I'm glad that people are indeed enjoying this story, at least a little. Though, the next update probably will be a bit yet, as I have finals on Friday, and I have some observation hours to complete before then. Not to mention I only have a page at most beyond this chapter so far.I still have a couple of pages before I update my Rokai story too. Anyways, please enjoy, and review.
Thomas and Lauren had decided to eat out, which wasn't too hard of a decision. After all, anything Lauren could make more than likely wouldn't be very palatable and Thomas wasn't the best cook either. So, neither argued about going out, and since Thomas didn't know anywhere to go, he didn't object to the place that Lauren suggested. It was a pretty good place really. Of course, it wasn't very busy with the town being so small, but it appeared to have enough money to keep running. Once they got their orders in, Lauren looked over at Thomas. "I'm paying for this one," she said with a smile. When Thomas opened his mouth to protest she shook her head. "If I could cook, I would have made something at home. But I can't, and this is the only way I can play hostess. Besides, they give me discounts."
Thomas looked at her suspiciously. "Discounts? What for?" The suspicion was more of a serious type of look, intended to intimidate her for once. However, it failed miserably. The intended serious expression that he had attempted merely succeeded in making her laugh. He sighed. Couldn't he ever not be laughed at? Sure, it was one thing when he acted like an idiot (and he even admit he deserved some of what he got), but when he did act serious it was a very different matter. It wasn't fair!
"I gave up money to help rebuild the village, so it's their way of repaying me. ...It was the only way I'd let them," she said, a bit embarrassed. Her pride was probably her greatest weakness in life. Thomas remembered that when they were little, she had tried to run away because she didn't want to have people outside of her family taking care of her. However, due to Aiden, she didn't get very far at all and stayed of course. The panther organoid, while a rare sight, did prove time and again to be a reliable source of help.
"I see," Thomas commented, thinking for a moment. "How did you raise the money?"
Lauren laughed. "After I made my zoid, my money was drained, so I became a mercenary for a few years. I was going to just do it a year or two, but with the village's reconstruction, I ended up having to stick with it a bit longer." Thomas just stared at her, in disbelief that she would even consider being a merc. "I only protected villages, it wasn't anything illegal or something to that extent."
The blonde nodded in response to the information, accepting that as a viable explanation. It was just in time for their food to arrive. Once the waiter had gone, Thomas picked at his food for a moment. "Lauren, do you have a plan on how to approach those bandits?" he asked, finally taking a bite out of his meal.
The blue-haired woman swallowed her own mouthful before answering. "I was actually hoping that the guardian force member dispatched here would've had one all ready," she answered with a grin. "I guess I was hoping beyond hope."
"H-hey! I didn't know what the status of the town was, or how the ruins had changed after being ransacked before. How could I develop a plan all ready?" Thomas defended himself, even though he knew that she was teasing him. Even so, dinner ended in silence from both of them, brainstorming ideas on how to approach the enemy with so little information. And it continued until they went to their zoids afterwards, to just check up on things. Not to mention, Thomas really did want to have another look at Lauren's zoid. Maybe she could deactivate the scanner and let him look around? He noticed that she was staring at her zoid, a slightly long expression on her face. It was one he knew well from his own expressions, doubt.
"Thomas?" Lauren began, taking a deep breath. It wasn't the usual joking tone that she typically used around him. Once he caught her eye to show that he was listening to her, she continued after a moment's hesitation. "Do you think that I did the right thing, by joining the military? I...keep wondering if I should have just stayed out of it. I'm not that great of a soldier, or nothing like what my father was."
Thomas blinked. He understood the doubt she felt concerning joining the military. Ever since Terkh was first destroyed, he knew that Lauren had a great fear of being betrayed by the military. Apparently, even though they both knew it was Prozen, and not the emperor's will, it wasn't enough for her paranoia to go away fully. "I think you did the right thing. You've come really far in conquering your own fears concerning the military," he answered honestly. He himself had come far in his own abilities, and from what he had seen so far, he felt that she had too. Of course, he would have to actually see her in a zoid battle first (if he could) to confirm everything, but he was fairly certain.
The blonde lieutenant watched the young woman's reaction to his brief pep-talk, and felt rather satisfied. Of course Lauren wasn't in top form when it came to attitude, but it was an improvement. For her to help him with the bandit problem, that was all he would need.
The next day brought action to the plan they came up with. Which, it was fairly simple. Use radar to find any strange acoustic signals and investigate. If the signals that they find, and with Beek on their side Thomas knew they would if there was any to be found at all, weren't the ones they were looking for, they would keep trying to look for other signals. There wasn't reason to come up with an elaborate plan. After all, they were just dealing with a group of bandits. It was nearly routine for Thomas anymore, even with the stealth zoids, and he hoped to keep any surprises from occurring.
Though, there was a minor change that Thomas made to the plan without Lauren's knowledge. He would leave five hours earlier than planned and finish things on his own. He didn't really want Lauren involved in this, the gentleman in him wouldn't allow it. The lieutenant had gotten used to Fiona being in some amount of danger, and Van's tendency to allow it, even if Thomas still didn't feel that he should. Though, Lauren was the sister he never had, and aside from being a rank higher, he was also a year older. So he felt it was his responsibility to watch out for her. He knew she wouldn't like it, nor would she listen if he told her to stay back. So, this was the best way. Hopefully he acted excited enough to fool her into thinking that they were going to work together, and therefore not expect a thing.
Currently, he had just gotten into his Dibison, watching the zoid 'wake up.' Then he felt his helmet come down onto his head, with Beek's voice sounding in his ears. "Yes, Beek, we're going alone. We can easily handle something like this by ourselves. Now scan the area around the town and around the ruins."
It took a few minutes, but considering the area he was having Beek search, Thomas expected that. Once the data went through, five different areas lit up on his radar. They were five separate areas to investigate, and he randomly chose one for Beek to go towards. "Okay, baby, you're toast," he said, mainly to himself. He hoped this would be the right one, he didn't feel like he needed to waste his time going on a wild goose chase as it would only give Lauren more time to get up and realize what it was he did. The Dibison was going as fast as it could go, but he felt as though it wasn't fast enough. No, he didn't dislike his zoid, the truth was the very opposite. He was proud of that zoid, and he wouldn't trade it for the fastest one around. Beek to him was irreplaceable, and after all the abuse his poor zoid had gone through over time, it really did deserve respect.
Once he got to his intended destination, he unfortunately found no sign of a bandit group, or even a single zoid. Which, didn't make sense to Thomas at all. The readings on his radar still put the same signals, and he was right over it. What was going on? Was the zoid beneath the sand? Something had to be giving off those readings, it couldn't just be from nowhere, and he was determined to find out what. "Beek, search the area for what's giving off that zoid acoustic signal and go over to it," he ordered the artificial intelligence unit. It was merely a matter of moments before Beek made the Dibison stop in its tracks, and gave a whistling beep that it was the place. Thomas had the screen zoom in on the specific area that Beek had picked out and frowned as he saw some sort of device. A quick analysis shown that the device had been giving off the signal. Though, what came to his mind next was a dreadful thought. What if all of those readings he picked up were merely other devices? He had to investigate them, because what if he was wrong? He wouldn't be able to forgive himself as a member of the Guardian Force, nor as a human being.
Though, if they were all devices, they were obviously for a distraction. The question was if they were distracting him from the correct place, or if they were distracting him to keep him off track to a different intention? He was soon so wrapped up in his analytical thinking that he didn't hear the sound of a transmission coming to his zoid, until he blinked. Even then, he stared a bit dumbly at the controls until it registered that he was getting a message, and pushed a button to accept it. What he heard next made him wince.
Sorry about the cliffhanger, you'll just have to see next time.
