Chapter Ten
The Vegetan night was still, the sky as black as the void above. It would be nearly a century before the next moon arrived, but distant stars shone brightly, punctuating the darkness. A spear of light raced across the surface of the planet, like a shooting star careening towards the ground. Itonami felt alive.
When the doctor had told her that she'd increased in power, she'd been excited. She'd been one of the most powerful among her peers before; how powerful would she be now? The saiyan was eager to find out.
A brilliant red aura burned around her as she pushed herself even faster, speeds that had once eluded her now coming to her as quickly as she was willing to grasp them. The land around her seemed to bend as she continued her frantic pace, hills and mountains melting into one and other as her speed increased.
She suddenly brought herself to a halt, her energy billowing as her momentum changed. Below her a lake had taken the brunt of her stops force, waves crashing against the shores and a whirlpool forming below where she hung in the sky. Itonami exhaled slowly, disappating her energy. The aura that had burned around her faded, and the lake below became calm.
The woman lowered herself to its' surface, resting in the air inches above the water. The waves had ceased, and now the lake lay calm, it's surface smooth, along with her reflection. Itonami traced the stich lines along her arms and face, doing her best to avoid the hairless head she now bore.
Normally a saiyan would have grown back a full head of hair in a few days time after having it removed, but not now. She supposed that was another side effect of her transformation. She looked better, though. The scars had begun to fade, and her flesh had begun to look like it belonged to someone that was alive. It wouldn't be long, the doctor had said, before he could remove the stitching, too.
Despite all the changes, though, she felt exhilarated. Her power before had been something to brag about. Now, though, it was beyond comprehension.
"Even King Vegeta would have difficulty with me now."
Her void rang oddly in her ears, the metal that had replaced much of her skull the reason for that. Everything about her seemed different, but Itonami had decided that the majority of the changes were for the better. The saiyan turned to leave, but out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of her back side.
Panicked, she reached for where her tail had once been, suddenly aware of it's absence. With all the changes she'd undergone, and the truly alien way in which she experienced different sensations, she'd failed to notice that it wasn't there. Her head throbbed, suddenly, her hands instinctively grasping at her temples, trying to hold back the pain. Itonami groaned, her body tightening. It felt as though her mind was trying to grasp at something, but there was nothing there.
And as suddenly as the pain ahd arrived, it left. The saiyan felt herself falling, and quickly propelled herself to the shore, her boots dragging in the water as she collapsed onto the beach. She took in labored breaths for a few moments, her hands and knees shaking as they did their best to support her.
What had that been? She'd seen a face, the face of another saiyan, and then her mind had started to move to another image. The image never came, though, and then there had been pain. She'd have to ask the Doctor.
The saiyan stood, shaken by the experience. She moved to activate her communication device, but stopped herself. There was a mission to complete, and that was her priority. There would be plenty of opportunities to ask questions of the Doctor when she got back. For now, she needed to focus.
Itonami slowly rose into the air, moisture peeling off of her as she picked up speed. The outpost wasn't far from her position, maybe two units. She'd take care of business, and then she'd find out what the Doctor knew about the unkept looking boy.
-S-
Nappa tore off his boot ands armor as he touched down on his personal landing pad. Attendants hurried towards him, catching his uniform as he dropped it towards the ground.
"Lord Nappa, was your mission successful? Shall we ready a recuperation tank?"
Nappa glanced at the lead attendant, his mouth twisted into a frown as he began to speak.
"How did you know I'd gone on a mission?"
The General eyed the sputtering creature for a moment more before continuing towards his quarters, not waiting for an answer as the alien tried to string together words. Automatic doors activated as he neared the entrance, opening up to a grand entryway. Unlike the Prince, Nappa had a taste for the extravagant. His home was littered with treasures from his life of conquest, trophies from missions and medals for his service. While many Saiyans desired food, a fight and a mate, the General was prone to vanity.
His eyes swept over the lavish decorations tirelessly maintained by his group of personal attendants, the majority of which were not there by choice. He snickered at the thought, but was once again pulled from his thoughts by the sputtering voice of his lead attendant.
"T-The King sent a messenger to s-see if you'd… returned from your mission. A-Apparently there's an i-important visitor here from off world."
Nappa's eyes lit up at this. If it was Frieza, as he surmised, then he'd be able to boast about the blow he dealt to the separatists in front of both his King and the Changeling Lord. A fine opportunity, in his opinion.
"Good. I have a task for you."
The attendants ears perked up, but he remained wary. For all he knew the task could be to serve as Nappa's next meal.
"What can I do for you, My Lord?"
Nappa handed him his scouter wordlessly before heading towards the baths, his face a permanent smirk.
-S-
Itonami touched down hard at the outpost, carrying her speed into the landing. Beamed hadn't said anything about being covert, so why not make her entrance plain? Air gusted through the streets following her impact, blowing over portable signs and slamming old style doors. A few denizens of the outpost had been nearby as well, and had been thrown from their feet. They peered up at the new arrival, fearful.
"W-What the hell do you think yer' doing? Flyin' in here like that, at speed?"
Itonami glanced at the man, checking for anything on him that would link him to the Planet Trade. He was an offworlder as far as she could tell from his accent, but a vest-style armor beneath his overcoat made it plain that he had PTO affiliations.
The saiyan raised her palm in the direction of the man, his companion scrambling to her feet before stumbling towards a nearby building. That worked out perfectly for Itonami. It was a Planet Trade Operations Center, one that was still in service.
A crack split the air as energy shot from her hand and into the chest of the man, his torso collapsing on impact. Turning from him, Itonami strode towards the operations center, standing at the entrance defiantly as she waited for the peace keepers to deploy. It was only a matter of time.
The door flew open and several peacekeepers flooded out into the street, surrounding her with blasters outfitted on their arms. Of the six, Itonami counted two saiyans among them, though it didn't appear that they recognized her. She had begun to wonder about her absence, at least about how long it had been.
"Get on your knees, put your hands behind you and put your face on the ground!"
Itonami smirked, taking a step forward. The peacekeepers hurriedly trained their guns on her, though it was clear they were frightened. After reading her level of power, it wasn't surprising. Any creature of sound mind would be.
The saiyan accessed her power scanning module, bringing up an overlay that covered a portion of her line of sight. A bit bothersome, she thought, but intriguing none the less. A list of powers quickly spilled out, her scan covering the entirety of the outpost. She narrowed the scan to the immediate area and the list shrunk, though something had caught her on the previous scan. A sizable power, most likely an elite saiyan, or at least one of Frieza's stronger operatives. It didn't matter. She'd crush these fools, and then move on to the bigger targets.
Itonami lunged forward, planting her elbow in the throat of the most immediate PTO operative. He crumpled to the ground immediately and the saiyan moved on, targeting the operative to her left. The peacekeepers behind her opened fire, but their blasters posed no threat to her. She ducked and weaved between blasts of energy, closing in on each operative within seconds. It took her even less time to dispatch them, a blow to their chests or heads more than enough.
The saiyan lowered herself from the air where she hovered, her knee still extended from her last kill. She'd caught one of the saiyans in the chin, snapping his head back, as well as his neck. Looking around she found herself alone in the street, her only company the broken bodies of the peacekeepers. She knew that wouldn't last, though. As soon as a transmission got out to the capital the area would be swarming with operatives, both alien and saiyan alike. That seemed less than ideal.
"This should prevent any transmissions from reaching them, at least." Itonami stated, lifting a hand towards the operations center. A ball of light erupted from the tip of her fingers and collided with the building, the wall collapsing as it made impact. An explosion erupted within the building, throwing smoke into the sky and debris into the air.
Itonami rubbed a bit of from her cheeks and turned, casting a glance deeper into the outpost. The broadened her scanning parameters once more, searching for that large power. It hadn't moved, though now she noticed it wasn't actually inside the outpost. It was about a unit north, beneath the surface.
The saiyan considered heading directly there, but that seemed like a waste of an opportunity. Destroying the outpost to lure the power out seemed more promising. Itonami promptly rose into the air, positioning herself in way where she had the best vantage point of the outpost. Palms aimed towards the town, she began to gather energy, lighting blooming in the middle of her hands. She remembered a time when gathering energy in this manner would have been a challenge. Since she'd been transformed, that term didn't apply to her anymore.
Shards of light began to splinter from her hands and towards the buildings below, her unleashed energy carpeting the outpost in smoke and flames. Buildings began to collapse under the onslaught, their inhabitants spilling out into the streets only to be caught by one of Itonami's blasts.
It felt as though she'd been sent on a planet clearing again, and it was refreshing. It seemed like years since she'd gotten to fight, or even flex her strength. An alarm started to go off within her scanning module, an alert popping up over her sight. Several large powers had appeared several units away, coming from the direction of the capital. Apparently a transmission had gotten out, despite her admittedly half hearted efforts in preventing it. The saiyan watched the module for a moment more, hoping the power she'd detected earlier would make a move. It didn't appear interested, though, and her time to have fun was running out.
Individually, the energy signatures on their way to her posed no threat. Together, though, she wasn't interested in compromising the Doctor's goals. She would retreat for now. A scarlet aura grew around Itonami as she began drifting in the direction of Beamed's compound. The saiyan took one last glance towards the smoldering ruins of the outpost before propelling herself away, eager to once again test how fast she could travel.
Yo. Twice in just a few days. Not too bad. Anyway, just here to say my official move date is really close, so I'm not sure how long it will be before the next chapter. I should be able to get a bit of work done between now and when I head out, but i'm almost certain I won't have another chapter out for at least a week or two. As always, enjoy the chapter and tell me what you think!
-Relltensai