Disclaimer: I do not own zoids. The only zoid that I own is the GenoBreaker…which is currently being used as my background image ^-^
Disclaimer2: The zoid that ZOH-001 uses does NOT belong to me. The zoid belongs to ShadowRebirth37 who has kindly let me borrow the zoid for my fic. You'll find out who the zoid is later on.
Summary: The Republicans have been developing a secret weapon to use against the Imperials. If it's successful it will turn the tide of the war in their favor. But to use it, they'll have to keep the Imperials at bay for at least two more years. Its name is ZOH-001. However, the Republicans soon learn that ZOH-001 is not to be messed with, especially when his overprotective organoid finally breaks free.
Author's Note: The story starts seven years before Chaotic Century. There will be some canon but twisted to fit my needs. So yes that means that you will see the main characters of the show at some point and time.
Story Guide:
"talking"
'thoughts'
/organoid speech\
Emphasis
"ancient zoidian"
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"Captain Herman sir! We're very glad to have you visit our research facility!" a Republican soldier says as he salutes to Herman.
"It's good to visit you guys again. I only wish I could come out here more often instead of just checking up on its progress."
"Please sir, don't say such things!"
"Fine, fine. I'm guessing that Dr. D isn't here yet?"
"No sir. We received a transmission from him about five minuets ago. He should be here within the next twenty or so minuets."
"Knowing that lunatic, he'll be here in ten minuets parachuting outta something."
That statement caused the surrounding soldiers to burst out laughing. For they all knew that it was true and he'd more than likely do it. Last time he had to come to this facility he arrived via a modified jeep. Who knew that attaching Command Wolf boosters to a jeep would make it go so fast? He said that he was out running the Imperial army on the way to the facility. But how in the world did he find the time to attach them if he was on the run? Many believed that he just wanted to try it out because the parts were just laying around. It's a shame that the boosters didn't survive his chaotic driving.
"Alright men, we'll wait for Dr. D to arrive before we go over ZOH-001's progress report."
"Sir!"
With that said the soldiers dispersed leaving Herman and O'Connell to dwell on said experiment.
"Captain Herman sir…will 001 really give us the upper hand against the Imperials?"
"If its progress continues like this, then those Imperials are going to be pushed back to their borders…no, back to their capital. If ZOH-001's progress keeps this up over the next six months then this war is as good as ours. If what Dr. D says is true then 001 is basically equivalent to twenty battalions of our Shield Ligers [1], maybe even more."
"T-Twenty battalions!? But it's only one unit!" O'Connell nearly yelled astounded.
"Yes. It's a very dangerous experiment. There's a very good possibility that we'll have to destroy it after this war."
"Destroy it? But what if the war restarted? And if it's that dangerous then how are we going to control it in the first place?"
"If this forsaken war restarted after we had gotten rid of it and peace reigned for a few years, well then, we'll just have to make due. It's not like we'll be able to create another one. And as for controlling it, that's what the other half of our meeting's for."
The two soon found themselves at the briefing room. They entered and continued their talk until Dr. D arrived. From the looks of it…he really did parachute out of something. A Pteras most likely.
"Hey there boys! You guys should try this sometime! Hahaha!"
"He really is a lunatic." O'Connell muttered to Herman.
"Dr. D it's great to see you again as well. However, as much as we would all love to fall from the sky, we have important matters to discuss."
"Humph. Well you're no fun. Can't an old man have a good time without being told off?"
"*sigh* Dr. D, we really need to concentrate on ZOH-001. We have to go over its progress report, actually go and check up on it and figure out a way to keep it under control."
"You're such a stiff Herman. Be a little more light hearted and you'll find that it's easier to do things."
"Right. I'll keep that in mind. Alright now, to business. Dr. D if you would?"
"*ahem* According to the progress report his health is just fine. No rejection to the experiment at all so he'll live through it. Next to take into consideration is his growth as a pilot. Last time we were here, which was six months ago, I confirmed that his strength as a zoid pilot is equivalent to twenty-two battalions. That's two more than what we had estimated. Taking that information into consideration, when he is actually ready to be put on the battle field in six months time, his strength will be roughly the same as thirty-four, maybe thirty-five battalions."
Dr. D let the information sink in before he continued. He chuckled to himself as he watched all of the facial expressions as realization finally sunk in.
"Now, to continue on. This strength is without his organoid BKO-03. We have yet to test out his piloting strength when BKO is fused with his zoid. Who knows how much more powerful he'll become when BKO is with him!"
"That's it!" Herman suddenly exclaimed.
"What's it?" Both Dr. D and O'Connell asked.
"It's organoid. That's how we'll control it. As long as we keep it's organoid separated from it, it'll listen to our commands."
"I don't follow sir."
"As long as we have it's organoid it will have to listen to us…unless it wants the organoid to be hurt."
"So you plan to threaten him with his own organoid Herman?"
"If that's what it takes to win this war, then yes."
"And what, dare I ask, are you planning to do if he refuses?"
"It won't refuse. It's too close to the organoid to intentionally inflict harm on it. Besides, after the war we'll have no further use for it."
"No further… What do you plan to do with him after the war?"
"Dispose of it of course. It's already too dangerous as is and I can only imagine the destruction it'll cause if we just let it go."
"You talk about him like he's not even human! No wonder why he doesn't like you."
"Hate to break it to you Dr. D, but he isn't exactly human. It's an ancient zoidian."
"You could at least use 'he' and 'him' when you talk about him. He's still a living being, ancient zoidian or not. Instead of destroying him why don't you just let me take care of him? He seems to trust me somewhat, at least enough to say 'hello'."
"Is that what it says to you? We're lucky enough to get a head nod! And you think that it'll listen to you after the war? Sorry Dr. D, but it'll be for the best to just get rid of it."
"But he's an ancient zoidian! It's bad enough to have experimented on him!"
"There're others out there somewhere Dr. D. It isn't the only one. Now, enough of this talk, we have to go and actually check up on it ourselves." Herman said with disdain in his voice.
With that said Herman, O'Connell and the others involved proceeded to ZOH-001's 'room', leaving Dr. D fuming at his treatment.
'The poor boy. He can't be any older than seven. When they told me that they wanted me to work with an ancient zoidian they had found I never expected this. As much as I tried to protest against experimenting on him I can't very well ignore an order from the President. Right now I can't really do anything for him. If I try to pull any strings they'll move him somewhere else and refuse to tell me where. The best I can do now is talk to him in the ancient zoidian language, though I don't know too much I hope I can get my point across and hopefully an answer.'
Dr. D was brought out of his musings when he arrived at ZOH-001's room, if you could call it that. His 'room' was basically an isolation cell with a bed. Dr. D had yet to discover how he kept from going insane since the only contact he had were at meals and these checkups. Dr. D was not surprised to find that Herman and O'Connell had already gone in and were most likely telling him things that he didn't understand. Dr. D was pretty sure that 001 could understand their language perfectly, but liked to get on their nerves and refuse to answer back. Sighing, Dr. D braced himself to fix whatever mess Herman had caused, seeing that the ancient zoidian didn't really take to well to him. Opening the door, Dr. D felt him self experiencing déjà vu.
001 was sitting on his bed looking at Herman as if he was an idiot. Well…that's what Dr. D guessed anyways for, as usual, 001 had a sandy colored cloak covering his face. The only time Dr. D had actually seen the boy's face was when he first met him and the boy had asked for said cloak. 001 was currently wearing his favorite outfit consisting of medium brown colored pants and a loose light blue tunic and he was barefoot, like always. No matter how many times Dr. D tried, he just couldn't get the boy to wear shoes. He had also tried to find out the boy's name as well as his organoid's. He didn't like referring to them as ZOH-001 and BKO-03, and he had the sneaking suspicion that even if he could remember their names the military wouldn't use them.
Tuning back into Herman's 'talk' Dr. D caught the last of his sentence. "…understand?" One word…fantastic! Though Dr. D already knew what Herman had said to the boy. 'Do as we say or else your organoid suffers the consequences.'
001 just tilted his head slightly, possibly giving Herman a puzzled look.
"Argh! This is getting us nowhere! Dr. D can't you speak to it!?"
"Cool your jets Herman. Yelling at him isn't going to solve the problem. I'll do what I can."
'This is just perfect! They won't have a clue as to what I'm telling him!'
"Dahhk pdara."
"…Dahhk."
"Ukq oaai zksj."
"Ok skqhz ukq eb okiakja ywia wjz uahhaz wp ukq."
"Zkj'p ieja dei. Da'o whswua hega pdwp."
"Dwpabqh?"
"Pda swn dwo zkja pdeo pk dei. Araj E zkj'p hega dei hega pdeo. Xqp ajkqcd kb pdeo. E dwra eilknpwjp pdejco pk pwhg wxkqp."
"…Hega sdwp?"
"Pda iehepwnu lhwjo pk zaopnku ukq wbpan pda swn."
"X-Xqp sdu!? E dwraj'p zkja wjupdejc snkjc!"
"E gjks, E gjks. E'i pnuejc pk cap lanieooekj pk pwga yqopkzu kb ukq wbpan pda swn. Whh E jaaz eo ukqn wjosan."
"…E'hh xa bnaa? Jk ikna atlaneiajpo? Sdwp kb iu kncwjkez?"
"Uao. Jk, jk ikna atlaneiajpo. Wjz wo bkn ukqn kncwjkez, E'i oqna da skj'p hap ukq kqp kb deo oecdp aran wcwej."
"…"
"Sahh?"
"…E…E jaaz pk pdejg wxkqp ep. …E zkj'p swjp pk cap iu dklao ql…"
"Qjzanopwjzwxha. E'hh dwra w zabejepa sdaj E oaa ukq jatp."
001 just nodded his head slightly after their conversation. His mind was still trying to take in everything that was said. He'd definitely have to run this by his organoid.
"Kd uawd! Whikop bknckp! Daniwj swjpo pk qoa ukqn kncwjkez wcwejop ukq."
"…Wcwejop ia?"
"Uao. Wo w pdnawp. Ukq zkj'p heopaj, da'hh cap dqnp. Pdwp'o pdaen iawjo pk ykjpnkh ukq."
"…" He nodded again. This was definitely not good. His organoid isn't going to be happy to hear this.
The others in the room just stared at the two, quite baffled about the conversation. They couldn't understand anything past 'hello'. Did Dr. D relay to it what they wanted him to? The ancient zoidian did seem pretty anxious as the conversation wore on. And it did get quieter and quieter and only resorted to nodding its head at the end. It seems that Dr. D was able to get their point across.
"Well men, there's no point in staying here any longer. We've gone over the progress report and already found a way to control it. Dr. D just finished his checkup on it so I see no more reason to stay here."
With nods and chorus' of "Yes sir!" Herman, O'Connell, their men and Dr. D left 001's room. As soon as he was sure that they were gone he contacted his organoid, knowing full well that this 'talk' would fully enrage the great metallic creature.
~x~x~x~x~x~x – with 001 (before Herman came)
/… Why the long face hatchling? \
'…I…I just wish that we could get outta here. All these experiments they're doing on us really hurt. I'm not even sure what they're doing to us exactly. Do you know?'
/…I wish I did hatchling. But do not fret. They've ignored me long enough so that I have finally managed to free myself a little. Give me another three hours and I'll be totally free and able to get you. Then we can rid ourselves of this place.\
'Really? Then I'll warn you if I sense them coming this way. I woulda thought that after they caught you the first time they'd have put up more security around you. …Or at least check on you everyday.'
/…They were, but it seems that right now they're more interested in you. It has given me time to loosen my bindings enough to free myself.\
'Glad I could be of help then.' 001 thought sarcastically.
/…Now, now hatchling. We'll be outta here soon enough. Just be patient a little longer.\
'Okay. Huh?'
/…What is it? \
'It's those soldiers again. Seems that they're comin' to see me.'
/…See? You're being helpful again! \
'Shut up!' His organoid was laughing at him. He had fully distracted him from sensing where exactly the soldiers were in relation to his room. When he regained his senses he found that they were right outside his room and unlocking his door.
'Now look what's happened!'
/…It's your fault. You weren't paying careful enough attention.\
'Che. Whatever. Ohhh can this possibly get any worse!?' 001 had just spotted Herman entering his room with O'Connell following shortly after. Two others also entered but he knew they were just guarding the door.
/…Aren't you the lucky one? \
'Zip it! Don't you have bindings to undo?'
/…I can multitask. Talking to you and undoing these bindings are simple tasks.\
Herman had started to talk to 001 as soon as the door had closed, but he wasn't listening to Herman. He was too busy arguing with his organoid to pay attention to Herman, though he did faintly hear the door being opened and closed again. 001 just caught Herman's last sentence.
"…understand?"
'Understand? Understand what!?'
/…You see? You should have been paying close attention…\ his organoid taunted.
'You. You be quiet. I don't want him yelling at me again.'
/…I understand hatchling. I do not like it when he yells at you either…\
"Hello there."
'Wha? Oh it's the nice old man and he's speaking to me in the ancient zoidian tongue…'
"…Hello."
"You seem down."
"So would you if someone came and yelled at you."
"Don't mind him. He's always like that."
"Hateful?"
"The war has done this to him. Even I don't like him like this. But enough of this. I have important things to talk about."
"…Like what?"
"The military plans to destroy you after the war."
"B-But why!? I haven't done anything wrong!"
"I know, I know. I'm trying to get permission to take custody of you after the war. All I need is your answer."
'Custody of me? Does he mean like legal custody or military custody?'
"…I'll be free? No more experiments? What of my organoid?"
"Yes. No, no more experiments. And as for your organoid, I'm sure he won't let you out of his sight ever again."
'Legal custody then. But what will my organoid think? He seems nice enough, but we're both a little weary around people because of this. There's also the possibility that he won't get permission…'
"Well?"
"…I…I need to think about it. …I don't want to get my hopes up…"
"Understandable. I'll have a definite when I see you next."
001 nodded his head, his mind still reeling.
'I'll have to go over this with my organoid. He'll know what's for the best.'
"Oh yeah! Almost forgot! Herman wants to use your organoid against you."
'Huh? What does he mean by that?'
"…Against me?'
"Yes. As a threat. You don't listen, he'll get hurt. That's their means to control you."
He nodded his head again.
'That is definitely not good. Well, I know the answer to my question about that custody thing. I'll still run it by him just to see what he thinks.'
001 watched as all of the people in his room slowly filtered out. They were all heading to the right, the opposite way of his organoid. He couldn't help but smirk at his untimely good luck. As soon as their presence completely disappeared, 001 contacted his organoid.
'How's it going?'
/…I take it that they left then? \
'Yeah…'
/…You seem even more depressed then earlier… What'd they say to you? \
'That old man…Dr. D was it? He needed to go over some important things with me.'
/…Oh? And what did he tell you? \
'That…that the military is going to use you to control me for their own purposes…'
/ What!? How dare they even think that they can use you like some tool! \
'I'm not finished… He also said that after the war they're gonna…'
/…Going to what hatchling? \ his organoid cooed softly. He could tell that his hatchling was very distressed about this. Whatever 'this' was it wasn't good.
'…Destroy me…'
His organoid was silent for a moment. Did he just hear correctly? These people are just going to throw his hatchling away after everything that they have done to him!? Not if he had a say in the matter.
/…That's not going to happen hatchling… I will never let them harm you again…\
His organoid was eerily calm making 001 feel oh so very slightly sorry for the people here.
'As much as that sentiment comforts me 'never' is a strong word.'
/…True, but I just wanted to let you know that I'll protect you as best as I can…which will be much easier as soon as I get these bindings off me…\
'There was one other thing that he talked to me about…'
/…Which was? \
'He wanted to take legal custody of me after the war. I think he was doing what he could to help us after this ordeal…but he hadn't gotten permission yet…'
/…What did you tell him? \
'That I need time to think about it. As much as that sounds good…I'm still not very sure if I can trust him. His manners towards us may only be a ploy to gain our trust for military reasons…'
/…I understand your concerns hatchling... however; I do not think that he wants to harm us. But that doesn't mean that after we escape from here we can go with him. The Republicans will be searching for us frantically, so staying in one spot is out of the question…\
'Okay. I don't really want to stay in one spot anyways. Being confined in here day after day starts to take a toll on ya.'
/ I agree with that hatchling. Aha! Finally! I've gotten the bindings off me! \
'I thought you said it'd take three hours?'
/ When I'm talking to you yes, it would have, but when you were talking to those people I spent my time working on these bindings.\
'Well the sooner we're outta here the better. Are you coming to get me now?' 001 asked hopefully.
/ Just wait a little while more. I don't want to draw attention to myself. I'm going to disconnect from you so I can concentrate. I'll be there shortly…\ and with that his organoid left his mind.
001 just couldn't sit still. They were getting out of here. He could sense his organoid getting closer to him and there wasn't a single soldier anywhere near this area. By the time they noticed they were missing they would be long gone.
His attention suddenly focused on his door. His organoid was right outside his room trying to open his door without making too much noise. He heard it click. He was just a stones throw away from freedom and nothing was going to stop him from getting to his organoid. …Nothing except the alarm system that is, for as soon as the door started to open the alarm sounded. Wasting no more time his organoid quickly entered the room and stood before him. He could sense the soldiers getting closer…their little reunion would have to wait 'til later. Turning around so his back was facing his organoid, he closed his eyes and waited to feel the familiar cords wrap around him and pull him into the organoid. He heard his organoid's chest plates open and the familiar bindings pulling him in. He was safe. His organoid would be able to break right through the roof now and get them to safety.
The soldiers came too late. They saw 001's organoid turn to face them giving them a murderous glare. Many of the soldiers recoiled, fearing the worst. Their fears were for naught though, for the organoid pulled out his wings, changed into his energy form and blasted through the roof, showering the soldiers with plaster and dust.
"Don't let them escape! After them!" Herman yelled. The soldiers quickly left the room to get to their zoids to follow them. This was just terrible! What if the Imperials got a hold of it!? Their secret weapon that has taken nearly two years to develop has escaped!
The only one who wasn't troubled by this was Dr. D. He was looking through the whole that the organoid had made, secretly glad that they had managed to escape. He knew that the Republican army wouldn't be able to capture them again. They were both awake now, not in capsules and he had a feeling that they won't be found unless they wanted to be found. He also wasn't worried about the Imperials getting a hold of them. Now that 001 was with his organoid he'll be able to rely on BKO to sense when someone wants to cause harm to them.
"Good luck. Hopefully we'll meet again." With that sentiment in mind Dr. D left the room. The next place he was going was to the President to hand in his resignation and 'retire'. After being forced to experiment on an ancient zoidian he felt that his services were being misused. Just because he studied the ancient zoidians didn't mean that he held them in contempt! Chuckling slightly he wondered what type of reactions he would get when he announced that he was retiring…
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[1]: Just to clarify: in episode 12: The Black Organoid Major Ford says that a whole battalion was destroyed and that battalion had 30 zoids in it. So here is where my logic takes over. 1 battalion = 30 zoids. So lets say 001 is equal to 30 battalions…no that's too much right now…okay then what about 10? Nah. Too low. Aha! I know lets compromise and say 20! So if a battalion is 30 zoids and he equals 20 then all together he's as strong as 600 Shield Ligers! (remember? Herman said Shield Ligers and yes there's a reason for that!)
Authors Note:Well what do you think so far? Yes I know I made Herman seem very mean but there has to be some sort of antagonist right? Without anything or anyone after our main characters it makes the story boring. And I've seen a lot of the Empire being the bad guys so why not the Republicans? I'm not saying I like either or but just wanted to try something different. I'm already working on the next chapter so hopefully it'll be up soon! Please Review!!