Brave hearts, [ENDED]

[Clint Unknown]

ooc: I hope you don't mind me putting you in an exhilarating situation right off the bat.

From that night and into the morning things moved fast. It was now the afternoon of the next day, and the decaying buildings of Northern Wraith, is seen at a distance.

But the Travelers had received a surprise from their enemies.


Livingston snarled and growled as it slashed yet another bio raptor to pieces with its Katana , held in its mouth. It swiftly jumped up surrounded by flame throwing raptors. The Brutal Liger engaged its foes in the most messiest of manners . It landed on two Bio's just as they were about to shoot fire balls from their mouths. The Bio's soon burned. The last 3 surrounding the Liger began to move back. As to retreat, but Livingston wasn't about to let his prey get away.

The Liger, turned around 360 degrees, and in its circle it Had quickly made do of the last bio raptors...



" And that's why I let him be..." Clint said as he took out another cigarette . Clint had been sitting a few meters back, in the cockpit of Eclipse, his Soul tiger.

Standing by was Jen in her Brastle tiger. Susumu had been circling around the group 19 meters up in his Storm Sworder...




Livingston was surrounded by a debree of burning metal. They couldn't even be recognized anymore as Zoids, because of the way the Liger slashed them. Each time he'd kill a raptor he'd kill it again, and again until there's nothing left... The Liger gave out a long yawn, befor bringing its sword back into its holder...

Boring... It commented befor turning around to face the group. It didn't come closer though. It just waited right there in that spot.

" Livingston...Always a show off. " Jen sighed..Jen sat in her cockpit reading a book. After the Liger turned back around , she placed a book mark in it, and took off her glasses.

The Northern Wraith was very close and their enemies first attempt of an ambush failed horribly. No doubt that they were close. Who else would have black bio raptors with Kaiser Klan symbols on them?.

They were getting closer...

[Sylvan]

"Talk about egar!"

Royston blurted out as his Energy Storm's Gatlings pounded into a bio Zoid right in front of him. The energy attack did little to harm the bio armour, but Royston had learned from his previous encounters with the new Zoids.

The liger surged forward, it's energy horn outstretched, soon the bio Raptor found itself impaled through the mouth.

With a flick of his liger's head Royston threw the foe to one side, clearing up his vision. As he looked around he noted a surprising calm that surrounded the rest of the bandits. Scattered Zoid remains indicated they had made quick work of their foes.

It was good to see he was paired up with competent allies.

Royston moved back to the pack, so to speak, and stood at the right flank. He could see the Northern Wraith in the distance, it was rather relieving to be in sight of his destination. But at the same time Royston knew his foes were waiting there. This early ambush was sign of that.

[Clint Unknown]

" Good job with your Energy Storm's movements. That went smoothly.. " Clint replied as he began to move Eclipse, his Soul Tiger towards the Abandoned Town, people of these days like to call Northern Wraith. In the distance, a little towards the right side of the outskirts of the town, a grave yard resided...

Jen stiffly griped the controls of her Brastle ,Hicaru-enkou ,to slowly follow Clint through..She didn't say much because she knew were Clint was heading...

"I just hate this. :<" Susumu blurted out from the skies... "Why are Kaiser Klansman, trying to mess with Kaiser Klansman? It makes no sense. Were all under the same title. The same Alliance. Why fight each other?"

It was silent a bit. Susumu had a strange seriousness to his voice. A serious that showed change. It also showed maturity.

"That's because some of these Kaiser groups hate it when good is being done for the sake of the planet. " Jen answered Susumu.

Susumu looked down onto his controls. And took out his Grandfather's ashes from his right pocket. He said a little prayer for protection as he gazed at it , befor putting it back in.

Clint Lightly turned Eclipse to the right a bit finaly revealing that he was heading towards the old graveyard ...
"Royston, I hope you don't mind us visiting that grave yard over there in the distance... I need to do so befor entering the town. "

As soon as Jen herd those words, she knew what Clint was going with this. He wanted them to visit the graves of their former B.C.M members. Hediki, and Twain who were assassinated and berried there...

Susumu frowned a bit. The two were somewhat like his idols. He looked up to them like big brothers.







Livingston Stood in its spot and just watched as Clint, and the others past by. It knew what it had to do. It was a technique Clint and him loved to use...

Wait until things get bad. It wasn't the type of Zoid to be controlled, and restrained, so it was best to keep the Liger out of the scene for now. Plus it was a great surprise to their enemies if it popped out of no were and began making a mess of things.

The element of surprise... The Liger thought as it turned to eye Royston's Energy Storm.

[Sylvan]

"hmm whats up? . . ."

Royston listened to Clint's request and answered truthfully.

"No I don't mind."

Graveyards were not a place Royston visited frequently, but he never objected going to them. Respecting the dead was a value he held tight. . . . Which was a strange value for someone like him, an ex-military man responsible for years of bloodshed in the past.

Royston quietly tagged along, trying not to be intrusive. He felt the hairs on his neck rise as livingston stayed back, eying him off. Royston was more than a little rilled up, after an ambush, going to visit a graveyard, his nerves were well exercised. The big man quickly calmed himself by thinking straight, the element of surprise was a useful one to have.

So with that he made his way to the graveyard with the group. He probably wouldn't go in, he had no business there, but he would at least go to the entrance.

[Clint Unknown]

"Alright then. " Clint said. "It won't take long..."

Once at the entrance of the graveyard, Clint popped open his cockpit, and Jumped down onto the dirty land. It was a dusty piece of land. The tome stones were all either cracked, or eroded from years of ZI's weather.

Jen had stopped her Brastle , right next to Clint's own befor climbing down onto the ground right beside Clint.

Susumu feared graveyards so he wasn't really about to sacrifice himself to the ghost and gouls just to see his old friend's burial grounds.

"Whats the point of this?" Susumu thought... Silver gave out a screech.

Are we landing?..

"No.." Susumu replied as he griped its controls...

Clint looked up to see if Susumu was about to land, but he just watched as the Storm Sworder increased its height, and began Circling from above.. "I'll keep a look out. You guys go without me. I'll stay out here with Royston..."

Clint shrugged as he opened the gates, to walk in. Jen followed behind quietly. As she looked around , she had a bit of worry to her face. She didn't like this.

"How reckless..." She commented..

"hue?"

"We going in a graveyard right after we encountered an ambush just a few minutes ago. "

"Don't tell me your scared of this place.." Clint said as he turned around to look at Jen...She looked at Clint blankly for a second, befor replying.

"Its not that..." She said turning her face away. "Its just..."

"Just what?"

"nothing, lets just go. " She rushed her words. But what she really wanted to say was that she still felt their presence long after they died.

When Jen and Clint reached the graves, there was silence... Clint lit a cigarette , and smoked away, while Jen stood there staring at the white stoned tombstones. The stones were the most freshest in that part of the graveyard. No cracks ,although a few vines were beginning to grow around them ,they were still preity new.

Clint brought his right hand over his heart, and stuck up his pinkie finger saluting his fallen Klansman...

When Clint and Jen came out of the entrance, they were alerted by Susumu.

"I see smoke coming from the end of the town!"

Clint could have cared less about some smoke. The place was crawling with life. Human, and Zoidian life. But people kept quiet. There were bandit, terrorist, villains, and doom machines in that town. But non of those interested Clint. He wanted to visit the only Kaiser Klan base there. And that was all.."Alright Royston, were done here. We have to go through the town to get to the base. Be on guard..."Clint warned Royston. If they were Ambushed , chances are the people responsible for that, had still been watching them.

"Susumu, don't worry about that. The town isn't completely abandoned. Just stay on point. "



When Clint and Jen, returned to the cockpits of their Zoids, they entered the town...










.....


........

...


Its good to see they defeated those sleepers without a problem...But who is that with them?. A new member?... It doesnt matter... They'll all fall... The Dark lord predicted it...


ha, aha, ha, ah...

[Sylvan]

Royston's ears perked up at the warning of smoke, likely it had nothing to do with them but knowing how they were attacked a few moments ago didn't make him feel any more reassured.

If he knew his Zoid better he would have taken to the air, following the Storm Sworder to scope out what was going on. But unfortunately Royston wasn't so confident to take to the air just yet. This Zoid was brand new and there were less things that could go wrong on the ground.

"Heading through the town. Roger that."

His Zoids gatlings whirred in place, preparing them for use. He was ready for this, time to find out what happened to Auska.

---------

It was strange. . . What were these people doing here. This graveyard was nigh on abandoned. Danasth hid behind a large decrepit tombstone, hoping the travelers, whoever they were, had not noticed him.

He held his breath for a what seemed like forever, would these people never leave!? But finally, they returned the way they had come and headed off. Danasth let out a large sigh of relief, he hadn't been caught just yet.

The man pulled out a small sack from his pocket. Inside was valuable wrist watch, he inspected it before shoving it away under a nearly dead plant. In his other hand he held a notepad. The pad was nearly completely blank. But Danasth knew better, he leafed through pages until he was about half way through. There he found a list, written were a series of crimes, all low scale things like vandalism and theft. Each item on the list had a value next to it, gradually increasing with each entry. At the end of the list he wrote "Rolex: 3000G".

Being as discrete a possible Danasth got up and made his way off, heading to the outskirts of the town. . . . .

[Clint Unknown]

As the group reached the Northern Wraith, more and more smoke caught Susumu's attention. The fidgety teen swayed back down to the walking , and cautious Zoids of bellow.

"Clint, more and more smoke up ahead!"

This time, it caught Clint's interest. As they passed by , what seemed to be decayed and lifeless buildings of the broken city, high screeches , and Zoid screams were faintly herd. "Susumu.." Clint said hesitantly.

"Roger!" With out Clint saying everything, he knew instinctly what he wanted. Susumu's right index finger pressed onto a green button which instently brought a giant helmet looking mask down over his head, which covered his eyes and most of his face.

The Storm Sworder Silver gave out a screech befor Rising in altitude, at a fast and stunning pace.. The sworder flew a little pass the travelers, while it raised..

"Whats going on Clint?" Jen asked, puzzled.

"The smoke that Susumu saw is in the direction of the base. Royston!, Jen!, We'll have to speed up a little. " And with that, Clint griped on the controls, and flung his Soul Tiger into an all out run towards the base. Following shortly, Jen and her Brastle tiger, trying to keep up.


While the group sprang into a run towards their destination, Susumu's Storm Sworder, Silver, Swooped back down above the Soul Tiger.

"There's fire, and explosions. Im sending you the imagery Iv just recorded. Man, I don't know what that place is, but its pretty bad. There might even be some casualties!"

While Susumu talked, Clint watched the little screen that displayed the pictures of the scene. It was just as Clint thought. The base they were pursuing, was attack, and basically destroyed.

"damn..."






---------------


... *huff*

"Serves those fools right. They messed with the wrong Zoidian to pick a fight with." Chinatsu weakly said. She had a series of scars and scrapes indented on her body. Her cloths were riped , and defaced...In her arms, Asuka...

"Why'd I even bother to bring this human girl for?.." She questioned herself.. "Oh, right , now I remember..."

Chinatsu took a deep breath after taking shelter in an old torn down building. She brushed her self off and attempted to awake the young girl...

Asuka's eyes opened...

--------------------


In the background a few rev raptors limps away from a pile of burning ruble, and what looked like piles of dark horns. Burned and bombarded with projectiles, and slashes.

Some kaiser Klan members escapes their defeated raptors. around 5 black Bio raptors remained unharmed, and unscratched.

The pilots of them, jumps out of their bio cores and look around.

"Those damn, Zoidians nearly killed off 89% of our Klan group. "

"Why didn't those two help us! "

"They are lose cannons. We can't relli on them. "




--------------------------------

This is interesting...

[Sylvan]

Royston watched on with curiosity, something was out of place. He didn't need his Zoidian abilities to tell that. It was written all over the situation.

"W-"

He was going to say "Whats going on Clint?" But Jen beat him to the punch. As Clint lunged forward, Royston followed with an adequate speed boost. He was lucky his energy storm was fast as well as powerful. Embedded on his Zoid, the energy chargers whirred as their output picked up.

Royston could do little more than look on as he realised what had happened. Someone had beat them to the punch, so it seemed.

He frowned, Royston didn't know enough about the bandits to even begin to try and understand what had happened, so he figured it would be best to stick to Clint's instruction for now.

------------------

"What is going on?!"

Danasth Sunilsa raced through the town, being careful to stay away from the large group of Zoids he had encountered earlier.

"Gotta find somewhere to hide. . ."

He hesitated for a minute, there were plenty of derelict buildings he could shelter in. That wasn't what slowed him down. On the ground there were small drops of blood. Scuff marks indicated someone was in a building nearby.

"Hello?"

He spoke out, much against his better judgment. He was too honest to pass up someone if trouble was afoot. Yet he also wanted to keep his secret intact. He figured if he got a response he would go help. If he didn't, he would turn and hide.

[Clint Unknown]

ooc:I have returned !_!


ic:

Clint continued on in an all out run towards the fallen Kaiser base. He had manage to hit the main rode. This would make it easier for the travelers to run on. Jen followed tightly behind Clint and Royston. Her eyes grew with even more worry.

When The base had came into sight, of the travelers, there was a sense of panic upon the ground, from were the smoke had been rising from.

A flurry of Kaiser Klansman, scurried out of the smoke, some collapsing and others coughing and wheezing.


Just about 50ft from the burning building, the bases General laid, surrounded by a group of Kaiser Klansman.

Clint blow up the Soul Tiger's boosters, and made a leap as it jumped up upon a small building. Shortly after the Soul tiger, given the commands by its pilot, Leaped up onto another building slightly taller than the one he had just leaped on. As the Tiger jumped off, the weak and decayed building crumbled. There was one more taller building standing in the way of Clint and that Kaiser General. With another leap the Tiger had finaly taken its stance on top the last building. Eclipse, (Clint's soul tiger) was positioned on top the building , in a way it was looking down directly at the Flutter of kaiser Klansman, who had been bandaging up and seeing to their Generals wounds.

Just as the Soul Tiger took it place on its building the Klansman who had just came out of their Bio raptors, jumped in their Zoids, ready to fight a one sided battle.

When Jen came into place ,to were she could plainly see the building about 6 meters away, She broke out a question. "Whats going on here, Clint?!"

"I don't know, but Asuka might be inside there!" Clint growled. His eyes were filled with anger, and fight. This wasn't the laid back Clint his friends knew. No. This was General STAR.

Susumu had rested Silver a few meters away behind Clint. The Storm sworder was perched up on a tall, and stabled building. Susumu could see the whole scene from there. He'd rather not interfere with anything in this moment.

But as the travelers focused on Clint, and the burning building, smoke, wreckage and ditsy people running around, the 5 bio raptors seemed to have disappeared.

Susumu saw this. "Royston!, Jen!, be careful. There are five bio raptors on the field!"
-----------------------------

"Great..We'v been found...."

Chinatsu held Asuka tightly, and when hearing a voice so closely to her, she took out a few smoke bombs followed by some very small explosives and threw it out towards the poor guy. She just wanted out..

*bombs explodes*

And with that Chinatsu leaped up and disappeared from sight. The ancient Zoidian had just vanished. But how could that be?.

[Sylvan]

((OOC: welcome back! sorz about the slow reply this week))


Royston skirted quickly around the buildings, his Zoid may have been fast, but it was not as nimble as the Soul Tiger he followed. Royston turned his Zoid slightly east, momentarily diverging from the others. It was a simple tactic, avoid getting surrounded. Running parallel to the others, he was slightly behind Clint, but off to the right.

He could see Eclipse jumping across building tops, and it was not long before he could also see his targets. Up ahead, there was the base. Reacting to the words "Auska might be inside" Royston charged forward, as of yet, unaware of any enemy threats.

He came to a skidding halt, falling in line with Clint. Royston didn't know where to start, the base was a mess. He was too focused on the ruined structure ahead to notice the five Zoids that had vanished. The warning came as a bit of a shock, Royston was usually prepared for such occurrences.

"Five Zoids?! Where!"

His energy gatlings whirred into motion, sweeping the area. Nothing fired just yet, as he knew energy weapons would be nigh on useless against bio-armoured foes. He could provide good cover fire, if needed, but he didn't want to risk damaging the already damaged base. Especially if it were to harm Auska.

Royston cursed his inexperience with fuzors, he knew if he took to the sky, then he would be much more lethal. Yet despite his many years of piloting airborne Zoids, he had not once piloted an Energy Liger or variation thereof. As much as he didn't like it, he was grounded for now.

-----

"WHAT?!"

Danasth reeled as he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. His reflexes were good, but in the dark, he had no chance of evading the smoke bombs.

Coughing he raised an arm over his face, the smoke choked him and made his eyes water, but it was only a mild irritation. Stumbling forward, he felt a painful shock on his right side. His ears rang as the noise of the explosion temporarily defend him. Blind, deaf and numb, Danasth was helpless to figure out what had hit him.

Spinning for a good few seconds, he fell to the ground, the force of the impact seemed to knock some sense into him. Shaking his head, he rose up and darted forward a bit. He had escaped the smoke, and his wounds were not too serious. But he was disoriented enough to not know where the attack had come from.

"HEY! Show yourself!"

He spun, trying to peer through the darkness.

"Who's there?!"

For now, he refrained from moving. If he hastily ran into a building, he may run into his attacker. If he ran away, he may run into that group of Zoids.

[Clint Unknown]

ooc: Im sory for the long wait bro. I finaly finished sorting out my profiles, and notes , so Im good to go. Now my rps should roll much smoother and quicker.

ic:

Before Clint could begin his little transformation, he brought up enough strength to reach into his right pocket and take out a cigarette. As he lit it, the stress he had upon his head , lowered. The cigarette had served its purpose.

Susumu, had taken his Storm Sworder to the skies, in an attempt to catch visual on the enemy raptors. He circled around Clint, and the burning building a few times befor he saw some action. He sent visual to Jen and her Brastle Tiger while doing so.

In the Brastle tiger, Jen fidgeted around, turning , and twitching Hicaru's head, side by side, in serch for their enemies. She had the upper hand , since the Storm Sworder sent her Brastle Tiger visual of the grounds bellow. Her body temperature began to climb for every minute she spent searching for the raptors. As that happened a drop of sweat dripped down from her forehead and onto her nose. She wasn't nervous,but super super cautious. How can a Zoid disappear unless...

"Unless their under optical stealth. " Jen mumbled to herself.


Behind Royston's Energy Storm, two bio raptors creeped in on him, at a normal sprint. Their Optical Stealth had just been put out, and their presence was very clear.

Susumu spotted it, but just as he began to yell out to Royston, he saw two more bio Raptors appear near to Jen. One was on top a 5 story building looking down at the Brastle tiger, and the other one right across it, on top an identical, if not very similar building Doing the same as the other.

Jen caught the visual on the raptors, and Hicaru's head looked up at them. The Bio's on his Right, and left, looked down at the Brastle, who was looking up at them , when they noticed their OSS had failed, do to the battle befor hand, the Raptors began to hiss viciously at Jen and Hicaru.

"Lets take care of these guys Hicaru..."

Right.. The Brastle Tiger replied.


"Royston!, Watch you'r 6, two bio raptors crawling up on you at a speed of 95 Kph. " Susumu yelled out.


Clint continued to grill the injured General down. His nerves jumped out at him. His thoughts raced through his head. What was he going to do when he reached down there . Slug the General in the face befor or after he tells him, if he knew of Asuka. While Clint carelessly continued to watch the wounded General on the ground with his people, a weak fire ball was thrown at Eclipse's backside. The recoil had made his cigarette fall from his mouth and onto the dusty ground of the Soul Tiger's cockpit.

"What the hell was that?" Clint questioned as he and his soul Tiger, in sync with each other, looked back.

" Its a bio raptor and Im gonna chop him up. :<" Eclipse answered the question, now turned fully around.

On top a building a little highter than the one Clint was on, a bio Raptor hissed and hissed. It was no match for The Soul Tiger, but a Zoids abilities was limitless once they have the right piolet. Who knew, these guys bravery might match their skills as piolets.


Or they could just be compleate idiots.



-------------------------------------


In the building Chinatsu was no were in sight. She and Asuak had vanished. There were no more leads to them. Just a green light bulb powered by a batery , flikered away at the foot of the stranger. The bulb had a dieing glow to it. In a few seconds the bulb will blow. The man had just witnessed The Green Light.


----------------------------------------

Somewere all the way on the west coast of the broken down city, known as The Wraith, a black whale king makes a sene from out the clouds.

Some Zoids runacross the building roof tops. Although the roofs weren't stable, they still held these light weight Zoids.

"Hahaha, The day have finaly come. when we'll finaly brake up the BCM. No more BCM, Hahahahahaha!. "

"Yes. No more BCM. Lets just hope Susumu wll listen to his options. "

"Forget about him. He's useless."

"Useless for now. "

[Sylvan]

"What?!"

Royston spun around as the Zoids approached from behind. Given a sharp warning, the tall man jerked his controls forward. The energy liger spun just as Royston's own body had.

Royston didn't have time to think about the Bio Zoids and their weaknesses, but luckily, his instinct told him to use his close range weapons. The enery liger's horn whipped around, trying to catch the first Bio Raptor's neck. Then with a powerful twist, Royston forcefully threw the Zoid at it's comrade.

As he flung his Zoid to bear, the energy gatlings roared into motion. He probably wouldn't do much damage to the Zoids, but the powerful cannons could probably pin them long enough for Royston to land the critical hit with his energy cannons.


-----------------------------


Meanwhile, back in the city, Danasth stood perplexed. Slowly he noticed a strange contraption at his feet. A light bulb. What was it doing there? And why was he attacked? The questions didn't linger in his head. Explosions rang out through the otherwise still air.

"That's it! I'm out of here!"

Danasth exclaimed aloud to nobody in particular. It was time he did something about all this craziness. He sprinted downtown, heading for a spot he had wished to avoid.

He hurried up to a large run down building, and stopped at it's back wall. In the dark, it was possible to make out a large gaping hole in the structure. Danasth had made this crude entrance earlier, and now he needed to use it.

Although it was invisible due to the pitch black surroundings, inside was a shield liger. It did not belong to Danasth, but to one of his friends. Yet it was the only Zoid Danasth had nearby. So, against his better judgment, he fumbled his way to the cockpit and jumped in. The slow whirring of gears sounded as the Zoid came to life.

Danasth backed up, exiting the building. His blue Shield Liger stood tall.

"Now where to go?"

He should probably escape while he was unseen, but he was unsure of which way to go.

"I guess I'll wait and see. . . ."

[Clint Unknown]

The 2 bio raptors perched up on the building began firing wave upon wave of small, and weak fire balls at Jen and Hicaru. The Brastle took the hits all while it opened its front shoulder's hatches. The Triple-Barreled Thermic Laser Guns riped through the first building on the Brastle's left .

The Building in an instant slowly began to level down onto the ground. With Debris every wear both Jen and Hicaru's visibility was down.

The Bio raptor that was perched up on the building, leaped into the air as the lasers ripped through the already decayed construction site.

While the building fell, the bio raptor made a successful leap onto the building were the other bio was stationed.

Jen smirked and turned the Brastle around to its right. The Brastle tiger charged at the weakened building, while firing countless rounds from its Triple-Barreled Shock Cannon. Jen kept on, untill Hicaru successfully bolted through and out of it. That combined with the weight of the two bio Zoids had made it possible for this building to suffer the same faith of its twin. The bio's screamed in anguish as they fell with their ground...

"Good job Hicaru... " Jen began. She quickly turned on the intercom for Royston and Clint.
"Hey, you guys watch you'r back in this confusion. I destroyed two bio raptors just now. They might have OSS..."

"Already have a visual on an enemy raptor. Its a bold one to be fighting me alone. I'll finish this quickly, trust me. Susumu had already sent me data on them. There were only five of them. you defeated two and Royston is finishing another two. Royston, Jen after you guys are done dancing with those raptors head out to that group of panicking people over there. That man in the middle must not escape."


Susumu continued Silver in its rotational pattern. Around the base and back around Clint and the bio raptor.

The bio's Royston was pursuing had begun to burn. Their pilots yelled out in horror as their body's became one with their Zoids.

Clint made Eclipse Leap up in the air. At the Same time, the Bio raptor leaped up , with the intention of tearing through the Soul Tiger's body with its small claws. The Tiger landed on the building the raptor was just on, and the raptor landed on the building the Tiger was just on.

When Eclipse turned around the bio raptor was in half..

"That took care of that..." Clint said as he lit another cigarette.

[Sylvan]

"Rodger . . .That!"

Royston exclaimed as he finished off the last of the two bio Zoids. They were surprisingly resistant, but with enough of a beating, they could go down.

Looking around, Royston kicked his Zoid into gear. He rounded the buildings and formed up with Jen.

"The man in the middle?"

Royston replied to Clint quizzically, he wasn't too sure which man he referred to. But he just had to focus and not let them get away.



---------

Off to the side, a blue liger slowly approached the battlefield. Why Danasth hadn't run away was quite perplexing, but he had just figured out a way to meet the "special requirements" of his strange secret.

[Clint Unknown]

" Yup.."

Clint rushed over to were the others were, after he hopped onto a few buildings and finaly on the Streets of the wraith. The Tiger walked over to were The Energy Storm, and The Brastle Tiger stood.

The Klansman shocked in fear as the Soul Tiger walked over to them. The men backed up and left their General who was half up , half kneeling down, and holding his stomach. His face turned to Clint with piercing eyes.

The man was around 5ft4 inches, and weighed just about 280Lbs. He had a long and rough looking brown beard with red strokes in it. It was very unkempt and raggedy looking. His uniform looked similar to what Clint wears.. His hat, a hat of a captain with a gold Kaiser Klan symbol embedded on it.

"GodDamn Star..." He said smiling at the opened cockpit of the Soul Tiger.

That's right, the Tiger's cockpit was open and Clint rose up quickly, as he spat his cigarette out his mouth. The Kaiser General of the B.C.M, jumped down from his partner, and walked over to the man.

They were less than 8 feet from each other when the Man began to talk..

"*coughs* Its took a while for you to catch up with all this shit that's been going around in our Klan. You're a mental case Star!. " The man began to yell at the top of his lungs. " *coughs, and wheezes* " You are Done, You here me, You are done... *coughs*

Clint walked over to the man, and took him by his calor. " Listen you BASTARD, WERES ASUKA!!? I know you ,YOU know what Im talking about. "

"He,he..*coughs*... They said you would come my way Star. They said there was one guy they couldn't get rid of, and that'll he come looking for you. I was prepared to go to war with you, and fight over this the *coughs* original Klan way. But you came too late. "

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN TOO LATE!" Clint punched the guy in his stomach. Shortly after the man began to cough and weez like crazy.

"I think that's enough Clint! " Jen came into the conversation. "Royston do something, he'll kill him befor that guy could talk the way he's going!"
The base had been attacked and the Kaiser General had already received his beating.

[Sylvan]

"Who is this guy?"

Royston puzzled to himself. He did not know this man, but apparently Clint did. For a few moments, Royston watched the scene unfold. Star? Was that Clint?

The situation was unnerving. This man wore a uniform similar to Clint's. There was obviously something connecting the two, something Royston didn't know about.

To Royston, the general's ramblings seemed like that of a drunk. They made no sense, but as Clint approached, Royston rose.

Reaching down, he pulled up a large black sword from beneath his seat. It was really nothing more than a relic from his own war days. A sign that he too had once been called a general.

Royston was slightly afraid that the men would attack Clint, and try use him as a hostage. . . But it seemed Royston's priorities were the wrong way around.

Jen's voice sounded out through the comm link.

Royston didn't need to be told twice. Pulling a lever, his hatch popped up, and the tall man jumped out. With a heavy swing of his blade he landed next to Clint.

"What are you doing?!"

There was intense power in his voice. Something quite contrasting to his regular cool demeanour.

"We've come all this way and you want to bash the only guy who can help us?! That's not what I signed up for! We're here to find Auska, and if this guy can help. . . "

His voice trailed off, in one hand his hand clenched tightly around his platinum-metal-zi weapon. Royston was in no mood to be stuffing around.

[Clint Unknown]

"This guy can't help. Thats the problem..." Clint looked at Royston. "To understand what exactly is going on, you'll have to know the basic Kaiser Klan insight."

Clint turned to face the General who had begun to settle down.

"This man is suppose to be my allie, but the klan is full of dysfunctional leaders like himself."Clint started.

As Susumu landed Silver near Jen's Brastle, chills grew down his back. There was something to be learned here.

The General watched as Clint continued to explain how things operated these days.

"I belong to an alliance called the Kaiser Klan. My code name is General Star. In the klan there is over 50 Klan groups. The ones who control those groups are called Kaiser Generals. But for the past year, there's been increasing violence in between our groups. Our Superiors are the ones who gives us orders. They are like the presidents of this Klan. The Klan superiors could never stop the group on group violence so they issued a certain way to fight one another. It's a way so that the Group could settle there differences without heavy casualties."

Clint paused for a bit before reaching in his pocket for a cigarette. As he lit it, the Wheezing General begun to talk.

"Yo-*cough* You're a dead man Star. "

"But most of us forgot how to settle our differences traditionally. Now wears Asuka? You don't want my friend here to slice your head off with this sword, right?"

"I-I...…"


ooc: Its a little short but this was to just get my foot in the door again.

[Sylvan]

Royston visibly relaxed, if this guy couldn't help, Royston had no need to worry about Clint's methods. Clint's tale was enlightening, none the less. Yet this did nothing to subside his urgency towards Auska. After all he had been through, he wasn't about to quit this search just yet.

A lot of things had been revealed about who exactly this man was. "General Star". The notion that the Kaiser Klan was much larger than Royston had previously imagined, it surprised him to say the least. At the mention of and entire 50 groups, each with their own established band, memories of a time long past came back to him.

Royston had once been a general in an army. This situation of trust and mistrust was not new to him. He had fought people that once were friends, in situations much like this. However, Royston's fights had ended many thousands of years ago, when the ancient race of Zoidians was destroyed.

He was beginning to understand Clint's organisation, if only a little. But why did the other general keep saying "your dead"?

A bad feeling was creeping up on Royston. Something he shoved aside, with a thrust of his sword.

"Tell him! Where is Auska!"

Royston hated demanding, yet he needed this information.

[Clint Unknown]

"Im a dead If I talk. *cough*"

"You're dead either way." Jen said as she steps up to were the General, Clint, and Royston stood. "I know about your relations to this 'Dark Lord,' and Iv figured out your motives."

Clint looked at Jen with sudden eagerness as Susumu gazed at her.

"Its all starting to make sense now." She crossed her arms and looked up at the burning building and then continued. " Hediki, and Twain's assassinations. Asuka's kidnapping. Our false bounties. And the Ambush at Windeen Lake aimed directly at myself. Someone wants us out."

"You're Jenocide then. *cough*...*gulp*"

"You're a fool to have hidden behind who ever this Dark lord guy is. And if you ask me, thats the most corniest villain name, ever!" :<

"Thats right, you're following a cornball, now tell us were Asuka is. >.<; " Clint added.

The General received a pill from one of his klan members. The short haired teen came by and gave it to him while Jen and Clint talked. The other members stood in back and soon came to surround the group, as conversations continued. They were almost ignoring the Gigantic mecha in back of them.

"Royston, these guys look unwilling to fight. Their presence are here only because they want to listen. They want to witness a personal fight between Generals. They know not to start anything with us."

"Yea, but these guys are under the Darky now, so they might do the unthinkable." Susumu said coming in on the conversation.

"Look at them. They're nothing like the Klan member Iv faced by Windeen Lake. They're all kids. And some of them grownups."

The General stood up on his feet and crossed his arms slowly. "Im not fully under him. Iv been negotiating with his men. I ordered my men to Kidnap the little girl in order to regain my reward. The 330,000 Gs was worth it. But its too late. *cough*. The girl was in the base when we got attacked." The man gave out a slight smirk before continuing grimly.




"She's burning..."



All the emotions bottled up in Clint was too overpowering for him to even show. Susumu eyes brightened, as Jen gave out a blank steer...

[Sylvan]

Royston almost gave a smirk at some of the dialogue exchanged here, yet the situation was far to serious for him to be laughing. He knew what he was here for, the rest wasn't his concern.

This "Dark Lord" person did catch his attention. Royson had heard much worse villain names, so that didn't affect him. There was always someone higher up in these things. But finally, it looked like he was going to get the information he had been searching for.

Royston began to grow weary of the people who were quickly surrounding them, yet he trusted Clint, and his advice.

"I'll take your word for it."

He replied quietly back, giving more attention to the general than to his surroundings. 330,00G? that was a lot of money. It figured. People always bent for money.

Then the unthinkable happened.

"YOU WHAT!"

Royston's fist gripped his sword tighter than it had ever done. His knuckles grew a pale white from the pressure.

Surely Royston had meant to say "She, what?!" as in, she couldn't be burning. But instead he had blurted you "You, what?!". It was a subtle difference, but an important one, Royston wanted nothing more than to vent his anger against this man. Yet doing so would prove nothing.

Instinctively he turned back to face the building. He only moved his head, his large frame still faced the wheezing general. At this point in time, Royston's emotions were impossible to read. He could have been feeling anything, from extreme anger to extreme sorrow.

[Clint Unknown]

"Star... As much as I don't like you. You're a Kaiser man. These people that are with you are Kaiser's people. Your soul, and heart belong to the Klan. " The old man began to change his tone in voice.

Clint changed. He changed differently now. No longer rash, and willing to self destruct, Clint pointed at the fire and began. "Jen, Susumu." You see what happens when Klan policies are corrupted. For many years Iv been with this Klan. And Iv seen it split once..."

"And you mended it back together, we know. I fought with you as well, but you don't remember anything do you. " The General cut Clint off.

"Then why is the BCM targeted? Were are the superiors? Why haven't I been called to a meeting?." Clint lit another cigarette.

"Its simple. The superiors have already retired you fool. "

"So its as I thought ." Jen thought to her self.

"What!?"

"What on Zi does that mean?" Susumu struggled to remain quiet. He wanted some action, and he wanted it now.

"The superiors were killed off in an all out assassination. The majority of the Kaiser Klan groups voted. The so call "deaths" of your Klansman, and the kidnapping of that kid, was all a diversion, so you would miss the meeting, and voting. "

Clint couldn't believe this. There they were running around in circles, and all along there was the whole Kaiser Klan conspiracy behind him, and the whole B.C.M. All the people he looked up to were dead in an instant. There was no more friendly Klan men now. No one could be trusted. The only thing Clint would have to do is approach the new Superior(s) And ask for a retiring ordeal. His only chance for survival now.

The Klan had a lot of power. Clint was now finding out that many of the groups want him gone from the alliance. He couldn't quite understand it though.

"I'm sorry Royston. I guess the reason for Asuka, getting hurt is all my fault. I should have brought her to an orphanage when I had the chance." Clint was now on his knees, gazing at the ground.


"Clint, no..." Jen mumbled

"I have no intention of *cough* violating you, Star. I was following orders from my new Superior. Hhaha, and the pay was ---"

*POW!*

Within a few moments after the gun shot was herd, the General was lying on the ground dead. With the panic of the Klan men, came the confusion of everything else.

Guns were drawn and a person sporting a gray cloak was shot as he/she made an attempt to escape. The Klan members saw to their desisted General and to the person who had just assassinated him.

"The Generals dead!?" Susumu yelled out.

"Royston, Lets go put out those flames at the base. I feel Asuka's presence is still of this world. Royston, Don't you feel it!?! She's still alive, I know it! " Jen yelled out, with tears in her eyes. She was beginning to be very emotional now. Her strange Zoidian power sensed Asuka was still alive. "Come on Clint!?"

But Clint wouldn't move. His headache had become heavier, and moving now would lead him to unbearable pain.

Without waiting for Clint to reply, Jen, and Susumu Ran towards the doomed base.

"Royston, Susumu, Lets look for any thing to put out this fire!"


ooc: Sorry about the rp being put on hold. I'm slowly creeping back.

[Sylvan]

Royston's ears listened closely, it was a strange plot that began to unfold before him. Without knowing it, what the general said, actually made sense to him. It seemed Royston had picked up a few things along this journey.

Yet more things remained unclear. However, he knew now wasn't the time to speak out, he was more focused on finding Auska, than detailing the history of the Clint's organisation. He thought to himself, this was starting to seem much larger than he had first anticipated. That didn't mean he was about to quit though. They hadn't gotten any solid leads on Auska, but one thing the general mentioned did catch his ear. He mentioned Auska had been kidnapped. That gave Royston a brief ray of hope, he hadn't said "death" in there, which meant that as far as that man knew, Auska was probably still alive. Either that, or Royston was reading too much into things.

As Clint fell to his knees he spoke words of apologies to Royston. The large man replied in turn.

"Hey, Clint, your no more to blame than me. I was with her when she got kidnapped, and I was unable to stop it then. We have more important things to worry about than who's fault it is."

Royston's tone wasn't harsh, nor was it entirely sympathetic. Placed somewhere between the two, he tried not to speak over anyone as he uttered these words.

He jumped with a start, the general was shot.

Royston cursed himself for letting his guard down, he was paying too much attention to what the general was saying. Like everyone else around, he looked back and fourth between the general, Clint and the assassin, still in shock at the surprise attack.

Jen's words broke his trance, and he replied quickly. He wasn't sure if she was talking about his Zoidian blood, or just his intuition, when she said she could feel Auska's presence still in this world. Either way, Royston nodded in agreement.

He looked momentarily at Clint, and was about to yell out to him, but he decided against it. Something was bothering Clint, and Royston hadn't the time to worry about it.

"Gotcha, I'm right on it."

In a flash, Royston was wielding his Fuzor Zoid around to face the flames. He almost wished he had a water cannon, but for all the guns on the Zoid, none were equipped for fire fighting. He could probably try and kick sand up to smother the flames, that sounded like his best bet so far.

[Clint Unknown]

With all the confusion going on, everything seemed to fall into slow motion for Clint. His feet trembled as he got up from the ground. Every sound and noise, was mute in his mind.

What is it he wanted? All he wanted was his memories back. To remain loyal under a Klan he had known for most of his life. He once saved this family from a divorce once, and he knew there wasn't going to be another time. He knew reviving a dead organoid was hopeless. It was Jen who had poisoned his mind in the first place. She pushed on the though of hope. Even when Asuka went missing, Clint was going to move on, and recruit a larger group by finding any low life thug bandit to join up with him. But Jen always had a way of convincing him to never lose hope.

"hope..." Clint mumbled to himself. that was something he'd thought he lost forever. He lost his Team mates, his Girlfriend, his family,half his memory, and most of his health... But for some reason this woman, had always lend him some of hers.

"hope..." Clint told himself again. His feet dragged pass the huddle of Klan members covering their General. He turned his back from the fire, and brought a cigarette to his wet lips. Sweating with drama, the pours on his self seemed to be crying.



Jen ran into her Brastle tiger, as she saw Royston got into his own Zoid. She didn't know what other way of fighting fire with a Zoid. Zoids are fire makers themselves. Susumu ran into his Storm Sworder and brought it to a lift, after he tinkered with the controls a bit.

The Brastle tiger ran towards the building, and the dirt/ concrete ground, and sand that surrounded the place was in for a hit.

"I know. good thinking Royston." She thought to her self as she observed Royston's intentions.

Susumu took to the skies with Silver, and Silver swooped back and forth above the building in an attempt to blow the flames away like a candle. But while doing so he affected the people bellow him. The Klan members were being tossed around like rag dolls.

"hope.." Clint flew with Susumu's wind. And all felt very slow and painless. Even when his back smashed against his own Soul tiger's claws, he couldn't feel anything. He stood there for a bit out of his mind until pain began to flood his back and head all over again.

Clint took out a Gun and brought it towards himself. "This...pain..This headache...Its unbearable..."

*pow*

As the fire died, his headache worsened, and as that happened his finger pressured on the trigger.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the outskirts of the Northern Wraith, Chinatsu is in her deadboder with Asuka. Asuka mumbles a bit. "Royston. Find Clint..."

"Tint? Whats a Tint? Whats a Rosydon? >...< a new zoid? Ahh who cares. Were getting out of here kid. No way I'm staying here. Those bandits might have more Zoids, and were not going back in that yucky cell."

[Sylvan]

Royston was nervous, a feeling that was very unfamiliar to him. This was probably the first time since he had been awoken that he had felt this way. Even his long time rival hadn't invoked this sensation into him. Something wasn't right about this situation.

His Zoid bent down for another swoop, throwing up what could have easily been a ton of dirt onto a prominent part of the blaze. It seemed to be working, quickly this portion of the fire dimmed. It wasn't out, and there were plenty more fires of equal size, but at least it had an impact.

It was then he realised something, it might have been this realisation that was making him nervous. "What if there are still people trapped in the fire?"

If that was the case, Royston had just dumped a huge amount of soil and boulders into the fire. He frowned, but nothing more. Even if there were people still inside, putting out the fire was going to be more helpful than letting it burn.

He saw the Storm Sworder swoop down, and instinctively grumbled out to the pilot, Susumu.

"Hey watch it kid, be careful to to fan the blaze."

Almost immediately Royston wanted to retract the comment. Mostly because he called Susumu "Kid". It made him feel old. (Although he was probably a hundred times older than Susumu, he only looked in his mid twenties or thirties)

Faintly Royston was aware of a gunshot in the background. He twitched, that was not a good sign. There had been too many assassins around, who knew what the next target would be.

It was at that moment he realised Clint was still not in his Zoid. Only then did Royston react, spinning his Liger to face the direction of the gunshot.

"Clint!"

[Clint Unknown]

"Eh, sorry bout that Royston!" ;_;' Susumu replied back.


laying next to the Soul Ligers leg was a dieing man...

An assassin attempted to sneak up from behind Clint. One wearing similar clothing as the one who had just killed one of the Generals of the all mighty Kaiser klan.

When Clint fired noise began to return to him. As he herd his name all together Clint snapped back to his senses. "What on Zi is happening to me. I'm losing it. I must reunite with my soul..."

"There's another assassin. Lets get out of here!"

"There's no hope for this group anymore!"

"What the hell is going on here!?"

"General Star Just killed another assassin!"

"He did?!"

Within a few minutes after the shot was fired, the man that Clint had just shot, was surrounded by a dozen Klan members.

"General star just gunned down an assassin..."

"Sir awaiting orders. "

Clint was confused for a moment. But then he remembered. Once a General is down for the count the most deep hearted Klan members will run to the closest General to them. In this case, no matter how complicated Clint and their General's relationship was, he had now a group of men to help him.

"Run to that base, and put out the fire..."

"YES SIR!"

"Royston, Jen, Susumu, these men are going to put out the fire!"

As soon as Clint gave his orders, he men hoped into a few unbroken jeeps. It was their luck that the Jeeps had hoses and water tanks attached to them.

Jen saw that the men were coming so she stopped her Brastle's actions. Susumu landed Silver on top a building . He stood their Stationary to receive orders. "So whats going on down there, Jen? Were's Clint?"

"I see him. and there's another assassin lying dead in back of him. I wonder what had just happened?"

While the men worked on the fire, Clint signaled Royston, Jen and Susumu down to look at the dead assassin...


A few minutes later Jen and Susumu is out of there Zoids and is looking down at the Dead man on the ground...

"I wonder whats with these guys?" Susumu bellowed out.

"D-did you kill him, Clint?"Jen asked. Clint just gave a nod, and looked at the burning building being pumped with water. "We'll find her. I just know it Clint..."

"I hope... Hope..so..." Clint replied, as he took out a cigarette...

[Sylvan]

Royston wasn't sure what was going on, in the time it took him to turn, he had momentarily lost where Clint was. He scanned his screen, but it wasn't until the liger zoomed in that Royston spotted him.

Clint was standing there, holding a smoking gun, another assassin lay dead on the ground. Royston's nerves seemed to dissipate at that moment. Things were still chaotic, and he had no idea what was going to happen next, but for now it was back to the usual, organised chaos that Royston had come to be acquainted with over the years.

He was somewhat glad that the would-be assassin had been on the receiving end of the bullet. Things would have really started to fall apart if the assassin had been successful.

But then something surprised Royston once more. It always seemed that when he had everything figured out, somebody would go and turn it on its head again. The men that had been under the now deceased general, were jumping to obey Clint. It seemed like the chain of command in this group wasn't as totally rotten as Royston had been led to believe. There was hope for them yet.

"Roger that, I'll leave it to them"

Royston passed the jeeps on his way back, they seemed much better suited to to extinguishing fire than his Energy Storm did. He parked his Zoid next to Jen, before following suit and jumping out. He was a large person and hit the ground with force, but he was also strong enough not to feel the impact.

Royston looked around first, before closing in on the deceased assassin, there may have been more about.

"Better him than us."

It was a cold-blooded thing to say, but it was truthful. He stood slightly back from the rest of the group. Trying somewhat in vein to place things together in his mind. For now he felt much more at ease.

Royston half wanted to add something to the conversation, but at the same time, he felt nothing more needed to be said. So he just stood there, wondering how they would find Auska through all this mess.

[Clint Unknown]

Jen herd Royston's comment, but didn't looked too surprised. After all, she'd witnessed quit a few killings, and lives being destroyed through her own hands. She was the infamous Jenacyde once before. a memory she would never want to witnessed ever again. "He's right..."


"Yea, you're right, Royston..."

Susumu made a comment regarding the dead assassin. "You know, this little search for Asuka is getting stranger and stranger. What exactly is going on here Clint?"

Clint stood there smoking a cigarette. He swirled the small tube around in between his fingers, and watched the smoke rise and swirl up into the air. "Its exactly as you see... There's a lot of corruption in the Kaiser Klan. So much that being a General that haves a mind of there own is dangerous." Clint paused a bit before continuing..."I now know what I have to do..."

"What is that?"

Clint didn't answer that question. He looked at the now, steaming building. The men had just completely taken out the fire, and a few of them were coming back to report something.

"General Star, Sir!"

"WE HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE THAT THE YOUNG GIRL OUR FORMER GENERAL HAD LOCKED UP HAD ESCAPED BEFORE THE FIRE REACHED THE UNDERGROUND CELLS, SIR..."

"What!?"

"Hue?"

"O.O;..."

"Here are the pictures of the prisonerscough* I mean people who had escaped the fire. " The Klan member handed over two pictures to Clint.

Susumu, and Jen leaned over to take a good look, while Clint held it up.

"The older woman's name is Chinatsu. She and her Klan was set up, prior to the fire. She was locked up but the rest of her Klan came in and caused a scene. The Dark horns basically destroyed the base, and most of our units. We have reason to believe that she was the one who broke her out. The young Girl was locked up for more than a month, and she had no will of escaping her chambers..."

...




*Achoo* *Achoo* *Achoo*

T_T;... "Somebody's talking 'bout me..."

[Sylvan]

When Susumu made the comment about this search getting stranger, Royston couldn't agree more. All eyes were focused on Clint now, well, at least Royston's eyes were. He couldn't really tell if other people were looking at Clint, because he was looking at Clint. . . not them =/

Royston nodded at Clint's comments. Corruption he could have figured, and it was obvious danger was strife right now. But Royston didn't expect Clint to say the next bit. He knew what he had to do? What on earth was that. But before Royston spoke up, Susumu beat him to it. It seemed he was no better informed than Royston was.

Just then, Royston swung around. It looked like someone was calling out, they had put out the fire. Good work, Royston was impressed. However, he didn't keep a straight face for long.

"What?!"

Ignoring the slip of the tongue, Royston moved forward to stand by the group. He wanted to see whatever it was the person had handed Clint.

After taking a momentary look at the photos, Royston leant back and listened to the person speak. It seemed like there was someone else involved.

"Finally! A lead!"

Thinking silently to himself, Royston could have almost smiled, but a lead was far from a conclusion. Instead he settled with his usual, somewhat casual expression.

[Clint Unknown]

It was all starting to make sense now. In reality, everything was beginning to connect with each other in perfect harmony, but only one person was aware of this. And it wasn't anyone in the Northern Wraith.

"So, she helped Asuka escape? But were are they now?" Jen asked, as she scratched her head.

"Our cameras had been destroyed in the fire. All we found was this green light bulb in the place the young girl had been. " One of the Klan members brought over a strange contraction to Clint. It as a glowing green light bulb.

"Here Royston. Do you mind holding this picture of Asuaka and the stranger for me?" Clint asked as he brought the picture to Royston to take.

When Clint received the light bulb it began to dim. The light bulb flickered a bit before fully dieing in his hands...

"So where do we go now? And whats with the light bulb >.>!?" Susumu anxiously said.

"We go searching..." Jen replied..

[Sylvan]

Royston seemed to be making sense of it all, his outward expression making his utter confusion inside. It seemed their cameras had been destroyed, figures.

"What's with the light bulb?"

He quizzically asked to nobody in particular, not really expecting anyone to know what it meant. He perked up a bit when Clint mentioned his name, and took hold of the photo offered to him.

"Yeah, sure I'll hold onto it."

He examined the photo for a bit, before palming it away for safe keeping. When he looked back up, he saw Clint approach the peculiar bulb. It seemed to react when Clint was near, growing fainter.

"What happened?"

Royston looked around, but it seemed the rest of them were just as surprised as he was. As Jen mentioned "we go searching", Royston finally felt like things were beginning to turn in their favour.

"It's like they say; you can't find something unless you look for it."

[Clint Unknown]

"The light bulb's battery must have died out? o.o" Susumu said. It was strange really. Susumu was always the loony type. Never serious , and never the one to make a logical explanation of anything. These events had really begin to change him as a person.


"You might be right Susumu. O_O..." Jen said a bit surprised of Susumu's comment." Yea, and we'll keep looking until we find her."

"I don't know whats with this light bulb." Clint replied. He took out another cigarette and lit it.

"bread crumbs." Jen said as she took the light bulb from Clint's hands. "Simply breadcrumbs."

"Bread crumbs :/?"

"I don't know anything about Trails, and bread crumbs Jen, but I do know my duties as a Kaiser General. And you, and Susumu are involved in this unfortunate ordeal..."

"What are you talking about?"

"I have now inherited 14 men. Their General was killed, and I'm now by Kaiser klan law the leading officer of them."

"So they're Black Crow mob members now?"

"Yea.. But only for the next few minutes..."

"....?"

"Only for the next few minutes..." Clint repeated. Soon after Clint said what he had to say, the Klan members huddled around him. They all looked worried, and confused, but nerveless greatly dedicated to their Klan alliance. Clint watched all of them before he watched Susumu, and Jen.

"Excuse me for a second guys, while I talk to my 2nd and 3rd commanding officers."Clint told the men.

Clint walked out of the crowed, and following closely was Jen and Susumu. "Um Royston, you can come too if you want. Though non of this stuff is going to help us find Asuka just yet. It will however prevent other Klan members or assassins from harming her, or any of you guys." Clint walked away from the others who had been talking amongst themselves.

"Clint.. Whats this about?" Jen could feel the intensity of were this was going. Clint's eyes showed many emotions in them, and she could almost feel them. All bottled up in one ball of fury. Yes, the Fury. the purple fury was the reason why she'd join the Kaiser klan. All she wants to do is revive the purple Fuhrer, and Purple organoid. They of course held the key to her past. And she knew Clint wanted to revive the organoid because of his dream of retrieving his memories. But all sorts of things had happened during the past year that kept them from saving enough Gallos for the research "There's always these little side paths that we take. why can't we just go on to one path. one road. " she thought to her self.


(ooc: Soon it will get intense Xp. You're about to witness a twist in my general plot.

[Sylvan]

Royston watched as the others examined the strange light bulb. Clearly they had no more leads than he did. Except Jen said something that completely surprised him, "Bread Crumbs". It was an interesting choice of words, and made Royston think. Bread crumbs were a good place to start, as long as no birds came pecking. . .

"Ahh, so that's what happened".

The big guy thought to himself, so these members had banded together, at the loss of their general they seemed to attach themselves to Clint. An interesting move, but clearly something was up. What did he mean the "next few minutes"? A whole plethora of possibilities ran though his mind. In the end he decided he would just have to wait and see.

Clint began to walk away with Jen and Susumu, Royston couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking. When he spoke up, it caught his attention.

Royston's real only goal was to find Auska, so he had no true loyalty to these members. Royston at times was a hard person to drag along into something that he had few commitments to. This was not one of those times.

"Sure. I'll come."

He looked back at the group of 14 men, then took a few strides to join with Clint and the others.

"What's up?"

Royston mimicked Jen, unintentionally asking the same question as her, albeit worded slightly differently.

[Clint Unknown]

"This isn't what i wanted. I never wanted an army of Klansman. I always though becoming a general was beneficial for connections and gallos. But I see how much the Klan is corrupted, and it doesn't interest me anymore.."

"what are you saying Clint?"

"I'm resigning as a Kaiser Klansman. I'm tired of this Alliance, and I'm sorry I dragged you, Susumu, Asuaka, Hediki, and Twain in this."

"So whats going to become of me? You guys are the only family I have now. Why act so sudden, Clint!?"Susumu was almost in tears. is fist was curled up and shaking as he looked down at the ground, unable to hold eye contact at his mentor. His General. His idol...

"Susumu.."

"Clint... Susumu is right. Why act so impulsively? If you Declare not being a Kaiser General right now, its going to start an uproar. Are you thinking this threw?"

"Yes. I have. You see, unless I don't jump out of the alliance right now, then these guys are going to follow us. I don't trust them. I can't . They're not bonded like we are. Joined together for other reasons than creating a great Kaiser klan group. "

Jen knew what Clint was saying. The only reason she joined up was because she wanted to help him revive the fallen organoid and fuhrer. They needed the money to do so. She joined up because she wanted to be close to a partner to Clint than any body else.

Susumu knew what Clint was saying. The only reason he joined up was to have Clint as his mentor. To finally have a friend, and a sense of family structure. something he lacked at the time when being a small time thief.

"Asuka know what I mean. She joined me because she had no were else to go. I found her uncontentious in a fiery circle. Her whole village was burned down. Destroyed by bandits or some type of gang. I saved her, and she insisted on following me. I never wanted her to become involved in the kaiser alliance. It was actually Hediki, and Twain that brought her in. She wanted it. She wanted it badly because she felt that she could learn to become a better pilot, and pay me back from when I saved her. She's such an adorable girl. Like a little sister to me."

"So the Black Crow mob will be disbanded?"

Clint shook his head.

"Whats the plan then?"

"The plan is that we GTFO as soon as possible! D<"

Whaa?! O.O:...

"Its too complicated to say right now. The rules are very complicated. Just run to your Zoids , and flee as fast as you can away from these men. Lets not hurt any of them, otherwise I'll be in more Trouble...When I give the signal run into your Zoids and head west. >.>"

"Ahh... :/"

Clint walked over slowly towards the young Kaiser klans men. Every step he took became heavier, and heavier until his head became lighter. Like all his blood in his circulatory system was in his feet. He felt a bit dizzy and notiouse. He was going to make a bold move. Not many Generals survived this ordeal. He had to survive. He had to survive now.

Jen and Susumu watched in AWW. They stood there grounds and watched closely for a 'signal'. "One problem. Whats the signal?"

" O_o Don't know..."

Clint was huddled around the men for a few moments when he got there. All was silent. everyone fell silent.















And then Clint Jumped from the middle of the crowed like a fish , and began running for Eclipse, and for dear life.

"O___O;...Is that the signal!? that fool."

[Sylvan]

Royston listened to what Clint had to say. It made sense. In a battle long ago, Royston had lead forces to capture a city. Not wanting to slay all of the militia there, his forces absorbed a small number of their men, people who's only interest was protecting the town they had no higher up allegiances. Yet when push came to shove, these men were the first to back down.

His ears perked up at the mention of Auska, snapping him out of his daydream from long ago. It was strange, this was the first Royston had actually heard about Auska's past. It surprised him a little to learn how Auska had come to be involved in with this group, but it also explained why she had asked Royston to find Clint above all others.

Even so, listing to what Clint was saying, Royston almost choked when he was told the "plan"

*cough cough*

Royston regained his composure, and immediately began to walk to his Zoid. He wasn't going to wait for a signal. Royston had no allegiance to the group, so he could almost do whatever he wanted without acting too suspicious. When he reach his Zoid, he pretended to look for something in the cockpit, as Clint approached the rest of the members.

"WHAT?!?!?!?!"

Royston's eyes bulged as he saw Clint make his dash for freedom. Royston had to scramble to sit himself properly into his Zoid. "This is the second worst plan I've ever heard! . . ."

[Clint Unknown]

"RUN Dx! " Clint yelled out as the Klan members began chasing him with all sorts of weapons. Clint continued running to were he left Eclipse, his Soul Tiger. he got there rather quickly and in a few moments the soul tiger was activated. The cockpit's hatch closed down, and the Tiger's claws folded out hard on the ground. This brought the members to a halt. They jumped back from excitement, and terror. But his intentions was far from harming these men.

"Good bye Kaiser Klan..." Clint thought to himself as he lit a cigarette. *puffs*

"Arg, Clint you're so unprofessional!" Jen said as she began to flee to her Zoid. Hicaru bent down so that his pilot can get in quickly.

Whats the rush?

"Never mind, lets just get out of here!" Jen said, rushed with excitement. she pushed down on her controls, and the hatch closed. instantly she began to bring the Brastle tiger to a leap to were Clint was at.


Susumu made his way to the Storm Sworder rather quickly. It was always a challenge for him to get Silver up in the air, but the young pilot was getting better at his piloting skills. The Storm Sworder mad a squawking noise and soon it was taken to the skies.

"I'm still the silver baron and Clint you still have things to teach me!"

"hehe, Yea of course I am. have never forgot about making you into a great pilot Susumu. Hey Royston, I'm heading up westward because that's the direction the Dark horns looked like they were coming from. "

"you mean the fallen Dark horns?"

"Yea, they were all facing in one direction, I figure that were they were coming from. *puffs*" The Soul Tiger's speed increased rapidly, into an all out run towards the main road of the broken city.

Susumu kept watch in the sky while his Storm Sworder followed parallel to Jen's Brastle tiger. The base in the distance and the witnesses needed for Clint's ordeal was shrinking in the distance.



But in the direction they were going, something grim was getting larger. unfortunately, the grimness couldn't be located on any of the zoid's systems just yet.

"There's a storm brewing in." Jen said in the com. It was true though. The precipitation in the air was rising. The clouds had began to roll in from the west. Exactly were they were heading.

-------------------------
Above a building a large paw gently and quietly presses down upon the roof. The Zoid's red optics were fixed on its enemies.

The element of surprise is a tasty treat for me.

[Sylvan]

Royston watched everyone scramble for their Zoids, it was quite a sight to see. Having a bit a head start meant he was able to get his Energy Storm into gear just that little bit earlier than everyone else. However, he had no clue where he was supposed to be running to. . . so he ended up waiting the fraction of a micro second it took for people to scramble to their Zoids.

He kicked his Zoid around, wheeling it to the rear of the group, he knew they were supposed to be going west, but that only narrowed things down to 1/4 of the planet.

"Good thinking Clint"

Royston realised what he meant, it did seem the Dark Horns were trying to get somewhere. Following the new found instructions, Royston kicked his Zoid into gear, moving in the direction indicated.

The base began to vanish into the distance, as more ground was put between them. Despite this, Royston was not watching the base, instead he looked forward. Clouds were forming directly before their advance, how odd, Royston began to get an ominous feeling. Something was there, but his Zoid could not pick it up. Not yet anyway.

[Clint Unknown]

"^^ Hehe, thanks Royston. *puffs*" For some reason Clint felt a load off his head. Everything was starting to feel lighter. His body of course. He didn't have to worry himself anymore about things he once thought was about life and death. He was much more cheerful. but still, something bothering him...

"I don't see anything Clint!"

"I don't see anything either...Maybe I was wrong." Clint said while he swirled his 5th cigarette around in the cockpit. "Royston..You see anything?"

Just then the rain began to come down hard. The water harsh, and wild.

"I don't know. Were do you think we should go to wait the storm off? Or do you want to keep going?" Clint asked nobody in particular.

The Storm Sworder lowered in altitude. Susumu was getting nervous in his Zoid's cockpit. It was dangerous flying in a storm...

There were still median sized buildings to the left and right of the small party, though all were long time abandoned, they were still living...



*beep* beep* *beep*

"Omgamisslelock!? D: "

Calm down, lets just focus on the situation at hand and-----

But before Susumu's Storm Sworder could guide him in avoiding a missile being shoved in it's ass , Silver was shot down from the sky.

"Whaaa!?"

"Susumu!?"

[Sylvan]

"No I've got nothing here. . .wait what's this? Rain?"

Royston replied to Clint, it had just started to bucket down on them.

"It's getting pretty hard to see. However, if this downpour is between us and Auska, it might be too late if we wait it out."

Royston was a bit concerned, storms could last a long time, and wash away valuable trails. If they stopped here, they might loose whatever little lead they had. Then again, with this visibility, they may have well run right past Auska and not noticed.

"Woah!"

Royston exclaimed as an explosion rocketed through the air. At first he thought it to be lightning, but it was quickly apparent that was not the case.

"Susumu!?"

He flicked the energy wings of his Zoid into action, they snapped open and began to charge. Royston took off rather hastily, but was forced abruptly back to the ground. He was still unfamiliar with this Zoid, flying was hard enough in a liger-type, let alone during a storm. His mis-fired attempt at a take off hadn't damaged his Zoid, just lost balance due to the wind and rain.

[Clint Unknown]

Susumu ejected before completely crashing for the ground. But it wasn't of his own will. It was the Zoid itself that ejected it's pilot. Even though the Storm Sworder and Susumu never really made perfect sync with each other, Silver always watched out for its pilot. In earlier days before the kid began to grow up, and become more focused, Silver was basically always put on auto pilot. The Zoid was always in control. But for the past few weeks, Susumu truly was the one flying it.

"Silver..."

The Storm Sworder crashed into a nearby building, with a roaring explosion. Nothing could have been done.
As Susumu floated down towards another smaller building a small fire ball was shot at him, though it didn't seem it intended on hitting him. An easy target, but to change his course. The kid fell uncontentious from the intense heat, and the parasuit brought him towards a smaller building.

On top the building a man wearing a mask with a K symbol indented on it ran for Susumu. The kid was half covered under his gray and white parasuit, and couldn't react at all. The masked man took out a pistol and stood pointing it at the teenage boy.

Clint and Jen halted their Zoids to a stop. The rain continued to poor, and small cracks of thunder had just began to sound a bit more daunting to Jen. The burning building was still burning red despite the heavy rain, though smoke had begun to overwhelm the sky above it.

Clint turned Eclipse to the direction Susumu was blown to. Jen Brought Hicaru towards the direction the fire ball was shot from. Both Zoids faced back to back from each other. The Soul tiger, and the Brastle tiger.

"Who's there! " Jen yelled through the intercom. She was shaking . Her hands weren't stable. The Tiger brought its visuals on a skinny image in the distance, perched up on a building.

"Susumu! can you hear me!?" Clint yelled out hoping the kid was still Conscious from that hard landing. As Eclipse zoomed in on the building that Susumu fell onto, the image of a person caught Clint's eyes.

"Royston, Jen someone's got a gun pointed at Susumu!"

A sweat drop trickled down Jens cheeks. Her eyes widened but she did not turn. She stood silent, and steering. She wasn't staring at the unknown zoid perched up on the building anymore though. But she was staring directly over it. at the large shadowy figure which had just suddenly popped out of the sky. She stood in terror of what was about to happen.

"Wha--whats this..." She stood trembling.

"Who the hell are you ! I'll rip you to shreds with my claws!" Clint loosely yelled out through the intercom. But he did not get any words for a reply. The man cocked back his gun roughly. The person was staring directly at the Soul tiger. He wasn't afraid of a war machine.

Possibly because he had much more war machines in his grasp and control.

The Brastle tiger dug its claws into the ground before moving away from the Soul tiger's back. In the cockpit Jen's eyes watered at the sight of the soon reviled gray whale king. The image under it began to move slightly. Though the wind, rain and thunder flooded the surrounding area with distractions, all Jen and the Brastle tiger could see was the enemies in front of them. Jen pushed down on her controls, and brought Hikaru into an all out run.

Just then the rain began to stop, as if it was being man controlled.

"Changed from anger from unstable bonds and anti- acids in your brain. Clint, no. You have no name to me anymore. Not unless you are following the rules. Show your self."

Clint hesitated for a moment, and then lit a cigarette. In the back of his mind, he had a idea of what was to be done.

The hatch opened, and Clint stood up. He glanced back at Jen who was running opposite direction from were he was facing. Clint glanced at Royston's Energy Storm, and then at the sky. confused to were his emotions were setting a few minutes ago, and to the sudden dryness of the air, he inhaled deeply.

"I'm here...." Clint calmly said as he brought up his arms to the side of his body.


"As I thought. your not following the rules. "

[Sylvan]

Royston was quick to regain his footing, but only in time to see the events unfold, not to prevent them. His Zoid turned in a low stance to face the unidentified enemy. The energy storm let out a low growl. Like Royston, this Zoid seemed to dislike such cheap tactics. The man, was it a man? Royston was not sure, had a gun aimed at Susumu. Royston was torn, half of him wanted to charge forward, guns blazing. He had seen people kidnapped before, and did not want it to happen again. However, he knew that charging forward would put Susumu in grave danger. As much as he hated it, his hand was forced, he couldn't act now.

Royston charged his weapons, the liger's wings left open despite not being used. Rain hissed as it touched the pure energy and vaporised.

"What in the world is going on here."

The tall man looked around, they were being played, he knew it. His Gatlings began to whir into action, not firing, just warming up.

"Jen! No!"

Royston charged forward, chasing Jen, if she was going to fight, Royston would back her up. He looked across, and caught Clint's glance. The cockpit of his Zoid was open. Seeing this caused Royston to halt momentarily, before running past Clint and towards Jen. He was slightly behind her.

"Who are these people?!"

[Clint Unknown]

"What do you mean by following the rules?" Then it hit him. His mind was basically smacked in the head with a ton of bricks. The man in the mask was a retired Klan General. The K on his mask showed it. but what did he want with Clint, and why point a gun to Susumu?

"You know exactly what I mean. for 8 months iv had to wear it. now its your turn. Otherwise your friend here will suffer far worse than you, if you'd just put it on."

Of course, that was it. Part of the ritual of retiring from the Kaiser klan was to put on a mask. The general must were a mask for a year, and be hunted down by other Generals. If he survives he'll be recognized as a legend who had just retired. The kaiser klan can't lay a finger on him or anybody he befriends.

"So If I were the hell mask, Then then nobody will pursuit my friends?"

"Yes..."

"Give it to me..."

The man reached into his cloak and pulled out an oval object warped in a sort of bandage. The man threw it on the ground by Susumu.

"I am not your enemy ... I'm just enforcing the rules. In back of you, my zoid will die. and its your absent mind that caused it. Remember. When both our mask are off, you owe me a new bio raptor...."

"wai--" but as Clint began to speak words of questions, the man threw down a smoke bomb and disappeared from sight. Clint felt a bit dumb founded, and confused. He sat back down in the Soul Tiger's cockpit and moved Eclipse closer to the building. When they were right next to were the man had been, The cockpit opened again, and Clint jumped out. First seeing about Susumu, who had been knocked uncontentious. The Soul Tiger had room for another person. though it was tight space, Clint easily brought Susumu inside of it. Next, Clint looked back briefly at Jen, and Royston run towards the Great whale king. He wasn't the least surprised. "Well... I have no choice now, do i?..." Clint thought to himself before picking up the mask wrapped in bandages. When he took it up, he ran right back into his Zoid.


The Soul tiger turned around and gave out a battle roar. I'll fight what ever war you get involve in my pilot!

Jen was confused. As they grew closer to the building, and the whale king, the Zoid on top of the building was reviled to be a bio rapter. The storm had passed, and the small zoid was aiming upward, firing ball after ball of fire at the gigantic whale transport.

Wen Jen herd Royston's voice, she perked up.

"They must be a unit sent out to kill Clint. I've read once in the Kaiser's sacred rule book, that when a General denounces his group and status, the alliance will send unit after unit just to kill him, for 10 months. Clint can handle that guy."

And in the meantime we'll handle that over grown fish. Hickaru snarled out.

The Whale king landed right on top of the small raptor, an the building it was perched up on. As the raptor slowly began to get squished from the large chunk of metal landing on top of it, the building began to crumble. dust and debris flows everywhere. It was some sight. As the whale king landed, Jen didn't give it a chance to open its hatches. The Brastle tiger opened its mouth and threw out 5 shots back to back of fire balls at the foe. After that was done, Hickaru slowed down in speed, and opened its shoulder hatches.

When the Brastle Tiger reviled its shoulder mounted Triple-Barreled Thermic Laser Guns It stopped fully. Though the Whale king hadn't even landed yet, that wasn't an exscuse for Jen to not not smash her fingers on the controls and fire away.

"Stand back Royston. It's going to get real hot soon... "

"Royston, Jen, I'm coming!" Clint called out as the Soul tiger in no time, caught up with the others.

A stream of beams blew out of the Tiger's shoulders after locking down on whale king.

The Soul Tiger stopped a few meters in back of Royston's Energy storm.

"Royston... Lets survive this." Clint said without having much thought of what he was saying...

The beams ripped through the dense armor of the whale king, but not much could have been seen. The dust and debris made it next to impossible to see clearly. What was certain, was that the king had not even landed yet,, when the Brastle fire away. Jen understood that there was no time to hear a long speech from the enemy. she had learn that the crooked and corrupted people of ZI always had some sort of long speech. and that was some times annoying...

[Sylvan]

Royston was amazed at the people around him. Rules and honour seemed to bind their group. It was much different than he had first anticipated.

"As long as Susumu and Clint are safe, then I don't care who they are."

That wasn't entirely true. Royston was actually a fairly inquisitive person by nature, he wanted to know more about these rules and who enforces them. However, he knew that rather than stopping to read a book, he had to focus on the enemy before them.

Taking three steps his Zoid kicked off, this time successfully, the energy wings supported his weight and lifted the fused Liger into the air. He curved right, swinging away from Jen, and landing on a building to her side.

"Let's give the a warm welcome, shall we?"

He thought about that for a minute, then added an extra comment. "No pun intended."

His Zoid roared, and powered into life. The energy cannons blasted a stream of plasma toward the Whale King, while the gatlings spat off rounds and rounds of flack out. As he began to fire, he heard Clint being to approach.

"Of course we will survive."

[Clint Unknown]

In the heat of all the confusion, the purple Liger Livingston rushed into the seen to salvage the Storm Sworder from within the building. There was a lot of dust and flames going around in the area to know for sure what happened.

Clint continued to attack the large figure in the sky, as well as Jen. Royston was doing his part as well.

But as the Whale king began to drop, a series of machinery began to arise from the grounds around the Energy Storm, Brastle tiger, Soul Tiger, and Liger Zero Souga.

Clint didn't notice them but Jen sure did.

"Wh-what are these things?"

"What things!?" Clint eyes widened as a strange machine about 5 meters tall, rose from the ground. These things seemed to have began to pop up from everywhere, about 17 meters apart. "They must have known we would be here. So this was a trap?"

Jen didn't know what to do. What the deal was with the machines, or the whale king. Asuka had escaped from the clutches of the corrupt Kaiser klan, and they have now been denounced as part of the alliance. A lot went on today. But a lot have been unsaid.

Clint closed his eyes...


From the machine a great deal of blinding light spewed out sending the Zoids into a temporary CSF, and the pilots into a strange temporary slumber.





When Clint opened his eyes, the Soul Tiger was on the outskirts of the Wraith, tuned on it's side. Whatever happened, sent everybody in separate positions, around the outskirts of the town...

Confused and bewildered by the current events, not knowing if Royston, Jen, or Livingston made it out of the trap, Clint lit up. Susumu was still in the cockpit fast asleep. "Susumu is still here I hope the others made it out as well..." Clint stopped and stared at the mask on his lap. "And this mask..."



END...