Princess of the Zoids: Could it Be Me

Chapter 6: Briefings

Arasu walked silently but quickly toward the briefing room. Dr. Raon would want to discuss the battle with her and the other warriors. When she turned down the last corner before the briefing room, she could see the other five warriors. The Zabat warrior was slumped against the wall, but the four Helcat warriors were waiting for her.

"So she returns," one of them commented.

Another waited for her to pass, then looked at her butt. "Where's your tail? I wanna see it between your legs."

Arasu brushed past them and walked through the door. "First of all, I was following orders. Second, at least I retreated with my Zoid intact, and I wasn't defeated." She took her seat at the circular table on the left side of the head seat, and the leader of the Helcat warriors on the right side. The other four warriors sat between them, with the Zabat warrior closest to Arasu.

After only a few moments, Dr. Raon entered through another door, carrying a folder, and took his seat at the head. He looked down at some notes in the folder, and then he spoke. "Well, we may have lost the battle, although it was not as bad as it could have been." He turned to the Zabat warrior. "What happened? You were supposed to back-up Hemerosu, so that the Blitz Team's Reinosu couldn't attack her. She had already taken out the Gun Sniper, so we may have been able to take out the Shadow Fox as well."

The Zabat warrior looked down. "Sir, I... I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. It appeared as if everything was going in our favor. I'll never let it happen again." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"You may be dismissed. I will consider your punishment and notify you later." The Zabat pilot stood and left the room quickly, bowing slightly to Raon in salute. "As the rest of you," Dr. Raon said, turning to the Helcat warriors. "I thought you were supposed to be the best warriors we have. Yet all four of you were taken out by ONE Shadow Fox. How is this possible?"

The Helcat's leader turned and addressed Dr. Raon. "Sir, we did everything we could..."

Dr. Raon cut him short. "Shazno, isn't it?" The Helcat warrior nodded. "I overheard your discussion before this briefing. This battle was to test Hemerosu's new system, which we could use to take over an enemy Zoid, if our warriors could not finish the battle themselves. This is not technology that we want the Zoid Battle Commission to be able to get their hands on. If Hemerosu's Reinosu had been captured, it is almost certain that she would have been apprehended and the technology appropriated. This is not a risk we could take, so I ordered a strategic retreat, since none of you were in a position to give her ground support against the remaining two Zoids. Bear in mind that she was the only one that successfully took out one of the enemy's Zoids. I do not want to hear of any harassment that she receives, or you will regret it. Have I made myself clear?" Shazno and his team nodded. "Dismissed."

Dr. Raon turned to Arasu and waited until the Helcat team had left the room before continuing his briefing. "The test was a success?"

"Yes, sir, but..."

"One, when we are in private, I'd prefer if you call me 'Ese'. 'Dr. Raon' and 'Sir' are too formal for me, and everyone else calls me that. Second, do not worry about the other warriors. You successfully completed your job, which is more than we can say for them. They will be punished if anything comes from this."

"Yes s-, er, Ese." She paused. "The test worked wonderfully, and was a complete success, but I have a question to ask you." Dr. Raon nodded, so Arasu continued. "The enemy Reinosu pilot... he called himself the 'Wild Eagle'. Do— do you know why?"

Dr. Raon looked down and sighed. "I was hoping they wouldn't send him out." He paused, before looking at Arasu again. "I am sorry, Arasu, for sending you into battle without knowing... the Reinosu pilot for the Blitz team is Jiemi Hemerosu, your brother."

"WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE, BIT?!?!?!?!" Rinon yelled at the blond-haired boy.

"How should I know? I just lost control of Raigaru all of a sudden!" Bit shouted back.

"Calm down," Dr. Torosu sighed. "Rinon, while we don't know exactly what happened out there, we do know that it's not Bit's fault. Once Jiemi gets back from running diagnostics on those claws the enemy Reinosu left behind, we'll know exactly what happened."

"How's it going Jiemi?" Ballade called up to the younger boy.

Jiemi looked up from his wiring, and looked down at the mercenary. "Whoever did this is really amazing."

"Oh?" Ballade asked.

"Near as I can tell, when the Reinosu's claws shocked the Raigaru, it sent a program along with it. The claws that stayed on the Raigaru served as radios, and the program convinced the Raigaru's computer that the pilot in the Reinosu was the proper pilot. Given Raigaru's refusal to let anyone except Bit in the cockpit, whoever wrote that program must've been really good to even get the Raigaru to except his orders."

"Her."

"What?"

"Her orders. The voice coming over the intercom was a girl. So SHE got Raigaru to follow HER orders."

Jiemi thought a moment, then shrugged. "Okay, her, whatever. Anyway, what makes this program even harder to crack is that the programmer added to the code for the program to self destruct itself after the signal ended, so that we wouldn't be able to get a hold of the program ourselves."

"Pretty ingenious then, huh?"

Jiemi nodded. "We have no way of knowing how many Zoids can use this program. That means any battle we go into against the Backdraft could end with us battling each other unwillingly."

"We're screwed, aren't we?" Ballade asked. Jiemi just nodded.