Only a few days into his vacation, and Bit Cloud was already in deep trouble.

"Give up the Liger Zero and we'll let you walk away in one piece!" one of the bandits yelled over loud speaker as his Rev Raptor taking a step closer.

"Yeah, all the way to the next town," another added with a cruel snicker, his Hel Cat seeming to bounce with amusement. "Hope your shoes don't wear out before you get there."

Bit put on a smile to mask his growing alarm. They'd caught him outside the cockpit while he was making dinner and getting ready to bed down for the night; there wouldn't be enough time to get all the way up to Liger's head before they started firing. On top of that, the scrubby land on the edge of the forest left no place for him to get to cover or hide, so those options were out. If there was a way out of this mess, he couldn't see it.

Liger Zero let out a low, frustrated growl as the foot closest to Bit flexed its claws.

"Hold on there, kitty-cat," the Rev Raptor pilot said, and his Zoid shifted to point one of its arm-mounted beam canons at Bit. "Try anything stupid and we'll blast your pilot to kingdom come. You wouldn't want that, now would you?"

There was no vocal reply from Liger, but the fact that he stopped moving was all the answer they needed.

"You guys too scared to fight me or what? Not like I have numbers on my side or anything," Bit said, doing his best to keep the smile on. He just needed to get up to the cockpit... Then these bandit scum would be in for it.

"What'd you say?" the Hel Cat pilot snapped, his Zoid taking a step forward. "You calling us cowards?"

"Don't let him goad you, idiot," the leader of the group cut in, her deep green Saber Tiger looking to the Hel Cat and baring its teeth. "A battle is exactly what he wants." The Saber Tiger turned to Bit and the Liger again. "Cowardice has nothing to do with it, just smart tactics," she said, her voice smug. "And if your Liger wants to keep you alive it'll come with us slowly and quietly."

Liger stood frozen for a few seconds as if still contemplating his options, then began to sidestep toward the nearest bandit Zoid, a grey and green Command Wolf.

Bit's heart sank as he watched Liger get farther and farther away. He simply couldn't figure a way out of this. To think he'd gone so far as winning the Royal Cup only to lose Liger Zero right afterward. He almost couldn't believe what was happening.

The sound of an explosion cut Bit's train of thought short The Rev Raptor collapsed before him, one arm completely blown off and a massive hole in the section of body next to where it had been. Panic ran through the bandits' ranks as they searched wildly for the source of the shot. Another Zoid went down—the Hel Cat this time—before Bit realized he had his opening. He sprang up and dashed toward Liger, who had realized their opportunity as well and was even now moving toward him.

Liger brought his head down and opened the canopy, allowing Bit to hop inside and buckle up.

Only the Saber Tiger was still standing by the time Liger brought his head up again. She looked around at her fallen companions, then back up at the Liger Zero and took a step back.

"Oh no ya don't!" Bit and Liger surged in, but the bandit was struck down before they could even complete the jump. Liger landed next to the Saber Tiger and backed off. "Whoa... Someone wasn't messing around," Bit muttered to himself as he looked around at the fallen bandits. Judging by the angle the shots came in at, the sniper should be...

There was a ridge above them that the sun was just now setting on, making it difficult to pick out any details on its top. Something flickered on the silhouette of the ridge as Bit stared, then nothing.

Bit moved Liger to cover just in case. He didn't want to risk it after such a lucky break.

Sirens sounded in the distance. Apparently someone had called the authorities, and now the bandits were abandoning their Zoids to flee into the forest. So the sniper had to be a good samaritan, or from the ZBC or local police. Either way, Bit was grateful for the help.

Maybe Naomi had followed him just to keep an eye on things, it sounded like something she might do. Bit guided Liger over to the Saber Tiger and took a closer look at the damage: two holes had been half-melted, half-blasted into the right rump of the Saber Tiger, crippling it while avoiding the Zoid core. A double barrel, it couldn't have been Naomi, then.

Bit checked the ridge again, but even with the glare of sunset gone he couldn't spot anything other than rock outcroppings and a few trees.

A squad of black siren-equipped Sinkers drifted to a halt in front of him. Their leader hailed him over comm, pausing when he saw Bit's face and then briefly turning to grin at the officer sitting next to him. "We received reports of bandits in the area accosting a white liger and its pilot. You're Bit Cloud and the Liger Zero, aren't you? I'd recognize you two anywhere after that last battle in the Royal Cup Tournament."

"Yep, that's us!" Bit replied, giving the officer a little wave of greeting. "And yeah, they caught me while I was making dinner, ran off into the woods after someone sniped them from that ridge over there." He pointed to it, and Liger moved his head toward the ridge as well to add emphasis.

"We'll take it from here. If you could follow our escort to the nearest town, we'd like to make sure that you get to a safe area tonight."