S.D. Ahoy me hardies! This be Steam Detective! Knuckles: What's with the pirate thing? S.D. I needed something to open on. Anyway thank you all for reviewing I've been worrying about the quality of these last few chapters. Knuckles: So thanks for reassuring the big guy here. S.D. By the way please, please, please never ever say hope you don't get writers block. The reason I didn't have this out on Sunday night is because I had major writers block on this last chapter. I know you mean well and this wasn't anything huge. Knuckles: I thought you didn't finish this on Sunday because you had a lot of homework to do over the weekend. S.D. That contributed to it. Well enjoy the chapter. Knuckles: And for all of you who are reading this and aren't bothering to say anything please for crying out loud review. S.D. No one likes a beggar, Knuckles.
Losing the Soul
Chapter 10: Hired Guns
John sat next to the Liger in the hanger of the Whale King working on a laptop. It had been nearly five weeks since the setup and the fight with Harry and things were getting as normal as they usually got. Bit walked in wearing sweat pants and a tank top. He was sweating very hard. Bit: "Don't you ever go home anymore?" John: "When I have to." Bit: "Take it from me. Enjoy time with your family you may not be able to later." John: "Right now, Bit, I'm more concerned with making sure they have a safe future. I'd like to be with them but this is important. Yuna understands even if she doesn't like it. The only thing bothering me is the thought that when Peter and Eureka grow up they'll resent me for neglecting them now." Bit: "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you." John: "By the way, you feeling better?" Bit: "Well enough to work out again." John: "Good to hear. How's Layon's analysis and recovery of the data coming?" Bit: "You mean the stuff I got on that night they sent out all those convoys? Not even half done." John: "He's been working on it for weeks and he's still not finished?" Bit: "There's a lot to go through and a lot of junk data. Maybe you should have N.U.C.L.S.S. work on it." John: "Bit, I don't think there's enough data to take my computer off search duty to look through it. Layon can sort it out himself." Bit: "Follow me." John: "Huh?" Bit began to walk away. John closed his laptop put it on the floor and followed.
They came to a closet in the Whale King. Bit opened it revealing boxes and boxes of floppy discs, CDs and computer chips. John: "Holy son of a...!" Bit: "This is all of the data materials I took from those convoys that night and I didn't get all of it and a lot of the stuff is damaged." John: "...okay maybe I will try and help. After all, this data is important. The information we've been collecting is enough to put everyone involved in Fire Wind in jail from the boss to the guys in the mail room. Best part is that we've gotten so much over the years it will take nearly a decade to go through most of it in court so no matter what the sentence is they'll all spend years in jail waiting for the trial to end." Bit: "I don't give a damn about that and you know it. I'll I want is the asses that are in charge of that organization dead." John: "Don't worry Bit I'll make sure you get your shot at them. This is just for the members you don't kill." Bit: "That can't be too many considering how many transports and factories I've trashed." John: "They're always getting fresh faces. Anyway while I take this stuff back home for analysis you've got some jobs to do." Bit: "Already?" John: "Hey Fire Wind's taken advantage of your absence and shipped a lot of stuff while you were out." Bit: "Crap. Shoulda' known." John: "See ya later Bit. I'll download the info to Liger's computer before I leave." John grabbed a box full of discs and walked down the hall of the cavernous Whale King. Bit closed the door and sighed. Bit: 'Sometimes this job is a pain in the ass.'
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In a small control room two men in white coats sat in front of several computer monitors looking at them with peak interest. A man in a black suit walked in. Man in Suit: "So how's Mr. Hawkings doing?" Scientist1: "Very well. He seems to have gotten the hang of piloting prototype X and is improving far beyond what we had expected." Scientist2: "We've made the necessary adjustments and are furthering his synchronization with the zoid little by little. I'm afraid it's going to take longer than we had thought though." Man in Suit: "Can't you do this up any faster?" Scientist2: "I'm afraid not. If we rush there could be horrible repercussions and he won't fight as affectively as he could." Scientist1: "We understand you wanting him ready to fight as soon as possible but we won't get a second shot at this so we have to get it right the first time." Man in Suit: "I understand that. I was merely asking if this could be sped up at all. The comity is getting anxious and I don't think it best we keep them waiting any longer than they have to." Scientist1: "We understand. We'll try to go as fast as possible." Man in Suit: "By the way. What is his sync ratio at now?" Scientist2: "About 82.594%." Man in Suit: "You've had nearly five weeks and that's all you've got?" Scientist1: "That's not too bad. If anything it's ahead of schedule." Man in Suit: "That has to be enough!" Scientist2: "No I'm afraid not. We believe Bit Cloud has a 100% sync ratio with the Liger Zero. We have discovered over the past few years that the longer a pilot uses one zoid the better they become and only a certain amount of their battle abilities have to do with experience. What happens is eventually pilots form natural bonds with their zoids and slowly slip into sync with them. With the training process we're using pilots can slip into sync with their zoids in weeks instead of years. In other words this is not only vital to the training Officer Hawkings but to the training techniques of our own soldiers." Man in Suit: "Fine, fine I get it already. I asked if he was ready not how this whole thing works." The man left the room and the scientist went back to their work.
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John Dragoon returned home at about 8 p.m. and he was already tired. He carefully jumped down from Light Wing carrying some boxes of discs. He had more on board and he planned to get them in another minute except he was interrupted. Peter: "Daddy!" Little Peter came running up and hugged his father's waist almost making him drop one of the boxes he was holding. John: "Whoa! Hey Pete! How's my big guy!" Despite his fatigue John managed to put a lot of enthusiasm in his voice as he spoke. Peter: "I'm good!" John: "Just good? Not great?! Why not fantastic?!" He spoke in a joking manner the way his own father had spoken to him as a child. He put the box aside and picked up Peter who laughed at this. Peter: "WEEE!" John put Peter down a second later much to Peter's disappointment. Peter: "Daddy where were you?" John: "I was over visiting your uncle Bit again." Bit and John had no relation to one another but this is what John usually referred to Bit as when talking to his kids. Peter: "You've been over there a lot." John: "Well he's needed my help a lot lately. Tell ya what, as soon as I can we'll go somewhere fun together." Peter: "Yay! Are Mom and Eureka coming to?" John: "Well your mother and Eureka need attention to but...no we'll go by ourselves." Yuna: "Just make sure you don't break that promise." Yuna had walked in while John and Peter were talking. Yuna: "Peter it's almost time for bed." Peter: "But M-o-o-o-o-m..." Yuna: "No buts mister." Peter walked away slouching in a disappointed mood. Yuna walked up and kissed John. Yuna: "So are you back for the night or are you leaving again?" John: "Not unless something comes up." Yuna: "That's been happening a lot lately. Hey, what are those boxes for?" John: "They're full of computer discs and chips Bit recovered. There are a lot of them so I took some back with me to have N.U.C.L.S.S. repair and decode the data on them." Yuna: "That looks like an all-nighter job." John: "Yeah for my computer. Don't worry, once I set it up to decode these I'll be free for the night." Yuna: "Good. We don't spend enough time together." John: "I know. I don't like it either."
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In the council room of the Comity of Seven the comity and Altile sat debating what to do. Voice3: "This is too much of a problem! Training that police officer is taking to long!" Voice7: "What happens if he starts to catch on?!" Voice6: "I assure you that won't happen. He's to obsessed in his quest to destroy Bit Cloud to give it much thought." Altile: "For your sake I hope you're right. I agree that he probably won't question why so much effort is being put into his training but he may be ready too late. Despite the supplies we've secured over the past few weeks it's only so much to go on. We'll have to think of something else if the plan doesn't pan out." Voice2: "Perhaps we should call in mercenaries." Voice5: "Fool! We already have bounty hunters from all over the world looking for him and it's gained us nothing!" Voice2: "I was thinking we hire them personally. Handpick the ones we want. Find the ones who aren't looking and have them name their price." Voice8: "That could work. Some of the more talented bounty hunters aren't looking for him because they think it's a waste of time but if we give them what they want we'll have the best in the business looking for him." Voice4: "This sounds risky and expensive. In order to get them to work we'll need to pay them part of the money up front so if they fail we still lose money." Voice3: "It does sound expensive but it could work. Perhaps we should also call in zoid teams as well. All of them Class A and S warriors; see how well he does against that." Altile: "These are all very good ideas but they are risky. We may come to regret this but I think we should try it." Voice6: "Commander Altile, perhaps we should also find warriors who have fought Bit Cloud before and help them with Officer Hawkings training." Altile: "An excellent idea. It gives me a better one as well. We watch and record the fights between the Liger Zero and the mercenaries and use the data of the Liger Zero's fighting style in the prototype to allow it to predict the Liger's movements and use the information for simulator training. If the mercenaries should fail we shall still profit from it."
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In the darkness of the night the Liger walked away from it's kill. The wrecked Gustav and it's Saber Tiger protectors lay ruined on the desert road, blood spilling from the cockpits, oil and other fluids flowing from the dead and dying zoids. Bit: "Sigh Liger, remember when this used to be fun and exciting?" The Liger roared, answering it's pilot's question. Bit: "Thought so. I can't wait till this is all over. I don't really know what we're gonna do after this but anything has got to be better than killing low level lackeys." The Liger roared again. Bit: "You know I couldn't care less. Those idiots choose their own fate." Liger let out another roar. Bit: "Liger! We're old buddies but you know you should never speak about her to me!" The Liger roared an apology. Bit: "S'okay. I'm touchy about that." Bit reached into his shirt and pulled out a gold chain that had two gold rings with engravings on the inside that were difficult to read in the darkness hanging on it. Bit: 'I'll get them for you. I won't let them get away.'
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The next day John, Jamie and Leon were all in the Tauros Base hanger. John had brought some computers and was running diagnostics on the Raynos and Blade Liger. Leon: "Well?" John: "They seem to be fine." Jamie: "Told you." John: "Leon, why did you call me here? I think it's obvious that your zoids are fine." Leon: "I couldn't risk it. Like you, we can't afford to reveal that we're involved with Bit. I wanted to make sure Fire Wind hadn't installed anything on them to spy on us." John: "Why didn't you just say so? Don't worry, Fire Wind can't use things like that. It puts them at risk and after what happened to them before they were Fire Wind they don't want to reveal themselves. The problem with this is that they kill anyone who tries to defect and run away. By the way you're being paranoid." Leon: "No, just cautious and how were they keeping track of us anyway? They don't have satellites spying on us do they?" John: "No, I've checked that and found nothing. No satellites owned by any of the companies they control no unregistered satellites and I know they're not hacking into other satellites." Jamie: "How?" John: "Because I've already done that and locked all unauthorized users out." Leon: "Then how are they spying on us I wonder?" John: "Isn't it obvious? They send out scouts. I've seen them every now and again and they can only be seen with your own eyes assuming they're not in stealth mode." Jamie: "So we could be being watched right now and not know it?" John: "Relax, Jamie. They can't here us in here but you are right they could be. They probably know we're all involved now but they can't do anything about it." Jamie: "Can't do anything about it?" John: "Do you have the slightest idea of how many conspiracy theories there are on the murder of Leena and the kids. If, randomly, the rest of the old Blitz Team and John Dragoon were all killed the investigation would be massive. It wouldn't take the police long to figure out that there was to a connection to our murders with that of the Clouds and the idea that there was an organization that was hounding us would spark an investigation that wouldn't stop until someone was caught." Leon: "So it's too risky is what you're saying." John: "Exactly." John grabbed the various laptops he had brought, went to Light Wing and left.
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Bit was lying on top of the Whale King, relaxing in the sun. He had taken his black jacket off and was just wearing his blue T-shirt with his two rings on the outside of his shirt. This was a rare moment for Bit, the chance to relax. These moments were precious to Bit because he got so few and he didn't want to be disturbed.
Dr. Layon was in a small lab in the Whale King working on a computer and the signal UNABLE TO RETRIEVE DATA. Layon: "Damn this infernal machine! This is impossible." The computer beeped as a new message appeared. Layon: "Huh? Incoming from the N.U.C.L.S.S. program. Damn, Bit's not going to be happy about this. He hates it when I interrupt his private time but this looks important." Unhappily Dr. Layon got up and proceeded to walk out of his small lab and head for the top of the Whale King.
Bit was lying on the Whale King looking face up at the clouds as they drifted by and as he watched this he couldn't help but remember happier times. Bit: "sigh... life is so unfair." Layon: "More than you know." Bit suddenly sat up and looked back at Dr. Layon. Bit: "You know I hate being disturbed at times like this." Bit spoke very bluntly as he looked at Dr. Layon with a slightly irritated look. Layon: "Sorry but you've got things to do. John's program just sent us a warning and it looks important." Bit: "Crap. I hoped John using that thing to decode that data would keep it busy for more than a night." Layon: "Yeah well it didn't. Now stop complaining you leave in thirty." Bit gave an annoyed groan, got up and started walking to the entrance or what ever one would call it.
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The Comity of seven and Altile gathered around the same old table they always used and prepared for the meeting. Altile: "The trap is set and soon Bit Cloud should show up at our phony shipment." Voice3: "So then we've gotten some good mercenaries?" Altile: "The best we could find." Voice5: "And the recon zoid?" Altile: "In position." Voice7: "Then this could be the last we'll see of Mr. Cloud." Voice8: "Don't get your hopes up. He's managed to beat everything we've thrown at him." Voice4: "Aren't we going to watch this?" Altile: "Of course. We are going to wait for the main attraction to arrive first." All of them broke out in cackling as they waited to see their trap come down on Bit.
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The Liger ran in stealth mode going as fast as it could go. Bit hated going out in the day but it was necessary at times. Fire Wind had gotten most of it's shipments during the day which was how they had managed to keep going but Bit could only attack so many of them a day so some of them got through. The Liger was coming up on it's target, a Gustav haling two large containers with five Command Wolves protecting it. Bit: "Show time." The Liger charged with it's blades extended. Liger easily sliced through the two Wolves on one side of the transport. After gaining some distance the Liger turned around and fired it's pulse cannon at the wolf at the front knocking it down. The final two wolves charged at Liger and began firing their rifles at it. The Liger ran out of the way and used it's pulse cannon again to hit one of the wolves in the cockpit and finished the last one with a Strike Laser claw. The Liger turned towards the helpless Gustav, flipped out it's sniper rifle and fired it at the transporter destroying it.
Bit: "Well that was easy. What?!" Bit looked and saw that all the zoids were unmanned and there was nothing in the containers. Bit: "What's going on?! Ungh!!!" The Liger was hit from behind by several shots. Omari: "Take that you crook!!!" Kurklin: "You won't win this time you cocky punk!!!" Lineback: "This is the end for you!!!" Bit: "What?! Oh you've got to be kidding! What are you Fuzzy Pandas doing here?!" Saber Fangs: "WE'RE NOT THE FUZZY PANDAS!!!"
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Voice5: "The Saber Fangs?!?!?! You called them Altile?!?!" Altile: "Relax. I'm getting at something." Voice7: "I just hope that something isn't insanity." Altile: "I assure you it's not."
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Bit stared at the familiar yellow Saber Tiger with his jaw dropped and a dumb look on his face. Bit: "What the hell are you idiots doing here?!" Kurklin: "You've become a thief and you're calling us idiots?" Omari: "We're here to take you down!" Lineback: "Surrender peacefully and we won't have to destroy your zoid." Bit: "Humph. You guys couldn't beat me back when I was a rookie so what make you think you can do it now?" Kurklin: "Ha! We're not the same old pilots you remember." Omari: "We would've beaten you and your old team back at the Royal Cup if it hadn't been for that stupid judge!" Bit: "Now you're blaming your problems on the judge? Man you guys are even more pathetic than I remember." Lineback: "That's enough out of you, you crook!" Kurklin: "Time to show you just what we can really do!"
The Saber Tigers, which had surrounded the Bit, charged at him with guns firing. Bit: "This is going to easy." The Liger easily jumped out of the way causing the Saber Tigers to nearly crash in to each other. Kurklin: "Move guys! He's getting away!" The Liger ran in away from the Tigers to get enough distance. As the Tigers began to fan out Bit identified which one was Omari, turned around then charged at him. Lineback: "Look out Omari!" It was too late the Liger came within a kilometer of Omari's Saber Tiger then jumped on it knocking it to the ground and causing the Command System to freeze. Kurklin: "Omari! No!!!" The Liger turned around and went for Kurklin. The Liger's claws began to glow as it approached the Saber Tiger. Bit: "Hey, remember this?!" The Liger leaped into the air and came down on the Saber Tiger, cutting its right limbs off. Lineback: "You won't get away with this!!!" Bit: "I already have." Bit activated the sniper rifle, aimed at the final Saber Tiger and fired two shots. Lineback: "AHHH!!!" Bit: "Did you guys recognize the moves I used. You should since they're the same ones I used to defeat you for the first time, well except for you." The Liger turned back to Lineback's Saber Tiger. Bit: "Brad was the one who shot you down but he's not here." Bit had a smirk on his face and he had to admit that was entertaining for him. Not in the way a challenging fight is it was just funny. As the Liger stood looking at the defeated Saber Tigers three black blurs zoomed by it causing the Liger to lose it's balance and fall over. Bit: "What the fuck?!" Jack: "Greeting Bit Cloud. It's been a long time." Bit: "No. it could be. Jack Sisco!!!"
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Voice5: "The Lighting Team. I see. The Saber Fangs were just a diversion." Altile: "Mr. Sisco and his team were running late so I had the Saber Fangs distract him." Voice7: "Good to hear. For a minute I thought you were losing it Commander Altile." Voice4: "But hasn't he managed to defeat him twice before?" Altile: "Alone, yes. Every time he has beaten Mr. Sisco he was fighting him one on one. This time Bit Cloud is on his own and he's up against three Lighting Siax. Besides, Jack Sisco is a man who always is improving his skills. After losing to Bit Cloud the first time he strove to improve and refine his skills and I imagine he did the same thing after losing in the Royal Cup. The Liger remembers the fighting styles and techniques that it's opponents last used on it. Mr. Sisco has most likely changed many aspects of his style by now." Voice2: "Then this may truly be the last of Bit Cloud. He'll fight until he wins, dies or is knocked unconscious."
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Bit: "I don't believe this. You're after me too?!" Jack: "Sorry Bit, but that's how things go." Kris: "Maybe you shouldn't have become a criminal. Then we wouldn't be here to catch you." Kelly: "You've got no one to blame but yourself." Bit: "You guys have no idea what I'm doing or what you're about to do." Jack: "I don't think so Bit. Losing your wife didn't make you lose your grip on reality, did it?" Bit: "You leave Leena out of this." Kelly: "Jack, I think you should." Jack: "Why? You think I'll hurt his feelings or something?" Kelly: "No, I think you'll make him angry. Let's just beat him and go. You know if we weren't being paid so much we wouldn't even be out here." Bit: "I knew it! Someone did put you and the Fuzzy Pandas up to this!" Saber Fangs: "We're not the Fuzzy Pandas!!!" Jack: "Enough talk. You're not the kind of guy to surrender so I'm just gonna skip it." Jack's Saix Ran forward past the Liger trying to knock it down with it's force. The other two quickly followed. Liger was pushed back but managed to keep its footing. Bit: "Damn it. This isn't going to be easy. I'm by myself and I don't have the Zero Jaeger to level the playing field. Liger, buddy, we're in deep shit now." Liger roared and turned around to face the three Saix that had zoomed by z second ago and were now coming back.
The Liger braced itself and activated the sniper rifle. Bit: "These guys are fast but that won't matter if they don't have all four legs." The Liger roared. Bit: "I know I've never tried fighting them like this before but we've never had to fight all three by ourselves and this time we're fighting to keep our freedom. We can't lose and I don't think we should sit around waiting to see if anyone shows up to help." The Liger took aim and fired three shots, each of them missed the target. Bit: "Damn it!" Bit continued firing. Bit wasn't a poor marksman but he specialized in close range combat not sniping and hitting objects that move that fast was difficult even for accomplished sharp shooters.
The Saix roared by hitting the Liger with a powerful shock wave. Bit: "URGH!!!" Liger was lifted off the ground and thrown aside. Bit managed to quickly get the Liger back on it's feet before the next assault. Bit: "You're right, Liger. We're not gonna beat em this way." Liger's turbines fired and the thrusters flipped out and activated. Bit: "We can't run as fast as them but this should even things out a little." Liger began to chase after the Saix. Because of the similarities to the Jaeger armor, Liger could run as fast as the Lighting Saix when they weren't using their booster so Bit and the Liger could somewhat keep up but the Saix still smoked him as Bit fired the pulse cannon at the them. Bit: "God damn it! I feel like such an amateur doing this!" Jack: "You look like an amateur doing that." The Saix turned around and zoomed by the Liger again. Bit: Crap! This is getting annoying!" Liger activated it's stealth shield and disappeared from sight. Kris: "What?! Where'd he go!?" Jack: "A stealth shield. No wonder everyone has had a hard time catching him." Kelly: "Any ideas?" Jack: "We split up and run around the area. Being invisible won't save him from getting knocked over." The Saix all shot off in different directions at top speed hoping to find the Liger before it found them. Jack: "Look for any footsteps in the ground. If he hits you try and figure out where the shot came from." Kris and Kelly: "Roger."
The Saix ran at full speed each trying to find the Liger. Kris: "This is stupid. He could run for it and we wouldn't know it." Jack: "Bit's not the kind of guy to run away from a fight even if the odds are against him." Bit: (to himself) "That's right, Jack." Kelly: "Ahhh!!!" Kelly's Lighting Saix was hit by several blasts. Kris: "Kelly!" Jack: "He's over there!" Jack and Kris turned around and went towards Kelly. Bit: "It's dangerous to run into areas when you don't know where the enemy is." Jack and Kris were both hit by Liger's pulse cannon knocking them back. Bit: "Be happy your Saix are too fast to hit with the sniper rifle." Jack: "So this is what you've been reduced to. Using a stealth shield to win a fight?!" Bit: "This isn't like a real zoid battle, Jack, for me this is my freedom and I have to do anything to protect it. Besides, here you are going three on one. You call that fair?" Jack: "You've turned into a murderer. I had respect for you, Bit Cloud. I can't stand watching a good warrior go bad." Bit: "Obviously not enough respect to try and understand what I'm doing." Jack: "What are you doing? Killing transporters and vandalizing buildings and private property? Some thing you're doing with your life. I'm sure your wife would be happy. AHHH!!!" Jack's Saix was knocked down hard as if it had been tackled. Kelly: "I warned you." Jack: "Kelly, this is not the time! Get this thing off me!" As Jack's Lighting Saix was pinned on it's back Kelly got her footing back and shot at the invisible Liger knocking off Jack. A Large amount of dust went up into the air is the unseen Liger rolled. Bit: "Damn. I walked into that one." Jack: "Quick! Kris, Kelly, full speed! We'll circle the area. There will be no way to hit us and he'll be trapped!" Kris: "You sure?" Jack: "Positive."
Jack's Saix got up and all three of them fired their ion boosters and began circling the area kicking up a tremendous amount of dust. Bit: 'Shit! If I attack I'll probably get one but the other two will know where I am and if I just stand here the dust will show them that anyway...unless...' Bit opened the Liger's blades but didn't energize them, Liger then came as close as possible to the Saix then quickly activated the blades and thrust the left one in their path. Kris: "Look out!!!" Kelly hit the blade and a second later her Saix split in two. Kris was next and going too fast to get out of the way in time suffered the same fate. Kris: "NOOO!!!" Kelly: "Damn you!" Jack: "Girls!" Jack was able to stop and spin around. Jack fired like crazy at the Liger, now able to identify because of it's illuminated blades. Bit: "Ungh!" Liger began to faze in and out of sight for a second or two before becoming completely visible. STEALTH SHIELD MALFUNCTION. Bit: "Great! Just perfect!" Jack: "Well since you can't use that fancy stealth shield anymore and the Taskers are out of this fight what do you say we go one on one like the old days?" Bit: "Why not? Got nothing else to do."
Liger and the Saix stared each other down, looking dead into the other's gaze challenging the other to back down. The two began to walk to the side slowly at first then they began to pick up speed until they were in an all out sprint and both of them were looking ahead. Jack tried to activate the Saix boosters, they chocked a few times, letting out energy for a second and then stopping but they wouldn't fire. Jack: "What?!" The Saix computer began to read ERROR. Jack: "Damn it! Why now?!" Bit: "Looks like the damage we inflicted on your Saix is starting to take effect." Jack: "Shut up!" Jack took one hand off the controls and fiddled with the buttons in the Saix. The Saix ion boosters fired and the Saix took off but at a much slower speed than usual. Jack: "Shit. The boosters are at less than 50%." Bit: "Glad to hear it." The Liger had fired it's turbines and booster and was running right along side with the Lighting Saix. Bit: "Just like old times huh Jack?" Jack: "A little too much for my taste." Jack spoke in a bitter tone. He had usually lost to Bit in situations like the one he was in and he really didn't want to lose this time. Liger made the first move slamming into the side of Jack's Saix and Jack quickly retaliated, ramming Liger back. The two began to part ways and each turned off their booster and used the momentum to slide into positions facing one another and began firing at each other blindly. Both zoids took heavy hits and their armor was wearing down. Liger had thicker armor than the Lighting Saix but it had been through more and had taken more abuse than the Saix had so it would all come out to either who landed more hits or thought of something else and followed through.
Both Bit and Jack knew they couldn't keep the random firing up much longer but both of them wouldn't dare to stop for a second to take better aim. Finally the Liger activated it's turbines and jumped out of the line of fire and sprinted towards the Lightning Saix with it's claws glowing. Bit: "Now! Strike...Laser...CLAW!!!" Liger leaded into the air and came down on the Saix, removing it's right legs. The Saix hit the ground with a loud thud as it growled in anger and pain. Jack: "No! I can't lose, not this time!" Bit: "Sorry, Jack, but that's how it goes." Liger's internal repairs had finished fixing the stealth shields and the Liger fazed out of site and ran off. Jack: "Damn it. The way he fought was so weird. This defiantly isn't the Bit I remember. He seemed so angry."
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Voice5: "Well that was a complete waste of time and money." Altile: "Not necessarily." Voice6: "Yes, remember Commander Altile's plan to use the data for training?" Voice7: "So the ever silent Number six speaks. But he's right we at least benefited from that." Altile: "That is correct. Hopefully this data will allow Mr. Hawkings to not repeat the mistakes of the past." Voice3: "What about the Liger's stealth shield? How are we going to deal with that?" Voice2: "Those stealth abilities have brought many great plans to pitiful ends. Today's attempt might have worked if it wasn't for that." Altile: "Our engineers have thought of that and have installed scanning devices in the prototype X that will allow it to see the Liger Zero." Voice8: "I just hope we don't go broke. It would be nice to see Bit Cloud eliminated but it won't be worth it if he takes Fire Wind with him." Altile: "Don't worry about that. Why, with the money we've received from the bets today we'll have plenty of money." Voice4: "Bets? There wasn't a battle going on today." Altile: "Oh yes there was and we just watched it." Voice6: "You had our clients and members watching this? Don't we have a policy against showing them the damage to avoid causing doubt?" Altile: "Indeed we do but this time I knew people would love to see this and I have to admit I was almost hoping Bit Cloud won so we could collect money from our clients. Now with this all we have to do is wait." As soon as Altile finished speaking a man ran into the middle of the room gasping for breath. Man: "Commander -pant- Altile." Altile: "This had better be important." Man: "-pant- Mr. -pant- Hawkings is at -pant- 100% synchronization -pant-." Altile: "That's fantastic news. Run back and tell the science lab to look at the data we collected today and then see if they can use it before deploying Officer Hawkings." Man: "Yes -pant- sir!" The man took a deep breath then ran out.
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Liger ran across the desert in stealth mode. By this time it was nearing night fall and the sun was just beginning to set. Bit: "Man, what a day. I'm really getting sick of this. Having the Saber Fangs attack me was one thing but Jack. I just wish this were over. GHHAA!!!" Bit let go of the controls for a second to grasp his right shoulder which now surged with a sharp pain. Bit: "Damn it! The phantom pain again! I don't know what's going on but it has to be bad to make it hurt like this!" Liger roared and continued on it's way.
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S.D. Whoa. Something bad about to happen. Knuckles: I think you made that clear already. S.D. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't but one thing is for sure. Knuckles: That you need a vacation? S.D. Exactly! That and the next chapter should be interesting. Until then I'll be seeing ya. Knuckles: No you won't and why do you lock me in a cage every time you review someone's story? S.D. Because reviews are my business and the other places I thought of locking you up in are cruel and unusual. Knuckles: -shudder- Forget I asked.
Losing the Soul
Chapter 10: Hired Guns
John sat next to the Liger in the hanger of the Whale King working on a laptop. It had been nearly five weeks since the setup and the fight with Harry and things were getting as normal as they usually got. Bit walked in wearing sweat pants and a tank top. He was sweating very hard. Bit: "Don't you ever go home anymore?" John: "When I have to." Bit: "Take it from me. Enjoy time with your family you may not be able to later." John: "Right now, Bit, I'm more concerned with making sure they have a safe future. I'd like to be with them but this is important. Yuna understands even if she doesn't like it. The only thing bothering me is the thought that when Peter and Eureka grow up they'll resent me for neglecting them now." Bit: "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you." John: "By the way, you feeling better?" Bit: "Well enough to work out again." John: "Good to hear. How's Layon's analysis and recovery of the data coming?" Bit: "You mean the stuff I got on that night they sent out all those convoys? Not even half done." John: "He's been working on it for weeks and he's still not finished?" Bit: "There's a lot to go through and a lot of junk data. Maybe you should have N.U.C.L.S.S. work on it." John: "Bit, I don't think there's enough data to take my computer off search duty to look through it. Layon can sort it out himself." Bit: "Follow me." John: "Huh?" Bit began to walk away. John closed his laptop put it on the floor and followed.
They came to a closet in the Whale King. Bit opened it revealing boxes and boxes of floppy discs, CDs and computer chips. John: "Holy son of a...!" Bit: "This is all of the data materials I took from those convoys that night and I didn't get all of it and a lot of the stuff is damaged." John: "...okay maybe I will try and help. After all, this data is important. The information we've been collecting is enough to put everyone involved in Fire Wind in jail from the boss to the guys in the mail room. Best part is that we've gotten so much over the years it will take nearly a decade to go through most of it in court so no matter what the sentence is they'll all spend years in jail waiting for the trial to end." Bit: "I don't give a damn about that and you know it. I'll I want is the asses that are in charge of that organization dead." John: "Don't worry Bit I'll make sure you get your shot at them. This is just for the members you don't kill." Bit: "That can't be too many considering how many transports and factories I've trashed." John: "They're always getting fresh faces. Anyway while I take this stuff back home for analysis you've got some jobs to do." Bit: "Already?" John: "Hey Fire Wind's taken advantage of your absence and shipped a lot of stuff while you were out." Bit: "Crap. Shoulda' known." John: "See ya later Bit. I'll download the info to Liger's computer before I leave." John grabbed a box full of discs and walked down the hall of the cavernous Whale King. Bit closed the door and sighed. Bit: 'Sometimes this job is a pain in the ass.'
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In a small control room two men in white coats sat in front of several computer monitors looking at them with peak interest. A man in a black suit walked in. Man in Suit: "So how's Mr. Hawkings doing?" Scientist1: "Very well. He seems to have gotten the hang of piloting prototype X and is improving far beyond what we had expected." Scientist2: "We've made the necessary adjustments and are furthering his synchronization with the zoid little by little. I'm afraid it's going to take longer than we had thought though." Man in Suit: "Can't you do this up any faster?" Scientist2: "I'm afraid not. If we rush there could be horrible repercussions and he won't fight as affectively as he could." Scientist1: "We understand you wanting him ready to fight as soon as possible but we won't get a second shot at this so we have to get it right the first time." Man in Suit: "I understand that. I was merely asking if this could be sped up at all. The comity is getting anxious and I don't think it best we keep them waiting any longer than they have to." Scientist1: "We understand. We'll try to go as fast as possible." Man in Suit: "By the way. What is his sync ratio at now?" Scientist2: "About 82.594%." Man in Suit: "You've had nearly five weeks and that's all you've got?" Scientist1: "That's not too bad. If anything it's ahead of schedule." Man in Suit: "That has to be enough!" Scientist2: "No I'm afraid not. We believe Bit Cloud has a 100% sync ratio with the Liger Zero. We have discovered over the past few years that the longer a pilot uses one zoid the better they become and only a certain amount of their battle abilities have to do with experience. What happens is eventually pilots form natural bonds with their zoids and slowly slip into sync with them. With the training process we're using pilots can slip into sync with their zoids in weeks instead of years. In other words this is not only vital to the training Officer Hawkings but to the training techniques of our own soldiers." Man in Suit: "Fine, fine I get it already. I asked if he was ready not how this whole thing works." The man left the room and the scientist went back to their work.
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John Dragoon returned home at about 8 p.m. and he was already tired. He carefully jumped down from Light Wing carrying some boxes of discs. He had more on board and he planned to get them in another minute except he was interrupted. Peter: "Daddy!" Little Peter came running up and hugged his father's waist almost making him drop one of the boxes he was holding. John: "Whoa! Hey Pete! How's my big guy!" Despite his fatigue John managed to put a lot of enthusiasm in his voice as he spoke. Peter: "I'm good!" John: "Just good? Not great?! Why not fantastic?!" He spoke in a joking manner the way his own father had spoken to him as a child. He put the box aside and picked up Peter who laughed at this. Peter: "WEEE!" John put Peter down a second later much to Peter's disappointment. Peter: "Daddy where were you?" John: "I was over visiting your uncle Bit again." Bit and John had no relation to one another but this is what John usually referred to Bit as when talking to his kids. Peter: "You've been over there a lot." John: "Well he's needed my help a lot lately. Tell ya what, as soon as I can we'll go somewhere fun together." Peter: "Yay! Are Mom and Eureka coming to?" John: "Well your mother and Eureka need attention to but...no we'll go by ourselves." Yuna: "Just make sure you don't break that promise." Yuna had walked in while John and Peter were talking. Yuna: "Peter it's almost time for bed." Peter: "But M-o-o-o-o-m..." Yuna: "No buts mister." Peter walked away slouching in a disappointed mood. Yuna walked up and kissed John. Yuna: "So are you back for the night or are you leaving again?" John: "Not unless something comes up." Yuna: "That's been happening a lot lately. Hey, what are those boxes for?" John: "They're full of computer discs and chips Bit recovered. There are a lot of them so I took some back with me to have N.U.C.L.S.S. repair and decode the data on them." Yuna: "That looks like an all-nighter job." John: "Yeah for my computer. Don't worry, once I set it up to decode these I'll be free for the night." Yuna: "Good. We don't spend enough time together." John: "I know. I don't like it either."
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In the council room of the Comity of Seven the comity and Altile sat debating what to do. Voice3: "This is too much of a problem! Training that police officer is taking to long!" Voice7: "What happens if he starts to catch on?!" Voice6: "I assure you that won't happen. He's to obsessed in his quest to destroy Bit Cloud to give it much thought." Altile: "For your sake I hope you're right. I agree that he probably won't question why so much effort is being put into his training but he may be ready too late. Despite the supplies we've secured over the past few weeks it's only so much to go on. We'll have to think of something else if the plan doesn't pan out." Voice2: "Perhaps we should call in mercenaries." Voice5: "Fool! We already have bounty hunters from all over the world looking for him and it's gained us nothing!" Voice2: "I was thinking we hire them personally. Handpick the ones we want. Find the ones who aren't looking and have them name their price." Voice8: "That could work. Some of the more talented bounty hunters aren't looking for him because they think it's a waste of time but if we give them what they want we'll have the best in the business looking for him." Voice4: "This sounds risky and expensive. In order to get them to work we'll need to pay them part of the money up front so if they fail we still lose money." Voice3: "It does sound expensive but it could work. Perhaps we should also call in zoid teams as well. All of them Class A and S warriors; see how well he does against that." Altile: "These are all very good ideas but they are risky. We may come to regret this but I think we should try it." Voice6: "Commander Altile, perhaps we should also find warriors who have fought Bit Cloud before and help them with Officer Hawkings training." Altile: "An excellent idea. It gives me a better one as well. We watch and record the fights between the Liger Zero and the mercenaries and use the data of the Liger Zero's fighting style in the prototype to allow it to predict the Liger's movements and use the information for simulator training. If the mercenaries should fail we shall still profit from it."
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In the darkness of the night the Liger walked away from it's kill. The wrecked Gustav and it's Saber Tiger protectors lay ruined on the desert road, blood spilling from the cockpits, oil and other fluids flowing from the dead and dying zoids. Bit: "Sigh Liger, remember when this used to be fun and exciting?" The Liger roared, answering it's pilot's question. Bit: "Thought so. I can't wait till this is all over. I don't really know what we're gonna do after this but anything has got to be better than killing low level lackeys." The Liger roared again. Bit: "You know I couldn't care less. Those idiots choose their own fate." Liger let out another roar. Bit: "Liger! We're old buddies but you know you should never speak about her to me!" The Liger roared an apology. Bit: "S'okay. I'm touchy about that." Bit reached into his shirt and pulled out a gold chain that had two gold rings with engravings on the inside that were difficult to read in the darkness hanging on it. Bit: 'I'll get them for you. I won't let them get away.'
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The next day John, Jamie and Leon were all in the Tauros Base hanger. John had brought some computers and was running diagnostics on the Raynos and Blade Liger. Leon: "Well?" John: "They seem to be fine." Jamie: "Told you." John: "Leon, why did you call me here? I think it's obvious that your zoids are fine." Leon: "I couldn't risk it. Like you, we can't afford to reveal that we're involved with Bit. I wanted to make sure Fire Wind hadn't installed anything on them to spy on us." John: "Why didn't you just say so? Don't worry, Fire Wind can't use things like that. It puts them at risk and after what happened to them before they were Fire Wind they don't want to reveal themselves. The problem with this is that they kill anyone who tries to defect and run away. By the way you're being paranoid." Leon: "No, just cautious and how were they keeping track of us anyway? They don't have satellites spying on us do they?" John: "No, I've checked that and found nothing. No satellites owned by any of the companies they control no unregistered satellites and I know they're not hacking into other satellites." Jamie: "How?" John: "Because I've already done that and locked all unauthorized users out." Leon: "Then how are they spying on us I wonder?" John: "Isn't it obvious? They send out scouts. I've seen them every now and again and they can only be seen with your own eyes assuming they're not in stealth mode." Jamie: "So we could be being watched right now and not know it?" John: "Relax, Jamie. They can't here us in here but you are right they could be. They probably know we're all involved now but they can't do anything about it." Jamie: "Can't do anything about it?" John: "Do you have the slightest idea of how many conspiracy theories there are on the murder of Leena and the kids. If, randomly, the rest of the old Blitz Team and John Dragoon were all killed the investigation would be massive. It wouldn't take the police long to figure out that there was to a connection to our murders with that of the Clouds and the idea that there was an organization that was hounding us would spark an investigation that wouldn't stop until someone was caught." Leon: "So it's too risky is what you're saying." John: "Exactly." John grabbed the various laptops he had brought, went to Light Wing and left.
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Bit was lying on top of the Whale King, relaxing in the sun. He had taken his black jacket off and was just wearing his blue T-shirt with his two rings on the outside of his shirt. This was a rare moment for Bit, the chance to relax. These moments were precious to Bit because he got so few and he didn't want to be disturbed.
Dr. Layon was in a small lab in the Whale King working on a computer and the signal UNABLE TO RETRIEVE DATA. Layon: "Damn this infernal machine! This is impossible." The computer beeped as a new message appeared. Layon: "Huh? Incoming from the N.U.C.L.S.S. program. Damn, Bit's not going to be happy about this. He hates it when I interrupt his private time but this looks important." Unhappily Dr. Layon got up and proceeded to walk out of his small lab and head for the top of the Whale King.
Bit was lying on the Whale King looking face up at the clouds as they drifted by and as he watched this he couldn't help but remember happier times. Bit: "sigh... life is so unfair." Layon: "More than you know." Bit suddenly sat up and looked back at Dr. Layon. Bit: "You know I hate being disturbed at times like this." Bit spoke very bluntly as he looked at Dr. Layon with a slightly irritated look. Layon: "Sorry but you've got things to do. John's program just sent us a warning and it looks important." Bit: "Crap. I hoped John using that thing to decode that data would keep it busy for more than a night." Layon: "Yeah well it didn't. Now stop complaining you leave in thirty." Bit gave an annoyed groan, got up and started walking to the entrance or what ever one would call it.
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The Comity of seven and Altile gathered around the same old table they always used and prepared for the meeting. Altile: "The trap is set and soon Bit Cloud should show up at our phony shipment." Voice3: "So then we've gotten some good mercenaries?" Altile: "The best we could find." Voice5: "And the recon zoid?" Altile: "In position." Voice7: "Then this could be the last we'll see of Mr. Cloud." Voice8: "Don't get your hopes up. He's managed to beat everything we've thrown at him." Voice4: "Aren't we going to watch this?" Altile: "Of course. We are going to wait for the main attraction to arrive first." All of them broke out in cackling as they waited to see their trap come down on Bit.
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The Liger ran in stealth mode going as fast as it could go. Bit hated going out in the day but it was necessary at times. Fire Wind had gotten most of it's shipments during the day which was how they had managed to keep going but Bit could only attack so many of them a day so some of them got through. The Liger was coming up on it's target, a Gustav haling two large containers with five Command Wolves protecting it. Bit: "Show time." The Liger charged with it's blades extended. Liger easily sliced through the two Wolves on one side of the transport. After gaining some distance the Liger turned around and fired it's pulse cannon at the wolf at the front knocking it down. The final two wolves charged at Liger and began firing their rifles at it. The Liger ran out of the way and used it's pulse cannon again to hit one of the wolves in the cockpit and finished the last one with a Strike Laser claw. The Liger turned towards the helpless Gustav, flipped out it's sniper rifle and fired it at the transporter destroying it.
Bit: "Well that was easy. What?!" Bit looked and saw that all the zoids were unmanned and there was nothing in the containers. Bit: "What's going on?! Ungh!!!" The Liger was hit from behind by several shots. Omari: "Take that you crook!!!" Kurklin: "You won't win this time you cocky punk!!!" Lineback: "This is the end for you!!!" Bit: "What?! Oh you've got to be kidding! What are you Fuzzy Pandas doing here?!" Saber Fangs: "WE'RE NOT THE FUZZY PANDAS!!!"
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Voice5: "The Saber Fangs?!?!?! You called them Altile?!?!" Altile: "Relax. I'm getting at something." Voice7: "I just hope that something isn't insanity." Altile: "I assure you it's not."
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Bit stared at the familiar yellow Saber Tiger with his jaw dropped and a dumb look on his face. Bit: "What the hell are you idiots doing here?!" Kurklin: "You've become a thief and you're calling us idiots?" Omari: "We're here to take you down!" Lineback: "Surrender peacefully and we won't have to destroy your zoid." Bit: "Humph. You guys couldn't beat me back when I was a rookie so what make you think you can do it now?" Kurklin: "Ha! We're not the same old pilots you remember." Omari: "We would've beaten you and your old team back at the Royal Cup if it hadn't been for that stupid judge!" Bit: "Now you're blaming your problems on the judge? Man you guys are even more pathetic than I remember." Lineback: "That's enough out of you, you crook!" Kurklin: "Time to show you just what we can really do!"
The Saber Tigers, which had surrounded the Bit, charged at him with guns firing. Bit: "This is going to easy." The Liger easily jumped out of the way causing the Saber Tigers to nearly crash in to each other. Kurklin: "Move guys! He's getting away!" The Liger ran in away from the Tigers to get enough distance. As the Tigers began to fan out Bit identified which one was Omari, turned around then charged at him. Lineback: "Look out Omari!" It was too late the Liger came within a kilometer of Omari's Saber Tiger then jumped on it knocking it to the ground and causing the Command System to freeze. Kurklin: "Omari! No!!!" The Liger turned around and went for Kurklin. The Liger's claws began to glow as it approached the Saber Tiger. Bit: "Hey, remember this?!" The Liger leaped into the air and came down on the Saber Tiger, cutting its right limbs off. Lineback: "You won't get away with this!!!" Bit: "I already have." Bit activated the sniper rifle, aimed at the final Saber Tiger and fired two shots. Lineback: "AHHH!!!" Bit: "Did you guys recognize the moves I used. You should since they're the same ones I used to defeat you for the first time, well except for you." The Liger turned back to Lineback's Saber Tiger. Bit: "Brad was the one who shot you down but he's not here." Bit had a smirk on his face and he had to admit that was entertaining for him. Not in the way a challenging fight is it was just funny. As the Liger stood looking at the defeated Saber Tigers three black blurs zoomed by it causing the Liger to lose it's balance and fall over. Bit: "What the fuck?!" Jack: "Greeting Bit Cloud. It's been a long time." Bit: "No. it could be. Jack Sisco!!!"
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Voice5: "The Lighting Team. I see. The Saber Fangs were just a diversion." Altile: "Mr. Sisco and his team were running late so I had the Saber Fangs distract him." Voice7: "Good to hear. For a minute I thought you were losing it Commander Altile." Voice4: "But hasn't he managed to defeat him twice before?" Altile: "Alone, yes. Every time he has beaten Mr. Sisco he was fighting him one on one. This time Bit Cloud is on his own and he's up against three Lighting Siax. Besides, Jack Sisco is a man who always is improving his skills. After losing to Bit Cloud the first time he strove to improve and refine his skills and I imagine he did the same thing after losing in the Royal Cup. The Liger remembers the fighting styles and techniques that it's opponents last used on it. Mr. Sisco has most likely changed many aspects of his style by now." Voice2: "Then this may truly be the last of Bit Cloud. He'll fight until he wins, dies or is knocked unconscious."
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Bit: "I don't believe this. You're after me too?!" Jack: "Sorry Bit, but that's how things go." Kris: "Maybe you shouldn't have become a criminal. Then we wouldn't be here to catch you." Kelly: "You've got no one to blame but yourself." Bit: "You guys have no idea what I'm doing or what you're about to do." Jack: "I don't think so Bit. Losing your wife didn't make you lose your grip on reality, did it?" Bit: "You leave Leena out of this." Kelly: "Jack, I think you should." Jack: "Why? You think I'll hurt his feelings or something?" Kelly: "No, I think you'll make him angry. Let's just beat him and go. You know if we weren't being paid so much we wouldn't even be out here." Bit: "I knew it! Someone did put you and the Fuzzy Pandas up to this!" Saber Fangs: "We're not the Fuzzy Pandas!!!" Jack: "Enough talk. You're not the kind of guy to surrender so I'm just gonna skip it." Jack's Saix Ran forward past the Liger trying to knock it down with it's force. The other two quickly followed. Liger was pushed back but managed to keep its footing. Bit: "Damn it. This isn't going to be easy. I'm by myself and I don't have the Zero Jaeger to level the playing field. Liger, buddy, we're in deep shit now." Liger roared and turned around to face the three Saix that had zoomed by z second ago and were now coming back.
The Liger braced itself and activated the sniper rifle. Bit: "These guys are fast but that won't matter if they don't have all four legs." The Liger roared. Bit: "I know I've never tried fighting them like this before but we've never had to fight all three by ourselves and this time we're fighting to keep our freedom. We can't lose and I don't think we should sit around waiting to see if anyone shows up to help." The Liger took aim and fired three shots, each of them missed the target. Bit: "Damn it!" Bit continued firing. Bit wasn't a poor marksman but he specialized in close range combat not sniping and hitting objects that move that fast was difficult even for accomplished sharp shooters.
The Saix roared by hitting the Liger with a powerful shock wave. Bit: "URGH!!!" Liger was lifted off the ground and thrown aside. Bit managed to quickly get the Liger back on it's feet before the next assault. Bit: "You're right, Liger. We're not gonna beat em this way." Liger's turbines fired and the thrusters flipped out and activated. Bit: "We can't run as fast as them but this should even things out a little." Liger began to chase after the Saix. Because of the similarities to the Jaeger armor, Liger could run as fast as the Lighting Saix when they weren't using their booster so Bit and the Liger could somewhat keep up but the Saix still smoked him as Bit fired the pulse cannon at the them. Bit: "God damn it! I feel like such an amateur doing this!" Jack: "You look like an amateur doing that." The Saix turned around and zoomed by the Liger again. Bit: Crap! This is getting annoying!" Liger activated it's stealth shield and disappeared from sight. Kris: "What?! Where'd he go!?" Jack: "A stealth shield. No wonder everyone has had a hard time catching him." Kelly: "Any ideas?" Jack: "We split up and run around the area. Being invisible won't save him from getting knocked over." The Saix all shot off in different directions at top speed hoping to find the Liger before it found them. Jack: "Look for any footsteps in the ground. If he hits you try and figure out where the shot came from." Kris and Kelly: "Roger."
The Saix ran at full speed each trying to find the Liger. Kris: "This is stupid. He could run for it and we wouldn't know it." Jack: "Bit's not the kind of guy to run away from a fight even if the odds are against him." Bit: (to himself) "That's right, Jack." Kelly: "Ahhh!!!" Kelly's Lighting Saix was hit by several blasts. Kris: "Kelly!" Jack: "He's over there!" Jack and Kris turned around and went towards Kelly. Bit: "It's dangerous to run into areas when you don't know where the enemy is." Jack and Kris were both hit by Liger's pulse cannon knocking them back. Bit: "Be happy your Saix are too fast to hit with the sniper rifle." Jack: "So this is what you've been reduced to. Using a stealth shield to win a fight?!" Bit: "This isn't like a real zoid battle, Jack, for me this is my freedom and I have to do anything to protect it. Besides, here you are going three on one. You call that fair?" Jack: "You've turned into a murderer. I had respect for you, Bit Cloud. I can't stand watching a good warrior go bad." Bit: "Obviously not enough respect to try and understand what I'm doing." Jack: "What are you doing? Killing transporters and vandalizing buildings and private property? Some thing you're doing with your life. I'm sure your wife would be happy. AHHH!!!" Jack's Saix was knocked down hard as if it had been tackled. Kelly: "I warned you." Jack: "Kelly, this is not the time! Get this thing off me!" As Jack's Lighting Saix was pinned on it's back Kelly got her footing back and shot at the invisible Liger knocking off Jack. A Large amount of dust went up into the air is the unseen Liger rolled. Bit: "Damn. I walked into that one." Jack: "Quick! Kris, Kelly, full speed! We'll circle the area. There will be no way to hit us and he'll be trapped!" Kris: "You sure?" Jack: "Positive."
Jack's Saix got up and all three of them fired their ion boosters and began circling the area kicking up a tremendous amount of dust. Bit: 'Shit! If I attack I'll probably get one but the other two will know where I am and if I just stand here the dust will show them that anyway...unless...' Bit opened the Liger's blades but didn't energize them, Liger then came as close as possible to the Saix then quickly activated the blades and thrust the left one in their path. Kris: "Look out!!!" Kelly hit the blade and a second later her Saix split in two. Kris was next and going too fast to get out of the way in time suffered the same fate. Kris: "NOOO!!!" Kelly: "Damn you!" Jack: "Girls!" Jack was able to stop and spin around. Jack fired like crazy at the Liger, now able to identify because of it's illuminated blades. Bit: "Ungh!" Liger began to faze in and out of sight for a second or two before becoming completely visible. STEALTH SHIELD MALFUNCTION. Bit: "Great! Just perfect!" Jack: "Well since you can't use that fancy stealth shield anymore and the Taskers are out of this fight what do you say we go one on one like the old days?" Bit: "Why not? Got nothing else to do."
Liger and the Saix stared each other down, looking dead into the other's gaze challenging the other to back down. The two began to walk to the side slowly at first then they began to pick up speed until they were in an all out sprint and both of them were looking ahead. Jack tried to activate the Saix boosters, they chocked a few times, letting out energy for a second and then stopping but they wouldn't fire. Jack: "What?!" The Saix computer began to read ERROR. Jack: "Damn it! Why now?!" Bit: "Looks like the damage we inflicted on your Saix is starting to take effect." Jack: "Shut up!" Jack took one hand off the controls and fiddled with the buttons in the Saix. The Saix ion boosters fired and the Saix took off but at a much slower speed than usual. Jack: "Shit. The boosters are at less than 50%." Bit: "Glad to hear it." The Liger had fired it's turbines and booster and was running right along side with the Lighting Saix. Bit: "Just like old times huh Jack?" Jack: "A little too much for my taste." Jack spoke in a bitter tone. He had usually lost to Bit in situations like the one he was in and he really didn't want to lose this time. Liger made the first move slamming into the side of Jack's Saix and Jack quickly retaliated, ramming Liger back. The two began to part ways and each turned off their booster and used the momentum to slide into positions facing one another and began firing at each other blindly. Both zoids took heavy hits and their armor was wearing down. Liger had thicker armor than the Lighting Saix but it had been through more and had taken more abuse than the Saix had so it would all come out to either who landed more hits or thought of something else and followed through.
Both Bit and Jack knew they couldn't keep the random firing up much longer but both of them wouldn't dare to stop for a second to take better aim. Finally the Liger activated it's turbines and jumped out of the line of fire and sprinted towards the Lightning Saix with it's claws glowing. Bit: "Now! Strike...Laser...CLAW!!!" Liger leaded into the air and came down on the Saix, removing it's right legs. The Saix hit the ground with a loud thud as it growled in anger and pain. Jack: "No! I can't lose, not this time!" Bit: "Sorry, Jack, but that's how it goes." Liger's internal repairs had finished fixing the stealth shields and the Liger fazed out of site and ran off. Jack: "Damn it. The way he fought was so weird. This defiantly isn't the Bit I remember. He seemed so angry."
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Voice5: "Well that was a complete waste of time and money." Altile: "Not necessarily." Voice6: "Yes, remember Commander Altile's plan to use the data for training?" Voice7: "So the ever silent Number six speaks. But he's right we at least benefited from that." Altile: "That is correct. Hopefully this data will allow Mr. Hawkings to not repeat the mistakes of the past." Voice3: "What about the Liger's stealth shield? How are we going to deal with that?" Voice2: "Those stealth abilities have brought many great plans to pitiful ends. Today's attempt might have worked if it wasn't for that." Altile: "Our engineers have thought of that and have installed scanning devices in the prototype X that will allow it to see the Liger Zero." Voice8: "I just hope we don't go broke. It would be nice to see Bit Cloud eliminated but it won't be worth it if he takes Fire Wind with him." Altile: "Don't worry about that. Why, with the money we've received from the bets today we'll have plenty of money." Voice4: "Bets? There wasn't a battle going on today." Altile: "Oh yes there was and we just watched it." Voice6: "You had our clients and members watching this? Don't we have a policy against showing them the damage to avoid causing doubt?" Altile: "Indeed we do but this time I knew people would love to see this and I have to admit I was almost hoping Bit Cloud won so we could collect money from our clients. Now with this all we have to do is wait." As soon as Altile finished speaking a man ran into the middle of the room gasping for breath. Man: "Commander -pant- Altile." Altile: "This had better be important." Man: "-pant- Mr. -pant- Hawkings is at -pant- 100% synchronization -pant-." Altile: "That's fantastic news. Run back and tell the science lab to look at the data we collected today and then see if they can use it before deploying Officer Hawkings." Man: "Yes -pant- sir!" The man took a deep breath then ran out.
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Liger ran across the desert in stealth mode. By this time it was nearing night fall and the sun was just beginning to set. Bit: "Man, what a day. I'm really getting sick of this. Having the Saber Fangs attack me was one thing but Jack. I just wish this were over. GHHAA!!!" Bit let go of the controls for a second to grasp his right shoulder which now surged with a sharp pain. Bit: "Damn it! The phantom pain again! I don't know what's going on but it has to be bad to make it hurt like this!" Liger roared and continued on it's way.
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S.D. Whoa. Something bad about to happen. Knuckles: I think you made that clear already. S.D. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't but one thing is for sure. Knuckles: That you need a vacation? S.D. Exactly! That and the next chapter should be interesting. Until then I'll be seeing ya. Knuckles: No you won't and why do you lock me in a cage every time you review someone's story? S.D. Because reviews are my business and the other places I thought of locking you up in are cruel and unusual. Knuckles: -shudder- Forget I asked.
