DR: Okay, this chapter is going to get really nasty. All those of a nervous disposistion, best look away now...

Mal: That includes you Kaylee

Kaylee: Why? I'm comfey here... (snuggles deeper into Simons chest)

DR: Trust me, you don't want to see this next bit... besides, I think Inara, Sam and Fiona are back from their shopping trip...

Kaylee: Really? (dashs out)

DR: I must thank my first eta-reader Legendary-Titan for his added bit in the second part of this chapter. Increases the... well you'll find out. I've also thrown in a little tribute to 'Firefly'...

Chapter 22: Dark News

Over the next few weeks, Cassie wandered almost the length and breadth of Europa, hunting for the missing Genosaurer. The Blitz and Raiders also kept their eyes open, watching. Cassie often stopped over with each team, staying just long enough to replenish her supplies before heading out again.

However, it was quickly noted amongst the other pilots that there was something going on between her and Stroller. Outwardly there was nothing, and they both acted casual around each other. But the Blitz, particularly Sarah and Pierce, noted the subtle changes that came over him whenever she called round. And Derek had known her since childhood. He could tell that she was repressing feelings for the older man.

To her credit, she was very effective at dealing with any troublemakers she encountered. Three bandit gangs were locked away after she had dealt with them, and several times she reached a battle site just as the Backdraft were taking over. After the first time the Backdraft pilots ran as soon as they sighted her zoid, the crimson armour glowing in the harsh sun like liquid fire.

But despite her best efforts, the stolen Genosaurer continued to elude her. And the Backdraft became more daring in its attacks and raids. The first of the replacement judge satellites was destroyed as it was lifted into orbit, the launch rocket struck with a multitude of weapons fire. The explosion wrecked the launching facilities and put the planed deployment of the new judge network back months.

There were more raids in both Imperial and Republic territory, striking at arms dumps and convoys. In every case the result was the same: no survivors. The Backdraft had changed, becoming a guerrilla army, and it was slowly sapping the military might of the great powers.

But even with the rising spectre of the Backdraft, life had to go on. Battles had to be fought, bills paid and bellies filled. For the Blitz things returned to a semblance of normal, or at least as 'normal' as things got around the Blitz. On the surface everyone was their old selves. Bit and Leena continued to play their 'cookie thief' games, though now they finished things in their bedroom. Naomi and Brad doted on their daughter, who seemed to be growing at rate more suited to a zoid than a human. Leon and Vega had become avid chess players, and they would spend hours playing each other, Sarah on the sidelines watching them both. Pierce could usually be found sunning herself by the fish pool, while Jamie and Stroller could discuss tactics and team line ups for hours.

But under the surface every member of the team felt a small coil of dread. While it was true the Backdraft had been avoiding them like the plague, they all just knew that at some point they would come for them. There was too much bad blood between the Blitz and the Backdraft for things to be left alone.

x x x x x x

Albane sighed as he looked down at the Imperial General. It had been all too easy to find the man he needed to question, while the kidnapping itself was so simple that he could have done the whole thing with his eyes closed.

Now the general sat bound to a chair, his shirt torn away. In the weak light from the single bulb that hung from the ceiling, the thin streaks of blood that criss-crossed his chest glistened. His head hung forward, sweat dripping from his forehead. The fingers of each hand that were clasped in the teeth of the electrodes Albane had hooked up to him were blackened. Several were at odd angles, and all were missing their nails. Albane had yanked the nails out during the first round of questions, and he started breaking fingers when the General spat on him.

"Now I will ask you again…" Albane said coldly, casually playing with a viscously hooked implement. "What do you know about the Empires research into a new zoid type that could counter Cybrids?"

The general seemed to draw in his breath before he looked up at Albane. In the weak light he had never been able to see his torturers face, but he didn't want to give him the satisfaction of having made him too weak to glare back. "I won't tell… you… anything." He gasped out, pain filling every syllable.

"Wrong answer." Albane simply said, before he plunged the tool he held into the generals chest. Even as the man screamed in pain as his lung was punctured, Albane brought his other arm around and used the spiked knuckleduster to punch a bleeding hole through his cheek. Albane stepped back, leaving the barbed tool buried in the general, along with the other metal implements he had stuck in him.

"I grow tired of this." Albane commented as he turned slightly away from the man. Truth be told he was actually enjoying every moment of it. Letting the knuckleduster slid from his hand, he trailed his fingers along the rows of blades and other deadly tools that he had yet to use. Smiling cruelly, he gently slid a syringe from its pouch while twiddling with a dial to the side. The general shuddered as jolts of electrical current coursed through him.

"General, my patience wears thin indeed. I'm not going to ask politely again." Swiftly, Albane slid the needle into the Generals arm and pressed the plunger just a little. The general's screams echoed throughout the dank chamber as his vein felt as if it was on fire.

"One more wrong answer and I'll inject the whole lot into you. Do you really want to find out how it feels to be eaten away by acid from within? If not, you had better tell me what I want to know."

The general's shoulders slumped, and his head hung weakly. "All right…" he whispered. "I'll tell you…"

"Good boy." Albane told him as he took his thumb off the plunger. He left the syringe in the man's arm though.

"We found… this dead zoid in… one of the nearby ruins. Never… seen anything like it… before. Research suggests an… offshoot of the… Genosaurer breed." Albane's ears picked up at that little titbit. "From what we've gathered… this one is more… defensively orientated than the… Genosaurer. Uses… electronic warfare rather than… brute force."

As the general continued to talk, Albane's grin grew wider. This sounded like just the sort of zoid he had dreamed of! The power of a Genosaurer, but used in a much more subtle and controlled way. A zoid that could cripple a hostile zoid with ease, and then take them apart bit by bit.

"Did you manage to clone this zoid?" Albane was barely able to keep his excitement from showing.

"Ay… we did. It's not ready yet… still needs… secondary weapons and armour… but the main weaponry is there…"

"Where is it?"

"Research centre… right at the back of the… 'Valley of Hero's' training base. Highest… security."

"And the name?"

The general was silent for a second.

"Dark Spiner." He whispered.

Albane nodded, then quick as a flash his thumb forced the plunger down all the way. The general's eye widened as he felt the acid begin to burn away at him.

"But… you said…"

"I don't remember saying that you'll walk away from here." Albane smiled cruelly as he removed the needle. Already the skin around the puncture mark was discoloured, and the patch was spreading. The look of horror on the general's face was pleasing to him.

"Now, since you've been so helpful, I'm going to give you a chance." Albane told him as he picked up a last device from the table. After fiddling with the end for a few seconds, he dropped the squat cylinder in the general's lap. Even under the incredible pain of feeling the acid burning away at the inside of his blood vessels, he had enough sense of mind to recognise the incendiary grenade.

The general turned wide fearful eyes up towards Albane. "Once the acid reaches your brain or heart, you'll be dead within twenty seconds. It is one of the most painful ways to die. If you're lucky, the grenade will go off before that happens." And with that Albane stepped back, away from the general.

For several long seconds the man sat there trying to dislodge the live grenade in his lap, while the blood vessels in his upper body slowly turned black. The area of his arm where Albane had injected him was beginning to disintegrate, the bones showing through the patchy skin, when the grenade went off.

With a white glare the general was instantly turned to fire. His screams were drowned out by the roar of the flames as they eagerly consumed his body. Several feet away, Albane watched passionlessly as he slowly stilled, the only motion the dancing of the flames. He looked down at his watch, one white eyebrow rising.

"Hmm, thirty-two seconds. A new record." Chuckling to himself, Albane began to gather his equipment up. Slipping on a pair of fireproof gloves he approached the burning body. One by one he pulled out his tools, sparks flying as he did so. Quickly and professionally he slid them all free, each one spotless. The heat of the flames had burnt away any remains of the general.

Once he was done, Albane flipped a salute to the dead man, before he left the smoking remains of General Boyd in darkness.

x x x x x x

Cassie felt her head nodding forwards as she approached the Blitz base. After several long nights hunting, she was about ready to crash. The rumble of her zoids ion engines was surprisingly soothing, and with the night sky so dark it was very easy to find oneself slipping into sleep…

With shear force of will she kept her eyes open, maintaining her grip on the zoids controls. Although it was well known that a zoid whose pilot fell asleep at the controls would slow down, even stop if the autopilot was not engaged, Cassie knew that the Genosaurer was different in that it would never stop. The Genosaurer was a killer, uncontrollable power seething just beneath the skin. To let one loose was considered almost taboo.

She sighed with relief when the glow of the Blitz base's lights showed around a ridge. It had been a couple of weeks since she had last stopped over at either teams base, and her spine was complaining something fierce about the cramped conditions she had been forced to sleep in. The chance for a real bed, a shower… Despite her best efforts, Cassie knew that by now the the inside of the zoids cockpit would be rank.

Tapping in her guest code into her comm system, Cassie watched as the hanger doors opened smoothly. Cutting out the booster engines, she allowed the zoid to walk the last little way into the hanger. As she crossed the threshold, her gaze swept the hanger methodically and professionally, despite her tiredness. All the Blitz Teams zoids were snug in their own alcoves, their metal skins gleaming in the overhead lights. Despite having a battle not two days ago, none of the zoids showed any signs of damage.

As she rode the chair down from her zoids chest, Cassie got that niggling feeling of being watched. Every time she set foot in the Blitz hanger she felt this way. Tipping her head back, she looked across the bay to the three Ultimate X zoids across the bay. Cold blue, burning orange and warm ochre eyes looked back. Laughing quietly to herself, Cassie strode towards the rear of the hanger, towards the living areas.

Pushing open the door, she was met by a wall of laughter and the tinkling of glass. Looking to her right, she saw that the Blitz were all sat down together at the table, clearly enjoying an evening of drink and merriment. In that moment, Cassie was struck by the sight of them. The lights were turned low and instead the gathered pilot's faces were bathed in candlelight.

At the head of the table sat Doc Toros, his broad jawed face split wide with a grin. To his left was Dr Layon, who was also laughing his head off, while on the other side Oscar Hemeros sat with his head in his hands. His son Jamie was next to him, his jaw hanging as he stared at him. Pierce was besides him, her face twisted with amusement. Ranged around the table were the others, all paired up with their loves.

"…I mean, you'll never meet a man who'll love anything more than he loved that moustache…" Steve was saying.

"It was all waxed up… and at least out to here!" Layon held his hands up each side of his cheeks as he managed to say around his laughter.

"And he kept on going on about how we young newcomers knew nothing and would never amount to anything…" Steve picked up the tale again. "…So one night after a campus party, old Doc Shepard is passed out in his chair, and I mean he was plastered. The three of us together couldn't move him… So Oscar here…" Steve slapped Oscar on the shoulders as he cracks up again. "…He takes up a pair of scissors, and he cuts that moustache right off!"

Everyone round the table broke out laughing, except for Jamie who just looked stunned speechless.

"Course, next morning he wakes up to find it gone. But he can't just go to the principle and say 'Someone stole my moustache!' so he calls out all the first year pupils and has them all line up outside the hanger…"

"We thought he was going to take a zoid to us all!" Layon interjected.

"So there he is, walking up and down the lines, giving each one of us 'the eye'…" Steve leaned forward and tilted his head to one side, clearly sending up the old zoid professor. "And then… he gets to Oscar… who's wearing that blasted moustache!"

The laughter that resounded from the table was even louder that before. Leena rocked back in her chair, holding herself across the waist while laughing, her booted feet flailing under the table. Naomi was staring at the three older men in shocked amazement, while Vega was grinning like an idiot. Even Stroller was smirking in amusement.

For a second Cassie allowed her eyes to rest on Stroller. The candlelight lit all of them in a warm glow, but Cassie only really saw the effect on him. The harsh angles of his face were softened, his sharp jaw line rounded. His steely grey hair took on an orange tint from the light. Reflected candle flames twinkled in his eyes, and his face was no longer that of a stone-cold warrior, but just a man. A mature, wise man.

For a second Cassie thought about joining them, but a twinge from her spine put a wince on her face. Turning silently, she started up the stairs to the sleeping level. As she climbed up she allowed the next few words to wash over her.

"He had glued the damn thing on!" Layon told the others, barely heard over the laughter.

"So what did the professor do?" Sarah's voice was full of good cheer and curiosity.

"Well, he…" the rest of Steve's reply was lost as Cassie turned onto the corridor and started down the hall. As she walked past first Leon and Sarah's, then Bit and Leena's rooms, all the muscles in her legs and back began to make themselves known with aches and dull throbs. Cassie exhaled in relief when she reached the room she used when at the Blitz. It had been Jamie's before he and Pierce moved together into Bit's old room.

As she allowed her bag to slide off her shoulder onto the bed, Cassie sank gratefully into the chair before the terminal. Always professional, she decided to check to see if there were any updates for her on the Guylos side. Keying in her password and codes, she sat back and waited for the data to be transferred. It was a long shot, but sometimes…

The terminal pinged before she had even had a chance to get comfortable. Sitting up straight, she looked at the single message displayed, a cold hunk of ice settling in her gut as she did so.

'Call the Emperor direct, ASAP.'

With trembling hands, Cassie keyed in the code she had hoped she would never have to use… the code that would give her a direct line to the Emperor regards of time or his schedule.

Within a minute she was connected, and she found herself out of habit straightening herself when the Emperor appeared on screen, despite his informal appearance.

"I'm sorry sir if I awoke you, but the message…"

"Called for you to contact me ASAP, I know. I sent it." The Emperor's face seemed filled with remorse, and the ice in Cassie's belly began to spread up to her heart.

"Captain Cortez, I regret to inform you of the death of General Boyd."

For a long moment Cassie felt that her heart had stopped. General Boyd had taken her under his wing and protected her from the worst of the dangers during her first few years with the army. Even after she had proved herself to the other officers and generals he had still been her champion…

"H…How?" She almost didn't recognise her own voice.

"We're not sure exactly how he died. He was ID'd from dental records." In the Emperor's eyes she could see the horror and pain that he felt. "But one thing is clear. He was tortured before dying."

Cassie just nodded, her voice gone.

"Shortly before our men discovered his body, someone broke into the high security wing of the training base that General Boyd ran. Where our Anti-Cybrid project was being kept."

"How… How bad?" Cassie only just managed to whisper.

"Researchers dead, all data destroyed. This guy is a pro. He took our only working prototype, and burned down half the base before he escaped. Two thirds of the forces there, including the trainees, are dead."

Cassie's heart ran cold and her eyes narrowed. Deep within her gut she could feel the rage building. "Anything to go on as to who did this sir?"

The Emperor shook his head slowly. "All we have is this." He pressed a button off screen. His face was replaced by a security feed, clearly from within the base. The doors burst open and a man stepped through, already shooting. His first two shots were high, and then his gun moved to point at the camera. The display dissolved into static. The entire clip was only about two seconds long.

"We only got that much because there were three cameras in that chamber." The Emperor said as his face returned, looking downright crestfallen. "I'm sorry Cass; I know the two of you were close…"

"I understand sir. Thank you for informing me personally. Could you send me the recording?"

"On its way now." The Emperor nodded to someone off screen. "I hope you'll glean something from it. Good luck captain."

After the screen went black Cassie sat there, ever so quietly. Then she ran the recording again and again, watching the moves of this mystery killer and thief. After the tenth run, she ran it frame by frame until she reached the point when the man was sighting at the camera. Freezing the feed, she began to zoom in until she had the man's face filling the screen. As the hardcopy was printed, she locked eyes with the man in the frame, his eyes glaring out over the sleek gun he held.

"Your ass is mine…" She growled out, her voice filled with rage as she looked over the features of a reincarnated Guther Prozen, the Arch Betrayer of the Guylos Empire.

Jayne: ...

O'neill: Ouch.

DR: I did warn you guys. Next chapter things hit their lowest, and something really nasty happens... All I ask is that you have faith in me! And don't forget to review!