Legacy of the Ancients

Chapter Four: From the Ashes

By: Sci-Fi-Raptor

Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids, but I sure wish I did! (but everything I made up is MINE MINE MINE!)

The desert is a vast wasteland, offering no shelter to the weak, and only misery and pain for those that can bear it. This particular desert once supported life, a diverse community of species that depended on each other, and supported themselves and their ecosystem. This particular desert used to house a lush rainforest that was bordered by a great city. This city was home to the President of the United People's Alliance, a faction of the Ancient (Zoidian) race that was destined to rule over all of Zi. Throughout this great city's history, it was a city, a military base, a Capitol, an Empire, and finally a Spaceport. The last of the city's populous disappeared with the incoming meteors that marked their civilization's Armageddon.

After the Armageddon, the planet was scorched, deprived of all the life that it once housed, and life less; it became a barren wasteland. But after eons of dormancy, the first of a great line of human ships came to seize the planet as their own. The massive terraforming projects took place, bringing the once dead planet, back to its greatness once again. But the original inhabitants did not just leave the planet without a legacy, a destiny, one which has finally been put in motion. But the destined has a choice to make once she reaches the cross roads. Will she save those that she has made her new family, or will she let her old memories, and hatred steer her into a course that will doom this planet once again?

But this is not of any concern, not at the moment. This particular desert is our area of concern. This desert was untouched by the terroformers, and left to rot, until a lucrative organization (the Back Draft organization) came to conquer it. They succeeded where others had failed; they had made it their home. But it is home no more. The Ancient's Legacy has struck it, with a power that destroyed all those that crossed it…except for one. He has come back to rebuild his from the ashes. And he will get it by turning the Ancient's Legacy's power against it…

Jani was mad. He was really, really mad; no he was in a rage. He had almost lost his dream (again) because of that stupid relic. The High Council of the Back Draft group was not satisfied with his cover story. Though they did not charge him with any fault for the catastrophe, they threatened to cancel the whole project if he failed to salvage anything from the site. In a desperate attempt to keep his dream alive, Jani begged the council if he could search the site and research anything that remained. The hesitantly agreed, but said failure of his operation would result in him being kicked out and blacklisted. So he went back to the site to search for anything that might have survived the assault…

His Hummer trudged through the piercing desert wind until he finally reached the site. All there was to see was desert wasteland, just like everything around him.

"This will take years to search through" Jani said to himself in annoyance. "How did a archeologist o my caliber become lowered to the class of a janitor?"

The next morning…

Leena woke up on the right side of the bed for once; she was still smiling. She was in Zoid battling for the thrill and exhilaration, something she thought she could never replicate outside of battle. She was still right in that line of thinking, but last night's experience far surpassed the thrill of a Zoid battle…

She was about halfway awake when she realized that something was missing, she could no longer feel Bit's arms around her, or the warmth radiating from his body. She started fearing that it was all just a wonderful dream, and she was still in the hover cargo en-route to the hot springs, but she could hear Bit's voice and she knew it was alright. Though half-asleep, she could partially make out what he was saying.

"…ya, she doesn't know about us… hahaa, she doesn't suspect a thing… of course I still love you… its pretty, isn't it?... I think she's gonna wake up soon, so I'll talk to you later. Ya, bye."

What Leena just heard was starting to upset her. What was his conversation about? Was he already going out with someone? Was he already cheating on her? (less than n12 hours, a new record! Ahh, my spine ~in the background~ "you sniveling rat, how could you do this to me? (sob sob)) She was about to ask him all those questions, but she was already in denial, and she had more trust in him. Besides, he was already back in the bed and snuggling in with her.

"Hey sleeping beauty" said Bit, but added "What's wrong" when he noticed that she had been crying.

"Oh nothing…" she said assuringly "Except trying to figure out what to do when you came back!" she said, back into the happy mood she woke up in. She closed the distance between them and… lets just say, when Bit got out of bed again, his hair refused to go back to its original position.

Sometime later, the two got a call, and Leena insisted that she answer it. It turned out to be Naomi.

"Morning Leena, me and Brad are gonna get some grub. You guys wanna tag along?" said Naomi loud enough for Bit and Brad to hear.

"Sure, just give me a few minutes to change" said Leena also loud enough for Bit and Brad to hear. Leena just had her blanket covering her.

"Just call us when your ready" said Naomi, in the same volume. Then in a volume only Leena could hear "remember our wager?"

"Of course" said Leena loud enough for only Naomi to hear. Then in a voice loud enough for the boys to hear. "Alright, see ya later"

A few minutes later, Leena was changed and told Naomi that they were ready. She didn't wait for Bit to change, since he changed before she woke up. Leena and Naomi had rooms opposite of each other, sp when they left their rooms, they saw each other. The ladies exited first.

"Morning Leena, still up for our wager?" asked Naomi. She was referring to a wager that they made en-route to the guys in the hot springs. If Leena and Bit became an item, their wager would be valid, where whoever ruffed their respective guy more would get to eat the other's dessert for the night, since they planned to double date again.

"Of course, lets wait to see the merchandise" replied Leena.

Bit and Brad came out at the same time, and when they saw each other, they burst out laughing. In his fit of laughter, Bit managed to say

"You too?"

"Ya" replied Brad, assuming he was talking about last night.

Bit's hair was a mess, well, messier than usual. His clothes looked like he just came out of a Zoid battle, if not a fist fight. Brad was no better. His hair was ruffled, but not as ruffled as his clothes or pride.

"…I think it's a tie" Naomi finally said.

"Me too" replied Leena. They all headed to the food court.

When they got there, they saw Jamie sitting next to a pretty woman that some of them thought they had seen before, but no one really knew her. They decided to investigate.

"Hey Jamie, who's the chick?" asked Brad.

"She's my little lad… Ow! Sorry, I mean her name is Pierce" he replied. They all got introduced to each other.

"You guys wanna sit with us?" Jamie asked

"Why not, get to know your friend there better" replied Naomi. Everyone sat down except Bit.

"Oh man, I forgot something back at my room, I'll be back real quick" Bit exclaimed.

"You want me to come with you?" asked Leena.

"No" said Bit flatly and ran away.

"What was that about that all about?" asked Naomi.

"I don't really know…" replied Leena, starting to remember what she had heard that morning. He came back a few minutes later, showing his wallet.

"Sorry guys, don't know how I forgot" said Bit. He sat down next to Leena and put an arm around her. She responded by putting her arm around him, and rested her head on his shoulder.

Being a Monday, the restaurant was having a special, Morningside Platter (I'm not good with names). It consisted of pancakes with maple syrup, omelets, toast and a side of hash browns. It also included coffee, tea, or juice. Everyone but Jamie ordered it. Jamie ordered an egg sandwich and some juice, since he was a light eater. When everyone was done, Jamie asked Bit how he and Leena hooked up, since they were literally at each others throats during the trip to the springs.

"So Bit, why did you and Leena hook up? You two were at each other's throats the last time I checked…" inquired Jamie. (I know, I know, I just said that).

"Well, it turned out the Leena and I actually liked each other the whole time we just could never get the courage to hook up" replied Bit.

"I see" replied Jamie, who lost the look of confusion on his face he had on since he and Pierce were joined by the two couples.

"So," Bit asked "how did you and Pierce get hooked up? I don't think I've ever seen Pierce, but her name does ring a bell"

"I think Pierce should explain, since she had a more complicated situation" replied Jamie.

"Ya, that is true…" she said "hmm, lemme see where I should start… Ok, the first time Jamie and I met was during a Zoid battle. Back then, I was undefeated as a Back Draft pilot. Well, during that battle, he decided to nickname me "Little Lady", and that infuriated me. SO I decided to teach him a lesson, but he still managed to beat me. I don't think I'll ever forget that cocky "Wild Eagle" smirk he had on his face when he left (at the time of this conversation, Jamie did not turn into the Wild Eagle anymore. The skills were a part of Jamie now, not the Wild Eagle). So I basically got obsessed with him for two reasons. The first one was obviously revenge, something that consumed me until the end of my Back Draft service. The other was an attraction to him that I couldn't lay a finger on. So I fought him in a few more battles, but I lost every one, even one where I had a Gojulas backing me up." Jamie blushed from the obvious comment. "Then I fought a final battle for him, one where I wagered my life, since my superiors where being embarrassed by my losing streak, and said I would either win, or die. Fighting was my life, so I had to take the deal. We had an intense battle and I lost as usual. But instead of leaving me there to die, Jamie, not the Wild Eagle, got me out of there and saved me from the Storm Sworders sent to get both of us. While trying to get us out of there, one of them shot down my Storm Sworder, and I had to eject, but Jamie caught me in his cockpit. When I was in the cockpit seeing him fight, I saw that I should have never even attempted to fight him; I wasn't in his league. Before I passed out, all my rage and hate that consumed me was gone. Jamie and the Doc pulled some strings and got me a new identity, and I started a new life. But me and Jamie kept in touch with each other since then, and our attraction became love. Yesterday was the first time we've seen each other since then, and last night…" Pierce was gagged by a red faced Jamie who said:

"I think that's enough". Jamie calmed down, and everyone else started laughing. Then Bit and Leena chanted in unison: "Jaime and Pierce, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes… AH! My eyes! They burn" Jamie had flung salt and pepper dispensers at the two. Leena was lucky that the pepper dispenser had missed her, but Bit was hit flat in the face. Bit promptly jumped up and ran to the bathroom, faster then the Liger 0 Jager.

30 minutes later…

"What's taking him so long" said a concerned Leena.

"Maybe I overreacted…" said an ashamed Jamie.

"Nah, I do that to him all the time" replied Leena as she got up "I'm gonna go check on him"

"Well, since everyone is done, the rest of us will head to the waterfall, and you can meet us there when you finish handling the situation."

"Alright, see you guys later"

"Bye" they said in unison, and headed to the water fall.

Leena headed to the men's room. She started thinking that Bit had lost his way toward it, since she had to make many turns to reach it. When she finally did reach it, she saw Bit and her worries disappeared. She was about to call him, when she saw another woman next to him. She looked exactly like bit, except she had orange hair, was slightly shorter than him, and of course, was female. This morning's secret phone call came back to her "she doesn't suspect a thing." They appeared to be talking, so she backtracked and eavesdropped into their conversation.

"Ya, its perfect. Just do the finishing touches to it." Said Bit to the woman.

"See you later then Bit" said the woman, and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Then she ran off.

Leena, shocked from what she had just seen, ran back to the table, not able to think of anything better, a trail of tears following her.

When Bit came back, Leena intended to give him a piece of her mind. But when she saw his face, she almost cried…or laughed. His eyes were bloodshot, and puffy; he looked like he had been crying for some time. She then decided that she loved Bit too much to be mad at him. She hoped against all hope that what she saw was not what it seemed. She hoped he had a reasonable excuse for being with that woman.

The rest of the week past by without incident. But Someone is stirring from a deep sleep, and a surprise awaits him when he wakes up…

The garage was a desolate place. It was lifeless, but alive. All the humans had been replaced by a mechanized system, that was "far superior and efficient" than any human was. Sparks and pilot lights were the only things that pierced the darkness, repairing and refitting the Zoids of other guests at the hotel. All the Zoids had lost the fire and will for battle to the mandatory shut down. Even the now legendary Liger 0 had fallen to this fate. Liger (as Bit and other eventually referred to him) had laid dormant for a week now, resting from all the toil and struggle it had to do to from the royal cup. But as it lay dormant, something was changing inside of him. It was taking over his body, atom by atom, converting them into nano bots that mimicked their past shapes. The conversion was finished three days ago, all of the Liger converted except its blackbox, the heart of the Ultimate X. it decided to wait and see if this…thing was its long lost partner; and friend. It was unusual for a Zoid to rest. It was a machine, it couldn't get tired. But Liger was different, it was an Ultimate X, who's true powers were never realized…not until now.

Liger woke up from his week long sleep. He felt refreshed, but he still felt that something was amiss inside of his machinery, though it was not what he felt before he shutdown. He felt stronger, almost like how he was from days long past. He shrugged off those memories, the pain threatening to take control of him. He decided to take a run in the obstacle course. He told the robot to prep him for insertion. The robot never replied.

~Count on Bit to give me a busted robot~ thought Liger angrily. He decided that Bit should suffer for not preparing well; he was going to go to the course unpiloted. He opened the garage door and lunged forward. Or he thought he did. He was still exactly in the position he had awoken from.

~Having trouble?~ said sinister a voice in his head. Liger thought he was virused or something…he hadn't heard that voice since…no it wasn't possible.

~What are you, and what are you doing inside my…head?~ said an angry, yet scared Liger.

~Is that how you greet your love?~ replied the voice, sounding even eviler then first.

~What do you mean my love? The only being I have ever loved died trying to save me and our comrades. I watched her die in front of me! So stop lying, and tell me who you are!~ snapped the Liger.

~ So, you still love me Hiro?~ said the voice again.

~Is…that…really you, Haru?~ said a bewildered Liger.

~Yes, its me my love. It's been a long time since I've seen you…~ the one know as Z replied (Haru).

~…But…how did you survive. We all saw you take out the resistance's leader by keeping his Fire Storm Generator from hitting the spaceport. And we checked the remains, none of your bots survived…~

~Can't get rid of me that easy… well, right before he fired, I ejected the information-core carrying bots. Unfortunately, one of the resistance fighters found me first and banished me into that damned container for centuries. And he kept this organiod called Z to watch me. I took him over, but I had to wait to see if it was safe to go out yet. Well, why are you still here? Shouldn't you have gone with the first squadron?~ she replied

~Well, I was so devastated by your loss, that the commander reluctantly let me stay, so that I might find you again.~ he said.

~How like you, so stubborn. Well, all that matters is that you are here now.~

~Ya. It's good to see you again…wait, where are you?~ said the Liger (Hiro)

~Well…I took over your body…~

~What! Why'd you do that?~

~I don't like Ligers all that much. Say, what happened to you? Your made of bots, just like I am. How'd u get cooped up in there?~ Haru inquired

~Well, this is really a form that keeps the bots from reproducing. All you have to do is find a thing to go into. You can do it too, but you'll have to abandon the bots that make this Liger…~

~Well…it isn't like we need to be space ready anymore…but I don't want to be cooped up like that.~ she pouted.

~You can also take the form of a human if you'd like~

~That's ok…let me take a form.~ Haru replied. A chunk from somewhere on the Liger fell to the ground. It took the form of a human. She had light skin, green hair, and violet eyes. She was tall, and lean, but remarkably pretty; she looked about 18ish. She had her hair cut up to her neck, and had on multiple hairclips with pretty butterflies on them. She then morphed on her clothes. She wore a white T-shirt, and kaki denim pants that went to her upper thigh. She also morphed on tan sandals with cute little butterflies where the two string things converged. She put on dark yellow sunglasses that curved to fit her head

~Interesting…Where'd you get her from?~ asked Hiro.

"When I scanned the planet, I remembered images of those that were considered pretty or beautiful, and complied them into one being" she relied.

~Perfectionist as usual…well, can you make a hole for me so I can get out?~ Hiro asked.

"Sure" she replied. A hole appeared under where Hiro's black box was. The black box fell out with a squish. "eww"

Hiro morphed into a human. He had dark skin, blonde hair and hazel eyes. He was about an inch taller than Haru, but heavily built. He showed off his muscles without shame. When he noticed this, he shrunk them so he looked normal, but still "buff". He then morphed on a white "wife beater" (slang name for an under shirt) and shorts that went right under his knees. He morphed on sandals that didn't go between his toes, but wrapped around his foot. He put on black sunglasses that curved to fit his head.

"And who is this" asked Haru

"A variation of a sports hero I once saw" he relied.

"Well, I'm tired of being here, lets go!" cried Haru in glee.

"Sure, just don't embarrass yourself like you did in the beach that other time." Hiro said remembering the time when Haru accidentally dropped a bot on a line holding a weight down, which broke because of the bot chewing it away.

They left the garage, desolate once again.

Brad, Naomi, Bit, Leena, Jamie and Pierce decided to go to the carnival that day. So far, Brad Bit and Leena had been winning most of the prizes, being that they were competing among themselves. But Pierce surprised everyone by winning a grand prize at a shooting range. She won a stuffed teddy bear that was almost as big as she was! Naturally, Jamie had to lug it around.

"Wow Pierce, where'd you learn to shoot like that?" asked Naomi, who was jealous that someone beat her so easily. She was supposed to be the best snipe in all of Zi for crying out loud! How did an amateur like Pierce out gun/class her in her own domain?

"I don't use computers to help me target when I shoot down other people, but I am a bit rusty…I haven't used a Zoid in some time now." she explained.

"Oh…"

"Hey" said Leena "look at those two people over there"

"Who" asked Brad

"He dark blonde and the light green head" she said.

"Leena, don't point. Don't stare either" scolded Jamie. "See what you've done Leena, now they're coming over here"

"Are you the Bit Cloud?" asked Hiro.

"Why, yes I am, who are you?" said Bit

"My name is Hirokazu Hyunee, and this is Harukichi Matsumi" Hiro said, pointing to himself and that Haru respectively.

"I haven't seen you two around, did you two just arrive?" asked Jamie

"Well, we were here for a week now, but we…" Hiro said as he was cut off by Haru

"…we were in the spa, since we were exhausted from…work." she finished.

"Oh, that's strange…I didn't know the spa was open for so long. Oh well." said Bit.

"Bit, I can call you Bit, can't I? Well can I have a word with you?" asked Hiro.

"Um…sure." said Bit and walked away with Hiro.

"What was that about?" asked Leena.

"I think Hiro just wanted to talk to Bit about something personal. Hiro is crazy about Bit sometimes…he knows things about him that I don't even want to think about…" replied Haru.

"YOU'LL WHAT!" they group heard Bit shriek suddenly.

Far away, in the ruins of a once great base stood a cloaked man, struggling to find something. What it was, he didn't know, it just had to be something. He had been at it for a week now. Going over areas that the once great labs stood, and over the areas where the escapee that gone over. He had been toiling in the burning sun during the daytime, and the ice cold winds during the nighttime. So far, all his toils had been in vain. Everything that was here simply vanished; what remained was either sand, or turned to sand by the slightest touch.

Then he noticed something peculiar. He saw a few drops on liquid lying on what looked like a magnetic strip. His mind was racing; if it was what he thought it was, he was finally done! He took out his mobile Electron Microscope, and examined the liquid. His thoughts were correct; he saw a "sea" of little immobile robots. He realized he didn't need the backdraft anymore. He could reprogram these robots and be their master. Then he would capture that rogue, and fulfill his destiny!

What did Hiro tell Bit? And what evil deed is Jani planning on doing? Find out in the next chapter "Enter The Dragon". Long chapter, this was. Boo!