--------author's note---------

Sorry it's been so long since the last update... school's been hectic lately. I promise I'll try my best not to allow another month before the next update. You can rest assured that my sister will continue to torment me until I update again, and again.

Remember the "Fight Club" rules now...
1) You must review my story.
2) You MUST review my story.
3) Two flames per chapter.
4) Reviews go on as long as they have to.
5) If you go limp, or tap out, you must be a really bad typist.
6) No misspellings, and no all caps sentences.
7) Finally, if this is your first time reading, you must review.

Tyler Durden...er... I mean Keeperofthescarf.

-------end author's note--------

It was still before dawn when Sami emerged from her tent onto the bleak landscape, wearing her usual combat fatigues and white tank top. She knelt down to finish lacing up her combat boots and looked up at the sky, just beginning to show a lighter tint of blue in the east. She walked through the dim light and scorched underbrush towards the larger tent that had been made provisional headquarters. As Sami entered the tent, she saw the forensics expert and a younger man dressed in a simple khaki uniform standing over a table examining a large metal fragment. They both looked up at her entrance and the younger man greeted her, looking grim but still trying to be cheerful.

"Good morning, Commander. You're sure up early!"

Sami smiled tight-lippedly. "No use sleeping in late when there's work to be done, Captain... Stone, right?"

The man nodded and turned to the shard of steel before them. Sami observed that it was shaped like a long, jagged piece of pipe. "We made two very interesting finds during the night as the soldiers searched the area of yesterday's attack. This piece of steel has a special zinc-carbon alloy along the inside curve, an alloy only used in products created by one company, Syntex... does that name ring a bell to you?"

Sami shook her head, but before she could respond, the voice of her longtime friend and ally spoke out from behind her.

"That's the company that manufactures my tanks and anti-airs," Max said, pausing to take a sip of coffee, "and they have the highest quality large-caliber guns in all of Wars World. Only their anti-airs could shoot down Eagle's fighters so quickly."

Sami turned to Max with a puzzled look on her face. "So Black Hole somehow bought a few anti-airs from Syntex and kept them there in ambush?"

The forensics expert cleared his throat and spoke. "No, we ran a check with all of our military storage facilities, and it was discovered that a group of anti-air units were missing from a base not too far south of here. Somebody stole the anti-airs used in the attack."

Sami frowned. "It doesn't really seem like Black Hole's style to steal units. They have nearly infinite resources, and Hawke's own units are just as good."

Max turned to her. "You don't think someone else might be behind it, do you?"

The investigator cut in, shaking his head. "No, we're pretty sure that Black Hole forces were the ones attacking yesterday morning. Take a look at this."

He pulled a large box resembling a giant drink cooler from under the table, grunting from its weight, and flung open the lid. Sami gasped and Max choked on his coffee, while the faces of Stone and the investigator remained impassive. In the container was the body of a Black Hole commando, drenched in blood.

Within an hour, Nell was up and informed of the new findings. She immediately opened up a comlink channel on the frequency the Black Hole leaders were known to use for contacting Orange Star CO's and taunting them during battle. The static on the video screen coalesced into the image of Flak, the recent invader of Orange Star. His expression was almost impossible to read, since his trademark goggles obscured his eyes and his mouth was busy chewing potato chips.

"Whaddaya want?" Potato bits spewed forth as he spoke.

"Would you mind telling me why Black Hole forces attacked one of our bases yesterday? I thought we were keeping a ceasefire since Sturm's death."

"I'm not going to tell you anything, lady. Hawke said if anyone from Orange Star called, I shouldn't tell them anything, and I should wait for Lash and Adder to get back before moving any troops."

Nell sighed. She couldn't help but wonder how busy Hawke must be to let someone as inept as Flak take incoming calls, but she couldn't complain as she seized the opportunity to learn the enemy's plans.

"So I guess Adder and Lash will be back from Blue Moon any day now?"

"They're not in Blue Moon, they're in Orange Star, stupid!"

Her fears confirmed, she continued. "Too bad they'll walk right into my artillery trap set up on Alara Mountain."

Flak frowned. "I don't think artillery can shoot that far. Adder and Lash are all the way up in-"

The screen dissolved into static. Nell turned to her communications director, who had been recording the conversation. "What happened?" she inquired.

"Let me rewind the tape and watch it in slow-motion."

The tape began to play its final seconds again, at one-quarter speed. As Flak's lips moved, an arm shot out from off screen, so incredibly fast it was difficult to see even when slowed so much. The hand flicked the switch on Flak's command chair that controlled the connection, plunging the screen back into static chaos. The glove worn by the hand was unmistakably the black leather design belonging only to Hawke.

Nell sighed. "I guess Hawke was more aware of what was going on than I hoped. At least we're warned about the other two coming, though. Open up channels with Olaf, Drake, and Kanbei."

In the local Orange Star HQ to the north, Andy was slowly reviving from a deep slumber, blissfully unaware of the latest events. He lazily got dressed, feeling much more refreshed than he had being roused from sleep the day before by Sami. Andy gazed out over the landscape through the windows that made up an entire wall of his commanders' suite; to the north was nothing but forests and farmland, with a single city shining on the horizon, and to the south was the military base now under his command, complete with factories, an airport, and a few small towns for all the soldiers and personnel to live in. Andy remembered Nell's directive the day before to shore up security in the region, knowing that every person living for dozens of kilometers depended on his army's protection if Black Hole were to try and attack again. He sighed, not really envying the responsibility, and headed down to the mess hall for breakfast. He walked quickly through the buffet of breakfast foods available, thanking his lucky stars he didn't have the spartan breakfast of unflavored oatmeal that Olaf was fond of giving to his own troops, and grabbed a stack of pancakes and some sausage. As he turned to find a table to sit at he was surprised to see Kat eating at one only a short distance away. She waved and with his heart beating nearly out of his ribcage, he walked over to sit down next to her.

"Did you sleep well, Commander Andy?" she inquired with a smile.

"Just fine, thanks. And, uh, you can just call me Andy, Kat." It was hard for Andy not to smile when such a beautiful woman was smiling at him. He felt a bit more confident and asked, "So, where are you from? We didn't really get a chance to talk last night while we were putting the troops on alert and getting all the bases ready for a war."

"Well, I was born in Blue Moon and lived there until about 6 years ago. My parents..." She lowered her voice. "...were spies for Blue Moon against Orange Star. Because they always had to be able to blend in anywhere in Orange Star, I learned a lot from them about OS culture and the military. They didn't think anything wrong with spying when tensions were all that existed between Orange Star and Blue Moon, but when they found out that Olaf was going to be using their reports for an unprovoked surprise attack, they defected to OS and brought quite a few of Blue Moon's military secrets with them. In gratitude to my parents, Nell put me in the OS Military Academy and after only two years I was able to graduate magna cum laude. I started as a lieutenant in Commander Max's forces, but by the end of the second invasion I was working as a sub-commander in the intelligence division, trying to coordinate all of the alliance forces. Nell thought that my battle and intelligence skills might be useful after this latest attack, so here I am!"

Andy nodded, wowed both by her beauty of her voice and the speed she had advanced her military career. "Do you have any battlefield command experience?"

She grinned. "It's been a year or two since I've been with soldiers out in the field, but I was Nell's personal advisor for a good deal of the last war with Black Hole. I was a good friend of your own battle advisor, actually."

"Really?" Andy paused for a moment, remembering the eccentric military genius who spent most of his time playing video games in a deluxe suite at the OS central headquarters, coming out of semi-retirement only the two times when Orange Star had a war on its hands. "He's a pretty smart guy... I've never beat him in a War Room simulation."

Kat smiled yet again. "Maybe we could play a few battles in the War Room later today."

Andy was about to respond enthusiastically to her suggestion when a messenger came running into the room with a sealed envelope.

He stopped for a moment to catch his breath and jogged over to the table. "Message from Commander Nell, sir. Priority One."

Andy frowned as he returned the messenger's saluted and took the envelope. His face darkened further after reading the contents of the dispatch. He looked up to Kat, her face showing her uncertainty.

"Kat, I think we might be getting a bit too much battlefield experience soon."

"Sounds like quite a pickle, darlin'. 'Course Blue Moon'll be happy to send over forces to root out them Black Hole varmints."

Olaf cut in, "Of course I'll be leading them to swift victory. I'll have decimated Lash's troops in no time at... at... ACHOO!"

"Hold it, Your Beardedness, you've still got a touch of that cold. You've got to remember that just because you're the King of the Cold doesn't mean you can dance naked in the snow every day on Mount Noel."

"I do not dance naked in the snow every day, only on Tuesdays!"

Nell blinked, and beat a hasty retreat. "Um, uh, I'll talk to you all later..."

Grit laughed at the obvious rage and embarrassment on Olaf's face, but turned instead to speak to Blue Moon's junior CO. "Colin, you wanna mosey on out to Orange Star and give 'em a hand with our old friends in black?"

"Yes, sir! I'll be over there in no time!" Colin had managed to gain a goodly amount of confidence since his trial by fire in the invasion, but Grit still marveled at how formal he still felt he needed to be around Olaf and Grit, two of the least formal commanders in the alliance force.

Grit called in his two sub-commanders and began giving out orders as Colin saluted smartly and left. Grit's country-boy persona was instantly replaced by that of the efficient general. "Transfer all of my direct-combat units to Commander Colin's command, and bring half of his indirect units over to my camp. Set up the artillery in formation beta and keep the rockets in reserve. Missile units should be prepped to fire at first sign of any enemy aircraft. Make sure Olaf's troops are ready to fight anyone who shows up in Blue Moon, but he should be well enough to lead them in an emergency."

Colin strode down to where his personal recon and driver waited to drive him over the border to Orange Star. He got in, smoothed out the wrinkles in his immaculate uniform, and considered possible battle plans. After five minutes, he had decided to take some old advice from Grit and tipped his hat down over his eyes, settling down to get a nap. "I'll need to be well-rested to outwit Lash and Adder." Sleep came quickly to him.

"Ahoy, Eagle, there's trouble brewing abroad."

The battle-hardened pilot, surprised by his friend's seeming appearance from nowhere, nearly jumped a foot in the air. "Drake! I'm jumpy enough already today!" Eagle looked down at the waves being left in the wake of the G.E.S. Barracuda, the finest cruiser in Drake's entire fleet. He took small comfort in the fact that he was standing atop the bridge, nearly 20 meters above the sea; the wind was blowing hard. Eagle tried to ignore the salty smell and focus instead on the early-morning horizon, the sun at his back. "So what did Nell have to say that now has us charging west across this confounded ocean?"

"Lash and Adder are, as you'd say, flying below the radar somewhere in Orange Star."

"Oh? So the snake and the brat are looking for a dogfight, eh?"

Drake shrugged. "You don't sneak through a blockade when you're on a pleasure cruise, matey."

Eagle turned back to the horizon. "Agreed. Perhaps we shall get a chance to avenge my pilots' deaths. And those of thousands of alliance soldiers."

Drake nodded gravely. "I hope Jess can hold down the fort back home until we're done dealing with these Black Hole buccaneers."

"Jess is quite competent enough to keep any threat under control until we get back and deal with it."

Eagle pulled a small radio and contacted the hangar chief. "Deploy the flight deck." As the ocean breeze began to pick up, the two immense panels in the deck slid out to reveal the retractable flight deck beneath. Eagle jumped down a series of platforms to the main deck and walked past the neat rows of battle and transport copters to a copter with heavily modified engines and armor. He opened the fuselage door and climbed into his personal craft, a beautiful and deadly battle copter that could fly with the speed of a fighter but still attack ground and naval targets with its powerful missiles. His eyes glanced over the altimeter, gyrocompass, and fuel gauges, staying for a moment on the picture taped in the bottom corner of his cockpit window. The smile of the commando was mocking him as usual, daring him to tell her about his feelings for her. Sami. He sighed and started up the main engine, as dozens of his crack pilots did the same. With a synchronized roar, the copters lifted off and headed across the ocean, seeking a prey painted black and cloaked in evil.

All three of Yellow Comet's brave CO's listened gravely to the news Nell was bringing for the third time that morning. After she had finished summarizing everything she knew, Kanbei spoke first for the three.

"We shall not desert our allies in their time of need! The samurai flag will fly on the field of battle!"

"Father may overdramatize a bit, but our transports should be landing on the northern coast by this time tomorrow."

"Adder and Lash may be tricky, but I'm sure our forces will prevail," Sensei added.

Nell smiled. "We're all so thankful over here for all your help. Talk to you soon, I hope."

The screen went black as Nell hung up, and Sonja turned to Kanbei. "When will we leave to begin the hunt, Father?"

"We? You must stay here with Sensei in case this is a diversion to attack while half our army is in Orange Star!"

"Stay here? You must be kidding! With Max and Eagle in Orange Star, the last thing we need is more brute force led by stubborn commanders. They've got the guns, but they don't know where to aim, and I'm the one who can find them a target."

"But Sonja..."

"I'm the best there is at intel gathering, you know that, Father. Let me go to Orange Star instead!"

"No! Even if you can find them, they are still far too dangerous to engage in battle!"

"No more dangerous than attacking Adder's fortress, or defending against Lash's neotank charge in Korukai Valley!"

Sensei spoke gently, cutting off Kanbei's protest. "Your daughter is one of the most cunning warriors in Wars World, Kanbei. Perhaps we should send the person who is needed most in Orange Star, not the one who can simply fight the best."

Kanbei's mouth jerked a few times as he stuttered and tried to think of a response. "Very well," he said, "but be careful, Sonja. Call back every day, my little lotus blossom."

Sensei patted her on the back. "Good luck, Sonja."

Sonja bowed quickly to her two superiors and headed off to marshal her forces for transport to Orange Star. "Maybe if I can spend more than one day at a time with Andy I'll have a chance with him," she muttered as she walked down the hall.

Back in Orange Star, Sami was getting ready to eat an early lunch of garden salad and french fries in the crowded cafeteria of Swartzchild Base. She was just pouring the salad dressing on her meal when she was joined by Captain Stone, also taking a break from the investigative work for a bite to eat. She was too deep in thought to notice him as he sat down next to her, so he cleared his throat, and apparently noticing the frown creasing her forehead, asked, "Is something bothering you, Commander?"

"That dead Black Hole commando... you said he died from a knife wound, right?"

"Let me check..." He fumbled with the clipboard full of data that he was carrying until he found the autopsy report. "Subject appears to have died from massive hemorrhaging following the cutting of the carotid artery and jugular vein," he read out loud. "Do you think he might have died from something else?"

"No, I saw the body. There was definitely a major neck wound and the uniform was soaked in blood."

"So what's strange about it?"

"None of my commandos have combat knives unless they're planning to infiltrate an enemy installation. Whoever slashed his throat couldn't be from Orange Star."

"What?!"

"I know it doesn't make sense... but there are other things that don't make sense about the attack either."

"Like what?"

"The attackers got into the base by blowing a hole in the perimeter with a hand-held rocket launcher. The only units trained to use those are mechs, and those same mechs were somehow outrunning my elite infantry. And why haven't we found that one researcher's body... um... Dr. Rand? If she was just killed in the initial attack, where is her body? If she was taken alive, why would the commandos leave with her when they were already running for their lives? What could their original goal have been anyway? The whole thing is just weird. They penetrate the base, kill a few defenders, happen to kill a prominent scientist, and run as if they were scared off. If they were professional enough to breach the defenses and escape my forces, they should have been professional enough to complete their objective without being caught."

"I agree it's weird, especially the part about the knife wound. You don't think one of the other countries might be working along with Black Hole and decided to betray them as they retreated?"

Sami shook her head. "Every one of the other CO's is trustable... we've all risked our lives for each other countless times." She stood up, her small meal finished. "I'll see you later, Captain. I've got some more thinking to do..."

Adder paced silently in the makeshift HQ that had been set up. He considered he resources that they still had to work with. Only a few contingents of tanks, a small airfield with a squadron of fighters... how could Lash have been stupid enough to let all the infantry be killed? They had been his own best, capable of traveling almost triple the speed that would be expected of any normal infantry, and Lash had been so preoccupied with trying to fight and run at the same time that they were all doomed from the moment they were placed under her command. Now the Orange Star fools would be blundering through this land tomorrow in search of the rest of his forces, and then any attempts to complete the mission with secrecy would be lost. He sighed and turned to look at Lash. "Any new intel?"

"She's got to be planning to attack tomorrow... Those silly Orange Star commanders can't have any clue what they're about to be hit with, tee hee!"

Adder rolled his eyes. "In case you've forgotten, Lash, part of our job is to ensure Orange Star wins tomorrow."

Lash giggled. "But it will be so much fun to see the surprise on their faces when they find the surprise waiting for them out here."

"Just get the troops ready to fight tomorrow, Lash. And make sure that we still have troops to fight with in the morning."