Chapter 4
It took less than a day for them to power back to the Trazen's alpha sight since the heat was off and Razor had moved everyone back. When they made it back from the drop off, Melody welcomed Wolf home specifically by radio before greeting the rest from the control room after the Zoids were shut down. Wolf stood talking to his new sisters for a moment before Razor came in making them stop.
"Hey Wolf, come over here a sec," Razor called from across the hanger.
"Go ahead, we've got the money from the courier drop, we'll head to Trisdale and buy some stuff and leave your cut in your room," Sarah Beth said pushing the younger man towards the leader of the crew, "And we don't short change family so no worries."
"Why do I get the feeling having you three for sisters won't be a bad thing around here?" The black haired young man asked with a chuckle as he walked away from the three sisters.
"What's up Razor?" Wolf asked when he got closer to his boss.
Razor reached in his pocket and pulled out some money and counted out a couple high denomination bills after the young man was close enough to hide the stack from the others. Wolf scratched the scar covering most of his right cheek while he waited.
"Why don't you take Melody out, celebrate your first official downed Zoids with the crew," Razor said handing him the money.
"Thanks Razor, but I don't think we'd make a good pair if that's what you're trying for," the blue eyed young man replied trying to hand the money back.
"Hey, you two are already the talk of the base, may as well make it true," Vailen said with a chuckle as he approached the two men.
"Alright, I guess it couldn't hurt," the black haired young man said as he breathed a sigh of resignation.
"Melody, come down to the hanger for me a sec, please," Razor said into the radio he had with him.
Wolf and the brothers waited in the hanger talking about where Wolf could improve his skills as well as a few places the two might go for dinner.
"Why am I down here?" Melody asked startling the two brothers but drawing a smile from Wolf.
"Wolf, it's your turn now," Vailen said as he tried to drag Razor out of the hanger.
"Melody, care to go into town and get dinner with me?" Wolf asked nervously, "Maybe as far as Trisdale?"
"Oh come on, why can't I see how it plays out!?" Razor half screamed, half laughed as he was dragged out of the hanger by his brother causing both of them to chuckle slightly.
"Well, that was horrifying," Wolf muttered with nervous chuckle, "So, dinner?"
"Why do I get the feeling I should say no, but my heart is screaming yes?" Melody asked as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Maybe it's because you think I'm cute," Wolf said as he headed towards his König. Melody followed him and Blaze was behind her.
They went to a larger town than the Trazen's home village, if only to stay away from more rumors of them being a couple. The König showed every sign of being extremely nervous about being left alone in yet another place it was unfamiliar with so Blaze stayed with her while Wolf and Melody found a place to eat.
"So, what do we talk about?" Wolf asked with a nervous chuckle while they waited for a waitress to bring their menus.
"Well, I'd like to know why your parents named you Wolf," Melody replied with a giggle.
"Three months you've known me, never seen me respond to, or give, any other name besides Ghost, and you ask that?"
"You bet, it's a strange thing to name your kid after all. So, why did they?"
"They didn't," the black haired man replied with a smile of his own, "My full name is Michael Wolfgang Novis; Mom called me Mike until I was a year old, my Dad started calling me Wolf before that though. It's pretty well stuck now," he added with a chuckle.
"Well, Wolf does seem to suit you better, but what made your Dad start that?"
"Thanks, my brother, me and half the village I call home would agree with you. As for my Dad, Mom tells me it was because of my gift for imitating the noises of the animal while crying."
The silence that came between them was comfortable as they looked over what selection the small menu offered.
"You said your eyes change when you get angry, and your brother's too," Melody said with an uncertain tone, "Do his turn red too?"
"His actually turn a pretty wicked shade of gold, his natural eye color is the same as mine though so we're not sure why they're different," the blue eyed young man replied with a chuckle, "My dad's turned an almost emerald green from very icy blue."
"Seen them both angry enough to change their eyes huh?"
"I've only seen my brother's change once in his entire life, just never cared enough to get that angry."
"You seem to be able to change your eyes at will though, why is that?"
"I've always been the more emotional of the two of us, but I also know a little about controlling them and using them against people."
"Sounds true enough, you turned them red at me just for following when we met," Melody replied with a giggle before her gaze moved to the table, "I want to ask a personal question, but I'm not sure how to go about it without sounding weird or offensive," she added with a more uncertain tone.
"Then just ask point blank, I've never minded that," Wolf laughed as he leaned back and crossed his arms across his chest.
"How did you get the scars?" the brown haired woman asked bluntly, she grew slightly concerned when he started laughing quietly.
"If that's all you wanted to know, you had nothing to worry about in the first place," the black haired man said with a smile, "The one across my eye and the very faint one on my chest are from the same accident when I was three."
"What happened exactly? You'd figure a doctor would fix the facial scar over the chest after all."
"Well, I don't know if you'll believe this, but at the time my village had this old abandoned house standing on the outskirts, some said it belonged to an old military base close by, others said it belonged to one of the founders, I never have been sure. Well I wandered in there trying to hide for a game, small kid, scary house, barely anyone in town would think to look there. I ended up falling through the floor."
"I believe the story, but still why didn't they fix your face?"
"Sand road village, Doc in town was also the local shoe maker, he wasn't sure he could stitch it without causing nerve damage so he sewed up my chest so it would only leave a faint scar, left the more gnarly two open to heal on their own."
"I only see one Wolf, where's this second scar?"
"Under my eyebrow, my head jerked back as it hit so it's a short one, hides well don't it?" the black haired young man replied with a chuckle as he reached for her hand.
Melody and Wolf both felt a short tingle run up their arms when he took her hand in his and placed two of her fingers on the short scar above his right eye. The black haired man didn't want to let go, but knew he had to since the food was coming; Melody hated it when he did let go.
"Tell me a bit about you Melody Rosten," He said once the waiter got out of earshot.
"Well, I was named after my father's mother, my father died of some kind of sickness when I was three years old, I grew up in a small village on the Imperial side of the border, my mother's name was Gwendolyn, she died of the same thing my father died of when I was only just turning ten years old and my best friend there left before I did. Wasn't there long enough to pick up any ex-boyfriends."
"You said you ran away from home, what made you do that?" Wolf asked with a worried tone despite himself.
"I also said my step dad was a crazy jerk," Melody replied with a giggle, "But if that's all you wanted to know you had no reason to sound worried."
"That mean I get to hear the tale?"
"I was probably a month into ten years old at the time things started getting bad, Mom had recently passed away, my step dad started getting into trouble at the local pub, he liked to pick fights when he drank, and he drank, a lot. Before Mom died he was okay, good to us and all that jazz, even took me to see a play three days away from home, one way, despite hating the idea of sitting through a play."
"Sounds like losing your Mom drove him to it."
"It hit everyone in town pretty hard, but even I got over it in a few months, when I left it had been almost a year and he was still drinking like a fish and picking fights with everyone, even me on occasion."
"He hit you?" Wolf asked sounding a little angry at the idea.
"Only once, the next morning I turned his ass in, packed my clothes and every food related item in the house and took off in his Pteras," Melody replied with an almost regretful tone, "I'd been out about a week and a half when Tammy and Luna came across my camp on their way back in from a supply run."
"Do you ever regret that decision?" the black haired young man asked seriously.
"Not as often as the first few days out by myself, especially when I realized I didn't actually know how to cook," the brown haired young woman laughed, "I never regret leaving, but I regret not keeping in touch some times, just to see how my step dad is doing after all these years, assuming he didn't drink himself to death that is."
"Only regret I have right now is leaving without telling my little brother he'd be safer without me around," Wolf said with a somber tone, "He really didn't seem to understand why I was leaving."
"Why did you leave?"
"Remember what I said about my village elders?"
"Yeah, they begged you to stay after beating a few bandits a second time."
"They told me why they wanted to run me off the first time, the jerks were paying the bandits to hit the village so we could get a little help from the Republican Army; they wanted an army and got me instead."
"You did punch the one who told you that right?"
"Knocked two teeth down his throat and broke his nose," Wolf said with a short smirk, "But Daniel and my mother neither one know about that, so Daniel still believes I just left to explore," he added, the regret leaking back into his tone, "Probably feels like I abandoned him like our Dad did."
"I'm sure he understands why you wanted to get away from home for a while," Melody said with a soothing tone, taking one of his hands in hers, "What happened to your father?"
"No clue, he left the village one day, promised he'd see me in a week, never came back, the scars were still healing and my brother was still in diapers. No one came to say they found him or that he'd died in action or anything like that."
"Was he military?"
"Transporter, liked to run both sides of the border is what Mom said."
"Could be the authorities got him for that."
"Could be, but something in my gut tells me my mother wasn't exactly truthful, don't know why but there was a lot of flyovers, most of the time it was three or four Pteras bombers, but only while my father was out, they never came when he was home."
"How many flyovers were made the last time he left?"
"None, it was like everything changed the last time he left."
The two moved to happier subjects like the newly named Ghost Pack and Wolf earning his call sign through the sister's that had, in their own way, adopted him into their family. They also spoke of some childhood memories from when they were both still enchanted with their homes. It wasn't until the small diner's manager came over and asked them to leave so he could lock up for the night that they realized just how late it had gotten.
By the time they reached the Trazen's desert base the morning sun was peaking over the ridge and Melody was out cold in the back seat of the König's cockpit. Wolf laid the young woman in his bed since he had no idea which room was hers and didn't want to risk waking anyone, before he fell asleep in the desk chair; his feet up on the desk and Blaze curled up against the door to keep anyone from coming in at all.
When Melody woke up nearly ten hours after they got back, Blaze was standing over her, his smoke grey eyes staring into her bright hazels. She nearly flew through the wall trying to get away from him before her sleep addled brain remembered who he was.
"Blaze, what the hell boy?" the brown haired young woman muttered as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
*Wolf asked me to keep an eye on you,* the Organoid growled as he inched away from the bed.
"He probably didn't mean quite like that," Melody replied as she slipped off the bed, "Where is old blue eyes anyway?"
*Razor called him to the training field ten minutes ago, if my sense of timing is correct, we'll be able to leave the room without anyone noticing for the next five minutes,* Blaze growled with a chuckle when the girl's shot open as she figured out who's room she was in.
"Let's go, you go to Wolf, I'll be going to my own room."
*Wolf said to stay with you, even after you woke up.*
Melody felt a mix of emotions as the Organoid informed her of all his orders. She was flustered at the fact Wolf felt the need to look after her, annoyed that he thought she needed looking after and happy that Blaze thought well enough of her not to just leave like Tyrant might have. Before Blaze could make a move to get out of her way she hugged him around the base of his neck.
*You're lucky I'm not like Tyrant,* the red and black Organoid growled with a short hissed laugh, *At least in the fact I don't mind being hugged.*
"You woke up with a five year old for a new master," Melody said with a smile, "So you had to get used to it, Tyrant didn't."
*Four minutes and counting,* Blaze growled with a chuckle as she let him go.
Melody stuck her head out the door for a moment before running as quietly as she could to her door and ducking into the small room, Blaze only half a step behind her the whole way. She nearly hit the ceiling when Blaze closed the door with his tail since she hadn't heard him following her.
"How do you walk so quietly with such massive paws made of metal?" she asked as she headed for the closet.
*Practice, many hours of sneaking around the village and ruins with Wolf,* Blaze replied as he curled up on the floor.
"That doesn't even make sense, Wolf said you guys came from a sand road village, how is that the same thing?"
*It's not, but it does make one learn how not to leave a trail, that means silence as well as covering one's tracks.*
Melody was almost out of her shirt when Blaze curled up on the floor with a few loud scrapes of his tail, the Organoid turned his head to face the door when he noticed she'd turned almost as red his armor. He also heard her mutter something about kicking him out before she stepped into the bathroom to finish changing.
"Melody, training is over for the day, I need you to meet up with me and Wolf in the hanger," Razor's voice played through the radio she'd left on the desk.
The black and red Organoid got up and fumbled with the thing, nearly dropping it twice and juggling it a third time, before he got his claws the way he needed them to send a reply. The growling Wolf and Razor heard come back through the speaker had the black haired young man laughing his head off when Razor looked at it funny.
"Blaze says she's in the shower, probably be out in a few minutes and that he'd tell her," Wolf translated once he'd caught his breath, "He also mentioned something about more Organoid friendly radios, I didn't quite catch it all."
"And just what is Blaze doing with Melody in her quarters?" Razor asked with a knowing smile.
"Hey, you need to wipe that damn grin off your face before I do," the black haired man replied coolly, "She fell asleep in the König last night on our way back, I didn't know which room was hers so I stuck her in mine, and went to sleep in my chair."
"The gentleman ploy only works if you don't leave your Organoid to watch over her," the older blonde replied with a chuckle.
"I made that order last night, told him to keep an eye on her, make sure she didn't freak out waking up in the wrong room," Wolf laughed as he headed back towards his König.
"And he's still with her now because?" Razor asked with a teasing tone.
"I can threaten Blaze with dents, you on the other hand…I'll break your damn nose," the younger man replied with a cold tone as his eyes shifted to a light red, "Leave it…Now."
"Oooh, touchy. Alright, nothing happened and Blaze wanted to stay with her, probably to keep from getting bored," the blonde conceded, raising his hands with his palms out, "You know, for a guy as normally calm mannered as you, you're getting hard to predict as far as your emotions go."
"Don't like it when folk talk about a man and woman's private affairs like that, joking or not," Wolf replied with a serious tone, "Wouldn't want me joking about your relationship with Vanessa would you?"
"Point conceded, but still man, you really are getting a bit touchier recently, everything good?"
"Yeah, just first time in a long while that I've had someone I care this much about."
Wolf calmed his nerves a little before the two men started talking about his technique in the field and his improvements on the other ranges. Razor also added to some of the hand gesture training he'd received from Luna and Sarah Beth while they were on the courier drop off. It wasn't long before Melody and Blaze got to the hanger, the brown haired young woman looking a little embarrassed about something.
"Alright, you two are going out to hit a jewelry courier, one Zoid, combat grade, safe in the storage compartment," Razor said when they were all relatively close together.
"What kind of Zoid?" Wolf asked as he leaned against his König's massive silver claws.
"Not positive, Imperial built for sure, probably a Zaber or a Helcat," the blonde replied seriously, "We know it's fast and it's got a need to be hidden as much as possible, so I'd bet for Helcat."
"Thermal imaging in the open desert can be a little unreliable, the heat from the Zoid can be masked on top of that, let's hope we catch him with his camouflage off," Melody said with a slightly uneasy tone, "Why am I going? Tango or Lemur would be better backup in a fight."
"There won't be much of a fight, but the cover requires a female flyer, you're the only one of those we've got," Razor replied with a small chuckle, "You'll be the bait that makes him stop long enough for Wolf to get his shot."
"Telling me to crash my step father's Pteras?"
"No, worse than that in fact…I'm telling you to crash Tango's Redler."
"Imperial side of the border, and I'm in a König, you're not serious are you?"
"Unfortunately I am. I need a sniper on this job Wolf and no one else has a gun to cover a Helcat's radar range."
"Alright, but you're talking Tango into giving up his Zoid," Melody said with a more serious tone.
"He and Lemur both will get new ones if this job pays what it's supposed to," Razor replied with a chuckle, "I'll load the data to the Zoids and reload Wolf's ammo stores. Bomber, you'll fly empty, no sense in chancing a weapon's malfunction and more damage if all you're going to do is crash."
The König Wolf knelt down to let its pilot into the cockpit as Melody headed for the Redlers on the other side of the hanger. Wolf opened the ammo loading hatches and waited for the go while Melody and Tango went over the major differences in her Pteras and the Redler. Blaze was running around the König's feet as it went through self diagnostics and pawed the stone floor of the hanger.
"Blaze, get up here," the black haired young man said just as the loading was completed, Blaze floated up on a fan of red flames a moment later, "You can fuse up with the Redler, Right?"
*I can fuse with any Zoid, but the results may be different from when I fuse to the König,* Blaze replied as he hung just outside the cockpit.
"Do it, and pull her out, eject her or something so she doesn't get hurt in the crash."
*I'm sure Melody's reflexes are good enough to make a convincing play without her getting truly injured Wolf.*
"I'm sure they are, I still want you in that Redler for safety's sake."
*If she gets pissed off it's on you then,* Blaze growled with an 'I give up' sort of tone before he flew over and landed next to the Redler's cockpit.
A little less than a half hour later the König tore out into the open desert chasing after a bright red Redler with green wings. Melody had actually liked the idea of having Blaze as a safety net to the Organoid's surprise, when he'd fused with the Redler in the hanger nothing visibly changed, but the brown haired young woman could feel the differences as she played with the controls. She got pinned to her seat when Blaze took control and pushed it through a few maneuvers, showing off as much skill as Tango and Lemur.
"Alright Blaze back the throttle down, we're in Imperial territory and I need to get to my stand BEFORE you crash," Wolf said with a chuckle just before the Redler slowed down a bit.
"He wouldn't have crashed Wolf, he's a better pilot than I am," Melody said with a giggle as she re-took control of the Zoid.
"That's only because he's strapped right to the thing's brain," the black haired man replied with a shrug.
*I can hear you, you know that right?* Blaze growled through the private link to the König.
Wolf didn't reply at all since they were closing fast on where he thought would be the best spot for a sniper shot. The Redler climbed to two thousand feet before turning circles in the sky looking for their prey. Melody was playing around still getting used to things when Blaze alerted her to movement on the ground.
*Com signal matches, that's our prey, shall I scare you or can you act?* Blaze asked calmly from his place around the Redler's core.
"Scare me, if you can," Melody replied with a cold smirk just before the controls jerked out of her hands.
The Redler plunged straight down until at the last second Blaze managed to pull it out, skimming just inches off the sand. He then took the Zoid back up and started doing barrel rolls that had Melody screaming through Wolf's radio. The Organoid switched the radio over to the courier's frequency as he took an unstable but straight flight path.
"Mayday, mayday this is Redler five-two-three out of Guygalos, I've lost all control," Melody half shouted as the Redler went through another series of spins and loops, "Is anyone out there?!"
Wolf knew no answer would come unless it came from the courier since they'd tuned into his communications frequency for just that reason.
"This is courier five-baker-seven, I can see you over head, can you land?" a woman's voice broke the heavy silence in Wolf's cockpit as the black haired young man watched on.
"I don't think I'd want to try, something's wrong with the left wing, it's taking me all over the place," Melody replied with a shaky voice as the Redler started to spin towards the ground, "Oh shit! I've just lost all power to it!"
"Eject Redler five-two-three! EJECT!" the voice screamed.
Wolf watched as the Redler plunged for a few more agonizing seconds before the canopy flew off and the parachute opened. The Redler slammed hard into the ground right on the spot Wolf needed it to, he spotted the Helcat come over the dune a couple seconds later, and Melody hit the ground just as it came to a stop at the crash site. Blaze landed next to the König a moment later his head high and back straight.
*Never challenge an Organoid to a scare off,* he growled with one of his long hissing laughs.
"She won't make that mistake twice," Wolf chuckled as he spotted Melody on the ground, her face was ghostly pale and she looked like she might lose her last meal.
Wolf spotted his shot quickly once the courier was getting ready to run back to Guygalos for help. He squeezed off two shots, first taking out the com and then taking out one of the back legs of the Helcat, an easily fixed bit of damage so the courier wouldn't be totally stranded but it would force her to a slow limp at best. The woman was rendered unconscious by a sleeping gas grenade Melody had with her, the safe in the Zoid's storage compartment was moved to the König. Once they were well away from the sight Wolf decided it was a good time to radio in.
"Trazen Base this is Ghost, we've got our haul," the black haired young man said with a cool voice as Melody leaned out from behind him to see the screen.
"Ghost, well done, but turn towards Guygalos, you're getting those jewels fenced as fast as possible," Vailen's voice replied just before the screen showed his face, "You any good with locks Bomber?"
"I've picked a couple before, but nothing with a combination lock like this," Melody replied sounding a little worried again.
*I can handle the safe,* Blaze called from his favorite riding spot, on the König's back, right between the two front legs.
"Looks like Blaze is gonna be our locksmith, hope we don't have to save the safe," Wolf said with a chuckle as he turned the Zoid around.
It took them a couple days to get to Guygalos, Blaze had the safe open the first night after simply biting the hinges off and forcing the door open, bending the locking bars until the thing just fell away. Melody had taken to wearing a couple of the simpler pieces they'd found in it, but she knew she couldn't keep any of it since most of it was traceable. When they got to town Wolf sent Blaze and his König a good distance out and left Melody's hip radio in the cockpit so the Zoid could hear him call for it when they were ready to leave.
"I can't believe we jacked these jewels from a courier that just left here," Melody muttered as the pair made their way through one of the market places.
"Calm down, it's not like we're walking through town in Zoids, just keep a level head," Wolf whispered as he slid an arm around her shoulders and pointed at something, "Just blend in, like my sisters taught us right?"
The brown haired young woman took a calming breath and smiled at him, she didn't want to admit it, but his arm around her felt really nice.
"So let me ask you something, why did you look embarrassed coming into the hanger before we left on this shindig?" the blue eyed young man asked when he felt her relax, though her body immediately tensed with anger.
"Your damned Organoid," the hazel eyed young woman replied in an angry mutter, "Got to see what no one has seen since I've been able to bathe myself."
"You forgot he was in the room and stepped out of the bathroom naked huh?" the black haired young man chuckle.
Melody smacked him hard in the chest for laughing while turning a few shades of red as the embarrassment came back. Wolf went on to explain that Blaze would never be able to show anyone what he saw, nor would tell anyone since the Organoid knew a few things about keeping secrets.
They stopped a few times, Wolf buying a couple of oranges for them to snack on at one place, and a couple sandwiches as the day got later at another.
"Where is this guy's place?" Wolf asked as the pair walked down a back alley.
"It should be right here," Melody said looking at the map Vailen had sent them.
"Okay, let's try this door then," the black haired man said pointing towards a simple wooden door painted red.
He knocked twice, the door swung open immediately, and Wolf regretted knocking just as quickly. A man standing near twice his height with no hair stood in the doorway with a gun pointed at him. Wolf didn't flinch but he heard Melody shift a step back.
"You Razor's team?"
"Yup."
The man motioned them through the door and quickly shut it behind them; Melody set her bag down on the table and opened it before the man even asked. The jewels, according to the big man with the gun, were worth quite a bit but he'd need to get his expert in to check the total value. Wolf agreed to stay in town till the other man arrived, but the jewelry would stay with him and Melody until he did.
"You know Razor trusts me not to skip right?" the man said with a chuckle.
"He might, I don't," Wolf replied calmly as he picked the bag up.
"There's a hotel a block over, you can stay there for the night, my jeweler should be in by tomorrow morning."
Wolf simply nodded as he took Melody by the hand and led her out of the place. It took everything both of them had to keep from denying their cover story of a young couple on their honeymoon. Wolf made Melody take the bed and he slept on the couch until the next morning. They returned to the man with the gun, he seemed in a much friendlier mood as his jeweler told him how much the jewels were worth. Wolf managed to get a higher payout than even Razor expected because, despite still being several months shy of fifteen, he could be 'one scary asshole' as the jeweler put it. On their way out of town Wolf stopped in at a small licensing agency and got an Imperial courier's license and ID.
When they got back to the Trazen base after a week on the road, Razor told them to take a break in town for a few days to unwind after all the stress. Wolf and Melody spent nearly the whole time together, even sharing a hotel room, even though Wolf insisted on sleeping on the couch. Both their cuts from the job went to paying for Tango's new Redler so the rest of the money could go to the village.
