#zero fleet

[6lovelytenders]

Silly idea for when I eventually get around to drawing a lineup of my Tugs human designs

Stars: Wear normal working clothes, cuz they let results speak for themselves, and they don't feel the need to "look good to the public" (Top Hats the exception)

Zeds: wear stereotypical 1920s gangster clothes. 1: because it's funny to me 2: Capt. Zero thinks this will help their reputation if they all look well dressed (it won't)

[werbitssft]

TUGS ZERO FLEET DOG AU🐾!!

Zorran - Great Dane

Zebedee - Cane Corso

Zak - Canarian dog (or Dogo Canario)

Zug - Dogo Argentino

Zip - German Boxer

[jayde-jots]

You know, ever since I've started writing Zeds to Stars, I've kinda been curious about writing the reverse. What if the Stars ended up with the Zeds? The timeline would remain the same, Zip and Ten Cents would still be growing because of their ASG, and the Olympic would still come into port, along with Goliah still showing up. Instead of the story being a recovery or redemption sort of quality from the Zeds, it'd be a fall from grace story on the Star's half as they find their morals and dignity constantly being pushed.

[jayde-jots]

[jayde-jots]

I’ve actually been thinking of using this tumbler page a bit more often after a little inspiration. I will still be mainly active on my DA page but I figure to start off why not make my own take on an AU and since I’ve been on a TUGS roll as of late why not start there?

Admittedly this is maybe not an original one but one I don’t see much talked about in all honesty. A good ‘ol classic what if the good guys where bad and vice-versa. So here we go!

Zero Fleet-

> Obviously you have to start with the head of it all, Captain Zero. Or as his full name- Zero Zero. Born in France and then moving to America when he was a child, Zero’s childhood dream was to be a sailor and when he graduated school he made plans to move to Bigg City. Unfortunately a grandfather of his passed away during this time and in his will he left Zero his tug boat to help him start up a business. This tugs name was Morran or as many other tugs gave him flak for, Moron. As soon as Zero had made preparations to head to Bigg City he was happy to meet Morran for the first time. Needless to say he was swift in getting the tug repainted and having his name changed to Zorran, the two grew to be happily fond of the other and made it known that they trust each other a lot.

> Onto the No.1 himself- Zorran! Zorran was previously owned by Captain Zero’s grandfather though he was never used much. The idea of a status symbol if you owned a boat so he was kept in dry dock sleeping out his young years until the grandfather passed away and Zorran was given to Zero in the old mans will. Zorran is by no means old, he spent at best 3 years in dry dock so he’s mentally around his 30′s when he meets Zero for the first time. After about a year of being owned and working for Zero at some point the captain bought another tug who Zorran was in charge of showing around. Zorran often whistles through the gap in his teeth when he’s working and Zero finds it impressive that Zorran has a pretty decent talent.

> Moving to No.2 is Zebedee. Unlike his cannon counterpart Zebedee is actually an ocean tug. And also oddly enough his real name is Zebedee but he prefers the name Zebadiah as he finds his real one sort of childish for a tug like himself, but Zorran and Zero call him Zeb to smooth things out but the name Zebadiah is painted on his bow from his request to Captain Zero.

> No.3 is Zak or what his bow fully reads- Zakary. An ice breaker tug and the only one in Bigg City harbor making him in huge demand for the winter months. He hates it when people pronounce his name Zak-kar-ie so he just tells them to call him Zak but he doesn’t want the name on his bow changed. He’s a tug of few words and being rather blunt which has made for one too many instances where he’s accidently insulted someone, he’s not cold though, just not preferring to be the centre of attention.

> No.4 we have Zug. Zug before he came to the Zero fleet was actually abused rather harshly by his previous owner, this being why he is actually missing his left eye. He is still traumatized and has frequent panic attacks and has developed insomnia because of his past fears (which the Star-stacks mock him for and are behind half of the panic attacks he has when they intentionally spook him. Zorran has taken measures though to at least have one member with him everyday or close by.)

> No.5 we have Zip. Living up to his name sake he is rather hyper, talking really fast to the point if you think coffee is his fuel source. He protects Zug to a default and whenever the Star-stacks try to sneak up on Zug he creeps them out by how aggressively fast he is, almost to the point of Pinky Pie hyper and sometimes breaking the fourth wall.

> For a surprising 6 we have Zoomer, or as he likes- Zoom. A tug with a reputation of bad luck after he was brought into the Zero’s, Zorran was determined to help Zoom with his jinx. After a lot of trial and error the two eventually found a complex pattern that Zoom then exploited, making him have this almost supernatural power to jinx what ever he pleases. (Usually the Star-stacks) As thanks he often sticks by Zorran, going as far as to call him a best friend.

> As a late 7 we have- Z.J. Originally being the Star-stacks number 3 and being named O.J, when the paddle steamer had his engine blow out on him he was almost scrapped when Captain Zero bought him and had him repaired. A reclusive old tug to the point of being considered mute Z.J (as he was renamed) prefers to work alone and be to his own devices. Zug and Zak often company him in silence, their beliefs that actions speak louder than words. In truth Z.J is a sweet old man when you let him talk on his own terms, he had just developed this introverted quirk while working for the Star-stacks as they often told him to be quiet, calling him an old fool often. Like Zug he just needs time to recover and so far working for the Zeros he couldn’t be more happy that people actually want to listen to him.

This is already long enough so I’ll leave the Star-stacks for a second post. Feel free to ask and expect human art of these guys in the future as well as quite possibly a fanfic on Ao3, until then, Bye!

(Also credit to @funnie-train-hell for their original idea of Zorran’s name formerly being Morran before he joined the Z’s and @the-starfleet for their own idea in their reverse AU of Zeb being a ocean tug and where I got the idea of Zorran and Boomer being good friends. I apologize for not adding that sooner I honestly didn’t expect this to get noticed and thank you for flagging me down for it.)

[jayde-jots]

All right I got the captain and the first five of the Zero fleet in my swap!AU Human Machines!AU type deal.

Name: Zero Zero

Nickname/codename/aka: Captain Zero

Vessel: Nimitz-class aircraft carrier

Origins-

Born in France Zero’s family moved to Bigg City when they discovered he was a converter to have a restart at life for the sake of protecting him. The idea of always wanting to do a career so he could remain close to the water had always been his goal, so when he graduated he went about trying to start a tug business. His grandfather on his fathers side had bought a tug boat a few years before hand and when the tug told him he wasn’t a boat you would use for relaxing on he decided to keep him anyway as company. When the grandfather heard what Zero was trying to do he said that he could have his boat, and so, in a few days a harbor tug sailed into the Zero dock, and it began the start of the best moments of their lives.

Name: Morran Tine

Nickname/codename/aka: Zorran

Vessel: Harbor tug boat

Origins-

Zorran, way back when named Morran, was a kid who was constantly picked on because of his name. So when he started displaying symptoms of being a converter he had no clue what was happening to him, he thought that he had just developed super powers. So when his normal bullies came by next time he doused them in water from the school taps and spooked them when he showed he could lift the water. The authorities showed up not long after and he was taken away immediately, him not even being able to say goodbye to his parents and an older brother he also had. He was immediately brought into service and after a few years of training he was officially able to be bought once he turned 19. He was bought by an old man who didn’t know the difference between a work boat or a yacht and when Morran told him the difference the old man just said- “oh well,” and invited him to live with him for the time being until he could find something better for Morran. He did in the form of giving him to his grandson who was looking to open a tug business, when Morran first arrived to the Zero dock his new captain was swift to change his name along with welcoming him with open arms, showing the tug that he himself was a converter.

Name: Zebedee Axol

Nickname/Codename/Aka: Zebadiah, Zeb.

Vessel: Ocean tug boat 

Origins-

Coming from a wealthy family, Zebedee as his parents named him, was at first presumed to be born female. This actually being a rare condition that converters specifically had. Because most machines were called in feminine pronouns this bled over to converters, so you had cases like Zebadiah who had female genitalia but a male body. This came to a heavy head when he was growing up. He did everything his parents didn’t expect from a little girl, to having more male friends than female when he was young, to be interested in more considered masculine things, to finally not liking to dress in dresses or put on makeup. Things came to an understanding when Zebedee started having dreams about his boat body and started controlling water and fire. He told his parents about the constant weird dreams and by this point Zebedee was really hitting into puberty, so instead of looking more womanly like what his parents expected, he started to look like a man that even his father began to grow jealous of and that was the last straw as they finally brought him to a doctor. That doctor was actually Dr. Star, and after Zebedee told him about the weird dreams he got Zebedee to use a grip strength test which he crushed like a piece of tin. This wowed him but scared his parents. The doctor then got him to lift the water and he had his diagnosis. Zebedee was a converter and had a rare condition where he was actually a male but basically had female genitalia frankenstien stitched onto his body, he would never be looking feminine nor acting like it. Zebedee’s parents thought the doctor was mad but once he showed Zebedee a place he could summon the boat he saw in his dreams they then had to believe him. He told them the risks of Zeb being a converter and if they wanted to still have their child they would have to keep it a secret, they agreed but still weren’t on board calling him their son. This caused some conflict in the later years as Zebedee grew, he came up to look like a handsome young man that his parents tried to squash out of him, he turned to making his own clothes since most stores didn’t sell in his size and it also stopped his mother trying to put him in dresses as she found in acceptable that he was doing a feminine trait in her eyes, though Zeb just rolled his. Once Zebedee grew to quite the looker of a depiction of a good man his parents sat him down to finally talk things over, they said that they weren’t happy with him and they threatened to disown him if he didn’t get his looks on right. Zeb had unfortunately been expecting this for a few years now, so he had been preparing to leave at some point when he saw this business in the harbor named Zero Tug and Marine. Zeb knew he was something called an ocean tug so he decided to head to there as a last resort which ended up happening. He said- “Then disown me. I’m not going to ruin my happiness for you’re image.” He then packed his things and left to the city harbor and nocked on the door to Zero’s office. He told the captain what he was and his situation and he heard he had a good reputation, so he was wondering if the captain could help him. Zero and Zorran was floored that an ocean tug just appeared out of no where and Zero agreed in heartbeat in the condition that Zeb go to pool first and learn how to be an ocean tug. Zeb agreed to that on the condition that when he comes back he wants his name changed to Zebadiah when he gets his repaint.

Name: Zakary Jelani

Nickname/Codename/Aka: Zak

Vessel: Ice breaker tug boat

Origins-

An albino African American, Zak was born to a father who was a confirmed converter, so he was taken away from his parents and into a foster system for young converters/presumed converters. When he started showing symptoms he was diagnosed as being an ice breaker and was immediately sent to pool, when he graduated he was in high demand being rented and chartered in many places, when he was finally bought by Zero Tug and Marine. At first he seemed rather distant from people as he had never stayed in one place long enough his whole life to properly make friends, but his captain and fleet mates were patient as they talked to him slowly. Zebadiah made heavy progress when he made a few sets of heavy jackets and coats for Zak which the ice tug loved, Zak then choosing to grow rather close to Zeb and then (pun intended) breaking the ice with the others.

Name: Zug

Nickname/Codename/Aka: NONE 

Vessel: Small switcher tug boat

Origins-

Zug as far as his name went was born in a similar situation to Zak in that his parents were confirmed converters, so as soon as he was born he was sent into the converter foster system. When he was confirmed to only be a tiny tug boat he was sold off rather quickly. His first captain wasn’t the greatest. He was held in an isolated dry dock and had a constant drug put into him that made him stay fused to his boat body. The captain was a scientist in converters and used Zug for his experiments. After a minimum of two years being constantly tortured and used sometimes for work, at some point Zug ran away until he ran out of coal and became adrift, ending up in Bigg City harbor where he was founded by Zak and was taken in by Zero after he bought him off of his previous captain for a nice price, but Zero then ratted him out to the authorities which made Zug very happy to hear. Over the next few years Zug was coddled by the other tugs and Zak took an especially watchful close eye on him, to the point Zero actually said that Zak can adopt Zug if he wanted to. Zak actually did though because he was a converter he didn’t have any legal paper in it but the fleet knew it was the thought that counted, and Zug was the happiest he’d ever been in his life when Zak offered the adoption to him, he stayed in the tugs jacket the whole day while he worked.

Name: Zip

Nickname/Codename/Aka: NONE

Vessel: Switcher tug boat

Origins-

Zip was in the same system as Zak and Zug, he was born to confirmed converters and was taken away. After Zip had graduated from pool he was immediately bought by Captain Zero and bonded quickly with Zug, acting as a sort of protective younger brother to his other fellow switcher. He took to seeing Zebadiah as a parental figure as he asked constantly about his trips to other harbors and rescues he did on behalf of the navy. Zeb grew fond of Zip rather quickly and brought up the suggestion that he could adopt the switcher. Zip leaped into Zeb’s arms and hugged him tightly in a yes. After a year of working with the Zero’s he eventually discovered an ability after trying to see how hot his fire would burn that he can make electricity instead of flames. Zero showed he could do the same as he was a diesel powered ship but he believed Zip was just super heating the fire he had until it turned into plasma, aka; what lightning was made out of. Zip was quickly then living up to his name by zipping all over the port with his new found electricity powers.

S’all I got for now, I’ll work on the last two (Being Z.J and Zoomer) later maybe after I’ve done the Star-Sterns.