Lay Of The Last Minstrel: Canto Sixth

[Orange]

Chapter 17: Mourn

Call it not vain;--they do not err,
Who say, that when the Poet dies,
Mute Nature mourns her worshiper,
And celebrates his obsequies:
Who say, tall cliff and cavern lone
For the departed Bard make moan;
That mountains weep in crystal rill;
That flowers in tears of balm distill;
Through his lov'd groves that breezes sigh,
And oaks, in deeper groan, reply;
And rivers teach their rushing wave
To murmur dirges round his grave.
-

Sef was quite comfortable. After a nice meal and a few stiff drinks at the Salmon Row, he had crashed out in a motel close to the town parking garage. He slept in, and was up at 12, ready for a lazy whatever-was-left of the morning. He was back at the Salmon Row, sitting in a booth. Well, more like sprawled out in a booth. He was leaning against the wall, his legs stretched out on the rest of the seat, his feet dangling off the edge. He had a newspaper to read, and hot food at his elbow, along with a mug of hot and damn good coffee that was willingly refilled every time the hostess went by.

It was the most relaxing time he had in months.

His relaxation was disturbed when someone sat in his booth. Across from him was the man from yesterday, and he seemed to be in a sour mood.

“Back to give me the rest of my money?” Sef said, looking over from his newspaper.

“There have been... Complications.” The man sighed. “Believe me, I am just as annoyed as you will be at this turn of events.”

Sef folded his newspaper. “What turn of events are we talking about?”

The man shook his head. “The fifth is alive, and being protected. Three of my men are dead, all from a single command wolf.”

Sef could hardly hold back a smile. “Well, Command Wolves got a lot of fight in them.”

“One of my men was in a Red Horn Cannonry.”

This impressed Sef. “Eve, you got a Red Horn with a CP-07 hanging around? Why the hell do you need me? And how inept do you have to be to loose in a situation like that?”

“My men were very well trained, as well as excellent fighters.” The man glowered. “The Command Wolf executed a Ragnarok Fang.”

“Eve.” Sef breathed. “This is a god damned archaeologist we're after. How important is this crap if a dude's gonna suicide over it?”

“This is not your concern. Your concern is that we need the girl. You will be paid not only the remaining twenty percent of your commission, but an additional thirty percent.”

“Another half?” Sef blinked. This was getting weird. Weird, but good. The extra cash would sure be helpful, even with the delay. “What exactly am I going up against?”

“The girl is in a Gustav. She has a companion, and the Gustav is towing a stock Genius Wolf. I am assuming the companion is a pilot.”

Sef grinned. “Genius Wolf? Fine. But I want my twenty percent up front. And if I see more then the Wolf, I'm bailing.”

The man grimaced. “I.. Regret that I do not have the cash on hand, at the moment. I will by tomorrow. For this, I give you an extra ten percent. Do we have a deal?”

Sef nodded. “Deal. But only because this is some of the best damn coffee I have ever had.” He said, pointing to his mug. “Now let me finish my breakfast.”

-

Timbre could only sit in silence.

He had long run out of tears. He spent the whole night sobbing, his body quietly rocking on the grass of the valley hill. Or, what grass was left. The blast of the Ragnarok Fang had collapsed a good portion of the valley, causing land-slides to engulf the area of the blast. A fitting burial, really. And it saved Timbre the added grief of seeing Fiver's mangled body.

Adie had also run out of tears. She too, spent the night crying. She was un-used to death, and the shock of Babe's sudden demise only added to her own grief. She was not a fighter, she never expected to witness the awesome and terrible spectacle that is a violent death. But she was better off then Timbre. He was absolutely, and utterly crushed. Adie did the best she could to lend her support in Timbre's moment of terrible greif. Her support was a long, and much appreciated hug. She held Timbre as he sobbed, helping him through the long and terrible night.

Now, all Timbre could do was stare ahead at the burial site. His stare was dead and unseeing, his mind tumbling in utter confusion, grief, and anger. How could Babe do this? Why? Timbre loved Babe like a father, and he as a son. It was an unspoken agreement between the two of them, and an understanding that was never really voiced. Timbre had been looking into the future, and expecting to have Babe there for a long, long time. And now?

Dead. Babe was dead, and Fiver along with him.

And then, the sudden realization that he may be dead soon too.

Timbre stood sudenly, wiping the dust and mud of tears from his clothes, but not without a pathetic sounding sniffle. “Let's go. Someone is bound to miss these bastards, and I don't want to be around when they decide to come looking.”

Adie nodded. “I know. I just...” She sighed, pulling her knees to her chest. “This is so utterly bloody miserable.”

Timbre rested his hands on Adie's shoulders, giving them a friendly rub. “Come. I need you to drive the Gustav. I'll take Vector, and hope that nobody wants a fight.”

“Where are we going?” Adie asked, taking Timbre's hand, hauling herself up out of the grass.

“Certainly not to Todis. That's where these guys came from.” Timbre sighed, and walked over to Vector's cockpit. Inside, he pulled up the HUD and onboard maps that Babe had thankfully downloaded to Vector's memory. It took a moment of fiddling, but Timbre pulled up the area map.

“Okay. Here's where we are. Kinda.” Timbre said, gesturing to the map.

“No, silly.” Adie said, leaning in the cockpit to look at the HUD. “We are about here.” She said, pointing at a certain point.

“How can you tell?”

“Archaeologists need to know a bit about cartography. Don't you know how to read a map? Here.” She moved her finger along the road line. “This is the road we are on, and here's the valley we're in. See how the contour lines get really tight here? That means it's steep, and that's exactly what's around us. Steep valley. Fortunately, it evens out after a few more miles.

“But the road goes right into Todis.” Timbre mused.

“So we don't take the road. Once the valley gets a bit flatter, I can take the Gustav up and out, and over to here.” She said, pointing to another road. “It's supposed to junction at Todis, but we're taking a short-cut. We can take this west into the Interior, where's it nice, flat, and easy to drive. There's a small town... Yeah, here.” She said, scrolling the map over. “It's not on the map, but it's there. Right at the edge of the Deeit Flatlands. I was there on a dig last year, and the site is still active. I have friends there, and they can get me in contact with my colleagues.”

Timbre nodded. “All right. Lead on, great explorer.”

[Orange]

-

Chapter 18: Reflection

``O swiftly can speed my dapple-grey steed,
Which drinks of the Teviot clear;
Ere break of day,'' the Warrior 'gan say,
``Again will I be here:
And safer by none may thy errand be done,
Than, noble dame, by me;
Letter nor line know I never a one,
Wer't my neck-verse at Hairibee.''

-

The hours of travel were long and hard on Timbre. The cramped conditions and boring pace made things very difficult. He was alternating between scouting ahead and doubling back to the Gustav, rarely following right along. He learned this from Babe and Tinder's own practice, where Babe drilled proper escort strategy into Tinder's somewhat think skull. Timbre usually watched, or practiced somewhere else. He only had Pike at that time, so practice-fighting was out of the question. But he still picked up on Tinder's lessons.

Timbre found himself thinking about Babe, and forgetting that he was dead. It would come back to him in flashes, startling as they were. His mind would drift to mundane things, like what he was going to make for dinner. He'd probably heat up some soup for all of them. He didn't know if Adie liked tomato soup, but Babe was always glad to have it. His with lots of crackers and cheese sprinkled on top... But Babe wont be having soup. Babe's dead.

It was a sad and sobering thought. Timbre tried to put it out of his mind, knowing that moping now was only going to be counter-productive. He had to be especially careful. Fiver was also dead and gone, and Fiver's scout radar and decades of experience were not around to keep everyone safe. That, and Fiver had been a good friend. It was an equally terrible loss, the death of the zoid as well as the pilot. The two were inseparable in Timbre's mind.

Timbre had to bring himself from the verge of tears many times over the hours. After awhile, he made himself a promise. Once Adie was safe and whatever was trying to get her was gone, Timbre would go back to the valley, as see that the place was properly memorialized. A nice statue, or some sort of plaque, telling the story of Babe's life. Babe would like that. Timbre would have to go back to Ravenstaad first, though. Tell everyone how Babe saved him, how he went out in a blaze of real glory. Yeah. Babe was a bonafide hero now, if he hadn't been before. Timbre would make sure that everyone knew, and that nobody would forget.

Because if nobody ever forgot Babe and Fiver, he would never really be gone.

Timbre smiled a bit at that thought. Once Timbre was able to read without so much trouble, Babe made sure that Timbre read the book he had been named from. 'The Snowy North' was a long, thick book, and had taken Timbre some time to slog through. But it was not a difficult read. Timbre found himself actually enjoying the book, something that surprised him. Probably because he found the character of Timbre to be somewhat impressive. He started off young, scared, and kinda silly. But ended up being a complete bad-ass. Kind of an asshole, too, but the guy was awesome. It was hard not to be, when you are raised by fighters, warriors, and a ninja dude that did way too many drugs. Add a dash of drama due to a shady background, and internal turmoil, and you have one hell of a character.

The book was more then a story. It was a lifetime, focusing on two generations in particular of a town called Send, in the middle of the Snowy North. Small town under siege by big bad evil peoples. Turns out the heir warrioress is a young woman living in the south, so someone has to get her and convince her that she needs to fight a war. So she comes with her own pack of emotional issues at the start. She fights some battles, gets captured, gets rescued, spends the winter healing and moping over some new dude/warrior/mercenary that showed up in town to help fight. Ends up winning the war, running away, being dragged back to the town kicking and screaming by big dude/warrior, marrying said dude, dying in another war, handing the town to Timbre the orphan kid/ninja to run. Or something. It was a really complex plot, lots of characters that would take pages to describe.

One thing that stuck with Timbre from the whole book was one character's view of mortality. Teggeter was the dude/warrior/mercenary who wandered in late in the game. He was the big stereotypical 'big dude with a big sword', only it was a mace instead of a sword. Except instead of being big, dumb, and wrathy, Teggeter was big, smart, and collected. He was 'simple', as in 'the world is very big and I doubt i'll even understand most of it, so I'm just going to stick to simple issues and try not to complicate things'. Occams Razor defined in a man. But beneath his simple outlook on life, he was a very deep, spiritual man. Poet, musician, warrior. His faith consisted entirely of singing, and the belief that when one sang, he was speaking to the world. Nature, the dead, the living, all of that. Everything had a song, a melody.

The night was cold and frigid, as they always were in the winter valley. Teggeter stood on his favorite hill, and stared up into the clear night sky, humming a simple tune. This was his escape, his faith. It helped carry him away, back to his home. It was in song, that Teggeter felt grounded. The music flowed through his mind, notes weaving themselves in his mind.

“What's got you up here again?” Thorn said, approaching from the base of the hill. He had been on a night watch, and noticed Teggeter's large form on the crest of the normally clean lines of the hill.

“Singin.” Teggeter replied simply, not bothering to turn to look at Thorn. He was enjoying the moment, and it was not to be interrupted.

“Yer singing is gonna attract some sorta attention, and it might not be the good kind, bud. I'm not gonna haul ass out of my comfy bunk if I hear you screamin bloody murder from this hilltop because you got jumped.”

“I aint gonna get jumped.” Teggeter drawled. He inhaled deeply, the winter air cleaning his lungs, and his thoughts. It was only then that he turned to look at his friend. “You should join me some night.”

“Why for?”

“Welp, for one thing, I can stand to have the company. My songs aint meant to be sung alone.”

“I cant carry a tune to save my dinner, Tegg.” Thorn grumbled.

“So hum. Or listen. It's not the singin' that I always care about. It's the song.” Teggeter turned back to look over the ridge of the hill, and sat in the snow. “See, songs teach us things. Our minds remember songs better then most things, melody is a kind of glue that helps us learn lessons, keep stuff down in our brain.”

“How do you know that?”

“Welp, you probably remember a dozen songs from when you were a kid, right? But how many do you remember the words to? You remember the tune, and what the song was about, but not the words. That tune reminds you of the lesson you learned, and in the melody, is memory.”

“I guess that's about right.” Thorn said, shrugging. “But I can remember most things fine without a song.”

“Yeah, but how many other folk's 'ill?” Teggeter paused to sigh. “See, people don't usually remember when you tell 'em something. If you sing it to 'em, they remember the tune, and the message with it. And as long as that song is around, the message is with it. Where I come from, people have their own songs. Family songs, story songs. So long as the song is sung, the person's story is remembered. So long as the song is sung, the family is honored. And that way, it is never forgotten. And when something is not forgotten, it never dies. Here.” Teggeter then hummed a four note tune.

“Okay, what's that mean?”

“Nothing now. But how about, 'Thoorn, let's go get a beer'.” He sang the words in tune to the notes. “Now we go get a beer. And I'll sing that every time I want to go get a beer. And before long, if you hear the tune, you'll say, 'Oh, that idiot wants to go get a beer'. And someday, when i'm gone, you might hear that tune. And when you do, you'll remember me wanting to go get a beer. And as long as you remember me wanting to go get a beer, i'll still be alive somewhere. If not in the real world, at least in your head.”

And with that, Teggeter and Thorn went to get a beer.

The pages stuck in Timbre's head, and the lesson with it. So long as people remembered Babe, he would not be forgotten. And so long as people remembered Teggeter's song, Teggeter would never die.
-

Sef was hot on the trail of his quarry. After pausing for a moment at the blocked road to pay his respects (anyone who decides to use a Ragnarok Fang for any reason is usually deserving of some sort of respect), he backtracked down the road to Todis.

His Glow Fox was running hot, something Sef did not like. It was a somewhat new zoid, and had belonged to another member of the guild before he was killed. Now, it was pretty much tossed around as a spare. As a result, the thing was not exactly the best kept zoid in the world. It was plagued with minor mechanical hitches. One such mechanical hitch was that the Boozefighter armor system was on the fritz.

The Alcohol Cooled Armor System, commonly known as the 'Boozefighter', was a popular medium-heavy armor package for smaller zoids. The armor was built to take a lot of punishment, but was prone to over-heating the zoid, even with the coolant system working flawlessly. And for some reason, the Glow Fox's circulating pump was being sluggish. As a result, the normaly stealthy Glow Fox was lit up like a firecracker on a dead night, at least to any IR systems. And unfortunately, the Genuis Wolf was equipped with such a system.

Still, Sef had his options. One of which was to stop and let the Fox cool naturally. This was unacceptable, seeing as Sef had a very short period of time where he could reasonably track these suckers. Once they made it into the faceless Interior of Europa, Sef may as well chase a tumbleweed. A very fast tumbleweed.

The other option was to make a very careful approach, using the landscape to mask his approach. He would still leak IR like a sieve, but it would do enough to keep him from being detected, at least until he had a clear shot. His last option was the one he preferred, but did not pick for obvious reasons. He could go on like normal, try to get a track as quickly as possible, charge in, trounce everything, and run home hopefully before the weekend. It was restaurant night in a few days, the only time the whole crew really ever got out to have some fun in a civilized setting.

Sef backtracked towards Todis, looking for a trail. Unless the girl was dumb enough to go to Todis (where people were waiting for her, and Sef would not get any money for his troubles), they would have to break off the road at some point. Luckily for Sef, there was such a track leading off into the plains that surrounded Todis. Not many Gustavs would ever leave the road, and the swath of mashed grass and churned up earth was a simple enough trail to follow.

And off he went.

[Orange]

-

Chapter 19: Found

Vails not to tell each hardy clan,
From the fair Middle Marches came;
The Bloody Heart blaz'd in the van,
Announcing Douglas, dreaded name!
Vails not to tell what steeds did spurn,
Where the Seven Spears of Wedderburne
Their men in battle-order set;
And Swinton laid the lance in rest,
That tamed of yore the sparkling crest
Of Clarence's Plantagenet.

-

Timbre was trotting well ahead of the Gustav, keeping his eyes peeled, and his sensors open. His back ached, his arms hurt, his legs were cramped, and his butt was completely numb. But he didn't dare stop for a rest. His last break was several hours ago, for a quick smoke and a pee, and he thought that was more then enough. He had to get Adie to the dig site, and then, to some sort of safety. He was not about to let Babe's sacrifice to be in vain.

“Tam, at this rate, we should reach the camp tomorrow afternoon. You want to take a quick kip?”

“No. I'd rather run through the night. The quicker we get to the camp, the quicker you are safe.”

“I hope so...” Adie trailed off. It was a moment later that she spoke up again. “Tam, I'm sorry.”

“For what?”

“For.. everything. If it wasn't for me..”

“Shush. Don't blame yourself. Babe did what he did... Because he's Babe. He and Fiver are noble guys, and not about to let some jerks take you off without a fight. “

“You talk like he's still alive.”

Timbre grit his teeth. “So long as the song is sung, the man is alive.”

Timbre slowed Vector to a walk, letting the Gustav catch up. He then let his pace match the Gustav's for a bit, jogging silently next to the Gustav. From his seat, Timbre could just see into the Gustav's cockpit, and the outline of Adie through it's smoky glass canopy.

“We'll get you safe, don't worry.”

With that, Timbre ran ahead of the Gustav, checking the road ahead.

But it wasn't the road ahead that was to be Timbre's problem. Without warning, two laser pulses whipped by Vector's head, buzzing with angry energy. Timbre immediately slammed Vector into a sliding stop, turning to face where the pulses had come from. It was not hard to find what the source was. Over the crest of a nearby hill, a massive flare of IR energy was being picked up by the scanners.

“*Watch your language!*! Adie, keep driving, i'll hold this thing off.”

“What the HELL is going on in my bloody life?” Adie cursed, and kept the Gustav on a straight course, driving past the now mobile Genius Wolf.

Timbre drove his hurts and aches from his mind, and he swept his eyes over the console. The 3d sensors quickly picked up the target, a Glow Fox. A very heavy, hot Glow Fox.

Two more shots slammed in, swinging wide of Vector's aproach. Timbre grit his teeth, and swung Vector around in a tight circle, trying to pinpoint and flank this damn thing.

“Who are you? Why are you attacking?” Timbre shouted over the comm.

“Just a guy doing a job.” The Glow Fox pilot responded, pulling his Glow Fox up a bit, slowing it's charge. “I'll let you go if you give me the girl.”

“Not happening.” Timbre replied, trying to keep his voice even. He did not slow Vector's run, and angled off to rejoin the Gustav. What if this guy had friends?”

“Kid, you don't know who yer dealing with.” The Glow Fox sped up in pursuit, the twin 80mm Laser Cannons firing once again. This shot came dangerously close to scoring a hit, but Timbre's hammer-honed skills had kicked in, and he was jinking like a madman, the jolts of every sideways bounce rattling his frame, but making it hard to score any kind of shot.

“*Watch your language!*.” Sef growled silently. Whoever the heck this pilot was, he sure could drive. For all of Sef's skill, he was a miserable shot, and this dude's jinking was not making it any easier. He slowed the Glow Fox into a steadier jog, and fired again.

This shot hit the ground under Vector's paws, causing the Genius Wolf to slide out and tumble, going for a rollie. Timbre was tossed in his straps, knocking the wind solidly out of him. Vector added his own cries of dismay, a keening whine of pain as his servos hyper-extended, and gears crashed and grinned.

Timbre struggled to get the Genius Wolf up again, but the Glow Fox was quick to pounce, bouncing hard on the Genius Wolf's frame, claws digging into and crushing none-too-hardy armor. Timbre was once again thrown aside, the light Genius Wolf being tossed several yards away into the plains sod. The Glow Fox swung wide, it's Strike Laser Claw quickly powering up, light streaming from vented exhaust panels, and an unearthly electric whine filling the air...

“Wait!” Adie shouted out over th comm. The Gustav was heading back!

“A bit late for this, girlie!” Sef shouted back, steps away from leaping into a final pounce.

“Do you have a cousin named Sven?” Adie yelled out.

The Glow Fox's headlong charge ended in a startling skid, the Fox's gears being crashed into a stop, it's foot locks slamming down into the sod for extra anchor. The SLC discharged harmlessly into the dirt, throwing up extra clods of dirt and grass into the air.

The Gustav ground to a similar, less impressive stop several hundred yards away. Slowly, the Glow Fox turned to look at the green Gustav.

Sef stared at the Gustav for a long moment, before settling on his reply.

“No, but I have a barber named Dominique.”

-

Chapter 20: There's a club for you people?

Nine-and-twenty knights of fame
Hung their shields in Branksome-Hall,
Nine-and-twenty squires of name
Brought them their steeds to bower from stall;
Nine-and-twenty yeomen tall
Waited, duteous, on them all;
They were all knights of mettle true,
Kinsmen to the bold Buccleuch.

-

“Sixth generation Alie, daughter of Buck Alie, Lodge One, Elk. Leftennant General.” Adie recited over the Comm, grinning.

Sef sighed. “First generation Sef, son of none, Lodge Fourty Two, Frog. Sergeant at Arms.”

Adie popped the hatch of the Gustav. “Brother of booze, stand down and be accounted for!”

“What in the HELL are you people talking about?” Timbre shouted over the comm, struggling to get Vector to rise. The poor Genius Wolf had been trounced, and would definitely be lame for at least a few days.

“Remember how I said my dad was a drunk socialite?”

“Yes.”

“Well, he's a prince of drunk socialites. Actualy, Grand High Lodgeman Of The Order Brotherhood Of Booze; Keeper of the First Rank.”

“And there are a lot of you people?”

“Indeed.” Sef said over the comm, rolling his Glow Fox into a walk. “National membership of twenty thousand registered members.”

As the Glow Fox approached the Gustav, Adie grinned. “And the first rule of the Brotherhood is, you do not mess with other Brothers. We've stopped WARS because of this rule.”

Sef stopped his Glow Fox, lowered it's head, popped the canopy, and hopped out in front of the Gustav. He was a tall, fit man, his skin a natural tan. He looked to be in his late twenties, early thirties. His eyes were large and dark, and his black hair cropped close to his skull. He had a faint blue zoidscar that arced along his left jaw. He wore a heavy denim jacket over a tight tan t-shirt, and fitted jeans that tucked into heavy boots. It was quite a sight to see a man like this bow in front of the diminutive Adie.

They spoke for a moment, conversation that Timbre did not enjoy not being able to hear. He ambled Vector carefully over, and hopped out next to the pair.

“What is going on?” Timbre asked, fully confused.

“Well, first things first, there's a bounty on my head. And Sef has no idea why. Oh. Sergeant Kafele Sef, this is Timbre Conway, my traveling partner and esteemed protector.”

Sef nodded, sticking out his hand. “Sorry about this whole thing.”

Timbre haltingly shook the other man's hand. “So, would you mind explaing what is going on?”

“Sure. I'm a member of the Europa Hired Zoid Services Union. I have no clue why there's a price on Leftennant's head, and I have only slightly more of a clue of who it is that's supposed to be paying me to do this.”

“And who are they?”

“Some company. Probably a cover. I can get more info on them back at the Union Center. Which, coincidentally, is where I'll be taking you. You can both lay low there, a few of the guys are Brothers, including my boss. We'll also get in contact with your lodge, and see if there's anyone who can help.”

Adie sighed. “I doubt it. Most of Elk Lodge is mining service workers and people from the HappyCo muffin factory.”

Timbre grit his teeth. “Can we trust him?”

Sef snorted. “Brothers of Booze are a lot more then a drinking club, pubbie. Six generations of the bar's smartest and most powerful people are members. Bankers, Lawyers, Fighters, Doctors... Brothers of Booze are not only friends, but we are bound by a code of honor. A code that's saved thousands of lives over the past hundred years.”

Adie poked Sef. “We can indoctrinate him this later. Right now, i'm more interested in getting my ass out of here.”

“Yes ma'm. I suggest we load up our Zoids on the Gustav, and proceed towards my Union Center. It's southwest of here, about a week's drive by Gustav. With any luck, I can get further transport...”

“Uh, Sef? Do you have friends here?” Timbre interrupted. “Specifically, friends with Bear Fighters?”

“Huh? Oh, crap.” Sef cursed, looking back over the horizon. Two Bear Fighters trod steadily over the rolling plain, headed for Sef's position.

“Get in your zoids, guys. I doubt my employers are going to like this turn of events.”

-

And Sef was absolutely correct.

“Friend!” The familiar voice of Sef's contact called out over the comm. “This is a happy coincidence.”

“Yeah. Coincidence. Look, something has come up. I cant finish the contract.” Sef said, strapped tightly into the Glow Fox's cockpit.

“Oh, friend, I would say that you have finished the contract. This is your quarry, is it not?”

“Nope. These are my friends.”

“Amazingly, they look similar enough to what we need. I believe we will be taking them.” The contact grumbled over the comm. As he did, the Bear Fighters leveled their cannons at Sef.

“Tam, now!” Sef shouted, darting his Glow Fox to the side. Timbre did the same, darting in the other direction, taking off as fast as Vector's mangled body could take him.

As the Bear Fighters turned to pursue, they were quickly interrupted by a rather vicious sideswiping by an angry Gustav. This buffeted one Bear Fighter into the other, knocking one to the side.

Timbre took this as his opportunity to fire, and stopped Vector, turning to fire. The dual impact cannon mounted on the chest of the Genius Wolf blasted away in twin succession, but to little effect, as Timbre's aim was worse then Sef's, but it was only to act as suppressing fire, and distract the Bears as the real attack came in from the flanks.

Sef closed quickly, firing his twin 80mm Laser Cannons, his aim improving quite rapidly as the space between himself and the Bear Fighters closed. He slammed in three solid body shots on one of the Bear Fighters, dropping it completely. All that was left was the one Bear Fighter.

“This is your mistake!” The contact yelled over the comm, rearing his Bear Fighter up on it's hind legs, it's massive front paws coming into play as the devastating melee weapons they were. He was expecting a Strike Laster Claw, which Sef seemed quite intent on delivering, the claws glowing with a steady stream of light as the Fox made it's approach.

“Timbre, charge!”

But instead, it was slammed from the side. The little Genius Wolf slammed into the side of the Bear Fighter, knocking it off balance the slightest bit, the Electrostatic Claws raking against the armor. It was not a very well executed strike, Timbre's attack did little except to distract the Bear Fighter.

Which was all Sef needed to strike home with his Strike Laser Claw.

The Bea Fighter roared in pain, armor severing from systems, it's side opened up like ribbons. It fell with a shattering thud into the prairie dirt, the system buzzing with a command system crash.

-

The contact awoke to his cockpit hatch being wrenched open. The contact could see little past the blood dripping into his eyes from a nasty cut along his forehead, probably suffered during his Bear Fighter's fall.

“This.. This is your mistake. My people will know...”

Sef shook his head, his hand rising up from his hip. “No they wont.”

The contact felt nothing as the twin pistol slugs slammed though his brain, killing him in a single effective moment.

His final job done, Sef holstered the pistol, and reached down into the cockpit for the briefcase. He popped it open, and smiled. “Huh. Bastard didn't get my bonus cash. I knew he was gonna try something...”

Sef walked back to the Gustav, where Adie and Timbre waited.

[Vig]

What did I say before .,,,, I love the mafia style S***,,, and there was that right at the end, gotta love the briefcase and gun to the head,,, blood included .. im not evil, just a fan of realism and non-sensoring,, May I add i'm a big fan off Sef now, he suddenly became very cool.. and go the bear fighters \..

I noticed the first section was strongly devoted to babe ,, Yea of course i miss babe, he needed that recognition, (notice how i mentioned babe and not fiver).. but i still loved fiver, probably even more so than babe..... the mourning was needed of course...and atleast he's still alive by song

vector seemed to have a hard time ,, I would like to see him succeed greatly one day,, hahahha love the quote " unearthly electric whine" i can so picture it ,, poor vector

hmmm ,, alcohol fueled cooling system,, If i only had that in my car, i would never be short of booze

And i gather Sef will now be teaming up with Timbre and Adie

[Orange]

Yeeeaah. Sef rocks pretty hard core.

Why does everyone like Fiver? I mean, yes, he's cool, but Babe has way more speaking lines. Oh well. More fun for you later on...

Yeah, poor Vector's not gonna be very usefull for much longer. As you can see, Timbre's starting to outgrow him (in more ways then one). Poor thing. Even though he dosn;t have much personality, you really start to love the little guy.

I'm glad you enjoy it. Good to know Vig still loves me. Now where's Rick?

[Vig]

Possibly asleep , as I type this it is currently 11:29pm,, lets see if rick is a creature of the night......, if not then he'll be several hours

[Deadborder]

Rick is here. Really. Rick is hip-deep in customers who make trinitymurasame look bearable. Almost.

(And when I am at home, I have other hobbies thast eat all my time. Go fig.)

Ahem. Read, read.

This is a nice set of chapters here, BoF, and well up to the excelent quality I've come to expect form this story. Timbere's grief wax well handled, something that I don't often see in fics (and one of the reasons why I dont have chracters die in my fics much). Its nice to see a chracter coping with loss in a relistic way and not just eoither going on an OMG ANGST attack (Like too many bad fics) Or just completely shrugging it off (Like Van in CC/GF).

All up there's some good developmet of chracter and story going on in this lot. I love it, and I can't wait for more.

But the Glow Fox needs to die. Lots.

Rick R.