Chapter 10

As it turned out, the first thing the Blackbird Captain did was call for Kito's assistance, in training his men on the vehicles. While Kito resented the way he had been squeezed out, he knew that it wasn't Captain Yabane's fault, and did his best to help the Blackbirds learn how to operate their motorcycles.

Captain Yabane had been assigned the task of operating the lead vehicle… Kito's motorcycle… but seemed to quickly recognize that this was a sore subject for Kito. He treated the Sergeant with respect, which Kito appreciated. He was even more impressed when he discovered that Captain Yabane was actually Koji Yabane: a champion motorcycle racer whom Kito had admired in the past.

The two developed an understanding, if not a friendship, and Kito at least felt that Captain Yabane respected the vehicle that had been placed into his care.

Kito spent a few days instructing the Blackbirds on the various features of their new vehicles, while Captain Yabane taught them various driving techniques. Kito was allowed to observe during these sessions, and while he enjoyed them, he always felt frustrated; his fingers itching to take control of one of the vehicles, himself.

The last thing Kito did was to describe the special features of the lead motorcycle, to Captain Yabane. This included overall control of the Serpent mecha. The trickiest part was the shielding. On a normal mecha, the shielding would have been permanently in place, but because the shields retracted on the individual motorcycles, both the physical and the energy shields had to be manually activated, to ensure appropriate protection for the Serpent mecha.

Kito emphasized this last point to Captain Yabane, who promised to remember to activate the energy shield as well as the physical shields, when the Serpent mecha was formed.

His task complete, Kito could only sit back and observe, as the Blackbirds left Ghost Island on their new mecha, to prepare for their assigned mission.

Fortunately, Lord Katse insisted that Kito accompany him to the control room, to be present as the mission took place. While Kito knew that the Galactor leader only wanted a scapegoat in case something went wrong, he was secretly grateful for the opportunity to see his mecha in action.

The Blackbirds' first mission on the new mecha was to gain entrance to an Ameris military base, and trigger the nuclear missiles secretly stored below its seemingly innocent exterior. Lord Katse had already obtained the assistance of Ameris' top general in securing the base, so this was actually a poor test of the motorcycles' capabilities.

Still, Kito watched with pride as the vehicles drove in formation, leaping over the twelve foot high fence, barely noticing the security guards who ran to greet them. They were performing exactly as they had been designed to do. They then fell through an opening in the tarmac, into an underground hangar. They raced down a hallway, until they encountered Lord Katse's contact. The Blackbirds dismounted, removing their explosive devices from their storage compartments, and ran to the storage bay for the nuclear weapons. Since the cameras were only mounted on the motorcycles themselves, the men in the control room could not observe the next stage of the operation.

A few minutes later, the cameras recorded Captain Yabane, still holding his explosive device (incidentally, the trigger for the entire operation) mount his motorcycle, and race outside, where he threw the device underneath a couple of jet planes.

The planes were destroyed, but they were inconsequential. Without Captain Yabane's device, the other explosives could not be triggered, and the operation was a complete failure.

"Damn him!" screeched Lord Katse. "What the hell is wrong with that idiot? Restrain him, immediately!"

The other Blackbirds took off, and using information provided by the Ghost Island Command Center, were able to locate Captain Yabane, and return him to their local base of operations.

Kito was dismissed. His mecha had performed as they were supposed to. It was Captain Yabane who was about to receive the full brunt of Lord Katse's wrath.

As he returned to his quarters, Kito briefly wondered what had caused the Blackbird Captain to disobey his orders that way. He knew the folly of openly defying Galactor. Perhaps there had been a good reason for what he had done.

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Apparently there had been. At least, Kito presumed so, because Captain Yabane was given another assignment. He was entered into a national motorcycle racing competition, which the Ameris President was scheduled to attend. As Kito entered the control room, to witness the mission, he discovered that Captain Yabane had been ordered to assassinate the President.

At first, Captain Yabane raced the vehicle to its full potential. Kito thrilled to see the motorcycle pulling ahead of the other racers, and it was clear that if he had wanted to, Koji Yabane would easily have won the race, adding yet another national championship to his record.

However, it was not to be. Kito heard Lord Katse giving instructions to the Captain, ordering him to assassinate the president.

But Kito was not paying attention to the Galactor Leader. He watched as his mecha leapt up into the stands, climbing at a forty-five degree angle, to reach the President's box. Captain Yabane activated the drill in the front of the vehicle, to gain entrance to the secured area where the President was seated. He pulled out his gun, able to control the mecha while using both hands to hold his weapon. Despite himself, Kito was impressed. Koji Yabane truly was an exceptional motorcycle driver.

Unfortunately, something happened, and the sights on the Captain's gun were destroyed. Kito wasn't sure how it happened, but when the mecha sailed over the President's box, Captain Yabane missed his shot, and did not succeed in his assassination attempt. The vehicle sailed over the top of the stands, landing over a hundred feet below in the parking lot, where it was joined by the other mecha, which raced away from the scene. The motorcycle's performance was impressive, even if its driver's had not been so.

With a gasp, Kito saw that two of the Science Ninja Team's vehicles were in pursuit of the motorcycles. Even worse, one of them was the Condor's racecar, and it was rumored that he was a driver of incredible skill.

Again the mecha performed beautifully. They were able to use their rear-firing rockets and smokescreens to evade the Science Ninja Team. Kito silently exulted in his beautiful creations.

As before, Kito was dismissed, while Lord Katse raged at Captain Yabane's incompetence.

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Barely an hour later, Kito was summoned again to the Command Center. He had no idea what was happening, but if his presence was required, it likely had to do with his mecha.

"The Blackbirds are going to use your Serpent mecha to bring down the God Phoenix." Lord Katse informed Kito, confirming his suspicions. "I just hope that it performs as you claimed it would."

"It will, Sire." Kito replied, bowing confidently.

"We'll see." muttered Katse.

Fascinated, Kito watched as the motorcycles lined up, connecting with each other, their protective shielding overlapping, to create the Serpent mecha. They launched into the air, not a moment too soon.

The God Phoenix was approaching.

As he glanced at the control readouts, something bothered Kito. He walked over to the panel, looking over the shoulder of the Operator, to get a better look.

There it was.

"That idiot!" Kito screamed. "You have to contact him, now!"

"What?" The Operator did not understand what the Sergeant was going on about, but then, he was used to having Lord Katse yelling at him, so this was hardly a problem.

"Contact Captain Yabane!" Kito cried. "Before it's too late!"

"Why?" interrupted Lord Katse, "What's wrong?"

"He forgot to activate the energy shielding!" Kito explained, "I must have told him a dozen times, and he promised that he wouldn't forget."

"So, what does that mean?" Katse asked impatiently.

"It means," growled Kito, "that if they get hit with a Bird Missile, the Serpent mecha is going to be completely destroyed!"

"Comm! Get me Captain Yabane, now!"

But despite their attempts, they were unable to contact the Blackbird Captain. It appeared that he was ignoring all incoming communications.

Kito was raging. How could he have done this? How could Captain Yabane be so careless with Kito's crowning achievement?

As these thoughts went through his head, the Serpent mecha formed a circle, grabbing its tail, then spinning rapidly through the air.

It latched onto the God Phoenix, and it appeared that the Science Ninja Team were in trouble. The buzzsaws began cutting through the enemy ship, and Kito noticed absently that the God Phoenix continued to show weakness on the portion of the hull directly in front of its wings.

Perhaps this wouldn't be a disaster, after all. If Captain Yabane could avoid being hit…

But even as everyone watched, the God Phoenix hurtled toward the ground, the Serpent mecha still firmly attached.

"He's going to do it!" Lord Katse cried victoriously, "He's taking down the Science Ninja Team!" He no longer appeared to be distressed that Captain Yabane was not communicating with the Command Center.

Kito held his breath. The intertwined mecha were rapidly approaching the ground.

2,000 meters… 1,500… 1,000… 800…

At the last possible moment, the God Phoenix did the impossible. It reversed direction, shooting up into the sky, shaking off the Serpent mecha, which crashed into the General's mansion.

Kito gave a huge sigh of relief. The mecha appeared to be undamaged. Certainly, it was salvageable. It had not been destroyed.

Yet, even as Kito mentally made plans for the Serpent's repair, something left the body of the God Phoenix, rapidly approaching the fallen mecha.

"No!" Kito cried, clutching helplessly at his head.

A fiery explosion confirmed that the object had been a Bird Missile. Tears fell from Kito's eyes as he saw the result of all of his efforts destroyed, in a matter of seconds.

"Why didn't he turn on the energy shielding?" the Sergeant muttered, oblivious to Lord Katse's anger. The Galactor leader was shouting at everyone in the Command Center, furious that Captain Yabane had botched his mission so badly.

But Lord Katse's rage was nothing, compared to that of Sergeant Abbott.