The Two-Faced Pilot

The day was half cloudy and half sunny, very much to Ryuken's liking as he wandered through the city. It had been awhile since he'd been able to commandeer a zoid...the last one hadn't made it through his 'dream' it seemed which was always disheartening. He loved the things dearly but then he blacked out and they were badly damaged. The fields of dead ones weren't any better though.

Still the connection to one felt magnificent to him and he longed to find one that was far more durable, or that fully 'clicked' with him. Sure they were all fun to pilot but it was a lot like adopting a dog or cat at the pound: you had to find that spark. The empire at least was letting him run through a few of their lower ones as he was still a bit of a new member in the ranks, but still their godos were slow and the few others he'd been given weren't any better. The best had been the Rev Raptor until a Gun Sniper had left irreparable damage....it had paid for that one dearly. People bustled around as he made his way towards the main troop area, but not fully walking into it as those people weren't much to his liking either. They thought him too 'strange'.

Seraph had the habit of walking through the kingdom disguised as a normal person. This had given him the opportunity of learning what the people thought of him and what they needed. Although he had encountered fights with thugs to only later have to make up an excuse that he had had an accident in the bathroom or a nasty bump during a training session in his zoid. He knew very well that his generals did not believe him most of the time, mainly due to the fact that his Blade Liger was almost always in pristine condition, not one critical damage incident had gotten a hold of it; no, they knew he was just making the excuses up but did not dare question him because of his status.

As of today Seraph walked through the streets in his normal disguised. The purpose of today's little escapade into the streets were formal. He had heard rumors of a very good and able pilot that had just entered his army and he was seeking him, after reading his file he learned that he had mostly kept to this area of the city. He thought he should test the pilot and see if he was really all that he was being cracked up to be. He would indeed test him to see if he was worthy of having a zoid more compatible with his talent.

"Oh yes...this will be an interesting day indeed..." he thought to himself as he walked by many of his subjugates, hidden in a full body cloak and a vizier that concealed his face. The vizier was not an ordinary vizier, no, it was one that the very military used when it was in search of someone. It had the handy feature of being able to keep a digital photograph of the person that was being searched for on at all times for the wearer to be sure there were no mistakes in appearance and so he would find his target effectively.

Suddenly the vizier pinpointed the person he was looking for. A grin swept Seraph's face as he began to walk towards his target. When he reached him, he tapped him on the back and uttered the following words.

"Attention Soldier...do not react to my arrival or what I am about to tell you." he paused for a moment taking a look around to make sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. "I have been searching for quite some time for you. I am Seraph Vii Arcadia, emperor of this fair empire." with that Seraph let his target take in the confidentiality of the situation.

Though his look appeared elsewhere he'd reacted with apt attention at 'soldier' and once the man was done talking he swiveled on his heel, hands in his pocket and turned a smiling face towards the man. He appeared as though he were either talking to a friend or being friendly towards a stranger: nope, no special treatment whatsoever. Not that he always showed 'proper' respect towards higher ups, but still people would expect groveling or who knows what towards the emperor.

"Well I suppose you have found me then, now what would you like of me today?" So weird though, Ryuken wasn't sure what the emperor might wish of him as he was told often he was an insubordinate bug or other...at least off the field. Never recalled what they called him on the field.

Seraph smiled at Ryuken and adjusted his cloak to make sure no one would recognized him. He began to walk away from him but stopped a moment to look back and gesture Ryuken to follow him. The path he walked was not the one he used to get here, no, he did not intend to take him to the palace, he intended to take him to his private hanger.

As he walked he whispered back to Ryuken. "It has come to my attention that you are a very able pilot." he paused for a minute and then continued speaking. "I intend to see this for myself. I have been looking for someone to test a special zoid I have acquired and after searching your record on the field is one of the best." he once again paused his explanation as he turned the curve and a tall building could begin to be seen from the distance.

"If you pass this trail then doors will be opened for you. If you don't well then....lets both just hope you don't fail." he smiled at these last words and continued speaking. "Think of it as a promotion." as he said these words they had reached the building which they had saw from the beginning of the street. The building had no visible windows or entrances just a wall with a small square device directly in front of the gates. Though the building looked plain it was protected by many intrusion detectors and weapons to prevent forced entry; whomever was dumb enough to try and brake in would be in for many surprises the likes of which they wouldn't forget...ever.

Seraph placed his hand on a device on the gate that recognized his hand print and the wrought iron gates opened. He walked in a few feet further to the wall which had a retinal scanner and a facial scanner. After the tests cleared the wall shifted and a door popped up from the ground. Seraph turned the knob and opened it, he then waited at the doorway and motioned Ryuken to walk in before him.

Sad to say Ryuken was somewhat impressed by his own records, but only because he couldn't recall actually fighting in some of the fights recorded. Only a few would appear in flash memories before he began trying to shut them out. Did this mean the emperor wanted to see his performance first hand though? And...what kind of zoid? His mind could only fantasize at the possibilities though his mind probably wasn't thinking as grand as it could be, as me moved through some of the more common ones in his mind that still held great reputations.

Ryuken continued to follow the cloaked emperor as they walked towards the large blockade of a building. By the looks of it, it would be pure stupidity that would lead someone to try and break in by human means. Though surely it was also reinforced against zoid attacks to, and possibly had armor and scanners that would block out even core tracking in case someone used that as a means to locate the zoids. So he would imagine.

"A promotion you say? I must have done something good then to fall into your good graces," it was said simply and plainly, with a hint of amusement due to his spacey attitude. Not an ounce of disrespect though, he was just a bit surprised at such...and curious as to what laid beyond the doors. As the invitation was to him, he bowed his head in a slight show of respect before walking in before the Emperor, curious to see what awaited him...