Chapter 5: Blood Brothers

~*~

Bit was daydreaming about his future zoid when the jarring of the injured Command Wolf tripping over something dragged him back to reality. "We're going to stop here tonight," said Brad as he carefully shut down the Command Wolf.

"I don't see how stopping here is going to fix the C. Wolf, shouldn't we just keep going?" asked Bit a little groggily.

"Don't think so," replied Brad as the cockpit opened.

"I already told you I'm fine; not that you care what I think," said Bit a little more harshly than he intended. "Unless you need sleep or something we should just press on." Brad turned to glare at the boy. Bit had been like this since the battle with the Helcats. He hadn't known Bit long but he was the kid didn't strike him as the irritable type. It was all starting to get on his nerves, he couldn't wait until he could unload Bit on the Commission and take off on his own again.

"I'm going to go get firewood," said Brad climbing out of his zoid.

"What?" asked Bit scrambling out of the cockpit. "It's going to rain."

"No it's not," replied Brad without looking back at him. "I think you've spent to much time in the desert." Bit glanced up at the sky and then back at Brad.

"Listen, I know when it's going to rain…"

"Oh really," answered Brad sarcastically.

"It's gonna be to wet to have a fire."

"No. It. Wont," replied Brad gritting his teeth. He took a deep breath and tried to regain his perpetual cool. "I'll see you later." And then he disappeared into the trees. Bit waited about a second before following him.

~*~

"You picking anything up?" asked Alex scanning their surroundings and seriously doubting they'd find anything.

"Not a thing," answered his companion Lorraine. "I didn't think we would."

Alex nodded. "If only that $h*t head Darry hadn't gotten us attacked by that patrol yesterday, we could have cut them off instead of having to risk going through with Altimarie's plan."

"Then it's true about you loosing your Raptor then?" asked Lorraine.

"Yeah, the computer system froze and that was it, the Commission would have been stupid to leave it," answered Alex. "Stupid piece of crap anyway, I'll take my Helcat anytime."

"Whatever, where'd Darry wreck his zoid? I bet we could salvage something."

"Once a scavenger always a scavenger huh Lor," said Alex grinning.

"Oh ha ha, let's just check it out before it gets dark."

"Whatever you say." Alex turned his zoid and took off in the direction of the wreck.

~*~

"Oh perfect," sighed Brad as rain suddenly pounded down without warning. Bit had been right after all. He scowled, for some reason that really annoyed him. As if that kid hadn't been annoying enough lately now he could predict the weather, he'd never let- Clank! Brad staggered backwards and looked up at what he'd walked into.

"What a stupid place to wreck a zoid," muttered Brad ruefully as soon as he figured out what it was. It was the leg of a rather large Rev Raptor. He could see the head lying a little ways away and the large chunk of metal off to his side was probably the rest of it. "Wonder what happened here?" he asked no one. Suddenly Brad's sharp ears picked up a loud thudding that could only be one thing. Quickly he ducked behind the remains of a large tree that had recently fallen.

Soon enough two zoids showed up. One was easily recognizable as a Helcat and the other looked to be a modified Saber Fang, both of course were painted in Draft colors. What are they doing here? Wondered Brad curiously. The two cockpits on the zoids opened and to young pilots jumped out, one boy and one girl, Brad placed them at about 17 years.

"Told you," said the boy turning to the girl. In the dim lighting could just barely make out their features; the boy was tall and skinny with light brown hair while the girl was shorter with nice auburn hair about mid-back length and a nice figure. "It's only scrap metal, nothing worth taking." Scavengers then, wonder if Bit knows them, thought Brad to himself.

"Maybe, can't really tell in this light," replied the girl bending down to examine the head. "Anyway, as long as we're here we might as well check for those people that Altimarie wants caught so much again. They've probably set up camp so lets forget the scanners and just comb the area."

"Why not just use the scanners? Altimarie can't complain about us wasting power if we're looking for something she wants," replied the boy sauntering back over to his helcat.

"Yeah, why'd she have those stupid extra sensitive scanners built if she thought they wasted to much power?"

"I have no idea." The two Draft pilots climbed into their zoids and headed off in the opposite direction.

"Time to go drag Bit out of whatever ditch he's fallen into and take off," said Brad standing up and running off in the direction from which he'd come.

~*~

Bit had indeed fallen in a ditch, or at least a hole. It'd happened a little over 20 seconds before the rain had hit making the walls of the hole hopelessly muddy. In the process of trying to escape Bit had shredded on the thorny bushes that grew rather inconveniently around the edge of the hole. In short the situation was rather miserable.

"Braa-aad!" shouted Bit finally swallowing his pride.

"Idiot!" Came an urgent hiss from above him. Bit looked up, in the all but faded light he could just make out the older man's features. "There are Draft soldiers wandering around looking for us, are you trying to get us caught?"

"How was I supposed to know?" asked Bit lowering his voice.

"How'd you get down there anyway?"

"I couldn't tell you," answered Bit smiling and feeling rather embarrassed. Brad rolled his eyes.

"I suppose you want me to get you out now?"

"That would be the idea." It was to dark for Bit to see that smile appeared on Brad's face. The mercenary dropped to his stomach and grabbed ahold of Bit's arm.

"Cr- what are these things?" asked Brad as one of the thorny bushes scraped across his face and tangled in his hair.

"We had them back home," said Bit and he struggled to get a foothold. "I always just called them Pricker Bushes."

"Ask a stupid question," muttered Brad as he finally managed to pull Bit out of the hole.

"Looks like that bush cut you pretty deep," said Bit touching the scrape on Brad's face and wiping off the thin line of blood. "Heh," said Bit looking at his own scratched and bleeding hands. "The kids back home you used to do something like this to make themselves 'Blood Brothers'."

"That's disgusting," was all Brad said. Bit shrugged and stood up.

"So which way's the Command Wolf?"

"You don't know?" asked Brad smirking to show that he obviously did.

"I was in that hole for a long time," protested Bit.

"I'm sure. Anyway, it's over that way."

"Oh… I knew that."

"Yep."

~*~

They found the Command Wolf quickly. In seconds they were sitting in the cockpit ready to go. "Now here's the hard part, do we turn on the Command Wolf and risk showing up on their scanners or do we wait here and hope they don't find us?" asked Bit watching Brad intently.

"Judging by the way they were talking about those scanners I don't think the Command Wold needs to be on for them to find us," answered Brad turning on the Command Wolf's computers. "Besides, I can't shut it down completely without the help of the computers they use to shut zoids off to do work on them."

"Oh," replied Bit confused.

"Crap," muttered Brad.

"What?" asked Bit alarmed, he glanced over at the Command Wolf's scanner.

~*~