Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids. At all. Not even a teeny bit.
Chapter One: It gave a joyful roar as sunlight once again glinted off its body.June 11, 3115. Fareme Mansion: home of the owner of Zoids & Parts Co.
Karina Fareme tiptoed into the immense dark warehouse. Her face glowed a spectral green under the light of the glow stick.
In her other hand she held a small, handheld device, its screen dark.
The fierce shapes of Zoids towered over her. Occasionally the light from the glow stick would glint off a blade or a claw or the barrel of a gun.
She recognized the regal pose of a Command Wolf and the low, slinking body of a Leoblaze.
Finally she got to the Zoid she was looking for: Liger Zero.
She was never allowed to touch it, much less get in the cockpit and pilot the thing, even it was given to her. Her now deceased father had given it to her when she was very young.
He had renovated it and installed it with state-of-the-art technology. He had designed custom parts for it. He even designed another form for it to change into, though he never was able to make it.
He was killed in a Zoid accident when Karina was two, almost three. His multi-million dollar business Zoid & Parts Co. went to his wife, Lisa. But she disappeared. So the business was given to his friend Jerry Samalon, who was also Karina's godfather.
She brushed away the depressing thoughts as she climbed up the towering Zoid.
She had to manually open the cockpit door; Jerry had immediately shut down the Zoid for what seemed for good when her father was killed, in fear that she was next.
But that, of course, didn't stop Karina.
She pushed the heavy cover door open until she was able to squeeze in.
She tumbled in the cockpit as the cover closed with a click. It was then that she realized the glow stick was gone.
She was in an airtight cockpit with no light and no energy. Before she could panic, she got herself into the seat. At least she still had the device, which was good.
She turned it on. Its screen went on as its fan began to whir.
Maybe the light it emitted was enough... She opened the back panel of the device and began to pull out the connection wires. Then, using the light of the screen that simply said, "Ready," she began to connect the wires to specific ports underneath the main control board.
When she finished connecting the last wire, the little handheld began to click and tap like a laptop.
A long list of information trailed down the screen. The Zoid's specifications, weapon status, current weight, current energy level, and all kinds of other things.
After a full minute of this the screen calmed down and finally stopped. The little handheld asked, "What do you want to do?"
Using the plastic pencil that was stowed away in the side of the device, Karina entered a command:
command change status: on /command
A lot like HTML, she mused to herself. Well, that was to be expected: the friend she got the device from began as a web designer before going into hacking.
The moment she pressed enter the whole cockpit came to life.
The two side screens had information rolling down them; probably the same her little hacking device had shown.
They stopped, and the main screen went alive, demanding her license.
Getting her license was yet another thing she had to do without Jerry knowing.
Her father had known a piloting teacher who specialized in lion-type Zoids. Though he had no Liger Zero for her to learn in, he taught her what to expect.
She whipped out the card and inserted it into the designated slot, like you would when getting money at an ATM.
There was more clicking and whirring and the screen said, "Welcome Karina Fareme." The words disappeared, and now showed her her surroundings.
She unplugged her little hacking device from the Zoid and entered in another command:
scan X12N-A3 Electric Warehouse Door /scan
For a few seconds it said "Searching..." but then it beeped and said, "Found."
Karina entered in another command:
command change status: open /command
The device beeped again and she saw the huge warehouse door open. She leapt for it and whooped as she stepped out into the sunlight.
Liger Zero gave a joyful (and maybe a bit too loud) roar as sunlight once again glinted off its metal body and as the wind blew off the dust that it had been collecting.
Karina laughed as she thought of how Jerry would probably have a cardiac arrest when he saw her in Liger.