Summary:AU, 6 years post-Guardian Force. General Ian Kruger considered himself immune to surprises… then came the revelation that he has a son by a woman he thought dead years before. In fact, he knows him… and the mercenary he became. Pairings: Irvine/Moonbay, Van/Fiona, Raven/Ryss, Thomas/Rosa, Rosso/Viola, Karl/Maria, Rudolph/Maryanne, and others.
Disclaimer: Hmm… I don't have a certificate of authenticity stating that I own Zoids… which is a pittance, as I think it needs more love, attention and more episodes on the air. I'll let you know when I get the right of ownership, though!
A/N: So, I told you guys that I'd return to this fandom sooner or later, and I have. This story is a bit different than the other two as it's not as fluffy (I think) but is more political, a bit darker and, in general, different. There will still be romance, though; it won't just be as prevalent. Also, this will be updated when I find the inspiration; I've a lot of other projects, so this will be one of those fics. that will be updated at random intervals. It shall be finished though… eventually. Enjoy!
"…" – conversation
'…' – thoughts
"…" – Zoids and Organoids talking
The Father I Never Knew
Chapter 1: The News
En Route to New Helic City, Central Continent of Delpoi, Planet Zi, 1 December ZAC 2104 – 9:00 AM
Five Star General Ian Kruger (formerly a Colonel) had always been an intelligent, well-connected military soldier, and had become more of a hero to those whom he trained in both the Republican Army and the Guardian Force in the six years since the vanquishing of the Ultimate Deathsaurer. Of course, over the years doubts had surfaced leading to questioning of his… "fading" skills but unlike the rumor mills that tended to circulate at the bases he visited it wasn't because he was losing his touch. Far from it; age only gave experience and from that he had become a much better general... meaning that those who said that he was not as skilled a Zoid pilot as he once was were outright lying. True, he was getting on in years, but for Eve's sake, he was only fifty-nine! Not that old, in the grand scheme of things.
"General!" a voice said and Kruger snapped out of his self-induced trance.
"Yes, what is it?" Kruger asked eyes narrowing suspiciously. Who in Zi would be contacting him, now, when he was en route to New Helic City? The capital of the Republic was being rebuilt slowly from the ground up, as the DeathStinger had certainly done its fair amount of damage. This meant that the efforts of his hometown to rise from the ashes were going slowly. Thank Zi they had the Guylos Empire helping them, though. That certainly sped things along.
"General, the Madame President wishes to speak to you as soon as you have gotten settled," the voice said, alerting Kruger to the fact that his visual feed was slightly damaged. 'Damn rogue Guysack and damn escort force who can't shoot their way out of a paper bag. Who trained them? They should have been much better than that!'
"Understood. Kruger out." As the audio channel closed Kruger immersed himself in his thoughts once again. As the steady thumping of his Shield Liger resounded beneath him he couldn't help but wonder what the Madame President wanted from him. Yes, she was his superior, as was befitting the leader of the Helic Republic but he had just given her a report the previous night about his reasons for coming to the city, citing that he had to clear up a problem with his bank account. Every Republican soldier was given a private bank account at the bank of their choice as soon as they were officially inducted into the ranks, and he had had his at the First Republican Bank since he became a member of the infantry some forty years ago. Of course, there were branches of the bank spread throughout the Republic and, now, the Empire but to clear up any problems one had to travel to the main bank, located in New Helic City.
'Time certainly has flown,' Kruger thought as he saw the official welcoming sign (Van Flyheight had jokingly suggested erecting one to let those coming to the city know that they weren't entering an industrial wasteland. The Madame President and her son, Major General Rob Hermann had immediately taken to the idea and so a rather large sign with the Republican symbol emblazoned on it now waited to welcome visitors to New Helic City). 'It wasn't too long ago that I wondered to myself if that damn war would even end. Now I wonder, what is next for me?'
Two hours later, Kruger had gotten settled in the same hotel room that he always stayed in when he visited the capital (a very luxurious suite that, despite numerous protestations on his part was always given to him) and, having dressed in his best uniform (it wouldn't do to see the leader of his country in his dirty traveling clothes) made his way to the office of the Madame President.
As he entered, the secretary glanced at him and, recognizing him instantly provided him with a nametag and waved him towards the elevator. Rolling his eyes at the stupidity of a nametag, for him of all people he stepped into the elevator and, looking around cautiously pried open a secret metal compartment where a keypad sat. Typing in the code given to all high-ranking Republican generals (along with a few Imperial generals and Guardian Force members) he closed the panel and, soon enough, the elevator's gears began grinding as the metal box slowly moved upwards, bypassing the third floor and emerging onto the fourth, where the office of the Madame President was.
Stepping out of the elevator, he looked around and noted that the office looked much better than the last time he had been there. The tapestries depicting the Republic's history (both before and after the last two wars between the Guylos Empire and the Helic Republic) had been meticulously repaired, tears sewn up and colors brightened. The furniture, though showing slight dents wasn't in splinters anymore and had been polished to shine. New cushions had been placed in a pallet of blue and gold, the Republic's colors and a newly repaired chaise lounge sat in a corner of the room, placed in front of the Madame President's secretary's desk. Said secretary was busy working, the clattering of keys the only sound in the silent office; that is, until Kruger cleared his throat.
"Oh, General Kruger! I'm so sorry that I didn't notice you!" the brunette-haired woman apologized leaping to her feet instantly. Kruger waved dismissively, knowing that he had startled her.
"No need to apologize, my dear," Kruger said coal gray eyes laughing. "I can see that you were busy."
"I always am, but you know that it should have been my duty to greet you," the secretary said sheepishly brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Kruger caught the glint of an engagement ring.
"He finally do it?" Kruger asked a crooked smile on his face. The secretary blushed prettily before nodding looking at her ring admiringly. "Congratulations, Alicia."
The secretary, now identified as Alicia Stone smiled in thanks and, holding up a hand to signal Kruger to wait a moment popped her head into the Madame President's office to see if she was free. Upon getting confirmation that she was, in fact, free Alicia nodded for the general to enter. Kruger, bowing, nodded and slipped into the Madame President's office, shutting the door behind him.
"General Kruger. So nice to see you again," the Madame President said smiling gently at the man who had done so much for his country and the entirety of the planet. "How are you?"
Kruger bowed. "Perfectly fine, Madame President. Do send my congratulations to your son for his finally proposing to that girl of his." The Madame President smiled proudly at this, having known that her son would propose to Alicia eventually; mother's intuition, you know. "However, I do confess that I am not pleased that you continue to pile military honors upon an undeserving man."
The President frowned. "My dear general, whatever you may believe those so-called "military honors" that you feel unworthy of are in fact due to you. I may only be the commander-in-chief of the Republican Army but I believe that I know enough to realize when a soldier has earned something." Kruger could just sense the sarcasm inherent in the president's voice. Damn, he was in trouble now…
"My apologies, Madame, for unconsciously insulting you. However, I do believe that those honors deserve to go to the younger generation, such as Mr. Flyheight and his friends."
"Be that as it may, you have earned the title of Five Star General and I refuse to take it away from you." Now the Madame President's eyes were twinkling, a sure sign that she was amused. It never failed; each time she and General Kruger met personally he tried to get out of the position of Five Star General, which had been bestowed on him over six years ago, after he had personally overseen the deconstruction of the remains of the Ultimate Deathsaurer for the scientists of both the Republic and the Empire to study; needless to say, there had been clamors from all quarters to reward the man responsible for giving the scientists their biggest project since the war had ended. She felt the honors were more than warranted; Kruger had refused time and again promotions from the rank of Colonel, more content to work with the rookie troops and, later, Van Flyheight after the first Deathsaurer had been beaten in the capital of the Guylos Empire. Therefore, when she had finally gotten the chance to bestow a promotion on Kruger, there had been several in storage, allowing him to move directly to the rank of Five Star General, despite his protests and assertions that he had officially retired before the entire DeathStinger incident. She wouldn't pull his promotions away now, not even if she were ordered to by the entirety of the Republican Army, Imperial Army and Guardian Force; Kruger had earned them.
Kruger huffed but smirked. In reality, he didn't mind the rank that much, as it meant that not as many pilots had the tenacity to doubt his skills; those that did merely had to talk to the fangs and claws of his Shield Liger. This Liger was the original one he had piloted alongside Van's father Dan in the height of the war, although his Zoid had been updated with modern weapons and machinery. Then they would see reason.
"Very well. That will be another argument for another time, Madame President." Kruger enjoyed the slight frown on his leader's face, taking a selfish amount of happiness that he would be able to argue with her again. However, there were more important things in mind now. "You asked to see me?"
The Madame President nodded before opening a drawer of her desk and pulling out a sheaf of papers contained in a rather tattered looking manila envelope, black and red marks scribbled over the front. Kruger's eyes narrowed. 'All this for a battered envelope? Something is going on here…'
"As you know, General Kruger, since Gunther Prozen's initial defeat seven years ago Emperor Rudolph and a select team of both Imperial and Republic scientists have been digging through the remnants of numerous bunkers hidden beneath the Imperial capital of Guygalos for important papers or experiments that may have been left behind. Just last month, a rather large storeroom was discovered. Inside, it contained files on many different soldiers and civilians, some of whom died in the war, some who lived through the war and some who died during rather illegal experiments carried out by Prozen during his short reign as emperor."
Kruger nodded. He'd been suspecting for some time that Prozen, sick and twisted mind that he was had to have experimented on various Zoid cores in order to find the perfect one that allowed for the resurrection of both the imperfect and perfect versions of the Deathsaurer. But to have experimented on humans, the Empire's people… that was inhumane, sick and unpardonable.
The Madame President continued. "As such, while looking through the papers we discovered an entire cache dedicated to spies sent into Republican territory dating as far back as a century." Kruger, who had remained standing so far, was shocked. A century? By the gods of Zi, that was… that was amazing!
"I see," Kruger said not elaborating further. His shock was hidden beneath the mask of indifference he had learned to adapt for the entirety of his early military career. "Pardon my forwardness, but why am I here?"
The Madame President sighed. "While looking through the records we came across a very small cache in a glass case, all of the files detailing the most dangerous enemies, from the lowest-ranked lieutenant to even my son."
A pause. She continued. "However, one file was rather battered looking, almost as if it had been thumbed through numerous times. While it was handled with care one scientist accidentally bumped it and it fell to the ground, the front flap opening and a name was seen in black type." She hesitated once more before plowing on. "That name was yours."
"Mine?" To say that Kruger was amazed would be to say that the Gravity Cannon was a small unimportant weapon. "Why my name? True, I was a major threat during the height of the war when I fought alongside Dan Flyheight but by the time Prozen was Imperial Regent I had been reduced to a measly Colonel at the Mt. Osa base here in New Helic City."
"True," the Madame President conceded an eyebrow cocked. "However, there is more. When your name was seen, followed by your most current rank at the time it was written – Major – yet another name was seen, one which I have not heard. Perhaps you can enlighten me. Does the name "Cerina Vincent" ring a bell?"
The reaction she got was not expected; in fact, it took her completely by surprise. Kruger's face, usually indifferent in the face of reports and assignments was now an open book, tinged by shock, surprise, and what seemed to be a profound sadness. Kruger fumbled for a chair before finding one she kept in front of her desk for the purpose of making her visitors comfortable and sat down heavily eyes wide.
"General Kruger?"
"Did you say "Cerina Vincent"?" Kruger asked weakly once more catching the Madame President off guard.
"Yes, I did. Is there a problem?" By now she was getting worried. Kruger had his head cradled in his hands, shaking it back and forth, almost as if there was something in his mind that he couldn't find… or lose.
"No, yes, I'm not sure." Kruger took a deep breath, telling himself sternly to get control of himself. This was no way to act in front of his nation's ruler, for Zi's sake! "Cerina," he took yet another deep breath. "Cerina Vincent was a woman whom I saved from a rogue Guysack almost twenty-six years ago. To repay me, as I had been rather badly injured she offered to let me stay with her while I healed. This was for about five months, as my Shield Liger needed numerous repairs as well. During that time, we, well, we became very close; closer than even I had expected. After I left, she was the only thing I could think about, and Dan constantly teased me about it; revenge, I suppose, for my teasing of his courtship with Karin Mizu.
"After two months of Dan's teasing, I finally broke down and returned to where she had lived… only to find that her house had been burned to the ground. Horrified, I went into town and learned that two weeks after I had left, a brush fire had begun on the outskirts of town, quickly spreading due to the dry heat and lack of precipitation. She had fought valiantly to defend her small farm and house but was quickly overwhelmed. She, she didn't make it." A lone tear fell down the man's face as his story drew to a close detailing just how close to her he had been in that short time.
"I had no idea, Ian," the Madame President said softly eyes looking with sympathy at the great military man in front of her deeming it suitable to use Kruger's first name. Kruger smiled grimly.
"There are few people who know, and two of them died a long time ago. You are currently the only one left." A pause. "Why does it matter? What would Prozen want with Cerina? She was a simple farmer in a small town near the Red River Base whose family had lived there for generations. She even had the family tapestry to prove it." One thing that both the Republic and Empire had in common was their need to know who their ancestors were and where they came from; as a result, clan tapestries were quite common. Kruger himself had one hanging on the wall of his private office, which traced his family back over three hundred years to a jeweler in the fledgling Helic Republic.
The Madame President paused. "Ian, I am going to be blunt. I have looked through the folder as you are one of my best soldiers and I was concerned as to what Prozen wanted with you. You are also, dare I say it, a very close friend. You helped me raise Rob when his father died and you remained a mentor to him all of his life. For that, I can never thank you enough. Therefore, let me say this as nicely as I can." She paused for a moment before continuing, "Ian, Cerina Vincent never existed. A woman named Raie Kojo did."
Kruger sucked in his breath. Kojo was the name of a very famous clan of spies in the Empire; they had been highly sought after by the Guylos Empire during the height of the war and although many of them refused outright to join the war some of them did… and apparently he had been taken in by one.
"Are you positive?" He didn't want to believe this; not in the least but if it was true… then he could be branded a traitor for his past actions. Almost as if reading his thoughts, the Madame President hastened to assure Kruger that he was not going to be branded a traitor; he had had no previous knowledge of Kojo's existence and so was completely innocent of all wrongdoing.
"One hundred percent positive." Kruger slumped back into the chair hands in front of his face. 'Gods of Zi, I was such a fool. A young man controlled by hormones too much to even notice the inconsistencies in Ceri – no, Kojo's act. Her fumbling of Republican traditions, her lack of knowledge of some of the most basic rules of farming and so many other mannerisms that should have sent off warning bells in my head from the beginning and I missed them all.'
"Is that all, Madame President?" Kruger asked gruffly and it didn't take a fool to realize that Kruger was deeply upset. The President, seeing this decided to let him make the rest of the discoveries on his own.
"No, Ian, it isn't. However, I feel it would be better to just let you read the file instead of my telling you what else it contains." She then slid the battered envelope over to him eyes veiled. She knew exactly what the file contained and knew that it would turn her friend's life upside down.
Kruger took the file and opened it, noting that it had a rather lengthy title: "This file contains detailed analyses of the man known as Major Ian Ray Kruger, first-class Republican, resident of New Helic City, pilot of a Desert Liger, partner of Dan Flyheight and his Command Wolf Zeke. Information penned and gathered by Raie Kojo of the Guylos Empire, February to July of ZAC 2078." Suppressing a snarl at the name of the woman whom he'd loved all those years ago, he continued to flip through the folder noting that Kojo had really been detailed; hell, she'd even jotted down his favorite foods.
'No doubt in case they had to poison me,' Kruger thought bitterly. As he neared the end something caught his eye and he flipped back his eyes moving rapidly down the page.
'This is written in a different hand… was Kojo killed?' This thought was instantly banished as he noted a key word in the middle of a paragraph dated about a month after she had returned to the Imperial capital, or two months after he had left. 'She was pregnant?'
Kruger looked up at the Madame President silently looking for confirmation and the woman in question merely nodded gesturing for him to continue reading. As he did so he couldn't believe it. He'd had a child and he never even knew! Some father he'd been; he hadn't even known he'd had a kid.
One paragraph a few pages after the first caught his eye: "Due to Kojo's impending end to her pregnancy it has been decided to get rid of the half-breed filth by abandoning the brat somewhere in the enemy's territory. The clan shall then deal with her incompetence. Oh well. She was useful while she lasted, but all good things have to come to an end. Signed Colonel Gunther Prozen, head of the Third ZaberFang unit, head of the Intelligence Division under Emperor Zeppelin III, March of ZAC 2079."
'They abandoned my child? Monsters…' Looking up he said, "It says here that I have a child somewhere out there; is there any way at all that I can locate him or her? I need to apologize for not being there."
"There was no way you could have known –"
"I should have!" Kruger roared slamming a fist onto the Madame President's desk, enraged. "This was my child, my flesh and blood! I should have known!"
The Madame President didn't say anything for a moment before reaching over and touching Kruger's fist, silently offering him her support. Taking a deep breath, he smiled weakly and continued reading.
'I should have been there…' Kruger thought as he kept flipping through the file, finding shreds of paper written by Kojo herself detailing the horrors and tribulations of her pregnancy and her eventual birth. He then read how she had sneaked into Republican territory and, finding a single mother gave his child, his son – for that was the gender of his child – to this woman to raise as her own. The only thing she had given to their child before she left to return to the Empire to return to her spy duties was a name and –
Kruger's thoughts were abruptly cut off when he saw the name on the paper. Glancing up at the Madame President he asked through clenched teeth. "Is this file correct? Have you checked records?"
The woman nodded. "Yes, we have. We were actually very lucky that we had blood samples for both of you on file. That made it quite easy to confirm the words in front of you. The results are one hundred percent positive."
Kruger slowly nodded his head before looking back down at the file and staring at the name that had been jotted down hastily, almost as if an afterthought. 'My god, all this time. All this time he was in front of me and I never even knew…' For the name that stood out on the paper was one that was unforgettable to Ian Kruger – Irvine.