Author's Note:
This story is set in the Zoids Chaotic Century and Guardian Force verse. However, I also took some inspiration from the Zoids Battle Story. In the Battle Story, there were three nations rather than two: the Helic Republic, the Guylos Empire, and finally the Zenebas Empire. In Chaotic Century, there existed only the first two, but the Guylos Empire there apparently acted more like the Zenebas Empire from the Battle Story. I have no idea why they made that decision, but I'm sticking to what the anime did. Well, I've talked enough. Please enjoy and tell me what you liked and what you hated.
/
Sasha Ivanova idly clicked on her pen, waiting as the teacher called the roll. It was another dull day in Guygalos, capital city of the Guylos Empire. Well, she supposed, tucking back a few stray strands of her short black hair, it wasn't as boring as home, at least. Despite the growing prosperity of both the Empire and the Republic, the Wind Colony remained small and unimportant.
It had been twenty years since the last war between the Republic and the Empire had ended- all in all, eighteen years of peace. At least in both Guygalos and New Helic City, they had Zoid Battles, and while her Ma and Pa didn't appreciate her interest in the sport, saying it was unladylike, there was little they could do to stop her when they were back home and she was all the way here.
She found herself gazing at the stadium in the distance, which was naturally empty at the time of day. The Emperor had a ban on Zoid Battles during class hours, meaning they only started in the late afternoon. She hated how the Emperor interfered with her favorite pastime. All she wanted to do was get her own Zoid and start mopping the floor with other pilots.
"Ivanova?" the teacher called out, fixing an annoyed look at her.
"Present!" she answered quickly, wondering what had the teacher's undies in a twist.
"Young lady, I don't care how good some of your grades are," the teacher said, sounding quite miffed. "Pay attention next time so I don't need to call your name more than once."
"I'm sorry, Sir," she quickly produced a rehearsed apology. "I was just thinking about my parents." Not exactly true, but she'd get in trouble if she said she was imagining Zoids doing combat in the arena.
"The baby's homesick!" a girl taunted from the back of the class, eliciting laughter from the bored students.
"Now, now, Jenny," the teacher told her off, but Ivanova knew he was letting her off easy as payback. "Don't tease your classmate."
The accusation was so wrong she had to stop herself from laughing out loud. Instead, Ivanova ignored them both and went back to staring at the stadium. That was when she saw it: a massive Whale King crossing over Imperial air space, flanked by a group of Redlers and Zabats. Strange. She wondered where the Imperial Army was sending such a force.
Well, it wasn't something a girl of seventeen years had to worry about. She was strictly only going to pilot for entertainment and prize money once she got her own Zoid.
Her classes passed quickly enough. As much as Ivanova would have preferred to think about Zoid Battles all morning, she knew that if she zoned out now she'd have to make up for it by reading a lot later, which meant she wouldn't be able to watch the Grand Final of the current season. So listen she did. Math, Language, and Science were easy enough for her to follow, and then there was Economics. She hated Economics. It reminded her of how she'd be taking over the family business one day, which didn't mesh well with her dreams of being a Zoid pilot at all.
It was fortunate that lunch came right after, or she wasn't sure she could have kept herself attentive, even if her favorite subject was next. Lunch at the cafeteria happened to be fried chicken and some bread, which she found agreeable enough. Cafeteria food was never going to taste amazing, but at least this was decent. She wondered whether she was eating alone today or with one of her friends.
"Hey, Sasha," she heard him before she saw him, since he'd come in from behind.
"Scooter," she said his name in greeting.
"You look good today," he said, staring intently at her face. She wished she could say the same, but since Scooter never bothered to take care of his appearance, she'd be lying.
"Thanks," she answered. This short exchange was rather routine whenever Scooter sought her out.
"You're uh, eating light," he said, which made her inspect his own plate which had three drumsticks, two rolls of bread, some soda, and a chocolate sundae.
Rather than telling her overweight friend he just ate too much, she simply said "Well, I am saving for a Rev Raptor."
"Are you still going through with that?" Scooter asked, quirking an eyebrow before biting off some of the meat from his chicken. "I thought you and your mom had an argument about it a few weeks ago."
Ivanova didn't appreciate the reminder. "You were eavesdropping on us, Scooter?"
"Dude, you two were yelling so loud the whole building heard," he said.
"We were on the third floor."
"Yeah, and me and my dad heard it all the way from the front desk," Scooter grinned.
"The door was closed," Ivanova continued to protest.
"Still heard it," Scooter laughed, and Ivanova had to cover her face to hide her embarrassment.
"Why do I live in your building again?" she asked without looking at him.
"Because our dads are tight," he reminded her. "And because we only charge you half the usual rent."
"You should be paying me for letting a mouse get in my bathroom," Ivanova deadpanned.
"You should be paying me for letting you use the garage for all your Zoids stuff and keeping it a secret from your mom."
"GG," she conceded. "Thanks for that again, by the way."
"It's cool," Scooter scratched the back of his head. "It's not like the Gustav takes that much space."
"I wonder if Pops would let me borrow that thing and use it for Zoid Battles," she mused.
"Oh no, you are not risking that thing in a Battle," Scooter said hurriedly. "Especially when you've never been in one before."
"I've been in a Gustav before," she whined.
"I meant a Battle."
"Oh," she blinked. "Right. Relax, though, the Gustav doesn't have any weapons built in."
"Somehow I don't think that's going to stop you from trying," Scooter facepalmed.
"You're right," Ivanova laughed. "I'd probably attach a Charged Particle Cannon on it after winning some money."
"Sasha!"
"Fine, fine," she raised her hands as if to defend herself. "Maybe a booster unit."
"Sasha!"
"What? Do you have any idea how much horsepower a Gustav packs? I'd crush a Geno Saurer into a wall with a booster unit."
Scooter replied with a sigh.
They parted ways after they finished eating, since Scooter belonged to another section entirely. Class resumed at 1 PM, with the teacher calling the roll again to make sure no students had gone missing during the 1-hour break. This time Ivanova answered the first time he called. There wasn't much point in being immature about it since she had another year to go in this academy.
The final class of the day was Zoids Theory. Two hours would be dedicated on educating them on the history and internal workings of a Zoid. Unfortunately, Ivanova already knew everything they discussed. Studying Zoids was her element, and she was probably a few years' worth of self-studying ahead when it came to the subject. She reclined fully in her seat, expecting everything would be the same as always. She couldn't have been more wrong.
As the window and thus the arena naturally drew her gaze, she found something in the schoolyard which was just plain bizarre. Something black stood on the grounds. An unmistakable pair of crusher horns as well as seventeen-shot Megalo Max assault cannons lit a fire inside Ivanova. It was a Zoid that resembled a bison, easily five times larger than a man. A Dibison! What was it doing here? More importantly, how was she going to give the teacher the slip so she could check it out?
"Settle down, class," the teacher said after he'd finished taking attendance. The din softened but did not go away. Stopping students from gossiping was like stopping Zoid pilots from piloting, after all.
"Today we'll be having class outside," the teacher said, unknowingly fanning the flames of Ivanova's excitement.
"But why? It's so hot outside!" a protest came from the back of the class.
Shut up, shut up, shut up! Ivanova screamed in her head.
"We have a very special guest lecturer today who can teach you much more about Zoids than I can," the teacher reasoned out, only to be met with even more protests.
Duh, even I know more about Zoids than you do, Ivanova thought. Come on, let's go already!
"What was that, Ivanova?" the teacher asked, and Ivanova panicked as she realized she must have said that out loud. He didn't look cross, however. Maybe he'd misheard?
"I said let's go already," she grinned nervously. "I'm excited to meet this special guest."
"Figures you'd want to go because it's about Zoids, you wrench wench," the same girl from earlier said out loud.
"The girl who makes out with half of the class doesn't get to call anyone else a wench of any kind," Ivanova said flatly as the girl spluttered with rage.
"Now, now, I said settle down," the teacher repeated, apparently on Ivanova's side this time. Remind me never to trust you with my life, teach.
"Maybe it would help if you told us who the guest is?" Ivanova asked, mostly to sate her own curiosity.
"Well, I was going to keep it as a surprise," the teacher sighed, but understood her suggestion. "Our guest today is General Schubaltz."
"Oh, dude, I heard he pinned the Death Saurer down with an Iron Kong!" someone said.
"No way, the Death Saurer was just a myth," someone else shouted.
I thought General Schubaltz piloted an Iron Kong, too, Ivanova thought.
"Well, I'm going," Ivanova said, standing up and moving for the door. The teacher gave her an annoyed look for a few seconds, but ultimately gestured for her to go. She didn't need to be told again.
"And remember to exit in single file!" the teacher yelled before she could get out of the door.
Naturally, the hallway floor was buried beneath a mass of bodies slowly making its way to the exit. She wagered some, like herself, wanted to get a better look at the Dibison while most were just trying to sneak out in the chaos now that attendance had been taken for the afternoon session. She hesitated for a moment before shrugging and diving into the crowd. If she waited any longer she'd never get a good look at the Zoid. So Ivanova found herself pushed, pulled, and one time even groped (to which she responded by slamming her elbow into the offender) as she slowly moved towards the double doors leading out. What was normally a half-minute walk took her nearly five minutes, but it was worth it in the end when she saw the other students forming a circle around the Dibison.
A man with dirty blond, almost brown hair stood in the center of the circle, alongside the Dibison. Ivanova looked at the thickening circle of students with distaste and made her way to a stone bench to the side which she quickly climbed and stood on. The man she presumed to be General Schubaltz looked quite smug as he surveyed the gathering crowd. Strange. She thought he'd be taller and less... goofy.
"Good afternoon, students of Guygalos Academy!" his voice erupted from the Dibison as he talked into his headset. "My name is Thomas Schubaltz, Brigadier General of the Imperial Army."
Ah. He was the other Schubaltz, Ivanova thought. Leave it to her teacher not to know the difference between Brigadier General and General. While disappointed, she guessed he was still better than her teacher, at least.
"You're late, Scooter," she said, seeing the boy appear next to her.
"Not everyone is a Zoids fanatic like you," he said jokingly. "Although the guys who are really pushed. A lot."
"So push back," she told him. Scooter really needed to grow a spine one of these days.
"Nope. Never lending you that Gustav."
"I'm sure I can convince Pops to let me have it for a battle or two," she grinned.
"This is BEEK," Thomas Schubaltz' voice cut into their conversation as he gestured towards his Dibison. "He's a man-made organoid I created."
"Cool! You built it all by yourself?" a boy in the crowd asked.
"He's not talking about the Dibison," someone behind Scooter said, sounding frustrated.
"Oh, hey, Sunny," Scooter greeted the newcomer. Ivanova turned her head and gave a slight nod to acknowledge her other long-time friend. Sunny, who normally towered over her when they stood on level ground despite being three years younger, nodded back.
"BEEK is the prototype Organoid System, if I remember right," Sunny continued.
"Not exactly," Ivanova corrected him. "BEEK is an on-board AI that assists in battle, but it was made from scratch. The Organoid System is only found on Zoids developed from the DNA of the Death Saurer. Not that many as you can imagine, now that the Death Saurer is gone."
"Oh, so the computers they install on Zoids these days aren't Organoid Systems?" Sunny asked, ruffling his spiky brown hair.
"No, but those are based on BEEK, I thi-" she began, but was cut off.
"Ivanova!" her teacher waved to her from next to Thomas Schubaltz, then beckoned her forward. She contemplated pretending not to notice him, but realized it was too late for that.
"I guess I'll see you guys in a bit," she groaned, climbing down from the bench.
"See ya," Sunny said.
"Think you're in trouble?" Scooter grinned at her.
"Who knows? That teacher changes his mind more than I change clothes," she said as she made her way through the crowd.
"Ah, General," the teacher spoke as she neared. "Allow me to introduce our brightest Zoids student. This is Sasha Ivanova."
"That's Brigadier General, Sir," Thomas corrected the teacher before giving Ivanova a crisp salute. "The General is my older brother, Karl."
"A pleasure to meet you," Ivanova dipped her head slightly, ignoring the praise from her teacher. It was about time someone corrected the idiot. "Is there a reason you wanted me to come forward, teach?"
"I thought you might want to ask him some questions," the teacher said, looking just a tad nervous. Ivanova wondered if he thought she was going to embarrass him.
"Well, I was curious about a few things," she admitted, blurting out the first question in her head. "How is BEEK different from other on-board AI?"
Thomas laughed, and Ivanova wondered how many times she was going to be annoyed by something today. "BEEK is the most sophisticated AI in the Empire. No wait, on Zi! The run-of-the-mill AI that have come out in the past five years can't compete."
"What exactly does it do?" she asked, genuinely curious.
"BEEK is able to analyze combat situations and give the most efficient moves to make in battle," the military man answered with pride. "He also provides targeting solutions which make sure all seventeen shots from the Megalo Max hit their targets. Most importantly, however, BEEK is the most advanced voice-controlled combat AI on Zi."
"So you can pilot that Dibison without really piloting it? That's pretty cool, actually," Ivanova asked, making sure she at least tried to deflate the military man's ego. "I'm working on an AI assistant myself, but I haven't had the chance to test her out."
"Of course I still pilot it. BEEK is my creation, after all," Thomas said defensively. "Why haven't you tested your AI out?"
"I don't have a Zoid yet," she answered sheepishly.
"Oh, yeah, that is a problem," Thomas nodded, seemingly unsure of what to say. "And it's not like you can just join the Army like I did and get a Zoid out of it, now that we're at peace and His Majesty's started pulling our funding. Er, forget I said that last part."
Then she heard the sound of a Zoid approaching. Thomas grinned and said "However, this might just be your lucky day."
Ivanova, puzzled by this, leaned to the side to see past the massive Dibison. A red Zoid on two legs walked over to stand beside the Dibison, its steel claws gleaming in the sunlight. Ivanova would know her favorite Zoid anywhere, of course. The Rev Raptor, most common infantry Zoid of the Guylos Empire, knelt down and opened its cockpit, revealing it was empty.
It was too good to be true. She scanned the crowd for the face of her teacher, whose name she could never remember and saw him give her a thumb's up. So this was why he'd asked her to come forward. She grinned at him, unable to contain her excitement. Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy, after all.
"So you and I are going to battle?" Ivanova asked, feeling equal parts joy and nervousness. This was her first time in a Zoid, after all, and Thomas was still a big shot in the military.
"That's right," Thomas smiled at her reassuringly. She watched as security began herding the students away from the two Zoids. "No weapons, though. Close combat only."
"I- tha't's fine," Ivanova said. She may have been a weapons fanatic, but she knew the Rev Raptor was ill-suited to ranged combat. She didn't exactly want to shoot someone by accident, either. "Do we start now?"
"That's right, miss. BEEK, let me in," he spoke into his headset as the Dibison knelt to let him in. Then he covered the headset and quietly added, "Don't worry. I'll go easy on you."
"Thanks!" she answered, holding no illusions that she could actually take a Dibison on with a basic Rev Raptor. She looked back towards the bench for a second and caught Scooter giver her a thumbs up while Sunny grinned approvingly. Taking a deep breath, Ivanova entered the cockpit.
While it was her first time actually doing it, she knew where the power was and switched the Rev Raptor on. Her heart seemed to beat in rhythm with it as the machine roared to life. The cockpit sealed itself as the Raptor rose and the combat system initialized. In front of her the Dibison had gotten up and taken a few steps away from her. Thomas' face appeared on her monitor.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
"I guess," she answered, finding the levers that handled the Raptor's arms and the pedals that handled its legs.
"Alright, here I come!" he warned her as his image vanished from the screen and the Dibison began to surge forward. Ivanova inhaled deeply. So this is what it was going to be like.
"Let's go, Raptor!" she yelled as she devoted her attention to the controls, having no muscle memory to rely on.
The Rev Raptor nimbly leapt to the side as the giant black Zoid came crashing through its starting position. Ivanova moved the arms to slash at the Dibison's left flank, where the crusher horns couldn't reach. It was going well until the Dibison pivoted on one foot and tackled the Raptor with the edge of its shoulder. The difference in size gave it quite the advantage as the Rev Raptor staggered backwards.
Caught off guard, the girl found herself rattled, but steeled herself for more. The Raptor leapt into the air, landing on the Dibison's back. All four claws clamped down on the array of cannons mounted on the Zoid. If her opponent had been a liger or something, she would have had a clear shot at the head, but the massive lump of weaponry protected it.
The bison Zoid began to buck, attempting to throw her off. It must have been quite a sight, she guessed, although she was much happier seeing it from the Raptor's cockpit than as a spectator. There was a tearing sound as two of the Megalo Max cannons were ripped off, leaving the Raptor unbalanced and eventually hurled off of the Dibison. She braced herself as the Zoid fell to the ground on its side, glad she'd remembered to tuck in her seat belt.
Unfortunately, the Raptor didn't fare so well as the words "Command System Frozen" appeared on the screen. Oh well, she thought. It was fun while it lasted. While she knew the cockpit still functioned perfectly during a system freeze, she also wanted to hold on to the feeling a little while longer, so she remained seated until Thomas asked BEEK to open the cockpit. Thomas stood over her, offering her a helping hand. She relented and let him help her up. Before they could say anything, cheers and applause erupted from the student body. She couldn't help but grin. She'd only dreamed of this before today. She smiled and waved at the crowd awkwardly, not used to being the center of attention.
"You're sure that was your first time in a Zoid?" he asked accusingly when the cheering quieted down. "You did pretty well considering who you were up against."
"More like considering she was up against a Dibison with just a Rev Raptor," Sunny's voice came from behind the younger Schubaltz. "Scooter and I here can vouch she was a virgin before you came along."
"Sundance!" she yelled, knowing he hated his full name.
"You did great, Sasha," Scooter said, trying to diffuse the situation. "You too, Brigadier General."
"Yeah, I know I said I was going to hold back," Thomas scratched his head. "But you didn't seem to need the handicap. I can't believe you tore out my guns. Most soldiers can't do that much with a Rev Raptor."
"That was just because you limited yourself to close combat, though," Sasha deflected the praise. Her pride wasn't so fragile that she just blindly took compliments, after all. "If you'd had access to the Megalo Max with BEEK's assistance, I wouldn't have been able to get close."
"Maybe," the military man smiled, not really agreeing or disagreeing. "We'll find out someday, I guess."
"Do you take part in Zoids Battles, too, Brigadier General?" she asked.
"Please, it's Thomas," he answered. "And I'm usually too busy to be part of the regular season, but I do get asked to invitation-only events from time to time."
"So we will fight again someday," Ivanova smiled, looking forward to it.
"As soon as you get a Zoid and win a few matches, yeah," Thomas said encouragingly.
"You mean I don't get to keep the Rev Raptor?" Ivanova asked with fake surprise. "But we've bonded!"
"Sorry, Ivanova," Thomas laughed, not unkindly. "That thing is still military property."
"Yeah, yeah," Ivanova said, genuinely disappointed. She was sort of hoping she could keep it anyway. "So the only way I can get into Zoid Battles is really by buying or building a Zoid myself, and I'm pretty clueless about the latter."
"You could try asking the Zoids Research Facility to make a Zoid for you," Thomas suggested.
"Hm? Research Facility?" Ivanova asked, surprised she'd never heard of it.
"Yeah, the Army's Research Facility is open to the public now," Thomas explained. "You need to bring your own Zoid Core and they do charge a small fee, but it's way cheaper than buying a complete Zoid off the shelf."
"I'd need a Zoid to get a Core in the first place, though," Ivanova's hope deflated instantly.
"Well, I never said it'd be easy," Thomas shrugged, and then extended his hand. "I should be going soon. Need to take both of these back for repairs. Maybe I'll have someone pick the Raptor up later."
"Alright, it's been a pleasure, Brigadier General Thomas," she took his hand and shook it. "I'll win next time."
"I'll have guns next time," was his only response before he got back into the Dibison and lumbered away.
The crowd thinned out after that, but she, Sunny, and Scooter remained as Ivanova stared at the fallen Rev Raptor. There wasn't any exterior damage, but that just proved that looks could be deceiving. She thought about whether or not it would be viable to have someone track a Zoid Core down for her and then have it used to develop a Zoid for her. Currently her funds held seven thousand Gallos and the the cheapest Rev Raptor she found went for twenty thousand, and that was just a basic Zoid with no additional equipment.
It would take another year of saving her allowance to afford that. She figured she should probably at least ask how much the Facility's fee was for building a Rev Raptor first before deciding.
"You wanna grab a bite on the way, Sasha?" Scooter asked.
"Nah, I need to go somewhere," she answered. "If you get back before I do tell Pops I'm at the Zoid Research Facility."
"What are you doing there?" Scooter laughed. "Pretty sure they only take graduates as interns."
"Just gonna canvass how much they'd charge to get me a Rev Raptor," she answered, feeling optimistic after the battle.
"I thought Thomas said you needed a core for that," Scooter said.
"I'll cross that bridge when I get there," Ivanova shrugged. There wasn't any sense in worrying about it until she knew how much it would cost.
"Sounds like fun," Sunny grinned at them both. "Lots of Rev Raptor sleepers outside the capital."
"You're both crazy," Scooter said, shaking his head. "You'd need a Zoid to take them out in the first place."
"Didn't you know? Sundance has been a pilot since last week," Ivanova commented, prompting Scooter to look to Sunny for confirmation.
"Please don't call me that. And it's true," the taller boy smiled. "My dad gave me a Zoid for my birthday."
"Cool," Scooter said, looking envious.
"Hell yeah," the Zoid pilot looked pleased with himself. "My Hammerock's gonna clean up once the next season starts. Say, Ivanova, it's not like you to miss the Finals."
Realization dawned on her features. "Oh, man. You're right! I need to get to the Facility and back, fast. See you guys later. Save me a seat!"
And with that, she dashed off, wondering if her Zoid pilot career was going to start sooner than she'd expected.
/
Author's Notes:
A bit long for my usual chapters, but I wanted to squeeze in a Zoid fight in there since that's how the anime always did it. So how was it? What did you like? What did you hate?
Notes on the Zoids featured in this Chapter:
The Dibison was mainly featured because I wanted to use Thomas Schubaltz. He's a memorable enough character who wasn't that great of a Zoid pilot (I don't think Thomas ever won against any other main character). He fit the criteria for showing Ivanova was good, but not a prodigy like Van or Raven.
The Rev Raptor was in this chapter mainly because I like it. In-universe, it is, as mentioned above, a very common infantry unit, which meant Thomas could probably just take one whenever he needed it. It's also significantly better than the other common Imperial infantry unit, the Molga. If Thomas had brought that to fight his Dibison, it would've reflected badly on his character.