Pointy Muses Fic 9 - Real Life

[Deadborder]

Pointy Muses Fic

Chapter Ten - Real Life

By Rick R.

*****

Stephen confidently strolled into the Broken Chairs' main living room, throwing off his jacket and flinging it at a random chair. He glanced around the room as the rest of the team entered, grinning broadly. "Well done, guys." He called out. "I know I said this earlier but... that was a great battle. I'm very proud of all of you people."

"Great?" Rose commented. "That was a pushover. It was certainly not what I'd expect at this stage of the competition."

"Well I'm not complaining." Need added as he stepped past her. "At this stage of the game, an easy win is rather nice."

"Yeah, it is." Tasch added. "Because it means that you can kick back and relax an' not have to worry about havin' to fix up all our Zoids afterwards." She paused. "Well, y'all do need to get the Zodis fixed, but not that much. An' certainly none of 'em got disabled, so its nowhere near as bad as it could have been.

"...what she said." Neil added. "I, for one, am glad we managed to go a round without the NUBG sticking their noses into things. I'm certainly getting sick of those guys."

"Well, hopefully we won't have to worry about them for too much longer." Stephen added.

"Say what?" Rose asked. "What's this?"

"Don't tell me you've decided to write them a formal apology." Neil replied. "You could say 'We're sorry we beat up all your Zoids and let the police in on your secret arena. We're also sorry that your pilots are all a bunch of terminal dumbarses. We won't let it happen again. Love and kisses, Big Steve.'"

"Very funny, Neil." Stephen began.

"I don't think that's work." Tasch added. "You'd need to be a bit more sincere. An' maybe apoliogise for Rose not wanting to join NUBG."

"I don't think that anything would make me join NUBG." Rose added. "I have too much self-esteem."

"But what if you infiltrated NUBG under an alias." Tasch began. "You use a secret identity and wear a mask so that nobody knows who you are, an' then work form the inside to destroy 'em. And you would get to be their top pilot, 'cause you’re a good pilot and all mysterious an' stuff and then... at the vital moment, you betray 'em all, and flee under another alias so they'll never find ya."

There was a pause. "Naw, that'd be silly." She added.

"Before Tasch hurts my head some more, can you explain what you mean?" Neil asked.

"I can't say anything for certain." He admitted. "I'm hunting around for more info on the NUBG, seeing if we can find out more about them and, more to the point, if we can do anything about them."

"What, like whack them before they can whack us sort of thing?" Neil asked. "Isn't that a little vigilante like?"

"I'm beginning to think that we can't just sit back and let them come to us." Stephen explained. "We need to do something about them."

"Well good luck then." Neil commented. "Tell me how it goes. I'm going to be elsewhere."

"Dare I ask?" Rose began. "And will they have enough food for you to filch?"

"Very funny." He commented. "Naw, me and a bunch of other pilots are getting together and doing, uh, stuff."

"Stuff?" She continued. "Care to clarify that?"

"Just... stuff." He added. "Like I'm sure you and Drake will be doing, from the sounds of things."

Rose was temporarily taken aback, surprised by what he'd said. "Drake and I are just friends." She explained. "We share a mutual interest, that's all."

"Suuuure you do." He nodded. "So you’re going to... let me guess... tell him about what the K-Wolf pilot in today’s battle did, so he can analyze it and comment on both his style and your own, right?"

"Of course not." She snapped.

"Whoa, okay." He raised his hands defensively. "Sorry to bring it up."

"Okay you two, break it up." Stephen began. "Let's not spoil the mood with bickering."

"Yeah." Neil muttered. "Sorry to be a nag, Rose."

"It's fine." She smiled. "Neil, right now I don't think there's terribly much that could bother me."

*****

It was with a small degree of trepidation that Rachel walked into Heywood’s office, a bundle of papers in hand. She’d been going over things in the week since the battle at the city arena, and was not happy with what she was finding. She felt that NUBG was being lead in a direction that she was not comfortable with, and, more to the point, she wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

“Hey babe.” Heywood looked up from his computer screen. “What’s up?”

“I’ve been going over the last battle, sir.” She began. “Especially the, um, unexpected interference from the Black Hands team.” She’d been really caught off guard by that. As near as she could tell, nobody save for Heywood himself had known about it until the last minute.

“What about it, Rach?” He asked, rather indifferently.

“Well, their unexpected presence in the battle upset a lot of people who were expecting a clean fight between our team and the ZBC ones.” She began. “Ken Marsh believes that their interference cost his team the match more then any other element. And a number of our backers believe that this ongoing feud with the ZBC may be detrimental to our ongoing success.” She didn’t mention that she shared a lot of those opinions.

“Rach, the backers can bite my big fat hairy arse.” He stated as he lit up a cigar. “Do you know why?”

“No sir.”

“Because our battles, specifically those against the ZBC have been outrageously successful.” He explained, waving his cigar in the air. “Get this, Rach. The betting alone from those two battles has been more then anything else we’ve done since the start of the ZBC season. The amount we’ve made off that alone would be enough, but there’s a hell of a lot more.”

“Those two have scored more paying hits on our file downloads and disc sales then any other battle we’ve had this year.” He continued. “Only Shane and Julian’s ‘back from unspecified injury’ match against the Death Reavers team came close, and that was by a huge margin. Think about it; four of NUBG’s best pilots and the one battle, and they still wanted to see the ZBC more.”

“But the risks-“

“Don’t talk to me about the risks, Rach.” He cut her off. “Let’s take that match between the Lizards and that craphole in the Brach. Do you know what that match was like, Rach?”

“Well, no…”

“Utter crap.” He replied. “It was the sort of thing I’d expect out of some mudhole arena in outback Europa featuring two pig farmers going at it. It was as boring as Zabatcrap, and about as heavily bet on. And the worst part is, Rach, too many of our matches are like that. The audience is sick of the formula, sick of the same old same old crap. What thy want is something edgy and tense, something daring and different. And by going at it with the ZBC, we’re delivering that.”

“Yes sir.” She replied. “But there are concerns about-“

“Rach, who runs NUBG, you or me?”

“You do, sir.”

“And who makes the decisions on how NUBG is run?”

“You do, sir.” She repeated, a tad reluctantly.

“See?” Heywood took a drag off his cigar. “And do you know why I run NUBG?” He asked. “Because I’m the only guy with the creativity and the balls to do it.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Rach, we took a major hit in the arse when we lost that arena earlier this year.” He explained, a sudden serious tone to his voice. “And we have to make that back. These battles against the ZBC have been a big part of it. We’ve done well so far. Not enough to pay for what we lost, but more then enough to keep us above water. And while the backers may be grumbling, they certainly are still keeping the cash rolling in. And do you know why they do that, Rach?”

“No sir.” She replied, even though she did. She felt that it would be beneficial to let Heywood get this out of his system.

“Because, deep down, they like what we sell, Rach.” He explained. “They like the blood, the violence, the chance that some guy will be suddenly offed. They get their kicks off it, actually. They enjoy every second of it. They want something horrible, something confrontational that disrupts and jars their cushy lives while still being entertained. And that’s why they keep pumping money into us, Rach. That’s why they always will.”

“Yes sir.”

“You see, Rach, I know what the people want.” He explained. “Years ago, I ran a fan magazine about Zoid battles. Now while a lot of people thought that Zoid battles were exciting, I found the ZBC stiff to be crap-arse boring. But when I saw stuff on illegal, unsanctioned battles, now that was interesting. So I printed stuff, and saw that it was popular.”

“And that’s how I ended up here, Rach, running the planet’s first and only organized illegal Zoid battle ring.” He grinned. “I know what the fans want, Rach. Not the average Joe with his wife, kids and mortgage who turns up to the ZBC battles, cheers for Generic Team A and buys a few shirts. No, I know what the smart fans, the cool fans, the ones who actually have a clue as to what’s going on want. It’s for them that I do this Rach. I’m one of them, and I have never forgotten my origins.”

“And besides, there’s a subtle irony to this all.” He leered. “You see, I hate big companies. I hate the filthy rich. I hate those morons who think that just because they’ve got a big wad they can tell me what to do. And look at how it turns out. Here’s me with a bunch of Big Money behind me. It’s those people who give me my income, Rach. Ironic, isn’t it?”

“Yes sir.” She admitted.

“So for now, the plan is to keep going how we are.” He leaned back on his chair. “I want to do another invasion soon, though, and take another shot at that team. The betting’s getting too good for me to pass it up. Everyone wants to see their faces getting rubbed in it, Rach, and they know that NUBG is the best place to see it happen.”

He grinned as broadly as he could. “And besides, I have a special plan for what to do next. A nicely ironic one, at that.”

“Sir?”

“I think its time to find some use for one of our long-term Guests.” He replied. “Given that she’s responsible for all this crap, I think that it’d make for an amusing battle, don’t you?”

“I really couldn’t say, sir.”

“Heh, there ya go. That’s why I’m the boss here. Because I know what’s going on.”

“Of course you do, sir,” she finished with some reluctance.

*****

With everyone suddenly out and about and, more to the point, doing different things, Tasch had found that she suddenly had the base all to herself. It wasn't something she was that used to; usually there were at least two people here at a time, and when they went out, they tended to do things in groups. So it had left her with a lot of time on her hands and no idea of what to do with it.

She and Stephen had already done all the work they needed on the team's Zoids, getting them all into full running condition after the battle. A lot of the damage had been a lighter then she had expected, which had made their job a lot easier, as well as easing up the strain on their depleted supplies.

So instead, Tasch had decided to take the time out to do something that she had been putting off for a while, which she felt bad about. It was something that she had meant to do regularly, but, well, never had. She stat down on the couch, her laptop in front of her and began typing, writing out a letter to her older sister.

The two of them had been close when younger but her sister had left home a while ago. They kind of lost track after that, her sister having gotten a job that meant she traveled a lot. The result was that they rarely wrote to each other and almost never saw each other.

Worst part of it was, Tasch couldn’t even reMember what she did for a job.

Heya Siske.

Tasch here, but you probably figured all that from the header. Sorry I haven’t written in such a long time, but the tournament and other stuff has kept me very busy. This is the first good chance I’ve gotten in a bit to write and stuff.

Anyways, my team - actually, I really should tell you about the team now that I know them a lot better, cause last letter I barely knew them. Anyways, my team are pretty cool. They’ve now got a name, being called the Broken Chairs. It’s a neat name because nobody else has a team name like that, you know. We had to make sure of that, so we had a big argument over it all.

Most of them are okay though. Stephen acts like he’s the boss and since he’s got the biggest Zoid and he’s taller then anyone else it seems fair. He does know what he’s doing though and is very good at planning and stuff like that. He does get angry a lot though and sometimes gets all shouty. But generally he’s okay if you don’t annoy him that much. He’s also decently good at fixing Zoids and stuff, which is always handy.

Stephen used to have a job as a technical support guy, which he says made him the Zoid pilot that he is today. He also collects guns, so I wonder if the two are related.

On the other hand, Neil’s kinda neat. He makes a lot of strange jokes and steals everyone’s chips but he does it in a nice way so then that’s all good with me. At first he wasn’t very talky but now he is, and he seems to always have something to say about something. But that’s in a nice way, mind you. Neil says that he’s a bad pilot and we should just use him as bait, but I think that he’s good. He beat a Death Raser the other day, so that ain’t too bad, especially in a Gunsniper.

Rose was a bit mean to start with and always seemed to be snapping at people, like we’d done something to her but we had no idea what it was. But she’s a lot better now, actually and seems to be pretty happy with the team. She’s a good pilot but she tends to ask a lot of strange questions. Like she keeps asking me how my brain works. How do I know? I ain’t a neurologist or anything like that.

All that being said, she needs to pull her pants up. Her underdaks keep hanging out of them.

Rose has got the most Zoid experience of all of us because her father was a famous Zoid pilot and ZBC champion. Her older sister is also a former champion. She dropped by once and was quite a friendly person. Rose pilots a Liger Zero and so does her sister, which makes me wonder if pointy cats don’t run in the family.

The NUBG, by comparison, are really not nice. Rose got into some trouble with them that wasn’t her fault and as a result they keep on trying to attack us. Fortunately we keep on beating them so it ain’t too bad. Rose tends to say that NUBG are stupid but Stephen thinks she’s being a bit presumptuous. I think I agree with her. After all, they keep on loosing to us and they keep on trying again.

The rest of the tourney is going well. We’re yet to loose a match and my own Zoid has never been disabled. In fact, it’s the only Zoid in the team that hasn’t been knocked out at least once so far, so that’s petty good to my mind. Of course, things are going to be getting a lot tougher from here, so we need to be careful. But I still feel confident, but not overconfident if you know what I mean.

We haven’t really thought about what we’ll do after the end of the season. I guess well find out when we get there. Personally I think we might want to do up the base a bit. While much of it is a nice shade of grey that I really like, nobody else seems to for some reason. But it is also a bit cold and damp and probably could use a few less holes in the roof. And then we need to do over the back of the place because it’s all a big mess of weeds and concrete rubble and stuff.

Anyway, I should probably go because this e-mail is already pretty long. Mum and dad say hi and wish you would write more often. I tell them not to worry because you’re pretty smart and can look after yourself but, well, you know how mum gets. I hope to hear from you soon and maybe you can drop round and say “hi” if you’re ever in town.

Love, Tasch

She gave the E-mail a quick once over, then sent it off. “Well that’s done” she added, flopping back onto the couch. “Now what in the heck am I meant to do with the rest of the evening?”

*****

Neil was rather impressed by the Venom Team's base. It was a nice and neat little affair that had been purpose built, rather then being some structure that had been converted over at some point in its life. It was in the middle of a suburb of similar such structures; in essence a ready-made Zoid team community.

"Nice." He said to himself as he walked up to the base. "Very nice." He figured that a place like this would be far better for the team then their leaky reconditioned factory. But them he also figured that the waiting list for a place like this would be insane. Apparently, the city was only just ahead of the need for Zoid facilities, and this year had been the closest they'd ever come to a housing shortage. There were more new suburbs like this being built, but they wouldn't be ready until next season.

Snacks in hand and pack full of gear, he knocked on the front door of the base. After a moment, the door swung open, Laura inside. "Oh, hey there, Neil." She began, a pleasant smile on her face.

"Hi there, Laura." He replied. "I bought snacks."

"As did everyone else." She laughed. "We're in snackfood heaven tonight."

"Cool beans." He replied. "Lead on."

She lead him into a large living room where several other people were gathered around a pair of tables. While a little smaller than the living room in their base, it at the same time looked a lot more livable. The fact that it opened to a wide porch and that the walls weren't all rendered in plain grey concrete probably had something to do with it.

"Neil's here!" Laura called out to the other Members of the room.

"Cool." Nadia spoke up from the far end of the table. She was seated behind a cardboard screen, all but invisible. "Take a seat, Neil and we'll make a silly attempt to get started."

Neil pulled up one nearest to her, sitting opposite Laura. "How far gone are we?"

"We're working on characters now, so feel free to get rolling." Nadia replied. "Oh, and say hi to the team. Besides Laura, there's Akira over there. Jake's just outside, having a *Watch your language!* before we start."

"This is a non-smoking base." Laura added. "And no dumping the ash in the potplants either!" She hastily called out through the door.

"That's cool. I don't smoke, unless I'm on fire."

Nadia giggled at him. "Good one."

"Hey there." He offered a hand to Akira. "Nice to meetcha. You're the Storm Sworder pilot from the Renegade Legion, right?"

"I am, yes." Akira nodded. "And it is good to meet you."

"You didn't strike me as the RPer kind." Neil commented. "But it takes all sorts."

"Indeed. I do enjoy a good game, actually."

"Who knows. So you got a character?"

"Yes I do." He handed a sheet to Neil. "I'm playing a Human Samurai."

For some reason Neil wasn't surprised. "That’s the Samurai base class from Warrior's Guide, or the one from Mystic East?"

"The ME one."

"Aaaah. The non-broken one." He handed the sheet back. "Good to meet ya. I think that this should be fun."

"I'm playing a Halfling Sorceress." Laura spoke up.

"Amusing combo." Neil replied.

"It’s different, and that's what I like." She continued. "I call her Tiffie, which is the same as my World of Zoids character."

"So you're a MMORPGer as well as a TTRPGer, eh?" Neil asked, Laura nodding in reply. "How's that game going? I put my account on hold a while back when I set out traveling, and haven't been arsed reactivating it."

"Well, the Digardo side has managed to degenerate into a total cesspool." She shrugged. "With each patch they either Munchkin or Nerf the Hell Armour. It got so bad at one point that stock Saber Tigers could knock 'em out with their back guns. So now the Digardos are only played as Alts by veterans looking for a few laughs or by total noobs who thing they're cool."

"That bad?" He asked as he opened a bag of chips, pouring then into a bowl on the table.

"Definitely." Laura took a sip from her drink. "Just yesterday, Tiffie was in her Brachiotort, digging for Zi-metal on the Foobah plains. Anyways, some guy called BloodRaven_Deathshadow from the Bloody Death Reapers barges up to me in a Biomegaraptor and demands to get all PvPish on me."

"Wait, you were in a Brachiotort?"

"They're fun." She shrugged. "Anyways, our levels were about the same, so I said I'd think about it. I got up a bit of distance, accepted the fight and drop an AZ ICBM on his head. End of battle."

"Noice. Did he take it well?"

"Threatened me with badly spelt retaliation and ran off." She finished. "Amusing, as you can imagine."

"Definitely." He looked at her. "So who's your Clan? If I ever get back online, I might have to join ya."

"We're called the Fluffy Bunny People, and were Republican-aligned. We're tough because we can call ourselves that."

"Amusing." Neil smirked.

"And as a Member of Zeekdobers ate my Baby, I am mortally opposed to her." Nadia spoke up. "Our two Clans have been feuding forever, mainly over who has the silliest names."

"I love it." He turned to Akira. "So are you a part of this?"

"No, but I do play a bit of Eternal Journey every now and then." He replied.

"Never played it, but know guys who do." Neil commented as he took a few chips. "What's your character?"

"A human Samurai."

"I see..." He glanced back at Nadia. "Hey, uh, what rules are we using?"

"Four point two five." She replied. "That's taking all the best bits of Fourth ed and all the Least Bad bits of the Revision."

"Makes sense. Anything I need to know?"

"Only if you plan to play a Ranger." She replied.

"That's a no."

"So what are you going for?" Laura asked. "We have Sword Dude and Spell Slinger."

"Well, you’ll need a Token Healer and a Fillerbunny." Neil commented. "I'll do either. I often do."

"Sure... Hey Jake! What are you playing?"

"I dunno." Came the voice from outside. "Probably a thief."

"Token Healer it is." He finished. "I might do Druid, just for a change."

"Please do." Nadia called out. "Druids are underrated. Druids are fun. Druids make everything better."

"Guess who picked up a copy of Warriors of the Wild and has never ever used it?" Laura added with a smirk.

"Damn, you figured me out." Nadia raised her hands in the air in a gesture of mock surrender. "You've gotten into my head and already know all my evil plans."

"Ah, I'm sure there will be a few surprises." Neil added. "And I'm sure this will be a great night."

*****

[Deadborder]

Rose had spent endless hours fussing over her dinner date, trying to figure just what to wear and how to look. One problem she had found was that most 'sexy' evening wear tended to leave most, if not all, of her tattoos hanging out, which would contrast somewhat with the look that she was trying to manufacture. To make matters worse, she had no idea how 'casual' or 'formal' the evening was.

In the end, she’d decided to improvise and go for a middle road. The warm weather meant dressing light, so she'd gone for a short-sleeved white blouse and a long but light floral-print skirt. In the end, it left only her right arm tattoo visible, but she figured that Drake would have known about it, and, more to the point, probably didn't care that much. Besides, after leaving enough of the top buttons undone, she figured his attention would be focused elsewhere.

The restaurant itself was part of the grounds of a large local pub, outdoors in a courtyard, under the shade of several large trees. They were now in early summer, making a place like this a very attractive option. It was apparently a rather casual place; seating was 'just walk in' and meals and drinks were ordered at a counter and delivered. Rose walked into the courtyard, looking around for Drake, she spied him at a table near one of the trees. He'd also gone smart casual, with a short-sleeved, button up shirt and light grey slacks.

They'd both settled in and ordered a first round of drinks, casually chatting and talking about things. Rose had found him to be surprisingly friendly, more so then she'd expected from him. He certainly didn't seem like a lot of the higher-ranked pilots she'd met, and definitely not what the stereotype indicated. He should have been all stern, strict and focused. Instead, here he was, having a good time and laughing at her lame jokes.

On the other hand, she figured, none of the former champions she'd known were anything like that stereotype ether. Stern, strict and focused were the last words she'd sure to describe Violet.

Drake returned from ordering their dinner, resuming his seat opposite her. "Shouldn't be too long." he began.

"Cool." She nodded, taking a sip from her glass. "Thanks for that."

"It’s perfectly fine." He smiled. "And it is a great night for it."

"That it is." With the Daylight saving, it would be light for hours.

"So, I guess that for you, becoming a Zoid pilot was kind of inevitable, right?" He asked, suddenly changing the subject.

"It was." She admitted, recovering from the sudden switch. "I mean, dad being a famous Zoid battle champion and all. Me and Violet were pretty much raised around Zoids, so... yeah, probably inevitable."

"There weren't any problems with it?"

"Naw." She shook her head. "Mum was cool with the idea; in fact, I think she's happier we're Zoid warriors then would be models or singers or anything else. And dad, well..." Rose smirked for a moment. "Even though he never said anything, I think that Dad really wanted at least one of his children to be a famous Zoid pilot. That one of them is one of the youngest champions ever is probably just the icing on the cake for him."

"Well I can understand." He continued. "Your father was a very talented pilot. Very few people get that far in Shield Ligers. If the statistics are to be believed, it’s the Liger least likely to be a champion's machine."

"Those stats lie." Rose added. "He loved to point out that they'd put Leomasters in with those stats, even though they're well above a stock Shield Liger's performance."

"True." He commented. "But then, your family is a talented one. Having fought both you and Violet, I can say that you are both very skilled pilots."

"Well, Violet's a lot better then me." She admitted.

"Violet is merely more experienced then you." He pointed out. "And she uses her own Zoid. Besides, she has had more time not only to develop her skills, but to develop her piloting style. The way she fights is... well, I’ll call it unique, and leave it at that."

"She beat you for the championship, if I recall."

He nodded. "That was one of my career highlights. I felt that it was one of the best battles I'd ever been in, despite the outcome. And, being honest, I think that you could easily reach her level. You've show a degree of focus and skill that is quite extraordinary for someone of your experience."

"Thanks." She replied, blushing. "But what about you? You've been around and done a lot. Does Zoid piloting run in your family?"

"Sort of." He explained. "My family are from the Zenebas Empire. They have served in the Zenebas army for generations, going back to the first humans who landed on Zi." He explained. "So you could say that it’s in my blood."

"But you're a completion Zoid warrior, not a military pilot." Rose pointed out.

"That is true." He nodded. "I felt that there was only so much that I could achieve in the service of the Empire. The planet is peaceful, and the odds of my seeing any action were remote at best. So I decided to, rather then serve in the army, become a Zoid warrior. I felt that it was the best way to develop my skills as a pilot."

"That must have gone down well." Rose commented. “Not to seem rude, but your family does sound a bit... traditional."

"You could say that." Drake admitted. "They were initially unhappy with my decision. But then after I began winning matches, they were a little more impressed. My younger brother choosing to enlist I think softened their stance some more." He took another sip from his drink, finishing it off. "Truth being told, I think they’re just unhappy that I don't pilot a more 'Zenebas-like' Zoid."

Rose laughed at the last comment. "Well, if that’s their worst beef with you, then you have it made."

"It would appear so." He finished with a smile.

"Another drink?" Rose asked as she emptied the last of her glass. "Might as well before dinner gets here."

"Certainly." He replied. "Could I just get another of the same?"

"Not a prob." She grinned as she stood. "Back in a minute."

She walked inside to the bar, noting how crowded the place had suddenly become. There was currently a bit of a queue at the bar, which meant that she'd have to wait. She sighed and glanced outside at Drake. Nothing for it, then. She turned back to the queue, trying to attract the bartender's attention.

"Hey Rose!" A voice called out from behind her.

She turned around, looking for the source of the voice, wondering who it was. Then she saw it, and her heart skipped a beat as she recognised them. The speaker was a tall woman, about Rose's height but a lot more heavily built. She had short black hair that drooped limply over her face, and piercing violet eyes. She was dressed in a black and purple top and pants that bared her midriff and arms, which only served to emphasise her physique.

"Uh, hello Jill." Rose began with some trepidation, unsure of what to say.

"Hey." She replied. "Long time no see, right?"

"Well... yes." Rose finished. "I didn't know you were, uh, in town or anything." She nervously glanced around the room.

"Just here on business." Jill replied, then grinned in a way that showed a lot of teeth. "I was catching up with a few people."

"I see." Rose nodded, smiling nervously. "And you just happened to be here."

"Yeah, funny that." Jill shrugged. "So how about you? Been up to much?"

"Not much. Got into the Zoid battles, got on a team, been kicking butt." She explained, trying to regain some of her usual confident tone.

"Oh." Jill replied rather casually. "Well, that's good to hear."

Rose didn't even want to think about what it was that Jill was up to, but at the same time was relieved that she was rather disinterested in what she was up to. "Yeah, its been pretty busy for us." She added.

"Cool, me too." Jill finished, and flashed another one of her toothy grins. "Well, tell ya what, I'll leave you and your friend to it. See you around sometime, Rose."

"Sure thing." Rose added, a relived tone in her voice. "Later."

Jill nodded then turned and walked off. Rose watched her go, quietly glad that she hadn't decide to linger or, even worse, come out to meet Drake. It was about the last thing she wanted right now.

*****

Compared to where Rose was, Stephen's destination for the night couldn't have been too much more different. He'd headed over to the Industrial side of town, one of its poorer districts. From what he'd gathered since he had gotten into the city, this was where he could find information on some of society's less then desirable elements. And the last few weeks had given him a lot of interest on those.

Despite the local conditions, he wasn't that worried about anything happening to him. For the most part he figured that his sheer physical size was enough to intimidate most people and make them think twice before trying something. But if they persisted in being stupid, well, he’d taken precautions. He had been carrying a pair of guns, concealed under his coat. They'd protect him on the street but, unfortunately enough, not where he was heading.

He stepped into a dingy, street-level bar, immediately being assaulted by the smell of second hand smoke and cheap liquor together. The next thing that caught his attention was the gun check at the front door. He'd expected as such, but that didn't make him happy about it. He reluctantly handed over his weapons before stepping inside, muttering darkly to himself.

A few minutes with the bartender had told him what he needed to know. In fact, it had been something of a surprise to him. He'd been after some information, and had expected to work long and hard for it. In fact, he had been handed it on a plate. What surprised him, however, was the source of the information.

He walked over to a booth where a couple of men were sitting. From the bartender's description, he easily recongised the man he was after. The tallest of the three, he was nearly as tall and muscular as Stephen. He had close-cropped black hair and narrow black eyes that dominated his sharp, fence-looking features. He was dressed in a rather plain but still crisp shirt and jacket, the top few buttons of which were undone.

"I didn't expect to find a top-ranked Zoid pilot here." Stephen began as he glanced at the man. "At least, not a legitimate one."

The man looked at his two companions. "Give us a minute." He muttered. The pair of them got up and left, Stephen taking one of their places opposite the Zoid pilot.

"Gregor Berkut, leader of the Golden Eagles team, right?" Stephen asked.

"Yes, and?" He replied. "So what is it you're after?”

Stephen nodded. The Golden Eagles were one of the top teams in the ZBC, up there with the really big names like the Iron Giants. He didn't expect a member of such a team to be over here in the bad part of town, and certainly not to know a lot about certain other Zoid battle organisations.

"Information." He began.

"And what makes you come to me then?" He asked, glaring straight at Stephen.

"I asked around, and everyone said that you were the man to speak to. It was something of a surprise."

The man took a swig form his glass, then resumed glaring. "I didn't expect to see you in this part of town either." He stated. "A rookie like you shouldn't be in a place like this."

So he knows me, Stephen began, trying not to rise to the 'Rookie' comment. Maybe then he'll know what I'm after. "Well, I have my reasons. I know that this is where I should be to get what I want."

"And what is it you want then?" he asked, his eyes further narrowing.

"Information." He explained. "I've heard that you're the man to speak to about NUBG."

"Yes I am." Gregor explained. "But I won't help you."

Stephen snarled to himself. "And why not?"

"Because you are too young." He explained.

"Listen, mate. I'm only a few years younger then-"

"I know." He said. "But you are only a rookie in your first year. I've been in this business far longer then you have."

“And I have had a lot more experience with NUBG then you have.” Stephen angrily replied.

“No, you haven’t.” He calmly replied.

“What?” He snapped, barely managing to suppress his rage.

“I said that I’ve had more experience with NUBG then you have, young man.” Gregor continued. “And I can say now that you do not want to be any further involved then you already are.”

“But-“

“I know about your team and what you’ve been through.” Gregor explained. “You haven’t seen what NUBG can do when they’re threatened. Right now, they see you as an annoyance or, more likely a source of income. They will get over it. As long as you don’t provoke them, then they won’t go beyond what they’re doing right now.”

“And what are we meant to do?” Stephen snarled. “Just sit back and let them attack us?”

“They will tire of it over time.” He explained. “They will find that the losses are outweighing the gains. A few more Zoids smashed apart for no clear benefit and-“

“And what? We make ourselves targets? We let them attack us?” He stood up, glaring at Gregor.

“No. But at the same time, you are not to go after them. Doing such will only aggravate the situation.” Gregor explained. “And if I give you the information that you want, I know what you will do with it.”

There was a tense silence as the two of them stared at each other. “So you won’t help then.”

“No.” He finished. “That way, we will not cause any trouble. We will not escalate the conflict. And then things will just pass.” He finished. “And trust me, that will be better. Not only for your team, but for everyone else.”

“I see then.” Stephen muttered. “Fine.” He stood up and stalked off, leaving the table behind. Collecting his guns, he marched out, determined never to come back.

*****

"Aaand with that last poke with a pointed stick, the Goblin yells out 'Hugruk-Blargh!' and keels over." Nadia finished. "Well done, guys."

"Go the pointed stick." Neil called out. "Oh yeah."

"Musashi sheathes his sword." Akira began. "He looks over the Goblins, especially their leader. 'These men fought-'"

"All righty!" Laura called out, cutting him off. "Loot time!"

Akira glared at her while Jake stood. "I'm going for a cig." He muttered as he stepped outside.

"'-these men fought very well for-'"

"So let's rummage the bodies." Neil began, glancing outside at Jake. "And this time, since Mike the thief isn't here, we'll get a fair division."

"Well, Tiffie is going to start with their pockets. What do I find?"

"'-for Goblins, warriors not usually known for their-'"

"Okay." Nadia read out. "You get eight suits of leather armour, eight crappy wooden shields, seven clubs, a very, very shiny short sword and a really fancy helmet. Oh, and fifteen silver coins and a gnawed bone."

"I call dibs on the bone then." Neil added.

"Well, I think that this is a great place to call it quits for the night." Nadia added as she collected some notes. "This has been quite incredibly fun."

"I didn't expect that you'd be able to put together a full gaming group of all Zoid pilots." Neil added. "I mean, Zoid pilots engaged in tabletop RPing? Shouldn't we all be out doing cool stuff like getting our gonads pieced, dancing till dawn and doing designer drugs?"

"I've never done any of those things." Laura commented. "And I can't do one of them."

"You got me there." Neil admitted.

"So how about the rest of your team, Neil?" Nadia asked. "You think that any of them would be interested in joining us? I'm always open to a bigger group."

"Let’s se..." He considered this for a moment. "Rose would think that we were being geeks. Stephen probably would miss the finer subtleties of it, get angry and flip the table. And Tasch... well, you wouldn't want her in a gaming group. Trust me."

"Why not?"

"Well... let me put it this way." He offered. "She'd end up with a combination of race, class, skills and special abilities that seemed to be incredibly impractical at best and insane at worst. Then the instant that the dice started rolling... Well, you'd probably be standing there in slack-jawed horror as she unleashed doom."

"She didn't strike me as a power gamer." Nadia added.

"She wouldn't be, at least not on purpose." He offered. "But, well... her mind works in amusing ways."

"Now I am scared." She finished. "Ah well."

"What can I say? I'm the only gamer geek in my team. I guess it’s just my thing." He glanced around. "On the other hand, I don't collect guns, glowy rocks or tattoos, so how insane can I be."

"Not that nuts, I guess." Laura went around and picked up the various empty glasses scattered across the table. At least one of them had a cigarette stubbed out in it. "Charming."

"I wanted to get your sheets if that's okay." Nadia added. "I was going to type everything up and put it on my Interweb page."

"You have one?" He said as he passed her his sheet, then Jake's as he was still out smoking.

"Oh yeah." She continued. "I've been indexing all my RP campaigns up there, as well as characters I've played in other people’s games. It’s even got an 'amusing death hall of fame' for those who have rubbed themselves out in unusual ways."

"Now that I like." He finished as he stuffed a few books into his pack. "You'll have to shoot me the address."

"Well, we've got a lot of team prep for this week." Nadia commented. "But I’ll work on it and at least get the character stats up, maybe even fossick around for some artwork." She shrugged. "I like to illustrate characters with any old crap I can find. My page is a mess of stolen images of incredible inconsistency." She stood up, stuffing notes, books and her screen into a bag. "I may even try to find some crappy minis for us to use."

"I have to see that."

"Oh you will." She smirked. "Anyways, I had better run. Got an early start tomorrow morning with weapons practice and all. Elephanders may be cool, but they are a pain to look after."

"Sure thing." Laura called back. "Jake has already volunteered to help me clean up."

"He did?" Neil asked. "When was that? I thought he was too apathetic."

"When he dropped ash in my dammed potplants." She finished and grinned.

"Now that's classy." He added. "If it’s all cool with you, Laura, I might dash as well."

She nodded to him. "Go for it, Neil. I've got things mostly under control here."

"Sure thing. See y'all." He waved to the room, before leaving with Nadia.

"I'm glad you came, Neil. And I'm glad you had a good time." She smiled at him as they stepped out the front door.

"How could I not have?" He continued. "You run a fun game. And between Laura's silliness, Akira's stoicism in the face of it and all we got up to when Jake stepped out for a cig, I was loving it."

"That’s great to hear." She added. "I try to run a good, fun game, Neil. And I think tonight was a great start."

"Cool. Well count me in for next time."

"I figured as such." She finished. "See you around." She turned and walked over to a car that was waiting nearby.

"Sure thing." He added. "Laters." He turned and began to walk towards the bus stop. Oh yeah. Great night.

*****

"Whoah. Junk food overload." Neil moaned as he stumbled into the living room. He’d crawled back home surprisingly late, and had managed to make a lot of noise while doing such.

"What's wrong, you steal too many chips?" Rose shot at him.

“Har har.” Neil muttered as he settled onto one of the couches. “I had a good time last night, actually. How about the rest of you?”

“Great.” Rose replied, a broad grin on her face. “Absolutely fantastic, actually. I had a wonderful time, Neil.”

“Wonderful.” Neil commented. “You’re being ridiculously chirpy when normally you’re so scowly and bitey at everyone. Something has to be up.”

I simply had a good time, Neil.” She explained. “That’s all.”

“Fine then.” He finished. “So, Stephen, how was your night?”

“Crap.” Stephen muttered as he wandered in from the kitchen. “Completely crap. Waste of a perfectly good night and a lot of time and effort.”

“Oookay then.” Neil continued, knowing that it probably wouldn’t achieve anything to keep asking him. A cranky and irritable Stephen was probably the last person in the world he wanted to pester on annoy. So instead he turned to Tasch who had also just entered the room. “What about you?” he asked. “You have a good time of it?”

“Yep.” She cheerily replied. “I wrote a letter to my sis, which is somethin’ that I’ve been puttin’ off for a long time. An’ I got to level thirty and learned to get some more types of herbs. But every time I try to gather ‘em there’s always some giant spiders around them who try to bite me. It’s a pity, ‘cause I kinda like spiders.”

“You what?” Rose asked.

“I thought our backyard was a mess but… Giant Spiders?” Neil asked.

“Not our garden.” She explained. “It’s in Stonemountian Ridge where there’s spiders.”

Rose blinked. “Where’s that? Is it another freaky place on Nyx?”

“Naw, it’s in Laurasia, south of Ashwood and north of the Blasted Land.”

“Tasch, you have completely lost me.” Rose finished. “Even by your standards, you’re not making sense.”

“That wouldn’t happen to be in Battlecraft World, would it?” Neil suddenly asked.

“Yeah.” She explained. “Like it wasn’t obvious.”

“No, it wasn’t.” Rose began. “It wasn’t obvious at all.”

“I didn’t know you played.” Neil commented.

“Not much.” Tasch continued as she opened up her laptop. “Only every now an’ then like late at nights or on bad rainy days or stuff. I like to be more social with other people then with online people, y’see. ‘sides, its not that convenient when I’m travellin’.”

“Understandable.” Neil continued. ‘I never played it but I had friends who did.”

“Hang on, I’ll show ya FJ… she’s my character.” Tasch continued. “Check that, no, I won’t.”

“Why not?”

“’cause we got an Email from the ZBC.” She explained. “Looks like a battle request.”

“Really?” Rose asked, suddenly barging her way next to Tasch. “Who’s it against?”

“Says here it’s against the Golden Eagles team.” Tasch commented.

“What?” Stephen, who had been relatively quiet, called out as he stood. “You sure?”

“Yep.” She commented. “Definitely it. Unless they have a persistent typo throughout it an’ sent us the wrong team info as a result. But I don’t think it is, ‘cause I can’t think of anything that it would be a typo for. Unless it was ‘Olden Eagles’ or somethin’, but that don’t make much sense either.”

“You know these guys?” Neil asked.

“Er, yeah.” Stephen replied. ‘They’re one of the top teams in the entire ZBC. Very well established, very capable and very experienced. They’re also one of the few teams that have everyone using the same Zoid.”

“Which is?”

“Battle Cougars.” He finished.

“Ouch.” Neil offered. “We have to take on a squad of those things? Not nice.”

“Well, there’s only three of ‘em.” Tasch offered. “So then it’s less not nice.”

“At any rate,” Stephen continued as he looked over the specs. “This is going to be one very, very difficult battle.”

*****

[Deadborder]

The sun shone down on the arena, with clear skies making for a beautiful day. However, this was the last thing that the Members of the Broken Chairs actually wanted.

“Dangit, it’s too bright.” Tasch commented as her Redler walked out into the arena. “Way too bright.”

“You know, I’d think that your eyes would be used to it by now.” Rose replied.

“Well, it is too bright fer me.” She continued. “But it ain’t just that. If there’s clear skies, then we’re in a lotta trouble. Yeah, lots of it.”

“How so?” Neil asked as his Zoid joined theirs.

“It’s too clear.” Tasch continued. “It means we ain’t gonna have no cover from them when they’re in the air.” She shook her head. “So they can dive down on y’all a lot easier. An’ I certainly could use some clouds to hide in so I can be all stealthy and stuff.”

“We’ll manage.” Stephen commented. “We always find some way through.” His iron Kong looked over the battlefield. “Just stay sharp and stay focused and do not panic.”

“Sure.” Neil replied. ‘I’ll just do my normal, calm and rational headless chicken act.”

The doors at the other end of the arena opened up, the trio of enemy Zoids marching out into the arena. The three Zoids were identical; each sporting a bright yellow and red colour scheme trimmed with tan weapons and a massive bronze twin-barreled cannon on their back. The three Zoids stretched their wings, each ready for flight.

"A trio of McCougars, each packing serious heat." Neil continued. "This keeps on getting better."

"Just remain focused." Stephen repeated. "Keep moving and stay evasive. Try to make it as difficult for them as possible."

"That shouldn’t be too hard for you, Neil." Rose quipped. "Difficult is your nature."

"You're a real laugh." he smirked.

A judge drone flew over the battlefield, cutting off any further comments. It settled over the middle of the field, before finally speaking. “The Broken Chairs versus the Golden Eagles.” The electronic voice of the drone began. “Both teams confirmed. Arena confirmed. Contestants ready… fight!”

The three Battle Cougars leaped into the air the instant the battle commenced, all three going into straight vertical climbs. The Broken Chairs replied by scattering three of their Zoids splitting off and sprinting across the arena in different directions. Tasch's Redler was the exception, climbing straight at the trio of Battle Cougars.

Tasch kept her eyes on the Battle Cougars, her Redler trying to get as close to them as possible before they could turn and attack. Compared to her own Zoid, the Battle Cougar held almost all the advantages. It was faster, climbed better, accelerated faster, was more heavily armoured and a lot more heavily armed. Despite its size, it was about as agile as a Redler to boot. Or, at least, a regular Redler. She was hoping the flexible boosters would give her the edge she needed.

She opened fire with the Redler's twin beam cannons, the pair of them spiting blasts at the centre Battle Cougar. The enemy pilot must have spotted her coming, as the Zoid rolled out of her way before her beams could strike home. The trio of Zoids rolled over, two of them diving down on the team below them. The third peeled off, flying straight at Tasch's Zoid. As they closed in, it opened up with all eight of its cannons, creating a halo of fire around the Zoid's head and face.

"Heck!" Tasch called out, yanking the control stick while twisting the foot pedals. The Relder banked sharply as its flexible boosters pushed it aside, managing to avoid most of the other machine’s fire. A single beam still seared across its side, ripping a long scar across the Zoid's body. As she rolled away, the enemy Battle Cougar tore through the space that her Zoid had occupied moments before, letting out a loud screech.

Glancing around, she could see that the other two were diving on the other Members of her team, both opening fire with their massive arsenals. Before she could go after them, however, the third enemy Zoid wheeled around, coming back for another pass. "This is gonna be hard." She said to herself. "Okay, Tasch, let’s use every trick you know."

*****

The two Battle Cougars screamed down from on high, each chasing after a different target for a different reason. The first one dived at the Iron Kong, opening fire with all eight of its beam cannons, sending a wave of energy towards the larger Zoid. The beams carved long trenches in the ground, before reaching the Iron Kong itself. Stephen fired the thrusters at the last second, managing to twist his Zoid partially out of the other machine’s line of fire. Several beams still carved up the armour on the Kong's left arm, carving deep gouges through it.

Stephen twisted around, the two dual-stage missiles on the Iron Kong's back launcher soaring into the air after the enemy machine. The Battle Cougar immediately pulled away from the Iron Kong, trying to climb and escape from the two missiles. The Zoid twisted around, managing to pull inside the two large weapons. The missiles streaked past the Battle Cougar, jettisoning their lower stages before coming around and again closing in on it.

The enemy pilot was clearly ready for this, however. His Zoid dived away from the pursuing weapons, heading straight back towards the arena floor while all six engines in its wings opened up. The two missiles closed in, but the Battle Cougar managed to keep ahead of them. The enemy pilot then pulled back, his Zoid suddenly climbing away. The weapons, unable to manoeuvre fast enough to keep up with him, instead slammed into the arena floor, both detonating in brilliant fireballs.

The second Battle Cougar had chosen a different target, instead diving after Rose's Liger Zero. The Zoid opened fire with its beam cannons as it closed in, waiting until it got a lot closer before opening fire. The shots tore into the Liger's side, carving off huge chunks of armour. The Zero staggered under the force of the blows, skidding across the arena floor before recovering.

"Hey! Come back here!" Rose called out, trying to draw a bead on her attacker. Unfortunately, it was already climbing away, well out of the reach of either of her weapons. As the Zoid looped around, she realised that she was virtually defenceless against it. Seeing no other option, she turned the Zero around and ran, opening up the twin boosters. Keeping one eye on the monitor, she tried to concentrate on evading the other Zoid's fire while looking for something - anything - that could give her a chance.

"Stephen!" She called out. "I need some help here!"

"I'm a little busy." He yelled back, a crackle of static bleeding into the channel. Glancing aorund, she could see the Iron Kong staggering as a volley of blasts slammed into its rear. "This guy won't let up."

"Hang on!" Neil called out. "I'll see what I can do!" The Gunsniper sprinted towards her Zoid, just as the Battle Cougar began its second pass.

Rose twisted the controls, trying to leap out of its line of fire. The other pilot seemed to be ready for this, however, the full force of the attack striking her Zoid. The blasts ripped into the Zero's side, knocking the Zoid off its feet and sending it crashing to the arena floor.

As the Battle Cougar pulled away, Neil's Gunsniper charged towards it, opening fire with both of its wrist-mounted gattling cannons. Several shots struck the enemy Zoid's side as it climbed away, leaving him behind. "Rose!" He called out. "You okay?"

"My Zoid's out of action." She muttered back. "But I'm fine. I just couldn't hit the bastard."

"I'm not having too much more luck." He added as he watched the enemy Zoid climb away, easly escaping his weapons range.

Glancing up, he could see that one of them was engaging in a twisting and turning dogfight with Tasch's Redler. That meant that there was one of them that couldn't immediately affect the battle down here. Unfortunately, it also meant that there was one Member of their team who couldn't help him and Stephen out. So they came out even then.

The second Battle Cougar joined its companion, circling around before diving at Stephen's Zoid. The pair of them opened fire on the Iron Kong, each one pumping out a spectacular display of energy beams. The Iron Kong's manoeuvre thrusters again fired, the Zoid trying to twist out of the way of its two attackers. However, the enemy pilots had prepared for this, each one coming in on a separate attack run to box the Zod in and limit its options. It could avoid one or the other of them, but not both.

Shots tore into the Iron Kong's chest, slagging the armour and sending massive sheets dripping to the arena floor. Something within the Kong was struck, the Zoid staggering back as black smoke billowed out from its chest. The massive machine swayed and tottered on its feet, clearly badly damaged by the attacks.

"Stephen!" Neil called out. "Are you-"

"Barely." He muttered back. "Those guys hit hard." The Kong planet one of its massive fists into the ground, managing to stabilise itself. "Okay, I think I've got-"

"Look out!" Neil called out as the two enemy Zoids came diving at Stephen's mahcine again. Neil's warning gve him time to react, bringing aorund the Iron Kong to face its attackers before they could strike.

"Brush me off, will you?" Stephen called out. "Die, damn you!" The Iron Kong's shoulder launcher flipped open, the then missiles concealed within streaking airborne towards the two enemy Zoids. One of them saw what was happening, braking off and climbing away just as the missiles left the launcher.

The second one was not so lucky, the missiles flying straight at it. The pilot tried to pull away, but was too late. The weapons ploughed into his Zoid, ripping off armour from across its body and legs. The enemy machine rolled over, black smoke billowing out form its devastated flank. The Zoid plummeted downwards, then managed to right itself to a degree before crashing into the arena floor on its side. The Battle Cougar skidded along before eventually coming to a halt, clearly out of action.

"There!" Stephen called back. "And tell your boss that-"

He never got to finish what he was saying. The second Battle Cougar came around, opening up on the Iron Kong's side with all eight of its cannons. The weapons tore into the Zoid's already damaged chest, smashing through the armour and sending it reeling back. The Iron Kong staggered, then collpased flat onto its back. Looking over it, Neil could see that the machine was out of action; its chest was a gaping hole, thich black smoke bollowing out of it.

"Ah hell!" He called out. "Why did it have to come down to me!" He opened up the Gunsniper's throttle, the small Zoid sprinting towards the Battle Cougar as it climbed away. He again opened up with the twin vulcans, spraying shots at the Zoid as it climbed away. The Battle Cougar seemed to ignore him, climbing into the air above the arena.

Then came the moment Neil had been dreading. The enemy machine looped over, then dived towards him on an attack run. The enemy pilot didn't even bother with subtlety, instead diving straight at his Zoid form head on, hoping to overwhelm him with sheer firepower. Neil could understand how it would work, but it also gave him an opening; one that he intended to exploit.

The Battle Cougar dived in, screeching loudly as it opened fire with its collection of beam weapons. At the same time, Neil trigged the two rocket launchers on the Gunsiper's back, all sixteen missiles soaring into the air and heading straight for the other Zoid. The beams reached home first, slicing into the Gunsniper's legs and sending his machine crashing down onto the arena floor. Glancing over the status board, Neil could see that his Zoid was out of action, both its legs having been reduced to slagged wrecks.

But he could see something else; a Battle Cougar slowly spiralling downwards, its chest and forelegs a mess of torn metal from the impact of his rockets. He leaned back in the cockpit and smiled to himself. "Heh. Gotcha, sucker."

******

Gregor Berkut was far from pleased with how the battle was turning out. While three of the enemy Zoids were out of action, so were the other two Members of his team. It was a far higher loss rate then he'd expected and, frankly, not one that he was happy with. Talented or not, the amateurs in the enemy team should have been taken out with far less effort, and certainly without knocking out two of his own team. The fact that the Zero had gone down without a fight didn't give him any satisfaction. There was nothing it could have done to his Zoids anyway, and defeating it was just a part of winning the battle.

Adding to his frustration was the enemy Redler. The Zoid was proving to be incredibly elusive, managing to avoid his very determined efforts to bring it down. The enemy pilot was rather good at twisting and evading his shots, as well as being very hard to track. And while they hadn't put up much of an offence so far, at the same time he figured that they should have been out of action long ago. It was amazing what they had achieved so far with just a pair of flexible boosters.

He could almost admire the enemy pilot. With a bit more experience - and a different Zoid - they could have a place in his team if they asked.

But that was for later. Right now he had a serious task at hand, and that was winning the match. He threw the Cougar into a tight turn, heading after the enemy Redler as it climbed away from him. Opening up the throttle, he closed in for the kill. For a moment, the Redler was within the centre of his sights, giving him the chance he needed. He squeezed the trigger, the twin pulse cannons in the Battle Cougar's wings spraying shots at the enemy Zoid.

Or at least, that was the plan.

The Redler twisted in the air, managing to roll out of the line of fire just before his shots struck home, then fired its own boosters, climbing away. Gregor grunted to himself as he pulled the Battle Cougar around a sharp turn, the g-forces pushing him back as he tried to keep up with the enemy Zoid. His Battle Cougar only barely managed to keep its nose pointed at the other machine, only the Grade-up cannons pointing at anything resembling the target.

The Battle Cougar's main guns had proven to be rather poor at tracking the Redler, being relatively slow firing heavy beams designed for use against ground targets or larger, less manoeuvrable opponents. Still, it was worth a try. One or two hits from the big guns should be enough to bring down the Redler anyway. Doing his best to sustain the turn, he opened fire on the enemy Zoid. The two drum-like generators on the base of the cannons crackled as they discharged, sending a pair of brilliant bolts at the Redler.

...which suddenly reversed its course, streaking out of his sights. The two beams tore straight past it, flying off into empty space. Swearing darkly to himself, he wheeled around the Battle Cougar, trying again to keep the Redler in his sights. The enemy pilot seemed to have anticipated his move, however, cutting across his path and dashing away, diving towards the arena floor. He pitched down after it, opening fire on the Redler as he went.

The enemy Zoid suddenly pitched up, twisting its boosters to suddenly power out of the dive and, more to the point, out of his line of fire. His blasts tore through the space where it had been, while the Zoid itself pulled up ands away from him. He angrily opened up the throttle, pulling the Battle Cougar up and after the Redler, trying to close down the distance. There was one last trump card he could employ, one thing the Redler couldn't hope to compete with.

The Battle Cougar's staggering arrya of weapons weren't its only asset in combat. Besides its guns, the Zoid was also equipped with razor-sharp claws, a fearsome beak and, most deadly of all, its massive Thunder and Lighting Strike Horn. Based on the weapon used by the long-extinct Orudios, it would be enough to impale the Redler and knock it pout of the sky. And with the Battle Cougar's faster speed and acceleration, chasing it down wouldn't be too hard. All he needed was a chance.

The Battle Cougar screeched as it climbed up, then dived at the Redler, its forward talons outstretched to strike. He rushed towards the Redler, the enemy pilot unaware of what was about to happen until the last possible moment. The Redler rolled away, the Battle Cougar's talons slashing across the trailing edge of one of its wings. Undeterred, Gregor bought up the Zoid, climbing towards his damaged enemy. And while he hadn't done much to it so far, he felt that now it was only a matter of time before he bought the enemy Zoid down.

He climbed up and opened up the engine again, heading towards the Redler for another strike. The enemy pilot seemed to have a better idea of what was going on, however, and managed to twist the Zoid just out of his way as he struck. Not wanting to let up, he crossed back, heading towards the Redler for another chance to strike. This time the enemy pilot opened up their boosters, the Redler just slipping out of his grasp for now.

The enemy Zoid again dived to build speed, then levelled out, heading away in a high speed dash. Gregor powered after it, the Battle Cougar's six engines wide open and going at full bore, pushing it forwards towards its prey. The Redler kept going, trying to get as much speed as it could out of a level run. Gregor didn't care; he just wanted to bring down the enemy Zoid as quickly as possible. He closed in, ready for the kill.

And then the enemy pilot did something that nothing could have prepared him for.

Twisting its boosters around, the Redler pitched its nose up without climbing. As he watched in surprise, the Zoid flipped over, bleeding off speed as it passed the vertical and flopped back into an inverted, backwards horizontal flight. The Battle cougar flew straight at it, the Redler's speed dropping as his own increased. He twisted the controls, desperate to get out of the way of the enemy pilot's insane plan.

And then the Redler's tailblade flicked out, slashing across the Battle Cougar's wing. There was a hideous metallic screech as it sliced through the outer wing, neatly separating it from the rest of the Zoid's body.

The two Zoids plummeted, the Redler form the sheer loss of speed, the Battle Cougar from shedding a wing. The enemy pilot managed better, firing their boosters as the Zoid changed directions, flying forwards and slowly upwards. Gregor, on the other hand, could see that his own machine was finished, the loss of its wing enough to knock it out of the skies.

"Perhaps I have misjudged them." He muttered to himself as he fought to regain control of his Zoid. He was out of the fight, but at least he would try to get as smooth a landing as he could.

*****

Despite his earlier promise never to come back, Stephen had found himself again in the dingy bar. He'd gotten a phone call from Gregor, saying that he wanted to meet. Apparently, the outcome of their battle had somewhat changed his opinion of the Chairs and their ability to handle themselves.

He found himself sitting at the same table, again looking at the older pilot. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" Stephen asked, remaining casual. He saw no reason to antagonise the man, especially not now.

"I was impressed with the way you and your team performed." he simply stated. "I may have misjudged you."

Stephen nodded. "So what do you have?"

"Several years ago, when NUBG was last active, several of us pilots formed what could be only described as a vigilante group." He explained. "We spent our time prowling around, keeping an eye on things and making sure that NUBG didn't try anything. We didn’t go out looking for trouble but, at the same time, we did try to prevent them from trying anything."

"After a half season of attacks, NUBG abruptly stopped." He continued. "Something happened, I suspect behind the scenes, that caused them to give up attacking us. Our group was disbanded, and our Members all pledged not to discuss what happened since, strictly speaking, it was illegal. We've had no real reason to re-form, even in the current situation. NUBG is not the menace it used to be."

"So what does this have to do with me?" Stephen asked.

"We do know more then a bit about NUBG." He continued. "Including some of its names." He put several pictures down on the table. "We don't know exactly who's active in NUBG these days, but these are the people I'd look out for."

He placed a picture of a quartet of Zoids down on the table. While it was blurry and in less then favorable light, Stephen easily recongised them; a Genobreaker, a Dark Spiner, a Liger Zero X and a Killer Dome. "This is the NUBG's top team." Gregor continued. "Their pilots are NUBG's best, and often acted as 'troubleshooters' in addition to regular competition and battle invasions."

"We've seen the X and the Spiner." Stephen commented as he examined the photo. "Not sure about the other two."

"Those two are apparently the boss's right hand men, a pair of guys called Shane and Julian." He continued. "They seem to mainly focus on taking out individuals, enforcing NUBG secrecy and the like. Both are skilled pilots and work well together."

"That would fit with what they were doing when we saw them." Stephen added. "What about the others?"

"The breaker is piloted by a man named Cole, supposedly their champion." Gregor explained. "He's a bit of a mystery. We think that something happened to him, as his Zoid hasn't appeared in any NUBG matches in years."

Stephen was going to ask how Gregor knew that, but decided not to. "And the Killer Dome?"

"No idea." He admitted. "We never found any clues as to the pilot's identity. Whoever they are, they’re pretty capable both on their own and as a part of the Dark Spiner."

"I see." Stephen looked over it. "What else can you say?"

"Just this." He commented. "NUBG is a criminal organisation, yes, but in the end they’re all about one thing: money. They don't do anything unless there's some financial reward. They don't go around burning down villages or killing people or anything like that. It makes no sense at all for them to do such. All they want to do is fight their way and to reap the benefits. Their pilots are not evil, merely greedy. Many of them you'll find are rather cowardly bullies; they’re content to do whatever they want as long as things are going their way. However, the instant things look bad, they run."

"So then what do you suggest?"

"You make it as difficult for them as possible." He explained. "Do not provoke them, but, at the same time, do everything you can to fight them. When they see that they're loosing money, then they'll give up and move on, finding something else to occupy themselves."

*****

[Deadborder]

Despite the fact that her Zoid had been disabled during the battle, Rose was quite happy with the outcome of the battle. The fact that the Broken Chairs had won was a pleasant surprise for her. She'd been feeling rather... apprehensive since Jill's unexpected appearance a few days ago, and winning a battle had put her in a much better mood. That and not seeing Jill again, of course.

She and Drake had gone out for a few drinks to celebrate the win. They'd gone to one of the popular pubs that Zoid Pilots frequented to unwind and have a good time. Rose had a hidden agenda, of course. Personally she was hoping that it would lead to a bit more.

"I've fought the Golden Eagles before." Drake began as he took a sip of his drink. "Well, I fought Gregor, their leader, in a singles battle. It was not easy." He commented. "I managed a win, but only just."

"Well, those Battle Cougars are tough." Rose commented. "I was totally screwed with my lack of anti-air."

"Don't worry about it." Drake shook his head. "Your Zoid was not designed to handle that sort of opponent. Very few modern Zoids are, actually. Remember, the Battle Cougar was built to fight Gungyarados and Gilvaders. No offence, but a Liger Zero is a little less of a threat then they would be."

"True, true." She put her hands up. "Well, wondergirl managed to save the day and that's what counts. I'm sure that she can explain to me exactly what she did, and I'm sure I won't understand a word of it."

Drake smiled at her. "You have a lot of confidence in your team, I noticed. That's a very good thing. You'll never get anywhere if you don't have confidence in them."

"Do you?" She asked.

"Morgan is a little rough around the edges, but he can be replied upon to hold up his end." Drake offered. "Both Miles and Krystal are very skilled pilots, two of the better ones I've ever worked with."

"Well I guess that's good then." She added.

"Excuse me... Drake?" A man began, walking over to the pair of them. He was tall and slim, with short-cut black hair and, to Rose's eyes, slightly effeminate features. He was dressed in a very clean very sharp suit, and looked rather out of place comapred to the other people in the bar.

"Elden?" Drake asked. "This is a surprise. I didn't expect to see you here, of all places."

"Well, no." He admitted. "I didn't think I would either, to be honest."

"Rose, this is Elden Vanderlinen. He's an old friend of mine, and one of my few friends outside the Zoid circuit." he added, jokingly. "Elden, this is Rose. She's another Zoid pilot."

"Pleased to met you." Rose began, a friendly smile on her face.

"Likewise." He rather dismissively replied. "Uh, Drake, I was wondering if we could talk." He glanced at Rose. "uh, in private."

Drake nodded. "Certainly. Rose, if you could excuse me for a few minutes. I haven't seen Elden in ages and, well..."

Rose nodded. "Not a prob." She began. "Go for it."

"Thank you, Rose." he replied.

The two of them walked over to a booth on the far side of the bar, out of her line of sight. Rose watched them for a minute, but soon lost them in the crowd. I wonder what he's about? She asked herself. Now you're being paranoid. You’ll be seeing NUBG assassins at every window next. She finished her drink then sighed to herself as she waited for Drake to return. He didn't.

"Sod this for a lark." She muttered as she walked off to the women's room. Emerging a few minutes later, she spied Drake's long hair out of the corner of her eye, the man seated in a booth. She approached him, not wanting to intrude, but at the same time wanting to get a little closer to him.

"...basically, what I'm saying Drake is that I'm sorry about what I said." She heard Elden say.

"You were very against what I wanted back then. Why should things be any different now?" Drake stated, a surprisingly harsh tone in his voice. "You used me, Elden."

"I... I wasn't thinking." He admitted. "I didn't like what you were doping, but I never realised how you felt and that Zoids were, well, your life."

"I explained it all to you."

"And I was a fool not to listen." Elden finished. "I'm sorry, Drake. I didn't think."

What the hell? Rose asked herself. She moved a little closer, trying to get a better look at what was happening in the booth, while staying out of sight. She glanced around, seeing the pair of them sitting there, staring at each other.

"What I mean to say is..." Elden continued. "I made a mess of things, and I’m sorry. But... I want to know. Do you want to give things another chance?"

"Well..." Drake paused. "I was angry with you, Elden. But, at the same time, I can understand why you said what you did. Last time, we just had too many differences." He put his hands on the table and held Elden's. "This time, well, I think we can give it another chance. If you're going to be more accommodating, then it may just work out."

Elden nodded. "Thank you, Drake. This means a lot to me."

Drake smiled. 'Me too, Elden. Me too." he leaned closer to Elden. Rose’s heart skipped a beat as she tried to figure out what was going on... and then realised. The two of them leaned towards each other and then kissed. It was only for a moment, but it was enough for Rose.

She turned her back and scrambled out of the bar, just wanting to be as far away as possible.

*****

Duane Leighton glanced nervously over his shoulders as his Brachios galloped across the fields at high speed. He glanced at the rear monitors, checking for any sign of a pursuer. He didn't know if there was anyone after him, but if there was, he wanted to be as far away from them as possible.

He and his team, the Obsidian Demons, had been en-route to an NUBG training ground on the outskirts of the city. He'd been told that his performance in his most recent battles, despite his recent loss to the DA Lizards, had shown that he had 'unique talents' and that he had been earmarked for 'special training'. In fact, his whole team had such 'special talents'. So they'd been told to show up at the training grounds for some 'extra development'.

Because they were NUBG and, strictly speaking, what they were doing was illegal, the training grounds were in the woods that were a few hours south of the city. They were to go there at night in order to reduce the chances of anyone seeing them and being able to locate the training facility. He understood the need for secrecy. In fact, he found it kind of exciting. The thrill of doing something this illegal was more then enough to make up for the long trip. That and he wanted to know what his 'special talents' were.

They'd never made it. En-route, they'd been attacked by some assailant. While he'd initially thought that it was a part of the training, it became very clear that it wasn't. Now three members of his team were down, and he was running for his life.

His sensors beeped to warn him of something approaching him. Glancing back, he could see something approaching. He desperately activated the Brachios' rear cannon swinging it around to open fire on the incoming attacker. Without bothering to aim, he just opened fire, spraying shots at his enemy.

The cockpit was filled with the sound of the cannon firing, its discharges ringing around the enclosed space. He eased up on the trigger as it became obvious that he wasn't achieving anything. Then there was silence, save for the sound of the Brach's feet crunching across the landscape.

Suddenly, the whole Zoid lurched forwards as something crashed down onto its back, smashing into it. Red lights came on across the board as his Zoid crashed to the ground, system after system going offline. Duane was smashed into the console as he was thrown around the cockpit, then slammed back into the back of his chair. His head swam as he tried to regain control of his machine, but to no avail. The Brachios crashed to the ground, lying dead on its side.

For a moment, he sat in the cockpit, barely daring to breathe. He had no idea what the attacker wanted, but he figured that it was best for him to stay still and not do anything, lest he provoke them. For a short eternity, all was silent. Then the Brachios rocked as the attacker, whoever they were, leaped away from it.

After what he figured was a minute, Duane nervously popped open the hatch and glanced around. A quick inspection told him that his Zoid was out of action and that it might not even be repairable. Though he couldn't see the machines of his teammates, he suspected they were in the same shape.

"Wha..." He asked himself. "What happened?"

*****

Author’s notes:

The Golden Eagles team actually come from the earliest concepts of what would eventually become PMF and were the first team to be created. They predate the Broken Chairs by a surprising degree. Very little else from this period survives into the final story.

I’m sure that somebody will appreciate all the gaming references worked into this chapter.

For air combat geeks, Tasch pulled a (badly described) Cobra Maneuver. I suspect that trying such in a Redler would not be considered sane. How did she do it? Maybe a combination of the Flexible Boosters and the Redler’s VTOL directional jets. Or whatever.