Path Of The Warrior
Prelude: Lonely Saiya-jin Soldier
Just another pit stop.
Wiping the sweat that had begun to bead on his forehead, the tall, built figure exhaled loudly and looked back towards his ship. Rough landing. I hope I don't have to fix the landing gear, that's always a bitch.
Blowing a stray lock of hair out of his face, the figure leaned on one knee and looked down off the small hillside he was one. His ship whirred behind him.
"Damage assessment complete."
"Lay it on me, Century." The figure replied, still looking down onto the black cliffs that dominated the view. The only change of view was the city, small and neat, tucked into the cliffisde as if they were two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
Only no one would be solving this puzzle. The city was in ruins. The figure sighed and ran his hand through his black hair, which stood on his forehead in unruly locks and spikes. The hair, disturbed, was shoved aside and then resumed the shape it had been in previously. The figure smiled. He had reached that age.
"Engine cooled down and at 98.729 percent. Landing gear slighly damaged, but able to be handled by on-board mother-unit. Estimated time for repairs: 89 minutes.
"Well, a bit of luck." the figure muttered. "Now, let's see if I can find anything useful."
His hand went up and began to tap at the device attached to his ear. The coloured blue clear material, like glass, extended from an arm to the main unit and was placed in front of his right eye. Through it the figure viewed the landscape, and he continued to tap at it as he looked around.
"2…2…1…3…my god, these power levels are so low my scouter is burning itself out tracking them. I can't sense any ki either."
"Perhaps the planet is uninhabited."
"No go, Century. Whatever tore down that city, it did it recently. This planet has to be habited by something."
"The city could very well have been attacked by invaders from another planet, who having taken what they wanted, and have left."
"Century, shut up!"
"Your disrespect is noted."
"I said…hey wait, I've got something…not much though, only a power level of 63. My scouter can barely read it and it's going at maximum."
"I advise you against doing what you usually do."
"Advice not taken. Finish the repairs. I'll see you later."
And with that, the figure rose into the air, completely defying the law of gravity. Blue flame suddenly exploded from the figure, enveloping him in an aura of power. But the flame did not burn the figure, but merely swept and licked the air around him. And then, with a loud bang, the figure took off through the air, flying off into the distance and leaving a blue trail of energy behind him as he flew.
The people of this planet were called the Giks. They were a race that was small of stature, most of them barely reaching 1.5 feet among the tallest of them. They bore a resemblance to the spider monkeys that inhabited the planet Earth, but they lacked fur, and their skin was a light ochre in colour. Their ears were also long, thin, and pointed. They were a harmless and peaceful race, mostly due to the fact that they couldn't fight at all, prefering to try and negotiate, or at the very most, run away.
But that had changed a week ago, as a new race called the Clohtacs had arrived. The Clohtacs were a giant insectoid race that, if viewed by humans, would most likely have been called a cross beween a praying mantis and a scorpion. They were a gigantic species, the smallest of them usually growing to a height of 15 feet easily. Their size was complimented by extraordinary strength, speed, cutting mandibles, scissoring arms that could easily crush stone, and a powerful tail tipped with a poisoness barb.
They were also a predatory species that fed entirely on meat. And even with no intelligence in such matters as spaceship building and travel, they had somehow moved from planet to planet for eons, feeding on whatever species happened to have the poor chance of already living on that planet.
The Giks were the unfortunate species that happened to be on the Clohtacs's current menu.
The power level that the figure had read belonged to a Clohtac warrior named Krahsemag, and it was in the middle of eating. Or at least trying to eat. The Gik family it had attacked, despite their peaceful nature, had put up quite a fight to keep it from feeding, but after it had gutted, or at least sliced the eldest son, it thought it could feed in peace. But even know the female would not stop struggling.
"Stop it! If you just give up, it will be quick! And even if you don't, you're going to die anyway! Accept it!" Krahsemag snarled in a low-pitched shrieking snarl at the Gik female, who was named Orp. Orp did not listen as she continued to yell. But her last resort was soon used up, as her teeth made no effect on the armoured scissor-claws of Krahsemag. All she managed to do was hurt her mouth.
But Orp wasn't the only one fighting, as her father and younger brother had managed to pull themselves to their feet and charged the giant insectoid again. But Krahsemag saw them coming, and with a lash of his multi-jointed tail, send the two Gik males crashing back to the ground, the injuries in their bodies finally proving to be too strong for their burning desire to not allow the giant Clohtac to eat their family member.
"Father! Bisd! No!"
"Shut up, youngling! They'll be joining you in a second!"
With that, Krahsemag pulled Orp as he opened his crushing mandibles to pluck her head off like a flower. All she could do was scream.
Then she wasn't there anymore.
Krahsemag felt a yank in his curved, bladed arms, and then his mandibles closed on air.
"What?"
Angered at the loss of his meal, Krahsemag began to snap his head back and forth in an attempt to find his former prey.
When he finally did though, she wasn't alone.
The figure stood, quietly and at ease. Behind him, Orp, who reached barely to his knees, cowered behind his larger size. With a quick, gentle motion, the figure reached down and shoved the young Gik away from him. As she took off, the figure slid his eyes back onto Krahsemag.
Krahsemag's rage suddenly drained as something occurred to him.
"What luck! I was about to settle for a mere morsal and now an entire feast has come my way!" Krahsemag roared, and raised his tail and lanced it at the figure.
Krahsemag's attempt at making shis-ke-bob failed as the air rippled around the figure and then the tail slammed into the rock of the cliff face. The figure had vanished.
"What?"
"Yo! Hey bug boy! Over here!"
Krahsemag's multi-segmented eyes swung and locked onto the figure he stood at his new position, a good twenty feet from where he had been standing before.
"Impossible! How did I miss!"
"Maybe because you're slow."
"Foolish fleshling! I am one of the highest warriors in my hive! My speed is unmatched! No one is as fast as I!"
The figure cocked his head and allowed himself a smug smile.
"I had a friend once, you overgrown ant farm reject. His name was Bardock. I believe he said it best…" the figure snickered. "You haven't seen fast."
With that, the figure struck a combat pose.
"But, do feel free to try and prove me wrong."
Krahsemag's rage exploded. Making an extremely high-pitched shriek that hurt the nearby Gik family's ears as they stood and watched, the furious Clohtac charged the figure and swung a massive scissored arm at him.
Orp was never sure if she could trust her eyes afterward, as Krahsemag once again hit only air as the figure dodged to the side so fast Orp couldn't tell if he has teleported or merely moved far too fast for her eyes to follow.
His repeated failure sent Krahsemag over the edge, and he went into a furious series of slashes and tail stabs.
Almost as if it was no challenge, the figure ducked, dodged, and jumped around in an amazing dance, easily evading all of the blows the Clohtac threw at him. Orp had never seen such speed.
Neither had Krahsemag, and the more he saw, the angrier he got, and that was his final error. With a roar, he reigned up and smashed both his scissored arms and his barbed tail at the last spot where the figure had been. All it did was get his limbs stuck in the rock.
And then the figure was standing on his stuck limbs, and Krahsemag's anger drained away as it was replaced by an emotion he had never felt before.
Fear.
The figure showed no emotion but merely thrust out his hand, palm first, at Krahsemag's head.
"Say cheese!"
The last thing Krahsemag saw was a blinding light emit from the figure's palm.
And then the energy blast that has shot from the figure's hand enveloped his head and completely distegrated his upper body. As the figure did a backwards flip off the Clohtac, the force of the blast caught the remainder of the corspe and carried it along with it to it's short trip to a cliff face.
And then the rest of Krahsemag's corpse was blown to atoms as a shuddering explosion rock the cliff face. The force wave tossed the figure's hair and blew it backward away from his face. He paid it no mind.
As the dust rose from where the explosion has taken place and the last of the debris was raining down, the figure turned to the Gik family. One of the younger sons, Bisd, finally got a good look at him. His black hair seemed to defy gravity like he did, as it stood up in an elaborate style of spiked locks. He wore a red bodysuit that sported a piece of armour that protected his chest and one of his shoulders, the other mysteriously missing the armour that one sported.
As the hair settled back into the position it had had all along, which seemed impossible considering how much the wind had tossed it around, the father, Aisrep, suddenly realized who the figure was. The fear that had faded with the destruction of Krahsemag came back in full force, seemingly even stronger then before.
"A SAIYA-JIN!"
The name of the superpowered warrior species seemed to have a worse effect on the family then an army of Clohtacs ever could. The family didn't scream, or run. Their faces, which had been full of hope a second ago, almost seemed to crumple in on themselves, and they all sank to their knees, their heads bowed, although even in their sudden despair, they had enough sense in the fact that the father and his two younger sons did so in front of his wife, three daughters and wounded elder son.
With a start, the Saiya-jin realized why. Even against the Clohtac warrior Krahsemag, they believed that they might have had some hope of saving themselves. It may have been in the same odds category as winning a dozen jackpots in the lottery in a row, but the hope, however small, was there, which is what allowed them to look past their small statures and defy their natures as not being fighters and keep trying to save the young child that the Saiya-jin had saved instead.
But against him, they saw no hope at all of surviving, and had given up on the spot, not even bothering to go out in a blaze of glory, but simply accepting their apperent fate.
The realization shook the Saiya-jin.
The crimes my species must have commited to earn a reputation, and a reaction, like this…
The Saiya-jin blinked, and decided to try what his master had taught him.
"Don't worry. I do not come in hostility. Only in search of aid." He said. He was sincere in his words and manner.
It proved to not be enough.
"Don't try to trick us! We know you, you planet-butchers! We'd have rathered be eated by the Clohtac then have run into you! Just drop the pretense and kill us! We won't be fooled!" Aisrep spewed in a torrent of venom at the Saiya-jin, his apparent death giving him one last shot of defiance.
"Look, I really don't want to harm you."
The translator in his scouter was not able to decifer exactly what the older Gik said in response. But judging from his facial expression when he said it, the Saiya-jin doubted it had been "Ok, I believe you. Care to have tea?"
"Look, I know that my species is know for it's genocide, but I emplore you, believe me! I am not a Saiya-jin warrior! I am related to that species of barbarians only in blood!"
The fact that the Saiya-jin had insulted his own species seemed to mean something to the Gik. The Saiya-jin knew his species was a proud race, and he knew all about the accursed "Saiya-jin Pride". Perhaps that meant that a true Saiya-jin would never insult his own species, or at least it appeared that way to the elder Gik.
"Then what are you?" he asked.
"I am a traveler of sorts, and I seek only to ask your planet for the use of whatever technology it might have."
"I have never heard of a Saiya-jin scientist."
"I doubt my race has either."
This could go on forever.
The Saiya-jin thought with exhasperation. "Look, I can tell you all the sordid details later. You son is wounded! Let me help him!""I'll die before I entrust you with the life of my son!"
"HE'LL die if you don't!
The argument showed no signs of stopping, before Orp, having stood by and stayed silent throughout the exchange, finally spoke up.
"Father! This man, this Saiya-jin, saved my life! He killed the Clohtac that threatened us! Would he really do this if he planned to destroy us all?"
While what his young daughter had said sunk in almost immediately, Aisrep took some time in answering.
"Ok." He muttered. "For the sake of my daughter, I will trust you. But if you betray us, even death won't stop me from extracting my revenge!"
The Saiya-jin nodded, and briskly walked the distance he had kept between the group of Giks. They parted from him, and he knelt by the side of the male Gik who had been wounding battling Krahsemeg. A once-over did not look favorable for the older brother of Orp. The Saiya-jin began tapping at his scouter.
"Pulse rapid and weak, breathing laboured, dammit, this is not good."
The Saiya-jin frowned.
"Where's the nearest city? Or medical facility?"
"Over 700 miles from here. And we possess no vechiles. We could never get there in time." Aisrep replied. The Saiya-jin took one glance on the look on his face. He already looks like he's lost his son.
"Ok, let's see…"
Concentrating as hard as he could, the Saiya-jin reached out and began to manipulate the iron content of the young Gik's blood. Although the strain was great, the Saiya-jin managed to succeed in his goal, as the injuries inflicted apon the Gik was suddenly covered by a crust of blood.
"Ok, I managed to make the blood clot. That'll hold, as long as we're gentle, but he needs medical care. Can you direct me to this city?"
"Didn't you hear me? It's 700 miles away…"
It was then that Aisrep found himself floating a foot off the air.
"And I can fly." the Saiya-jin finished.
The trip to the city was uneventful. Strangely, neither did the landing. However, after the wounded Gik was taken away, the Saiya-jin suddenly found himself surrounded by tiny soldiers armed with spears. He would have laughed, except he could feel the small amount of energy radiating from the seemingly normal veneer of the weapons and assumed they had some nasty surprise.
"Hold it!"
Aisrep shoved aside two soldiers and trotted over to the side of the Saiya-jin.
"He helped us. Give him a chance. It's not like your weapons would have any effect on him anyway."
The Saiya-jin nodded in agreement. The soldiers suddenly parted again, and another Gik emerged. This one was even shorter then the others, and had a grizzled look about him.
"I am Ukakiak Lergnag." The wizened Gik said. The Saiya-jin arched his brows in confusion, until his scounter completed the translation and told him that Ukakiak was some kind of high military rank. "What do you want, Saiya-jin?"
"I wish to look at your most advanced technology."
Despite their fear, a ripple of laughter spread across the group of soldiers. Lergnag, however, did not look amused.
"Why should we trust you Saiya-jin? We know all too well of you and your planet's horrific slaughter of other races."
"I believe that if I planned to come here to destroy you, you all would already be dead. But if you are that distrustful, I will provide you a service in exchange for your help."
"If you're really a Saiyan, kill the Clohtac!" a young soldier yelled.
Lergnag cast a burning glare at the young warrior, who shrank away.
"Do not ask this stranger for impossibilities." He said in a low forceful voice, almost a snarl.
"I can do that."
All eyes turned in amazement at the reply of the Saiya-jin.
"And by the way, young lad, it's "Saiya-jin"." The Saiya-jin concluded.
Lergnag's facial expressions were hard to read, but the one he wore currently clearly showed amusement.
"So, you actually think you, alone, can destroy the thousands of murderous insects that have infested our planet? Are you mad or just stupid?"
"I saw what those bugs did to one of your cities. Races like that have no right to march in and take whatever they want just because they're stronger. No right at all. I know that all too well…"replied the Saiya-jin, his voice dropping off as if the words stirred something in him that did not like to be stirred.
"Stranger, going against those insects would be suicide."
"I don't see it that way."
"Then let me help you see it! I've heard of those devices, those "scouters" that you aliens wear on your face. It can judge the fighting abilities of opponents. "Power levels", I believe they are called.
"Actually, Ukakiak, the correct term for it is ki. Inner fighting power. Power in general that all living beings possess. Power levels are a slang term of sorts."
"No matter! Tell me, what is the average ki, or power level, or whatever you wish to call it, of a Clohtac."
"Well, the one I fought earlier claimed to be one of their finest warriors. He had a power level of 50. Assuming he was telling the truth, I would assume the average Clohtac has a power level of about 10-15. Maybe a little more."
Lergnag would have raised an eyebrow if he'd had eyebrows to raise. He had heard that Saiya-jins were cruel and rather stupid. Such an assumption coming from one who claimed to belong to the species came across as very strange.
"Very well, Saiya-jin. What is the average power level of a Saiya-jin warrior?"
"When last I knew, the average power level was around 2000-2500, although that may have gone up recently. I haven't been in contact with my species for a long time."
"Then do you see what I mean?"
"What do you mean?"
"DO THE MATH!" thundered a voice box never meant to thunder anything, as Lergnag began to get annoyed at the Saiya-jin's inablity to see the big picture. "All it will take is 250 Clohtacs to match you, and if you attack the main nest, you'll be facing thousands of them! You would be slaughtered!"
The Saiya-jin was impressed. A minute ago the Gik had looked as if he would like to kill him as soon as look at him, and now he was concerned for his safety.
"Do not worry, Ukakiak. I am not the average Saiya-jin."
"Very well! What is your power level?" Lergnag shot back.
"1,750,000."
For a while, there was silence, as murmurs spread throughout the grouped soldiers. Lergnag's face whitened slightly, and it took him some time to find his voice.
"Did you say…."
"Yes."
"How…?"
"I was privy to many things that the Saiya-jin race was not. But it does not matter. Just tell me where the Clothacs are, and I will make them…extinct." The Saiya-jin said with obvious saitisfaction.
Lergnag, still floored by the Saiya-jin's revolution, gave him the directions.
"Thank you."
The air exploded around the Saiya-jin into fire, and with that he blasted into the air and zapped off into the horizon.
"He had to be lying about his power. He's as good as dead." One of the soldiers stated with confidence.
Lergnag searched within himself, but the feeling his soldier had did not exist within him.
"It's been two hours. He's most likely been ravaged into a million squishy pieces. Give it up, we need to use the time to plan defenses against those damn insects." One of the soldiers on lookout duty said to his comrade. He did not share his feeling that any defense planned would just delay the inevitable. The Clohtac had overrun and devoured many of their cities with ease. It would prove no different for this one, or any of the other cities on the 7 different continents on their planet.
"I guess. Poor fool." The other one said, as he reached down to flick a switch that would open the mike. Once open, he would order the next set of guards into the tower, and then go take a break.
He was the lucky one.
Suddenly, a brillant, blinding light filled the horizon.
"ARGH!" screamed the first guard, clapping his hands across his face. "MY EYES!"
Then the massive vibration hit. The tower shook and both guards were tossed to the floor as the blinding light faded from their window. The tower buckled and seemingly threatened to give way, and then settled.
"Dammit! What the hell was that! I can't see!" cursed the blinded guard, as he rubbed at the eyes. His vision began to clear. He signed with relief.
"Oh my…by the face of Froan……"the other one said. With white spots still dancing in his vision, the other guard looked up.
A massive mushroom cloud lay in the far distance, smoke and dust kicked up miles apon miles into the sky. The two guards gaped at the sight.
"No! It couldn't be!"
And then they saw the blue light flying from the cloud. In the seconds that it took for them to exit the watchtower and make it out on the rampart it was attached to, the light had reached them.
The Saiya-jin floated above the ramparts. His hair was the same, but his outfit showed some minor tears, and the lone shoulder plate had been cracked off. But the Saiya-jin was alive and well.
"One less bug nest, and one less annoying species." He said with a saitisfied nod. He looked over his shoulder at the two guards, who were rapidly being joined by dozens of other people.
"Did…you…kill…"
"Every last one. One by one. And that big blast made sure I didn't miss any. Although it's possible…eh, better not risk it."
With that, the Saiya-jin thrust down his fists and closed his eyes in concentration.
Then the guard felt tremedous power, beyond anything he had ever dreamed of, start to be drawn into the figure that floated above him. With a spark, golden lighting started to arch and burn around the figure and the air began to hum.
"I suggest you cover your eyes."
As the Saiya-jin raised his arms, and black fire exploded around his hands, the Giks took his advice.
Then the Saiya-jin snapped his right hand forward, then his left, and then brought his hands up above his head and slammed them down in front of him. Two energy blasts emerged from the first motions and sped towards the site of the explosion, and then when the Saiya-jin slammed his hands down in front of him, an even larger blast of ki lanced out, overtaking the first two.
And then they hit the place where the explosion's dust was still dispersing, and once again the ground was rocked as massive explosions rent the plains far off in the distance. More smoke and dust exploded into the air, and the force wave struck the Saiya-jin. He did not move, and as the wind blast died down, he slowly slide down through the air and landed on his feet lightly.
"There. If that didn't kill any stragglers that I missed, nothing will."
There was silence among the Giks, most of them still in disbelief.
"Now, with the Clohtacs gone, I'd like my end of the bargain. And while I'm there, maybe I can show you how to build a better fly swatter so things like those don't come along again."
Century was calmly finishing up the repairs to the ship when the Saiya-jin returned.
"Welcome back, Master. Did you learn anything?"
"Unfortunately, no. While they had some great technology for creating holograms and possibly manipulating the weather, there was nothing I could use to help improve myself, or tell me more about my abilities. Well, no matter. Maybe the next planet."
"You have been in battle."
"You noticed. Yeah, I was playing exterminator. Don't worry about it. I barely broke a sweat. Fuel up, we should be heading off."
"My scanners indicate that a Frieza scouting party is patrolling this area of the Xob galaxy. Recomendation to avoid."
"Agreed. Go to steath as we leave the atmosphere. The star near here is a Class B Dixan, we'll slingshot around it and be out of here before they even have time to read the vapor trail."
"Acknowledged."
"Repairs complete?"
"Ship at 100 percent and awaiting orders."
"Ok, fire it up, and get a shower ready, after that battle I must smell to high heaven. And lay out some new clothes, this armour needs to be repaired."
As a platform slid from the bottom of the ship, the Saiya-jin prepared to step onto it.
"Hey, wait!"
The Saiya-jin turned to see one of the hovering vehicles that the Giks used to get around. In it was Orp, and one of her brothers, who drove.
"Don't go yet!"
The Saiya-jin grinned.
"What is it, young one?"
"You never told me your name! We need to know!"
The Saiya-jin made a strange sound that sounded somewhat like a laugh, and slammed his hand on the button that made the platform go up.
"It's Tynzien! Tynzien Warlock!"
And with that said, Tynzien vanished into his ship, and blasted back out among the stars.