DISCLAIMER: I don't own zoids or zoids copyrighted characters, but I own everything I made in this story.

It was early morning. Not exactly midnight, but the sun was still under the horizon. Probably the same hour I'd left the desert, I've been thinking about that a lot lately. But who cares about the time. All I knew was Psy buzzed me on the intercom with some news, and here I was.

The place was a stretch of flat granite next to a isolated canyon. On top of the canyon, was our cloaked Whale. Even though it was colored black and it was past midnight, we cloaked it. I was sitting back in the darkened cockpit of Psy. The only light I could see came from a few digital readouts of every color. A mirror image of the time and date was projected onto my light gray shirt.

But I didn't notice. My eyes were gazing right out the glass into the shadows. In the center of my focus, was a group of shadows that stood out from the rest. This shadow was moving, my oak eyes following it. Back and forth, forward and back, and what appeared to be a flip or roll. I heard the gentle click of the intercom turning on.

"It handles nothing like the Urban Assault…"

I sighed, leaning closer to the microphone/speaker. I was tired. Need I mention the time again?

"Give it another ten minutes. It took nearly a week to evolve, might as well spend some time getting used to it."

That shadow was whatever came out of the Command Wolf Juggernaut's cocoon. I say that because I currently have no clue what it is.

Ten minutes later I pulled Psy into the invisible Hanger entrance. The garage was dark except for several spotlights on the parking places. I moved the Saix onto one of the spots and hopped up onto the head and watched the entrance. A piece of the night then walked in. On four legs the shadow moved into a parking space, into the light where it was stripped of its disguise.

A second later Clara emerged on the top of the creature. I watched her get off it before I jumped down myself and waked her to the elevator. We talked quietly as we stepped out into the kitchen. As I turned to say goodnight to her I felt something jam into my thigh. I looked down to see a thin ankle covered in black cloth. I jerked my head up to see Sarah, our ever-sleeping houseguest, sitting on the counter staring at us. For the first time she was wide awake.

"…bit late for you two to be catching a movie at the drive-in…bring me back any popcorn?"

I locked eyes with her, Clara took the cue to walk off to her room. Always a pacifist, leaving me to deal with the nosy mountain lion.

"…we were working on night vision details…"

I was dressed in some cotton shorts and a tee shirt, my sleeping clothes. There goes my training excuse. Sarah just stared. I meanwhile was starting to piece something together. Sarah had seemed to just sleep constantly, ever since we let her in her. Yet here she was wide awake. Maybe she was nocturnal. Whatever she was, she kept her eyes locked.

"…just wanted to get you while you're up…"

She slid onto her feet on the tile before me. We were about the same height barefoot.

"…just wanted to thank you for accepting Vega and I as guests…my sleeping habits probably took you all off-guard."

I raised an unseen eyebrow.

"…we figured you were worn out from watching the kid, we didn't mind."

This was the first I'd really talked to her since she had a gun to my head. Think I should mention we're related? She was eying me coolly, lower jaw left loose like a runway model.

"…Vega mentioned that you punks took good care of him. Allow me to guess, my reputation as a Backdraft Member?"

"…actually, he's a good kid…"

She blinked, her shield flickering.

"…hm…well, I expected you'd throw us out after you got the information you needed."

I eyed the dark kitchen. You'd think I'd turn on some lights, but I think this was conversation was best told in the dark.

"We have a lot of space on here, we didn't mind helping out. Besides, you two need all he security you can get."

She nodded in silent agreement.

"…well, there may be a deeper meaning…I recognized you when I caught you with the Fury because you were in the news…"

So does the general public…

"…and in part because you're the reported prodigy of Max Brad. And Heir to his nickname."

…so I was Max's adopted son, and I got stuck with being Chase Brand. Before she stated another obvious fact I sighed and just said it.

"…Sarah. I know you're Max's daughter."

It was too dark to tell, but I think she let her supermodel jaw drop.

"…well…er, that saves me some time…"

I nodded, taking over the conversation.

"…Max took me under his wing shortly after he moved out there."

"…I really need to apologize to him again…"

So she knows she put him to shame…great. But honestly I only got to see him for a few days after we left the Desert, this chick hasn't seen him in easily ten years. How old was she anyway?

"…so he adopted me, making us…"

…I sensed this was awkward to her, too. I heard her scratch her neck like I did sometimes. Come to think of it, we both acted like Max.

"…siblings…"

Sounded better from her mouth. But right after she said that she went for the knockout.

"So we're related, big deal. What were you and that girl doing at this time of night?"

I'd ask her the same question, but it was now very clear she was just nocturnal, a common trait in the Backdraft.

"…we just had a zoid evolve…it's a new breed, the pilot wanted to try it out as soon as we heard, and I wanted to keep it under wraps until our next battle."

My long lost sister made a sound of interest from the dark in front of me.

"…how about you get off to bed, little brother. You shouldn't be up this late."

…so started the sibling problems...I grunted in resent and walked off to my room. I heard her laugh as she stayed out in the kitchen, probably killing time. So this is why she slept so much. She was switching slowly from a night-dweller to a sun follower. My sister, the weirdo. Damn, I sound like a sitcom character.

Five Hours of Blessed Sleep Later

The sun-blocker mode on the windows got me a few extra hours of sleep, even after the sun was going full force my window-wall tinted darker automatically. By the time I escape from my futon's clutches and got dressed I smelled breakfast being cooked from the other side of my door. I walked out to find Team Reckless clustered in the kitchen. Sue was working the stove, counter and microwave at the same time while Rax and Clara sat around in their pajamas drenched in sweat. As I took a seat at the counter I asked about why everyone looked like they ran a marathon.

"…look down."

I looked at Rax for a moment then did so. My shirt and shorts were also dark with sweat. What the…Sue answered before I cursed.

"…winter is almost over…and us desert hobos are about to go from resort weather to Death Valley."

…wait…for the last six months, it'd been winter? Oh yeah, this is the desert.

"…so it's going to get hotter?"

Rax nodded, wringing out his sleeve.

"Yep. It starts with the night heat waves. Then the draughts and ice shortages by spring. Summer, well, the city is usually a ghost town for three months."

…I wish some one would've explained this to me before I left my nice little limbo of shame for the frying pan out here. I just shook my head, already working out a new air conditioning system in my head.

"Hey, Clara said you spotted our houseguest last night."

Did Sue mean Sarah or that botched genetic project from last week?

"Yeah, broke the news to her finally."

Clara was covering a plate in eggs.

"How'd she take it?"

"She told me to go to bed, and laughed her head off. Great, I finally have a family, but it comes with a bitchy sister."

Sue, dressed in her usual black slacks and top but with a blue apron around her waist, smirked as she handed me my plate. Her hair has recently been cut, she had a single black lock falling out next to her right eye and the rest loosely braided onto her back.

"Hey, some day you'll need beer and she'll be your best friend."

I glared. She smirked wider in victory.

"I mean, you're only eighteen….sure you could pass off as a twenty something but your ZBC license is stabbing you in the back."

…note to self, new equation to try out. Knife+SuePeace.

After stocking up on eggs and toast we all turned at the sound of feet. Vega, wearing a tee shirt and jeans, walked out of the guest room Sarah was in and toward our feeding trough.

"Mornin'…"

We all grunted in reply as Sue set out a smaller plate for the little guy.

After the silent eating frenzy Vega piped up something.

"Hey guys, Sarah told me to get a look at the new zoid then tell her everything without you idiots knowing."

I felt Clara nudge me as she looked at him.

"Nice espionage work…Sue, you should teach him how to fit into those black spandex outfits."

The cat fight was only avoided because children were in the building. I handed in my plate and nodded toward the elevator, Vega followed me to the Hanger. As the door closed and we started going down I cleared my throat officially.

"Psy, my jackass assistant slash zoid, buzzed me in the early morning to tell me it had finally come out of the cocoon. I woke up Clara and we went out to test it."

He nodded as the door opened and we walked out toward the thing.

"…just a warning, I know as much about it as you do."

We finally got to its parking space and looked up at it. The first thing you noticed was the outline. The color was…odd. Remember the Juggernaut's color? It was a gray-looking, digital camouflage pattern. Well, it'd gone from a gray pattern to…it was dark colored. But it seemed to blend in. In the desert at night, it was black like everything else. In here, it was a steel gray just like the floor. I'll get to the freaky colors later.

It was quite clearly a wolf. Four legs, a tail, elegant but streamlined head with a short mane. The legs themselves seemed to be a slimmer version of the Konig's. Knee joints easy to see, a thin skin of armor covering them. But if this thing was a Juggernaut evolution, they'd be hell to break of. The upper legs were built naturally into a detailed torso. Not a square block, but a rounded, very realistic wolf body. Except for one small detail. Strapped closely onto each shoulder were two long tubes, like plumbing pipes being carried on a beast of burden. A closer look revealed these plain looking pipes were very powerful missile launch systems, combined with a homing system these could be deadly.

I thought the tail was actually kind of nice. It wasn't a thick cable like a Liger or a little stub of a Command Wolf. It was a flexible, slightly long appendage composed of plated and jointed metal parts. The bushy-looking tip was actually a secondary laser for strikes from behind and to the side. The head showed its uniqueness. While a Konig had pride as a loyal hound, this had a feral wolf head mounted between the shoulders. A jagged, probably spiky mane with a long snout ending in a closed mouth with a few fangs poking out. Overall, this thing could pass as a wolf that got into some radioactive slime. The green eyes clashed with the rest of it. If not for the metal-details and the tubes on the back it could pass as a real wolf.

The silver color I found out was only temporary. The digi-camo had taken on a higher form. It s properties had gone from slight coverage, to the point this thing changed color depending on what backdrop it was up against. Cloaking technology? No, a flaw in human vision this thing takes advantage of. So, a giant, dark colored wolf sporting dual missile systems, a rear cannon and probable good close combat capabilities. Vega took all this in as we slowly circled it.

"Trey, it doesn't have that many weapons on it."

I nodded in agreement.

"…that's what I thought. But Psy seems to think every weapon on this thing is multi-purpose."

A blank stare.

"…it's innovative enough that each weapon could be used for several purposes. It's very simple in design, so it doesn't clutter itself and boosts his movement speed."

A blank nod.

"…oh yeah, check this out."

I tap a button on my watch. The wolf head moves slightly, then opens its mouth and lunges forward as if to bite a neck. It then freezes as if the pause button was hit. Inside the gaping, tooth-framed mouth sits the exposed barrel of a small firing weapon.

"…what's that?"

I scratched my hat-clad head.

"…well, it's similar enough to the Konig that it's probably a Sniper…but it probably has other uses, like the rest of the zoid."

A slightly less blank nod.

"…what's it called?"

…I spent all night working on that, actually…

"You know the Shadow Fox, right?"

He perked up and nodded, obviously remembering several battles.

"I could never design a zoid that good. It's so simple, but the technology sets it ahead. Well, even though this was a creation of Fate I'm naming it the Shadow Wolf as a tribute."

He just nodded again. I felt my eyebrow raise to the point of being inside my hat. The King of Zoids really didn't know how they worked.

"What's that?"

He was facing the opposite direction, his little arm extended all the way toward an aquamarine Liger parked next to my Hell Digunner.

"…that's Clara's old Blade Liger."

"So she's going from that to this?"

Now the kid had one arm toward the Wolf, the other toward the Liger. Maybe if I confused him more I could make him do a cartwheel.

"…she's a pretty good pilot, yeah."

I started walking back to the elevator as he lowered his arms and jogged to catch up.

"Sarah said you and her were an item or something. What does that mean?"

I stared into space as I hit the elevator button.

"…it means your mom hates your uncle…"

"Hehehee…"

I heard my fist crack from the reflex clench as I heard a zoid chuckle behind us.

Author's Notes

Sorry about the delay, had to add a chapter to my other fanfic.