Fan Fiction / Zoids Fan Fiction ❯ The Boundaries of Parents ❯ Ice Daggers ( Chapter 3 )

Ice Daggers

"How about we go home? I've finished my work for the day and it'd be good to do something together, as a family." Van put his hand on Fiona's back to assure her.

Fiona looked into her husband's eyes with complete love and adoration. She felt very lucky to have him with her because he made her feel safe. She looked at Zeke as he was watching the young boy. He also made her feel that she and her son were safe.

"I thought you were anxious to test out the new Liger?"

A voice came from behind them, "Who says Van's the one who gets to test it?"

Van turned around quickly and was relieved to see a familiar face. "Irvine! When did you get back?"

"Taking three days for a seek and destroy mission wasn't necessary. I guess the father in you took some precautions that the old Van wouldn't have."

The captain smiled with Irvine. "Coming back early is just your way of showing off."

He gave Van an innocent look while he took some papers out of Thomas' hand. "And what do we have here?"

"The new age of Zoid battles." Thomas replied.

Irvine's eyes scanned the papers quickly. He gave out a low whistle when he was done. "I'll believe it when I see it."

"I think you'll be seeing it very soon. If the preparations of the Liger Zero and the conversion armor systems are through, then I don't see the point in wasting any more time." Herman looked at the noonday sun. "We'll get the testing ground ready for tomorrow night. I'd love to see this Zoid in a night-fight."

Colonel Schubaltz nodded in agreement. "I don't think that would be a problem. We'll let Van and Irvine go flip a coin. The pilot better be ready for tomorrow."

Thomas finally realized he was being left out of the candidate selection. "Wait a second! Don't you think Beak and I would be the better choice? What better way to test out the full potential of the Liger?"

Dr. D shook his head and looked directly at the three young pilots. "If you want to see the actual potential of this Zoid, then no organoids or A.I. allowed. I think he'll amaze us all with what he can do with just a pilot. We'll see about adding enhancements only after a thorough test."

Fiona finally entered the conversation again. "I agree with Dr. D. I think he's ready to show us what he can do."

Her son remained silent through the entire discussion. Zeke was just as quiet as they both sat and stared at the snow white Liger. It was hard to imagine what could be going on through their minds.

All of sudden, the boy was lifted in the air and onto the shoulders of his father. "I think it's time we head back home. Irvine and I have a lot to talk about."

"As long as you feed me." He retorted.

"Zeke, will you be coming with us this time?" Fiona had to force the organoid to look away from the Liger. He responded with a quick shake.

A soldier gave them a ride back to their quarters. When Irvine stepped into the small house, his eyes laid on a picture of Van's father and Colonel Krueger. He picked up the picture and compared Van and his dad. The physical resemblance was amazing. He remembered something that Van said the day his son was born.

"I want to be a father to him."

"Yeah, Van, that's what you do. Fiona is the mother, so that leaves you with the job of being the father." Irvine knew he was being serious, but he couldn't help joking around.

"You know, I miss him." Van smiled at his newborn son, but his eyes were filled with sadness.

Irvine wasn't quite sure what to say. He stared at the baby along with Van.

"Did you hear what I said? Hey, Irvine! What's up?" Van broke his train of thought.

"I wasn't paying attention. Did you say something about food?"

Van let out a huge sigh. "Fine, we'll eat and then we'll talk about the Liger."

"Aren't you interested in the mission I just came back from?"

Fiona became aware of Van and Irvine's conversation. "I thought it was just to track a group of bandits that had been raiding supply depots."

Van looked at his wife and explained to her that that was the main objective, but the secondary objective was just as important. "It seems there's a mercenary group that hires themselves out to villages as protectors. The Guardian Force just wants to make sure that's all they're doing."

"The two villages I stopped at on the way here, seemed to have nothing but high praises for the lance. They pay all they can, and their supplies are well defended. The bandits seemed to run into a battle wherever this lance was."

"So this group of mercs is doing what they say they're doing?" Fiona thought that was odd. Nothing ever is what it seems.

"Looks that way."

"Something tells me that you don't really believe it." Van wanted to know what Irvine was thinking.

The old friend leaned forward onto the table. He began to take a few bites out of his dinner before he spoke. "There is nothing unusual that I've noticed. But it would be a good idea to keep an eye on them."

Fiona began to giggle and Irvine looked at her completely baffled. "What's so funny all of a sudden?"

She tried to stop giggling long enough to tell him. "When Van and I first met you, you were just a mercenary out to get Zeke for yourself. Now you don't trust mercs?"

Irvine looked at her and smiled. "Well, trusting me wasn't such a bad thing, was it?"

Van answered him, "Nope, it sure wasn't. Although it took me a long time to come to that conclusion."

He gave a fake look of hurt at Van and began to eat again.

"What do you know about the pilots of the Ice Daggers?" Van returned to being serious.

"I don't know much except their names and the Zoids they pilot. I sent in request for background checks. That should help out a lot."

He finished eating quickly and shared his knowledge of the mercenaries. "The leaders of the village had to go through a woman, Angel, for all business deals. I've been told she's the one that came up with the plan that trapped the bandits. She another girl, Jaq, used the stealth mode of their Helcats to set an ambush for the bandits. Once they were chased out of the storage place, an Iron Kong and Zaber Fang finished the job. That's when we arrested the thieves."

"Do you have names for the other two pilots?"

"One is Spence, and the other is Nick. I hardly have any info on them."

"That's fine. Once the background checks come through, we'll know all of them like family."

Fiona looked as if she had something on her mind. Irvine asked her what was wrong. She replied, "Did they get their Zoids legitimately?"

"The registration is legal and shows that they are the owners of the Zoids. The question is: where did they get the money? When villages hired me out for protection, I don't remember getting rich quick. They have to divide the reward between four people. It just makes me wonder."

Van didn't know the answer to the question. "Right now, let's concentrate on the Liger Zero. The Zoid has three different armor systems, so each one of us could test out the Liger. How does that sound?"

"Fine. I'll take the fast Liger, you can take blade unit, and Thomas gets the leftovers." Irvine was satisfied.

"The last unit is the most powerful. I wouldn't call that leftovers, Irvine." Fiona was right and Irvine's face fell.

He shrugged, "I'd rather be fast and agile."

"We'll find out what the new Zoid has in store for us tomorrow night. Maybe we should head back to base and run your Lightning Saix through a systems check. You can also give your briefing to Herman."

Fiona looked at her husband as he got up from the table. "I thought you said you were going to spend time with your family?"

Van looked at Fiona nervously, "Well, I, uh, I guess a captain's work is never done. Besides, somebody doesn't look interested in quality time right now."

She looked over at her son, who was asleep on the couch. She gently lifted him into her arms, and began to take him to his own room. "And a mother's work is never done." She finally smiled and Van looked relieved.

"You better report to Herman when we get back."

"Yeah, I know."

"I'm glad you finally accepted being a part of the Guardian Force, Irvine." Fiona was trying to hold back more laughter.

"I'm only in debt to the GF, so when I pay them back for the Lightning Saix, I'm-"

"Going to continue to take on more missions, because it's what you love to do." Van saw right through Irvine.

"Hey," He looked flustered for a moment, "I guess I can't win in this argument, can I?"
Fiona and Van both shook their heads quickly.