your reflection. But then you're left with a bloody fist with glass shards in it. And that's never good." He chuckled again. "Look Cadmus, I know why you asked that question. And it's not my place to question and judge your actions over the past year, so I'm not going to. You had your reasons and that was justification enough and you don't have to defend them to me or anyone else. But I can tell you've grown from your period of self-isolation and are a better person because of it. You've grown from a kid who followed me into hell into a strong young man who can now stand back to back with me to take on anything."

Cadmus stopped rolling the pebble in his fingers, a grin slowly making its way on his face. It was a grin that contained the faintest slimmers of self-confidence, but it was there. As Michael sat down, Cadmus looked over at him. Then he threw the pebble away. "Heh. I don't know, Michael. Breaking the mirror sounds more like my style." He laughed, and the two of them became silent. Then he spoke up again. "We're really gonna do it, aren't we? You and I? We're gonna kick his ass together, right?"

Michael reached over and lightly shoved Cadmus, knocking the teen off balance a bit. "If you're still dumb enough to follow me into the base, then the answer is yes. Just trust me and do what I say and I promise you we're gonna get out of there alive. Cause if you die on me, I'll kill ya."

Laughing again, Cadmus shoved Michael back with a less noticeable reaction. "Ha! Who do you think you're talking to? The Blue Devil can't die. He's a flying whirlwind of light that destroys anything in his path, according to legend. Nothing can stop him!" He grinned at Michael. "Especially with the Black Knight covering his ass."

"Heh immortality." Michael's hand went to both sides of his chest. The left where three small bullet wounds were and the right where one bigger one was. "I used to think like that. If it wasn't for Delta....I ever tell you about that? Delta's weird mystical one time only healing power thing? It was strange man but...I know you're gonna think I'm crazy."

Cadmus let out a bark of laughter. "Dude, I already think you're crazy. But hell, I was in the room when I happened. I saw that son of a bitch fuse with you, and then you came out good as new. No one knows what happened in there." He shrugged, looking at the night sky. "I mean, I'm not surprised. After your little 'Prince of the Zoidians' reveal, I don't think anything can surprise me anymore."

"Prince? Motherfucker I'm a King seeing as there's no one above me in the line of succession." Michael smirked. "Damn and Nell is gonna be a Queen. Which reminds me I need to talk to her about that. Anyway, the cocoon. I was in this bright white room. I swear I thought I was dead. But whatever. I saw....man I saw my parents. Not the human ones who raised me but my birth parents. King Genshi and Queen Velora of the Zoidians. By the way my Zoidian name is Kelran. They were there but they weren't really there you know? It was like some sort of weird interactive message left behind inside Delta's programming. We just talked for what seemed like days, but in actuality was more like two hours."

Michael's right arm came up and he covered his arm, letting out a tired sigh. He knew he should be getting to bed soon. "Turns out I inherited all my badassery from my mom. She was the best pilot in the entire Zoidian army. And my dad was a fierce and skilled leader. I wish I could've gotten to really know them instead of that message."

Cadmus shrugged. "Kind of odd, isn't it? My parents were taken away from me several years ago, and you're just meeting them..." He looked back at the ground. "Whenever I do think about my parents, I remember that they wouldn't want me to dwell in the past and live in the memories I had with them before. That's what I was doing for a while, and I realized that they would never want me to do that. They would want me to change the future and live my life, not theirs." He looked over at Michael grinning. "And they didn't let me inherit this 'badassery.' I had to go get my own."

"Oh don't give me that bullshit." Michael rolled his eyes, then remembered Cadmus couldn't see them anyway. "I don't agree with that. I think you should remember then, but like you said don't dwell on it."

"Well, of course, I wasn't implying to forget them." Cadmus brought his hands up. "But there's no use living in the past like I did. Hell, I guess sometimes I still do." Releasing a wide yawn, he got to his feet. "I'm gonna hit the hay. Gotta get some rest before we do our thing." He started to walk away, hands in his pockets, but then he turned over his shoulder, looking at Michael out of the corner of his eye. "Hey. Good talk, Michael." Then he left the man in peace.

[Ushima]

After Cadmus had went to sleep Michael had stayed up watching the base, he never took his eyes off it. Delta stood loyal by his side monitoring radar to detect any nearby threats. Michael was to busy watching the base to glance at the device. And when the sun came up he was ready. He woke Cadmus. "Time to move boy." Pulled his blanket off. "Got some asses to kick today. Wake Agera and Mora." After leaving Cadmus to fully wake up and then go wake up the Fury and Raynos pilots Michael went over to Nell's zoid. Climbing to where she was sleeping he couldn't help but smile. It was strange to see what a girl could do to his warrior heart, the way it melts and beats faster whenever she was around. But he guessed that was love. Leaning in he gave her a kiss to wake her. "Morning love. Time to get up." Michael left so she could get ready in peace then started to prepare a quick breakfast. "Gotta eat fast the procceed to point Alpha." He dug into his food. "Let me know when you all are ready then we can head out."

[The Bartender]

Mora listened the plan and decided to focus on it, she had often done extraction missions while working active with the other Zealots. After she had eaten, Mora went to Matter and climbed into the cockpit in order to sleep.
"They are quiet strange Matter, they are so posessed to save those two even thought they could already be dead. It is actually really nice how they belive the others could still be alive..." Mora sighed and pulled her planket over her.

---

Mora flipped out as someone pulled her planket away and hit her forehead against Cadmus's leg as she tried to follow her planket while still half-asleep.
"Aua..." Mora held her head and looked up to the man, "Few more minutes..." She said sleepy and laid back down.

[TheDoctor]

Cadmus grunted. "Up and at 'em, Mora. No more time for sleep. We've got work to do, so get ready." He gently nudged her with his shoe and then went to wake up Agera. They had a small, quick breakfast consisting of energy bars and water, and before Cadmus knew it, he was looking up at the Energy Liger, waiting for them to move to the first point in the operation.

Krios. Be ready in case things get hairy in there. Remember, the priority is to rescue Curtis and Vega, so keep the Empirical military off of our backs. Only step in if I call to you, and try your best not to kill anyone.

You can trust me, Cadmus. I'll be there.

I know you will. See you on the other side. With that, Cadmus patted the Liger's leg, and after a quick check to make sure that he had everything he needed, he rejoined with the others. He looked over at Mora, who was still wobbling sleepily. "Hey. Stay awake. You're gonna wait here with your Raynos, but we need you to be prepared to get us out of there. We're counting on you." After confirming that she would stay awake, Cadmus started on his way to the road.

The four of them and the organoid arrived at the forested road in a half hour, and while Michael, Nell, and Delta hid behind the trees, Cadmus and Agera lay in the shrubberies closer to the road. When Cadmus heard the rumbling of the truck, he ran quickly to the road and lay down on the dirt road. He arranged himself in a weak manner with his eyes squinted almost closed and looking towards the turn where the truck would emerge. He had placed himself in the middle of the road so that the truck would have no choice but to stop for him. Or run me over. I'd rather not think about that.

Soon enough, the truck came around the turn about a hundred feet away from him. As it drew closer, Cadmus tensed his muscles. If it doesn't stop, I'm going to have to boost at the truck with my fusing and make it stop. I'd rather it doesn't come to that. Wouldn't be pleasant for me or for them. The driver of the truck must've noticed him though, and it slowed to a halt ten feet away from him.

"-don't have much of a choice. He's in the middle of the road, and he's obviously hurt." Cadmus heard the driver slam his door closed. He also heard the soldier in the passenger seat open his door and close it. The crunches of two sets of feet on the dirt road drew closer to him. "We should at least make sure he's okay."

"Yeah, I suppose so." The crunches stopped in front of him, and Cadmus heard one of the soldiers squat down next to him and shake his shoulder. "Hey buddy, you awake? Are you okay?"

Groaning, Cadmus put up his best act as he turned and opened his eyes tiredly. Once he was able to determine the soldiers' positions, he snapped into action. Sweeping the squatting soldier's legs out, he locked his arm around his neck and pulled him down upon him on his back, using his other hand to point a pistol at the soldier's head. Cadmus had the soldier in a hostage situation upon the ground, and he looked up at the soldier standing with an eyebrow raised. "Hands in the air. Slowly."

The standing soldier did as Cadmus asked, but before he was able to fully raise them, Agera bolted forward, thumping the soldier unconscious with a blow to the back of his head. As the soldier fell, Cadmus did the same to the soldier that he held in the hostage hold, rolled the soldier off of him, and stood, placing his pistol back in his holster. Brushing off his behind, Cadmus nodded. "Very good! I'll get the uniforms off of these two, Agera. You go check the truck to make sure there's no one else."

When Agera came back, Cadmus had two Empirical military uniforms in his hands. As Nell and Michael hid the two unconscious soldiers in the woods, Cadmus tossed one of the uniforms to Agera. "Got some duds for you. I'll change out here. Feel free to change in the back of the truck if you're worried about privacy. I won't look, I promise." He winked at her and proceeded to turn his back to her, unbuckling the vest and pulling off his shirt as he started to become the Empire's soldier.

[MarchingThunder]

Agera made a face at the uniform Cadmus tossed her as she replied, "It smells Cadmus." She didn't complain any more though as she hopped up into the back of the truck and stripped out of her night outfit and into the proffered uniform. When she came out, she was rapidly learning just how misogynistic the Zealot uniform designers were as the outfit she had on was vastly uncomfortable and unpleasant, and so she was more than happy to have her night clothes stashed away inside her duffle with the mass of explosives so she could change into it once they were inside the base so she could go about making havoc unnoticed.

Once she was dressed, she rolled her eyes at Cadmus in distaste for the clothes and climbed up into the truck's cab to wait for the go order.

[Ushima]

Before they went out Michael grabbed a shotgun (http://geeksect.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/LEGO-Halo-Reach-M45-Tactical-Shotgun.jpg) and a rifle (http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/5758/2185142-ipl7cfh8f0frm.jpg) out of one of the Kinami's storage compartments and put them on his back. After all once they've rescued Vega and Curtis they would need weapons themselves. And as Michael watched Cadmus stop the truck and gisable to the he couldn't help but smirk. Emerging from the bushes he clasped Cadmus on the back. "Well done." Grabbing the unconscious, declothed bodies he bound them and hid them in the bush they had been previously occupying.

"Ok not a lot of time. This truck is due to be back soon." Michael climbed into the back of the truck, helping Nell up. "Just drive up, act like everything is cool and they will let you in no problem. Keep your radio on so we can hear what's going on and if we need to bail. This is probably the most important part of this mission, and it rests on the two of you. No pressure." Michael started to seal the back of the truck up. "See you guys on the other side."

[TheDoctor]

Cadmus nodded at Michael, climbing into the driver's seat once he buttoned the final part of the uniform. He looked over at Agera and chuckled at her eye roll, shrugging. "Well, excuuuuuse me. Didn't know that you needed to stay in style when you commit a high-risk operation. Do inform me next time." He grinned at her, shifted the truck into drive, and pressed down on the gas.

Fifteen minutes later, Cadmus pulled up to Dredge Field's military outpost and halted the truck in front of the gate, leaning over to the intercom. A gruff and muffled voice spoke through the other side. "Identification."

Cadmus cleared his throat. "Ca-" He cut himself off. Wait, what the hell am I saying? Tapping his pockets, he grabbed the military ID that was inside and read it. "Corporal Jackson Steele, requesting permission to enter."

The intercom paused, and then the gruff voice spoke again. "Permission granted. Park in garage A7."

"Sir." Cadmus put the identification away. Can't go showing this to real people. The picture doesn't match at all. He looked at Agera out of the corner of his eye as he drove over to garage A7. "Make sure you check your name and rank."

The soldiers on patrol were relaxed and unaware, so Cadmus let himself relax at the wheel as well. They didn't bother searching the truck, for they apparently didn't feel like they needed to. But as he started to pull into garage A7, he stiffened and looked over at Agera.

"Agera...what are WE supposed to do for the whole day?"

[MarchingThunder]

Agera was quick to check her ID for the name and rank she had to go by which was Sergeant and Amy Rans. As they pulled into the garage, she was confronted by their most immediate problem thanks to Cadmus.

"You know...I'm not sure," Agera replied, climbing out of the truck and closing the door behind herself. "We're on our own, so we can at least spend some time together," she said, inspecting a pack of cigarettes she had pulled from the uniform, considering the idea of taking a smoke.

[MaskofSilence]

As soon as Michael woke her up that morning, she was ready to go. Making sure everything was in place, she then joined them for a quick breakfast before heading out. Traveling though the woods, the came upon a dirt road. The plan was that Cadmus was going to lay in the middle of the road, the truck would hopefully stop and investigate. Cadmus would then knock them out and take the uniforms. Once that was done, Michael and her were to take care of the bodies by hiding them in the forest in which they hid. She went over and over it, prepared to make changes as needed. Fortunately, the plan worked perfectly.

Coming out of hiding, they took the bodies away. Nell made sure that hers was perfectly hidden and out of sight, they couldn't risk them being found and then the plan being discovered. Once she was sure it was well hid, she walked back out. Swiftly making her way to the back, she found that Michael was already done. Offering a hand, he helped her into the back. Without hesitation, she took a seat directly beside him and leaned against him. She wasn't going to lie, she was worried. He was prone to danger and getting hurt. Sighing lightly, she closed her eyes and leaned against his shoulder. Then, they started moving. Stopping a couple minutes later, she could hear voices. For a tense moment, they waited to see if anyone would check. When no one did and they started again, she felt herself relax.

Once again, they stopped. Now all they had to do was wait. She wanted to talk, but at the same time, she didn't want to risk them being found out. So her being her, she was sat as close to Michael as she could and took comfort from that. It felt like forever before night finally fell. Michael was the first out and then helped her down. Before they parted, she placed a kiss on his lips. "You better come back to me alive and unhurt." After their goodbyes, she disappeared into the night. Taking a deep breath, she focused on her mission ahead of her and recalled a mental map of what was shown to them. Mentally, she found the safest route and started that way.

[Ushima]

Michael watched her leave before moving to the point where he was to meet up with Cadmus. Stealithly he moved between the buildings. It was as if he was a ghost, unseen, invisible. To him this was nothing difficult. He was good at sneaking into enemy strongholds. And he was really good at it. His eyes were switched to infared, helping him spot threats so he could easily avoid them and move on. "I'm coming guys. Just hold out a bit longer." Michael thought as he approached the last corner. But unfortunately there was a guard standing in the way. "Always at the last fucking point." So Michael drew his knife and pressed himself up against the wall. He knocked twice on it.

"What was that noise?" He heard the footsteps get closer.

"Three, two, one!" Michael rounded the corner, reaching out and grabbing the enemy. He pulled him back around the corner, slamming his head into the wall before pulling back and slit his throat. Noticing an open crate he tossed the body in and sealed it. Looking down at himself he sighed. "Blood on it already. New record." Michael moved to the rendevous point and hid in the shadows, waiting for Cadmus to appear so they could get started.

[TheDoctor]

The entire day, Cadmus was nothing short of anxious. Although he did not appear so on the outside, he was very tense on the inside. He spent most of the day in his room, taking periodic trips to the bathroom when he thought that things were a bit too suspicious. He only saw Agera at lunch and dinner in the mess hall, and during those times he still had to pretend that they were soldiers. They were only able to communicate through body language and eye movement, but Cadmus had had no doubts that Agera would be ok.

Finally, the time came for the operation to begin. Stripping out of the uniform and stuffing it into Corporal Steele's dresser, Cadmus changed into a black formfitting long-sleeved shirt, black pants, and black boots. He pulled a black beanie over his blonde hair as well, and after pulling on the bulletproof vest, he strapped both of his knives and both of his silenced pistols in easy-to-reach places. After a quick check to make sure that everything was secure, he glanced out the window, waited for a guard to pass by along the outer wall, and then opened it up, pulling himself through and closing the window behind him.

Once he had gotten his head around his location, it was simple enough to locate the rendezvous point. Navigating his way amongst the shadows, Cadmus rather easily slid between patrols and evaded cameras. Eventually, he spotted the rendezvous point that had a large shadow crouched within it. Stepping carefully across the space between them to completely muffle his feet, Cadmus made his way to Michael, crouching down next to him in the shadow.

He pulled out one of the silenced pistols and his dagger, nodding at the man to show that he was ready. Agera should be on her way to the munitions hangar by now. That girl better give 'em hell.

[MaskofSilence]

After departing from her friends, Nell took hallway after hallway, making sure to hug the wall and stay in the shadows. She refused to be the one caught, which hopefully none of them would, during this operation. Taking another left, Nell frozen in mid-step. A couple feet in front of her walked a guard. This guard in particular was fairly relaxed, obviously not expecting a problem this deep in the base. Slowly, not making a noise and keeping her eyes on the guard, she slunk backwards.

Arriving back behind the wall, she crouched down and mentally sighed. There were two ways she could go about this; 1. She could knock out the guard, take their outfit and continue on or she could just avoid and keep going. For the moment, her felt her best course of action was to just avoid, if she was seen, then she would take care of the problem. Peeking back in the hallway, she found it clear. Locating the next spot to hide if she needed, she then started down the hallway. Four pairs of footsteps then sounded further down the hall. Cursing, she knew she wouldn't make it. Glancing around quickly, she found a door. Unsure of where it lead and if it was locked, she rushed over to try in anyways. Luck was on her side. The door popped open and she slid in and quietly shut the door. Turning, she found rather small room, with a small, round table in the middle. It was a conference room. Keeping close to the door, she heard the footsteps pass, echoing down the hallway as they went. As soon as the sound disappeared, she waited. Silence. Leaving the room, she then continued with her mission. When the distraction was down, this would be a whole lot easier.

[The Bartender]

Mora yawned as the others prepared to start their mission. She wanted to sleep longer but the cimurtances didn't allow it so she just climbed on the hill from where Michael had observed the garrison last night and took out her binocular to observe how the truck where Agera and Cadmus were entered the facility. After that, Mora took out her clock and opened it to reveal a small sender inside of it.
"HQ, here is Mora, can you hear me?" She talked into the sender and waited for few seconds until she received an answer;
"Mora, you are still alive? Good, what is your status?" A voice came form the sender and Mora talked forward while observing;
"As if I would die so easily, I have joined the group of the Blue Devil and the Black Knight successfully. We wáre in the moment in the wilderness near a military facility where some comerades of them are held captured. They have also found out how to find Zoid Prime, if you can, you should tell him. See ya." Mora finished her "call" and put the clock back into her pocket and waited for the action to start but this would be a loooooooooong day for the young, a bit hyper-active girl and thus she just rolled on the ground, upside down, and around, and around while waiting fr the others to start their actual mission.

[MarchingThunder]

((Splinter Cell Agera))


As the hours dragged past, Agera took the time to make a few circuits around the base as well as making her way through the mess hall to fetch herself some food before when night finally fell she made her way back into the hangar where she got up into the back of the truck and changed back into her night camouflage clothing, slinging the heavy satchel of explosives over her shoulder before slipping back out of the hangar and making her way to the ammo dump for her first stop.

There, she took the time to wire a series of thermite charges she liberated from a crate to her remote detonators which were placed among various cases of ammunition, gasoline, and explosives before she filled a second duffle up with fragmentation explosives she found in another crate. As she set her target on elevated barracks, she took the time to slip through the motor pool, attaching a series of shaped charges to the engines of a series of fast response vehicles and to the joints of a number of zoids before she slipped under the first barracks building.

Once she was there, she proceeded to shimmy along the ground, carefully spacing out a series of heavy, directional, fragmentation mines that she attached to the bottom of the building with heavy duty tape. Once she flicked the detonator, the mines would make mince meat out of everyone sleeping inside. When she finished the first building, she repeated the process on the next two barracks buildings before moving towards the opposite entrance of the base from where they had entered, making a brief stop back in the ammo dump for more explosives and detonators before heading to the guard towers where she carefully laced the base of one with high grade explosives.

When she was finally finished, she ducked into the hangar where the truck was waiting and pressed the button, watching through the open doors as explosions filled the air, some deep and roaring, other sharp and frightening. All of them were dangerous though, but the in the aftermath, Agera heard the screams of the few survivors from the barracks as well as the sharp crackle of ammo cooking off back in the ammo dump as the incendiaries got to work before their primary explosives got to work and spread more destruction across the base.

With a grim smile, Agera prepared to get Michael and Cadmus out of the base once they had rescued the prisoners.

[Ushima]

"And three, two, one." The base was rocked by a loud explosion. Michael reached out a hand to steady Cadmus. It wasn't long before alarms went off and shouts were heard. "Let's move." Leaving the shadows they weaved around buildings. Thanks to Agera's magnificent work they went unnoticed. And if for some reason they were spotted by someonw they were to preoccupied with the raging fires to bother to find out who exactly they had seen. Michael spotted the main building in the distance. "In here." Throwing open the door they both entered, weapons raised, ready to take out anyone in their way. But the hallway was clear of any potential threats. "Michael to Nell, how's it coming with the security cams and the locations of the targets?"

[MaskofSilence]

Somehow and someway, Nell manage to make it most of the way without a single person noticing her, which was good because the deeper she got in the more people there were. Knowing that the distraction was about to go off soon, she found another small room to hide in and wait. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long. About a minute later, explosions could be heard. The sound of several feet could be heard running past the door, as well as shouts and orders. Pretty soon, the echos of feet died out and silence once again took over. Coming back out, she made her way down the hallway.

Coming to an end, she found the door she needed. Hacking the keypad, she slide to the side. Ten seconds passes and then she slid in the room. There were five people. Taking down the first two silently, she made her way to the third. He turned around right as she was a foot away. Pulling out two throwing daggers, she quickly got rid of the other two. Deciding to not to waste anymore weapons on the man, she exchange blows with him. Managing to get behind him, she hits his pressure point and the man falls. Once the room is clear, she turns to the computer. Sitting down at the table, her fingers start to travel swiftly across the keys.

Finding the location of the targets was easy, Nell just got finished working on camera when Michael contacted her. "The targets are located floor B4. Everything is ready on my end." As the watched the camera's, she pulled up another window to see what else she could find within this computer.

[TheDoctor]

(Ignore)

[TheDoctor]

Once Michael received the location from Nell, Michael moved towards the elevator with Cadmus watching their backs. Suddenly, Cadmus heard a ding, and as he turned to look at the opening doors, half a dozen soldiers stormed out, jolted as they saw Michael and Cadmus, and reached for their firearms.

Before they had a chance to fire, however, Cadmus and Michael burst into motion as if they had been practicing. Cadmus fired his silenced pistol, hitting one man in the knee and chest, and dove to the side behind a pillar. Michael took out a man of his own with the shotgun before he took cover as well on the opposite side. Bullets riddled their cover, and Cadmus looked over at Michael. He linked eye contact the man despite Michael's helmet, and when they finally heard the inevitable pause to reload, they both moved.

Cadmus fired his pistols at one soldier, hitting in the chest and head, and then he took out another one in a similar fashion. Michael took care of the other two easily, and then after checking to make sure no one remained, they both went into the elevator. Cadmus loaded new magazines while Michael pushed in a couple shotgun shells.

We're killing men who were simply following orders, and we act as if it is as simple as breathing. They didn't do anything wrong, and now their families will be waiting for them to come home until they hear the report. They passed B1. Wives will be stricken, sons and daughters left wondering when their father will come home. Tears will be shed, hearts will be broken. And yet still, we stand here like nothing even happened. They passed B2. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't prepared for this. Zealots weren't the only ones I killed, and even the Zealots are just following orders for something they believe in. They passed B3, and Michael and Cadmus pressed themselves against the walls of the elevator in preparation. I've killed too many times before, but that doesn't make the pain any easier. I may be merciless, but it comes with quite a cost.

As the doors opened, the two of them burst out of the elevator into a large basement full of individual jail cells. They shot the two guards, who were entirely unprepared due to a lack of communication. Better thank Nell for that. The two of them then searched each cell, glancing in and looking for Vega and Curtis. Suddenly, Cadmus heard shouting coming from a room near a dark hallway at the end of the cells, and as they ran towards the door, it burst open. Two military men held two hostages with bags over their heads and their hands cuffed behind their backs, but as Cadmus and Michael raised their weapons, the soldiers raised pistols of their own to point at the hostages' heads.

"Don't move a fucking inch unless I tell you, you hear me?" The soldier pressed the gun closer against the hostage's hooded head. "Now I'm guessing you're some Republican bastards trying to get these two traitors back, is that correct?" When neither of them answered, the soldier grit his teeth. "I said, IS THAT CORRECT?!"

As the echo of the soldier's yell bounced through the basement, Cadmus and Michael hesitantly nodded.

The soldier grinned. "Just as I thought. Now I want you to set your fucking guns on the ground, slowly. Make any quick moves and I'll blow his fucking brains out."

"Michael is that you?!" Cadmus heard the muffled voice of Curtis through the bag. Part of his right side was soaked in blood, and his left arm was bent in an awkward fashion and very swollen. Cadmus suspected it was broken. "Don't listen to him! Just shoot him! He doesn't have the balls to shoot us!"

The soldier knocked Curtis's head with the pistol not too lightly, yelling down at him. "Shut up! We'll see who has the balls when I shoot your own off!"

The much calmer and older voice of Vega came from the other bag. This hostage was in better shape than Curtis, but several bruises on his chest and his breathing pattern made Cadmus consider broken ribs. "Really, Curtis? you really think Michael would do that? As much as I would rather carry my own weight than have him carry ours, I don't think he's gonna let us die here, unless the past year has really changed him. Then again, we don't actually know if it's Michael or--"

"I said shut up!" The soldier fired a shot in the air, which also echoed. "Now that I finally have your attention, how about you two do what I said and set your weapons down slowly? All of them."

Reluctantly, Cadmus and Michael complied. Slowly so that they wouldn't risk the life of Vega and Curtis, they placed all of their weapons on the ground. When they had straightened up with their hands raised, the soldier holding Curtis nodded.

"Good boys. Now, I want you to step back and--"

With a raised cry and a flash of darkness from the hallway behind the two soldiers, the one holding Curtis vanished into darkness. A second later, the soldier holding Vega vanished in a cocoon of darkness as well. Two thumps came from the dark hallway, and then nothing.

As Michael stepped forward to support Curtis and Vega, Cadmus scooped up his dagger from the ground and approached the hall. I know what that was. I created it. It was fusing. Peering into the darkness, he saw a tall figure that was blurred by shadows straighten itself. Then as it turned to look at Cadmus, two glowing red eyes appeared.

Leaping forward with his own fusing to push the figure against the side of the hallway, Cadmus attempted to put his knife against its throat. Seconds later, however, he came tumbling out of the darkness again, his momentum carrying him back to his feet and into a combat position. He had noticed two things when he collided with it: it was big, and it was armored.

And as the figure (http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/ae164/MajorGeneral_/New-Vegas-ranger.png) stepped from the darkness and into the light, Cadmus's suspicions were confirmed. The thing that stood in front of him couldn't have been more than an inch shorter than Michael. It wore a long weathered trench coat, and heavily-used metal body armor covered the chest underneath. It wore black combat boots and black pants that Cadmus suspected were also armored. On its head it wore a metal helmet, and on its face was a metal gas mask with glowing red eyepieces. Upon its back was strapped a long rifle.

Cadmus positioned himself between Michael and the hostages, who had removed their masks to reveal Curtis and Vega underneath, and the stranger. Raising his dagger, he felt the buzz of his own preparing fusion upon his skin. "Friend or foe?"

In response, the masked man let out a deep chuckle that was twisted even deeper by the mask's filter. "If I were a foe, then you would be dead already. Now, we should leave, correct?"

[Ushima]

"Guys!" Michael was by his friend's sides as fast as possible. "You ok?"

Vega reached into his pocket and pulled out his glasses, putting them on. "I'm ok, a few bruises at most." The older Genezoid took the rifle off Michael's back. "I believe Curtis is the one we should be worrying about."

"I can't use that shotgun with this arm." Curtis nodded to the only weapon still on Michael's back. Michael grabbed the pistol on his left leg and held it out to the younger boy. "Thanks."

"I know you're disappointed but it's all you're getting." Michael ran a hand through his hair. "Ugh I got so many questions."

"Well when we get out of here you can ask them." Michael nodded and reloaded his assualt rifle. "Who's that?"

"Boys you remember Cadmus?" Michael turned to his sneaking buddy.

"Huh?" Curtis spoke. "No shit."

"Yeah and that's..." Michael's gaze fell on the other figure. "Ah fuck we'll deal with him later. Let's go!" The group headed toward the door. Michael poked his head out, looking down the hallway. "Clear." They headed toward the elevator. They made it their without issue and soon they all piled inside.

"Fuck my arm." Curtis' face twisted in pain. Michael reached into one of his packs and producced a syringe for the teen. "Thanks." After removing the cap with his mouth Curtis stuck it in his arm and within seconds he relaxed. "That's much better."

"Glad I could help." With a ding the elevator opened up and they exited. "By now this building should be empty and everyone dealing with the first fire. Second one should be going off soon." Leaving the building they observed the chaos before moving. Even though they fires were still being dealt with, they were being carefull as it was almost under control. Michael peaked around a corner, noticing a large group heading their way. "Damn." He noticed a door. "Quick in their!" The group went in, Michael first, taking several steps into the new building. The others were busy securing the door. Michael's jaw dropped as he took several hesitant steps forward.

"Boss?" Curtis looked to Michael, his eyes widening. "Oh shit!"

"Huh?" Vega now had to look. "By Eve. Is that?"

"Yeah." Michael's fist clenched. "Bloody Deathsaurer (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/blitzwing/BloodDS2.jpg)."

"That thing was here!? The whole time!?" Curtis was cursing.

Michael hand went to his com. "Alright everyone head to the extraction point. Agera, think you can make a stop at hangar..." Michael looked for a number. "Twenty four? Bring some explosives with you. We have a little problem that could use your skills."

"You call that little?!" Was the last thing heard over the coms.

[MarchingThunder]

The call for her her services immediately got Agera's attention and got her to double time loading the fuel cans and satchels of explosives she had been dead set on stealing from the zealots. With a hustle, she set to closing up the back of the truck before getting in starting it up whereupon she gunned it out into the open, making her way down the line of hangars, two of which she noted had caught fire after shells from the ammo dump had hit them.

Thankfully, as she made her way to the last hangar in the row where she drove the truck in through the door she suspected her comrades had opened, none of the soldiers questioned someone moving an 8x8 truck away from the fires to what seemed to be a safer spot that was also nearer the only open exit.

Once she had guided the massive vehicle inside, she saw just what it was Michael and Cadmus needed her to get rid of and sighed as she rested her head on the steering wheel.

A deathsaur.

Of course they would run across a deathsaur of all things, and not just any deathsaur, but a bloody deathsaur! The only thing they seemed to have going for them was that it wasn't finished otherwise there wasn't a hope in hell of damaging it.

Quickly, she began looking for Michael and Cadmus, she was going to need help with this.

[TheDoctor]

As Agera hopped out of the truck, Cadmus rushed over to her and went to the back of the truck, where they started to unload the spare explosives. What in the hell is the Empire doing with this!? Did they not learn anything from the first conflict with the Deathsaurer?! They won't be able to contain it! He gently hoisted a duffel bag full of explosives over his shoulder, grabbing a fuel can with his other hand.

"Hey Michael, you keep watch while we set these up. Vega, could you help me and Agera out with these?" He turned to Curtis. "Curtis, hop in the back of the truck. You're injured, badly."

The boy rolled his eyes. "Like hell, I'm injured badly. I could still kick your ass in a fight."

Cadmus let out a chuckle. "I'd like to see that happen. I don't want you keeping watch incase someone takes advantage of your injuries, and you'll need both arms to set up these explosives. Just get in the truck. Our point coming here was to rescue you, not get you killed."

Throwing up his arms angrily and then turning slightly green when he raised his broken left arm, Curtis sighed and went to the truck. Then Cadmus turned to the mysterious man in the gas mask. "You. I don't know who you are, and I don't know why you decided to help us, but keep watch with Michael. If you try anything funny, we will kill you. We can't risk anything with this."

The man stood there silently in response, not as if he was stricken by Cadmus's threat, but as if he were simply considering his options. After a short pause, the masked man nodded, took his rifle from its place on his back, and joined Michael watching the entrance. Cadmus eyed the man's back suspiciously, and then joined Agera and Vega over near the half-finished Deathsaurer. Agera took a couple moments to show them the best points to attach the explosives, and then the three of them took a total of five minutes to cover the skeletal Deathsaurer with sticky explosives at crucial points. They then covered the massive zoid and the entire hangar with the gasoline that Agera brought along.

Pouring the last can, Cadmus tossed it away and dusted off his hands. "Alright then, let's get moving. We still gotta pick up Nell, then blow this hangar to hell."