Disclaimer: I do NOT own Zoids.

Disclaimer 2: The character Vega belongs to me.

Author's Note: Hey everyone! This is a new story that me and ShadowRebirth37 decided to coauthor. Crimson Retribution has not been forgotten and I will do my best to update them regularly and evenly. All I can say is enjoy this story and please let us know what you think about it! All Reviews are welcomed! Signed or anonymous! I will answer any questions at the beginning of the next chapter if I can.

§ Vega

Prozen watched his newest 'project' come to fruition. He had been working on this for a little over a year now, and he was pleased to see that it was finally finished. He barked an order to one of his scientists and they immediately set out to do what he had said. The tube that held his newest 'project' began to drain; leaving what was inside all wet and slimy from the green liquids that use to be in there. He ordered someone else to go and retrieve 'it' before telling them to bring it to his office within the hour, fully functional, he added as he left. He returned to his office and shuffled some papers around until he found the file that he was looking for. He penned something in it before calling for his most accomplished pilot to come to his office within the next forty minutes...

Raven was in his quarters, and growled slightly in annoyance when he was told to go to Prozen's office. He put on his silver shoulder armor and pulled on his gloves to cover the scar on his right hand. "I'll be back soon." he said tonelessly to the black Organoid curled up on his bed before he left the room. He didn't know what Prozen wanted with him, but he knew it couldn't be good. He opened the door to Prozen's office when he reached it, shutting it behind him. "... What is it this time, Prozen?" he asked, annoyed that he had to walk all the way across the palace so early in the morning.

"Sit down Raven. I have something that I wish to discuss with you." The Regent said, indicating a chair for the youth to sit in. They still had about fifteen minutes before his 'project' was brought in. Raven sighed and sat down, even though he just wanted the Regent to spit it out so he could leave. "What's so important that you'd drag me out of bed at seven in the morning?" he muttered in annoyance. Prozen chuckled slightly. "Your next assignment is what I'd like to talk about." He replied smoothly.

Raven groaned in annoyance. "What is it this time?" he growled, "I'm sick of having to gather Cores or take out barely guarded bases..." Prozen chuckled again. "I have something else for you to do for me." The Regent replied, glancing at the clock on his office wall to see the time. Raven narrowed his eyes slightly at the white-haired man. "... I don't like how that sounds..."

"I assure you, Raven, that this is no ordinary assignment. I can only trust you with this." Prozen said as they both heard the door start to open. That didn't bode well with the pilot. He heard the door open slightly but didn't bother looking, thinking it was just one of the palace staff.

Two sets of footsteps were heard before one of Prozen's orderlies spoke up. "He's all ready Regent. I know I do not need to remind you, but make sure he takes it easy for a day or two." The man bowed and only one set of footsteps left and the door closed. Prozen stood up and walked around Raven to the other person that was in the room. "Here you go Raven. Your new assignment and charge," The Regent said, looking quiet smug with himself as he stood beside a boy, no older than seventeen. He had short, golden blonde hair that was spiked up slightly and stood about five eight. He was wearing an imperial battle suit that looked liked Raven's but was off. There were goggles around his neck that would protect his eyes from sand. Other than that, he looked perfectly ordinary...except for the youth's eyes, which were a pale pink in coloring.

Raven looked and blinked, seeing the teen. He stared at him for a moment before looking at Prozen. "... Is this some kind of sick joke, Prozen?" he growled out slightly. The Regent should have known better than anyone that he wasn't one for partners. "This isn't up for debate Raven. I can only entrust him to you. I expect you to show him....just what I expect from him. What better a way than by pairing him with you? My best pilot?" The Regent asked, but his satisfied smirk never left his face.

Raven narrowed his eyes slightly. "You should know by now I'm not the 'teaching' type... especially not to a new recruit..." he snapped slightly, "... and what in Eve's name is wrong with his eyes?" "I don't care just what 'teaching' methods that you use Raven. You're not getting out of this. As for his eyes...let's just say that they're 'special' and leave it at that." The Regent said, leaving no room for argument. Raven glanced at the teen coldly, not happy at all with being stuck with a partner, let alone a new recruit. "Well, if Shadow decides to eat him, it's not my fault."

Prozen's eyes narrowed slightly. "Though I know that being with you is not without its dangers, you are to make sure that Shadow does not harm him. Understood?" Raven sighed loudly. "I'll try... but you know how...'uncontrollable' she is..." he replied, smirking a bit evilly.

Prozen's gaze pierced him once more before he spoke again. "As much as I would like to make sure you don't do anything rash, I, unfortunately, have to go to one of the Emperor's council meetings." The white-haired man said as he left the youth's side to go back to his desk. He pulled two files and handed them to Raven. "The one on top has some missions for you to take. The order doesn't matter but there's a few in there to take that should keep the both of you busy for a while. The second is for you to keep records and tabs on him. I want you to record his battle progress while you're gone." Prozen said as he went to leave. He paused before opening the door. "Oh and, he already has a Zoid. So you don't have to worry about him riding with you or piloting the Geno Saurer."

Raven rolled his eyes slightly. This was just great. Not only did he have to teach a new recruit, but do 'homework' too. "What Zoid does he have, Prozen?" he asked after him. The Regent smirked evilly. "You'll see when you go to the hanger. It's....special...just like your Geno Saurer." He said before he left, giving Raven no more time to question him. Raven didn't like the look Prozen gave him, but he was gone before he could get in a smart remark. He growled under his breath before looking over at his new 'student' a bit harshly. The youth just looked back, completely unfazed by the harsh look. He didn't say anything, since he hadn't really been spoken too.

Raven rolled his eyes slightly before getting to his feet. "Well...you aren't much of a talker..." he muttered sarcastically under his breath, picking up the folders Prozen had laid out for them. Again the youth didn't respond. From his 'knowledge' Raven didn't like it when people were overly talkative and as such decided to remain quiet. Raven sighed loudly. "What's your name?" he asked, not wanting to have to call him 'new recruit' all the time.

The youth hesitated for a moment, but that was just because he was checking for his name himself. He wasn't sure that he had one, but eventually put one together from something he knew he was called. "Vega." He replied. Raven looked at him oddly. ".... Vega...?" he repeated, "... what kind of name is that?" Vega just titled his head slightly. He had been told not to say what his 'name' meant. And he didn't want to disobey orders.....yet...

Raven shook his head slightly, asking himself why he had to get stuck with a clueless recruit. He opened the first folder and flipped through some of the papers. "...We better get started on these missions..." he said, walking past Vega and out into the hallway. Vega followed after him, having explicit orders to watch and learn from Raven....even though he already knew about the pilot's fighting style...

Raven walked to his quarters, leaving the door open since he didn't have much to pack; he always kept most of his things packed up since he often was deployed on extremely short notice. He put both folders in along with extra clothes and a few more medical supplies, before slinging the bag over his shoulder. He shook Shadow awake, but before he could do anything she literally vanished from the bed and suddenly reappeared in front of Vega, hissing at him threateningly and glaring at him through icy-blue eyes that were narrowed dangerously at him.

Vega just looked at her, not showing any fear of the black Organoid threatening to tear his throat out. He knew that this was Raven's Organoid and that she was very aggressive. He 'logged' this new 'encounter' away and just waited outside of Raven's room for him to return. Raven stared at Vega in confusion. The last time Shadow had done that to someone the man had fainted, yet Vega hadn't even twitched. "Shadow, down girl." he commanded, and she growled a last time at him before backing down.

Vega waited for Raven to lead the way again. Even though he knew where everything was he had orders to 'act' like he was a raw recruit and had to 'pretend' to be clueless. Raven gathered his things before leaving the room, shutting and locking the door, Shadow right beside him, occasionally glaring at Vega. "Come on... it'll take us a day or two to reach our destination." he spoke, before starting towards the hanger. Vega nodded slightly as he followed Raven to the hanger. There was a crowd gathered around a certain stall, and Raven guessed that it was the Zoid that Prozen was talking about.

Raven stopped and glanced back at Vega. "... let me guess... it's yours..." he sighed somewhat sarcastically, before walking over to his Geno Saurer and getting in. Vega followed him, for the most part, but went over to the next stall over to get into his own Zoid. At first the personal didn't believe that it was his...until he showed his I.D. card verifying that it belonged to him. He got into this mystery Zoid, strapping himself in and inserting a special chip into one of the consoles before waiting to take off.

Shadow fused with the Geno Saurer as Raven strapped himself in, not caring where Vega had run off to. He moved his Saurer out of the stall, making sure not to crush anyone, before leaving the hanger. Vega followed after, his own Saurian Zoid coming up beside Raven's Geno Saurer. It wasn't anything that Raven had seen before. Raven looked at the Zoid in shock. He'd never seen anything like it before. It looked like a Geno, but with a longer snout and a large sail down its back. He stared at it for a moment before focusing back on piloting, not wanting to get distracted.

Vega followed, since he didn't have the co-ordinates to anything that was on that paper. He was 'logging' everything that he saw, glad that Raven couldn't see his look of wonder on what he was seeing. The pair travelled the rest of the day, not stopping once. Eventually night began to fall, and Raven slowed his Geno Saurer and opened a link to Vega. "We're stopped here for the night."

"Okay." Vega replied, stopping his Zoid beside Raven's. He got out of the cockpit, slipping his chip into his pocket to review later. Raven grabbed his bag before jumping out of the cockpit, landing safely despite the long drop. He dropped his pack and sleeping bag onto the ground, and then began gathering wood for a fire. Vega watched him for a moment before going to help, despite what he had been told to do.

Raven set the wood he had gathered in the middle of the small clearing that was their campsite, before going for more. As he went to grab a few final sticks, he heard a loud hiss and nearly jumped, seeing a rattlesnake a yard or two away. It wasn't moving, so he tried to ignore it. But his fear of snakes made that a very difficult task.

The next second there was a 'thud!' and something silver flashed by Raven before it went into the rattle snake. It writhed for a moment before it stilled, a small dagger sticking out of its body. Raven blinked, looking over at Vega. "... how the Helkat did you do that...?" he asked, clearly more than a little astonished. Vega tilted his head slightly before answering. "Practice." He replied.

Raven just looked at him. "You just pegged a moving rattlesnake to the ground from over a yard away for Eve's sake! There has to be more to it than just 'practice'." 'Of course there's more to it than that. But that's all that I'm allowed to tell you.' Vega thought. He shrugged slightly, not bothering to explain himself any further.

Raven sighed loudly. "Forget it..." he muttered, taking the remaining wood back to the pile. He crouched down and busied himself making a fire to keep them warm, and after ten minutes he had a decent-sized one going. Vega sat down near the fire, not having any possessions other than what he had on him and what was in his Zoid, which wasn't much. He had retrieved his dagger and was now cleaning it. He stuck it back into its sheath and just waited for Raven to go to sleep or not pay any more attention to him.

Night soon fell, and Raven was getting tired. He unrolled his sleeping bag, pulling out an extra blanket and his pillow from his bag. When it started getting cold did he get into the sleeping bag and cover up with the extra blanket. Vega watched him but couldn't get into anything like a sleeping bag himself...since Prozen didn't deem it necessary to give him one. He kept near the fire before he finally broke his silence for the first time on his own. "What're we doing first?"

Raven glanced over at him. "....sleeping...." he muttered sarcastically. They weren't doing anything tonight that was for sure. Vega blinked. "Our mission. What are we doing first?" He repeated. "Explore some nearby ruins, and look for Organoids... like Shadow..." Raven answered, motioning to the black Organoid curled up on the Geno Saurer's clawed foot.

Vega nodded slightly. Now that he knew what they were doing did he felt a little bit better. Though...he had to give it to Prozen to make them go on a wild goose chase... He knew that this 'mission' was just a cover up for what he was really supposed to be doing. Raven eventually dozed off, tired from piloting all day. Normally he wouldn't have dared fall asleep with someone he didn't know so close, but he was too tired to care tonight.

Once Vega was sure that he was asleep did he get up and go over to his Zoid. He got something out of the cockpit before returning to where he had been. He took the chip out of his pocket before inserting it into the small black laptop and the system booted up. Raven didn't notice, already in a deep sleep. Shadow shifted around a bit when she heard him walking, but seemed to fall back asleep a few minutes later.

Vega navigated through all the complex sequences of numbers and letters that only made sense to him for most of the night. Once he was done logging everything away did he remove the chip and put it back into his pocket. He shut the laptop and sighed quietly. That little black notebook was more important to him than his beating 'heart'. He got up again and put the laptop away before finally lying down to go to 'sleep.'

Shadow opened her eyes once Vega went to sleep and got to her feet. She'd listened to him, and the odd tick-tap noise he had been making had made her curious. Getting to her feet she silently walked over to him, sniffing at him. At first Vega didn't notice Shadow standing over him, but eventually his 'senses' picked up on her. He opened his eyes and rolled over slightly to look up at her. He didn't do or say anything, but it was then that Shadow was able to see what most people missed when looking into his eyes. What looked like tiny microchips were imbedded in them, right behind then slightly transparent iris.

Shadow narrowed her eyes and cocked her head upon noticing that. She leaned down until her forehead was almost pressed to his, staring at his eyes closely to try and figure out why they looked so strange. The female Organoid clearly had a very weak grasp on the concept of 'personal space'. Vega blinked and after he did so minute, hardly visible lights raced from the outside of the iris to the pupil before disappearing. They did that every time he blinked, moved his eyes, or focused on something. He didn't know what he had done to cause the Organoid's intense interest in him, but he knew better than to move or push her away.

Shadow narrowed her eyes further when her sensitive vision saw that. She made a curious rumbling noise, as if trying to think of what might cause such lights in Vega's eyes. The youth still didn't move, not wanting to aggravate the female Organoid. He knew of her temper and aggression toward anyone that wasn't Raven or Major Schubaltz. He waited patiently for her to get done inspecting him.

Shadow didn't move, narrowing her eyes a bit further before lifting her head slightly, this time nearly touching his face with her nose. She sniffed him curiously, trying to see if she could smell what was 'wrong'. She made a confused growl, his scent different... almost unnatural... Vega blinked again, making the lights in his eyes go off. He would have to make sure to 'log' this tomorrow, since he didn't 'recall' Shadow ever showing so much interest in someone other than Raven before...

Shadow immediately lowered her head when she saw that, again nearly touching foreheads with him. Narrowing her eyes further, she growled at him. Not threateningly, more out of frustration at not being able to think of a cause for his odd scent and eye-lights. Eventually Vega spoke up. "....Something wrong....?" He asked.

The black Organoid growled out an answer quietly, but Vega couldn't understand it. She shifted her weight slightly and flicked the tip of her tail in agitation, having not thought of an explanation yet. "...Okay.... I'll...just leave you to it then...." The youth replied when he heard her tone and restless shifting. Shadow snorted slightly, lifting her head away slightly. She sniffed at him again, before moving her head near his chest. She tilted her head at an angle as she lowered it, listening. She could hear a heartbeat, but as with his scent, there was something... off... about it...

Vega sighed quietly before letting his head fall against the sand in defeat. It would seem that Shadow wasn't going to let him up until she figured out what was 'wrong' with him, or until Raven woke up and told her to 'go lie down'. Honestly though, he didn't mind the black Organoid looking him over. Shadow listened for a few minutes before pulling her head back a bit quickly, snorting in frustration. She poked his chest a bit sharply with her nose, above his heart. It made an odd sound when she nosed him hard, but she didn't realize that she had hit his sternum. Vega looked back to the Organoid when he felt her do that. "Hey... I don't go around poking you."

Shadow snorted at him, getting more and more confused. This just didn't seem right to her. His eyes were strange, he smelled strange, and he sounded strange on the inside. Something was different about him, and that perplexed Shadow. Vega sighed again; half tempted to push her off of him but thought better of it. After all, he didn't need to get hurt on his first day...

Shadow was further confused by Vega's absence of fear. Everyone in the palace was terrified of her, but not him. Using her logic, Organoid intelligence and what little knowledge she had of humans, she concluded Vega was 'broken'. She circled him for a moment before lying heavily beside him, her body half circling his. Even though she didn't know Vega well, her maternal instincts made her unable to ignore the 'broken' Vega. Vega blinked and sat up a little when the great, black Organoid did that. This was not in his 'notes' and her behavior confused him. However, he guessed this was what Prozen meant when he told him that he needed to experience things for himself... The man just never mentioned that Shadow would gain an interest in him...

Shadow sighed loudly, shifting her tail in a tighter arc around him until she was comfortable. She arched her neck over and looked him in the eyes again, looking for the lights. Again Vega blinked when she did that, thus causing the lights in his eyes to go off. He settled back down on the ground, looking up at Shadow. He figured that the female Organoid wouldn't be letting him go anytime soon... Shadow snorted when she saw the lights, shifting her body a bit. He must have been more 'broken' than she thought. She leaned her head down slightly and nosed his cheek lightly, a gesture all worried Organoids used, before turning back and laying her head down to the sand to sleep.

Vega sighed quietly before going to 'sleep' as well. He needed to recharge his energy as well and he felt much...what was the word...safer? Now that someone was so close to him and seemed to be worried about him. Shadow was already in a deep sleep by the time Vega dozed off, and didn't move the rest of the night. Raven hadn't so much as twitched during the whole 'ordeal', and wouldn't do so until morning. Vega fell into a deeper 'sleep' as well and staid that way until morning.

Author's Note: I'm very eager to read everyone's Reviews about this new story! It was a…spur of the moment kinda thing that we decided to do ^^; And it has turned out to be quite fun to write! And I'll remind you all again. Crimson Retribution isn't being abandoned! I have a LOT of notes to catch up on that story! And I mean A LOT! D: But I enjoy writing it :3 Hopefully, I will update this weekly as well. I will try my best to do so! Please Review! They make my day!