All Standard Disclaimers apply. I own the plot, not the characters. And if there are any errors on the Lena, Bit, Brad and Jamie part, please don't hesitate to REVIEW and tell me. Have fun reading, and don't forget to look at my other works!

Remembrance

The ice-cold pain that numbed her body was doubled by the blizzard in her face. Her long ash white hair spilling over her shoulders and the red blazer did nothing to combat the vicious wind. Her chalky face paled even more from the numbing cold, and her boots were frozen with ice. Her blonde eyelashes were coated with frost; she had difficulty keeping her ruby red eyes open. Her knapsack full of provisions for what was supposed to be a hike was freezing, and growing heavier by the minute. She was dying. She could feel her heart slow down, even falter on occasions. Her sharp intake of breath was the only thing that kept her from being blown into total unconsciousness. She was in disbelief. She thought death would be warm, a letting go, surrounded by her many friends. Now, she was alone, freezing to death, without friends, or even family. Family she couldn't remember. She briefly sighed, wasting more final minutes, before letting go of the rock she was clinging to. She fell, hitting rocks with jagged edges and sharp trees. Finally, she felt nothing, not even the ice incasing her body. The mountain she had been scaling, the hills that had defeated her let wind whistle triumphantly through their valleys coated with thick snow, and for a long time, none knew of the treasure at the heart of the desolate mountain.

Thousands of years later, no one had missed the lone hiker that disappeared that day except a few, who searched for long periods of their life to find the lost girl. They looked in vain, for no one knew where she had last been seen. These select few passed down their quest, but finally, they gave up. The searchers died, and that era was lost. A new evolution passed the planet Zi, and the battles and sorrow of the past was not repeated. The remaining Zoids bound themselves to people, and remained with them throughout their lives. One Zoid in particular, a silver dinosaur shaped creature, would not find a human. It seemed to be searching for something, or someone, as though it's vermilion eyes could see a distant picture of the person it was chasing. Zoids were immortal, though their partners usually weren't. The silver organiod searched the world over, yet never found the thing it was looking for. It bonded itself to a young man, after his old, and beloved master died. The new master seemed similar to the old, with visions of illustrious fame dancing in his head, and a flame in his eyes. This blonde haired, green-eyed boy turned to his organiod for help, and they soon caught their dream by the tail. They piloted a Liger Zero, and joined a team of Zoids called the Blitz Team, along with Lena and Dr. Steve Toros (A.k.a. "Doc"), Brad Hunter, and Jamie Hemeros. This team rose to class S level, and clung there. It was during this era that a little hiker reemerges, and causes undiluted havoc.

The medics on the scene were in mass pandemonium. They had finally discovered something in this rock bottom site. Although the research team was mainly for excavations like buildings and structures from the 'Chaotic Century', petrified plants, animals and such were common findings. Yet this was one of the greatest finds of the century! The leader of the team hoisted a crane lever, and pulled up a great slab of ice. Dully gleaming, there was something in the center that people were getting excited over. Doctor Toros had been asked to come down, albeit he was a Zoid specialist. He stared at the looming chunk of solid water before gasping out loud.

"But-But it's impossible! A frozen child? This is a monumental find! It could alter history!" he shrugged his shaggy dark hair out of his face and continued to remark of the research teams' luck at such a specimen. He placed his palm against the grainy smooth of the ice, and shook his head in wonder. Just think, he thought, this person was probably hiking on this mountain when he died. I just wish we could get a clearer picture. He noticed a person out of the corner of his eye calling for a huge burner, but the Doc just stood there. When a few men in uniformed shoved him away, he glared at them resentfully, but they ignored him. Then, to his astonishment, the workers poured alcohol over the slab, and lit it on fire. He rushed forward, as if to somehow drench the flames, but was caught before he stepped two feet. To his enormous relief, the fire sizzled out when it reached the ice, therefore saving it. The Doctor was sighed. It could have harmed the body. He called out to the head of the group. He explained the situation, and said he would take it back to base, and thaw it with his extensive materials. When the foreman started to shake his head, the Doctor got on his knees and begged, promising to return it in a week, thawed or not. The manager finally agreed, and had his boys and girls wrap it up for shipping in an airtight chamber. Doc Toros, practically skipping with joy, hopped into his off road jeep and quickly drove back to base to gather the needed materials to thaw the giant ice cube. When he got there, he saw Lena throwing things, Bit running from said things, and Jamie reading quietly. Brad was no where in sight. Steve Toros sighed, and yelled for everyone, explaining the situation to only Jamie, who was the only one who understood anyway.

The block of ice had arrived, and had been dropped off near the entrance. Bit paled when he saw the ice, thinking they had to move it. Lena swiped him over the head, insulting him the entire time for the attempted kidnapping of her snack. Bit's new Zoid that had bonded with him Bit Lena gently on the leg, which set her off again about stupid Zoids with misplaced loyalty. Bit grinned ruefully, and ducked all her punches, but stared at the Zoid when he wasn't avoiding Lena. It always seemed so sad; he pondered, so depressed. Its eyes are always so sad and down cast that Bit never even asked about its former master and past. The beast was taller than Bit, though not nearly as tall as the Liger. He silently prayed that the organiod would stop being so unhappy. He was about to get his wish.

Doc Toros motioned for the organiod to inhabit the Liger, and push the great rock of ice onto one of the enormous heaters used to keep the base cool in the desert. These heaters gave off great amounts of heat, and were perfect for thawing something quickly. The great Zoid heaved the ice with little effort, and picked it up in its jaws to place it on the heater. The doc concluded the night, saying that he would check first thing in the morning how the defrosting had gone. Bit offered to help, and the doc agreed, so they both went to sleep earlier than usual to make up for getting up at five in the morning. Lena closed the hanger where the ice was stowed, letting the door shut with an air-escaping hiss. Silently, almost unnoticeably, water began to make its way out of its cold prison. The first part to appear was the person's feet, followed by her body, and then, finally, late into the night, the human who had been frozen was reborn in a new time. Her surprised weight collapsed on itself into a puddle of slush, and the unconscious youth slowly started to warm.

Van.Zeke.so.cold..

Her first thoughts were not for herself, until the cold sank in. She remembered falling down, spiraling through trees and rocks, then landing in the soft snow. She remembered.dying!

She bolted upright, then began screaming.

Bit was the first one to touch the access pad with his rushed fingertips; he could hear the first glass-shattering scream still. He opened the electronic door, then scrambled up to the heating pad where they had set the ice late yesterday. When he reached the pad, he stopped in his tracks, frozen as the ice had been. In its place was a huddled girl in her early teens with an oversized parka on. The red blazer could have fit a much larger person. The girl had an unbelievably pale face, with light blonde hair and crimson eyes the exact color of his organiods! He stared at the resemblance, not noticing his organiod come up behind him. Bit did however notice him when the unnamed Zoid roared with delight and ran over Bit to reach the girl. Bit was seeing stars as the girl stopped screaming and started sobbing instead. Brad, the ruthless mercenary appeared behind what was left of Bit, and Lena arrived with her father. Jamie arrived wearing his pajamas and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He woke up immediately though when he saw the girl. He rushed over, and began typing furiously on the main data processor located in this bay. He was hurriedly pulling up files dating back at least a thousand years earlier. The info was grainy half-truths and legends, but Jamie was an excellent computer analyzer. He picked up a photo, amazingly preserved in a computer's database at the ancient ruins of New Helic City, of people. An exuberant, tan girl with brown braids and a big grin smiled at the camera, with an older teenager with brown hair and an eye patch over one eye. There were two kids, a young boy with wildly spiked black hair and a ponytail behind him. He had laughter in his eyes and a smile on his face. Behind him, stood Bit's organiod with a cheerful grin on his face, and bright, alert eyes that flashed against the sun. Clapping her hands silently next to the boy was a young girl, with soft pointed hair, and a long loose end in the back. Her eyes were closed, but her pale complexion, the twin turquoise triangles and facial structure was identical to the girl in front of them. Wordlessly, Jamie gesticulated to the girl in the picture to the sobbing child in front of them. Lena gasped with shock, and nearly fainted. Brad paled, and stepped back, against the wall. Bit, still in a painful heap on the floor, widened his eyes in stunned silence. Suddenly fearful, the girl stopped crying and looked up to the strange people in front of her. Her hands were shaking, in fact, all of her was shaking. Lena was shaking too, but it was more from surprise that there was a three thousand-year-old girl in her Zoid hanger. The Doctor was trembling with excitement, and stepped forward.

"My.name.is.Doctor.Toros." he said slowly, as if talking to someone hard of hearing. The girl gripped the organiod and stood next to him. As she stood, her blazer started to fall off her slim frame. She grasped it with her other hand, and feebly held onto the Zoid that was nuzzling her. She stared with petrified eyes at her surroundings. Bit saw how warmly the organiod treated the mysterious little brat and stepped forward to grab him. As his hand brushed the air near the small Zoid, the girl stared at him with terrified and angry eyes. She held out her hand in front of his face, and said a whisper. He felt the air whirling in front of him around the girl, and found himself imbedded in the wall twenty feet away from the girl, who placed her trembling hand back on the organiods sleek surface. Lena and Jamie rushed over to Bit, but Bit, Brad and the doc just stared at the petite girl who had just tossed a grown teenager with powers not visible.

The organiod roared in pleasure, then opened up the girl's locked memories containing the power she had just unwittingly used. The Doctor stepped forward cautiously, making the silent girl's head turn toward him. The Doctor gestured in alarm towards the picture on the huge screen beside her that she had yet to see. When she did, tears started to course silently down her cheeks again, and she traced the young boys smiling face with a forefinger.

"Van" she whispered longingly, and that plaintive whisper held more yearning that Lena or anyone else knew existed. The girl tottered forward on unsteady feet towards the panels, and started to type. Jamie reached over to stop her, but the Doc motioned for him to remain still. He did, and watched the strange girl hack beyond files that he knew existed. He saw gigabytes full of knowledge dance from her fingertips, then saw what she had been looking for. It was another picture, this one no less recent then the others had been. It held a group of people, all older than the first picture, with the words 'Guardian Force' written in gold underneath the people. There, in the middle, was a couple, the young people from the other picture, only much older. The girl was there as well, with thick gold hair and red eyes. Somehow, during the long period of ice, the girl's body had metamorphosed to an earlier form. Standing in front of the Blitz team was a remembrance of the past, staring straight ahead into the future.

Lena was the one who finally got the girl into some decent clothes and bed. By that time, it was noon and everyone was worn out. The team decided to hold a meeting, and gathered into the usual place. Doc joined them.

"I think we should keep her." Steve started.

"She isn't some pet Zoid dad!" Lena said angrily. Her father backed down, and finished what he was going to say.

"I think we should keep her away from the media and news. You know how many archaeologists would pay to even talk to her? She could help Jamie with the base, and the Zoids and all." He finished triumphantly.

"You don't even know who she is. I found a file on her from the files she unlocked for us. Her name is Fiona Aleece Lynette. She was part of an elite team to protect harmony between the Republic and the Empire, both of which have now formed the ZBC. She was one of the only remaining ancient Zoidians who inhabited Zi before humans from the blue planet, also known as earth, crash-landed here. Zoidians are telekinetic and telepathic; they are also connected to organiods. That's why Bit's won't respond to him anymore. It's hers. Also, she went missing after trying to scale a mountain, looking for a rare artifact the Zoidians had. After the mountain storms passed that year, she didn't return." Jamie offered, stunning everyone into silence. Well, almost everyone.

"We could sell her," offered Brad in an offhand way, "She'd make a fortune being rented to Zoid pilots looking for Zoid interpreters." Lena turned on him angrily, and he shut up.

"How can you think of selling her into slavery when she's already been through so much? She's in the body of a twelve year old, with a mind as old as time!" she shouted. Bit stared sullenly at the floor.

"That's a little melodramatic Lena! Don't get all poetic on us. I want my Zoid back. My back hurts. I don't wanna have her here." He continued his rant until Lena slapped him where it hurt. On the back. He yelped, then ducked for cover as the Zoidian's savior came with an upraised hand. Brad shrugged, closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. Jamie watched the two roll on the ground with mixed apprehension and amusement. The sun high over their heads, the Blitz team decided to keep the girl around for a while.

Days later, Zeke was hounding the little girl, and the eager little changeling eagerly accepted his fond caresses. Bit watched the two with envy; he had lost the driving force beneath his power. But he thought it was odd, the girl seemed to only think, and the Zoid would be there, seemingly conversing with her mind. And that time she threw him against a wall with a gust of wind? Bit knew the girl could be helpful to there team, so just put on a cheerful smile whenever she was near him. Eventually, that smile grew real, and friendship bloomed between the team and their odd little mascot. For that was what she had become, not only an apprentice to Jamie and Doc, but a little sister to Lena and a helpful advisor to Brad. Her skill with Zoids was extraordinary, and they seemed to move at her thought, not mere touch. Lena's modified Gunsniper nearly blew its cannons when her small little hand touched a loose bolt.

The Doc watched all these proceedings with a close eye, and had Jamie report any others. Lena stayed with the pale, shy girl, and tried to break the shell of sorrow and remorse that seemed to cover the child like a comfort blanket. Persuasion never seemed to work, until the Blitz team had another run in with the Backdraft. Another illegal challenge provoked a hard answer from all the members. Doctor Toros decided that Jamie, Bit and Lena would battle the opposing team of three virtually unknown fighters. The instant Fiona understood what was happening she ran from the meeting room everyone was located in, into the Zoids hanger, followed closely by Zeke. She turned toward the silver organoid and nodded firmly. He opened his metallic chest, and silent snakelike cables slithered out to wrap around her prone form. She sighed, feeling the comfort of dissolving into Zeke, becoming one with her mentor and playmate from birth. He leaped into the Liger Zero, and Fiona found herself welling up with tears at the thought of how alike the cockpit was to Van's Blade Liger's. She pressed the button that would open the com-link to Jamie alone, and whispered through the mike the first words that she had spoken in a long time.

"Zoids are not tools or playthings. They are free spirits who live and die if they are hurt. I have seen enough Zoid deaths, and I am not going to let you hurt any Zoids." Her quiet, shy voice carried through Jamie like a beacon, for he knew her words to be true. Yet still, he knew that Zoids loved their masters, those that were not cruel, and willingly fought for them.

"Fiona, you can't take Bit's Zoid, he'll freak and you don't know how to fight!" he said it all very quietly to the mike underneath his ear, yet somehow Bit knew.

"What's she doing with my Liger? That wild thing will never let her ride him! Get her out! Now!" he started to run to the hanger, but the Doctor stopped him.

"Lets see whether she can officially join the Blitz team. I want to know where her fighting stance is. Register her Jamie."

"As good as done Doc!" Jamie said cheerfully, watching his little friend charge away to the battlefield. He suddenly turned to Lena, "Come on, we can't let her go out on her own!" the fiery haired girl suddenly turned pale.

"Uh oh."

Everyone turned to the vid screen she pointed to, and a large picture of the lonely Doctor Layon appeared, complete with smug smile and remorseful eyes.

"Dr. Toros, I believe that today is the day that I extract vengeance upon all that you have wrong me. You really are pathetic. Sending out one punt Liger versus my three updated Gunsnipers! It really is very stupid of you. And it will only cost you a mere one hundred thousand dollars!" the man laughed with vicious glee. He saluted the Doc, then turned off his connection. He then tried to establish a link to the lone pilot standing uncertainly in the desert. He pushed a button, and his face lit up with unhidden happiness.

"Let the games begin."

A pod burst out of the huge flying ship, headed straight for the ground. When it landed, a sinisterly black, maniacally laughing robot connected to the now-opened pod, burst out.

"Battle area secured, all fighters entered!" here the monstrosity giggled in a high voice. "Ready? Too bad! Go!" the robot sliced its metallic arms through the air, signaling the start of a battle to the death.

Fiona, a hundred yards off and in a strange Zoid found herself suddenly surrounded by large Zoids with many deposits of ammo strung around it's many guns. She sprang into action, leaping the Zoid high in the air, and crashing down on one of the Zoids. It collapsed under the Ligers great weight, and Fiona turned to next poor target. She brought out the sabers on either side of the great, cat-like Zoid she piloted, and cut of the poor Zoids legs, rearing it unable to move. The last Zoid was no trouble what so ever to the Zoidian, who used her powers of skillful understanding to bring the target down with her guns located beneath the shoulder armor.

Unknown to Fiona, she was being watched closely by the members in the ZBC, in one café similar to all the others, Zoid fighters watched an unknown pilot bring down three fighters, and get away virtually untouched. Their shock was furthered when the pilot made sure that the battle was over, and she had won, but a child dropped out of the cockpit and ran quickly over to the damaged Zoids. A child with long white hair, and pale skin. The camera managed to get a close up of her face, and part of the vid screen froze in a corner with the face on it. She ran to the Zoid with no legs first and put a tender, remorseful hand over the stump, with crackling blue electricity surrounding it. She concentrated, and spread her arms wide. To the Blitz team shock, she healed the Zoid and the others as well. As Jamie watched the pilots' statistics, he watched a growing danger blossom. The Zoids were perfectly fine, with peak performance levels, but only two of the three pilots were unconscious. The third suddenly sprang for the Liger, and in the process, Fiona was swept aside. With a surprised cry, she flew into the air and landed with a soft moan in the hard packed sand. The Liger, under assault, could barely help its human friend, while the Gunsniper used its razor sharp hands to tear the Liger to pieces.

Fiona, watching this development with shock, suddenly saw flames surround her vision. She had seen enough destruction to know that this wasn't exactly the same thing back in her time, but it was even worse. Humans brutally wounded Zoids in their endless exploit of lesser creatures. She reached into herself with her mind, and felt the power that Zeke had woken when he had first seen her. Her memories had flooded back to her the first time she had bonded with Zeke, and this time, she had been reunited with her Zoidian powers. Why not test her spells in a Zoid battle? Her mouth was set in a grim slash. She'd be just like the other greedy humans on Zi.

She turned toward the angered Gunsniper, and opened her arms. Palms cupped, she held them out as if making an offering to the God that the poor dead Reverend had believed in. She dug deep into her subconscious, and came back to her human form.

"Diarnos." She whispered, feeling shock waves surround her body, pulsing in time to her heartbeat. 'Capture' she thought, translating it in her head. Her hair floating behind her, Lena's old clothes slapping against her thin frame, she let the energy puddle into her hand and onto the sandy floor below. The instant the water-like, flowing energy touched the ground, it began slithering like a snake toward the rouge Zoid. It surrounded it, then formed a tight, pale green bubble around the Zoid. The Liger, finally freed, bounded around the desert like a newborn colt, frolicking in the mounds of sand made by drifting winds. Fiona smiled like a child at the free, careless happiness of the Zoid; it was the first she had smiled in a long time. Fiona turned expectantly toward her bubble of power, and found the poor Zoid limp, its pilot unconscious at last. She focused her Zoidian powers, and brought the energy streaming back to her. She smiled again, her own smile.

Now that Fiona had unlocked her powers, she could repay Lena and Jamie for their kindness at helping her through her troubles. She happily skipped over to the Liger, acting like the child she looked like. She did not know that battles were recorded from cameras, or that Doctor Layon had also received a recorded image of the battle. Fiona did not know many things. Alteil, Sarah and Doctor Layon, all of the Backdraft and the entire world are now aware of the precious jewel the Blitz team holds in their possession.

Fiona's ride home was not a short one. She had run a long way from base. She had time to muddle out a few thoughts, and when she reached base, she jumped from the Zoid to the ground. The team had assembled. Mainly, they came to see if she was safe and unharmed. She rushed into Lena's arms, crying for some reason unknown to the group. They found out a few hours later when Lena did a check on her vitals. She had broken her left arm. Doc braced it, and Brad applied a sticky substance to it, making it solid in seconds. Her cast complete, Fiona walked over to Bit, and laid her head on his shoulder. She whispered how sorry she was for taking the Liger, and how uncomfortable she made him around the base, and she apologized for throwing him into the wall. Bit nodded, his spiky blonde hair waving in the air. He smiled at her, forgiving all past deeds and starting a new slate. Brad leaned against the doorway, silently waiting for a childish face, or the 'hello' she usually said to him in the mornings. She practically ran to him and hugged him with one hand. He awkwardly placed his hand on the small of her back, and returned the hug. Jamie got a hug too, and a few whispered comments. Doc stood there, watching the little girl he had literally melted come toward him. He motioned for her to come with him, and she followed, with a small smile on her lips.

The Doc pushed her into the office, and started talking quickly.

"Fiona, listen. I have a dilemma that I need your help with. You see, you were melted out of a giant ice cube, and the team that had found you up on that mountain wants the remains of your body. They phoned yesterday. They don't know you are, in fact, alive. So what should I do? You've got to hide all day tomorrow in Lena's bedroom, and I want to make sure you want to stay with us. If you went with these people, you could tell them so much about your ancient culture! Think about the book deals! The movie rights!" the Doc got stars in his eyes as he babbled on about moneymaking ventures. Fiona smiled shyly again and whispered a "No," for the Doctor to hear. He definitely heard, but went on talking. Inside, he was pleased that she had decided to stay. Lena was making her out to be her daughter, and it seemed like just about everyone appreciated her quiet helpfulness. Fiona turned and left, leaving the abandoned Doctor to play with his Zoid models.