Ch. 2
"So which is your real name, Wolf or Mike?" the blue haired asked as she and Wolf walked down the hall to get some food. Daniel had opted to stay and play with his name sake.
"Mike is my real name but everyone except Fiona calls me Wolf," the black haired man replied while holding the door to the lunch room.
'Why do I feel so comfortable with her, and why did I explain all that too her, normally I'd just say it's Wolf,' Wolf thought as he walked through behind her.
"So what do I call you when I have you on the radio or something like that?" Clare asked while picking some food.
"Captain Novis, or Wolf which ever applies at the moment, either way I give an order and its Sir," Wolf said getting back to his normal leader style voice.
"Polaris may not take too kindly to you at first but he should get used to you," Clare said as they headed for the table.
"I'm sorry, who is Polaris?" the blue eyed man asked as they sat down.
"My Organoid, he looks like a bear and he's all white with very pale blue eyes and the same blue in his joints, a coward from many but, like I said once he gets used to you he'll be fine," Clare said before putting a fork full of food in her mouth.
"Well Blaze is probably somewhere close by probably in my quarters, he's my Organoid," Wolf said as he tried to maintain that leader's voice over a bragging tone.
After talking for nearly two hours, Wolf and Clare separated knowing very nearly everything about each other, and not just service records and combat abilities either, but a few memories as well.
"Well that was fun Blaze, maybe I should ask her out for a real date some time," Wolf said as Blaze curled up next to Wolf's bed growling his agreement.
*Polaris sounds like an interesting Organoid, I don't think I've ever met a bear one before,* Blaze growled.
"You're right old friend, this should be interesting, I just hope he sees that I'm his boss' new commanding officer," Wolf said as he drifted into sleep.
*Hope you don't forget it the way you're acting,* the red and black Organoid growled with a chuckle before falling asleep himself.
Nearly a week passed, in which Clare and Wolf spent some amount of time together every day. They spent most of the time repairing and upgrading her Blade Liger, an all blue Zoid with Black whiskers and shoulder armor and a lot of the same weapons modifications that Van's had.
The pair also spent a few of the days on the training courses where Wolf, Van and Irvine all three were giving her tips on how to go faster, or timing her shots just right. At the end of the week Clare's Blade Liger and Polaris both seemed to respect, and even like Wolf. Daniel and Blaze spent the time watching the two and thinking up different ways to get the two together without breaking regulations.
Wolf was enjoying an early morning coffee while watching the sunrise over the desert as he stood at the hanger's entrance getting ready for patrol duty when he saw something moving on the horizon.
"Officer, get me a pair of binoculars quick," the black haired man said as the object and its dust cloud seemed to be getting closer, "Oh crap, ORDER FULL MOBILIZATION NOW!"
With the Konig Wolf already near the hanger entrance he jumped in the cockpit and activated all the systems. Two minutes later Wolf, Van, Clare, Irvine and Daniel stood in the path of the unknown object.
The Geno Breaker came to a full stop in front of the team of Zoids, with Shadow and Specular along side it.
"Hold your fire boys, we didn't come to fight this time," came over the com link as a blue haired woman with a red circle on her forehead's face came on the screens with a black haired man with a red seven with a dot under his right cheek at the controls of the Zoid.
"Raven, Reese, welcome to Red River base," Van said with a slightly angered tone, "Try anything and we'll arrest you on the spot."
Blaze and Zeke were on full guard around Shadow and Specular as they all led the Geno Breaker into the hanger. Once inside Raven and Reese jumped out of the cockpit and all were shocked when they saw a wedding band on both of their ring fingers.
After a few hours of talking all they had found out was that Raven and Reese had gotten hitched about a year after the second Deathsaurer and Hiltz, and that they had been roaming around aiding folks in rebuilding after the Death Tiger too.
They also found out that someone was looking for any information that they could lay their hands on about Wolf and the rest of the team who took down the Death Tiger and Razor. Raven and Reese didn't really know who was asking because it seemed he didn't give a name, or he was using an alias, either way the alias the person was using was Vailen.
"When was the last time you heard anything about this Vailen character?" Wolf asked as he set his arms on the table, 'I know who that is and why he's coming, but I can't hate him, why,' he thought as images of the man passed through his mind.
"Probably two maybe three weeks ago, it took us about a week to get here after we left but it seemed like they quit looking so we came up here to tell you," Raven said as he leaned back in his chair.
'He seems oddly relaxed for a wanted man sitting in a military base,' Wolf thought not realizing he was thinking the same thing everyone else was.
"If you don't mind Raven, would you keep an ear out for this Vailen person, if you find out where he might be, find someway to let us know," Van said as he got up to leave.
"You got it, and keep your guard up around here, this guy may already know where you are," Reese said instead, Van and Wolf just nodded.
Dr. D provided Reese with a new Genosaurer and they stayed at the base while Specular changed it to Reese's liking. Herman and Schubaltz added them to the Guardian Force ranks as Lieutenants, while everyone else went on about their business as usual.
"So Raven, what made you change your mind all those years ago? I've heard stories that you fought with Hiltz for a while," Daniel asked as they were working out.
"I don't really know, I guess after Shadow died the first time it made me see what was going on around me, and when Reese stood in the path of the Death Stinger's Charged Particle Cannon something in my head clicked and I've been a good guy ever since," Raven said with a slight chuckle when he saw the shock on Daniel's face.
Wolf and Reese were standing in the hanger just staring at the large blue diamond shaped cocoon that Specular had produced in order to change the Genosaurer.
"So do you think Specular will change that thing into the Geno Breaker or will it be the Psycho Geno like the last time you had one of these?" Wolf asked showing only mild interest.
"There really is no telling," Reese said in a bored tone.
"Captain Novis, here you are, I've been looking for you," Clare said as she entered the hanger to see Wolf and Reese sitting together.
The blue haired girl paused for a moment when she felt something that wasn't normal, she chose to ignore the new feeling for the time being and get on with her assignment.
"What is it Lieutenant?" Wolf said seeming way more interested then he needed.
"Captain Flyheight and Irvine would like to see you and your brother, Captain Schubaltz is already on his way," Clare said in her usual cheery tone, which seemed to put a smile on Wolf's face.
'Why does she make me feel this way? After Melody no one has made me feel this way, why her?' Wolf thought as he walked with Clare to the briefing room where the "Death Tiger team" assembled.
"Thank you Lieutenant, your dismissed," Van said as Wolf and Clare walked into the room.
"Yes Sir," the blue haired girl saluted as she turned to leave.
Wolf could have sworn he felt a touch of sadness watching her leave, but he chose to ignore it since he knew sadness was something not in his list of feelings anymore.
"So what are we going to about this Vailen guy?" Van asked as he sat at the end of the table.
"We wait, at least until Reese and Raven have a chance to see if they can find out where Vailen may be," Thomas said while the rest sat of them sat down.
"Lieutenant O'Connell and I could go out and see what we can find out while Reese waits for Specular to be finished, Daniel could go with Raven and Shadow in the other direction to see what they can find," Wolf suggested.
"Alright Fiona, Irvine and I will head for the Wind Colony and see if anything has turned up there," Van added on.
"Be ready to move out in two hours," Irvine said as they all got up and headed out.
While the teams got prepared to move out Reese spoke to Raven about what was going to happen while they were gone and what she should do when Specular finished with her Zoid. Wolf and Clare discussed what they were looking for and who. Irvine and Moonbay sat there together like nothing was going on around them while Van double checked everything in his Blade Liger.
"Mike, can I have a word with you please?" Fiona asked as she walked past giving him no choice but to follow.
"What is it Fiona, I still have to run final checks on the Konig Wolf before we take off," the black haired man said sounding a little more impatient than he meant to.
"Mike, I just want you to be careful, I heard you chose Clare to go with you, and she may already know the circumstances of her father's death, but she also knows who was commanding that unit," Fiona breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Wolf nod to her logic before he turned back to the Konig.
"Clare, get that beastie moving, or we're going to be the last ones out," Wolf said seeing that Daniel and Raven had already left.
"Yes Sir," Clare said as she pushed the controls to move the Blade Liger out, as he too moved the Konig forward.