Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder Chapter 1: Prologue - Dream High, a zoids fanfic

- - - OFF WE GO INTO THE WILD BLUE YONDER - - -

a Zoids story by RougeBaron

Summary: This is my 4th or 5th shot at Zoids fanfic but my first that follows Battle Story closely (the rest were just Blitz Team extravaganza). This story takes places between Guardian Force and New Century circa ZAC 2120. I don't know precisely the time frame of Chaotic Century in terms of ZAC years, but from Zoids wikia I know that CC runs approximately ZAC 2099. That is the only fact I can find, and that's what used here.

Circa ZAC 2120, many things changed. The Helic Republic and the Guylos Empire were in a very fragile truce. The dynamic of politics of the Helic Republic had changed so much that it didn't consider the Guardian Force as a peace-keeping unit anymore. In fact, the Guardian Force was seen as a nuissance inside Helic Republic that had overstayed its welcome. I modeled this situation after the Middle East circa AD 1300 where the Christians and the Moslems were in a very fragile truce, and the Knight's Templar - although rich and blessed by the Church - was not seen as the defenders of God anymore. The Knight's Templar was eventually dissolved and its members massacred. Will the Guardian Force be dissolved and its members killed in this story? I can't tell you yet...

The main character is Saskia, an ordinary girl with no clear destiny in the future trying to fulfill her dream and find her place in the society. The life of Saskia is loosely based on HC Andersen's "The Ugly Duckling" with a good dose of politics, betrayal, backstabbing, and zoids ripping each other's head off. Chaotic Century's characters (Van, Fiona, Irvine, Moonbay, Rob Herman) will appear as supporting characters, although they are significantly older than they are at the last episode of Guardian Force.

In this story I use zoids as appeared in Battle Story, with some zoids from Chaotic Century. I also stay away from organoids and Ultimate-X. It's an integral part of Zoids universe, but I don't really like it when the good guys get all the cool toys. I'd prefer to have everybody starts at zero then build his/her way up. There's also one more reason why I don't use organoids or Ultimate-X that I will reveal at the end, because if I reveal it now, then there's no point reading this story.

All being said, I hope you have a general idea of the flow of this story. I hope you enjoy it.

One more thing: this story is illustrated at deviantArt. I wish there is some kind of link between fanfiction and deviantArt so I can link each chapter here with the illustration at deviantArt. But anyway, if you're interested in seeing my artworks for this story, you can visit my Zoids gallery at deviantArt:

roguebaron . deviantart .com (/)gallery(/)42298710 - remove the spaces and the brackets first.

There are not much in there right now but I will add more artworks as the story goes.

PROLOGUE

DREAM HIGH

New Helic City,
Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,
Planet Zi,
October 31, ZAC 2110

Saskia wondered how it would like to have wings.

The blue sky was crystal clear, showing nothing but a flock of wild zoids in migration from the arctic north to the warmer south. Yet it hid so much mistery for 7-year-old Saskia. Why can they fly and we can't? The wild zoids just spread their wings, barely moving, but there seemed to have a propulsion system of some sort. They glided far in the air in soft yellowish gleam that the young girl never came to understand. What is that thing that makes them fly? Why don't we have it? If we can have it, where can we get it?

The sky was always the ultimate attraction for the young brunette. She spent the better part of her free time just lying on the ground, watching wild zoids passing through the skyscrapers of Helic City, or watching the clouds turned from one absurd shape to another. And as her imagination played at the back of her mind, she started questioning why she, and millions other Zoidians, seemed to be the only living organisms that couldn't take off to the air.

What would it feel like to fly high above Helic City and look down on buildings?

Saskia's daily daydreaming was cut short by a slender figure blocking the sun. The shadow quickly moved from right above her head to behind a tall building, faster than the little girl could track. Curious, Saskia rose to her feet, trying to catch a glimpse of the shadow, but it had disappeared as if playing hide-and-seek with her.

But Saskia didn't have to wait long. The shadow turned back in the shape of a large flying zoid, with two massive legs and wide wings in place of arms. A wide grin sprung on Saskia's lips as she recognized the metal beast as her father's Pteras. The large zoid zipped close to the ground, blowing a strong gale that made her hair dance in the air. It took a quick barrel-roll that stopped her heartbeat for a second, then glided over to her before making a gentle touchdown just a few dozen yards away from where she stood.

"Papa!" she chimed, greeting the man climbing out of the cockpit.

Of course, Saskia might inherit the affinity for the sky from her father. A respectable lieutenant in the Helic Military, her father introduced her to flying since she was born, buying her a regimen of flying zoid toys for her to fly with, reading stories of old Republic heroes who took up the sky to bomb the Guylos Empire, and putting her in his shoulder so she could spread her arms and fly. The only thing he hadn't given her was the chance of going into a real flight in a real zoid.

"Hello, cupcake!" the middle-aged lieutenant picked her up and buried his face on her lush dark hair. "Look what I bring home today!" He put her down and pulled up a zoid model from behind his jumpsuit. "Do you know what it is?"

Saskia's eyes widened like a pair of marbles. She knew what it was. She had all flying zoid models in her collection, all but one. And although she respected the Pteras as her personal favorite, she knew that the Salamander was the prince of the air. The bulky model felt heavy in her small hands, but it was the least of her concern. At last, her collection was completed. At last, she had the mighty Salamander in her hands.

"Salamander! Salamander!" Saskia jumped around, then held the toy as high as she could, dreaming that the zoid model was actually flying. She made the whirring sound as she started running down the street with the model high up in the air, suspended by her arm. She even forgot to thank her father for bringing so much joy. She just wanted to fly with the Salamander.

"Saskia! Wait! Don't get too far!" her father yelled, trying to keep her checked, but Saskia was too caught up in her imagination to care. She ran as far as her little legs could carry her, looking up at her model and whistled in awe as the sun ray peeked from between the Salamander's wing structures.

But she should've listened to her father. Next time she knew, she was standing in front of four large boys, clearly two or three years her senior. She knew them. They were troubled orphans that roamed the streets of New Helic City, singling out wandering, defenseless child like herself. It was not the first time Saskia had an unpleasant encounter with them, and by the look on their face, she knew the day would turn very, very sour for her.

"What'dya get there, sunbeam?" the stockiest, burliest one croaked. "Fanciment, are we?"

That was Burgman. Built like a warthog. Spoke like an idiot. He was quick on the trigger, but nobody knew what he was saying. Something in his head wasn't wired right. Words on the street said he was hit by his father, or his mother, or his uncle… or maybe they hit him for being weird.

"I don't like flyers!" the smallest one added. "I hate flyers! I hate'em! I hate them all!"

Saskia knew she was in deep trouble when she saw this one. He was Versys, a sole survivor of a nasty flying crash. His entire family was killed when their plane malfunctioned mid air. As a result, he developed a total abhorrence for flying object, including the one she was holding. Especially the one she was holding.

"What do you know? Rich girl just got a new toy again!" the tallest one snarled. "What are you gonna do with that thing? Fly yourself out around the block? Huh?"

That one was the leader, Falco, a very big kid. His low voice was a hint that he was at least twice her age. He scared her the most. Burgman was brawny, Versys was nasty, and the other one never really did anything if Falco didn't make him. Falco was always the one that initiated the malice. Nothing much was known about him except he was a brilliant young man with very bad attitude.

"Get the toy, Falco!" Versys shouted.

"Yea! Stompin' up her ass to get it in the 'smore!" Burgman added.

"Let's show the rich girl that this street belongs to the Black Knights! Boys, get her!"

"NO!" Saskia turned around but the other kid got her. His name was Dakota. Saskia never actually heard him speak since he only followed Falco's command like a slave and nothing else. He grabbed her hand and pulled it behind her back. Burgman jumped and tried to pry the Salamander off her hand. Saskia screamed and writhed and hung on to her toy with all her might, but 3 boys were just too much. Burgman pulled the Salamander off her hand and tossed it to Falco. The crisp clattering sound pierced Saskia's ears like a sword.

"You hate this thing, Versys?" Falco kicked to toy toward Versys. "Show me!"

Wasting no time, Versys stomped the toy. Pieces of fiberglass burst into the air. But it only made him more excited. He trampled it again, and again, and again, until what was left was just shards and pieces of blue-white plastics and fiberglass.

"Hey! Get your hands off her!" Saskia's father arrived at the scene, just in time for her, but way too late for her precious toy. He grabbed some pebbles and empty soda cans from the street and hurled it at the boys. "Get your hands off her!"

"Run!" Falco yelled before bolted and disappeared around a corner. The other kids followed her.

"Bastards! Did they hurt you?" the Helic lieutenant dropped and pulled Saskia into his embrace. "Sorry about the toy, kiddo."

She sank her face into her father's chest and let it go. She didn't want to look at her toy. She wouldn't dare. It might be just a toy for the bullies but it was so much more than that for her. It was her magic amulet, her gate to her dream that someday she would fly. And it was way more than just a toy because Salamander was the prince of the air. She wanted to rule the air with the prince, and that toy was the closest thing to believe that it would happen one day.

But now it was gone.