The Zoids Continuum: Transform Organoids
Ah, my subject come to pay respects.a wonderful feeling. Thanx for the reviews.*hrmph* There are reviews, aren't there? Oh, well. Oh with it, I guess.
Chapter III-Citri's Story
"I was born in a small mountain village called Tskaak. It was a hidden village in the middle of a valley, very green and beautiful. But one day some zoids piloted by bandits burned our village and captured all the people. I was the only one who got away. It was pure luck when I stumbled into a cave. It was pitch black past the opening, which was lit by the fire. I almost tripped over what I thought was a big rock, but when I felt it, I learned it was some sort of pod, oval shaped. I wandered around the room-like cave and encountered nothing but a switch. I thought it was nothing strange, and my excitement started to override my terror. I flipped the switch to see what it did, and strangely, lights came on. I saw a complex control panel with millions of little buttons, so I ran over and pushed a green one, the same color as the pod. I was nine, how was I to know what I was getting into?
"After pushing the button the pod started to glow, then crack, then brake, spilling a white fluid on the floor, along with.what looked like a baby zoid. I was overjoyed. A baby zoid to raise and then to use to get my family back. So we traveled together for a while, half a year, I believe, and in that time I grew up much too fast. I learned what life was really like. I picked up my Shield Liger at a Junkshop, and he was in bad need of repair, but I didn't care. I had a partner, a zoid partner. During my first battle I realized that my "baby zoid" could fuse with my Liger, restoring it to perfect order while fused. It was a whole half year later that I found my family. Katrine (my organoid (I had learned it was that), Liger and I were looking for a place to set up camp, when a large bonfire caught my eye. I turned my Shield Liger towards it, and enlarged the screen. Horrid realization hit me as I recognized my sister, my mom and my dad, beaten, starved and dehydrated as they were. Slowly I recognized the village chief, my neighbors, and my best friend and his family. Then I watched in dumb horror as a bandit took out an automatic gun. He loaded it, then shot my mom, my sister, my dad and the village chief in that order.
"NO!" I had screamed, and mobilized the Shield Liger as I pushed the booster handle all the way up. I skidded to a halt just outside the ring of light the bonfire cast. I turned on my outside speakers.
"Let the people go and you won't get hurt!" I shouted, but the bandit with the gun smiled and a Gun Sniper blocked my way. I heard four more gunshots; my neighbors were now joining the leagues of dead. I charged and ran the Sniper through, firing missiles the whole time. Behind me I heard an explosion. My friend's family was dead on their stakes and the bandit was taking aim. I crushed him under a paw. The bandits scattered, but I followed them all, until there was not a single one left. Then I came back to the camp, chest heaving with sorrow and hate. I saw Ambient's skinny form outlined against the fire and my hate grew all the more. The bandits were dead, but so was my family and all the other people I had known all my life.all but Ambient." Citri said this with no emotion, as if putting down facts. But Lika could see the hate that she kept bottled up inside, the cold, cold loathing of any bandits that crossed her path. She could see the hardships she went through, the battles with this miraculous Shield Liger. And she could see the self-hate at having killed so many people.
"I gave Ambient new clothes, food, water; then treated his wounds as best I could. Katrine was watching my every move. I ignored her and soon we were on our way, Katrine making our journey all the faster. The first battle I had with Ambient in the copilot's seat was an intense one, and the bandits who had jumped us were no more than charred remains. I was still buried into my hate. Eventually I got over it enough so that I was not killing all the bandits that came my way, but I never showed emotions, and neither did Ambient. We were silent, never talking, trying to cope with our grief. We just had each other now. I was not yet eleven when Ambient caught his Zaber Fang, and we traveled separately from then on. I still had Katrine, and Liger. Ambient had Zaber. We became good mercenaries, because that's what we were; we did everything except for ourselves and for each other for a price. I had dreamed of becoming a great zoid pilot, and I was, a cold, and seemingly heartless mercenary pilot. One day we found ourselves ringed by zoids, odd ones. They looked like Command Wolves, but they were not. I was about to mobilize Liger, thus fusing him with Katrine, when a voice came from one of the zoids.
"We are from the Empire. If you come quietly, we will not be forced to shoot." It said. I took my hands off the controls. I told Liger to follow, and he did, that was how smart he had gotten. But then we were ambushed by a large group of Gun Snipers, and that's when I saw what we were heading for, a laboratory. Liger had taken heavy damage, but I put him into full gear, Ambient and his Zaber backing us. Then a zoid managed a hit on the Zaber, and he stumbled. I knew that if we ran, our zoids would get hurt beyond repair.
"Ambient, surrender yourself and get outta your cockpit, then tell your zoid to run. He'll follow mine to the end of Zi if it was necessary." I said. Ambient's face came on my screen and he nodded. I went next to his Zaber and opened my silver cockpit. I jumped out, Ambient behind. I turned to Liger.
"We'll see each other again someday, buddy. But now you gotta run, and take Zaber with you. Run and don't come back." I said, tears nearing my eyes. I blinked them back. Liger roared to Zaber, who roared back, and they took off together. Then I noticed the small organoid by my side. "Katrine! I meant for you to go with them!" Katrine shook her head. I sighed, defeated. Then I turned to the Imperial zoids. "We'll come with you now." Two of the zoid's heads opened and we got in. They took us to the laboratory, then left. We were hurried into a white room.
"This'll only pinch." I remembered hearing the doctor say to me and Ambient, then gave us each a shot. I remember no more." Citri said.
"But what happened after you got the shot?" Brian asked. Citri seemed determined to say nothing; Lika could see the determination burning in her eyes. The Shield Liger roared. Citri seemed shocked.
"No, Liger! I can't tell, it's too horrible!" Citri shouted at him. The Liger roared again. "I can tell it to you later--" The Liger seemed to be shaking its head, then it growled. Citri sighed. "I guess." She looked at her audience; Lika and Brian looked back at her. There was fear in her eyes, those beautiful silver-flecked eyes. "I will tell." She said in a whisper.
"When I woke up I was on a table, with whispering over me. I slitted my eyes to see who it was. I felt funny, like some one was in me. I saw that same doctor who had given me the shot talking to a man with black hair and a black uniform.
"It was successful. We have managed to combine her DNA with the DNA strands of her organoid." He said. I gasped in horror. I had Katrine in me? But how was that possible? "I see she has awakened."
I sat up, my breath coming a little shallower. "Where is Katrine?"
"Katrine? Oh, your organoid. We had to take her apart in order to complete this experiment." The doctor said with an infuriating casualness.
"No." I whispered. "Katrine.she's gone."
"Well, not quite. She's actually more in you that the scrapyard." The doctor said.
"Then where is Ambient?" I asked, hoping that Ambient was alive.
"Awake, though he won't do anything we tell him to do." The doctor said, annoyance entering his voice. Ambient, good ol' Ambient, stubborn as ever. I thought.
"General! Ambient has escaped!" a soldier reported to the man in the black uniform. The man followed the soldier, and the doctor went to do his buisness.
"Psst! Citri, over here!" came the whisper. It sounded slightly metallic. I went to where the whisper had come from and almost screamed. There, behind some stacked boxes, was a talking organoid. It was a tyrannosaur-type, a dark green color, the color of the forest in which I had made my home for nine years. Then, right before my eyes, it became Ambient!
"Ambient?" I asked.
"Yah. That's what they did to me, and to you as well." He said. Then there was a big boom! and the laboratory rocked. There was a shout, "We're being attacked by the Republic!," and soldiers were running all over the place. No one noticed to small zoids in a corner, a green one and a silver one. We managed to get out without being noticed by either side and into the open. We flew across the rocky area that the laboratory was on, then into a forest that reminded me of my early years. We stopped and transformed into humans again.
"That was really weird." I said.
"I hope that other kid got out safely." Ambient said.
"Kid? What kid?" I asked.
"There was only one other person who survived this DNA change. I kid our age with black hair." Ambient said.
"You seem to know a lot about their operation." I commented.
"Yah, they told me about it. We three are the only ones out of hundreds who survived." Ambient said. I shivered. It was getting dark, so I curled up next to Ambient, my heart thumping. And not just from the day, but there was just something about Ambient. I pushed the thought out of my mind, and slept. When I woke up the next day, he was gone. That was five years ago. I've mastered transformation, but I haven't seen Ambient since." Citri said. Just the thought of Ambient made her heart thump again. Brian whistled.
"Poor kid. You've been through a lot, haven't you?" he said. Citri got hold of her emotions once more and made her face a serene mask. "I was wondering, could you show us how you transform?"
"Brian!" Lika hissed.
"Why not?" Citri said, getting to her feet. They had all sat down during the course of her story. Then Citri started to change right before their very eyes, into the zoid that Lika had seen in the dunes and the cockpit earlier.
"That's it! The zoid I was looking for when I found you!" Lika said.
"This is me." Said Citri's metallic voice. Then she changed back into a human in the blink of an eye. She didn't like people gawking at her.
"So you slowed down your transformation for our benefit?" Brian asked. Citri nodded.
"Why don't we head back now? The sun is starting to set." Lika said. Citri allowed herself a bit of a smile. She felt better now that she had told someone the whole story.
"You go on without me, I want to fly around a bit." Citri said. The two leaders nodded.
"Liger, go with them and don't make a fuss." Liger growled in understanding. Citri started to run, then she was an organoid, soaring over the dunes, then she was gone. ---
I know, long chap. Next one will be shorter, I promise. Till next time.
~*DarkDragon*~
Ah, my subject come to pay respects.a wonderful feeling. Thanx for the reviews.*hrmph* There are reviews, aren't there? Oh, well. Oh with it, I guess.
Chapter III-Citri's Story
"I was born in a small mountain village called Tskaak. It was a hidden village in the middle of a valley, very green and beautiful. But one day some zoids piloted by bandits burned our village and captured all the people. I was the only one who got away. It was pure luck when I stumbled into a cave. It was pitch black past the opening, which was lit by the fire. I almost tripped over what I thought was a big rock, but when I felt it, I learned it was some sort of pod, oval shaped. I wandered around the room-like cave and encountered nothing but a switch. I thought it was nothing strange, and my excitement started to override my terror. I flipped the switch to see what it did, and strangely, lights came on. I saw a complex control panel with millions of little buttons, so I ran over and pushed a green one, the same color as the pod. I was nine, how was I to know what I was getting into?
"After pushing the button the pod started to glow, then crack, then brake, spilling a white fluid on the floor, along with.what looked like a baby zoid. I was overjoyed. A baby zoid to raise and then to use to get my family back. So we traveled together for a while, half a year, I believe, and in that time I grew up much too fast. I learned what life was really like. I picked up my Shield Liger at a Junkshop, and he was in bad need of repair, but I didn't care. I had a partner, a zoid partner. During my first battle I realized that my "baby zoid" could fuse with my Liger, restoring it to perfect order while fused. It was a whole half year later that I found my family. Katrine (my organoid (I had learned it was that), Liger and I were looking for a place to set up camp, when a large bonfire caught my eye. I turned my Shield Liger towards it, and enlarged the screen. Horrid realization hit me as I recognized my sister, my mom and my dad, beaten, starved and dehydrated as they were. Slowly I recognized the village chief, my neighbors, and my best friend and his family. Then I watched in dumb horror as a bandit took out an automatic gun. He loaded it, then shot my mom, my sister, my dad and the village chief in that order.
"NO!" I had screamed, and mobilized the Shield Liger as I pushed the booster handle all the way up. I skidded to a halt just outside the ring of light the bonfire cast. I turned on my outside speakers.
"Let the people go and you won't get hurt!" I shouted, but the bandit with the gun smiled and a Gun Sniper blocked my way. I heard four more gunshots; my neighbors were now joining the leagues of dead. I charged and ran the Sniper through, firing missiles the whole time. Behind me I heard an explosion. My friend's family was dead on their stakes and the bandit was taking aim. I crushed him under a paw. The bandits scattered, but I followed them all, until there was not a single one left. Then I came back to the camp, chest heaving with sorrow and hate. I saw Ambient's skinny form outlined against the fire and my hate grew all the more. The bandits were dead, but so was my family and all the other people I had known all my life.all but Ambient." Citri said this with no emotion, as if putting down facts. But Lika could see the hate that she kept bottled up inside, the cold, cold loathing of any bandits that crossed her path. She could see the hardships she went through, the battles with this miraculous Shield Liger. And she could see the self-hate at having killed so many people.
"I gave Ambient new clothes, food, water; then treated his wounds as best I could. Katrine was watching my every move. I ignored her and soon we were on our way, Katrine making our journey all the faster. The first battle I had with Ambient in the copilot's seat was an intense one, and the bandits who had jumped us were no more than charred remains. I was still buried into my hate. Eventually I got over it enough so that I was not killing all the bandits that came my way, but I never showed emotions, and neither did Ambient. We were silent, never talking, trying to cope with our grief. We just had each other now. I was not yet eleven when Ambient caught his Zaber Fang, and we traveled separately from then on. I still had Katrine, and Liger. Ambient had Zaber. We became good mercenaries, because that's what we were; we did everything except for ourselves and for each other for a price. I had dreamed of becoming a great zoid pilot, and I was, a cold, and seemingly heartless mercenary pilot. One day we found ourselves ringed by zoids, odd ones. They looked like Command Wolves, but they were not. I was about to mobilize Liger, thus fusing him with Katrine, when a voice came from one of the zoids.
"We are from the Empire. If you come quietly, we will not be forced to shoot." It said. I took my hands off the controls. I told Liger to follow, and he did, that was how smart he had gotten. But then we were ambushed by a large group of Gun Snipers, and that's when I saw what we were heading for, a laboratory. Liger had taken heavy damage, but I put him into full gear, Ambient and his Zaber backing us. Then a zoid managed a hit on the Zaber, and he stumbled. I knew that if we ran, our zoids would get hurt beyond repair.
"Ambient, surrender yourself and get outta your cockpit, then tell your zoid to run. He'll follow mine to the end of Zi if it was necessary." I said. Ambient's face came on my screen and he nodded. I went next to his Zaber and opened my silver cockpit. I jumped out, Ambient behind. I turned to Liger.
"We'll see each other again someday, buddy. But now you gotta run, and take Zaber with you. Run and don't come back." I said, tears nearing my eyes. I blinked them back. Liger roared to Zaber, who roared back, and they took off together. Then I noticed the small organoid by my side. "Katrine! I meant for you to go with them!" Katrine shook her head. I sighed, defeated. Then I turned to the Imperial zoids. "We'll come with you now." Two of the zoid's heads opened and we got in. They took us to the laboratory, then left. We were hurried into a white room.
"This'll only pinch." I remembered hearing the doctor say to me and Ambient, then gave us each a shot. I remember no more." Citri said.
"But what happened after you got the shot?" Brian asked. Citri seemed determined to say nothing; Lika could see the determination burning in her eyes. The Shield Liger roared. Citri seemed shocked.
"No, Liger! I can't tell, it's too horrible!" Citri shouted at him. The Liger roared again. "I can tell it to you later--" The Liger seemed to be shaking its head, then it growled. Citri sighed. "I guess." She looked at her audience; Lika and Brian looked back at her. There was fear in her eyes, those beautiful silver-flecked eyes. "I will tell." She said in a whisper.
"When I woke up I was on a table, with whispering over me. I slitted my eyes to see who it was. I felt funny, like some one was in me. I saw that same doctor who had given me the shot talking to a man with black hair and a black uniform.
"It was successful. We have managed to combine her DNA with the DNA strands of her organoid." He said. I gasped in horror. I had Katrine in me? But how was that possible? "I see she has awakened."
I sat up, my breath coming a little shallower. "Where is Katrine?"
"Katrine? Oh, your organoid. We had to take her apart in order to complete this experiment." The doctor said with an infuriating casualness.
"No." I whispered. "Katrine.she's gone."
"Well, not quite. She's actually more in you that the scrapyard." The doctor said.
"Then where is Ambient?" I asked, hoping that Ambient was alive.
"Awake, though he won't do anything we tell him to do." The doctor said, annoyance entering his voice. Ambient, good ol' Ambient, stubborn as ever. I thought.
"General! Ambient has escaped!" a soldier reported to the man in the black uniform. The man followed the soldier, and the doctor went to do his buisness.
"Psst! Citri, over here!" came the whisper. It sounded slightly metallic. I went to where the whisper had come from and almost screamed. There, behind some stacked boxes, was a talking organoid. It was a tyrannosaur-type, a dark green color, the color of the forest in which I had made my home for nine years. Then, right before my eyes, it became Ambient!
"Ambient?" I asked.
"Yah. That's what they did to me, and to you as well." He said. Then there was a big boom! and the laboratory rocked. There was a shout, "We're being attacked by the Republic!," and soldiers were running all over the place. No one noticed to small zoids in a corner, a green one and a silver one. We managed to get out without being noticed by either side and into the open. We flew across the rocky area that the laboratory was on, then into a forest that reminded me of my early years. We stopped and transformed into humans again.
"That was really weird." I said.
"I hope that other kid got out safely." Ambient said.
"Kid? What kid?" I asked.
"There was only one other person who survived this DNA change. I kid our age with black hair." Ambient said.
"You seem to know a lot about their operation." I commented.
"Yah, they told me about it. We three are the only ones out of hundreds who survived." Ambient said. I shivered. It was getting dark, so I curled up next to Ambient, my heart thumping. And not just from the day, but there was just something about Ambient. I pushed the thought out of my mind, and slept. When I woke up the next day, he was gone. That was five years ago. I've mastered transformation, but I haven't seen Ambient since." Citri said. Just the thought of Ambient made her heart thump again. Brian whistled.
"Poor kid. You've been through a lot, haven't you?" he said. Citri got hold of her emotions once more and made her face a serene mask. "I was wondering, could you show us how you transform?"
"Brian!" Lika hissed.
"Why not?" Citri said, getting to her feet. They had all sat down during the course of her story. Then Citri started to change right before their very eyes, into the zoid that Lika had seen in the dunes and the cockpit earlier.
"That's it! The zoid I was looking for when I found you!" Lika said.
"This is me." Said Citri's metallic voice. Then she changed back into a human in the blink of an eye. She didn't like people gawking at her.
"So you slowed down your transformation for our benefit?" Brian asked. Citri nodded.
"Why don't we head back now? The sun is starting to set." Lika said. Citri allowed herself a bit of a smile. She felt better now that she had told someone the whole story.
"You go on without me, I want to fly around a bit." Citri said. The two leaders nodded.
"Liger, go with them and don't make a fuss." Liger growled in understanding. Citri started to run, then she was an organoid, soaring over the dunes, then she was gone. ---
I know, long chap. Next one will be shorter, I promise. Till next time.
~*DarkDragon*~