Chapter 1: Ragol
"So tell me why we are doing this again?" Scorpion grumbled. Scorpion was young and tall; he had short, black, spiked hair and brown eyes. He wore yellow and black Ranger's armor. He was sitting across the table, arms folded looking really annoyed. He had been against going to Ragol since the idea first came up. Sure humans needed a new planet after completely ruining their home world, Coral. Now their trying to find a new planet, unfortunately the same thing might happen to Ragol, unless humans learn from their mistakes. Scorpion thought it was a lost cause, humans loved using every last bit of resources.
"Because it's a chance to explore a new world," Zarion replied cheerfully, "Besides, who else can protect the people of Pioneer 2 better than us?" He loved tooting his own horn. Zarion was also tall and young. His jet-black hair was down to his back and currently in a ponytail, and he also had brown eyes. He wore blue and black Hunter's armor.
"Goku could have, and you know it, Sub-Zero," Scorpion replied gloomily. Scorpion was a Ranger, a human who excelled in the use of firearms. Scorpion got his nickname because when he was only seven, he survived not one but two scorpion stings at the same time. His real name was Draux. Zarion was a Hunter, a human who excelled in the use of bladed weapons. He got the nickname Sub-Zero because the first technique he learned was Barta, an ice type ability. This is special for two reasons: one is because the first move that everyone learns is Foie, a fire type move; the second reason is because he was only ten when he learned it. He and Scorpion were extraordinarily powerful despite the fact that they were only twenty-one years old. They had always been the best of friends and the biggest of rivals since they six. They knew that they would always be that way from day one.
"Hey, don't remind me of him now. I miss him just as much as you do," Zarion grumbled. Goku supposedly came from another dimension. He arrived here by seven magical orbs called Dragonballs. They apparently had the ability to grant two wishes once a year when they were gathered altogether. Ironically though, they became useless stones when Goku got here. It was very unfortunate thought Zarion we could have saved him from that heart virus that killed him. Goku had died six month ago from a heart virus that should have killed him over a hundred years ago. Apparently the Dragonballs had turned him back into a child, resetting everything that would happen to his body. Zarion wasn't even born when Goku had come to this dimension.
Goku had met and became friends with Zarion's father and trained him and Draux since the age of eight. They learned to fly, fight with great intensity, and of course learned the Kameha Wave. They had become one of the greatest Hunters of their time because of him. (Hunters, Rangers, and Forces are in a general class called Hunters.) He was like an uncle to them.
Zarion stared out the window into the emptiness of space to try and calm himself.
"Hey guys! How have you been?" Came a familiar voice. It was Elly Person, another of their childhood friends. She was a Newman, basically an artificially created Elf. She was short and slender, she had blonde, short hair, green eyes. She wore a white, sleeveless shirt and short blue jean shorts. She came with them against Zarion's wishes. Elly was obsessed with computers, so she came along to hopefully get work in the Lab. She doubted she could do it, Zarion didn't.
"Bored as hell," Draux growled as he took a sip of sake. They were sitting in the tavern next to the Hunter's Guild, "When are are we going to arrive on Ragol already."
Zarion and Elly rolled their eyes. "Pioneer 2 will be at the planet in about twelve hours give or take two," came Elly's reply.
"Awesome! More than enough time to party before we get there!" Zarion said joyously. He took the rum bottle and poured three shots. Everyone took their glasses and raised them in cheers, then emptied them.
Elly shook violently, still not used to alcohol, she had just turned twenty-one a month ago. Zarion and Draux laughed, they started drinking when they were sixteen.
"Actually we should do a little training so that we're prepared," Draux said.
"Dude, we've been training all month. One day off isn't going to hurt," Zarion replied irritated.
"Well, I can't," Elly said, "I have important things I have to do. You guys have renewed your registrations with the Guild yet?" She was also a Hunter.
Draux nodded and Zarion flashed his Guild card. "Good, I'll see you boys later," she said as she left. It was just like her to worry them like that. Lately she'd been talking to this guy on Pioneer 1 named Cal. He seemed pretty cool. Zarion was a bit jealous though; he had known Elly almost all their lives, even before Draux.
Flowen hated these scientific expeditions, they always led to dead ends and endless paper work that he absolutely hated to do. He had been in the Military for over thirty years, and he still couldn't get used to the deskwork part of it.
"How much longer are we going to be in this cave?" grumbled Flowen. Flowen was a lieutenant in the Military. He was tall and in his fifties, his short, black hair was graying; he had hazel eyes. They had found this ruined temple underneath the secret underground mines that was underneath the Central Dome. This old relic was right under the noses of the citizens of Pioneer 1, the new citizens of Ragol. They had been there only ten years and already the government was lying and covering up secrets from the people. Flowen shook his head sadly, humans never learned from their mistakes.
"We've almost got it opened. Just hold on a bit longer and we'll uncover the lost ancient civilization of Ragol!" Grave declared happily. Grave and his wife were a couple of the smartest scientists in the Military. The Graves were in their forties, short, and had blonde hair and blue eyes.
"I have a bad feeling about this dear," Grave's wife said nervously to her husband, "Someone locked this door for a reason, to keep people out."
"Or keep something in permanently," Flowen said grimly.
"You both worry too much," Grave said rolling his eyes, "You guys have been paranoid since we started this dig. We're making history!"
"Or making history repeat itself," his wife shot back. He could be so stubborn sometimes she thought.
"Just wait until we're famous and then say that," Grave said with a smirk. The had been digging for three months and finally fully uncovered the door. They were trying to open it now. Flowen suggested blowing the door with explosives, but Grave shot that idea down quickly fearing that they might damage precious artifacts inside. He wanted to examine everything intact. They had found Egyptian hieroglyphics on the door. Flowen had found this strange because he thought hieroglyphics translation was lost over two millennia ago, a forgotten writing from ancient times. From what Flowen could remember, there was an ancient war against an alien species that left the aliens extinct and the knowledge of all the ancient writing lost to humans. How could there be a lost language native to Coral on Ragol? This made Flowen extremely uneasy. Pioneer 2 would arrive in a few months and he didn't think this planet was safe enough. Oh sure the animals were docile enough, but what about Ragols secrets. Of course if he said any of this to the wrong person he would almost definitely disappear from existence, so for the most part he kept his mouth shut.
"Sir! We've done it!" came the excited voice a Rico. Rico was the daughter of the Principal who was aboard Pioneer 2. She was a very accomplished Hunter who followed Flowen every where he went and obeyed all his orders. Her nickname was Red Ring Rico for her red hair, red eyes, red outfit, and a peculiar red bracelet she always wore to remember her mother who died when Rico was young. She was friends with Zarion, Draux, and Elly.
"Excellent!" Grave cried joyously, "Lets go see what's inside!" and with that ran at full speed to the ruins. Everyone else hurried after him. They got there to see that the huge door was already cracked opened and the opening was widening slowly. Flowen had wondered what force had kept the door locked in the first place.
"Oh my god…" was all Flowen could say.
The door was halfway open and that is all it would be opened, because what they saw made them all stop. Grave's wife screamed, Flowen and Rico drew their respective weapons, and Grave's face went ghost pale, all joy was gone. It was replaced by unbridled terror. Then they saw something that made the light in Flowen's eye dim.
"What have I done?" Grave said helplessly.
An immense burst of energy shot out of Zarion's hand and headed straights for Draux who nullified it with his own energy ball. They both descended to the ground and landed perfectly on their feet. Both were breathing heavily, the had been at this for eight hours now and they already leveled the VR Training Room. Their clothes were burned and scorched. Draux had convinced Zarion to train a bit before they got to Ragol, so they took a nap and then headed to the VR Training Room. Now that they caught their breath a bit, the rushed straight at each other. When they met, they unleashed devastatingly fast punches and kicks at each other. Then they heard Elly's over the PA system and stopped.
"Hey, guys!" came the extremely excited voice of Elly, "We'll be there in twenty minutes! Hurry up and come to the Main Square!"
Instantly, they hurried to their rooms, changed their clothes, and hurried to the Main Square. It was completely crowded. They found Elly jumping up and down excitedly to show them where she was. She gave each of them a big hug and got them, especially Zarion, blushing intensely.
"What took you so long?" She demanded, "You guys destroyed your uniforms training again, didn't you?" She was looking into Zarion's eyes angrily.
"Uh… well… You see-" he stammered.
Elly turned back to the window, "Never mind I'll talk to about it later." She was too excited to be angry. Zarion sighed in relief. She worried about him a little too much he thought. Pioneer 2 would soon be out of warp drive for the first time in seven years, and they would soon be landing on their new home world. It was amazing how much better technology had gotten in the last few hundred years, Draux thought, people could now be on a ship going in and out of warp drive without the need to be strapped like luggage. He didn't understand much about how it worked except for the fact that the computer that controlled the atmosphere had something to do with it.
"Attention ladies and gentlemen," came a robotic voice through the PA system, "We shall be enter Ragols orbit in t-minus thirty seconds. Thank you."
There was excited chatter from the crowd.
"I can't wait to stake the best land when we get there!" squawked an old, balding, fat man.
"Father, can't you think of anything else but money?" the young man next to him groaned.
"Are you nerves?" Elly asked Zarion all of a sudden. The question threw him off because he had never thought of it before now. After a moment's thought he finally said "yeah, a little. How about you?"
"I'm actually a little scared," she replied shyly " I don't know what to expect when we get there. I don't know how dangerous it's going to be."
"You don't need to worry about anything, I'll be there with you," Zarion said while puffing out his chest cartoonishly causing Elly to go into a fit of giggles which soon made him start laughing. Draux rolled his eyes, how many times would he have to bail Zarion out of tight spots when they got to Ragol, he wondered.
"Attention ladies and gentlemen," came the same voice on the PA, "we are now entering Ragol's orbit."
Zarion couldn't believe what he was seeing. A planet that looked almost identical to Coral was right in front of them. Everyone was cheering and celebrating. Then Zarion and Draux felt something strange on the surface of the planet. All off a sudden they felt this absolutely devastating amount of energy come from where the Central Dome was. Then Zarion thought he saw something almost invisible, with a form and yet without one. Then, with no warning it unleashes an explosion of energy that was far greater than Goku's best Spirit Bomb. It covered a decent amount of the planet. Cheers and celebration turned to gasps and screams of horror at what was happening. Elly started crying and buried her face into Zarion's chest. If his mind weren't already troubled, he would be enjoying holding her. When the pandemonium finally quieted down, Zarion and Draux heard an annocement over the PA.
"This is the Principal. I need all Class A Hunters to report to the Principal's building in a half an hour. All other Hunters please report to the Hunter's Guild as soon as possible. Military personnel will receive orders from the Lab shortly. Thank you."
"Well… We better get going," Draux sighed. Zarion nodded. They said their good byes to a still shaky Elly. Zarion didn't want to leave her like that but he had no choice and she understood that. His mind was going a mile a minute trying to figure out what the hell was that thing. What bugged him the most that they had not arrived to Ragol fifteen minutes and already he felt useless.
End of Chapter 1