It was a victory, in every sense of the word.

So why didn't it feel like one?

The couple chose to spend the night in the shelter of the Whale King, debating quietly what to do with it. Ultimately it was decided to leave it where it was, for now. Too many potential problems with not only a Backdraft-sourced transport, but also in explaining how the Fluegel Team had just suddenly come to possess one.

The Shadow Fox offered Brad sidelong, unamused regard.

Both Zoids had also been brought into the transport for shelter as well. Once comfortable the Gun Sniper stood still as expected, but the Fox didn't stay put. It continued to idly nose around the large bay.

Brad watched it in silence, sipping a cup of hot coffee.

Naomi also had a fresh cup of coffee, but instead of drinking it, she'd grown preoccupied with their use of the kettle.

It'd been handled by the now-dead man not long before. Ehga's own mug sat, half-empty and oblivious, on the shot-out console.

It was probably still warm. Something about that seemed a little wrong.

This had taken them just over a week, all told. A week to ensure that four people would never again cross their paths, or threaten others. She, and Brad, and that thing had murdered four people, and by all rights were going to get away with it.

No. It was not murder, Naomi reminded herself.

It was ensuring safety. For them, and for others. Putting down dangerous animals. Eradicating cockroaches.

Naomi glanced at Ambient.

The beast lay off to one side, idly grooming itself.

It had acted so casually. Simply pulling Ehga apart, grotesquely wolfing down parts of the man. Then it'd dragged the rest of his mangled body away and thrown it outside, like so much trash. Then lapped the floor everywhere blood had smeared and run, like it was nothing. Like it was normal.

It wasn't normal. Right?

She kept questioning things, largely herself. Wondering if she'd seen it all correctly.

Had Brad intentionally, grievously wounded someone so the Organoid could basically torment them to death? While yes, she knew they'd arrived with the intention of killing Ehga, her idea of death involved swift dispatch.

Not… that.

The Organoid's brief bout of being sociable with her didn't erase the gleeful slaughter she'd twice now seen it engage in. There was absolutely nothing preventing it from behaving the same way towards her and Brad. Would either of them be able to stop it, if it tried?

Her mind raced, trying to map out potential weaknesses. Anywhere with that strange, soft synthflesh, like its neck and mouth. Eyes, maybe, they seemed to rely on sight quite a bit. Did they have Cores? Core-conduits?

In a way difficult to articulate, Naomi always felt the basic comfort of being someone dissolve in the Organoid's presence. She was the cockroach in its eyes, and it made sure she knew it.

That forced her own attitude into both highlight and perspective, in the form of a tightening unease in her chest.

If only Brad would just make the damn thing go away.

She had to ask.

No, tell.

Brad had been watching Naomi's growing discomfort with concern. He gently gestured for her to come closer, to sit with him.

She did. She went to the man, tucked herself comfortably beside him, and rested her head on his shoulder. He was warm, calm, and hers.

Though fiercely independent and more than capable of handling herself, Naomi ached to lower her guard just as much as Brad did.

Perhaps that's why they got along so well. Mutual understanding and support was invaluable in this quietly hostile world.

Sure, things before had always seemed safe and pleasant. But if one stepped - or was forced - outside of what narrow path society demanded, the world's fangs quickly showed.

Naomi's eyes continued to flick with thought. She couldn't help but think of how thoroughly she'd been dismissed, bringing up Backdraft as the source of her Team's ills. She'd always assumed the ZBC or ZBGF would be there to help, were it needed.

They hadn't been.

The loss of that supposed security grated on her. Much more than she'd thought it would.

The world was somewhat different now.

The simplicity with which Koga dropped; it played over and over in her mind. Her lethal precision both exhilarated and horrified her. People were offensively easier than Zoids to take out. She hated that she was even thinking about it. Why wasn't she disgusted with herself? She was , but...

Brad rubbed her arm gently, then held her close and kissed the top of her head.

"You all right?"

She didn't want to say no, but yes was a lie. She didn't want to lie, either.

Her silence answered for her.

"Babe." Brad shifted and pulled Naomi onto his lap, crossing his arms over her. He slowly kissed the side of her neck. "I'm real sorry it had to be this way. But they're gone now. For good. We're safe."

Naomi just nodded.

"And look at it this way. We don't need anyone else. We took care of things. Ourselves." Brad grinned a little. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Another nod. She hadn't actually thought of it that way. She did like that.

"Because, I mean. If we don't look out for us, who will?" Brad said. Ambient grunted agreeably.

Naomi's eyes shot to Ambient, wary. Then drifted back to Brad, wariness becoming sad.

"I don't like that you're right about this. But, you are. I'm just... not sure where to go from here."

Brad smiled, also somewhat sadly. He smoothed the woman's bangs out of her face.

"Besides 'back home', that makes two of us." Brad gently touched her jawline, encouraging her head to face his. He looked into her eyes as she turned her head. "Don't worry. We'll figure it out."

Another nod, along with a furrowed brow. "Obviously. Just…"

Naomi trailed off, words having no real destination. Brad just held her close.

Silence fell once more. Breathing evened.

Time slipped by.

Brad dozed off, but Naomi couldn't. Her gaze was fixed on Ambient.

The Organoid watched her right back, unblinking. It pointedly licked its chops.

Naomi pressed back into Brad. "Brad."

Blue eyes opened drowsily. "Mm."

"Make that thing leave."

Brad glanced up to see Ambient just laying there. "Ambient's n-"

"Make it leave! "

"He's not gonna hurt you."

Naomi balled a fist and very clearly wanted to use it, but didn't. Brad stared at her, looking like a confused, scolded puppy.

"Why are you afraid of him?"

"Why aren't you? It fucking eats people!"

"He asks first."

Naomi gaped for a second. "Oh. Okay. It politely eats people? That's fine?"

Brad blinked, realizing how that sounded. He sighed and glanced at Ambient.

"Do you mind… sleeping outside or something?"

~Ah mean. Yes. Yes I do. It's fuckin' cold.~

Brad's pupils pinpointed with an effort he wasn't quite used to. 'Outside', aka ANYWHERE but right HERE. There's a whole damn Whale King! "Please?"

~Ah. Pleasin' the bitch. Aye.~ The Organoid yawned and stood, then made a show of looking put out. ~But I wanna watch yeh fuck.~

Brad raised both brows at the creature.

Ambient chuckled and vanished in a blaze of red.


The two had dozed off, Naomi feeling better with Ambient out of sight.

But Brad woke sharply, wincing against pain in his gut. Excruciating hunger. He waited for the pain to subside, holding his breath so as not to make a sound.

Naomi had made her way under one side of his jacket and let down her hair. She lay pressed close to the man's chest.

The Shadow Fox turned its ear then head towards Brad, acknowledgment. It then relayed unease and apprehension. Something wasn't right.

Brad reached out to Ambient mentally, only to receive the impression of how deeply asleep and content the Organoid was.

He sighed.

The Fox's claws clicked anxiously as it shifted between all four paws. It reflected deep concern: not for itself, not for anything present… but for what it could pick up. None-too-distant Zoids. Very, very upset Zoids.

Brad squinted up at it. Anxiety rose. Not on behalf of what the Fox communicated. But because nothing should've been out there. "Where?"

Naomi had roused and was staring up at Brad, silent. She could tell he was listening to something, and turned her head to follow his frozen gaze. He was staring at the Shadow Fox.

"What is it?" She whispered.

"Dunno. Zoids." Brad replied absently, though he was quite tense. "It's got to be the base."

Naomi recalled Brad's statements about the Mackaray base. She frowned. "I don't want you fucking around with that place."

From afar, gusto and rile had made destroying the base seem not just like a great idea, but a necessary one. But now all Brad could remember was painfully cold tap water and being abandoned and starved in a cell for days on end.

Unhappily he recognized it was the experiences he wanted erased. The location was just a convenient, tangible scapegoat.

He began a response to Naomi, but his words died before being spoken. The Fox's anxiety was too distracting.

The Gun Sniper had also stirred, and stood observing the Shadow Fox. Naomi watched it shift its head-fins uncertainly, watched it adopt fearful body language.

She'd been paying more attention to Zoids - her Zoid in particular - since it had apparently saved her life. Before, she'd not really cared to acknowledge how animate the machines were, and how much they seemed to communicate with one another. But she certainly noticed it now.

And now, it served only to add depth to discomfort.

The Shadow Fox had started to growl softly, and Brad was shaking his head.

"No," He said quietly, obviously to the Fox. "No. I'm not - it's - just go to sleep."

The Fox growled louder, its strange mechanical trill rising in the back of its tone.

Naomi glanced between the two.

"No." Brad said again, clearly annoyed. "I don't care. No one's going out there. Go to sleep."

The Shadow Fox looked at the Gun Sniper, chuffed, then started towards the Whale King's closed bay door.

Brad watched it with increasing impatience. "Fox."

It didn't stop, opened the bay door for itself, and slunk outside.

Brad stood up, a bit incredulous. He glanced at Naomi apologetically, then ran out after the Zoid.


"The fuck is your problem?"

Brad irritably zipped his jacket all the way up as he trudged into the bitter cold, squinting into the snow-thick dark around the Whale King.

The Fox had stopped a distance off and stood gazing Brad's way. Aggressive snowfall slashed past softly-glowing eyeglass; it would've been eerie, were the Fox not a friend.

"You have a lot of nerve, asshole. It's freezing!" Brad pointed into the Whale King. "Get inside!"

The Shadow Fox reflected how genuinely the distressed Zoids upset it. It rejected Brad's disapproval, and exchanged with him instead the crush of its own disappointment. Was it too much to ask to see if they could somehow help?

"Yes. It is. Since when do we do charity? It's dark, it's cold, I'm tired, an-"

Obscene hunger slammed him again, painfully intense. It crawled up into his ribs and stung every last nerve on the way. He lost his train of thought.

The Fox relayed concern, but maintained its position.

Brad shook the painful blur out of his vision, trying to sort through the Fox's behavior. The only sense he could make out of its thoughts was-

Home.

Not home, not now. But a past dwelling.

The Mackaray Base. Of course. Where he'd stolen the Shadow Fox from. It knew Zoids there. For whatever reason many were still there, and - hearing their apparent distress - the Fox was worried about them.

It understood that Brad didn't like the place. Given recent events, the Fox wasn't terribly into it either. But it wanted Brad to understand that it came from there. It learned everything it knew prior him, there. The Zoids it could hear were just as familiar to it as Naomi's Gun Sniper was.

And it would always help Naomi's Gun Sniper. Wouldn't Brad also?

"Stop it. That's different." Brad sighed through his teeth. He fumbled a lit cigarette into existence, angry at the snow, at the cold, and at his own wind-crazed hair. Worse still, he was still trying to ignore the pain in his gut. He shook his head, and kept shaking it. "I don't care. Absolutely not."


"Naomi…" Brad's voice came over the comm.

"I know, I know." The woman sighed back quickly.

The Gun Sniper stalked out of the Whale King, sharing some of it's pilot's irritation. "I figure if you have to chase after the damn thing you're not coming back in."

Brad stared with apology over the videscreen, shoulders fixed in a shrug. Naomi just looked at him, exhausted.

"You don't have to come." Brad said.

Naomi sharply shook her head. "We haven't gone through all this just for you to fuck off and get lost again."

He wasn't likely to fall off the map again anytime soon, but really couldn't argue. "Fair."

Vicious wind whipped through the area, swaying trees and Zoids alike. All were vividly reminded just how inhospitable the region could be. The Fox oriented itself, turned, and forged into the snow. "Follow us, but hang back."

Naomi's Gun Sniper pinned its head-fins, visibly irritated. But it started forward when urged. Naomi sighed, watching the Fox move ahead with seeming ease.

"As if there's another option?"