Ch. 4 The Striker team gets captured
It had been nearly three months since the Backdraft group had made its appearance and, and they still were interfering in the Shadow Blitz Team battles as well as the Striker team battles. The good thing was is that they never attacked the Striker team's base again. The Striker and Red Comet teams were enjoying a meal and movie night at Toros Base. The men of the teams were enjoying the weekly poker game in the hanger, while the ladies enjoyed a romantic comedy in the lounge.
"Alright gentlemen let's see those cards," Brad said as he laid down his low card straight. Bit laid down two pair fives over twos, Leon laid down a Royal straight, Jamie, Mike, Barrett, and Eric had folded out.
"Well gents I'm out of money so I think I'll go join the ladies and the movie," Barrett said as he got up from the table.
"Me to," Jamie said thinking 'maybe Alisa will want to cuddle up with me,' as he walked into the base after Barrett.
After the movie was over and the poker game had officially ended with Brad being the overall winner of the night, the two teams headed off towards their own bases.
"Well that was fun, at least someone got a little loving," Mallory said through the com link trying to nudge Alisa a little about the make out session she had caught her and Jamie in.
"Oh will you leave her alone, it's not like you're so innocent yourself Mallory," Eric said referring to the make out session he had caught her and Mike in.
"If you two don't…." Alisa never finished the thought; there were explosions right in front of her Gunsniper, Eric's Blade Liger, and Mallory's Shield Liger.
"What the hell is going on," Eric said through the pain he was feeling before blacking out.
Backdraft Whale King
"WAKE UP ERIC!" Alisa screamed into the blonde man's ear, she had just awakened to herself, Mallory and Eric tied to chairs in some dark and empty room. She could hear the engines and assumed they were on a Whale King.
"What's going on?" Eric groaned as he woke up and examined his surroundings.
"Don't know Mallory is still out, I think we're on a Whale King, and it's possible that this is all that Ryyft, or Bear of whatever the hell his name is, is behind this," Alisa said pretty much filling him in on just the need to know for the moment.
"Hey where are we? Why am I tied up?" Mallory was loaded with questions none of which her team mates could answer.
"Mallory, cool off neither of us know anything about what's happening either," Eric replied calmly.
About an hour later a man appeared in the lit doorway, all the Striker team members could see was a dark outline in the doorway.
"Well Eric it seems you and your friends have become my guests, and they might just leave, but you won't," the silver haired man said in a sinister tone as he stepped into the room.
"You leave them out of this, your fight is with me and me alone," Eric shot back in a tone that scared Alisa, she had never seen him lash out like that and it scared her greatly.
"Oh but if I play with them first you'll have the knowledge that it's entirely your fault," Bear said as he twirled his wrist around popping the joints a few times.
Toros Base
"Jamie why are you looking so worried," Bit asked as Jamie paced the around the phone.
"Alisa was supposed to call me when they got back to the base, they should have been there for over an hour now," Jamie said with a slight amount of panic in his tone.
"Okay why don't you me and Mike take the Zoids and see if we can find them along the way," Bit said trying to calm the younger man down.
"Okay, but what did I just get roped into?" Mike asked as he entered the lounge.
"Jamie, you and I are gonna go look for the Striker team seems they haven't checked in," Bit said as he and Jamie started for the hanger. Mike just shrugged and headed back to his Konig Wolf.
Out in the desert the team found the blast marks from a recent attack along with foot prints of the Blade Liger, Shield Liger and Gunsniper. None of the Zoids were there so Jamie went ahead to check the base and see if they had gotten there, nothing.
"Bit, Mike head back to Toros base, I'll be right behind you," Jamie said as he landed in the base to check everything out. After finding nothing majorly out of place he headed back out and back to the base breaking the sound barrier shortly after taking off.
Backdraft Whale King
"Well now, are you willing to admit that you were the cause of my sister's death," Bear asked out of breath as he stood over a beaten and bleeding Eric still tied to his chair.
"You know what happened back then Bear, so why don't you tell Mallory and me," Alisa said calmly trying to give Eric to get his strength back.
"My sister, Melissa, dated your fearless leader here for almost two years, he treated her very well until he decided to start a team, then he chose battling over Melissa, she went into a deep depression after that, for months she ate very little, said even less, and never seemed happy, he chose battling over my sister and she killed herself by OVERDOSING." Bear was nearly unable to speak because of the tears in his eyes and the knot in his throat. The man walked out slamming the heavy metal door behind him.
"Eric is what he said true?" Mallory asked as both girls looked at him.
"Yeah, but there is something he's not telling you probably cause he doesn't know, I didn't make the choice she did," Eric coughed a few times and continued, "She asked me to choose I told her I couldn't so she chose for me and walked away from me and my team." Eric held a pained look on his face that said to drop the subject for now.
"Eric, I thought the Striker team was your fist team, I've never met a girl" Alisa said ignoring the looks she received from both Mallory and Eric.
"Well after her death I swore to start anew and forget about the past as best as possible, the team was disbanded and I haven't seen or spoken to any of them in the two years since then," Eric then went into a long explanation about who was on the team and the other things the Bear had decidedly left out.
"Melissa, didn't except the calls when you tried to get her back," Mallory said with a rather cold tone of voice, "that's just selfish."
Toros Base
"The Backdraft have them, I just know it, the squad that attacked them three months ago at their base seemed pretty damn certain to get that Blade Liger of Eric's," Jamie said as the whole team was sitting there trying to figure out who took the team.
"Jamie you don't know that it was the Backdraft that did this," his fuchsia haired team mate said trying and failing to calm the young man down.
"Mike, put the Konig on the roof of the Whale King while we fly over to the base, that will give you a better sight line, look for a Backdraft Whale King anywhere close to the base, they wouldn't have gone far if they're not on the clock, Bit, Leena, David head in different directions see what you come up with," Doc paused long enough to take a breath. "I'll get on the phone with Leon, Naomi, and Brad and get them in on the hunt."
"Doc, I'm gonna go to their base and hang out there in case they come back," the spiky black haired young man said as he headed for the hanger, and his Raynos.
Everyone got to working on their assigned duties. Bit and Brad went to the north of the Striker team base, Naomi and Leena took to the east, Mike and David went south, Leon and Barrett went west. Jamie and Doc stayed at the base in case they needed medical attention and they could take off and head any which way they needed to, and if they showed up at the base they could call the other team members back.
Backdraft Whale King
Bear was standing over Eric after another beating session. Alisa and Mallory were trying to talk the silver haired man out of his rage but he wasn't listening.
"God, do you two ever shut up?" Bear asked as he used a finger to raise Alisa's chin.
"No, does that mean you're going to give us our Zoids back and let us go?" Alisa asked the silver haired man before going to bite the finger holding her chin.
"Well if you're just going to keep talking I might, but Eric he has to fight me and win for you two to get out," Bear said with a nasty grin on his face.
"Untie me and I'll take you out right here, just like I used to in the old days Ryyft," Eric said with a silent chuckle and a tone that was nearly as sinister as Bear's.
"No I mean Zoid on Zoid just you and me and the Dark Judge, tomorrow morning so sleep well," Bear said leaving the room.
"Eric you can't fight in this shape, you've got to back out," Alisa said voicing the concerns of both women in the room.
"I can't back out of this one, I do and he's likely to kill one or both of you just to get me to do it," the beaten blonde replied in such a cold tone that it startled Alisa.
"Well then, I think we should try and fix you up as best we can," their black haired team mate said as she stood up and moved over in front of Eric.
"Hey how did you get out?" the auburn haired girl asked in total shock as Mallory walked in front of her.
"Always carry one of these where they dare not look," Mallory said pulling a knife out from under her skirt.
This shocked both Eric and Alisa to the point that Alisa just realized that she had been cut loose too. By the time Bear came back in to cut them loose they had already formed a plan to get out.
"Hey where did Eric go?" Bear asked in both shock and annoyance.
"They had to take him for medical attention he started having a seizure and since your boys knew how valuable he was to you they took him for medical attention," Mallory said rather nicely.
The door behind Bear slammed shut taking him by surprise Alisa jumped up and kicked him square in the stomach. Eric jumped him from behind and told the two girls to stay out of it.
Striker Team base
"We haven't found anything yet, but we're nearly a hundred miles from the base, should we keep going?" Bit asked through the link he has with the base.
"No, I think you've gone far enough, head back and we'll see what happens along the way," Jamie said somberly.
"I'll get the other teams to head back," Doc said as Jamie walked out into the hanger.
"Hey Mike, Jamie really loves this girl doesn't he," Bit asked already knowing the answer.
"Yeah which is why we're taking orders from him instead of just going our own way right now," Mike answered as they sped along the plains towards the Striker team base, "but I'm in it because I'm worried about Mallory too."
"Naomi, Leena you guys can turn back, the rest are already on their way," Doc said through the com link with his daughter and Naomi.
"Alright we're turning around now," Leena said as she started to turn her Gunsniper back towards the base. "Dad I've got something on radar out here, it's moving pretty damn quickly."
The sonic boom which preceded the object knocked the two Gunsnipers for a loop.
"It was Jamie's Raynos, Doc what's going on," Naomi asked as she righted her Gunsniper.
"I didn't realize he'd left," Doc said scratching the back of his head.
"Jamie what's up, where are you headed?" Leena asked and she got no response from him at all.
Jamie was in a fogged state of mind, he hadn't even realized he had blasted past two of his friends nearly knocking their command systems out in the process. He was flying on gut instinct alone; he only hoped his gut was right.
'I hope that everything is okay, I left without saying where I was heading, or that I was leaving for that matter,' Jamie thought as he flew through the skies at mach 2 or faster.
That's when he spotted the Whale King in front of him, flying low and slow. He slowed down and quickly came up with a plan of attack when he saw the hanger opening. Eric saw the Raynos out of the corner of his view screen and thought
'Oh good, back up and its Jamie,' "Jamie can you give us a lift?" Eric asked after opening a private com link with the younger man.
"It'll be slow going I can only carry one at a time," Jamie said as he approached the Whale King's hanger.
"Alisa go first, then you Mallory, I'll go last to make sure we get out clean," Eric ordered not leaving room for negotiation. The Raynos took off with the sky blue Gunsniper, and then the Shield Liger. When he got back to the hanger he found the Blade Liger going blow for blow with a black heavily armed Zaber Fang.