Arizda: *eats some chocolate pudding and listens to her Jimmy Eat World CD (hehe, I own one of those! ^_^)* Hm, hey, this stuff is pretty good! :D NEway, back to the story......... will Bit, Kashie, Dominik, and Izumi be able to rescue Runa from the horrid Star Confederation? And why is Kashie talkin' trash about the boss of The Alliance? He can't POSSIBLY be that bad, can he? And what is to become of Runa while she's away, bleeding like hell, in the same room with the Crimson Bullet? And WHY has Zero shown her so much sympathy? Err, I dunno, why don't you read? Mebbe we'll BOTH find out! ^__^ *passes out chocolate pudding and Kudo Bars*. Oi, I had to paint a trailer... :( That took forever, but lol, I r back! :D

Disclaimer: I r a happy-go-lucky girl right now, but I do not own Zoids. :) I own Runa, Midnight, the kewlie Epello Area and some other stuffk that I have already stated, and I do not feel like trying to remember all of the stuffk right now. U can read now. I'm done. ^_____^ Too busy eating chocolate pudding. Mmm... it's WAY better than these Kudo Bars... : p


IIIII




Four Zoids rushed out of The Alliance Hangar at once, all in a hurry. The Slashback Spino, pilot Kashie Kirazuna; The Shadow Dancer, pilot Izumi Twilight; The Blade Liger, pilot Dominik Jackson, and The Berserk Midnight Land Marlin, pilot Bit Cloud. He couldn't take the Liger 0 with him this time around... he felt that he had to return Midnight to it's rightful owner.

"Okay, here we go, we're heading for coordinates -7 to 61, Quadrant II in the Epello Area. That's where The Star Confederation is--way out and obvious. Once we start going up the -7 bar in Quadrant II, it'll pretty much be in sight when we cross the 31 area on the y-axis," Bit replied, trying to explain where the base was when he had marked his map.

"I'm followin'," Kashie replied. He took the lead, knowing most of the shortcuts around the areas. He had been all through Zi and back again many times. By the time they had gotten to Quadrant II, however, it had become somewhat obvious that there were five Zoids instead of four.

"HEY!" shouted the pilot of the fifth Zoid. "YOU! I know who you are! I crossed paths with you when you were chasing Zero down in that Liger of yours!" She was referring to Bit, no doubt.

"Wha?"

"YEAH!" the young matriarch voice shouted. Izumi sighed. A face appeared on the screen in front of Bit. It was the face of a young female, one that he HAD crossed paths with.

"I'm Tigra! Let me follow you, I know where you're going!" she replied.

"Oh yeah? Then where ARE we going?!" Izumi shouted.

"To The Star Confederation," Tigra answered. Her TerraCat ran behind the Blade Liger. "You're going to rescue a friend of yours, aren't you!?"

"How do you know?" Kashie asked.

"Because, I know the man who took her! Let me help you, please!" Tigra pleaded.

"Don't you have somewhere to be? Won't your guardian's be worried?" Dominik asked.

"Hey, for your information, I HAVE no guardians! I was orphaned at the age of two and a half, okay! From then on, anyone that I've ever been with has always abandoned me! Zero did the same thing, he ditched me as soon as he got me! Let me follow you, and help! What else have I got to lose?!" Tigra shouted.

"We can't let you get hurt, sorry! You aren't tied in with The Alliance, anyway. It would just complicate things, because then The Confederation would end up getting forces from different teams, seeing as how we got you," Izumi replied.

"All of this stupid stuff about... about sides, and whatnot... about wars... all of this is just shit, I'm sorry! That's all it is! If I can't help, then know this... when I die, I'll die at an early age, and I'll die alone. Why? Because I was ditched to fight war."

And those were the last words that Tigra spoke before Dominik started to talk.

"Anyone who feels they have to fight must." Tigra's ears perked up at hearing this, and nodded. "The good thing is that you have picked a side. If you fight for what you believe in, it is considered honorable. If you fight just for having the chance to fight alongside company, it is not considered honorable. If you don't fight, but have faith for what you believe in, and believe in those that are fighting for what you believe in, their deaths are considered honorable."

"I... I get it. I'm still going to help, though," Tigra replied.


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In half an hour, Tigra, Izumi, Bit, Dominik, and Kashie had come within the coordinates of The Star Confederation. They were all hiding amongst the thick trees and brush that surrounded the area. Tigra was the first to silently jump out of her Zoid. Dom jumped out of the cockpit of the Blade Liger and swiftfully landed next, and stood next to Tigra. Izumi, Bit, and Kashie came out, next.

"I'll distract," Tigra decided.

"Then you'll be with me," Dominik replied. Tigra nodded. She felt the white streaks in her hair slowly beginning to stand on end, ready to emit shards of ice.

"Time to cut the sentiment and start the trouble I'm known for..." she muttered to herself, smirking. Izumi quietly loaded her pistol, as Kashie pulled out a strange tool used for breaking into security systems.

"Might you want to arm yourself, Bit?" Dom asked.

"Nah... I'm good..." Bit replied.

"Okay, this is what I've come up with. Tigra, you and Dom run in to distract the guards on the count of three, and then, I'll run in with Izumi to break the security while Izumi shoots down the rest of the guards. Then, Bit, you run into The Confederation and... and then Izumi and Chemuk should follow in behind you, while the rest of us try to protect your back," Kashie explained. He felt his heart tighten up as he got ready to count down. "Okay... good luck... three... two... ONE!"


Dominik and Tigra ran into the scene, Tigra landing foot first into one of the guards. The Confederation itself was just a large base in the form of a slug. Since it was still around 5:00 in the morning, the sun not even showing a brief sign of itself till 8:00, the moon was still quite visible. Dominik landed several hard kicks and punches toward the guards that came his way. He watched sickles of ice form from the white streaks in Tigra's hair, and fly out in random directions as she landed several drop kicks. A talent he must ask about. Then, Kashie took Izumi's hand and ran up to where the closed gate to inside The Star Confederation was.

"Watch my back, okay?" he replied, and then began to connect his tool to the system to hack it. Izumi nodded, and shot at several guards.

"What happens when they start bringing the Zoids in?" she asked, brushing some of the wisps of her black hair from her face.

"Oh, well then they start bringing in the Zoids and everything fuckin' sucks for us," Kashie answered. Bit watched the guards fall one by one, and when he saw his opportunity, he ran through the path, and just as he had started, the gate to The Confederation had opened. Kashie and Izumi fell in after him, leaving Dominik and Tigra to finish up the work out front. When it was clear that no guards were standing, they ran in, too.

"Yus, we did it!" Kashie silently cheered. "We're in!"

"Yeah, but now everyone knows that there are intruders inside! We have to be sleek when we move! Come on, Chemuk, we're looking for 'Runa'!" Izumi whispered. At the mere mention of 'Runa', Chemuk instantly knew who she was looking for. Her nose met the ground, and she began sniffing for the scent of Runa, whom she knew well, for Izumi had been good friends with Runa. Bit looked behind him to see two or three unknown figures beginning to walk down the hallway that they were currently walking down. He beckoned for the other four to hide with him in the closest room that he could see. It was a weapon storage room. Perfect.

"Okay, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to take Izumi and Chemuk to find Runa, while the rest of you try to figure out as much as you can about this confederation, since you obviously need to," Bit whispered.

"I'm fine with that!" Izumi agreed, reloading her pistol.

"Will you be okay, though?" Kashie asked. "I mean... I thought we were going to all go in on this... to-ge-ther..." he finished.

"I... I know, but I sorta... feel like I want to do this one on my own... but I need Chemuk to find Runa, and Izumi and Chemuk obviously go together..." Bit replied. Kashie smirked.

"That's right, that's right, I remember," he said. "Be careful, peeps."

"Aye!" Izumi whispered, silently following Bit out of the storage closet with Chemuk.



~--=--~--=--~--=--~--=--~--=--~--=--~--=--~




"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU LOST IT!!!" Miyuki screamed at the top of her lungs. Paul scratched the back of his head and backed away at the enraged Miyuki.

"Hey, hey, now, remember, I wasn't the one who left it here..." Paul said. Miyuki took a deep breath and started to pace back and forth.

"Dammit, I can't believe Zero didn't take better care of Setsunakute Ii! Now she's been STOLEN! He's gonna PAY!" Miyuki shouted, gritting her teeth.

"Calm down, we still have time to find it..." Paul replied. Miyuki folded her arms.

"Nyah, where do you think it could be?" she asked. She was quite angered when Paul shook his head.

"I bet some little punk stole it. We don't have leads or anything," he answered.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, some little punk!? I'll have you know, not everyone can pilot Setsunakute Ii! You have to have special qualities, like me! Otherwise, Setsunakute Ii wouldn't go ANYWHERE!" Miyuki shouted. Paul sighed.

"Well, what do you expect me to do about it?" he asked.

"I expect you to get up and help me find her!" Miyuki yelled. She straightened her visor a little bit and hopped into Paul's Iron Kong, behind the seat. "Okay, I have an idea. I bet you anything that The Alliance has Setsunakute Ii. Let's go."

"What!? We aren't going to The Alliance! Jean L'Petite will have us shot down!" Paul shouted. He recieved a hard glare from Miyuki.

"We're going to get my Zoid back, Paul. Do you have a problem with that, or are you just an idiot?" Miyuki asked. Paul sighed and nodded. Miyuki had her times when she was even more evil than he was.



^.-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-.^



About halfway down the entrance hallway (which was very long, I should state), Bit was already on his own with just Izumi and Chemuk, without Kashie, Dom, or Tigra at his back. They had hidden themselves well near the entrance to shoot down any Confederation workers that might chase after them. About 70 yards of hallway stretched down and was called "the entrance" for ya, and then there was a corner to be turned.



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Arizda: *passes out chocolate pudding, slim jims, twix/crunch bars, and the occasional found.on.road.dead animals for Crimson.* Hehehe... yuuusss, here we go, now we are actually INSIDE of The Star Confederation! What shall become of all da peepses? Will they get caught? How is Runa holding off? And... um... hehe, will Paul and Miyuki ever find the Setsunakute Ii? : p Well, in order to find out, yer gonna have to read on! And don't worry, this story isn't even close to it's end. : p I still have lots planned. =I O yah. Go me!