On the balcony of a wealthy plantation owner's incredibly large "second home" stood a small dignified draik, appearing to be around the age of 15 or 16. Her apparel consisted of a light blue dress, a soon to be discarded hat, and a seemingly misplaced camera hanging around her neck. Her light pinkish hair peaked out from under the wide-brimmed hat, partially revealing two blue hair clips. Her eyes were a gleaming purple. She was not a particularly beautiful person. Her best qualities were concisely listed, starting and ending with her eyes (which did not match the rest of her body or person, and therefore detracted from her overall appearance.) She was, however, a Noble Rechian Lady which automatically made her gorgeous regardless of her nature of. But in dark corners and behind curtains her every being was harshly criticized. She stooped over the edge of the banister, head in hands, with a face of mixed awe, excitement, horror, and disgust. She surveyed the colorful city streets below. They were very quiet. Too quiet. She beat on the railing with a burst of anger and an exasperated huff.

UGGGGGHHH. Obscura, they're LATE. No wonder they ALWAYS lose! Stupid armies aren't supposed to be late! I'm sick of waiting for a decent aerial shot of their arrival march." The child swung open two nearby glass doors and marched angrily into a lavishly decorated room. A scruffy, old pirate gallion teetered in behind her. He made a low growl. "Exactly Obs! The world is won by punctuality," she stated factually. "Man, now I have to find something else to photograph. Ugh," she complained as she launched herself onto an overly stuffed bed. Suddenly, as if on cue, a low, repetitive sound rumbled through the streets outside. The girl perked up, glided of the bed, and charged outside to find the Meridell army marching into the city 5 minutes late. "Oh shoot! I missed it. Eh, oh well." And with that all her anger vanished from existence and she excitedly shut the balcony doors. "Okay Obs! Let's go meet Sir Bennett! I'm going to get his autograph and his picture and EVERYTHING so we have to look our best!"

The girl skipped out of her bedroom with Obscura trailing obediently behind her. She began descending a huge marble staircase, but stopped after the second step. She warily ran up the steps again and checked around nearby corners. "Okay, looks like nobody's around! Great!" She shot Obscura with a smirk, before awkwardly climbing onto one of the enormous swirling handrails. She let go of the rail and slid all the way down the railing as if it were some kind of amusement park ride, accelerating faster and faster and faster and fa—BAM! The draik lay sprawled out on a perfectly clean marble floor, rubbing her head.

OH HEAVENS! Lady Ziadorn, are you alright? Oh my god, child how many times have I told you, the stairs are NOT a slide! Heavens, heavens you're going to smash your skull open—" A round-faced woman and a few other servants ran to the child's aid, fussing over her every movement.

Don't move Ziadorn, please, you're hurt!"

Honestly, this child never listens! No wander she can't get married off!"

Move over! I've got some antiseptic!"

With a violent shudder, Zia sprang from the crowd, struggling to break free of their grasp. "Get off me, I'm perfectly FINE!" She shook them off and immediately sprinted over to the front doors of the mansion. She stopped inches away from the doors, and slowly reached for the handles, forgetting about her previous pain and frustration. Zia was filled with pure, raw excitement. She stroked the handle with one finger before seizing it very forcefully and jerking the door open as fast as she could. Light poured into the house from outside…

~*~

A tall robotic krawk shoved relentlessly through the crowded streets below. Her frame was mainly hidden by an old, tattered, geometrically patterned shirt. Its sleeves were long and bell shaped, hiding all of her arms excluding the tips of her long, vicious-looking metal claws. Her lower half was completely concealed by tall worn armored boots, ragged baggy pants, and various misplaced pieces of armor and metal. Her angular face consisted of a starch-white mask-like feature. Yellow lights, her eyes, glowed from beyond the mask's sunken eye sockets. The machine's face remained devoid of any emotion as she beat her way through the crowd. Behind her, the android dragged an enormous piece of equipment. Its shape was foreign and strange. It didn't appear to be anything, just a giant rectangle of iron, pipes, and circuitry. A shadow aisha followed halfheartedly behind her.

Wow, this is just soooooo fun," he looked away at his surroundings apathetically. The view was witnessed but not registered. The man shoved his hands into his pockets, past a holster containing an old, uncared for gun. He wore similar attire to the android in front of him, but was defined by a large, shabby, poncho. It was heavily stained, but still retained a tan-brown color. The pattern that adorned it was mostly faded, but depicted a geometric rendition of a scorpion. His neck was entirely shrouded by a blue, discolored bandana. Messy auburn hair framed his indifferent face and callous, muddy-brown eyes. Despite his obvious boredom, the aisha was smiling somewhat crookedly.

Nobody cares, Ulysses; Keep your stupid mouth shut. I swear, if you say another word--" The krawk's tone was cold, but surprisingly natural sounding; however, her voice sounded slightly monotone and her intonation did not change with her emotions.

What are you gonna do, Maru? Claw my head off?" Ulysses laughed. Maru swooped around to face him, plunging on of her clawed hands towards his face. She stopped herself millimeters from his eyes.

I think that's actually a great ide—" BAM! WOOOSH! Something exploded behind them. Screaming ensued. The duo quickly forgot their dispute and dashed over to the scene. A wall had been completely demolished. No one appeared too badly injured. Most of the damage was caused by the sparkling shards of colored glass now scatter all over the street. Ulysses picked a large fragment of blue, turning it over a few times.

What the heck did that?"

Maru shrugged indifferently. "I guess we could go loo—"

Awesome!" Ulysses bounded into the opening still clutching the glass before Maru could even register his answer.

~*~

Zia squealed with excitement and awe as she stared out the doorway. He was on the steps of her HOUSE. The famous, handsome, fabulous Sir Traejan Bennett of Meridell was 5 feet away from her! Although, upon closer inspection, the knight standing in front of her didn't really look all that handsome, fabulous, or powerful. He was a rather scrawny looking white Bori with light brown hair and blue eyes. He was on the short side too. Zia scrunched her face up and shrugged. CLICK SNAP FLASH. A picture was all she needed.

Uh, good day young miss. May I ask where the Master or Lady of the house is?" Sir Bennett looked incredibly tired and dirty.

Zia pointed accusingly at him. "YOU! You're Sir Bennett and you're LATE!" Click. Flash. Another picture. The knight looked very annoyed. "Hey can I have your autogra—"

Ziadorn! Let the man in, for heaven's sake!" The lady of the mansion announced her entrance. Zia turned sukily around to face her mother. Like her daughter, Edith Van der Veen was not particularly spectacular; however her regal attire, poise, and nature reclaimed her majesty. Ziadorn primarily received her physical appearance from her mother, but she had her father's eyes.

Ioda, take Ziadorn to her room and get that bruise on her face taken care of, thank you. Now! Sir Bennett, how wonderful for you to stop by our humble home! Please, follow me, we have much to discuss." The lady and the knight disappeared towards Father's office. Zia started to follow them, but was quickly swept away by the round-faced servant, Ioda.

After being bandaged and forced to sit on the bed, Zia found herself once again in her room, terribly bored, and with absolutely nothing to do. But of course, she had been in this situation before. As soon as Ioda left, Zia quickly sprang towards the balcony doors. She slammed into them, realizing they were locked.

No waaaaaaaaaay. Shoot!" She eyed the room. Obscura trotted up to her. He huffed and ruffled his fur. "AW! Great idea Obs!" With that she scooped him up, jamming one of his clawed paws into the lock. A few struggle-filled jiggles later and the door swung open. Obscura broke free of her grasp and screeched with disapproval, but a when offered a treat, he quickly forgot his troubles and became her best friend again. "Sorry Obs, but thank youuuuu~" She hugged him and pranced over the balcony rail. Swiftly but awkwardly, she balanced herself (poufy dress included) along the edge of the house's second story. She slid to a nearby corner and scaled shakily down the side of the house, scraping her knee and elbow. Obscura glided down from above to join her, clutching a few band aids, being the ever faithful pet.

Now free of her prison, Zia sprinted through the courtyard and squeezed through the bars of the outside fence. She took a refreshing step into the busy street of Nedezeret Rech and stretched her arms out. "Success!" She turned towards the bakery and made her way quickly down the street, hoping she could find her cousin, Marius, around somewhere. BAM! WOOSH! Glass flew everywhere! Opening her eyes, Zia found herself in front of a now completely destroyed wall. She eyed two rather suspicious looking figures dash near the newly created hole, but turned away when she heard her name.

Z! Are you okay! You were, like, right next to it!" Another draik ran up to her wearing a worried face. He had a lanky frame, and appeared younger than Zia, but was actually taller than her. His eyes were wide and red; his face outlined by neatly combed teal hair.

Yeah Marius, and I didn't even get a shot of it! Can you believe it! Such an opportunity wasted! Humph!"

Heh, somebody's as oblivious to peril as always…What are you doing here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be grounded?"

Yeah… but inspiration calls!" Zia twirled in a circle holding her camera triumphantly. "So, let's do something! Like explore that hole!" She began to walk near the rubble.

Zia, don't! It just blew up! What if it explodes again? Besides I heard that there are some pirates trying to raid the port. Why don't we go see that instead?" He sounded unsure of himself; he secretly hoped Zia would forget the hole and go somewhere else. Zia faced him. Marius sighed with relief.

…Pirates? Like real pirates? Really REAL pirates? Why didn't you tell me earlier! Let's go"
And so, the duo raced brightly down the ravaged street towards port.

~*~

Wow, okay, this thing is more like a tunnel…" Ulysses crawled out the end of the hole with Maru trailing grumpily behind him. "I think maybe some kind of weapon did this… you think?"

Maybe, but that would take an enormous missile, did you see one back at the explosion..? I don't think so. Try again stupid." Ulysses made a contorted face at her. "Bleh! No but seriously, maybe it was a rocket, and it, like, flew into the air after it penetrated the wall…"

That sounds even more ridiculous. A rocket..? What, you think it went to space, Mr. Astronaut?" Maru laughed sardonically. Ulysses made another face at her.

Okay genius; use your dumb robot powers to figure out yourself— whoa." They emerged into what appeared to be a port. A medium sized cargo ship lay directly in front of them. This wasn't any kind of ship though; it was an airship that looked like the cross between some sort of large spacecraft, and an airplane. It was black and gray with red adornments. Most people could recognize it; it was The Firewall and it supposedly belonged to some pretty fearsome pirates.

Well that's nice…" Maru smirked. "Okay, we had our fun. Let's go." She turned back towards the hole. Ulysses frowned at her. Farther away, closer to the ship, an argument brewed.

It's a misunderstanding, sir. It didn't come from us, it hit us! We're just here to do some repairs, no trouble, alright..?" A female black hissi with rainbow markings stated calmly. A blue-haired, white aisha stood next to her waving a gun around. The aisha also appeared to be female. "Al, put that away…"

What? We didn't do anything and this guy's accusing innocent civilians of blowing up that stuff over there! Missile? Oh. My. GOD! This ship doesn't even have those kinds of weapon capabilities! I mean, dude, I totally with it did, but it doesn't!" The aisha, Al, seemed incredibly upset.

Innocent civilians? You guys are PIRATES." A skeith wearing a police officer's uniform informed the aisha, standing inches from her face.

We don't have any charges here, mister, so why don't you just BACK OFF. And who told you we were pirates! Jeez!"

Well, your ship is right across from the scene! Only something going straight could have caused that damage, so it had to of come from you! And your track record doesn't exactly prove your innocence; I suggest you better think up an alibi real quick there, young lady."

FOR THE LAST TIME THIS SHIP CAN'T SHOOT SOMETHING THAT BIG! Don't you understand physics!? If we shot something with that power, The Firewall would have recoiled into the water! WE DON'T HAVE THOSE CAPABILITIES. Oh, but I probably have to spell it out to an idiot like you. IT'S I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E. IT WOULD BREAK PHYSICS." Al shoved the barrel of her gun into the skeith chest. "DO THE FREAKING MATH."

Allodine! Calm down!" The hissi broke the two apart. "Alright, everyone just needs to calm down. We can deal with this in a civilized manner, PUT THE GUN AWAY ALLODINE, IT'S NOT HELPING." The hissi spoke with an authoritative tone. She didn't yell, but it had the same effect on both Al and the skeith. The aisha shrunk away with a wide-eyed face. She concealed her weapon.

Sorry Mater…" Al spoke with a very tiny voice.

Now, Officer, Al's right. It would be impossible for something that huge to be shot off of our ship without any kind of recoil. Why don't we—"

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to take you two in, threatening an officer is an offense. he huffed. Mater's serene face broke. Farther behind the argument, Maru smirked. Ulysses was trying to follow some ants.

Wait, they have a bounty on their head…."

What are you thinking…" Ulysses looked at her, slightly confused.

If we take one of them in, we could get a pretty nice profit…" Maru suddenly lurched forward with a choppy gate, quickly approaching the pirate squabble. Ulysses blindly followed her. Mater, Al, and the officer noticed the odd looking duo approaching them.

I'm sorry, you two are gonna have to get out of here. This is none of your business" The officer shouted, struggling with trying to handcuff Al.

Heh, it's all my business, thank you very much." Maru spat back as she heaved the contraption she had been dragging over her shoulder. With hissing and clicking noises it transformed into a cannon like weapon. "Ulysses, take care of the officer."

Oh… right." he looked over at the officer and shrugged. "Sorry, man. Nothing personal." He drew his gun and pointed it at the officer's head.

They're coming with us, actually." Maru sneered at the officer. "Ulysses, take care of the old lady too, she's not really worth anything." Maru jabbed a claw over in Mater's direction. Ulysses tightened his grip on the trigger about to obey Maru's request when suddenly a powerful force shot him in the abdomen and sent him flying backwards. He hit a nearby wall and collapsed with a sicken crack and thud. He didn't move. The officer sprinted away with fright as fast as his pudgy legs could carry him.

EXCUSE ME? OLD LADY? WHO THE HECK ARE YOU CALLING OLD, YOU IDIOTIC PILE OF GEARS." Any hint of serenity in Mater's face was now gone, completely replaced by raw anger. She began to summon more magic. Al looked up at Maru with pleading eyes.

Take it back! Just say you're sorry. She get's freaking scary when you call her old. Oh my god, just apologize! She'll flatten all of us!"

Maru's cannon changed shape with a few more clicks. She plunged it into the ground in front of her. The apparatus's front face extended outward to form a shield. Its sides curved.

Mater launched a colossal black beam of energy straight at Maru. The shield took the brunt of the attack but still flung Maru backwards a little ways from an unresponsive Ulysses. After several minutes, the dust cleared. The android lifted her head to see where the attackers had gone. The Firewall was now a tiny speck in the distance. Maru stood up, reclaimed her shield/cannon (which was still unscathed despite the attack), and sauntered over towards Ulysses.

Well, that wnet well…" she inspected his body. "God, you're always getting knocked unconscious… Oh well, I'll come back for you late—"

STOP! HANDS UP! DROP YOUR WEAPON!" Two scrawny looking Darigan soldiers suddenly appeared out of the nearby tunnel that had cause the earlier argument. The two, a Darigan Kyrri and a Darigan Kougra, surrounded Ulysses, balancing his body on their shoulders. The Kougra held a knife to Ulysses's throat as if the soldier thought he would spring to life at any given moment. "We heard all that! You're a bounty hunter! ("Probably loaded too", whispered the Kyrri) If you ever want to see your friend again, you better listen to us and do what we say!" Maru laughed.

Actually, you can just have him because I'm so nice and charitable." She shrugged and walked away, heading down the port.

The soldiers looked at each other with surprise and deflated egos.

She's just trying to trick us! C'mon! We'll take him back to headquarters," the Kougra assured himself. They crawled awkwardly back into the tunnel, trying to drag Ulysses back with them.

~*~

So you're saying they have the nerve to come here?" Mr. Van der Veen had an annoyed twinge in his voice.

Yes, the Darigan Army is moving some of their squadrons here to destroy the city, and take control of the plantations. They mean to cut us off from healing supplies and slaughter our resistance." Sir Bennett explained despairingly. "We'll try to hold them off before they can reach the city. They lost some powerful generals, but I'm still not sure if we can hold them off."

So… what are we going to do? What's going to happen to us?" Lady Van der Veen looked ready to cry. Her voice was feeble and shaky.

First, we need to evacuate the city. Everyone needs to be relocated to a safer place. Darigan is only here to take over the land, not kill. They won't go searching for civilians just to destroy them."

But where would we go? Meridell's not exactly a safe haven at the moment…" Mr. Van der Veen mused. His wife put her hand up to her lips.

M-Maybe the Lost Desert? We could take boats out there…"

We'll have to decide once we've warned everyone. Anyway, after evacuation, we have to slash and burn the fields."

What? Why would anyone here agree to that?" The master of the house boomed.

If Darigan gets a hold of the crop, they're going to be unstoppable…"

Well if that's the case then it'll have to be done…" All of them stared down at the carefully woven rug situated on a fine wooden floor. A clock ticked. Outside, chatter from the street drifted into the room. Far away at an opposite end of the house, servants were scurrying around preparing the next meal. Could all this be gone in an instant?

Ioda burst through the office door more red-faced and blusterous than usual. The solemn silence broken into memory fragments.

Sir! Lady! It's the little miss! She ran off again!

Mr. Van der Veen grabbed his coat.

~*~

Marius and Zia watch the fighting but get caught by Mr. Van der Veen. They get taken away but are ambushed by Darigan thugs. Marius is kidnapped. Zia runs after them but fails to catch up.

~*~

Ulysses wakes up tied up with Marius. Stuff? They work on escaping. Ulysses demonstrates how nuts he can sound. Montreal refuses to materialize because he is a buttface. Marius is freaked out.

~*~

Zia runs into Maru. Zia recognizes her and begs Maru to help her find Marius. Maru explains that her friend Ulysses was also taken, so she agrees. They trail the ambushers to a hideout and attack it. They Maru destroy some Darigan thugs, and they meet the boss. Maru is about to blast them with her solar cannon, but Marius and Ulysses crash in and Ulysses destroys the boss. They all exit. Everyone is happy. Maru and Ulysses swap insults for fun. They return to the Mansion and return Zia, Marius goes home. The VDV's ask Maru and Ulysses to take Zia, they do, everyone is happy. They begin their adventure to Vallis, located in the lost desert. The vdvs cry as they begin packing some of their belongings and small treasures, leaving their home behind and watching their daughter leave them.