DR: Okay, Sarah comes clean now...

Shadow: Yesss...

Chapter 14: Speculations

Sarah slowly came to, one hell of a headache pounding in her skull. 'He wasn't kidding when he said it put a strain on me…'

As her eyes began to work again, she tried to work out where she was. Putting a hand to her forehead, she expected to find a nasty gash from striking the metal floor of the hanger. Instead her skin was unblemished. This promoted her to fully open her eyes. As she focused, Sarah quickly noticed that she had been here before… It was the Blitz team lounge.

She looked around, wincing at her pounding head. The first thing she saw was Vega sitting besides her, his face downcast.

"Hey…" she asked weakly.

"Mom?" Vega's head snapped up. Seeing she was awake, his mood instantly brightened. "Mom!" He cried as he threw his arms round her.

She returned his embrace warmly. Her throbbing head was already easing, and Vega's concern was touching. Motion in the corner of her eye drew her attention.

"How are you feeling?" Leon asked as he squatted besides them. She could see Leena standing just behind him, relief written all over her face.

Their concern for her welfare deeply affected Sarah. These people had been until a few short months ago her enemies, and she had been plotting and scheming their downfall. Yet here they were, accepting her into their lives, showing all the care and concern they would each other. She felt tears begin to form in her eyes, and she didn't have the heart to stop them.

"Okay, I guess." She answered Leon, smiling while continuing to hug her son. Leon grinned back.

"Good. You had us all worried there, standing there like a statue before fainting like that…" Leon hesitated, a slight flush colouring his cheeks.

"Yeah. I had just stepped though when you fainted. If Leon hadn't been so quick you would have ended up with a nasty injury." Leena added. Leon's face flushed redder.

So it had been Leon who had saved her from injury. She felt a blush begin to form.

"Thank you."

Leon nodded, not trusting himself to reply.

As Vega released her, Sarah looked around. "Where's Bit and Brad?"

Leena shrugged. "Bit's continuing work on the Liger. He would be in here too, but Vega told him to finish his work on the Liger. As for Brad…" Leena hesitated. "…Naomi asked him to drive her to Romeo City hospital."

"Ah."

"That's it?" Leena asked incredulously. "Naomi feels she needs to see a Doctor now, and all you say is 'Ah'?"

Sarah shook her head. "It's not what you think. I gave her my theory, and she asked me not to tell anyone. Not till she got things confirmed." Sarah shrugged. "I guessed she wouldn't wait that long to do so, though I'd have thought tonight was a little soon."

"So, what was that spell all about?" Leon inquired as he sat down on the couch across from Sarah. Leena joined him.

Sarah hesitated, unsure how to proceed. "Well, I'm not sure what happened myself. One minute I'm thinking about this 'feeling' I get around your Blade Liger, the next…"

"Wait. A feeling? Like you got with the Fury?" Vega interrupted.

"Sort of. Though this time I felt like there was something 'dark' within the Liger…"

Vega turned to Leon. "You even get feelings like that, in your zoid?"

Leon slowly nodded. "Sometimes, mainly when I fought Bit. It was as if the Blade Liger had fought the Liger Zero before in another life, and lost…"

Sarah thought back on the Blade Ligers words. "Perhaps it did…" At the others blank looks, Sarah pushed on.

"We all know that, baring catastrophic damage, a zoid can live and function for hundreds of years, provided it was well maintained and looked after." Leon nodded.

"I've also heard tales about how zoids were, before the command systems became so predominate. Back then they acted more like the Liger Zero and the Fury. They could be picky about their pilots. Certainly only a few could get the best out of any zoid."

"Tapping their full potential." Leon muttered. Sarah nodded in agreement, even as Leena rolled her eyes.

"Maybe zoids are more alive than we believe? What if they do live in ways we can't understand, or have forgotten?" Leena snorted, but Sarah could tell that both Vega and Leon were listening very carefully.

"Back in the hanger, I… I suddenly started hearing voices. In my head." Leena raised an eyebrow, but Sarah pushed on. "The first introduced itself as 'Blade. Leon Toros is my pilot.'" Leon's eyes widened. Leena sat up.

"All right, I'm going to see if Bit needs any help!" She stormed out. Sarah watched her go with sadness. 'She must think I'm either crazy or making it up…'

"I'm sorry if my sister makes you feel uncomfortable." Leon apologised gently. "She's never been good at accepting new ideas quickly." He moved across besides her. "Go on."

Sarah took a deep breath before continuing her tale. "Well, when I 'asked' how we could talk like that, it – he – said that I knew. I didn't. That's when another voice jumped in." She shrugged. "I'm pretty sure it was the Liger Zero. Its voice was so – mature. And sounded wise. He told me that I could talk to them mind to mind because I have an amount of Ancient Zoidian blood in my veins." While Leon contemplated this stunning revelation, she looked at Vega before averting her eyes, looking at her feet. "It also told me it now knew who Vega reminds him of."

Leon and Vega looked at each other, neither really wanting to know the answer to the question that had to come next. "Who?" Leon asked carefully.

"Raven." Sarah whispered. "The Liger Zero said that Vega is almost exactly like Raven."

Vega gasped. "You mean, Raven the Destroyer?"

Sarah nodded glumly. "The Liger told me…" she took a deep breath. "…We're his, and Reese's – the Blue Devil – descendents."

X-X-X-X-X-X

Bit looked up at the Ligers eye, just above where he was working. "How's that feel, partner?"

The Liger growled gently, shaking its head even so slightly.

#Just a little more...#

Bit laughed, before cranking the clamps a few more turns. Shortly after Sarah had fainted, Bit had finished his work within the Liger. It was all up to the Liger to adapt his systems to accept the new parts. The Liger was confident that with his intimate knowledge of his systems, he could improve upon Naomi's suggested power increase.

Bit and Jamie had set about modifying the weapon pods they were going to use, and the mounting points needed for them. Jamie had asked to do the LRM pods, while Bit took the Micro Missiles. Vega had marked out the sections to cut off perfectly, all Bit had to do was cut straight. Though a zoids self repair systems – a complete mystery even to Zoid technicians – could account for sloppy workmanship and fill in gaps and flaws, the zoids never liked doing so. By cutting straight, Bit not only eased the workload on the Liger, it made it easier for the zoid to adapt and incorporate the new parts.

Had they simply been replacing the units installed in the armour, it would have been almost no trouble. It would have been as simple as switching a plug. But since they were modifying an existing system, the process was much more uncertain.

Bit had learned a lot about zoids and zoid workings that evening, mostly at the hands of the Liger itself. He had crawled throughout the zoids body, installing the new parts in parallel with the old. All the time the Liger had gently rumbled to him, explaining why many of the more exotic conversions of zoids rarely worked. A zoid had only a limited number of general access points, the Liger had explained, where it was simple to tap into the zoids power. But to create a new point was very difficult. That was why Bit's first attempt to give the Liger a ranged weapon had failed.

Hopefully come morning, one would never be able to tell which parts had been installed first, and which ones had been installed the night before. The connections and soldered joins would have flowed into one, until it was impossible to tell where the joins had been.

Now they were installing the extra weapons. Luckily for the 'Splinters' they had only to remove some plating at the root of the vent like structure on the Ligers cheek, as the tubes lined up perfectly with the fins. Bit had stripped the pods casing away, leaving only the tubes and feeder systems, before sliding the package into the vent structure from inside. When fired, the tiny rockets, only as long as Bit's forearm, would shoot out of the vent. It would come as a surprise to many warriors.

The LRM pods were more easily seen. Each tube had three reloads in a drum magazine, giving the Liger Zero a potential total of sixteen missiles, of which it could fire one, two or four at a time. Mindful of the lessons learned during their battles in Class S, they were planning on buying 'smart' missiles. Equipped with their own guidance systems, Smart missiles could be guided from the zoid sensors, use their own smaller sensors, or failing that home in on the strongest source of electronic noise. If another team brought an ECM along, these missiles would simply change targets and follow the ECM broadcast to its source. But for the battle tomorrow Bit would only carry eight standard missiles, all he owned. Leena had stated empathically that he could not use her stock.

"How's it coming Jamie?" Bit called out.

"Almost got it…" the answer floated back. Jamie was crouched down between the ion boosters, making the connections between the old cables that fed the boosters themselves, and the new cables that ran from the missile pods. Each pod was mounted on a small turntable, a refinement of Leon's, that allowed them to pivot up to fire yet be brought down to horizontal for greater straight line speed.

Soon all four systems were installed. Now it was the Ligers turn to make sure they were all working and seated correctly. Bit stood back to admire the evening work.

"Apart from the LRM's, you wouldn't notice any change." Bit turned to look over his shoulder. Leena stood there, gazing at the Liger in appreciation. Bit grinned at her happily. Surprisingly, she returned the grin with a smile of her own. Harry wouldn't know what hit him.

"We'll still have to register the changes with the ZBC." Jamie groaned. He could see the forms dancing in his head already. Bit clapped the smaller man on his back.

"Don't worry about it Jamie. They allowed the Panzer didn't they? I'm sure that they wouldn't mind these small things." He waved at the trolley where all the micro-missiles had been racked up. Looking up at the Ligers head, Bit spotted a couple more places where a few more micro missile tubes could be secreted. Something he could think about after the battle tomorrow.

"Come on; let's get this place cleaned up. I'm hungry."

X-X-X-X-X-X

As they drove out towards the city where it all began, Naomi couldn't help but keep looking at Brad's face. He was concentrating on the road ahead, but clearly he was still thinking hard. The wind whipped his hair about as he pushed the jeep forward. Although he kept his usual cool calm expression on, Naomi had become quite adept at seeing the small clues that showed his true emotional state.

The way he tightly held the wheel clearly stated that he was stressed, while the frown in his eyes shouted out that he was annoyed at not being kept in the loop. Naomi could understand that; had their positions been reversed, she would have been more than a little annoyed at having to drive someone somewhere with no explanation. But all she could say when he asked why was that she needed a professional opinion of her condition. She got the feeling that had it been anyone else, Brad would not have budged until he was told the whole story. But with her, he had acquiesced.

As they moved within the city limits, Brad slowed down from reckless to 'just' high speeds. As they passed the hotel where the ball had been held, Naomi couldn't help but sigh.

"Brings back memories doesn't it?"

She looked at Brad again, but this time he had a smirk on his face. Clearly he had nothing but fond memories of that night. Naomi didn't trust herself to reply.

As they pulled in just before the hospital entrance, Naomi turned in her set to face him.

"Brad, I have to ask you something more."

"Sure Na, what?" He replied as he shut the engine off.

Naomi took a deep breath. "I need you to wait for me, either here or just inside."

Brad's face darkened. "What? Why?"

"I just need to do this myself."

Brad looked away, scowling. Naomi felt her heart ache at the sight.

"Brad," she began, turning his head towards her. "Do you love me?"

His black look faded. "More than anything else."

"Do you trust me?"

Brad looked at her for a second, before nodding. "Yes."

"Then let me do this, alone."

He sat there for several seconds, before he sighed deeply. "Alright."

Together the pair of them entered the hospital. Like any major city hospital there was a constant bustle, as orderlies, doctors and patients moved to and fro. Leaving Brad at the central waiting area with the relatives of patients, Naomi walked over to the main desk. The women sitting behind the desk stared at her terminal, not even noticing Naomi.

"Excuse me."

"Oh sorry, didn't realise…" The women looked up and gasped, her eyes widening. "You're Naomi Fluegel, aren't you?"

"Yes I am… how did you know?"

The women grinned. "My son's crazy about you. He's crazy about any female zoid pilot really, but you're considered the best in Class A." She grimaced. "I wish he'd pay less attention to the pilots and battles, and paid more attention to his grades though. He says he's going to be zoid warrior, so he doesn't need grades…" the women shook her head in despair.

"Well, tell him from me, he'll need them. They don't let just anybody become a warrior."

The women grinned. "Oh, wait till he hears that! Now," she quickly became serious. "How may I help you?"

Naomi lost a lot of her confidence. Glancing over at Brad to make sure he wasn't listening, she leaned closer to the older women. "Could you direct me to the maternity ward?"

The woman narrowed her eyes, before looking over at Brad herself. A sly smile crossed her lips, as she looked Naomi up and down. "Pregnant?"

Naomi bit her lip. "Not sure."

"Don't you worry; I'll take you to where you'll need to be." The woman lifted an old voice-only phone from her desk. "Hello back there?" she paused. "Ah Julie. I've got a… lady here who I need to escort to where she needs to be. Could you cover for me?" She listened. "Thanks." Replacing the handset, she smiled up at Naomi.

"All right love, once my covers here we can head on up."

Naomi sighed in relief. "Thank you."

DR: Well, the little known secret of Sarah and Vega is out! Till next time!