The Lay Of The Last Minsterel: Canto Eleventh

[Orange]

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Chapter 31: Wanted

In bitter mood he spurred fast,
And soon the hated heath was past;
And far beneath, in lustre wan,
Old Melros' rose, and fair Tweed ran:
Like some tall rock with lichens grey,

-

Timbre exited the stable proper, coming face to face with a very angry Sef.

"Dude, WHERE WERE YOU?!" Sef yelled, fists clenched. He looked exhausted, and smelled slightly pungent. His short hair was plastered to his head by a mix of sweat and oil build up, and he did not look like a happy camper. Neither did Tornado, by the way. The usually clean Zeekdober was covered in mud and dust, as well as a few dents.

"Uh, here?" Timbre replied, doing his best to look innocent.

"You stupid bastard! You had me worried to death! I'm not your god-damned mother, and certainly not supposed to run over half the country looking for you!" Sef seethed.

Yo took this moment to step in. "Excuse me, young sir, but who are you, and why are you on my property?"

Sef glowered, but took a moment to calm down. He took a deep breath. "Sir, my name is Kafele Sef. I'm a member of the Zoid Services Union. And, as a matter of fact, so is he. Annnd we kinda need him and Fiver back."

"So i'm not fired?" Timbre asked.

Sef switched back to being pissed. "Dude. Being FIRED is the lest thing you should be worried about, Tammy-Bammy!" He said, grabbing at Timbre's collar, pulling the taller man down a few inches to his level. "There is a WARRANT out on your LIFE."

This disturbed Timbre. He knew there would be repercussions from his actions, but not this soon. How did they circulate a bounty warrant that quickly?

Before Timbre could say anything, Sef headed back to Tornado, grabbing something out of the cockpit. "You're in this hip-deep, dude. And I have no clue why."

"Because I killed two people?" Timbre suggested.

"What? Oh, those greasy bastards at Vickers. Wow, you really killed them?" Sef asked, looking puzzled.

Timbre rocked back on his heels for a second, then looking over at Yo. "Excuse me, Yo? Can you give me a second, please?"

"Of course, my boy. Would you like some breakfast, Sef?" Yo said, smiling amiably. He did not seem particularly bothered by the current turn of events. Oh, kids today, with their murderings and somesuch.

Sef nodded. "Breakfast would be wonderful. And if you have a shower or something, I will love you forever. Serious."

"Of course. But let's get some food in you. Please, come up when you are done speaking.

With that, Yo moved off. Sef watched him move off, then looking back at Timbre. "So, who's that?"

"Yo. Apparently, he's my grandfather."

"Dude, can't a month go by without you experiencing some strange, contrived revelation that leads to further complexity in your life?"

"You have NO idea."

"Whatever. ANYWAY, no, you're not wanted for murder. If you were, nobody would care. Well, not as much as they would be caring here." Sef explained, holding up a creased piece of paper.

On top, it had the usual 'Reward! Ridiculous amount of money! Dead or Alive!' type thing. But then Timbre read the details.

"Wanted. One male zoid pilot, approximately 205 centimeters in height. Light blonde hair, twin silver triangle zoid scars on forehead. Pilots a heavily modified, dark colored Whitz Wolf variant." Timbre read off. It certainly sounded like him.

"Yeah, but then it gets weird. It says that Fiver has a long-range gun, and that you've been actively terrorizing the areas along the Zaber-Fenway Pass, and Fenway-On-Pes. For the past five months. Either someone is horribly confused, or you have an evil twin or something. Whatever. Oleff got this in as an open bounty, and he flashed me to get you the hell out of Vickers."

Timbre was impressed. A Flash was a priority message, sent out by courier. He was actually flattered that Oleff worried that much. "So, wait. How did you find me, Sef?"

Sef gave him a glare. "I'm a bounty hunter, I know how to find people. Anyhoo, I ran my ass off to Vickers Steading. I was only a day away in Dentine, but when I got there, the whole place was screaming it's head off that you teamed up with a gang of evil bandits and murdered two jackasses. Since there was only one other road out of Vickers, and I was pretty sure you didn't head back to Timur, I followed this. I was wandering along, when joy of joys, Fiver pops out of nowhere and scares me to death."

Fiver, who was standing next to Tornado, rumbled happily at this.

"Brat." Sef cursed. "So, you weren't there in the cockpit, so he led me back here. And I started yelling at you. Sorry about that, temper was a bit high."

"Completely understandable. Now. Time for food. I haven't eaten anything except some damn cookies I had in the cockpit, and that was yesterday. I'm starving."

-

After Sef had a good meal of pancakes and tea, a long shower, and a fresh change of clothes, Sef was ready to lay out the plan. He was lounging back on the comfy couch, obviously refreshed. Timbre sat on the other end of the couch, with Bratty the lap dog on his legs.

"Right. I cant get you back to Timur to grab the Whale King back to the Union. It's a lot more dangerous now that you're a wanted man. Fortunately, we're not too far from yer old hometown."

"Ravenstaad? We're close to Ravenstaad?" Timbre wondered.

"Right. Well, not exactly close. Two days if we floor it. And we would actually be taking the road that goes to Kellenberg, but since your boys own the place, I think we'll be safe. I've been to Ravenstaad before. It's a good, safe place, especially since you got family there. We can hunker down there, and see if we cant get a transport out into the Interior, and back to the Union. And even there, we have a whole new set of problems."

"Why? What happened?"

"Over the past week, we've gotten reports of three towns that were taken over, all in one blitz. All of them on the border between the west coast, and the interior. Fortunately, being on the east coast, we should be fine. I hope. But Oleff's had to recall and scramble pilots out west to fill urgent guard spots, as well as help bolster Line Town's defense. He would have recalled me too, but then you needed rescuing and retrieving."

Timbre's chest tightened. "The west? Didn't Louiza get sent out on a mission out west?"

Sef erked. "Owch. Yeah, she did. But she was only a few days from the Union by Gustav." He winked. "I'm sure she's fine. She's a big girl, can take care of herself. At least, better then you can."

Timbre blushed a bit. "Shush."

"Ooh, Tammy whammy doodle snugglemonster." Sef cooed. "Such a poor boy, all alone and scared on his first mission!"

Timbre threw a pillow at Sef, causing Bratty to jump away and scramble, startled by the sudden movement.

"Boys..." Yo warned, looking over from his place at the kitchen table. "Am I going to have to separate the two of you?"

Sef laughed. "We're good, Yo. By the way, sorry to take your boy away, but we kinda need him."

"Wait. I'm a wanted man." Timbre interjected. "How can I help? I'll be lucky if I can get back to the Union."

"Line Town still needs defenders, as does the Union. Everyone's on edge, and nobody knows what the heck is going on. Europa's a wild place, Tam, and we all gotta keep a lookout. And you are still useful enough to us to act all big and scary if anyone looks the wrong way at Line Town."

"And I'm not fired?"

"No, you are not fired. Buck up. We all make mistakes. You just made a really violent, massive mistake, and I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason to explain it all."

Timbre sighed, looking down at his lap, his mood turning somber. "I still feel terrible about it. I.. I don't want to kill people, Sef."

Sef slid over on the couch, clapping a heavy, reassuring hand on Timbre's shoulder. "Nobody wants to kill people, Tam. It's just that it's a horrible reality of what we do. None of us enjoy it. Hell, if you do enjoy it, there's something terribly wrong with you. Now. Like I said. Buck the hell up. We got a long ride back to Ravenstaad, and we gotta head out. The sooner the better. If I found you so easy, i'm scared that some other meathead looking for some scratch won't amble by and think you're a good target."

Timbre shook his head, looking down at his hands. They still tended to tremble when he did anything with them. "Sef, I don't think I can pilot right now."

"Whaa? Why the hell not?"

"I must have hit my head or something in the fight. I had a horrible headache for days, and I haven't been able walk, see, or move straight all week."

Sef looked at Timbre for a level moment, a notch above a glare. Then, with the speed of the Zeekdober he piloted, he pounced on Timbre, getting him in a quick headlock.

"Ack!" Timbre grunted out, trying to get out of the hold.

"Ha! NOOGIENOOGIENOOGIE!" Sef laughed, digging his knuckles into Timbre's skull, giving him a through noogieing. He then let Timbre go, still laughing. "There's a head wound for ya."

Timbre clutched his head, snarling a bit at Sef. "You ass, that really hurt."

"Next, I'll give you an indian burn." Sef threatened, still laughing. "Come on. You can pilot fine. And even if you cant, Fiver will take care of you."

-

It was four hours later when they finally set off. Sef hadn't really slept in about two days, and had a quick catnap. And Timbre was always up for sleep, so he also had a nap, storing up some energy reserves for the days ahead. It was going to be a tough run to Ravenstaad, on the pilots and the Zoids. Tornado was in the stable, getting a quick recharge, hooked up to an old regeru line Yo had from when Afterschock was still active.

After a nap, some lunch, and a long goodbye to Yo and Aftershock, the four set off on the long trail to Ravenstaad.

Fiver seemed happy to be out on the road again, and almost pranced a bit as he walked. Timbre didn't trust himself to do any real driving, so Fiver was set loose to drive as he pleased. This made Fiver happy, as he finally got a chance to show that, no, he didn't NEED Timbre. At least, so long as he didn't have to go too fast. Or do anything too crazy. Shut up, you try working a nine meter tall robot body.

It was still hard going. The zoids had to keep up a good canter pace, about 160 kp/h. The zoids took it as a long jog, and probably would not tire too much, so long as they have periodic cool-down periods to walk and recharge a bit. It would be harder on the pilots, who would need to be awake the whole time. Two days, sixty hours at their pace. It was going to be hard, both for Sef, who hadn't slept much lately, and for Timbre, who was just a lazy bastard that was far too fond of naps.

The hours wore on, and night was approaching. To keep Timbre awake, Sef kept him talking. So, they talked. Timbre told Sef about what happened at Vickers, and then about his week with Yo. And what happened with Babe. That alone took an hour or so. Then the two just started chatting.

"So, what was your mission?" Timbre asked.

"I was training a bunch of idiots in Dentine. Stupid cops. One of 'em was pretty good, though, a chick named Ipsy. Man, she had a rack on her, too."

Timbre smiled. "Adie would kill you if she heard that."

"Yeah, I know. She kills me on a daily basis, though, so it's all good. Cant stop these wandering eyes 'o mine. What about you? See any hot chicks on your mission?"

Timbre grit his teeth a bit. "I wasn't really paying much attention. Most of them were just silly townies, anyway. Wouldn't stop going on about how dashing I was. Ugh."

"Most guys, y'know, like that kind of thing. Gotta admit, Tam, you are not a bad lookin' dude. A bit on the skinny side, and a bit whiny, but not too dang bad. I'd do ya."

"Ew."

"If I was a chick. Shaddap. Whatever. Get over it, girls love ya. Chicks dig giant robots, and their pilots. Unless you got the bad luck to be Moro or something. Speaking of the devil, he finally hauled back to the Union, right after you left. Turns out he was taking an extended stay in Riko to help Weatherman out with Coldfront. He brought back some pictures, and Cold is looking really good. Bohack looks really fluffin sweet, too. "

"Did he get that Mad Thunder style head made up?"

"Yeah, and it looks killer. He also got a new paint job, all silver and gray, with some red bits. Really flashy, almost makes you think Moro's competent or something." Sef laughed.

"Oh, leave the poor guy alone."

"Naaw. It's not like it hurts him any. Anyway, he said he's got a girlfriend now. Jeeze, he had a picture of her too. Let me tell you, she is a fine looking girl. I don't have a clue how Moro managed to rope her in." Sef laughed again. "Geeze, if Moro can get a girlfriend, this makes you look pretty pathetic."

Tornado added to this with his own laughing bark.

Timbre glared over at Tornado. "You're a mean person, Sef. I hope you know that."

"Poor widdle Tammy bammy." Sef cooed. "Only got eyes for the lovely Louiza."

Timbre grit his teeth again. "Shut up, Sef."

"Man, when are you gonna get over yourself and make a move on her? She's totally in to you."

"I know."

"You better god damn.. Wait, you know? DUDE. Do something about it!"

Timbre sighed, leaning back in his seat. "I kinda did."

"What? When? Dude, you never told me anything! You suck. Spill it!" Sef demanded.

Timbre grimaced. "I didn't tell you, because I knew this is how you'd react."

"Man, i'm sorry. Look, I just worry about ya, y'know? Adie does too." Sef explained. "Come on, i'm just excited for you. You seriously need a girlfriend."

"Yeah, well. When you lost track of me during the party? I went to go ask Louiza what happened to make sure I didn't do anything dumb, and..."

"Dude, you TOTALY made out with her! I knew it!"

"Sef."

"Sorry! Sorry. I'll be good." Tornado whined, as if also promising to be good. "Continue, friend." Sef added.

Timbre sighed. "So, I went to go make sure I didn't do anything dumb. I asked her about it, and she kinda recapped it, but I guess I was being a jerk, and kept apologizing and stuff..."

"Aaaand?" Sef badgered.

"And she kissed me. I guess to shut me up. It worked, I think."

"Saa-weet!" Sef howled, pumping his fist in the air.

"It turns out that at the party, we went outside and started talking, and I guess I said something about liking her, and I guess we started kissing or something. I don't really remember. Wish I did, though. Anyway, after she shut me up, she said she liked me, and liked where the relationship was going..."

"Ha! Finally! I knew you'd finally get to dating her."

"It's not really dating, Sef. We hung out for five minutes before she had to go."

"Five minutes of sweet, sweet Tammy on Lou AKSHUN!"

"You're sick. I'm not talking to you any more." Timbre grumbled.

"Oh come on! You cant leave me hanging like that!" Sef demanded. "I tell you everything, dude."

"Unfortunately, yes. You do."

"Wait! Ha, I bet I never told you about how me 'n Adie first kissed."

"Do I want to?"

"Yes, you do. It was very cute. Romantic-like. See, when I first met her, man did she irritate me. But when we argued... It was actually fun. Usually, when I yell at people, it just gets me mad. But she has a way of making it funny. She's so damn smart... it's like a boxing match. Instead of hitting a wall, she punches right back, smack dab in the sweet spots. She knows just how to get you to fight back, but never pulls anything dirty. It's awesome."

"This isn't sounding romantic." Timbre droned, leaning his head against the back of his seat, looking up at the ceiling.

"Shut up, i'm getting to that. So, during dinner one night... It was that awesome veggie pizza stuff you made. I remember it like it was yesterday. I saw that she wasn't hanging out with Boka like she had been, so I went over to keep her company. It turned out that she just got a letter in from her dad, and it made her kinda homesick. She really didn't feel like arguing, she said, but I promised to be good. So we ate dinner, and went out for a walk.

"So, we're walking, and she's telling me all about her hometown, then she mentions that she had a boyfriend. I asked her about that, and she's all like, 'he was a sweet guy, but kinda a wimp'. So I say that I can be a sweet guy, and i'm certainly not a wimp. Then she went on to say something like, 'you are so, you squeal like a five year old when you're kissing all over Tornado', and i'm like, well, I got nobody else to kiss."

"Is this going to be much longer?" Timbre interrupted.

"Shut up! I'm getting to the good part. So she says I scare all the girls off with the squealing. Then I'm like, you're not scared of it, right? And she's like, 'no, but I certainly wouldn't enjoy it'. At that point, I just know that she's into me. So I'm like, bet you would. And she says to prove it. So I do. And she did."

Timbre snorted. "That wasn't romantic!"

"Yes it was! She says it was very romantic. Whatever. We totally made out."

"And then you dragged her to bed."

"No way dude! I'm a gentleman. You don't pull that on the first kiss. See, I took her out to Line Town on a date, and I got this hotel room with a bunch of flowe..."

"See, this is the part I really don't want to hear about."

"Dude, you gotta study up. It you want to please a girl, you gotta know all the tricks. Lucky, you got me to show you that stuff." Sef said with a grin.

Timbre shuddered. "Ugh. Sef, there are just some things I don't want to see from you. Your technique in bed is very, very high on that list. Whatever. It's getting dark." Timbre shook his head, looking out at the road ahead. "I don't want to be talking about relationship issues, and be snuck up on by heavily armed mercenaries coming to capture me."

Sef was about to counter that with something witty, when a new voice came over the comm.

"Hi there! We're heavily armed mercenaries here to capture you. Too bad you were talking about your relationship issues while we snuck up on you!"

[Orange]

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Chapter 32: Doggie Tom

Ten of them were sheathed in steel,
With belted sword, and spur on heel:
They quitted not their harness bright,
Neither by day, nor yet by night:

-

From the sides of the road, two Command Wolves seemed to appear out of nowhere. Well, the truth was, they had concealed themselves behind some particularly useful bits of cover along the sides of the road. When Sef and Timbre realized exactly who these zoids were, both the men were quite scared. They were quite right to be.

They were Landsknecht Wolves, servants to the Urso Corperation. The Urso Corperation belonged to Gene Urso, the richest man on the entire planet of Zi. Rich beyond calculation. Rich beyond the estimation of normal men. If money was physical strength, Gene Urso could level Timur City with a fart. And not even any sort of juicy beans-n-franks gas, he could do it with your petite after-breakfast toot.

The entire world knew the story of Gene Urso, both from his authorized biography, and the blockbuster hit film, 'People First; The Story Of Gene Urso'. And the entire world knew about the private army he kept to protect his assets. The Landsknecht Wolves. Except, of course, for Tam. He slept through movie-night at the Union, usually. Unless something was blowing up really good.

Landsknecht Wolves were heavily modified Command Wolves, taken from Urso's own zoid plants, and modified by his own custom shop. Each one was painted with splotchy tan and green camouflage, marked with black ragged 'tiger stripes'. Except for the forward shoulder armor, which was always painted some bright conspicuous color, usual marked with elaborate unit insignia. All of them had leg-mounted boosters, and rubberized chain-link joint guards and skirting. There were three standard varieties, two of which now flanked Timbre and Sef.

The first was the Arquebuses style, equipped with a long pike, similar to Tornado's own Lancetag Lance. All Landsknecht wolves were equipped with this deadly lance, regardless of variety. The Arquebuses, however, was also equipped with a long-range beam rifle, chest-mounted impact cannons, and an elaborate sensor package that expanded on the Command Wolf's original role as a scout platform. Scout Radar, IR scanning systems, 3d Radar, multi-tracking Vampire identification systems, and an integrated 3BEEK learning matrix. If an Arquebuses needed to find something, it would find it.

It's companion was even more terrifying. If not for it's weapons, then for it's pilot. This was the Zwiehander variant, made for up-close, personal style killing. They were mounted with the Landsknecht Pike, and the Murasame Swing-Blade, the same one mounted on the rare Murasame Liger. Beyond that, it only had a small single shot-pancor cannon on it's chest for any ranged defense. Zwiehander Wolves were hard to control, even with their Command Wolf bases, and were only given to the very best pilots in Urso's army.

These two stood on their respective sides of the road, glowering at Fiver and Tornado, who in turn stood their ground. But the situation just felt... Strange. First off, the Arquebuses almost never directly confronted anything. They were made for scouting and long-range assault. And a Zwiehander just wouldn't bother. it would slice, dice, and be home in time for breakfast. That, and they certainly were not mercenaries. Landsknecht Wolves were exclusive to Urso.

But Timbre and Sef were still surprised when the second wolf, the Arquebuses, sighed at the Zwiehander's opening line.

"Tom, don't be an ass."

"Oh please." The Zwiehander snorted, the Wolf tossing it's head in contempt. "Give me a break, I'm just kidding around. Hey Tornado."

Tornado whimpered, somewhat confused. Who was this guy? Sef was also confused. "Yo, who are you?" He demanded.

"Oh come ON, Sef, it's only been ten years. You didn't forget Uncle that quick, didja?" The Zwiehander pilot said, popping his cockpit.

In the cockpit, stood an older... gentleman. He really did look like a gentleman, however little he spoke like one. He wore square-framed glasses, and his brown hair was receding. He looked smart in his dark green and brown Urso pilot's uniform, which consisted of neatly pressed green and brown overalls, and a peaked officer's cap. His zoid-scar, a broad black stripe up the middle of his chin, was obvious on his clean-shaven face.

The Arquebuses pilot also popped her cockpit. She was a young woman, black hair pulled into a pony-tail. She looked tough, with a no-nonsense expression on her face. Her eyes were vaguely almond-shaped, but she had a squared chin, and a fit physique. She wore the same coveralls as the Zwiehander pilot, but instead of the peaked cap, she wore a bright green beret cocked over her head.

Sef popped his own cockpit, laughing. "Doggie Tom you bastard!" Tornado also laughed, joining with his own happy bark. "I shoulda known you would run off and join some crazy-ass army like Urso's."

"Yeah, well, they gave me this cool Wolf. I needed something to replace Tornado, you little bastard."

Sef laughed again, pulling down Tornado's head, so he could hop out to the ground. Tom and the Arquebuses pilot did the same.

Timbre stayed where he was for a moment. "Uh, Sef? Who's that?" Fiver added his own rumble to this question.

"My uncle Tom. Come on down, he's cool. You're not the only one with weird family. Come on down!"

Timbre sighed, and Fiver put his head down, letting Timbre out. But the Waize Wolf was still wary. Tornado, on the other hand, was happy as a puppy. He was nuzzling Tom, rumbling in all sorts of happy ways. If he was a cat, he would be purring up a storm.

Tom laughed, and held out his hand to Timbre. " Leftennant 'Doggie' Tom Latchkey, and my niece, Sergent Kim Latchkey. At your service. Kinda. Sorry, but we'll be abducting you today. Seems theres a large bounty on your head, mister Conway."

"Wait, how do you know Timbre?" Sef asked.

"We've been watching you guys for a few months now, seems Urso has an interest in you. Don't ask me, I just follow orders and read my reports."

"Did Urso put out the bounty on Tam?"

"I doubt it. We don't exactly need to contract work out, Sef." Tom said, crossing his arms and leaning back against Tornado. "Like I said. Don't ask me."

"Um, excuse me? I'd still like to know who exactly this guy is, Sef." Timbre asked.

Sef grinned. "Tom's my uncle. Kinda. More like a family friend. He's taught me a lot of what I know, and I was supposed to join him and his crew. But then Oleff made me a better offer, and gave me a Sword Wolf. Tom challenged me to a fight, saying if I lost, I had to join him and work for free for a few years. If I won, I got his zoid, Tornado."

Tornado whuffed softly at this.

Tom laughed. "And what a fight it was. You deserved Tornado after the crap you pulled in that fight. Whatever. After I lost Tornado, Urso's people approached me, offering me a job. I started in an Arquebuses, but then they gave me Erik here." Tom said, thumbing over at the Zwiehander Wolf. "Almost as good as Tornado was, really."

Tornado grumbled at this.

Tom laughed, and gave Tornado a pound on the nose. "Oh, shut up. You like Sef better anyway. He fawns over you like a six year old girl playing with a kitten."

"I do not!" Sef countered.

Timbre looked at Sef. "Yes you do, Sef."

"Do not. Shut up. I just love my puppy lumpkins, is all."

"Anyway, we need to get going." Kim interrupted. "I know you boys would love to chat all day, but I'm supposed to keep Uncle Tom on task here. And our task is to get you back to the Ballard."

"Who's Ballard?" Sef asked.

Tom grinned. "You'll see."

[Orange]

-

Chapter 33: The Pukin' Dogs

Rode forth Lord Howard's chivalry;
His men-at-arms, with glaive and spear,
Brought up the battle's glittenng rear.
There many a youthful knight, full keen
To gain his spurs, in arms was seen;
With favor in his crest, or glove.

-

The Ballard turned out to be a Hammer Kaizer.

Hammer Kaizers are beautiful zoids, sharing the same weird flying/swimming abilities as the Whale King. It's head was configured into a wide wedge, giving it a very distinct look apart from any other zoid in the world. It was quite sleek despite it's boxy construction, with smooth angles and rounded corners wherever possible. This shark also had teeth. It's large missile launchers were quite obvious along the sides of it's wide head, and several closed bubble turrets along the hide of the beast were home to now-concealed anti-air guns.

The giant Shark flier was painted a light sky gray, the front of it's head emblazoned with a large black and blue crest. In it, was some strange griffin creature, curled in mid-flight, diving down upon it's enemies. Around it was a half-wreath of laurels, and under it, the words 'Sans Peur et Sans Reproache' scripted out in flowing kana.

Tom grinned as they approached it. " Our platoon standard." He explained. "Some dead old language or another, but we all have our platoon standards in it. Urso seems to like it."

"Platoon standard?" Timbre wondered.

"It's like a team name or something. We all got one. A crest, insignia, and saying. Like "The Rouge Wolves", they got an evil red wolf looking thing, and 'Homo homni lups'. A man to a man is like a wolf."

"What's yours?" Sef asked.

"Sans Peur et Sans Reproache . Without Fear and Without Reproach ." Tom explained with a laugh.

"And what's the unit name?"

"Officially? The Eagle Dogs. But everyone calls us 'The Pukin' Dogs'. It fits. Look at our insignia. The damn thing looks like it's havin' a fit of sick."

It did, a little bit. Sef grinned. "So you're in charge?"

"Oh hell no. I got my own little squad." Tom explained. "There's five squads to a platoon, six in a squad. Usually two Arquebuses and four Partisan. In the case of a Zwiehander, it's three partisan instead. Captain Chevy Bayard's the one in charge of the platoon. We'll met him in a moment. In we go!"

And in they went. The Hammer Kaizer was cramped inside, and as soon as they were in, the loading dock was closed. It took several minutes to get Fiver and Tornado stabled, as several of the Landsknecht had to be re-arranged to make room.

There were thirty Landsknecht Wolves in total, as well as three Zabats loaded in. There was an even one to two distribution of Arquebuses and Partisan, and Timbre only saw one other Zwiehander. All the Landsknecht had the same forward-shoulder design. A royal blue field with gold trimming, with the black Pukin' Dog bold against it's field.

As soon as Fiver and Tornado were stabled, Timbre and Sef followed Tom out. Although it was hardly a stable. They were cramped into a parked row, and Fiver did not look happy. He stood still, but made his unhappiness known with some ominous rumblings. He was used to his nice roomy loose box back in the Union.

The rooms and hallways were just as cramped, and gave Timbre an immediate feeling of claustrophobia. His 205 centimeterrs meant he was constantly having to duck his head to avoid hitting things (and still managed to clonk his still-sore head into several pipes on the way). There were people everywhere, mostly in light and dark blue coveralls. Tom explained that the light blues were zoid mechanics and techs, the dark blue took care of running the Ballard.

Sef and Timbre got a few strange looks as they squeezed past. Their street clothes were far out of place amongst the coveralled mechanics and pilots. Also, Timbre was really dang tall. Most of the others topped out at 180. Also, Timbre was really dang blonde, and his shaggy hair did not fit in with everyone else's clean cut looks. Most of the men had crew-cuts, and the ladies either had pony-tails, or short cropped, ear length hair. Timbre never felt more awkward in his entire life.

But there was one final thing that was different about the Ballard. It smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. In fact, Timbre passed several people who were walking around with lit cigarettes. This, Timbre liked. He was jonesing pretty bad for a cigarette, and only had two more to his name. Hopefully, he could bum a few off of some crew members.

The Hammer Kaizer was cramped, but everything seemed to be built with a certain sturdiness. Everything reflected high-quality. Where the floors might have been linoleum, these were tiled with calm, beautiful colors. Where wood might have been cheap paneling, it was replaced with fine mahogany. Where plastic bits could have been thrown on the walls, it was replaced with durable, high quality wallpaper. Where long walls could be blank, fine art prints were framed, sturdily attached to the walls. The lights were not the harsh yellow florescent they could be, but soft and white. Everything that was metal was not the usual high-polished, ultra-modern finish it could be, but was instead matted to a soft texture. It was soothing, to say the least, and relieved some of the claustrophobia.

After Timbre banged his head once more, Tom finally led them to the captain's office. Actually, it was also the captain's quarters. The captain had a small desk across from his rack, which was folded up into a couch at the moment. Above the couch was a narrow shelf, which held a nice small, end very expensive stereo system, which was playing soft music. The captain sat at his desk, looking over some papers.

Tom snapped to a salute as he entered (well, stepped in the doorway), showing a lot of respect for this man. Sef was surprised, as Tom usually bucked against any sort of authority.

"Sir, Timbre Conway and Kafele Sef." Tom said simply, still holding his crisp salute.

The captain turned from his desk, and smiled at Tom, responding to the salute with one of his own, releasing Tom to at-ease. "Thank you, Tom. How did it go?" He said. His voice was very soft, and calm, almost fatherly. It sounded as if he had never raised his voice in his life. He was dressed in green coveralls, but his were a brighter color then Tom's muted brown and greens. His black hair was trimmed back neatly, and he had no zoid scar. But his bright blue eyes seemed to make up for that. Where Timbre's were a pale blue, this man's were sharp and bright, reflecting the world around it with surprising clarity. He had an obvious air of calm authority about him, but he hardly looked older then Sef. This was surprising, to say the least.

"Well, sir. No troubles at all."

The captain nodded. "Thank you, Tom. I'll let you get back to your duties. Leave these two with me."

"Yes sir!" Tom replied, saluting again. "Sef, I'll see you later," He whispered, then walking off.

The captain waved Timbre and Sef in. "Come in!" He welcomed, standing up to allow the two to get in smoothly. "Excuse the cramped conditions. Hammer Kaizers are not known for their comfort, and we are slightly over-staffed. Now. Please sit."

Sef and Timbre slid on to the couch, and the door closed behind them. They both took a moment to look at the walls of the room. What space was available was all covered in framed pictures. Zoids, people, places... It quickly summarized the life of this man that stood before them. And he did not even stand that tall. He held himself with quiet dignity, that belayed how short he was. He was hardly taller then the diminutive Adie.

He sat down lightly in his chair, spinning it to face the two. "Hello. I am Captain Chevy Bayard. I am in charge of the Eagle Dogs platoon, as well as the management of the Ballard." He explained, introducing himself. "Now. I will get right to the point, as I am sure you are quite confused as to why you are here. I know Tom did not have much information on the matter."

"Yeah." Sef said, leaning back on the couch, lounging a bit. "What the heck is going on here?"

Captain Bayard folded his hands in his lap. "We've had our people trailing Mister Conway here, for about four months now. His Waize Wolf was mostly the draw of our attention, but now, the pilot is as well." He explained, tilting his head slightly for effect. He looked Timbre over for a moment, before continuing. "I myself do not have very much information towards the reason of this observation. All I know is that it is imperative that we return to the fleet as quickly as possible, and hopefully charm you fine men into helping us fight."

"Help you? Fight who?" Sef wondered.

Captain Bayard spun back to his desk for a moment, looking for a folder. "As you may or may not know," He explained as he searched, "Several towns have been taken over in the past week. It is to our knowledge, that this is being purported by a group called the New Europa Brotherhood." He finished, spinning back to face the two, folder in hand.

"New Europa Brotherhood? Sir, I thought they were a research group of some sort." Timbre said.

Captain Bayard lifted an eyebrow at this. "You know of the NEB?"

"Yes Sir. I learned of it from a mercenary I was serving with. He worked with them for several years, but he said they didn't do anything except test missiles. Or something." Timbre shook his head. "As it stands at the moment, I do not wish to fight. Against them or anyone else."

"Tam!" Sef exclaimed, looking over at him.

"It's true." Timbre explained. "I don't think I can do this any more, Sef. I told you what happened in Vickers." He sighed, bowing his head, looking down at his lap. "I went insane. What happens if I do that again?" he shook his head. "I'm sorry about the other towns. Really. But it does not have to be my fight. It might be selfish, but my sanity is a bit more precious to me then some crazy cooperation deciding to take some towns."

Bayard flipped through the folder for a moment, speaking as he did. "Well, Mister Conway, the NEB is a bit more far-reaching then just wishing to take a 'few towns'. If I might pass on what little I know of them..." He looked at the folder contents for a moment, scanning a page with his eyes. He then looked back up at Timbre. "The NEB are a group of very rich men, who invest very heavily in zoid technology, as well as medical research, and in their own protectorate, the Nixon Standard. They own three towns already. Now, with their recent attacks, they seem to making a concentrated move towards hostile takeover of Europa."

Sef sat forward in his seat, looking surprised. "Wait, all of it?"

Captain Bayard nodded. "It seems that way."

"Hell no!" Sef cursed. "Europa's always been made of independent towns! Even before the Dust, no country could take it over!"

"It seems that the NEB think that they can. And as it stands, they very may will." Captain Bayard sighed. "Europa stands fractured, with no real unity between the towns and city-states. Not even the greatest protectorate controls enough of the territories to make any sort of real country. If the Republic and Empire were not as weak as they now stand, any one of them may have rolled in at any time to take over. Now it seems that the NEB is seizing upon this opportunity to solidify their power, and take what control they can before any sort of coalition can be formed."

Timbre sat up straighter. "And what is the Urso cooperation doing involved in this?"

"Well, Mister Conway, we are fighting back. Or, intending on doing so. Urso was once involved in the NEB, it seems. He's known what they have been planning for years. And in that time, he took his Landsknecht Wolves beyond being simply a defensive force."

"So, wait. Can ya beat 'em?" Sef asked.

Captain Bayard shook his head. "At this point, no. We can only stem the rush of their advance. But we can hopefully give Europa enough time. Time to form some sort of defensive force, to beat the NEB back. Convince them that it's not worth it to try and take Europa. It is only because of us that the NEB has only taken six towns so far."

"It's six now?" Sef wondered.

"Yes. Dimetap, Rohndan City, Trentsille, and Ender-on-Wau on the west coast. As well as several smaller farming and mining communities."

"Ender's only a day and a half from the Union!" Sef exclaimed. "Damnit!"

"And on the east, they have taken Howl Port,"

Sef muffled a curse with a growl. "Damnit, home of the Pikes footie team."

Captain Bayard continued, "And Kellenberg."

Time paused for a moment around Timbre. Kellenberg. The town Ravenstaad had incorporated. The one that Craig and Babe had fought so hard to subdue. The one that, in the past three years, had made major strides towards re-building after Connan had nearly drained them. "No!" Timbre cried, hands gripping the couch cushion. "Damint, how? They had Craig guarding them!"

Captain Bayard shook his head. "Unfortunately, the Ravenstaad Protectorate forces were spread too thin to keep Kellenberg. Fortunately, we do have a unit out at Ravenstaad assisting with the defenses. The Seige Aces, but they too are spread thin."

"I have to go and help." Timbre rumbled, gritting his teeth.

"What would you do?" Sef replied, sighing. "Cant go charging in with Kellenberg taken. They probably have the place surrounded."

"I've done it before." Timbre rumbled.

"This ain't a dude with shatty Revs, Tam."

Bayard shook his head. "Fortunately, you will have our help in this matter. It is not quite... against my orders, so to say, that I assist Ravenstaad. But the priority was to get you to the main fleet. I must admit, I would much rather go to Ravenstaad. I have family there." He paused, looking up at Timbre. "I suppose you know Coke, the drygoods keeper? He is my uncle. His boy, Danner, is my godson."

"Coke is your uncle?" Timbre echoed.

The captain tented his fingers, leaning forward a bit. "I will be sure to get Fiver his five dubs." he said, quietly.

"Damnit!" Sef cursed again. "What the hell? Are we we all related here? Are we playing Five Degrees Of Baeddan Conway today? What's next? Is my mom gonna parade in with some brownies and the secret plans to the NEB base?"

"NEB Base?" Bayard wondered.

"Yeah! The big secret base all the badguys always have, hiding their secret weapon. Oh, even better, they have some sort of monstrous super-zoid that can only be defeated by a magical girl with a pure soul, love in her heart, and a VERY SHINY Oriduos! WHY NOT?"

This made Captain Bayard chuckle a bit. "I do admit, it is very strange that our fates are intertwined as such. However. There are more important things to attend to then our strange fortune. One is the choice of which we either head back to the fleet post-haste, or assist in the liberation of Ravenstaad. That is, if you wish to come."

Sef pounded on the couch arm. "Hell yes. No bastard parades in trying to take over Ravenstaad. I'm in."

Bayard smiled. "That's the spirit. And you, Timbre?"

Tiimbre nodded, his mind changed. So much for his sanity. He would figure out what was happening in his head later. "Yes. Anything to help Ravenstaad."


-

As they were escorted back to the garage to check on their zoids, Timbre asked Sef a few questions.

"Sef? Who exactly is Urso?"

Sef gave him an incredulous look. "What the hell? Don't you know anything?"

Timbre tapped his head. "I've only been here about three years, you know."

Sef groaned. "Dude, there was a movie about it. 'People First'. We watched it like, three times on movie night."

"I sleep through the movies."

"Ahhhgg!"

Sef then went on to give Timbre a quick synopsis of the man that was Gene Urso. Or, at least, the man he was in the movie.

Gene Urso was born the second son of a middle-class grocer, under the Empire lands of Nyx. Gene was some sort of prodigy, with a head for economics. He had his first business when he was six, selling candy that he made in his mother's kitchen. By the time he was ten, he sold the candy business off to the HappyCo Muffin Company for a large, undisclosed amount. He also branched out his father's grocery, Bear Foods, into a national chain that spread across Nyx. When he was 12, he was invited to 'apprentice' under the Chappo Food and Drug board, who wanted to make him into their next CEO.

Unfortunately, Gene hated being an apprentice. When it came to business, he hated working for anyone but himself. After two years, he was fed up with the whole thing, and ran away to fake his age and join the military. There, he became First Class Mechanic's Mate Gene Urso, and served five years in the Empire Zoid Mechanics Core.

it was there that he found his true passion. Zoids. He adored Zoids, and learned to pilot them in his free time. He wasn't bad, but nowhere near combat quality. Instead, he threw himself into the study and improvement of zoid parts, the caps in particular. A friend of his, Emi Lancer, a fellow Mate in the Mechanics Core, had been working on developing a new slick gear cap system, but not getting far due to lack of funds. Gene, falling back on his old experience from the candy, grocer, and Chappo, was able to secure investments for Emi's creation, and the two retreated to a small garage shop to work. When Gene left the military at 19, he pushed the slick gear caps, now called Wizzy Caps, to several large zoid producers. They snatched up the idea at once, but Gene and Emi retained full rights. By the time Gene was 20, he had made his first million several times over.

From there, Gene and Emi moved to Europa, and went on to take over a small Zoid company, one of the few that still retained the original rights to produce nation-independent Command Wolves. Emi and Gene went to work, releasing a new production version of the Command Wolf, based on the classic 'Irvine' lay-out. The new Command Wolf became an over-night sensation, and with Gene's careful handling, made millions. Gene expanded the factory, bought the town around the plant, and made his own city, Urso Landing.

Urso Landing was populated by factory workers, who were well-cared for. Gene's philosophy had always been 'People First', which always made him push for the best quality, both in his products, and for his workers. It worked well, and with his brilliant management, he secured the rights to produce several classic zoid systems, as well as bringing back the long-forgotten Brachios. Gene opened up two more factory-towns, as well as becoming a protectorate of two mining towns, all of them taken from dilapidated, poor places, and made into rich, prosperous areas.

As Sef finished up his story, Timbre hut his head on another pipe, this particular bump sending him to the floor, out cold. Sef stood over his friend, and sighed. Then, Sef dragged Timbre's ass out of the hallway.

[Deadborder]

Forgive me for taking so long to feed your ego, Orange. I am not worthy.

We seem to be moving laong smoothly hehere. We've arrived at what apeparws to be a Major Plot Point, possibly even a Unifying one. Woo-hoo. I cant waut to see how htis one turns out.

Youve done a great job with expanding out the background of the world here. I love a lot of the little details and the like thath elps bring it to life. In fact, I'm kinda envious of how well youve done it. Hiss, hiss.

I like the "Pukin' dogs" bit, cleatrly inspired form the real sotry of the namesake USN squad. Its a fave of mine. And that'd make for a great Zoid logo.

Oh, and Sadaki Mazaki thoroughly approves of the master plan with the Ouridos.

Rick R.

[stormhawk]

BOF, for once I find the Minstrel series to be pretty interesting. Having Yo as a name for a grandpa is definitely a quirk, but a good one though.

Here's a crasin to feed ya megalomaniacal ego.

[Orange]

What, it wasn't interesting before? Geeze, you should have said something, I would have made it more exiting for ya. The sedate pace is mostly so Rain wont have a heart attack. The excitement gets to him, you know.

Sweet, crasins!



EDIT: And acording to babynames.com, my number one source for coming up with random names, 'Yo' means 'cultivating' in japanese. Good name for a farmer.

[Vig]

Hmm a very explanatorish set of chapters here .
I would love to see the Landsknecht Wolves . They sound quite mean indeed .


haha poor timbre didn't fit into the military crowd too well, Being tall and lanky would just about do it... at least those pipes would be toughning him up..... or causing brain damage...

either way I see that's how it ended,, wonder whats next in store.......

[Orange]

Man, dont even talk about poor Timbre and brain damage. He's got troubles enough coming up. Glad you liked it.