Hello again. I don't have much to say except: I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 8 – Unknown Enemies
"Hey kid!" Irvine shouted, "Get out of my way or I'll take you down with all of these bandits!"
"Irvine! I can't believe it's really you! Five years is quite a long time!" Moonbay stated with a huge smile on her face.
"Five years," He repeated, "yeah, I guess it is a pretty long time."
"Mark, don't attack the Lightning Saix unless it attacks us first, I suspect it is on our side since it didn't attack the transporter." Locke commanded.
"I understand," Mark, confirmed, "I am not to attack the Lightning Saix unless it threatens us in any way."
The Zoidians made a quick 180-degree turn to engage the remaining two Command Wolves, Shield Liger, and Zaber Fang.
"Yo Dirk, I know it's three Zoids against four right now, but we had a hard time taking on two of these guys before. I really don't think we stand a chance." Said one of the gang members to the leader of the bunch.
"I think your right, we'll just have to attack them again, with a larger crew." Replied Dirk.
"Are they retreating?" Asked Locke.
"Seems that way, perhaps now we can get some advice about the land here." Said Mark.
"I'll continue chasing these guys," Irvine announced, "Thanks for helpin' out one of my friends boys, seeya'round."
"Thanks for the help Irvine!" Moonbay shouted back.
The Zoidians exited out of their Zoids and Moonbay did the same.
"Well you two really got me out of a jam, don't worry about Irvine there, he'll be just fine on his own." Moonbay thanked them to get a conversation going.
"Think nothing of it," Locke responded, "My name is Locke, and this is Mark.
"I'm Moonbay, how do you do?"
"Fine, thank you." Mark replied.
"Do you know this desert very well?" Locke asked.
"Well...yeah, I'm pretty much familiar with this land, what do you need to know?"
Locke got out the map he had been looking at earlier "Do you know if this canyon here is safe to go through or not?"
"Actually, it is only safe if you don't get out of your Zoids. The bandits there don't attack unless you're vulnerable. But things change, as far as I know, you'll be fine, but they might still attack."
Locke didn't say anything; he just looked at the grains of sand at his boots and thought hard about the matter. Moonbay saw his worried expression.
"Hey!" she lightly punched him on the shoulder. "I'm sure with your skill, you won't have any problem, you'll be in the water colony before you know it!"
Locke looked up and smiled, "Thank you for your help."
"See you later!" Mark shouted behind him."
"Bye, and thanks again!" Moonbay shouted back.
"You too!" Locke finished.
The two Zoidians rode in silence toward the canyon that supposedly had bandits. A while later, Mark picked up the conversation.
"So, are we going to do it?" He asked.
"Yeah, we'll go through. But we'll go during the day, that way we will be able to get to our destination faster and safer."
"But if we stop half way through the day, won't that hurt our time if we waste the other half of the day?"
"It should be close to evening when we get there. I don't think we will waste much time." Locke confirmed.
"Alright, but one thing."
"What's that?"
"I call 'no night shift'!"
"You wish" Locke smirked.
"I am soooooo bored. Bored bored bored bored bored" Irvine started chanting. "Bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored BORED!!! I've been sitting here for 45 minutes! It wouldn't be so bad, if they hadn't said they would be here in 15!"
"Irvine, do you STILL have that attitude?" Asked the voice of an old friend.
"Van, this attitude is my LIFE!" Irvine started banging his head onto the controls in front of him.
"Nope, haven't' changed a bit." Van Flyhight evaluated, coming up behind Irvine.
"Yeah, even I can't tell a difference since we last met." Raven coldly added.
"Whoa!" Irvine jumped, "Didn't ever expect to see Raven again. And your not much of a Birthday Cake your self you know."
"I don't really mind, I've never heard of anyone calling anybody a 'Birthday Cake'.
Irvine just rolled his eyes, "You guys here to take the bandits?"
"Yeah, we got a Gustave with a 'prison trailer'." Van replied.
"I'm just wondering how you destroyed all of these Zoids by yourself without getting a scratch." Raven commented.
"Well, I actually had some help, but I could have destroyed them on my own!"
"Hold on Irvine, who else was here?" Van inquired.
"Don't know, but they weren't half bad, they were actually pretty good. They were in a green Zaber Fang and a blue Shield Liger."
Van looked a little troubled. "Do you know their purpose for getting into a fight like that?"
"They were obviously helping Moonbay. Either they did it out of the goodness of their hearts, or they wanted to have a little fun." Was all Irvine could come up with.
"Or they might have wanted something from Moonbay, perhaps the geography around here?" Raven added.
"Not sure, I did see them get out and talk to Moonbay, but I don't like to eavesdrop so I don't know what they said or asked from her." Irvine answered.
"Hmmm." Van thought to himself.
"Watcha thinkin' Van?" Raven asked.
"I'm thinking about what you said, about them asking about the geography. From what I've heard, the people who have been invading us don't really know this land, or this planet for that matter. It kind of makes sense from what I have already heard about them, but there have been people asking about different geography on Zi, requesting maps and such." Van stated.
"And you're probably thinking that those two might have something to do with this invasion?" Raven finished.
"Exactly. But thinking earlier to this conversation, I'm only worried about that IF they asked about geography. They could just be mercenaries, perhaps asking for a little money for their trouble. Irvine, go find Moonbay and ask her what they asked her. This might be a good lead for finding out more about our enemy."
"Sure thing Van." Irvine confirmed.
"Oh yeah, and tell her I said 'hi'!
Irvine gave Van a up, signifying that he got the message, got into his Zoid and rode off for her, first heading back to the battlefield and the following her tracks to find her.
Moonbay, going the opposite direction of the two Zoidians, continued to mosey on through the desert, bored out of her mind. She wished that she could have been going with the two young men she had just met. She would've liked some company. She just shrugged her shoulders at the thought.
"Life a transporter I guess."
Her life had really changed since the day she had met Van. He was always getting into trouble back than. She smiled at the memory of Van idiotically blurting out to Rob Herman that they had destroyed those entire sleeper Zoids with the Imperial ammunition. Or when he assaulted O'Connell just to save Zeek. She chuckled at another stupid stunt that Van pulled.
"A Flying papaya!" she said aloud. It was just the funniest thing to her. For a 14-year-old he didn't have any common sense.
Then there was Fiona.
"Only I know who would stop for a cricket." She said aloud and laughed a little more, "She is also the only person that I know who is immune to dehydration from salt. I haven't seen her since...well, since when the Saruer was finally put down. MAN the Saurer was a long time ago. Really thought I was going to die that time."
Then her thought turned to Irvine.
"Sometimes I can't tell if he is a 'good guy' or 'bad guy'. She said aloud. "Certainly is mysterious.
"How much is 'Sometimes'?" asked a familiar voice.
"Irvine? Am I hearing things?" she asked the voice she just heard.
"More like you left your com-link on and anyone who was within a mile heard everything you said." He responded.
Sure enough, she had left her radio on, on . She looked around and finally saw the Zoid had been behind her, quite a distance away. "So, did you capture the remaining Zoids who ran for their lives?" She asked.
"You bet, they have already been handed over to the Guardian Force, but I'm not sure if Herman could have been any slower."
Moonbay laughed. "So you are with the Guardian Force?" She inquired.
"Yeah, I guess the secret is out now." Irvine admitted.
"Ha! I knew you would grow up eventually."
Irvine smiled. "Just more proof that people do change."
"So what are you going to do now?" She inquired.
"Well, seeing as how I just got on vacation, I was hoping I could travel around with you. You know how bored I can get, and since you have bandits on your tale quite a bit, I was hopping you could provide me with a little bit of fun."
"Well," she began, "One thing for sure that hasn't changed, I'm always getting into trouble, and you're always here to try and talk a little common sense into me!"
"Nah, I kind of gave up on the whole common sense thing." He joked.
"Hey!"
"Moonbay," Irvine started, in a more serious tone, "I need you to tell me what those mercenaries said to you, Van would like to know anyway. He suspects they might be dangerous.
"Hmm, they just asked me if the blue canyon was a safe route to take to the Water Colony. I told them it should be okay if they stay in their Zoids." She responded.
"I see, okay thanks, I'd better give Van the message. Oh yeah, he also says 'Hi'."
Moonbay smiled, "While your being our messenger boy, tell him I said, "How you doing?"
Irvine rolled his eyes, "He's doing fine, and I'll tell him you said 'Hi', as well."
It was now the late evening, about 7:30. Locke and Mark had reached the canyon they would be soon crossing in the morning. Most of the stars were out on that clear beautiful night, and the two moons were close together.
The two had made a natural fire with the sticks and brush they had found in a small forest nearby. Usually they would have just got out their portable stove, but tonight, they desired a natural flame to stare into.
"Hey Locke."
"Hmm?"
"I noticed that something in that battle earlier. You are usually cheering yourself on in the middle of a battle. Whenever you fight, you are usually a - hot shot, but in that last battle, you didn't say much, not even a hoot or a holler. Is something up?"
Locke just looked into the flames with a slightly saddened look on his face. He tried to put on a fake smile, but could get him self to do it. He knew that Mark could sense his depression. "It's nothing really, nothing to worry about at all."
Mark just looked at his best friend for a little while and studied his expression. Locke didn't look too depressed; he just looked like he has something on his mind. "Nothing huh? I don't really believe you."
"I'm alright Mark, really."
"No Locke. I'm not just going to shrug off the fact that something is bothering my best friend, and leave you to deal with those emotions by yourself. We are best friends, I can't just let you bear the weight of whatever your burden is by yourself."
"That persistent attitude is one reason were really good friends, you know that?"
"Of course, you have the same attitude, plus we are very perceptive when something is bothering the other."
"I kind of have a hard time with admitting this. Ryss was the first one to notice my mood."
"Go on." Mark prodded.
"For the past ten years, this has never bothered me, but I'm really beginning to..." Locke stopped. He was afraid what his friends reaction would be if he admitted this weakness that continued to bother him. The only people that really knew were his organoid, Ryss, and Victor, his trainer in Zoid piloting (refer to chapter 5 to remember who Victor was if you've forgotten). Mark just looked at his friend. Locke looked up at Mark, he could see a deep care in Mark's eyes, but that didn't really give Locke the confidence and trust that he needed to tell his Mark what was wrong. "If you don't mind too much, I'd rather not talk about this right now. I know I can't deny that I have been acting different, but right now..."
Mark nodded his head, "I understand. When you are ready to tell me, I'll be listening." Mark yawned, "I'm going to bed."
"I'll wake you in four hours." Locke reminded.
"M'kay."
Inside a military bunker, Dr. Randal of the Earth Confederacy (I wanted to say 'Earth Forces', but that sounded too much like Gundam Seed) was planning out the final stages of purging Zi of all Zoidian kind, when he got a call from a lower ranking officer.
"Yes?" Asked Randal.
"Sir, we have uncovered some information that we thought you would be interested in."
"Really? And just what information could there be that I don't know of?"
"We aren't fighting Zoidians."
"What?!?" Randal asked with great enthusiasm.
"These are actually humans that we are fighting, there are records of three Zoidians, and that's it."
"Really? That is quite interesting. Who are they?" Inquired Randal.
"We have names and photos of each, but background story is unknown."
"That is fine. I need you to eliminate all three of them. I don't want to think about what would happen if they were to return. We would really have a major war on our hands. So make sure you make the assassinations silent and quick." Randal Ordered.
"Yes sir, and what about the rest of the planet?"
"For now, let us withdraw our troops. They show resistance, but that is too be expected, we were trying to eliminate them after all. I'm am going to see what I can find out about these humans here."
"Yes sir." Said the officer and ended the transmission.
"Hmm, Humans huh? That's interesting; I didn't think that they would survive here. What happened to the Saurer? I wonder..."
And the plot thickens! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I think I'm doing ok so far, I know I haven't done nearly enough for the Earth Confederacy, and I apologize for that. I'm thinking next chapter I will shed some light on the Confederacy's origin and background.
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