Post by Orange on Nov 16, 2005 22:32:00 GMT -5
Chapter 8: Getting to know you.
-
Though stiff his hand, his voice though weak,
He thought even yet, the sooth to speak,
That, if she loved the harp to hear,
He could make music to her ear.
The humble boon was soon obtain'd;
The Aged Minstrel audience gain'd.
Once they dragged Rocket Crowbar out of the Courtyard and into a repair shop, things turned relatively normal. At least, as normal as a town under siege can be.
As soon as things calmed down, Babe went over to Timbre. "Great job, Timbre!" He exclaimed, ruffling the boy's blonde head with a large, calloused hand. "You impressed the hell outta me. Stayed calm in the firefight, even took down a Raptor of yer own! Man, you did a hell of a job."
"Really?" Timbre wondered. "I was really scared, though."
Babe laughed. "Heh! Kid, so was I. I'm scared during all my fights. It's all about managing it, really." He took a moment to look at the Gustav. Scratched up and dented, but nothing more then cosmetic injuries. "Y'know what courage is, right?"
"Courage?" Timbre asked. Courage was not a think he knew how to define. "I.. dont know. Doing incredible things, I guess."
"Courage is not the act of doing amazing deeds." Babe explained. "Courage is doing those deeds when you think you can not. When you're so scared that your voice stutters. So scared that you near wet yerself. There's a big difference between courage and not being afraid. Courage is facing and working against your fears. Lack of fear is abject stupidity." Babe then grinned. "C'mon, you look exhausted. Hell, i'm pooped too. Let's find a place to kip off."
Sleep was something that came easily to Timbre. As was peaceful sleep. When someone has no memory, they do not dream. Timbre slept soundly through the rest of the day, and through the night. It was only a loud knock that woke him.
"Yo! You awake yet?" An unfamiliar voice called. "Breakfast's on." The door opened, and a new face looked through the doorway. It was a boy, a bit younger then Timbre, but looked tough and rugged for his age. His black hair was shaggy, and his skin looked as if it has been heavily tanned.
Timbre sat up, looking at the boy. "Who are you?"
"Tinder. Craig's my dad." The boy replied. "C'mon, they wont let me eat 'till you come down, and cold eggs suck."
Timbre crawled out of bed, and remembered he had no shirt on. "Uh, do you have some clothing I can..."
"Way ahead of ya." Tinder said, taking a moment to search through one of the drawers in the room, before pulling out a hooded sweatshirt. This one looked somewhat new, and had 'Go Pikes!' on the front, over a picture of a big fish. "Throw that on, and let's go."
Timbre dragged the sweatshirt on, and trod after Tinder down the stairs, where some unfamiliar smells hit him. Not entirely unappetizing, it smelled a lot like a fall bonfire. "What are we having?"
"Bacon, eggs, toast." Tinder replied.
"Bacon?"
"Oh, yeah, you got a bad memory or something. Bacon's meat."
"Meat?"
"Geeze, what DO you remember?" Tinder groaned, leading Timbre into the kitchen.
There were several people already at the table. Babe was one of them, as well as Craig. The man was beat up, his dark skin hiding painful bruises. His arm was in a sling, and a bandage covered a deep cut on his forehead. A woman sat at the table next to Craig, and next to her was a little girl, no older then 7.
"Heeey! Sleep well, kid?" Babe asked, sitting at one end of the table. His plate was full of fluffy yellow stuff, and strips of mottled brown stuff. He was guessing this was bacon and eggs. Didn't look too appetizing.
"Yes. Thank you." Timbre replied.
Tinder flopped down in a chair, earning him a scolding from the woman. "Tinder, be careful. Those chairs are old, and you're scuffing up the floor."
"The floor is made of concrete, ma." Tinder said, rolling his eyes. He then looked over at Timbre. "Dude, sit down and eat." He said, pointing to a chair.
Timbre sat down, gently. He really did not feel like being yelled at. He scanned the table. In the middle was a bit pile of more of the fluffy yellow stuff, next to that was a plate with a few strips of the brown stuff.
"Daaad, did you eat all the bacon?" Tinder groaned, taking the rest.
"Young man, you leave some of that for Timbre." Craig scolded. "Dont hog it all."
"Um, no, that's okay. I'd rather uh.." He scanned the table for something recognizable. Ah! "have some toast, please."
"Woot! Bacon's mine." Tinder grinned. He then grabbed a few slices of toast for Timbre. "Want eggs?"
"No thank you." Timbre replied.
"What a polite young man!" the woman said, smiling. "Babe, you sure you just found him like this? I was expecting some sort of wild kid. No offense, Timbre."
"It's okay, mam." Timbre replied as he reached for what looked like jam. He gave it a quick look, and spread a bit on a slice of toast. Yep, jam. An unidentifiable fruit, but still jam. It occurred to Timbre then that it was strange how he knew some of these foods, but others were completely unrecognizable. How strange. It was like the mundane things in his mind had been left alone, but important, real memories were completely gone. He shrugged it off, and enjoyed his toast.
"Timbre's a great kid." Babe said, after swallowing a forkful of eggs. "Impressed the h.. heck outta me." Babe curbed his laungage at the last second, mindful of the little quiet girl at the table. "Oh, hey, introductions. Timbre, meet Sally and Suna."
Sally smiled. "Suna's a bit shy. Say hello, Suna!"
"Hello." Suna said quietly, and went back to picking at her food.
"She's been scared of the fighting. We all have been." Sally explained. "But she's a good girl." She said, wrapping one arm around Suna, giving her a little hug.
"Hello." Timbre said, smiling at Suna. "Dont worry, I was scared of the fighting too."
"Really?" Suna asked, a bit confused. How could a big kid like him be scared?
"Yes. But dont worry. You've been very brave." Timbre said, looking over to Babe for a moment. "Being brave does not mean not being scared. It means you fight your fear, and do things despite it."
Babe grinned, proud of his boy.
"I wasn't scared." Tinder said.
"Yes you were." Craig said, teasing.
"Well, looks like there's more scaring to be done." Babe said, putting his now cleared plate to one side. "This fight ain't over just yet. We still got a siege on our hands."
Craig sighed. "Right. We better get going."
"Can I come?" Tinder asked. "Pleeease?"
"Finish your breakfast. You too, Timbre." Craig said as he slowly stood up from the table, mindful of his wounds. He kissed Sally, and walked from the room, Babe following.
Tinder and Timbre both finished their breakfast quickly, and Tinder led the way outside, after loaning Timbre a pair of shoes. They were actually too big on him, which was surprising considering that he was about four inches taller then Tinder.
"They went to the zoid bay to fix up Gordon's Saberlion. Man, that thing is so cool!" Tinder said as they walked the wide streets. A lot of the lot base had been converted into storefronts and houses, but their past uses were obvious. Everything was metal, concrete, and hard angles.
"How long have you lived here?" Timbre asked.
"Ten years. Dad moved us here when he got the security job. It's cool here, the last place was a dump. Got lots of friends."
"Where are they?" Timbre wondered. The streets were deserted.
"Well, probably in their houses. A lot of people are scared that Connan's gonna start shelling. Uh, that's where they get a big gun and fire big bullets over the walls. But Connan doesn't have anything that can shell, just those crappy Rev Raptors. Hey, there's one of my buds now. Hey Danner!" Tinder called out, waving to a storefront.
A boy had been in front of the window, cleaning up. The boy waved, and looked back to speak to someone. Then the boy ran out to the street to talk to Tinder.
"Hey Tinder! Who's this?" Danner asked, looking Timbre over.
"New kid. His name's Timbre. Came in on that Gustav yesterday."
"Dude! That was sick. Did you actually drive that thing through all those Raptors?"
Timbre scuffed his foot on the ground. "Yes. It was scary."
"Dude, if I was out there, I would been all bam! Smash! Rev Raptors down all over! But you did a cool job." Danner then looked back at the shop. "I gotta go. Dad's packing some stuff up in the basement."
"Wimps. There aint gonna be shelling." Tinder said, smirking.
"You never know. Bye Tinder! Timbre!" Danner said as he ran back to the store.
The two walked for a few more minutes before reaching the main courtyard. The garage and repair bay was on the edge of the courtyard, taking up nearly a quarter of the courtyard perimeter. Considering the situation, there wasn't a whole lot of activity.
"Hey dad!" Tinder shouted as he got into the cavernous bay.
"Stay back for a sec!." Craig shouted back, his voice coming from behind the collapsed form of Rocket Crowbar. "We're lifting the Saberlion."
And indeed they were. Great cranes mounted on the ceiling started to groan, and the streamlined bulk of the Saberlion started to rise, connected to the cranes by huge cables. The Saberlion growled, still active, and carefully placed his feet under him, trying to support himself.
One the lifting was done, the Saberlion remained attached to the crane, allowing it to support most of it's weight. The cranes were tied off securely, and the mechanics moved in.
"All right, get the scaffolds up!" Craig shouted at some unknown mechanic. . "Korr, get the ropes!"
Tinder and Timbre walked over to Rocket Crowbar, and the crew starting to work on it. Those that were not setting up scaffolding were tying themselves into bulky harnesses, then stringing their toolbelts on as well. One man started free-climbing up the Saberlion.
"What are they doing?" Timbre asked.
"Fixing it, duh. They harness themselves in to hang off the zoid to get to difficult areas, and so they don't fall off. It's easier then free-climbing."
"Boys! Get the rotator caps out and roll 'em over!" Craig barked out.
The boys were put to work for several hours, doing most of the manual labor. Tinder didn't seem to mind, but Timbre was starting to tire. But the boy said nothing, continuing to work through his weakness.
Fortunately, Babe noticed. "Hey, Tinder! Why don't you go take a break and show Timbre yer BattleRover."
Tinder grinned. "Sure! C'mon Tam." Tinder said, leading Timbre off into another part of the garage.
"These are the stables, where everyone keeps their zoids." Tinder explained as they walked into another huge building. Zoids of all kinds were stabled there, most of which Timbre could not remember. A whine drew his attention to one stable.
"Hi Fiver." Timbre said, and smiled. Fiver lowered his head down to the floor, softly grumbling. He wanted attention.
"Heey Fiver! Remember me?" Tinder said with a grin, giving the zoid a friendly pound on the nose.
Fiver whined again.
"Heh. Three years ago, Babe came to visit, and I thought it would be a good idea to sit in Fiver. He took that as an excuse to run out of the town and play." Tinder explained, looking Fiver over. "Dad still doesn't belive me about that, he thinks I did it on purpose. I was grounded for sooo long."
Fiver whined again, and popped his cockpit open.
"Oh no! Not this time, buddy. I got my own zoid now. And I don't wanna to be grounded for another year." Tinder laughed, and then walked over a few stables. Fiver grumbled, and lifted his head back up.
Timbre walked over to the stable that Tinder had entered. Inside it stood a small, raptor looking zoid. Much smaller then a Rev Raptor, it lacked facial features, or even a mouth. It was unarmed except for it's claws, and was painted bright yellow.
Tinder was already up on the back of the thing, sitting in the exposed pilot's seat. "This is Pike. I named him after my favorite football team. Man, I love footie. But I think I like Pike better.
Pike trilled softly in response.
"Anyway. Pike's not so personable as Fiver, but he's a good zoid. Almost as fast as a Rev Raptor! Hopefully, once we win and clean up all the broke Rev Raptors, I can get one of my own. Pike's cool for now."
"He's very nice." Timbre said, looking over the zoid. It looked like something he felt more familiar with, and he liked it.
"I'd take you out for a run, but we cant get out 'cause of the siege. Stupid Connan. I wish I could go out there and kick his ass. But dad wont let me." Tinder complained. "But in two years, when I finish school, he says I can join the security forces and get a Bear! That would be awesome."
Timbre was about to ask another question, but a ringing klaxon cut him off. It scared him completely and he nearly fell to his knees. He clutched his hands over his ears.
"Dude!" Tinder tried to shout over the noise, but it was useless. The boy scrambled down the side of his zoid, and ran to grab Timbre out of the stable aisle.
For good reason. When the Klaxon started ringing, people started running into the stable. Two of the mechanics from the garage sprinted in, still wearing their harnesses. Four others soon arrived, three of them wearing a sort of uniform. Simple black slacks and a black button down shirt, tucked in at the waist. The shoulders and breast laplets read the same thing. RSFZD.
The groan of Bearfighters was audible throughout the stables, as well as Fiver's own whinings. This was quickly remedied by Babe's approach.
The noise of the Klaxons died down, switching over to flashing strobe lights set in the walls. Babe ran over to Pike's stall.
"Tinder! Stay in the garage with Timbre! Don't go outside! See what you can do to help fix Crowbar!
Bearfighters and Pterases started filing down the aisle, and Babe quickly scooted into Fiver's stall. Timbre watched, frightened by the noise and activity, but was able to make some observations. The three Bearfighters and two Pterases (which he recognized from Babe's descriptions) had the same dull paint job as Craig's zoid, but none of them had the grenade insignia on their cockpit shield, or the large mortar rifle.
The RSFZD filed out, followed by Fiver, Barney's blue Saberlion, and Rags. Once the lane was clear, Tinder dragged Timbre out.
"C'mon! We gotta help get Rocket Crowbar working!"
-
Though stiff his hand, his voice though weak,
He thought even yet, the sooth to speak,
That, if she loved the harp to hear,
He could make music to her ear.
The humble boon was soon obtain'd;
The Aged Minstrel audience gain'd.
Once they dragged Rocket Crowbar out of the Courtyard and into a repair shop, things turned relatively normal. At least, as normal as a town under siege can be.
As soon as things calmed down, Babe went over to Timbre. "Great job, Timbre!" He exclaimed, ruffling the boy's blonde head with a large, calloused hand. "You impressed the hell outta me. Stayed calm in the firefight, even took down a Raptor of yer own! Man, you did a hell of a job."
"Really?" Timbre wondered. "I was really scared, though."
Babe laughed. "Heh! Kid, so was I. I'm scared during all my fights. It's all about managing it, really." He took a moment to look at the Gustav. Scratched up and dented, but nothing more then cosmetic injuries. "Y'know what courage is, right?"
"Courage?" Timbre asked. Courage was not a think he knew how to define. "I.. dont know. Doing incredible things, I guess."
"Courage is not the act of doing amazing deeds." Babe explained. "Courage is doing those deeds when you think you can not. When you're so scared that your voice stutters. So scared that you near wet yerself. There's a big difference between courage and not being afraid. Courage is facing and working against your fears. Lack of fear is abject stupidity." Babe then grinned. "C'mon, you look exhausted. Hell, i'm pooped too. Let's find a place to kip off."
Sleep was something that came easily to Timbre. As was peaceful sleep. When someone has no memory, they do not dream. Timbre slept soundly through the rest of the day, and through the night. It was only a loud knock that woke him.
"Yo! You awake yet?" An unfamiliar voice called. "Breakfast's on." The door opened, and a new face looked through the doorway. It was a boy, a bit younger then Timbre, but looked tough and rugged for his age. His black hair was shaggy, and his skin looked as if it has been heavily tanned.
Timbre sat up, looking at the boy. "Who are you?"
"Tinder. Craig's my dad." The boy replied. "C'mon, they wont let me eat 'till you come down, and cold eggs suck."
Timbre crawled out of bed, and remembered he had no shirt on. "Uh, do you have some clothing I can..."
"Way ahead of ya." Tinder said, taking a moment to search through one of the drawers in the room, before pulling out a hooded sweatshirt. This one looked somewhat new, and had 'Go Pikes!' on the front, over a picture of a big fish. "Throw that on, and let's go."
Timbre dragged the sweatshirt on, and trod after Tinder down the stairs, where some unfamiliar smells hit him. Not entirely unappetizing, it smelled a lot like a fall bonfire. "What are we having?"
"Bacon, eggs, toast." Tinder replied.
"Bacon?"
"Oh, yeah, you got a bad memory or something. Bacon's meat."
"Meat?"
"Geeze, what DO you remember?" Tinder groaned, leading Timbre into the kitchen.
There were several people already at the table. Babe was one of them, as well as Craig. The man was beat up, his dark skin hiding painful bruises. His arm was in a sling, and a bandage covered a deep cut on his forehead. A woman sat at the table next to Craig, and next to her was a little girl, no older then 7.
"Heeey! Sleep well, kid?" Babe asked, sitting at one end of the table. His plate was full of fluffy yellow stuff, and strips of mottled brown stuff. He was guessing this was bacon and eggs. Didn't look too appetizing.
"Yes. Thank you." Timbre replied.
Tinder flopped down in a chair, earning him a scolding from the woman. "Tinder, be careful. Those chairs are old, and you're scuffing up the floor."
"The floor is made of concrete, ma." Tinder said, rolling his eyes. He then looked over at Timbre. "Dude, sit down and eat." He said, pointing to a chair.
Timbre sat down, gently. He really did not feel like being yelled at. He scanned the table. In the middle was a bit pile of more of the fluffy yellow stuff, next to that was a plate with a few strips of the brown stuff.
"Daaad, did you eat all the bacon?" Tinder groaned, taking the rest.
"Young man, you leave some of that for Timbre." Craig scolded. "Dont hog it all."
"Um, no, that's okay. I'd rather uh.." He scanned the table for something recognizable. Ah! "have some toast, please."
"Woot! Bacon's mine." Tinder grinned. He then grabbed a few slices of toast for Timbre. "Want eggs?"
"No thank you." Timbre replied.
"What a polite young man!" the woman said, smiling. "Babe, you sure you just found him like this? I was expecting some sort of wild kid. No offense, Timbre."
"It's okay, mam." Timbre replied as he reached for what looked like jam. He gave it a quick look, and spread a bit on a slice of toast. Yep, jam. An unidentifiable fruit, but still jam. It occurred to Timbre then that it was strange how he knew some of these foods, but others were completely unrecognizable. How strange. It was like the mundane things in his mind had been left alone, but important, real memories were completely gone. He shrugged it off, and enjoyed his toast.
"Timbre's a great kid." Babe said, after swallowing a forkful of eggs. "Impressed the h.. heck outta me." Babe curbed his laungage at the last second, mindful of the little quiet girl at the table. "Oh, hey, introductions. Timbre, meet Sally and Suna."
Sally smiled. "Suna's a bit shy. Say hello, Suna!"
"Hello." Suna said quietly, and went back to picking at her food.
"She's been scared of the fighting. We all have been." Sally explained. "But she's a good girl." She said, wrapping one arm around Suna, giving her a little hug.
"Hello." Timbre said, smiling at Suna. "Dont worry, I was scared of the fighting too."
"Really?" Suna asked, a bit confused. How could a big kid like him be scared?
"Yes. But dont worry. You've been very brave." Timbre said, looking over to Babe for a moment. "Being brave does not mean not being scared. It means you fight your fear, and do things despite it."
Babe grinned, proud of his boy.
"I wasn't scared." Tinder said.
"Yes you were." Craig said, teasing.
"Well, looks like there's more scaring to be done." Babe said, putting his now cleared plate to one side. "This fight ain't over just yet. We still got a siege on our hands."
Craig sighed. "Right. We better get going."
"Can I come?" Tinder asked. "Pleeease?"
"Finish your breakfast. You too, Timbre." Craig said as he slowly stood up from the table, mindful of his wounds. He kissed Sally, and walked from the room, Babe following.
Tinder and Timbre both finished their breakfast quickly, and Tinder led the way outside, after loaning Timbre a pair of shoes. They were actually too big on him, which was surprising considering that he was about four inches taller then Tinder.
"They went to the zoid bay to fix up Gordon's Saberlion. Man, that thing is so cool!" Tinder said as they walked the wide streets. A lot of the lot base had been converted into storefronts and houses, but their past uses were obvious. Everything was metal, concrete, and hard angles.
"How long have you lived here?" Timbre asked.
"Ten years. Dad moved us here when he got the security job. It's cool here, the last place was a dump. Got lots of friends."
"Where are they?" Timbre wondered. The streets were deserted.
"Well, probably in their houses. A lot of people are scared that Connan's gonna start shelling. Uh, that's where they get a big gun and fire big bullets over the walls. But Connan doesn't have anything that can shell, just those crappy Rev Raptors. Hey, there's one of my buds now. Hey Danner!" Tinder called out, waving to a storefront.
A boy had been in front of the window, cleaning up. The boy waved, and looked back to speak to someone. Then the boy ran out to the street to talk to Tinder.
"Hey Tinder! Who's this?" Danner asked, looking Timbre over.
"New kid. His name's Timbre. Came in on that Gustav yesterday."
"Dude! That was sick. Did you actually drive that thing through all those Raptors?"
Timbre scuffed his foot on the ground. "Yes. It was scary."
"Dude, if I was out there, I would been all bam! Smash! Rev Raptors down all over! But you did a cool job." Danner then looked back at the shop. "I gotta go. Dad's packing some stuff up in the basement."
"Wimps. There aint gonna be shelling." Tinder said, smirking.
"You never know. Bye Tinder! Timbre!" Danner said as he ran back to the store.
The two walked for a few more minutes before reaching the main courtyard. The garage and repair bay was on the edge of the courtyard, taking up nearly a quarter of the courtyard perimeter. Considering the situation, there wasn't a whole lot of activity.
"Hey dad!" Tinder shouted as he got into the cavernous bay.
"Stay back for a sec!." Craig shouted back, his voice coming from behind the collapsed form of Rocket Crowbar. "We're lifting the Saberlion."
And indeed they were. Great cranes mounted on the ceiling started to groan, and the streamlined bulk of the Saberlion started to rise, connected to the cranes by huge cables. The Saberlion growled, still active, and carefully placed his feet under him, trying to support himself.
One the lifting was done, the Saberlion remained attached to the crane, allowing it to support most of it's weight. The cranes were tied off securely, and the mechanics moved in.
"All right, get the scaffolds up!" Craig shouted at some unknown mechanic. . "Korr, get the ropes!"
Tinder and Timbre walked over to Rocket Crowbar, and the crew starting to work on it. Those that were not setting up scaffolding were tying themselves into bulky harnesses, then stringing their toolbelts on as well. One man started free-climbing up the Saberlion.
"What are they doing?" Timbre asked.
"Fixing it, duh. They harness themselves in to hang off the zoid to get to difficult areas, and so they don't fall off. It's easier then free-climbing."
"Boys! Get the rotator caps out and roll 'em over!" Craig barked out.
The boys were put to work for several hours, doing most of the manual labor. Tinder didn't seem to mind, but Timbre was starting to tire. But the boy said nothing, continuing to work through his weakness.
Fortunately, Babe noticed. "Hey, Tinder! Why don't you go take a break and show Timbre yer BattleRover."
Tinder grinned. "Sure! C'mon Tam." Tinder said, leading Timbre off into another part of the garage.
"These are the stables, where everyone keeps their zoids." Tinder explained as they walked into another huge building. Zoids of all kinds were stabled there, most of which Timbre could not remember. A whine drew his attention to one stable.
"Hi Fiver." Timbre said, and smiled. Fiver lowered his head down to the floor, softly grumbling. He wanted attention.
"Heey Fiver! Remember me?" Tinder said with a grin, giving the zoid a friendly pound on the nose.
Fiver whined again.
"Heh. Three years ago, Babe came to visit, and I thought it would be a good idea to sit in Fiver. He took that as an excuse to run out of the town and play." Tinder explained, looking Fiver over. "Dad still doesn't belive me about that, he thinks I did it on purpose. I was grounded for sooo long."
Fiver whined again, and popped his cockpit open.
"Oh no! Not this time, buddy. I got my own zoid now. And I don't wanna to be grounded for another year." Tinder laughed, and then walked over a few stables. Fiver grumbled, and lifted his head back up.
Timbre walked over to the stable that Tinder had entered. Inside it stood a small, raptor looking zoid. Much smaller then a Rev Raptor, it lacked facial features, or even a mouth. It was unarmed except for it's claws, and was painted bright yellow.
Tinder was already up on the back of the thing, sitting in the exposed pilot's seat. "This is Pike. I named him after my favorite football team. Man, I love footie. But I think I like Pike better.
Pike trilled softly in response.
"Anyway. Pike's not so personable as Fiver, but he's a good zoid. Almost as fast as a Rev Raptor! Hopefully, once we win and clean up all the broke Rev Raptors, I can get one of my own. Pike's cool for now."
"He's very nice." Timbre said, looking over the zoid. It looked like something he felt more familiar with, and he liked it.
"I'd take you out for a run, but we cant get out 'cause of the siege. Stupid Connan. I wish I could go out there and kick his ass. But dad wont let me." Tinder complained. "But in two years, when I finish school, he says I can join the security forces and get a Bear! That would be awesome."
Timbre was about to ask another question, but a ringing klaxon cut him off. It scared him completely and he nearly fell to his knees. He clutched his hands over his ears.
"Dude!" Tinder tried to shout over the noise, but it was useless. The boy scrambled down the side of his zoid, and ran to grab Timbre out of the stable aisle.
For good reason. When the Klaxon started ringing, people started running into the stable. Two of the mechanics from the garage sprinted in, still wearing their harnesses. Four others soon arrived, three of them wearing a sort of uniform. Simple black slacks and a black button down shirt, tucked in at the waist. The shoulders and breast laplets read the same thing. RSFZD.
The groan of Bearfighters was audible throughout the stables, as well as Fiver's own whinings. This was quickly remedied by Babe's approach.
The noise of the Klaxons died down, switching over to flashing strobe lights set in the walls. Babe ran over to Pike's stall.
"Tinder! Stay in the garage with Timbre! Don't go outside! See what you can do to help fix Crowbar!
Bearfighters and Pterases started filing down the aisle, and Babe quickly scooted into Fiver's stall. Timbre watched, frightened by the noise and activity, but was able to make some observations. The three Bearfighters and two Pterases (which he recognized from Babe's descriptions) had the same dull paint job as Craig's zoid, but none of them had the grenade insignia on their cockpit shield, or the large mortar rifle.
The RSFZD filed out, followed by Fiver, Barney's blue Saberlion, and Rags. Once the lane was clear, Tinder dragged Timbre out.
"C'mon! We gotta help get Rocket Crowbar working!"
