Chapter 4 – The Journey Begins
Jason climbed his way into his Zaber Fang and activated its systems so he could make it through the gorge to Naomi’s transport, and start his journey with the new team he just officially joined. Jason began his way towards the gorge, walking past the broken Zaber Fangs of the Fierce Zaber Fangs team of Kirkland, Lineback, and Omari. Jason couldn’t help but laugh as he saw the trio arguing over the circumstances as his Zaber Fang limped past them.
“Catch you flunkies later…” Jason said with a huge laugh following.
“Grr…we will get you later Crimson.” Kirkland said as he kicked the dirt.
“Mhmm, ok Kirkland. We will see about that. Come looks us up when you get you and your Zaber Fangs improved.” Jason said as he finished past the group and on through the gorge.
When Jason made it through he saw a relatively big transport that looked a lot like the Blitz Team’s Hover Cargo except this one was painted with more Red. Jason saw the transport from the backside and took notice of entry points on both sides and the back for three Zoids to fit inside. The two side entry points housed Naomi’s Gun Sniper and Brad’s Fire Fox sitting on supports. The supports slid back into the transport for easy deploying. The back hatch was another story all together. That is where Jason noticed things being chucked out the back without a whim and crashing into the desert sand.
“I guess that is where my Zaber Fang will be stored. That place sure is junky.” Jason said as he zoomed in on the back of the transport.
He saw Brad, Naomi, and another women pushing and throwing things around to make space for his Zoid. Jason took notice of the women and her appearance. She has long, flowing brown hair down to her mid back. She also had piercing blue eyes that looked like they could see into your very soul and a nice body to complement her.
“Wow…she is beautiful. I am a sucker for pretty eyes.” Jason said almost dumbstruck.
“I guess I should keep going, they must be waiting.” Jason said as he continued to walk his Zoid towards the transport.
===============================================================
“We got to hurry, he is almost here!” Naomi said to keep the other two working.
“Jesus Naomi, it’s not like he will care that much for a spotlessly clean place to park his Zoid.” Brad said mostly out of frustration to do backbreaking labor.
“Shut up Brad, this is our new teammate and I want him to feel at home. The more comfortable he is, the more likely he is to stay.” Naomi said hitting Brad in the ribs with her elbow. “And I think Rachel over there will approve of that.” Naomi said chuckling.
“Huh?! Well…yea I would.” Rachel said nervously.
“No need to be nervous Rachel, he is a sweet person.” Naomi said to reassure her. “Now, let’s finish getting this place tidied up. He Zoid may be limping over here, but it won’t take him forever to get here.”
“Okay, let’s throw all of this old Zoid junk we don’t need anymore.” Brad said still rubbing his side from the elbow he received earlier.
The trio continued to scrub and clean the back hatch hanger out to make sure Jason and his Zoid was most comfortable. Junk was tossed out the back hatch that wasn’t needed anymore and boxes were pushed over to the side so the Zoid would have enough space to not crush anything.
“Huff, huff, good…I think we are good and not a moment too soon because I see him coming over the horizon.” Naomi said and she slowly straightened her back out to stand upright.
“I hope he likes what we did.” Rachel said with a smile on her face overlooking the job they did.
“I am sure he will…” Naomi said before she was interrupted by an incoming transmission from Jason.
“This is Jason, am I clear to come on in?”
“Yea, you are good. We just finished, so bring your Zoid on in.” Naomi said and closed the transmission.
===============================================================
Jason finished bring his Zoid onto the transport. It proved to be difficult due to the injured leg on the Zaber Fang, but it got done after some time and struggling. Jason successfully secured his Zoid down to the transport so it wouldn’t move or tumble while the Transport was in motion. Jason hopped out of the Zoid and onto the ground with Naomi, Brad, and the unknown girl was waiting.
“I take it things went well through the gorge Jason?” Naomi said.
“Yea, it was all good. That messed up leg was a pain. I will repair it later down the road.”
“Sounds good…let’s get going…oww…” Naomi said when she was suddenly elbowed by Rachel.
“Oh, almost forgot. Jason, this is Rachel Monaro. She is my best friend and she is a big fan of yours. She also drives the transport for us.” Naomi finished and rubbed her side.
Rachel looked a little flushed in the face when Naomi said she was a big fan of Jason’s, but she did not deny it in the least. Rachel approached Jason slowly and extended her hand in hope of Jason shaking it.
“Oh, hello Rachel, nice to meet you!” Jason said placing his hand into her hand and shaking it softly. Rachel’s heart skipped a beat and she turned a light red color.
Jason thought to himself about Rachel. ‘I don’t know if she likes me or not, but she does seem to blush a lot when I am around. She is not the typical fan. She does not jump around losing her mind when I am around…I like that.’
“Now that I am all anchored down…I sure am hungry.” Jason said with a laugh.
“Alright, let’s head upstairs to the command center and let’s head back to my place for some food.” Naomi finished before the group set out for the command center.
“Hey Zaber, I will be back soon to fix that leg of yours ok?” Jason added before left. The Zaber Fang simply flashed its eyes a brilliant green in approval of Jason’s question.
After a long trip, the transport arrived at Naomi’s place. Her place was a good size place for people to live. It was a house with a big hanger attached where all Zoids were repaired and stored until it was time to load it on the transport for a battle. The house section of Naomi’s place had everything to offer: Hot water, kitchen, and most of all a bedroom for Jason. Jason was shown his bedroom shortly after arriving. It was the guest room seeing that it was the only room left to sleep. It was not a bad place in all actuality. It had a queen sized bed, 20 in TV, and a bedroom attached, but it was shared with the room next door, which was Rachel’s.
“I guess you are next door neighbor Rachel.” Jason said with a smile.
“It sure appears that way, it should be fun Jason.” Rachel replied with a smile on her face too.
“Good, since you agree with your living arrangements, let’s go eat.”
Rachel, Jason, and Naomi walked into the kitchen where Brad was waiting for them. He did not look too happy because he was hungry too, and they took a while getting downstairs from Jason’s new room.
“Jesus, I am hungry, let’s go ahead and eat already.” Brad said as his stomach continued to rumble.
“Okay, okay. Rachel can you help me prepare something quick to eat?” Naomi said.
“Yea, sure. How does soup and sandwiches sound you guys?”
“Yea that will work, hell, I would eat elephant ears right now…” Jason said rubbing his stomach waiting on the food.
The food was prepared quickly and eaten by the four in a prompt fashion. It was now about 7:30 p.m. and Jason excused himself from the table. He let out a small burp as he stood up and gave a second ‘excuse me’ in response to the burp.
“I am going to take a shower and then head down to the hanger to repair the leg on my Zaber Fang. I will see you guys later.”
Everyone else gave their approval and farewells and Jason left. He took a nice hot shower that he enjoyed to the highest degree. After his shower, he put on some older clothes that he did not mind getting dirty to go fix the leg. He made his way to the hanger and found a toolbox on the far right side of the hanger.
“Alright Zaber, let’s get that leg fixed shall we?” Jason said as he assessed the damage and began the repairs. Luckily the damage was only done to the knee joint so Jason only needed a regular sized ladder to get up there.
“Okay, a little tweak here, and here, and that should be the end of that.” Jason said wiping the sweat off his brow. Jason had to make sure the leg was back in working order, so he had to get into the cockpit to run a systems check. Once Jason got into the cockpit, he went ahead and ran the system check which would take about 10 minutes to finish.
“Damn, 10 whole minutes? That is what I get for not running the check for such a long time.”
While Jason was grieving over his misfortune over the length of the system check, Jason heard a chuckle come from near the entrance door to the hanger.
“Who is there…there…ther? Jason’s question echoed through the hanger. “If your goal was to spook me, then you succeeded.”
“Jeez, I can’t believe the Crimson Fang can be spooked so easily.” Rachel said sarcastically while coming around the corner.
“Gosh Rachel, that was wrong…and I didn’t take you for the sarcastic type.”
“I have my moments, but how are the repairs going?”
“They are going good. I am running a check now to make sure everything is good, but it will take 10 minutes.”
“I know…I heard you complaining about it.” Rachel said chuckling.
“Yea, yea laugh it up, but why are you here.”
“I figured you could use some company, and I felt weird being around Brad and Naomi because they were being all lovey-dovey.”
“Haha, I understand that. I was wondering how long you have been here.”
“I have been here for about 3 years since the Royal Cup. She needed someone to drive her new transport that she got, and I offered my assistance. I am glad I did.” Rachel said while taking a seat on the ground and looking up at Jason.
“So what made you decide to look for a team?”
“Well, I was tired of being of my own. I felt it was time to go out and join a team. Explore the world a bit. I made a name for myself in 1-on-1 battling, but 1-on-1 battling will only take me so far. That and I was starting to feel a little lonely.” Jason said looking back at the check screen to how it was progressing.
“Aw, that is a little sad, but now you joined up with us here on the Fleugel team, so things will much less lonely now.”
“Yea, I bet it will. I got one more question though. Why exactly are you a big fan of mine? I don’t really have many female fans. It is mostly dude that aspire to be like me.”
“I think it is because you remind me a lot of Naomi. You and she are a lot alike, the loner that became famous relying on their own strength. You, like Naomi, got tired of the monotony of 1-on-1 battle and sought a team. I guess that is why she wanted you on the team. You remind Naomi of her.” Rachel finished.
“You know, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks Rachel, you helped out a lot. Oh…the systems check is done, and all looks good.” Jason said as he let out a sigh of relief.
Jason hopped down from the cockpit and saw Rachel up close for the first time since dinner. She looked as beautiful as ever in her green shirt and sweatpants. Her long flowing brown hair shined in the natural lighting provided by the moon. Jason was slightly at a loss for words. After a second of hesitation, Jason found something to say.
“Look who is ready for bed.” Jason said towards Rachel.
“I would assume so since it is 11:25 p.m. right now.”
Jason’s jaw dropped at the passage of time. He couldn’t believe it took that long for him to finish a simple leg repair.
“I guess that leg repair was more sophisticated than I thought.” Jason said rubbing his head and laughing.
“Well, I guess I need to take another shower now. Let’s head on back. I would say I would walk you back to your room, but since we are next door neighbors it is a thing that doesn’t need to be said.” Jason said laughing nervously.
“Haha, sounds good.” Rachel said as the two departed the hanger.
Jason and Rachel made their way back through Naomi’s house up to their respective rooms. They stopped at their doors for a second and said a couple words to each other.
“It was good spending time with your in the hanger tonight. You really make doing repairs more enjoyable Rachel. Thank you” Jason said look into her deep, piercing eyes.
“Yea, you are welcome. I would love to do it again sometime…umm…I am really glad you joined the team Jason. I feel things will be more enjoyable with your around.” Rachel mustered up the strength to finish her statement when she paused.
“Thank you, I hope things will be enjoyable. Now it is time for me to take that shower and go to bed. You have a good night.”
“You too Jason, see you in the morning.”
With that said, the two departed into their rooms for the night. Jason quickly to into the shower, washed up, and got out. He put on his bedtime clothing and fell into the sanctuary that was his bed after finishing up a tiring day.
“Rachel Monaro huh? Yea…she is a keeper.”
Jason climbed his way into his Zaber Fang and activated its systems so he could make it through the gorge to Naomi’s transport, and start his journey with the new team he just officially joined. Jason began his way towards the gorge, walking past the broken Zaber Fangs of the Fierce Zaber Fangs team of Kirkland, Lineback, and Omari. Jason couldn’t help but laugh as he saw the trio arguing over the circumstances as his Zaber Fang limped past them.
“Catch you flunkies later…” Jason said with a huge laugh following.
“Grr…we will get you later Crimson.” Kirkland said as he kicked the dirt.
“Mhmm, ok Kirkland. We will see about that. Come looks us up when you get you and your Zaber Fangs improved.” Jason said as he finished past the group and on through the gorge.
When Jason made it through he saw a relatively big transport that looked a lot like the Blitz Team’s Hover Cargo except this one was painted with more Red. Jason saw the transport from the backside and took notice of entry points on both sides and the back for three Zoids to fit inside. The two side entry points housed Naomi’s Gun Sniper and Brad’s Fire Fox sitting on supports. The supports slid back into the transport for easy deploying. The back hatch was another story all together. That is where Jason noticed things being chucked out the back without a whim and crashing into the desert sand.
“I guess that is where my Zaber Fang will be stored. That place sure is junky.” Jason said as he zoomed in on the back of the transport.
He saw Brad, Naomi, and another women pushing and throwing things around to make space for his Zoid. Jason took notice of the women and her appearance. She has long, flowing brown hair down to her mid back. She also had piercing blue eyes that looked like they could see into your very soul and a nice body to complement her.
“Wow…she is beautiful. I am a sucker for pretty eyes.” Jason said almost dumbstruck.
“I guess I should keep going, they must be waiting.” Jason said as he continued to walk his Zoid towards the transport.
===============================================================
“We got to hurry, he is almost here!” Naomi said to keep the other two working.
“Jesus Naomi, it’s not like he will care that much for a spotlessly clean place to park his Zoid.” Brad said mostly out of frustration to do backbreaking labor.
“Shut up Brad, this is our new teammate and I want him to feel at home. The more comfortable he is, the more likely he is to stay.” Naomi said hitting Brad in the ribs with her elbow. “And I think Rachel over there will approve of that.” Naomi said chuckling.
“Huh?! Well…yea I would.” Rachel said nervously.
“No need to be nervous Rachel, he is a sweet person.” Naomi said to reassure her. “Now, let’s finish getting this place tidied up. He Zoid may be limping over here, but it won’t take him forever to get here.”
“Okay, let’s throw all of this old Zoid junk we don’t need anymore.” Brad said still rubbing his side from the elbow he received earlier.
The trio continued to scrub and clean the back hatch hanger out to make sure Jason and his Zoid was most comfortable. Junk was tossed out the back hatch that wasn’t needed anymore and boxes were pushed over to the side so the Zoid would have enough space to not crush anything.
“Huff, huff, good…I think we are good and not a moment too soon because I see him coming over the horizon.” Naomi said and she slowly straightened her back out to stand upright.
“I hope he likes what we did.” Rachel said with a smile on her face overlooking the job they did.
“I am sure he will…” Naomi said before she was interrupted by an incoming transmission from Jason.
“This is Jason, am I clear to come on in?”
“Yea, you are good. We just finished, so bring your Zoid on in.” Naomi said and closed the transmission.
===============================================================
Jason finished bring his Zoid onto the transport. It proved to be difficult due to the injured leg on the Zaber Fang, but it got done after some time and struggling. Jason successfully secured his Zoid down to the transport so it wouldn’t move or tumble while the Transport was in motion. Jason hopped out of the Zoid and onto the ground with Naomi, Brad, and the unknown girl was waiting.
“I take it things went well through the gorge Jason?” Naomi said.
“Yea, it was all good. That messed up leg was a pain. I will repair it later down the road.”
“Sounds good…let’s get going…oww…” Naomi said when she was suddenly elbowed by Rachel.
“Oh, almost forgot. Jason, this is Rachel Monaro. She is my best friend and she is a big fan of yours. She also drives the transport for us.” Naomi finished and rubbed her side.
Rachel looked a little flushed in the face when Naomi said she was a big fan of Jason’s, but she did not deny it in the least. Rachel approached Jason slowly and extended her hand in hope of Jason shaking it.
“Oh, hello Rachel, nice to meet you!” Jason said placing his hand into her hand and shaking it softly. Rachel’s heart skipped a beat and she turned a light red color.
Jason thought to himself about Rachel. ‘I don’t know if she likes me or not, but she does seem to blush a lot when I am around. She is not the typical fan. She does not jump around losing her mind when I am around…I like that.’
“Now that I am all anchored down…I sure am hungry.” Jason said with a laugh.
“Alright, let’s head upstairs to the command center and let’s head back to my place for some food.” Naomi finished before the group set out for the command center.
“Hey Zaber, I will be back soon to fix that leg of yours ok?” Jason added before left. The Zaber Fang simply flashed its eyes a brilliant green in approval of Jason’s question.
After a long trip, the transport arrived at Naomi’s place. Her place was a good size place for people to live. It was a house with a big hanger attached where all Zoids were repaired and stored until it was time to load it on the transport for a battle. The house section of Naomi’s place had everything to offer: Hot water, kitchen, and most of all a bedroom for Jason. Jason was shown his bedroom shortly after arriving. It was the guest room seeing that it was the only room left to sleep. It was not a bad place in all actuality. It had a queen sized bed, 20 in TV, and a bedroom attached, but it was shared with the room next door, which was Rachel’s.
“I guess you are next door neighbor Rachel.” Jason said with a smile.
“It sure appears that way, it should be fun Jason.” Rachel replied with a smile on her face too.
“Good, since you agree with your living arrangements, let’s go eat.”
Rachel, Jason, and Naomi walked into the kitchen where Brad was waiting for them. He did not look too happy because he was hungry too, and they took a while getting downstairs from Jason’s new room.
“Jesus, I am hungry, let’s go ahead and eat already.” Brad said as his stomach continued to rumble.
“Okay, okay. Rachel can you help me prepare something quick to eat?” Naomi said.
“Yea, sure. How does soup and sandwiches sound you guys?”
“Yea that will work, hell, I would eat elephant ears right now…” Jason said rubbing his stomach waiting on the food.
The food was prepared quickly and eaten by the four in a prompt fashion. It was now about 7:30 p.m. and Jason excused himself from the table. He let out a small burp as he stood up and gave a second ‘excuse me’ in response to the burp.
“I am going to take a shower and then head down to the hanger to repair the leg on my Zaber Fang. I will see you guys later.”
Everyone else gave their approval and farewells and Jason left. He took a nice hot shower that he enjoyed to the highest degree. After his shower, he put on some older clothes that he did not mind getting dirty to go fix the leg. He made his way to the hanger and found a toolbox on the far right side of the hanger.
“Alright Zaber, let’s get that leg fixed shall we?” Jason said as he assessed the damage and began the repairs. Luckily the damage was only done to the knee joint so Jason only needed a regular sized ladder to get up there.
“Okay, a little tweak here, and here, and that should be the end of that.” Jason said wiping the sweat off his brow. Jason had to make sure the leg was back in working order, so he had to get into the cockpit to run a systems check. Once Jason got into the cockpit, he went ahead and ran the system check which would take about 10 minutes to finish.
“Damn, 10 whole minutes? That is what I get for not running the check for such a long time.”
While Jason was grieving over his misfortune over the length of the system check, Jason heard a chuckle come from near the entrance door to the hanger.
“Who is there…there…ther? Jason’s question echoed through the hanger. “If your goal was to spook me, then you succeeded.”
“Jeez, I can’t believe the Crimson Fang can be spooked so easily.” Rachel said sarcastically while coming around the corner.
“Gosh Rachel, that was wrong…and I didn’t take you for the sarcastic type.”
“I have my moments, but how are the repairs going?”
“They are going good. I am running a check now to make sure everything is good, but it will take 10 minutes.”
“I know…I heard you complaining about it.” Rachel said chuckling.
“Yea, yea laugh it up, but why are you here.”
“I figured you could use some company, and I felt weird being around Brad and Naomi because they were being all lovey-dovey.”
“Haha, I understand that. I was wondering how long you have been here.”
“I have been here for about 3 years since the Royal Cup. She needed someone to drive her new transport that she got, and I offered my assistance. I am glad I did.” Rachel said while taking a seat on the ground and looking up at Jason.
“So what made you decide to look for a team?”
“Well, I was tired of being of my own. I felt it was time to go out and join a team. Explore the world a bit. I made a name for myself in 1-on-1 battling, but 1-on-1 battling will only take me so far. That and I was starting to feel a little lonely.” Jason said looking back at the check screen to how it was progressing.
“Aw, that is a little sad, but now you joined up with us here on the Fleugel team, so things will much less lonely now.”
“Yea, I bet it will. I got one more question though. Why exactly are you a big fan of mine? I don’t really have many female fans. It is mostly dude that aspire to be like me.”
“I think it is because you remind me a lot of Naomi. You and she are a lot alike, the loner that became famous relying on their own strength. You, like Naomi, got tired of the monotony of 1-on-1 battle and sought a team. I guess that is why she wanted you on the team. You remind Naomi of her.” Rachel finished.
“You know, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks Rachel, you helped out a lot. Oh…the systems check is done, and all looks good.” Jason said as he let out a sigh of relief.
Jason hopped down from the cockpit and saw Rachel up close for the first time since dinner. She looked as beautiful as ever in her green shirt and sweatpants. Her long flowing brown hair shined in the natural lighting provided by the moon. Jason was slightly at a loss for words. After a second of hesitation, Jason found something to say.
“Look who is ready for bed.” Jason said towards Rachel.
“I would assume so since it is 11:25 p.m. right now.”
Jason’s jaw dropped at the passage of time. He couldn’t believe it took that long for him to finish a simple leg repair.
“I guess that leg repair was more sophisticated than I thought.” Jason said rubbing his head and laughing.
“Well, I guess I need to take another shower now. Let’s head on back. I would say I would walk you back to your room, but since we are next door neighbors it is a thing that doesn’t need to be said.” Jason said laughing nervously.
“Haha, sounds good.” Rachel said as the two departed the hanger.
Jason and Rachel made their way back through Naomi’s house up to their respective rooms. They stopped at their doors for a second and said a couple words to each other.
“It was good spending time with your in the hanger tonight. You really make doing repairs more enjoyable Rachel. Thank you” Jason said look into her deep, piercing eyes.
“Yea, you are welcome. I would love to do it again sometime…umm…I am really glad you joined the team Jason. I feel things will be more enjoyable with your around.” Rachel mustered up the strength to finish her statement when she paused.
“Thank you, I hope things will be enjoyable. Now it is time for me to take that shower and go to bed. You have a good night.”
“You too Jason, see you in the morning.”
With that said, the two departed into their rooms for the night. Jason quickly to into the shower, washed up, and got out. He put on his bedtime clothing and fell into the sanctuary that was his bed after finishing up a tiring day.
“Rachel Monaro huh? Yea…she is a keeper.”
<img src='http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/1111/crimson2uo9.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'><br><i><b><span style='color:#CC0000'>"The deeper the fire, the hotter it burns, and the hotter it burns, the more you feel it" ~Unknown</span></b></i><br><br><b><u><span style='color
ed'>Crimson's ACs</span></u></b> *Click Link to view<br><b><a href='http://ravenrepublic.cjb.net/index.php?showtopic=396' target='_blank'><u><span style='colored'>Tempest</span></u></a></b><br><b><a href='http://ravenrepublic.cjb.net/index.php?showtopic=414' target='_blank'><u><span style='color:purple'>Alpha Omega</span></u></a></b><br><b><a href='http://ravenrepublic.cjb.net/index.php?showtopic=419' target='_blank'><u><span style='color:orange'>Shrapnel</span></u></a></b>
ed'>Crimson's ACs</span></u></b> *Click Link to view<br><b><a href='http://ravenrepublic.cjb.net/index.php?showtopic=396' target='_blank'><u><span style='colored'>Tempest</span></u></a></b><br><b><a href='http://ravenrepublic.cjb.net/index.php?showtopic=414' target='_blank'><u><span style='color:purple'>Alpha Omega</span></u></a></b><br><b><a href='http://ravenrepublic.cjb.net/index.php?showtopic=419' target='_blank'><u><span style='color:orange'>Shrapnel</span></u></a></b>
