DR: Okay, we havew here another 'dark' chapter. Things continue to slide downwards...
Jayne: How bad could it get?
DR: Very...
Chapter 21: Dispatches and Questioning
Cassandra Cortez rubbed her forehead, trying to ease the ache that had started almost the instant she learned about the theft of the Genosaurer. When the convoy had failed to arrive, a team had been sent out to find them. What they found had chilled them all to the bone.
Cassie doubted that she would ever forget what she had seen. The Republican Shield Liger, half buried under a rock fall, the cockpit crushed to a pulp. The line of bodies, a dozen men in all, all shot in the base of the skull from behind. They weren't killed in combat. They had been murdered.
Now someone had to pay the price. And at the moment it looked like she was going to be the fall person. As part of the training program she had devised to teach the Imperial Army how to fight the Cybrids, she had requested that a second Genosaurer be set to the training facility. Her plan had been to show how the shields on a Cybrid could withstand even the combined firepower of two Genosaurer charged particle cannons.
But now… she recalled the message she had gotten from Christian, warning her to be alert for attempts to steal Imperial zoids and munitions. But she had never thought that they would dare strike so soon, or so deep in Imperial territory!
"You couldn't have know Cass."
Cassie whipped her head round to face General Boyd. His face was glum and pained. Standing up to salute him, Cassie saw herself reflected in one window, and she nearly gasped when she realised the dishevelled, rag haired woman in the reflection was her.
Boyd waved her down. "Relax Captain. You look about how I feel."
"In that case I don't really think I want to know how you feel sir."
"Captain, I was the one who ordered the transfer. You only sent your recommendation to me. I was the one who acted on it." Boyd told her as he sat down across the desk from her. "However it's because that recommendation came from you that things are hot."
Cassie's face dropped. "Because I'm a young woman." She commented in frustration. She was fed up with being discriminated against because of her sex!
"That's only part of it." Boyd corrected her. "Cassie, you don't realise just how delicate things are right now within the Army. Quite a few old timers are upset with the Emperor for him rendering aid to people who they didn't know about until after the event." Boyd turned to gaze out of the window where a batch of cadets were heading off for another training run. "It's another thing on top of all the rest."
Cassie looked up, her curiosity piqued. "Another?"
Boyd sighed. "Quite a few of the Old Guard, those brought up on the tales of the last war, have never been behind the Emperor and his drive to cut back military spending. Their backed by quite a few of the older imperial families, those who lost sons to that war."
Boyd looked at her again, an apology in his eyes. "You're a rising star in the Army Cassandra. Your name is spoken of a lot in the Imperial Court. The Emperor considers you one of his best people." Cassie felt her heart fill with pride at that, and she found herself sitting up a little straighter.
"But it has made you a target for those who don't like the Emperor and his ways. Others just don't like the fact that you're a woman, younger than they are. They don't care about the fact that you're far more skilled then them. To that type of person seniority is more important."
"I didn't ask to be put on a pedestal." Cassie stated, snorting.
"No, but others have done so anyway. And to some people that's a challenge. I don't have to tell you that there was a lot of competition for your job. It's a plum assignment, affecting the thinking of the next generation of our fighting men and women. Majors, Commanders, even a couple of Generals were putting in for your desk. But they were all turned down by the Emperor, and instead you got it."
Cassie would have been rocked back on her heals, had she been standing. She had never known how much her current assignment was wanted.
"That action has angered a lot of our older pilots, and now things are getting sticky." Boyd leaned forward to plant his elbows on her desk. "We need to get that Genosaurer back."
Cassie sighed in frustration. "Well that may be a bit hard right now. No one in that convoy survived to give us any leads. All we can tell is what kind of zoids were used."
A sickened expression flashed across Boyd's face. "Yes, I'd heard about what you'd found." Killing in combat was one thing, but to kill a defenceless foe in cold blood… Not even Raven the Destroyer had been that cruel. The blood of many a solider was on his hands, but he had never deliberately killed the pilots.
"However, I do have a lead for you." Cassie looked up at him curiously. "A ZBC battle was about to start when the Judge was destroyed. By the time someone got there, both the teams had been left out to die, their zoids ruined or taken. It appears that the Judge was destroyed by a charged particle cannon strike."
Cassie's eyes narrowed. The judge destroyed, teams zoids stolen, Christian's message… it was all adding up.
"Sir, I think I know who did that, with our stolen Genosaurer. But I can't prove anything right now."
"Well Captain, right now that's all we have. Which is why I'm to give you these orders, direct from the Emperor." Unconsciously they both straightened up at the mention of his majesty
"Captain Cortez, your new assignment is to track down and recover our stolen property. You are authorised to use any and all means to achieve this. If it turns out to be impossible to recover the stolen zoid, then you are to destroy it to prevent anyone abusing its power." Cassie nodded, fully understanding that part of the order.
"Any intel we gather will be forwarded to you, but you are to consider yourself a free agent, outside the normal chain of command. For the duration of this assignment you'll report to the Emperor only. You will be provided with transportation to Europa, but after that you're on your own. Feel free to work with whoever you trust to aid in your goals."
Cassie's eye widened as she took in the amount of trust that had been placed on her shoulders. She was basically given free rein to do whatever she felt necessary to achieve her goals. It was hell of a lot of trust. "I'll… try to live up to your expectations sir."
At last Boyd smiled. "I know you will captain."
"May I ask where I'm heading to first?"
Boyd continued to smile, a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. "To the team who alerted the ZBC, and thereby us, of the situation. They're some old friends of yours. The Blitz Team."
x x x x x x
The mood in the Blitz base was very quiet, far quieter than normal. Nearly the whole team sat around the couches, fear running through their veins.
"It's happening again…" Leena whimpered from within Bit's arms, trembling with fear.
Across from the Clouds Naomi clung to her daughter so tightly she had to make a conscious effort not to crush her. Brad had his arms round her, his expression worried.
Outwardly Stoller showed no reaction, but inside he was scared. Something he had rarely experienced and he did not like feeling it again.
Heads came up as Sarah stepped down into the circle. "They're fine for the moment. But they will need to be transferred to a proper hospital…"
The Blitz had been heading home when the Hover Cargo had detected a faint distress call. When they had arrived a few minutes later, they had been horrified at the level of destruction. The burning hulk of a Whale King dominated the area, but it was by no means the only wreck. Two Iron Kongs were slumped, both having been flayed apart in a manner the Blitz were uncomfortable familiar with. There were fragments that suggested that there had been a third Kong in the area. Across the field three Stealth Vipers lay dead, one broken in two.
Only three pilots had been recovered alive. Now Harry and Mary Champ, along with a single pilot from the Vipers team, lay in the Blitz team's medical room, suffering from a range of injuries. Both Harry and Mary showed the same signs of having been hit with an ELF, a weapon that had been exclusively used by the Cybrids.
Even worse, there were signs that a charged particle cannon had been used. The question on everyone's mind was had the Cybrids developed their own versions of those deadly zoid weapons.
Stoller looked up when the beeping of the computer became too insistent. Taking in the display at a glance, he then looked about the rest of the team. Bit and Leena were still in each others arms, while Naomi seemed to be fixated on her child. Leon and Sarah clung to one another, and even Pierce and Jamie were oblivious to everything but each other. Steve was looking lost and Vega… Stoller found himself shocked when he saw the look in the young mans eyes.
Fear. The young man who was once known as the 'King of Unsanctioned Battles', feared no zoid or pilot, was afraid!
Seeing how everyone else was currently occupied, Stoller pulled himself up to greet the guests that were approaching.
As he strode through the hanger, he wondered who could be calling. The ZBC were supposed to be sending a medical team to transfer the Champs and Viper Pilot to a proper medical facility, but then again they were concentrating on finding the attackers. Reporters? Stroller hoped not, since those that showed up this quickly tended to be the bad sort…
As he stepped out into the crisp air, Stoller scanned the skies for the approaching craft. Quickly his trained and experienced eyes found the approaching Hammerhead, and for the next few minutes he watched as the small transport zoid came in. 'Hmm, their really pushing that zoid flat out. Wonder why their in such a hurry…'
It was only as the Hammerhead slowed into a hover that Stoller could ID the owners. His eyes narrowed at the distinctive rampart dragon of the Guylos Empire. 'Now why would the Empire be calling us?'
Arms folded, he watched as the transport settled down. His eyebrow rose when he saw the lower ramp drop, while the engines remained active. 'Clearly a drop and g…'
His thoughts came to a shuddering stop when he saw a massively clawed zoid foot encased in blood red armour step onto the ramp. Quickly the red Genosaurer moved down onto the ground, and even before the zoid was clear of the underbelly of the Hammerhead the ramp was already rising. The Transport left as rapidly as it had arrived, leaving Stroller face to face with Captain Cortez's Genosaurer.
He heard the click of the zoids external speakers as the head angled down slightly to look at him. "Stigma Stoller?"
"Yes?" He yelled back.
"Could you open the hanger doors for me?"
Mumbling under his breath about arrogant Imperial Army captains and one female captain in particular, Stoller opened the hanger. Cortez brought her zoid inside as if she owned the place, her every move watched by the three Ultimate X zoids at the other end. All three had been quiet since the discovery of the Champs.
With a hiss, Cortez's Genosaurer settled into position as the cockpit cover opened up. As she rode down, Stroller tried to compose himself. After all, when they had last seen each other they had parted quite amicably.
"So, what brings you to our neck of the woods?" Stoller asked as she stepped down from the pilot's seat. Her eyes rose to meet his, and once again Stoller felt something pass through him. He had never been able to pin down just what it was about Cortez that caused these… flushes, but since they had parted at the city he had paid them no mind. Now though they came back.
Cassie looked into his eyes for a moment before replying. "It's about what you guy's found."
"You mean the destroyed zoids?"
"Yes. I've reason to believe a stolen Imperial Genosaurer may be responsible. I've been sent out to bring it back."
Stroller took in the determined way she stood before him, and realised that she had every intention of doing just that, no matter what it took to do so.
"Well, that would explain the particle damage… but you should know, there was something else…"
One smoky grey eyebrow rose. "Oh?"
"Two of the zoids we found were flayed apart." Stroller said grimly.
Both of her eyebrows rose this time, and her sea-green eyes widened noticeably. "ELF's?" Cassie asked a sudden coil of dread in her guts.
Stroller just nodded in response.
They both stood there for a long moment, allowing the possible ramifications to sink in. "That why it's just you out here to greet me?"
Stoller nodded again. "Uh huh. The others are still inside. It's affecting them badly."
"I can imagine." Again they both lapsed into silence. As the pause dragged on, Stoller found himself looking Cassandra over without realising it. About five eight, with a trim, athletic figure that could have been the model used for the Imperial uniform she wore. Her dark smoky grey hair was tied back in a severe hairstyle that somehow suited her. Large, half-lidded eyes peered out from a face of smooth skin. A little lacking in womanly features when compared to the others he was around all the time but…
'What the heck am I doing?' Stoller pulled himself up short. 'Why on Zi am I thinking that?'
Unbeknown to him Cassandra had been thinking similar thoughts about him. She had found her eyes wandering across his form slowly, subtly. Tall but slender, She reckoned him to be about six one tall. A strong jaw line and pale grey hair framed a rugged face. As ever, he had a cynical look in his eyes. Despite getting on a bit in years, he still clearly kept himself in shape… Cassie shook herself internally.
'Cass, focus on your mission! You're hunting a stolen Genosaurer, which might have Cybrid backup! Now is not the time to be day-dreaming!'
"So…" She began before drifting off.
"So…?" Stroller asked an eyebrow rising.
"So… are you going to lead me inside, or are we going to just stand here all day?"
Stoller sighed before turning towards the rear of the bay. The three Ultimate X zoids watched them both as they stepped into the main base.
#Somehow I get the feeling that those two are going to get closer…# The Liger Zero growled gently.
#No doubt about it!# The Fury commented, eyeing the red Genosaurer carefully.
#It is almost certain. Thing is will they recognise that spark within themselves?# The Iguanosaur rumbled, a note of resignation in her voice.
x x x x x x
Altiel smirked as he looked over the results of the new Backdrafts first match. The use of a Cybrid weapon on the Genosaurer had worked, despite some long odds against it. Already techs were working to understand all their weapons, while the best programmers money could buy were toiling away to crack the command codes and AI's of the Cybrids themselves. Stripping them of weapons was one thing, but if they could field those units complete…
"You have any other tasks for me Altiel?" Albane's quite unexpected cold and cruel voice caused Altiel to not only start but also sent a shiver up his spine. As he turned to face the white haired man, Altiel wasn't sure if his chills were worse than other peoples since he knew what Albane got up to…
"Yes actually I do. I've heard rumours that the Imperials have been doing some studies into a new zoid type they recently discovered. From what my sources say, they think it might be something that could easily counter the Cybrids." Albane's only reaction to that was one eyebrow arched above one of his red eyes.
"Albane, we can't afford to allow the Imperials to develop a zoid that could counter our Cybrids. The Republicans and the ZBC are also developing counters, but they are still only just starting. If this zoid truly lives up to expectations… then we may never be able to take control of Zi. I need you to find and put a stop to this research. And make sure that they can't restart it."
"It shall be done." Albane asked without batting an eyelid. He turned and strode away as quietly as he had entered. Altiel stared after him for a long moment before he sat down and pulled a whiskey bottle from a lower draw.
"God he makes me nervous…" he breathed as he slopped a large drink into a glass.
Down the hall, Albane only allowed a small smirk to get past his iron guard. 'So the Imperials are once again messing around with a zoid type that they know nothing about? Well, someone needs to show them how it's really done…'
As he climbed into his personal Zabat, Albane continued to ponder his latest assignment. 'Obviously they'll do such research in a well hidden base, but they'll need quick and easy access to Cybrids. So I'll need to get my hands on someone who knows about such things…'
Now safely locked away inside his zoid Albane allowed his emotional safeguards to drop, and he laughed manically as the stealth zoid flew away, his thoughts centred on the tools he used that were stored in the modified Zabats cargo bay….
Wash: Anyone else get the creeps when that guy shows up?
Shadow: I think that's the point...
Teal'c: Indeed.
DR: Well, that's all for now. Next time life continues... Don't forget to review!