A/N: And here we are with chapter 1!
I don't own Eden's Zero.
I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 1: The Voyage
"A-a-and what does that one do?" a curious Map asked as Ziv went about her work on a new wreck, cutting apart metal sheets and disassembling machines with heavy saws and blowtorches as oil and soot covered her in filth while loud, heavy music played from Ziv's B-Cube, which was floating near Map.
"This is part of the engine mechanism. One of the riskier jobs here since there's still fuel in this wreck," Ziv answered, her voice distorted by her gas mask.
"Oooohhh. Silly engine… needing fue-fue-fue- Bzt! Sustenance," Map giggled as his face screen flickered, "It should have gotten an E-Generator like me!"
"Big E-Generators for ships are really expensive, you know," Ziv stated as she cut loose a new metal panel, "Especially for dreadnaughts like this wreck. Your little one probably wasn't too bad for Captain Talon to buy."
"Oh… no. Captain Talon never bought anything. He just sto-sto-sto- Bzt! Illegally acquired what he needed," Map replied, his screen going fuzzy for a moment before he smacked the side of his chassis, restoring his screen.
"Did he steal you?"
"Hm… Bzt! Data not found!" Map chirped happily, waving his arms about as his body spun in circles.
"Your memory's all a mess, isn't it?" Ziv asked as she eyed the missing panel on Map's chassis.
"Accessing memory drivers," Map stated robotically as his face disappeared from his screen, replaced with a loading bar and technical jargon that scrolled too fast for Ziv to read, "Analysis complete!" Map announced as his face reappeared on his screen, "My memory drivers are missing approximately 92.3% of their original hardware and approximately 84.6% of the data stored on these drivers is reported as-as-as-as- Bzt! Data not found! Oh no! I have robot amnesia!" he cried as his face turned a dark blue, digital tear drops running down his screen from his little eyes.
"There, there," Ziv said gently as she bent over and patted Map on the top of his body, "I'm sure you'll find your missing hardware one day."
"Yes!" Map cheered, his screen turning bright yellow, "When do we leave to go find them?" he asked, a happy little smile on his face as he looked up at Ziv, who could only look away as she bit her lip.
"I don't know, Map. I've been trying to get off this rock for five years now," she answered as she turned back around to start rooting around in the hole she had cut in the wall, "Between what little money I get from the Scav Guild and ad revenue for my channel, I just have never had enough money to buy my ticket off this planet."
"Oh-oh-oh-oh-Bzt! I see," Map said as his screen turned a muted gray.
"But my latest videos with you over the last week have been a big hit!" Ziv interjected after she had turned around to see how depressed Map looked, "Next month I'm expecting a big paycheck from B-Cube since that first video went viral!"
"Yaaay! I am viral!" Map cheered as his screen turned bright yellow again before it quickly turned purple, "Wait… I do not want to have a virus!" he screamed as his screen turned orange and he started spinning around in panic.
"Map! Calm down, buddy. You're not going to get a virus by going viral. It's a good thing!" Ziv tried to explain.
"You are su-su-su-su- Bzt! Certain?" Map asked as he stopped spinning.
"Absolutely," Ziv answered, giving the little robot a smile underneath her gas mask, "The more viral videos we make, the more money we'll get and then we can get off Kakorum and go looking for all your missing pieces."
"Oh… Yay! Missing pieces!" he cheered as his screen went back to its normal light blue, "Can I do anything to help get money faster?" he asked as Ziv reached back inside the hole in the wall.
"Not really. Unless you want to help me salvage more scrap. The more we get the more we get paid," Ziv answered as Map began to walk over to her, his four legs folding in before a small jet booster revealed itself in the bottom of his leg platform, propelling himself up into the air as it ignited.
"You have a jet booster?" Ziv asked as she pulled herself out of the hole.
"Yes!" Map answered happily as a knife suddenly appeared in his hand out of thin air.
"And where did the knife come from?" she questioned, Map taking a moment to think, holding his free hand up to his face screen.
"Data not found!" he answered happily again, a smile on his face screen before he flew into the hole in the wall, Ziv hearing loud banging and crashing before a large pile of junk spilled out of the hole, Map popping up from it, holding his arms up triumphantly, "I have sal-sal-sal- Bzt! Acquired salvage!"
"Goofy robot," Ziv sighed, "Help me load it onto the skiff so we can turn it in."
"Yes, Master!" Map responded as he flew out of the pile of junk before landing back on the ground, his four legs extending back out of his leg platform as he started skittering about, helping Ziv move the salvage onto the hover skiff they were keeping nearby.
Once they were done, the two of them stepped onto the skiff and took off, flying up into the thick clouds of smog that blanketed the planet of Kakorum, moving quickly through the air, dodging and weaving their way through the constant traffic of skiffs and wreck haulers, though Ziv noticed something odd as they flew.
"There are a lot of ships flying around that don't look like wrecks today," she mused as she looked around, her eyes landing on one particular ship, a decently large frigate that was emblazoned with black and brown metal with accents of red and gold, giving it the appearance of an old wooden ship, as it even had a deck she could see the crew walking around on the top of it while the engines covered the bottom of the ship and large panels bearing an emblem that resembled a raindrop cradled from below by a crescent moon covered the rear section of the top, sheltering the entrance to the rest of the ship while a dome-shaped, reinforced window stuck out from the bow of the ship and dozens of cannons and missile tubes dotted the sides and top of the ship.
"Captain Talon would have li-li-li- Bzt! Stolen that ship," Map said, snapping Ziv out of her trance.
"It's a pretty impressive looking ship," Ziv mused as she watched the ship soar through the sky, its engines shifting from side to side to adjust its course and keep its altitude while Ziv slipped back into daydreaming about the ship and where it could take her.
"We are nearing our destination, Captain!" Map shouted, turning around to face Ziv with a little salute, earning a giggle from the young woman as she watched Map to his best to stand tall, though he barely came up over her knees.
Ziv flew the skiff down towards the collection office, parking it in the lot where several other scavengers were doing much the same, checking in their hauls with the robot collectors before being handed a piece of paper that printed out of the robots' chest.
"Turn in your salvage slip to the collection office to receive your pay for the day," the robot Ziv and Map were dealing with declared before stepping onto and taking their skiff and salvage while Ziv and Map walked towards the collection office, stepping into a line as the scavengers were let in one by one by the armed guard standing at the entrance, each scavenger leaving the office before the next was let in. After some time spent waiting, Ziv and Map were ushered into the office and were greeted by the sight of their manager, a large, bulky gray alien that was rather shark-like in appearance and had an apparatus attached to their gills and face, allowing it to breathe in water on land.
"Scavenger Ziv, an unusually large haul for you today," the manager stated in a booming voice as he took the slip from Ziv.
"Erm… yes. I got my new robot working well enough to help with the scavenging," Ziv lied as she scratched her left arm, a low growl emanating from the manager.
"Then you should have no problem selling it to me now that it is operational," the manager stated, growling out the words as he stood up, completely dwarfing Ziv with his massive frame.
"He's not for sale," Ziv mumbled, not daring to look up at the alien.
"Not even if I were to pay enough for you to buy your own ship and leave Kakorum? I have a client on Aquatillis in the Aoi Cosmos who is willing to hand over a fortune for this thing you seem so attached to," the manager explained as he stepped around his desk and towards Ziv and Map.
"I'm sorry… But, he's my friend. I'm not selling him," Ziv answered once more, earning a dangerously low growl from the alien.
"Then I am afraid I'm done being nice," the manager stated before swatting Ziv away, sending her flying against the wall before grabbing Map.
"Master!" Map shouted as his face screen suddenly turned red and began to hit the alien's fingers and thumb as hard as his little arms could.
"Hahahaha! Adorable!" the alien laughed before a knife appeared in Map's hand, his legs folding in and revealing his booster jet before he threw the knife, the blade landing right in the alien's right eye, "Graaawh!" the alien roared as he let go of Map to try and pull the knife out of his eye, the little robot taking the opportunity to fly over to Ziv.
"We must g-g-g-g- Bzt! Run!" Map shouted as he pulled a shocked Ziv to her feet, only to see the armed guard step inside the office, only to be greeted by Map flying straight into his face at full speed, knocking him to the ground, "Grab his Ether Rifle, Master!" Map yelled as Ziv nodded, running over to him and grabbing the weapon before running out of the office.
"Reporting disturbance!" they heard one of the nearby robot's announce as it turned to face them, recording them briefly before a large image of them appeared in several large holographic screens in the sky, "Apprehending lawbreakers!" it continued before beginning to approach them, Ziv taking several wild shots with the rifle before one lucky shot managed to impact against the robot's head, destroying it shortly before more robots arrived on the scene in skiffs.
"To the skiffs!" Ziv shouted, running off towards them, firing her rifle at the robots while Map followed close behind, several other scavengers yelling and running for cover as the duo fought their way to the skiffs, destroying a few of the robots blocking their path until they managed to secure one of the skiffs and take off into the sky.
"They are chasing after us!" Map shouted as he watched the remaining robots board the other skiffs and fly after them, more images of the two of them flying away on the skiff appearing in the sky.
"Map! Can you fly a skiff!?" Ziv shouted over the roar of the engines and wind.
"Accessing memory banks!" Map replied as a loading bar appeared on his face, "Affirmative. Routine flight package is installed! I can operate this vehicle!" Map answered before scrambling up to the controls and taking them from Ziv, who was now turning around to fire her rifle at their pursuers, taking several wild shots, a few lucky ones managing to even hit before the roar of several fighter crafts could be heard in the distance, the vessels making a pass over their heads before turning about and locking into a pursuit, quickly gaining on the skiffs and shooting down several of the ones piloted by robots.
"Are they helping us or not!?" Ziv screamed as several ether bullets flew past the skiff.
"I believe they are bou-bou-bou- Bzt! Pirates!" Map responded as he flew the skiff low to the ground and through some wreckage, forcing the fighters to break pursuit and circle around the wreck.
"Map!" Ziv shouted as the skiff skidded against the inner walls of the wreck, the screeching of metal on metal screaming throughout the area as Map roughly flew the craft through, Ziv holding onto the flight console for dear life until they were through. Though the fighter crafts quickly made their presence known as they swiftly flew overhead, re-entering formation to pursue the duo once again.
"We cannot shake them!" Map shouted as his face screen began flashing red, though a much louder engine roar made itself known as the large frigate with the raindrop emblem flew overhead, its cannons firing down on the fighter craft which broke off pursuit to engage the frigate, several rounds of the frigate's cannon fire sailing past and impacting against the various wrecks on the surface, igniting them in huge explosions and sending debris flying through the air.
"Map! To the left!" Ziv shouted just before a chunk of debris impacted against the skiff, sending it into a tailspin as Map struggled with the controls, a glimpse of pink being seen as they spun uncontrollably, Ziv grabbing onto Map as tightly as she could before they found themselves being pulled from the skiff and onto a vivid pink and cyan hover board, "A Galaxy Glider?" Ziv questioned quietly as she looked up at the woman controlling it, her own face obscured by a gas mask, but her hot pink hair standing out brightly on her head.
"Hold on tight," the woman said before rocketing the Galaxy Glider up into the air, a fighter craft exploding in the distance as they soared up above the frigate before descending down towards the deck, spinning to help slow the descent before they gently landed down on the ship, the woman quickly pulling out a radio, "Package is secure!"
"Copy that, Vero," a voice on the other end replied before the frigate began pulling up higher into the sky.
"I'm… Leaving Kakorum?" Ziv quietly mumbled to herself as she looked up, watching as the ship pierced through the cloud of smog and up into the sky above, into space before a loud whirring was heard from the rear end of the vessel as a large white cloud shot out of it before enveloping the ship in a spherical, clear, atmosphere. Ziv quickly turned around to see the woman pull off her gas mask, revealing a pair of piercing, ice green eyes.
"It's safe to pull of your mask. The Air Ether Generator makes us an atmosphere so we can breathe out here," the woman, Vero, explained as Ziv slowly pulled off her mask.
"Master!" Map called out before rushing over to Ziv, wrapping his little arms around her as best as he could to hug her, "Are you all-all-all-all- Bzt! Functional?"
"I think I'm okay," Ziv answered.
"Good," a voice called out from behind, "Because I didn't plan on picking up any stowaways on that mission," the voice added as Ziv turned back around to the rear of the ship, seeing a man wearing a navy-blue military coat draped across his shoulders standing up on a higher deck, just below where the Air Ether Generator was in between the large panels on the sides.
"What'd you expect me to do, Luan? Push the girl off my glider?" Vero asked indignantly, crossing her arms as she stared up at the man.
"Hardly, but I'm not keeping this one. All I wanted was that map," Luan replied, pointing down at Map, "The girl's an extra mouth to feed."
"I'm not going back to Kakorum!" Ziv shouted, "All my life all I wanted to do was leave that rock! You can't send me back there now that I've finally gotten off of it!"
"Not our problem," Luan retorted before he noticed Vero shooting him a look, "Fine. I'll drop you off on Blue Garden. After that, you're not my problem."
"No!" Map shouted, his face screen returning to an angry red, "I am not leaving my new Master!"
"Does no one around here understand that on a ship the captain's word is law?" Luan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I und-und-und- Bzt! Know plenty! Captain Talon taught me all about pirates!" Map argued.
"So, you are the map to the treasure horde then," Luan said lowly while he stared down the robot.
"I am! And unless you submit to my demands! I will delete the map from my memory banks!" Map threatened as his face screen turned into a screen that read 'Delete All Files? Yes, or No?'
"Map!" Ziv shouted, "You can't do something like that!"
"Hey, let's not be hasty, robot. What're your demands?" Luan asked, leaning onto the banister in front of him.
"I will not be separated from my Master, Ziv. In the instance you get rid of her or hurt her, I will delete all records of the map on my memory drive," Map explained, his face returning to normal, "I have not known her for very long, but she found me and repaired me after I waited for Captain Talon to return after a very lo-lo-lo- Bzt! Extended period of time. She is my friend and I do not want to leave her or see her sad."
"Captain," Vero said, looking up at the man, "It'd be stupid to separate them and I'm sure the girl's got some skills with machines from living on Kakorum."
"That's right! I'm a scavenger! I know how to fix and break down machines!" Ziv added while Luan stood there in though, visibly frustrated, though he eventually scowled before nodding back at Vero, taking her advice.
"Fine. But you have to work to earn your keep. This isn't a cruise ship, the Undine is a pirate ship and I'm it's captain, Luan Antares."
"I understand," Ziv replied.
"You understand?"
"Oh! Uh… I understand, captain!"
"Satisfied, robot?" Luan asked, now looking down at Map.
"Yes. I will cooperate with you so long as you ensure the health and well-being of my Master," Map responded.
"Very well, welcome to the crew of the Undine then," Luan stated, standing above his two new crewmates.
A/N: And there it is, chapter 2!
Not much to say this time, but I am currently still taking character applications for the story. Information is still in the prologue and on the discord.
Credits:
Veronica "Vero" Pavone – MyDearWatson
That's all for now.
Your host,
Dreadburner94.