A/N – Hello all, and thanks to everyone who has read, and especially reviewed, so far. I'm trying to update as often as possible, but when you're a full-time university student who's also working part-time on the side, finding time to write can be rough. I hope you're all enjoying the story, but if you're not, the only way to change it is to REVIEW. Please, I want to know just like anyone else what needs improvement. Compliments are not wholly undesirable either :) but I'd rather get flames than silence, really!

Enjoy!

KOTS

P.S. - I stole AWBMatt's scene change notation, cause I liked it. I never owned Advance Wars, but I sure wish I did. Then I'd have the movie rights:)

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C

The helicopter set down gently, indicating setdown not with the vicious jolt typical of clone pilots whose memory imprinting process was rushed, but signifying the end with only a soft beep from a control panel in front of a pilot who had seen many years of service.

"Hey Adder, are we there yet?"

"As much as I would like to reply in the negative for the four hundred and ssseventieth time, we are actually 'there.'"

"Oh, good."

"I don't sssee what's so good about it. For all we know we're flying into a trap. But on the small chance it's not, it could make all the difference between victory and defeat."

"If anyone tries to catch us in a trap, I'll just sm-"

"Smash 'em good. Yesss, I know." The dark eyes rolled. "Just promissse me that you won't do anything hasssty when we get out of the copter. Please?"

"Sure thing, Adder."

B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C-B-C

Hawke watched with narrowed eyes at the black T-copter whose blades were beginning to slow down. Black T-copter. Either Allied special forces or Bolt Guard. The door in the side slid open, and two armored men with cannons grafted onto their arms stepped out, their faces obscured by the dark helmets encasing their heads. Bolt Guard it is. And I do not even have enough energy left for a Black Wave. Hawke moved so that his back was to the tree, obscuring his body from view. Now to hope they do not have thermal imaging.

As he waited in hiding, barely breathing, the crunching sound of feet on gravel mingled with voices became louder and more distinct.

"I have an idea, you sssaid! We'll go to a tropical island with no communication with the outssside world, you sssaid! We can't relaksss if we go somewhere the Bossss can contact us, you sssaid! A fine vacation, indeed!"

"It was pretty relaxing, though."

"And we misssed an entire war and the downfall of Black Hole!"

"Well, I had fun. You always focus on the negative."

"The negative?! The negative?! We're ssstuck without troops, without territory, without our leader, hated by everyone everywhere, and you think I'm focusing on the negative?!"

"Uh... I don't think those are positives."

"I! You! Arrrghhh!"

Hawke couldn't believe his ears. Of all the people to come out here to investigate his whereabouts, it had to be these two incompetents. He sighed and poked his head around the tree trunk to greet them, and immediately two laser sights were painted on his forehead.

"Hold your fire!" he cried, ducking back.

"Aaaagh!" Adder screamed, spinning to put Flak's bulk between himself and a threat.

"Aaaagh!" Flak screamed, having no idea what was going on, but feeling intense peer pressure to add to the cacophony.

"Complying, sir," the monotone voices of the soldiers replied in unison, having instantly recognized the voiceprint of their commander.

After the initial moment of shock wore off, Flak's cry of confusion turned to one of joy. "Boss? Boss! It's you! Now we can smash stuff again!" Flak bounded around the tree and effortlessly lifted the hapless commander off the ground and into a crushing bear hug.

"Er... it is a pleasure to see you again as well, Flak. Flak? You may put me down now. Flak?" A sigh of frustration. "I hope you do not mind if I borrow your jacket. It is rather cool weather today."

"Huh?" It dawned on Flak that the recipient of his ardent embrace was in the nude. "Aagh! Yeah, Boss, here you go." Flak set Hawke down and pulled off the gigantic garment for Hawke's use.

"Thank you," Hawke murmured.

"Well. Dessspite how long it'sss going to take to heal the mental ssscarring of what I have just witnessssed, it is good to sssee you again, my lord."

"Hello, Adder."

Adder's slender face became serious, concluding the pleasantries. "Care to tell usss why you are out in the Green Earth countryssside after over a year of absssenssse from Black Hole?"

"I doubt you would believe me."

"Try me. I jussst ssspent three hours in a copter with Flak in the hopesss that we'd find you."

Hawke looked off into the distance, his eyes seeming to glaze over. "I... I am tired of war."

"What?"

"I am tired of killing... power struggles... pain and confrontation. No more Von Bolts. No more Sturms. I came to a place where I thought no one could find me, so that I would never have to fight again."

Adder seemed taken aback by such a response, but forged forward anyway. "Well, I sssuggessst you come out of retirement and join usss again, because war is going to find you sssooner or later, no matter where you hide."

Hawke turned to look at his former lieutenant. "What do you mean? There has been nothing but peace interspersed with short mop-up operations for the Allied Nations during the past year. If you aspire to reconquer the allies, I'll have no part of it."

"Unfortunately, the Bolt Guard has been ssstrengthened a thousandfold since the end of the war. I know not how, but it probably involves more black cryssstals. What matters is that their army is vassst, and the pitiful force that Flak and I managed to amassss upon our returning to Black Hole is on the verge of being totally annihilated. After we are out of the way, it takes no geniusss to figure out where they will go next."

Flak chimed in. "I bet it's the Allied Nations, since they have most of the money and resources and stuff."

"Sssee?" Adder asked, rolling his eyes.

Hawke looked away again to consider.

-You vowed you'd never fight again. You are done with war and bloodshed.

-You broke that vow last night to save the bartender. Sometimes, you must fight to stop evil.

-The only evil is that which endangers your welfare, and you will be safe out here. Let your former comrades and the allies fend for themselves.

-Maybe you believed that once, but you have changed, and you know it. Defeating evil is the burden you chose to shoulder when you turned your back on Black Hole and deposed Von Bolt.

Hawke sighed quietly as his conscience won yet another battle against reason. "Where is your center of command, Adder?"

"At the old outpossst in the Zutara Mountains, wessstern Yellow Comet."

"You can enter and exit the area without being detected?"

"Sssonja has been busy of late tracking the Bolt Guard. She's moved her blasssted recon units to Omega Land and has few observation posssts in the area."

"Very well. Let's see just what Kindle and her ilk are up to, shall we?"

Flak, who had been studying his fingernails most intently throughout the conversation, jumped up from the log he was sitting upon with glee. "We're gonna go smash stuff now?"

"Yes, Flak. If Adder's report is correct, I believe we will."

-A-N-A-N-A-N-A-N-A-N-A-N-A-N-A-N-

"Somebody laid a major smackdown here. Actually, forget major. Try colonel. Or... what comes after colonel?"

"We get the idea, Jake."

"Rock on."

Sasha picked her way carefully over the twisted metal debris littering the shallow desert sand. It was hard enough to do it when she could use her arms for balance, but constantly returning the salutes of the soldiers that passed her made it even more of a trial. The winds were already beginning to bury the smaller objects in shifting dunes, indicating that the battle must have been especially recent to have so have so many objects remaining in plain sight. It also made walking especially treacherous since shards of metal could lie in wait just beneath the surface. She approached her fellow female CO in the investigation team, wishing for the other's khaki uniform rather than her oppressively heavy Blue Moon uniform. The Yellow Comet military, while not especially suited for desert warfare, were much more acclimated to it than their northern allies, and they actually had the foresight to design uniforms suitable to a greater range of climates than "snowing" to "blizzard."

"Anything out of the ordinary, Sonja?"

"You mean other than the remains of a massive land and air battle around a minor base in the middle of nowhere, and that Kindle's army has no enemies in Wars World yet was decisively defeated by someone?"

"Slow down a little, Sonja. How do you know it was an air battle as well?"

Sonja pointed to the billowing black columns rising from isolated points along the plain. "You can smell it from the burning fuel. Some of it is ordinary gasoline and engine oil, but there's a large quantity of jet fuel burning as well in this mess. It's a subtle difference in aroma, but there are definitely some copters or jets crashed out there among the tanks."

"And you know that this was Kindle's base that was attacked because...?"

"We had the intel that Bolt Guard forces were using this base as a supply depot or possibly even headquarters. We initially came here to destroy it, remember?"

"Right, right. So who attacked them first, and why?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, right now. I guess it's possible that Adder is out of hiding and has access to intel, manpower, and supplies that Lash doesn't, and was able to continue the war against the Bolt Guard. There's no way Flak could manage battles on this scale, and we don't know of any other commanders, not to mention ones that would bear a grudge against the Bolt Guard. Could there be more Black Cadre commanders that neither we nor Lash know about?"

"Seems unlikely. Lash has been a great source of Black Hole intel for us; if she doesn't know about any other commanders, it's hard to imagine any exist."

"Indeed, it is quite a mystery. We'll have to keep our eyes on the ball to solve this one."

"Dame Sonja! I have found a spoil of great interest and beauty!" Javier's great voice boomed from where he stood a little behind them, interrupting their brainstorming session. They saw him bend down to pick up a fragment of something that glinted in the light with a triumphant look on his face. As he straightened, he shouted, "It appears to..." His voice faltered and his grin faded. "Be a..." he managed to get out. "Shard..." He collapsed as if he had just been shot with a tranquilizer or stun gun.

"Javier!" Sonja and Sasha cried.

They dashed over to where he lay, the mystery item still lying in his palm. Sasha got on her knees to check his pulse, and Sonja swiftly kicked his hand, sending the crystalline piece flying out of it. Immediately his eyelids fluttered and he uttered a low moan, not moving. Sasha turned to Sonja worriedly.

"What happened to him?"

"Black crystal poisoning. A good piece of black crystal can kill entire forests in a matter of weeks. It doesn't take long to kill a man."

"Oh no, Javier! He's going to live, right?"

Sonja responded as she put her head to his chest to listen to his breathing and examined his eyes closely.

"Of course. He'll be fine with a few days rest. This is much more serious than I thought, though. We need to get a full hazmat team in here, one that specializes in black crystal cleanup. We could be at great risk if there are similar shards scattered throughout this area. And, knowing how volatile those crystals are when damaged, it's quite likely."

Soldiers who heard the two women's cry had arrived on the scene and were lifting Javier up to take to the medic's tent. Sonja pulled a small but powerful communicator from a pocket on her uniform, opening it up and pressing a button to transmit.

"Lash, come in."

"Hey, Sonja, what's up?"

"We're investigating the base area and we found a piece of black crystal. Javier's been poisoned by it."

"I hope his silly mustache falls out. I can't stand that thing!"

"Lash!"

"Right! Um... I'll send a medical team and black crystal specialists out right away?"

"That's more like it. Please come with them, there's sure to be a lot of evidence out here that you can decipher better than anyone else, given your knowledge of Black Hole weaponry."

"We'll be there in no time. Toodles!"

K-W-M-K-W-M-K-W-M-K-W-M-K-W-M-K-W-M-K-W-M-K-W-M-K-W-M

"...Toodles!"

The audio receiver emitted a soft ping to indicate the end of the transmission. A soft alto voice resumed where Lash's screeching had been a moment before.

"Hmmm. You're clearly losing your touch, my dear Sonja. It would have taken only another minute to get back to headquarters and send an encrypted message, but you've had to go and take all the fun out of it by broadcasting in plain earshot for everyone."

A second voice interrupted the apostrophic taunting, with a note of hopeful and sadistic glee in it.

"Seems to me this is an excellent chance to assassinate Lash en route and get that thorn out of the way early."

"Yes, I imagine it would seem to you. Do any of your plans not involve assassination and mindless violence, Wraith?"

Wraith remained silent.

"Oh, don't pout. You know it's true. You want to kill all of the enemy COs almost as much as I do."

If the meeting chamber had been better lit, an evil sparkle would have been seen in the speaker's eyes.

"...Almost as much," she repeated, continuing. "But I have the patience to ensure that not only do they die their well-deserved deaths, but that they do it in the most satisfyingly tormenting manner possible."

"So how do we proceed now, O Great and Tormenting One?"

"We will stick to the original plan: ignore the Allied Nations for now, and make sure that all of Black Hole's considerable resources are securely under our control, or neutralized. Michael will now take over dealing with Von Bolt and his pitiful followers. I'm reassigning you to a target actually worthy of your skills."

"I doubt there's any target worthy of my skills," Wraith commented dryly.

"Not even... Lord Hawke?"

Wraith took a moment to speak. "Hawke is dead. No one could have survived the collapse of Von Bolt's Citadel."

"Ah, but someone did. And he is your target."

Wraith paused before continuing, not asking the many questions coursing through her mind. "And my objectives?"

"Track Lord Hawke from the coordinates I will provide you with, and observe everything you can about him. I want to know his physical and mental condition, general plans, strategies, and anything else of interest. Prevent him, under any circumstances, from contacting the Allied Nations. Though the Black Cadre and Bolt Guard would have no interest in alliance with the allies due to their war criminal status, Hawke has historically been proven to work with the allies when it is to his benefit. We can't let him discover us and warn the allies too early."

"Your wish is my command, Lady Katherine."

Katherine smiled sardonically, knowing that even in the pitch-black room, Wraith would be able to see it. "I've told you a dozen times, Wraith, you don't have to be so formal..."

"...Just call me Kat."