It was a warm summer afternoon when Sena's voice rang through the Tigeroid airship.

"Everyone, come to the ship's command room, please," Sena called on the intercom, "I repeat, come to the command room!"

"We heard you the first time, Sena!" Rai said, grumpy at being woken up from his nap, "what is it?"

"We have a very important message coming from my dad today," Sena replied as the rest of the Chasers gathered into the command center of their Tigeroid airship.

"What is it, Sena?" Tori asked, "what does General Aidan want us to do?"

"I'm not sure," Sena said, "all I know is that the Elders have some sort of mission for us."

"Finally!" Rai exclaimed, "it's about time we go on some real missions."

"Well, before we get all excited we should find out what the General wants us to do," Donha said, biting into one of his candy bars.

Before Rai could answer General Aidan's face appeared on the screen.

"Hi, dad," Sena said, "we heard that you had a mission for us."

"Yes, Sena," Aidan replied, "and this will be a very important mission, too."

Rai brightened, already imagining the possible Tai Chi he could find or the battles he might be able to take part in with this special mission. Donha and Tori looked pretty excited, too, and Finn stood quietly behind Sena as she sat at the edge of her seat waiting for orders.

"I have someone important that you need to transport from the main Tigeroid base to another secret base," Aidan said.

Rai immediately deflated as Sena asked who they would be transporting.

"You will be taking Tai Chi student Lyn Song," he said, "she's one of the most talented Tai Chi students we have and the Elders feel that she is ready for more extensive training at one of the most exclusive bases we have on planet Earth. Elder Komorka requested for your team specifically and I agree with her."

"We will gladly accept this mission," Sena said, "when would you like us to be at the Tigeroid main base?"

"Arrive as soon as possible," Aidan said, "Lyn will be anxious to get underway with her new studies as soon as she can."

"No problem, dad, we're on our way."

As Aidan's face disappeared Rai's complaining began.

"I can't believe we're being treated like a taxi service!" he exclaimed as Hak changed his direction towards the base, "we should be searching for important Tai Chi and battling Dragonoids, not busing stuck-up students around!"

"Being requested by the Elders to transport a highly regarded Tigeroid student is an honor, Rai," Sena said, annoyed, "this mission is just as important as fighting and searching."

As Rai huffed Tori asked, "so, who exactly is this student? I've never heard of her before."

"I've never met her personally," Donha said, "but I've heard that she's a fantastic battler and she's scored top of the class when it comes to training. I hope maybe I can learn something from her when she comes on board."

"Hmph, she can't be that great."

"Oh, don't be so hateful, Rai," Sena said, glaring irritably, "when she gets on this airship we need to treat her with the same respect we'd want to be treated with. Not to mention she has several years of experience ahead of us."

When the Chasers' airship landed in the docking bay of the main Tigeroid base there was a small crowd gathered. As they walked off of the airship the group was met by the three Elders, General Aidan and a group of Tigeroid students seeing Lyn off.

"Hi Komorka!" Tori greeted excitedly as Komorka slowly walked up to the Chasers.

"Hello, Tori," Komorka smiled and looked at the others, "I am pleased to see that you have accepted this mission. Elder Pyron is very pleased indeed."

"Hm? Why would Elder Pyron be so pleased?" Sena asked.

"Lyn Song is his special student," Komorka replied, "as she attended the school in this base Elder Pyron was her special instructor."

"Wow," Donha said, "I had no idea. Where is Lyn anyway?"

"She's over with her group of friends saying goodbye," General Aidan said as he walked up to Sena and the others.

Rai shifted over to take a look at the group of students to see if he could get a glimpse Lyn Song, but there were so many Tigeroids that there was no way he could tell her apart.

"Is she excited about leaving for the other base?" Tori asked, "is she excited about meeting us?"

Komorka smiled, "of course, Tori, and maybe just a little nervous, too."

"It'll be great to have another girl on the ship for a little while," Sena said as Rai rolled his eyes.

"Lyn Song."

Elder Pyron walked over to the group of students who respectfully stepped out of the way. A girl walked up Pyron, the Chasers assumed she was Lyn Song.

"It's time to go now, Lyn," Elder Pyron said, "say your final goodbyes."

"Yes, Elder Pyron," Lyn replied and turned to her group of friends, several of whom seemed on the verge of tears, "farewell, friends. I hope I'll see you again some day when my training is completed."

After several hugs were exchanged the group left, leaving just the Elders, Aidan, Lyn and the Chasers. As Lyn walked closer to the Chasers they were able to see what she looked like better.

Lyn looked like she was about 18 years old. She had bright red hair, pale skin and brown eyes. She was really tall, too, almost Donha's height. She had on the traditional armor of a Tigeroid warrior and a backpack holding enough belongings to get her started at her new school.

Elder Pyron walked along side her, smiling proudly.

"How do you feel, Lyn?" Elder Sid asked as she joined them, "do you feel that you are ready for the more challenging tasks ahead of you?"

Lyn Song nodded, "yes, Elder Sid, I feel ready to do my best to honor the Tigeroid race."

"I believe you are ready as well," Komorka said, "you have trained for many years and have excelled all of our expectations."

"Thank you, Elder Komorka," Lyn said bowing respectfully.

"Lyn Song, this group of young Tigeroids are the Tai Chi Chasers," General Aidan said, "they will be escorting you to your new school. They are quite talented as well."

Rai thought he saw Lyn smirk slightly, but it was so quick he wondered if he saw anything at all.

"Lyn, before you go there is something I must give you," Pyron said, bringing a small box out of a pocket in his robes, "this was given to me by my instructor many, many years ago and now I want to give it to you. You are by far the best student I have ever taught, and I know that you will benefit the Tigeroids in many ways."

Lyn Song bowed, "only because I've had such a great teacher. Thank you, Elder Pyron, I won't let you down."

For the first time the Chasers saw true emotion in Elder Pyron, he was truly going to miss his student. Lyn Song's emotions were harder to read, she was so formal and hid her feelings well.

The Chasers boarded the ship as Lyn said goodbye to Pyron and the other two Elders.

"Sena, be careful," General Aidan said as the other Chasers disappeared into the ship, "it is important that Lyn is brought to her new school swiftly and safely."

Sena nodded, "we won't let you down, dad."

General Aidan smiled as Sena followed the other Chasers and the hatch closed off.

Everyone went into the command room of the Tigeroid ship, Hak was ready to take off.

"Hak, let's get going," Sena said, sitting in her chair, "the sooner we get to the new school, the better, right, Lyn?"

The Chasers looked around but Lyn wasn't there.

"Where's Lyn? I figured once she got on the ship she'd want to come to the command room," Donha said, concerned.

"Maybe she wanted to get settled in somewhere," Sena said, "it'll be a long ride, so it's best for her to be comfortable."

Rai shrugged, "whatever. So what do we do now, Sena?"

"Finn, Rai and Tori how about you guys go out and keep watch," Sena said, "and Donha it'd be good if you could figure out what we could do for supper."

"What time do you think we'll get to the secret base?" Rai asked.

"With the coordinates that dad sent me it looks like it could take about a couple of days, depending on what sort of weather we run into," Sena said, "but time should fly by hopefully."

As Rai, Finn and Tori went out on the deck of the airship and Donha started preparing something to eat Lyn came into the command room.

"Hi Lyn," Sena said, standing up, "are you happy with the traveling so far?"

"Yes, in fact I believe I can take over from here," Lyn said, moving past Sena and sitting in the head command chair.

Sena frowned, "um, actually I think I can handle this. I've been the leader of the Chasers for a while so you don't have to worry about taking over."

Lyn smiled, "look, little one, I think it's best that you let me take care of things on this ship until I get to my base. I've had a lot more experience than you when it comes to leading, so consider this a small vacation. Why don't you go help cook or something?"

"Wait, you can't just come in here and-"

"Unless you want a less than happy report to your father and the Elders, I suggest that you do as I say."

Sena's eyes widened and she looked at Hak, who gave her a concerned look.

"Fine," Sena said, finally and left the command room.

Meanwhile it was clear weather out on the deck, it didn't take long for Tori and Rai to start goofing off.

"I wonder if maybe Lyn will come out and play with us," Tori said, as he and Rai played chase around the lower deck.

"I doubt it."

Rai and Tori looked to see a very upset Sena walk out of the airship.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be in the command room?" Rai asked.

"Lyn kicked me out," Sena said, angrily, "she said that she was more qualified to be the leader and that if I didn't leave she would tell the Elders and dad that we did a bad job transporting her."

Finn walked up, frowning, as Tori said, "well, maybe it was just a misunderstanding."

"No, she was pretty clear," Sena said, folding her arms.

"That's not fair!" Rai exclaimed, angrily, "she can't just come onto our ship and take over like that!"

"She can and she did, Rai," Sena said, "she can report us to the Elders, and Pyron would take her word for it. We just have deal with this until we get her to her school, then we won't have to worry about her again."

"Still, this isn't cool how she just took your leadership position just like that," Tori said, "whether she has more experience or not, she didn't earn the position like you did."

"Let's just forget about that for now, Tori," Sena said, giving a weak smile, "let's just worry about getting this dumb mission over with."

"I'm glad you're finally on my side now!" Rai said, happily.

"Yeah, well it doesn't mean you're always right, Rai!" Sena replied.

"Of course I am, it just takes a lot for you to admit it!"

As Rai and Sena continued to argue, Donha was trying to cook dinner. Lyn came into the kitchen and he turned around and smiled.

"Hi there, Lyn," he greeted, "I hope you're doing okay, do you want a snack or something? I was thinking maybe I could make my special spaghetti tonight, since you're our special guest."

Donha stopped talking when he realized that Lyn wasn't even listening. She was inspecting the cabinets and checking for dust on the countertops.

"Um, if you want I can-"

"When it comes to this kitchen's cleanliness and food supply, I give it a C+ at best," Lyn said, "this would not pass an exam at the base's academy."

Donha was dumbstruck, "uh, well, um..." He looked around the kitchen, it looked just fine and there was plenty of food in the cabinets. The Chasers made sure to clean and fill the kitchen with supplies before this mission.

"The next time I come into this kitchen, I expect it to be spotless," Lyn said, without another word she left the room, leaving a speechless Donha.

Finn decided that there was enough people for lookout on deck, so he went to see if Donha needed any help in the kitchen. He came in to see Donha sitting at the table looking nervously into a bowl of cereal.

"Cereal? It's almost four o'clock, Donha," Finn said, looking concerned.

"You'll never believe what Lyn said to me," Donha said, "she said that the kitchen looked awful and that I have to make sure it's spotless next time she comes in."

Finn frowned, "that sounds like something Sena said. Lyn Song took over Sena's leadership position, and said if Sena didn't give her control over the ship she'd give a bad report to the Elders."

Donha shook his head, "I don't believe it, we just met her!"

Finn shrugged, "apparently she thinks she's more qualified to be the head of this mission."

Donha sighed, "this is terrible, I thought she'd be different. Could you help me get the kitchen straightened out? I don't want her to have an excuse to report us to the Elders for no reason."

Finn nodded and got to work cleaning an already clean kitchen while Donha started to get his ingredients together.

Meanwhile, Lyn Song was sitting in the command room chair behind Hak, feeling good and in control.

Suddenly Hak perked up, "I sense something."

"A Tai Chi?" Lyn asked, "where is it?"

Hak shook his head, "we shouldn't worry about it. Our orders were to get you to your new base, the Elders wouldn't approve of looking for a Tai Chi during this mission."

Lyn shook her head, "we need to find that Tai Chi, we can't just pass it by. It's right in our grasp."

Hak turned around, "we can't just go off course! We're on a set time, the school will be expecting us in two days, and we can't be late."

"It won't take long to find this Tai Chi," Lyn said, "I order you to change our course, unless you want your group to have an uncomfortable meeting with the Elders once this mission is over."

Hak flicked his whiskers irritably as he changed direction.

"That's strange," Sena said, looking over to Rai, "why's Hak going in the opposite direction?"

Rai shrugged, and looked up at Tori, who was now in the crow's nest of the deck, "do you see anything Tori?"

"Nope, just a lot of clouds!" Tori called down.

"I'm going to go check," Rai said, "I think I need a turn at seeing how Lyn Song really is."

"Good luck," Sena said, "let me know how that goes."

Rai made his way to the command room and grit his teeth when he saw that Lyn was sitting in Sena's chair.

"Why'd we change course?" he asked, "we're supposed to go straight to your new base and that's all."

"Hak sensed a Tai Chi character and we need to find it," Lyn said, "I'm hoping this doesn't inconvience you in any way?"

Rai grit his teeth even harder and Hak gulped.

"Look," Rai said, "the Elders won't be happy when they hear we've gone off course, so Hak, if you could please-"

"Listen, kid," Lyn said as she stood up, "I am the commanding officer of this ship for the time being, and I expect to have my every order listened to and obeyed."

"Nobody here made you a commanding officer!" Rai exploded, "you just took over without even asking!"

Lyn squinted her eyes, "I have much more teaching and experience, especially compared to you. You were just picked up and brought to the Tigeroids without any real training or schooling in the Tai Chi arts."

"That doesn't mean you can just come and take over everything and tell us what to do!" Rai exclaimed, "we barely even know you, and we're only supposed to take you to your school, nothing more!"

"Unless you want a less than ideal report to the Elders you'll do as I say," Lyn said, sitting back down on Sena's chair, "we're getting the Tai Chi. Now leave me, and that's an order."

Rai was about to let Lyn hear it when Finn walked in and motioned for him to leave before things got out of hand. Once Rai was safely in the kitchen he let his anger out.

"I can't believe we have to taxi this stuck-up brat around!" he cried as he helped clear the table for supper, "she has to be the most unbearable person I've ever met, she's even worse than Sena!"

"I heard that!"

Sena walked in with Tori, "at least I had true rational reason behind my actions. Going after that Tai Chi is incredibly risky, Lyn's too impulsive."

"I hope things turn out okay," Donha said, bringing his freshly made spaghetti to the table, "because I'm not feeling very good about this right now."

Everyone stood by the table and looked at one another.

"Okay...who's going to tell Miss Commander Buttface it's time for supper?" Sena asked, "it has to be someone who hasn't had to talk to her yet."

Finn shrugged, "I'll go."

Sena nodded, "thank you, Finn, we'll wait for you two."

Finn made his way to the command room to find that Lyn wasn't there.

"Hak, do you know where Lyn went?" Finn asked.

Hak shook his head, "no, she didn't tell me where she was going and I didn't ask. I need a break from her constant ordering around!"

Finn left the command room and checked the deck and the different guest rooms. Finally he found Komorka's room and saw that the door was opened. He hurried inside to find Lyn Song looking through Komorka's books and scrolls.

"How did you get in here?" Finn asked, "the door was locked."

Lyn looked at him, "Elder Pyron gave me a key to access every door on this ship."

"This is Komorka's room, we can only come in here when we're summoned by her," Finn said, "or if it's an emergency. You need to leave."

Lyn continued to look through the book in her hands, "well, Komorka's not here and I'm commanding officer of this airship, so don't worry about it."

Finn's face betrayed no emotion, "supper's ready."

Lyn shut the book and put it away, "very well, I assume there is a separate eating quarters for the leader of the ship."

"No, we always eat together," Finn replied, "we're in the kitchen."

Lyn walked out of the room and Finn quickly locked the door.

Supper was silent and awkward. Lyn was not very pleased with not getting to eat her supper separately from everyone else and the Chasers were not happy eating with Lyn. She finished her spaghetti quickly without a compliment to Donha or anyone else about the food or the clean kitchen and left for the command room.

"Gosh, I can't stand her!" Tori complained as he cleaned the dishes.

"I know, I can't either but we have to put up with her for a little while longer," Sena said.

"Crew, meet on the ship deck, pronto," Lyn said over the intercom, "we found a good landing spot to find the Tai Chi."

As the airship landed the Chasers went out on deck to find Lyn already there.

"Okay, so the Tai Chi looks like it's in some sort of cave a few miles away," Lyn said, "the group I'll take is Finn, Donha and Tori."

"Wait," Sena said, "it's already starting to get dark. Are you sure that-"

The look that Lyn gave Sena immediately silenced her, the group shifted around uncomfortably.

"We'll go anyway," Lyn said, "it won't take long to get the Tai Chi."

Sena bit her lip nervously as the group left, "I can take ridiculous orders from her on the ship, but now she's putting Finn, Donha and Tori in danger. I shouldn't have let them go, hunting Tai Chi in the dark is a bad idea."

Rai shook his head, "there's nothing we can do, not with her constantly blackmailing us. If she lies to the Elders about us who knows what would happen, they wouldn't choose us for any of the missions anymore. They wouldn't trust us thanks to her."

"I just hope that they get back soon," Sena said, "let's go, the least we can do is take watch."

Meanwhile, Lyn and the Chasers were hiking, looking for the cave that contained the Tai Chi. They were walking through some sort of mountain valley, it was both grassy and rocky at the same time. There were mountains surrounding them on both sides and the sun was just beginning to set, painting them in orange and red.

If the group wasn't so tense the sight might've been beautiful and relaxing.

"Let's go," Lyn said, "you need to keep up, Tori."

Tori sighed and jogged to try to keep up with Lyn's brisk pace.

Lyn was too busy being a drill sergeant that the small group didn't notice or sense that they were being watched.

"Hm, this interesting," Luka said to Garnia, "I've never seen the Chasers being lead by this person before."

Garnia frowned, "maybe they have a new member, but they don't look too happy about her being with them."

The Dragonoids were in a cave up ahead, they had already found the Tai Chi and were waiting to draw some unsuspecting Tigeroids into a trap.

...

I will continue this in another chapter. Please review if you have any comments.