DR: And now we take a break from the Blitz, and visit a certain young lady, who just happens to be a decendent of Raven...

Shadow: You mean Sarah? (looks confused)

DR: No, the other one.

Shadow: Oh, right.

Zeke: Will we get to see her zoid?

DR: Yep.

Zeke: Yess! (starts munching popcorn)

Chapter 9: Trouble Maker

Captain Cassandra Cortez of the Guylos Imperial Army scowled as she read the message she had received from her 'uncle' Christian. Though they were not related in any way, she had grown up with him in that role. His sage, time honed advice had helped her through many difficult patches in her life. Even after she had gone away to join the Imperial Army, they had maintained contact. True during her first half dozen years she had not had the time to contact him much, but when she had, both of them had enjoyed it.

Her only real flaw, according to him, was she did not take note of what happened around her. He had poked her about that when she had gone to aid in the defence of his home, her place of birth. Those few days had opened her eyes, and so when she got back, once she was settled into her new post, she had begun to do some digging. For her efforts in the defence of the city, the Emperor had allowed her to choose her next assignment, no restrictions. She had also been made a member of his personal guard, a position of great importance and prestige.

Luckily, the Captain of the Emperor's Guard had been an old teacher, and a zoid battle fan. So he had known the right people to get in contact with, to find the right post for her where she could do the research she wanted to do. Being a member of the Emperor's Guard had its privileges, after all.

So here she was, assigned to the Valley of Hero's training base, one of the top training centres for the Guylos Army. And conveniently the home base of the Guylos Team… the official representatives of the Guylos Empire in the ZBC. Officially her role was to provide training data for the staff here, since she was the most experienced in fighting Cybrids. Despite the destruction of the Death Saurer/Helios, people were still worried that there were still divisions of Cybrid units hidden away, inactive. If someone was to find these units, and bring them back online…

Christian had known a lot about the ZBC, and had a lot of strings. Over the last three weeks she had been delving into the files dispatched to her, finding all sorts of interesting facts and titbits of information. Nothing was held back, it was all right there, the mistakes, the heroes, the glory and the price. She now knew all about the Backdraft and their criminal actions, the past records of the classes. But most interesting of all was the combat record of the Blitz team and its members.

Cassie had been amazed at the sudden transformation of the team. They had for a long time been a third rank team going nowhere. Barely hanging on to Class B by the skin of their teeth. Back then Leon had been team leader, with his sister Leena and the mercenary Brad as team-mates and Jamie as support. The Blitz would never have achieved anything…

…Had it not been for the fact that one day a certain young junk dealer called Bit Cloud had decided to scavenge parts from the battlefield when the team was to fight the Tigers team. One thing had lead to another, and Bit had met the Liger Zero. The two had become partners, and it had been them who had brought the team out of the gutter and up to stardom.

Shortly after Bit arrived Leon had left the team, to 'Find himself' as he had said. Almost a year later he had returned to battling, but this time as part of Naomi Fluegel team, bringing with him a rare Blade Liger. Naomi's record was very impressive. She in fact had never lost a battle until she met Bit and Liger Zero.

Then there were the three pilots who had been with the Backdraft: Vega Obscura, Pierce, and Stigma Stroller. Cassie had seen them in combat, and she was impressed, something that was very hard to do. Vega clearly had inherited the piloting skills of Raven, who was ancestor to both of them. Pierce too must have received something, as she was indirectly related to Raven too. Stroller however was a mystery. He had no real background, only rumours and speculation. Christian had hinted that he knew where to look, but there was very little to go on even then. It was clear that Strollers parents had never really amounted to much.

Cassie found her thoughts drifting back to the enigmatic man. Just who was he really, underneath that coat of strictness and cool reserve? He had a ruthless air about him, but yet… He reminded Cassie of Raven in so many ways…

Too bad he was also arrogant and sarcastic. Her blood still boiled at their argument when the team had been waiting for Leena's new zoid to emerge. He had been saved by the zoids arrival, but she could guess what he had been going to say…

She looked again at Christian's message. He told her that he had learned that the Backdraft might be on the up again, and they were most likely planning something against the Blitz. But to do anything they would need zoids and arms. He asked her if she could see if she could get security increased around the Imperial Armies munitions dumps, zoid stores and convoys. He wouldn't put it past the Backdraft to attempt to hi-jack a shipment of zoids or weapons.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her intercom whining. "Captain Cortez?" The voice was that of General Andrew Boyd, the commanding officer of the entire training base.

Cassie's hand came down to the intercom. "Yes General?"

"I've decided to run your training program today." Cassie could hear the grin in the General's voice. "Care to take part?"

Cassie grinned. "Of course… I mean yes sir, thank you sir."

"Well, get out to your starting point. The first Cadet will be dispatched in twenty minutes."

With a spring in her step, Cassie took the short walk from her office down to the staff's zoid hanger. Separate from the hanger housing the trainee's zoids, it ensured that the cadets didn't know what was going to be facing them beforehand. Once she got there, she took a moment to look up at her zoid.

The blood red Genosaurer seemed to radiant threat and menace. It had once been a standard Genosaurer, but it had been extensively customised. Now underneath the back mounted pulse lasers it had a set of ion boosters like a Geno Breaker had. The lasers themselves had been upgraded as well, increasing their range and hitting power. With the long laser blade projecting from the zoids forehead, the similarity to the Geno Breaker that Raven had piloted all those years ago was not lost on anyone.

All the damage done to the zoid during that Great Battle was fully repaired, and the metal seemed to glow with heat. The eyes were currently dim, but she knew as soon as she brought the zoid fully awake, those eyes would gleam with balefire.

'Those cadets will think death itself is after them…' she thought as the pilots' seat was extended down out of the zoids chest. As she sat down, Cassie thought about the exercise, and couldn't help but laugh gently.

'It will be, but I'm not the one they should fear…'

x x x x x x

Three hours later, the door to her office was slammed open. "Get in there!" Cassie's shout was as cold as deep space, and filled with threat.

A young woman in the clothing of an Imperial Army Cadet stepped into the office before Cassandra herself stepped through followed by General Boyd and Major Ratarn, commander of the trainees.

While the Cadet stood at attention before her desk, Cassie stepped behind it. The General took a seat to the side, while Major Ratarn leaned against the wall by the door. Cassie didn't sit down, but rather leaned forward over her desk, her fists planted on it. The General and Major exchanged a knowing look. This was the sigh that Captain Cortez was not just mad, she was furious. No mercy. With her razor sharp wit, fierce tongue and sub-zero demeanour, it was no wonder she was known as the 'Ice Queen Bitch from Hell.'

"So tell me Cadet Schubaltz? Give me one reason I should not write you up for gross insubordination, conduct unbecoming a member of this army, reckless disregard for protocol… shall I go on?"

As Cadet Schubaltz stood there for a second, Cassie took the time to look over the young woman before her. 'Woman? This is a girl pretending to be a mature adult.' The cadet was barely sixteen years old, short and a little plump, despite the merger rations the cadets got. Still, beneath that there were signs of future elegance and grace. The girls' dirty blond hair hung down her head in clumps, and her blue eyes were tight with worry. Her alabaster skin was even whiter around her face than normal. 'Good, at least she knows she's really gone and done it this time…'

"Ma'am, permission to speak freely?" Cassie nodded to allow the cadet to do so.

"I still maintain that I think the exercise was pointless. The Empire has not been at war for over a hundred and sixty years. The Army itself is only ten percent of the strength it was even a hundred years ago. With almost no bandit groups worth mentioning in the world, the role of the Army is now defunct." Cadet Schubaltz paused to take a breath. "Furthermore, I find it had to believe that anyone would have designed a machine that way. It lacks any kind of…"

"Humanity?" Major Ratarn suggested.

"Logic, sir. The balancing act alone would require far more computing power than this entire base has. The machine also lacks structural reinforcement, and the weapons are vulnerable to hostile fire. The square box sections also make it an easy target."

Cassie stared at the young upstart, an eyebrow raised up. 'Illogical? She used that term to describe something designed by a machine?'

The exercise in question had been one of the first that Cassie had put in place. In addition to scaring the pants off many of the cadets with her Genosaurer, she was also the one entrusted with the half dozen captured Cybrids. Christian had let the Empire, Republic and ZBC take a half dozen each, for use for training and trophies. He couldn't have stopped them anyway. At least this way he knew about each one and could follow up any movement.

The machine itself had been one of the dreaded Cerberus types. Cassie's blood still ran cold whenever she saw the fearsome war machine. To her the design was very logical: maximum firepower, maximum armour. They had proved just how deadly they were all too well: nearly three hundred people had died in that siege.

Cassie had decided the best way for the cadets to understand the monster was to surprise them with it. Each one was sent on a routine training mission, 'Tail the Hostile Zoid Without Getting Killed', but with the exception that she had been the aggressor. Her Genosaurer was rightly feared, and she had wanted to show the cadets that they should fear the Cerberus just as much, if not more.

"And ma'am, if you pardon my saying, your use of your own zoid was not fair in the least."

Cassie's eyes narrowed again. Since each of the cadets was assigned a Rev Raptor, her zoid was vastly more powerful, and they all knew it. She had used shock tactics to drive this point home. One cadet had taken one look at the blood red zoid poised above her, and had promptly fainted. The girl in question had to be recovered without having ever seen the Cerberus.

The other cadets had generally run screaming, but their howls of terror had rising several notches when they encountered the Cerberus. It had just been standing there, not even firing, but such was the aura of menace it projected that the cadets had screamed with horror. They had stood, rooted to the spot, their eye's fixed on that blood red gaze. Even the zoids had been anxious, recognising that this thing was natural.

However, Cadet Schubaltz had taken one look at the Cerberus, and had demanded on an open channel. "Is this a joke?" But then to add insult to injury, she had turned to face Cassie. "This must be most pointless exercise I've had to do here yet. It's not even worth my time."

With cold fury building in her veins, Cassie had hailed the Rev Raptor. "And who are you to decide what is or isn't pointless round here, cadet?"

"Ma'am, you may think that simply because you're favoured by the Emperor and his friends, that you can lord it over all of us. But from our level, you're nothing but hot air!"

That had torn it. Cassie, absolutely furious, had called a complete halt to the exercise, and ordered the young cadet to report to her office.

Now Cassandra stared at the young woman, not saying a word. Miranda locked her eyes and stared back, but a pit of snakes writhed in her gut. Now face-to-face, she had to admit that Captain Cortez was not the sort of officer you should cross. While she had gotten away with her blunt manners with the other trainers, Cortez was whole other breed of officer. Even now, straight out of a zoid exercise, she was still turned out perfectly, as if ready for a formal parade. "Wait outside Cadet Schubaltz." She said, icy daggers in her tone. Miranda nodded stiffly, before she stepped out of the office with stiff legs. No, Captain Cortez was not someone you wanted to annoy at all.

After the cadet had left the office, all three officers looked at each other in silence for a long moment. Cassie exhaled deeply before allowing herself to slump down into her chair. Both Ratarn and Boyd were old friends. "What are we going to do with her?"

"I wish I knew." Ratarn answered her rhetorical question. "She's bright, and I mean brilliant. I had to search her quarters a week ago since some cadet had brought drugs onto the base. She didn't have any, but what she did have were reams of notes and sketches about improvements to nearly all our zoids. Particularly the Rev Raptors. I think she has a soft spot for them…"

"Soft spot?" Cassie's eyebrow rose. Ratarn nodded.

"I've had a talk with our zoid technicians, and they all say that these ideas of hers are far in advance of what she should be capable of. Turns out she's even put a few into practice on her zoid…"

"A zoid provided by the Imperial Army." Boyd ground out.

"Yea… anyway, she could greatly help us if she transferred to research. But she refuses. She wants to be a pilot."

"And her attitude sucks." Cassie stood up to look out her office to where cadet Schubaltz sat. "Not to mention her total disregard for authority and discipline. Why are you defending her Mark?"

Boyd smiled. "I seem to recall another pupil of mine. She too was a right tearaway…" Cassie flushed in embarrassment.

"I may have been a difficult pupil, but at least I respected the chain of command. Schubaltz doesn't."

"And unfortunately, no one on this base really knows how to instil such a trait into a rebellious young woman." Boyd sighed.

Cassie agreed… but then froze. She thought back to when she had first joined the Imperial Army. She too had been a rebellious teenager. But one man had instilled into her the discipline she needed.

"General, I have an idea…"

x x x x x x

Derek Calisto stood back as he watched the new framework for his Genosaurer's head be lowered into place. His zoid had been decapitated during the siege by a massive plasma cannon toting Cybrid. Thankfully the Genosaurer's cockpit was in the zoids chest, otherwise his wife would be widow, and their third child would never see their father…

"Derek! You've got a call!" He turned towards the voice of his wife, Anna. Like the Blitz Team, the Raiders had their zoid hanger as a part of their home. But where as the Blitz were in the middle of a valley alone, with a broad and long base, the Raiders were in the suburbs of a major city, so their base was built like a tower. The hanger took up most of the ground – and second and third – floors, while a second hanger directly above contained the teams Transport Hammerhead. The result was that the living area of the base was tall but thin, with a corridor separating the rooms from the hangers. It was certainly cramped at times, and Derek envied the Blitz and their new mansion sized home. Still, the Raiders base was the most compact layout possible, given what had to be stored.

Derek walked briskly over to where his lovely wife stood. Her long brown hair hung down her back and shimmered slightly in the lights. Sharing a quick kiss, he stepped through into the operations centre, his office. From here he dealt with everything relating to the team and the battles they fought.

Settling down before the comm screen, he took it off hold. His eyes widened as he saw who had called. "Cassie! This is a surprise! How you been you old rebel?"

Cassandra smiled back. "Just fine you young teachers pet." Their friendly name-calling went back years. Cassie sighed and turned serious. "Derek, I've got a situation here…"

"What kind?"

Cassie turned slightly away. "I'm sending you a file on a sub channel. It's a record of a cadet here at this base." Derek looked over at the secondary monitor and saw the data coming.

"Miranda Karl Schubaltz. Sixteen years old… chronic insubordination… Highly inventive… I see. She's been giving you trouble?"

"Yea. She has no respect for authority or discipline at all. The other trainers are at a loss, they simply can't figure out what to do with her."

Derek smiled slowly as he began to figure out why Cassie had called. "And you think I could whip her into shape?"

"Well, it worked with me…" Cassie blushed, something that very rarely happened to her. "Would you be willing to take her on your team, at least for a while? She'll bring her own zoid, but since it's only a Rev Raptor, I'd expect you'd want something else…"

"Well, I'd rather have you on the team to be honest. But I'm sure I can figure out some way to use her and her zoid. Even if only as cannon fodder."

Cassie smiled sadly. "You'd never do that. And I appreciate the offer Derek, but I'm not sure. I won't say I haven't thought about resigning my commission and entering the ZBC, but…" She trailed off.

"Well, there'll always be a place for you here if you change your mind."

"Thanks Derek. And thanks for helping me out here. I owe you one."

"Send a shipment of Genosaurer parts along with her and we'll call it even." Both pilots laughed together as they sighed off.

DR: Well, after that breather, we return to Pierce and her troubled heart. Will she make the right choice? Can she get out of her current situation without hurting anyone? Find out soon!

Zeke: Ann donrn mmset teesdsiew!

DR: Zeke! I've told you not to talk with your mouth full!

Zeke: (hangs head)

Shadow: What Zeke meant to say was 'And don't forget to review!'