Finally, on to Part 2! No more introductory chapters! Please review and enjoy!

Part 2

Chapter 4

            The sounds of battle rang loud and clear amidst the silent desert setting. After a few weeks vacation, the Ace Team was back in action and was showing a great improvement. Part was because of the addition of Gin to their team, and part was because of a new sense of reason. Now that they had a goal to work to they felt that they were invincible, and it showed in their battle style.

            "Ultima Team, regroup!" The main Command Wolf of the opposing team ordered, pulling his own zoid back from an increasingly difficult showdown with Lyle's Gunsniper. "This team is amazing! I can't see how the Crimson Team could have beaten them!"

            Rayne had been sitting patiently at the edge of the battlefield, her Lightning Saix poised for action. Gin was remaining nearby, although she took shots at the enemy when they drew near. It was a fairly uneventful battle, and the Ultima Team acted predictably throughout the whole match thus far. It was a matter of time before they made a fatal mistake. And it looked like that had just happened.

            The three Command Wolves huddled within twenty meters of each other, debating on their next action. Bad move. Rayne instantly prodded the controls of her zoid, flying forward towards them. She was still out of range of their radar but getting this over with quickly was the key. She flipped on the boosters and sat back in her seat, weathering the pressure laid on her body by the sudden increase in speed. By the time the other team realized their mistake it was too late, Rayne was practically on top of them. It took her a couple of practice shots to get herself used to the shaky controls of the speeding Saix but soon she had mastered it as if she were jogging along. It took three shells to down the first Command Wolf, and only two to take out the next, but the third proved to be a pain.

            Although it was a battle that was clearly one sided, the leader of the Ultima Team pressed on, avoiding Rayne's initial onslaught by a fraction of an inch, escaping critical damage, barely. Now he had launched his own attack but his shots were seemingly random as he fired at the much more agile Lightning Saix. All of his shells missed their mark, and none of them came within ten meters of the zoid.

            "Stop dodging and come in here and take me on! Stop being such a coward!" A slight smirk betrayed Rayne's stoic expression as she changed direction and charged. The Command Wolf began pulling back and found itself in a corner, stuck between loss at Rayne's hand or loss at Lyle's or Gin's. Either way the Ultima Team was destined to drop a full Class for this loss. As Saix passed its target, a fleeting moment of anxiety fluttered through its pilot's mind. 'Did I hit the mark?!'

            The Command Wolf fell, its back mounted gun taken clear off of its back by Saix's claws. It was an easy victory for the Ace Team.

            "The battle is over! The battle is over! The winner is… the Ace Team!"

            About an hour after their battle ended, the Ace Team entered the After Battle Eatery, eager smiles on their faces. It had been a while since they'd come here, since they hadn't fought many battles recently. Lyle and Gin walked ahead of Rayne, but only by a couple steps. Rayne sped up her pace for a moment before she was right behind them. With a sigh she flopped forward, leaning on both Lyle and Gin for support, though she still walked along behind them. They both glanced back at her and Lyle raised an eyebrow.

            "What's wrong with you?" She had a dazed appearance, almost as if she were daydreaming.

            "I was just thinking about the look on my brother's face when he realizes we're serious about fighting him again… It would be great to get revenge on the Crimson Team, don't you agree?" Five sets of ears perked at her statement.

            "You're the Ace Team, huh?" Rayne stopped short of continuing on when she heard someone address them. She turned around slowly and nodded.

            "Yeah." At first she wanted to ask who had asked but five sets of eager eyes were fixed on her. Now she knew who it was. It had been a while ago, but she remembered seeing them all before. Probably on TV.

            "Nice battle against the Ultima Team. You really dominated." Both Lyle and Gin had turned around by now, joining their team leader at the base of one of the tables.

            "Thanks." She blushed a little, realizing that the compliment had come from Bit Cloud, the very Zoid Warrior that had won the last Royal Cup tournament.

            "Maybe you'll be in Class S someday. Can't wait to battle you all." Jaime, Leena, Brad, and "Doc" nodded their agreement. Jaime smiled.

            "You know…" he paused before continuing on, "You pilot a little like Jack Sysco, relying on your speed and all, and so far it's been working for you. Bet you spend some serious time coming up with new tactics for your battles." Rayne nodded lightly, blushing even more from being compared to the mercenary that piloted his own Lightning Saix. Lyle and Gin hadn't said a word. The younger pilot just stood dumbfounded at having at least seen the Blitz Team up close, even if he hadn't said anything. Gin was as calm as ever, that woman rarely changed.

            After conversing for a little while, the Blitz Team eventually had to leave. It was time for one of their own battles. Rayne, Lyle, and Gin settled themselves into a table that could easily see the TV at the front of the diner. They ordered a light meal and stopped eating as soon as the familiar scene popped up on the screen. The distant voice of a judge, distorted by the television, announced the usual battle area and rules before announcing the beginning of the fight. Rayne, who had been nervous earlier talking to the Blitz Team, didn't manage to catch who they were battling against. It began quickly, Bit's Zero Jager taking up the attack and downing one of the opposing zoids in a few minutes, and ended just as fast, Leena and Brad's zoids taking out the last two with a couple of shots. An easy victory against a team that was obviously out of their league.

            "Who didn't see that one coming?" Lyle leaned back in his seat. "Hey Rayne?"

            "Yeah?"

            "If Gin gave you a new zoid, why haven't you used it?"

            "The controls to an aerial zoid and the controls to a ground-based one are really different. I haven't really grasped the whole 'up is down, down is up' thing, if you know what I mean. That and I'd swear it had a temper…"

            "In a way, it does. Just be nice to it and-"

            "Wait… Okay, let me get this straight. Rayne's zoid has a temper and we should be nice to it?!"

            "Yes."

            "How?!"

            "It's actually very simple. The Storm Sworder is organoid compatible and has an Organoid System."
            "Meaning an organoid is juctioned to that zoid." Rayne leaned back. That was one bit of news she would have been willing to miss. A normal zoid was hard to maintain, let alone one with a temper. This was going to take some getting used to.

Okay, yeah, I know. Cheap shot giving her an organoid system but I hit a major writer's block. But, also, having that system isn't going to make her some invicible fighter so look forward to plenty of twists in the plot later on. Please review, and thanks for reading my story.