Heroic New Era: New Beginnings
Prologue: A Fated Meeting
A man with black hair, wearing black clothes with highlights of red here and there, was seen only on his knee as he looked up at a looming shadow over him and someone he was fighting with. Looking around, the rest of his allies were knocked out cold, except for one, which he noticed to be a black haired person like him. The two got to their feet, looking up towards the looming shadow, as they both roared and charged at their foe, as the dream soon ended abruptly, causing the man dreaming it, a man named Siege, to wake up in a cold sweat.
"...That was… just a dream…?" Siege asked as he looked around, before sighing as he collapsed back on his bed. "...I better get some form of sleep… being enrolled in one of the greatest military forces in both physical and magical capabilities sure takes its toll. I've got some candidates under my wing but I need to find more if I'm ever going to get our own universal traveling ship off the ground…"
Before Siege knew it, morning arose as he soon got up, getting dressed in his uniform, consisting of a red and black trench coat over a black vest, red and black battle pants, and black boots, as he also wore red fingerless gloves. The Saiyan who was born from a Saiyan and a Mage soon walked towards his currently recruited allies, soon walking in.
"Okay people, rise and shine!" Siege said. "We got a big day ahead of us, we need four more recruits if we're gonna be granted access to make a difference in this universe!"
One of the women was a Saiyan female with black hair and red eyes, as she had bed-head like crazy, as she fell out of bed. She was the child of Shallot and Caulifla, being named Rutega.
"Shit… okay… I'm up…" Rutega groaned as she was on the ground for the moment in her night clothes.
"Mmmgh…" groaned a blonde haired girl with purple eyes as she slid down from her top bunk, as she soon began shaking awake a squirrel girl from underneath. "Alright Makoto, rise and shine. We don't want to be late."
"Awwwww… but I was having such a good dream Yaaaaaang…" the squirrel girl complained, Makoto Nanaya soon burying her head in her pillow. "Just 5 more minutes…"
"Heh, sorry ladies, we can't sleep in. We only got another week to assemble a proper crew and get clearance for a ship to traverse the Multiverse in." Siege said. "So best you get up and get moving, we're expecting our first transport of recruits for us to oversee within the hour."
After a while, the girls suited up, as Rutega was dressed in what appeared to be a green version of Shallot's attire, except it covered all of her legs, though it was still short sleeved up top, as Yang was decked out in her Volume 6 attire, and Makoto wore what she usually wore. The group soon walked up to a man who was overlooking flight schedules.
"Any word on new recruit transport?" Siege asked the man.
"Your candidates are arriving right now, sir." The man said, gesturing Siege towards the incredibly large ship as it touched down, as Siege began looking through the candidates as they exited the ship in their squads of four, in hopes of being recruited.
The first squad to come out had a pair of black-haired people in front, one was a male dressed in a black robe, with his hair short, and leather boots underneath the robe, and the other was dressed in silver oriental armour with golden crescent moon symbols across the edges, and a naginata on her back, both sporting brown eyes. The pair on the back had a male with brown hair and eyes, and was dressed in a large fire-red jacket with black jeans, and a girl with long white hair and orange eyes, dressed in a white shirt, red baggy pants, and red shoes, with knuckle-dusters of an unknown material on her hands.
Siege looked at all the candidates, about 15 squads, but his eyes continued falling on the first squad that came out, as there was a sense of intrigue in his eyes, including the fact that one of them looked like the man from his dream. But he put these to rest as he cleared his throat.
"Candidates. Thank you for coming to this testing day. Being contacted by the Origin Intergalactic Militia, or O.I.M., is a high honor that you all should already be proud of. But now, you all need to prove your mettle to us. Should one of you succeed, you will have the privilege to launch with us in a new Multiverse-traveling vessel, and take on missions of all accords with myself and my team. There isn't time to waste, candidates, so take your numbers as you follow us, and let's get you all evaluated." Siege said, walking towards the testing area with his team, as the first squad picked out their number, as they found themselves being number 10.
The squads soon entered the first testing area, as Makoto was sitting in a technological arena, bouncing on her toes, as Siege and the others were elevated above them.
"Your first test, candidates, is Speed. Speed is more than just being fast though. What comes with it is precision, the ability to dodge, and thinking fast as well. When your number is called, send up your fastest member. If they can outstrike miss Makoto Nanaya here, you will receive incredibly high marks for your performance. So, let's get started." Siege said.
One by one, squads were called, and they tried, but so far, only 2 had outstruck Makoto, and not by much. Siege soon reached the next number on his list.
"Squad 10! Send forth your representative for this test!" Siege called.
The robed male gave a look to the sliver-clad girl, as he gave a silent nod, which she returned, before she then stepped onto the starting platform, as she dropped her naginata on the ground.
"Representative of Squad 10, state your name and previous combat experience." Siege said, as he had asked this of all squads before this one.
"Kaguya Houraisen, former princess of the Lunarians. Combat experience? About several large-scale skirmishes. But words are cheap, let my actions do the proving." Kaguya remarked, as she slowly moved into a running position, her eyes solely focused on the course ahead.
"Oh, interesting tactic, wanting to get a running start on me." Makoto chuckled as she readied herself, as the two were about to duke it out in unarmed combat.
"Battle sequence commencing." A computer voice said as the two sides prepared for combat.
CAN'T ESCAPE FROM CROSSING FATE!
ENGAGE!
Makoto, anticipating Kaguya's charge, dashed right for her to attempt to land some early strikes, only for Kaguya to weave through the attacks, as they grazed her body and cheek, before Kaguya started throwing her own blows at Makoto, screeching her footing to a halt in close range to Makoto.
Makoto grunted as she was pummeled by the clean blows from Kaguya, as she already held a commanding lead on Makoto. Makoto leapt back in an attempt to get some distance from Kaguya, only to see Kaguya smirk, as she slid a foot forward, as the distance shortened quite quickly to Makoto's surprise, as she didn't give much delay for Makoto to regain her footing.
"Eh!?" Makoto yelped as she stumbled on her feet from the sudden charge, leaving her wide open to Kaguya, which earned her a few hard blows from Kaguya, before she then shifted her stance and knocked Makoto back with a whipping kick.
It hadn't even been 30 seconds of the minute and Kaguya held an incredibly commanding lead on Makoto, who hadn't landed a single strike on Kaguya the entire round. Siege looked at this, impressed with what he was seeing, as he looked toward the robed man who seemed to be intently watching Kaguya.
'I swear he's the guy from my dream…' Siege thought as he watched the match with awe.
Before the minute ended, Makoto managed to land a number of strikes on Kaguya, but the numbers showed a lop-sided victory for Kaguya. Kaguya had landed an incredible 78 strikes, while Makoto had only landed 24.
"Quite an incredible performance, Miss Houraisen." Siege commented as Makoto recovered herself from the beating rather quickly, as Kaguya returned to her Squad.
When all 15 Squads finished, Kaguya's performance was the only one who stood out among the others, being the top performer of the test.
"While most of you did well, there were few that excelled among you." Siege said. "Let it be known that after this next test, the 5 squads with the lowest marks will be sent home. Come, your next test awaits."
Siege soon led them into another arena, as Yang was at the center of this one, as she soon pounded her fists together, creating an incredible shockwave.
"Power. You can't have good offense without the power to back up your punches. It most definitely helps when your power grows the more you get hurt." Siege explained as Yang smirked. "The task for this test sounds simple, but don't let that fool you with Yang here. Your goal, is to deplete the simulated bar showing Yang's Aura. But be warned: Yang gets stronger, the lower her Aura depletes. And if she gets on a roll, it can refresh over time."
Once again, squads came up but were knocked down by Yang, as one squad was able to drop her Aura by half, but their representative was floored soon after the fact.
"This one is going to be interesting." Siege said as he came up on the next Squad number. "Squad 10! Select your representative for this test!"
Without any prompt, the long-haired white member of the squad rose up, as she stopped just opposite of Yang.
"Representative for Squad 10, name and combat experience." Siege asked, looking at her with intrigue.
"Fujiwara Mokou." The woman introduced herself stoically. "Combat experience: Plenty from dealing with unruly youkai, to dealing with upstarts with too much power in their heads."
She then turns to Yang. "That guy said that you're more stronger when that 'Aura' thing whittles away?" Mokou asked. "I'll see how strong you get when you're at the verge of defeat. Maybe it'll be a proper fight for once."
"Oooh. Trash talk right outta the gate. But you better watch it sister. If you're gonna talk the talk, then walk the walk!" Yang smirked as the arena came to life again.
THE WHEELS OF FATE ARE TURNING!
ENGAGE!
Yang rushed towards Mokou, fist ready to pound her, as Mokou instinctively pulled off a block, before she then went for a body shot onto Yang. Yang tanked the shot like it was nothing, as Mokou's peripherals caught a tiny chunk of the Aura meter going down from her recent blow. Yang threw multiple punches at Mokou to try and bring her down.
Mokou took the blows, as they rattled her back and forth, yet her footing didn't shift, and she managed to evade one of the punches to counter with a driving right hook that pummeled the side of Yang's head.
"Uwah!" Yang grunted as she stumbled back, being open for more punishment, as Yang instinctively raised her arms up to block shots, expecting them to come in fast and hard. And fast they came indeed, as Mokou ripped into her guard with a series of punching combos, each fiercer than the last, as motes of fire appeared from the trails of her fist.
Yang, trying to think of something, began punching back, as Mokou already put her at half Aura… and that meant the punches hitting Mokou were much harder than before. And yet Mokou didn't seem to be concerned, as she turned the entire fight into a mutual slug-fest between the two of them, trading blows with each other, as fist met flesh and Aura repeatedly for both sides.
The slug-fest was slowing down, however, as Yang's Aura was getting closer and closer to depleting. Mokou had done an incredible amount of damage and still seemed to be going strong, as Yang was struggling to keep up with throwing punches.
"Okay, honestly, this took me a lot more than I expected. I doubt that this is everything you got, but I'll take my fights when I get them." Mokou stated, before she then cocked her fist back, as it burned. "Now, let's see if this ends it."
She then threw the straight at a blinding speed right into the centre of Yang's chest, creating a minor shockwave from the impact. Yang was sent flying backwards from the hit, as she landed on the ground with a grunt, as her Aura meter for this fight depleted.
K.O.!
"Damn… good job!" Yang smirked. "I wasn't going all out, but I could tell you weren't necessarily either."
Siege nodded as the rest of the squads went through the test, and failed. 5 Squads left the area, but Squad 10 stood tall, being among the best of the squads so far.
"Alright, one more test awaits all of you, candidates!" Siege said, as they walked to the next area, which was larger in area than the previous two, as standing in the middle was Rutega, as she cracked her neck.
"Last test for you candidates is a test of endurance." Siege said. "Rutega is a Saiyan, and she is capable of turning into the acclaimed Super Saiyan God form, and currently making progress to Super Saiyan Blue, but she won't be using those on any of you, so don't worry. In this test of Endurance, the goal is simple: Survive against Rutega for the longest time. If you push her enough where she goes Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2, or Super Saiyan 3 if any of you are lucky enough, you will receive bonus marks for your performance. So keep that in mind as you fight her, candidates. But overall, the Squad with the longest survival time will get the best marks."
One by one, Squads came up to do the endurance test with Rutega. The longest one lasted for only 2 and a half minutes, before they were floored by Rutega.
"Squad 10! It's your turn, send up your representative for this endurance test!" Siege said, looking rather expectantly at the squad. If they could pull off 3 incredible performances in a row, Siege had no doubts they would be perfect to join him.
The remaining two males of Squad 10 looked at each other, before they then immediately went for a game of quick paper-scissors-rock on the spot, as the black-haired member managed to win it, as the brown-haired member stepped up onto the arena, as he hefted his greatsword and swung it a few times in practice, before placing the blade's tip on the ground.
"Representative for Squad 10. Your name and combat experience please." Siege asked as he admired the choice of a greatsword.
"Gus Campbell." The young man introduced himself. "My combat experience consists of acting as an active peacekeeper in all areas of my jurisdiction, and I have served as second-in-command for a recent major war. I will discuss the details of it after the testing, sir."
"A fine young man, you are." Rutega chuckled. "Let's see if you can handle a girl like me on the battlefield!"
"I accept your challenge." Gus answered back, before he then drew his sword quickly enough, that it looked like a blur for a moment. "I will not hold anything back, and I know that you wouldn't, even though that is the defining factor of the test."
Gus then rushed forward, as he went for a wide sweeping blow with his weapon, hoping to land the first hit. Rutega, unfortunately, dodged the attack via an Afterimage trick, before Gus was kicked in the back, sending him skidding along the ground, as Rutega soon charged up red energy balls.
"Eat this! Crimson Volley!" She yelled, firing explosive ki attacks at Gus, rapidly firing them off.
Gus noticed the attacks honing onto him, as he quickly kicked himself up off the ground, and then using his large blade to cut and deflect the ki blasts away from him, before he then rushed forward with an overhead strike. Rutega outsped him, landing a clean blow to Gus's chest before the overhead strike could land, sending Gus skidding again.
"You've got too big of a weapon there, buddy!" Rutega chuckled. "I'll be surprised if you can land a hit on me with that thing, considering I've outsped it thus far!"
"Thus far… That's true." Gus remarked, before he then closed his eyes. "But you would be surprised at what I can do with it."
Gus then slowly rose up, before he then plunged the blade right into the ground, as the blade lit up orange, before a glowing fissure appeared under Rutega's feet. Rutega was caught off guard by the sudden attack, as she quickly took to the air to avoid getting caught by the fissure.
However, that left Rutega open for a quick upwards slash, as Gus performed it faster than before, shaking Rutega's timing off.
Rutega grunted as she got hit, sending her stumbling backwards in the air. "Damn…! You got me!" Rutega smirked, as she decided to turn things up a notch and go Super Saiyan, her hair not changing except for turning golden. "Let's see you try that again!"
Gus noticed the change, as he adjusted his own strategy accordingly, as he spun his blade around, firing off a large ring of fire right where Rutega is. Rutega avoided the ring of fire, and charged at Gus at incredible speeds, attempting to pummel him with blows, as Gus used the blade itself to block most of the blows, although each one pushed him back.
In an act to gain some distance, Gus kicked up a wall of fire that broke Rutega's line of sight with him, before he then created fissures again, except there were multiple, all centered around on Rutega's location. Rutega flew way up high, as she tried to pinpoint Gus's location.
"C'mon you little sneak… where are you." Rutega said, as she looked around for Gus.
Rutega kept looking around for Gus, as she began to lower herself down to find Gus. At that moment, the fissures erupted on Rutega, forcing her to dodge again, more intensely than before. Rutega clicked her tongue as she dodged the erupting fissures, as she began firing ki blasts in all directions to find Gus while she dodged.
"Come on out! This is an endurance test, not a stealth test!" Rutega yelled, trying to locate Gus.
"I'm right here!" Gus answered back, as Rutega turned around, seeing that Gus was flying up to her, propelled by a massive stream of flames that sent him hurtling towards her, as he raised his blade, and brought it down onto Rutega, who blocked it with both of her arms.
"Tch…! Nice trick!" Rutega smirked as she soon kicked Gus to get him off her, only for him to let out a burst of flames which sent him right back towards her, as he returned with a knee-shot of his own. Rutega grunted as she was hit by the knee, as she was sent flying backwards, before stopping herself and turning Super Saiyan 2.
"You might be the toughest opponent I've faced yet!" Rutega laughed. "Let's take this eve-"
"And that's time!" Siege suddenly shouted as Rutega and Gus looked at him. "The cutoff I had in mind was 5 minutes. It's been 5 minutes already. Well done, Gus, incredible endurance round from you."
"It seems that I can't draw you to your highest level of power that is examinable…" Gus remarked, placing the greatsword on his back. "However, I expected that it would be fair that you just started taking the fight seriously. It was an endurance test after all, I didn't want to aim to force you at full power, if it would mean that I can't last the time after you do."
"Hey, we'll settle this later anyways so you can see that for yourself." Rutega chuckled as she reverted to base form, as she winked at Gus. "See you then, pretty boy~"
Gus was silent, before he merely sighed and eyed Mokou, who scoffed gently.
The rest of the squads soon finished, as Siege made up his mind. "I know exactly which squad I want for my team. You all performed well today, but one excelled among the rest of you. Leader of Squad 10. Come up here, I wish to meet you in person, and finalize your recruitment into the O.I.M."
The other squads began to cheer and clap, looking towards Squad 10 for the leader to walk to Siege, as he seemed to be fairly calm for someone with this accomplishment, standing in front of Siege with formal posture.
"Leader, I'll ask you as I asked your comrades. Name and combat experience, as well as one other thing: Your experience as a leader, since you seem to have a firm grasp of obedience and respect among your allies." Siege asked him.
"As you wish. Richard Liu, main peace-keeper of my homeworld, and active officer of the local army, bearing the rank of a Major-equivalent." Richard introduced himself. "My experience as a leader consists of various scenarios, from the standard fight to a large-scale war that Gus has recently dabbed upon, I have remained in smaller cases, but I have acted as a proper officer under the chain of leadership."
"I see." Siege said with a nod and a smile. "I can't help but feel this was a Fated meeting between you and I, Richard Liu. You and your Squad have performed incredibly, and have definitely earned your right to be a part of my crew." Siege said, before extending a hand for Richard to shake. "Welcome to the O.I.M., Richard Liu."