Chapter 38: Time for Takeout

Noca and Talia continued their journey through the halls of the ship without any issues. They didn't bump into any other mercenaries, or guards, and not a single Dark Blade was found, but there was still more of the ship they had not accessed up until that point.

The duo continued to move through quietly and sneakily, hoping to avoid any sort of altercations or alerts. They couldn't have anyone knowing they were on-board causing problems. Following Noca's senses they came to a staircase halfway down a hallway, and the Saiyan immediately knew to trust his senses and continue to follow along that path. He glanced back to Talia, making sure she was ready for anything that may come their way. She nodded and Noca continued.

He slowly descended the steps, but to make sure his feet didn't make any noise as they connected with the ground, he utilised the tiniest amount of energy needed to lift himself from the ground ever so slightly and floated along. Talia couldn't copy that action, or at least didn't know how to, and had to be very quiet with each step.

As they came to the end of the steps and moved along yet another hallway, Noca halted and held his hand up to signal that Talia should stop also. He looked back to her, put his finger to his lips and then slowly moved to the edge of the wall and did his best to see what was beyond. He managed to get a glimpse of a mercenary, standing with their back to him, but that was it. He didn't want to risk being caught so he held off from poking around the corner completely. Instead, he knew he could utilise his senses.

He closed his eyes and tried to properly feel out the room. His senses started from one point in the area, and that was Guida in his cell, chained against the wall. He was weak, tired, hungry, and in urgent need of some big help. His condition meant he may not serve them very well in a fight at all, so that was something they needed to put into consideration when attempting to help him out of there.

Due to the proximity, Noca was able to sense the energy level of the guard just around the corner from them and it wasn't very big, in fact, while being better than average, it didn't change the fact that it wasn't a threat. It didn't mean their weapons couldn't hurt, it just meant they would be easy targets to deal with. Noca could sense the power level of the room, of the entire brig, and by eliminating Guida's power level for a moment, Noca could then decipher how many people were in the room, based on the power level of that one guard. He had to assume everyone in the room had a similar power level for that to happen.

If he was correct, Noca could sense a total of eight mercenaries in the room. He opened his eyes and looked to Talia. She held her hands out, as if beckoning for Noca to tell her what they should do. Noca pondered it for a moment and then performed another quick scan with his senses, which allowed him to sense that there was another guard located at the end of that hallway, meaning that if one of them were to take out the first guard, they would surely be spotted.

Noca moved away from the corner, getting closer to Talia. She was a little confused at first, but Noca got close so he could whisper.

"You need to take out the first one, then I'll deal with the second," Noca suggested, "but make it quick and quiet."

He backed away and nodded, with his brow raised, trying to get Talia to let him know if she understood or not. She nodded and pulled one of her swords out of thin air. She inched away from the wall and moved to the edge, to the turn. She could sort of see the shadow of her target. Talia glanced back to Noca again, to get confirmation that she could move. Noca nodded.

Talia swung around the corner and in briefest moment she was given to size up her opponent, someone she could only see from behind, she aimed her shot and stabbed her blade right through the throat of her target. It halted him from making any loud noises, aside from his gurgling and struggled breathing. Talia couldn't see down the hall, but Noca was ready. He darted around the corner and phased to the end of the hallway, grabbing the other mercenary around the face, to keep him from making a sound, and darted back to the safe end of the hall, where he put the man in a sleeper hold until he passed out.

He looked up to see Talia wiping blood from her sword, knowing that she probably couldn't have done things any differently, although he objected to the outright murder of these hired guns. It wasn't the time to have a conversation about values, there were more pressing matters at hand.

Noca investigated the room, around it, and up at the ceiling. He was trying to gauge the best way to get inside and get through, without being noticed, while also taking out any enemies and getting to Guida so they could free the former Patrolman. Talia was beside Noca and looking across the room, right to her ally, who hadn't noticed them at that point. In fact, he appeared to be unconscious.

"I think if I'm quick enough, and quiet enough, I can get in the room and take them out one by one," Noca suggested, whispering to the woman beside him. Talia looked around the room with Noca, and then at all the enemies.

"There's eight of them," Talia mentioned, confirming Noca's initial assessment based on his senses. "Do you think you can handle them, and I can sneak through to get to Guida?"

"Maybe," Noca replied. "I just have to make sure I don't get caught."

"Are you fast enough for that?" Talia questioned. Noca scoffed and smirked down at her.

"Of course," he replied, confidently. It was lucky that Noca was the kind of person who had the skills to back up his confidence in tense situations. Noca looked to the ceiling again. "Ok, I think I have a plan, don't move until you think it's safe."

"I know, this isn't my first stealth mission," Talia said, winking at Noca.

The Saiyan scoffed and then stepped up, moving out of his hiding spot a little bit, but Talia quickly grabbed his arm.

"Wait," she said, quickly going to her supply pack and pulling out some small orb things and a wrist device. "These might come in handy."

She handed the things to Noca, and he furrowed his brow, looking at the items and then back to the woman.

"The little orbs are binders. Attach them to the people you attack, and they won't be able to move, plus you can attach them to surfaces," Talia explained. Noca still wore a frown on his face and moved back into cover with Talia.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, you can attack them and take them up towards the ceiling, but they won't stay there. These things will keep them up there," Talia continued. Noca looked at them again and put them under his belt.

"Nice," he muttered, but then he looked over the other thing, the wrist device. "And this?"

"It's a grappling gun, for your wrist," she replied. Noca put the device on, and Talia quickly showed him the shoot control and the retract control, which were both located on a little bit that sat in the palm of his hand. "How's your aim?"

"It's fine," Noca replied, scoffing.

"Good, then get going," Talia said, holding back as Noca moved on, out of cover, but then he phased very quickly, moving up into the rafters that overlooked the entire room.

Talia was impressed by Noca's pace, but she also managed to track him and followed his movement, which was very helpful considering she was about to rely on Noca's speed and movement so she could do her part of the plan. For the moment, Talia had to play the waiting game.

Noca had the perfect view of the room from the rafters. Sure, he did have to shift around a little bit to make sure he could view all the targets beneath him, but that wasn't a big issue. The biggest issue would be timing. He might be quick enough to go unnoticed, but those mercenaries would notice if their allies started vanishing right before their eyes. Noca not only had to be fast, he had to use his time properly, but he had to be smart.

It was best for him to try and get a good idea of the full layout. Right by the entrance hallway there was a computer terminal to the left as someone walked in, and there was a mercenary standing by that terminal, and he seemed to be doing something, whatever it was wasn't important to Noca.

Just behind that merc, near the far-left wall there was a table, there were four chairs on either side of the long table, but only two people were sitting there. Two mercs were sitting facing one another, one of them had his back to the wall, while the other had their back to the rest of the room. Beyond that table, getting across towards the back end, this was where all the cells were located, across the back wall. There were six in total, but only one of them had someone inside.

Inside the cell that was against the left wall, Guida was sitting, right at the back chained against the wall. Standing in front of that cell was a merc, obviously on-guard. Directly across from that merc was the table with the two mercenaries sitting opposite each other, and the merc at the terminal after that. So, they had three other mercs in their line of sight, which meant they may be a problem when Noca finally started to take them all out.

Into the rest of the room, Noca noticed that there was one mercenary that seemed to be walking in a circle through the centre of the room, around another large table, although this one didn't have any chairs around it. It was larger than the other tables and rather than being rectangular and long it was circular. The merc was just ambling along slowly, making sure he was seeing everything going on in the room, or probably just doing it out of boredom.

He wasn't the only mercenary that was moving. Across the back wall, in front of the cells, one merc was pacing back and forth, in a similar manner to the previous mercenary, but only in straight line from right-to-left and back again. Then, finally, on the far-right wall, there was another large table, and two more mercs sitting at that table, although both were sitting on the wall side, but instead of facing into the room they were facing each other.

It was a long room, and the mercenaries had taken to spacing themselves out to cover as much space as the eight of them possibly could. Noca needed to bide his time properly, he needed to make sure that he acted at the appropriate moment, and not rush into anything. It was difficult to truly make sense of what needed to happen next. He glanced over all the mercenaries, taking a second account of their positions.

None of them seemed to move any differently to what they already were. The ones that were seated remained seated, as for the ones pacing around the room, they seemed to follow the same path, for some reason. Noca knew that he needed to wait for the ones that were walking around to face the other direction at the same time, so he could act without being spotted, which meant that his best first target would be the one by the cell.

But he had to be careful, the two mercs sitting at the table just ahead of the cells might be able to spot some movement happening out of the corner of their eye. However, luck may have been on Noca's side, as one of the two sitting at that table, the one closest to the wall, stood up and walked over to the terminal next to the hallway. They were facing the opposite direction. Noca knew he needed to act quickly. He glanced to the other side of the room and watched as the two pacing mercs turned to face the opposite direction at the same time.

Now. Noca moved his arm forward and shot the grapple down to the merc by the cell entrance and whipped him up towards the ceiling rapidly, Noca knocked him out with a headbutt and then threw one of those little devices onto their torso and stuck them to the ceiling. He looked up and smirked to himself, it had worked, but he needed to keep going. He looked down again, at the merc that remained sitting at the table, looking towards his allies at the terminal.

Noca decided to phase down to the ground that time and grabbed the merc from behind, putting his hand across their mouth so they couldn't make any noise, and then Noca jumped back up into the rafters, rapidly, without being noticed at all. He did the same thing with the device and incapacitated the merc with ease.

The movement in the room, just outside the cell, must have been enough to alert Guida, because for a few seconds, the former patrolman looked up, into the room, but saw nothing to alert or surprise him, and he was still far too weak. His head dropped again, and he seemed to fall unconscious again. Noca was sure he sensed something different, and he looked down, but Guida was unmoved. The Saiyan was a little perplexed because there had been a spike in his senses, but he brushed it off, knowing he had something more important to worry about.

The time that Noca had spent checking towards Guida had given the second merc at the terminal enough time to turn around and realise that his ally at the table had gone, and he wasn't somewhere else in the room. The merc looked at the table and then glanced into the room, trying to spot them. Noca looked back to see that the merc was starting to walk into the centre of the room, specifically approaching the merc that was walking around the middle of the room.

Noca could only pick up on a bit of their conversation, but the first merc was just asking his ally if they had seen the other one. Noca had to distract them somehow. He looked around him and noticed a loose screw just laying on top of a metal plate. Noca grabbed it and looked down again, judging their positioning. He didn't want to alert all of them, just those two. He wanted to somehow split them apart.

The Saiyan threw that screw into one of the cells, the one next to Guida, actually. It clanged into a bench and landed on the floor. Both mercs looked over, hearing a faint clanging sound, and decided to move towards it to check it out. The one that had been walking around the room, holding a rifle in front of him, was the one that moved towards the cell first, meaning Noca could take out the other one first. Noca did have to quickly double-check the rest of the room, to be sure no one else was facing them, and then he knew he could act.

Noca utilised the grapple gun again, launching it down at the merc standing behind his ally, and he dragged them up into the rafters, performing the same thing as before. He knocked them out and stuck them to the ceiling like before.

By the hallway, Talia had noticed Noca was finding it relatively easy to take out the mercs one-by-one, showing that he either had knowledge in these kinds of situations, or he was just very adaptive. Either way, the young woman knew she needed to do something to assist, and Noca had actually been very helpful in moving more into the centre of the room and away from Guida's cell. There was only one mercenary right by her and the hallway, and it would be more than easy for Talia to deal with them.

Following Noca's example, she checked the rest of the room first as she moved closer to the end of the hallway and into the room, she knew that the terminal would be right to her left, as would that merc, so she did have to be careful. If she acted very quickly then she could take them down before they even had the chance to breathe. Talia prepared herself, pulled her sword out of the air, and rushed into the room

She grabbed that merc, pushed them to the ground with ease, and then she plunged her sword through their face, so they couldn't make any noise. Talia made sure they died quickly and then she moved on, hiding behind the table.

Once in position, and safely hidden, she looked up towards the cell and could see her unconscious ally. Guida was there, chained to the wall in a seated position, with his arms up and his head down. Talia didn't like seeing him in that state, and he didn't look good. Talia slowly and quietly moved along, getting closer to the cell, but she knew she still had to rely on Noca to ensure the other mercenaries were dealt with so nobody could be alerted to their presence.

Up in the rafters, Noca wasn't totally sure of his next move. He had four more mercenaries that he was expected to take out so that he and Talia could get a clear run at Guida, and two of those mercs were sitting and talking to each other, one of them was still pacing in front of the cells on the right side of the back wall, while there was one merc, almost directly below Noca, checking out the sound.

Noca watched him, while occasionally glancing to the others, to try and get a fix on what he might do next. The merc was barely moving. He seemed to have his hand gripped tightly on his gun and he was staring into the cell. Noca moved forward slightly in the rafters, trying to get a better view. As he moved there was slightest creaking noise that seemed to gently rattle through the entire ceiling area. Noca immediately stopped moving but his balance was affected a little bit and he rocked slightly.

The rocking caused the creaking noise to amplify just a little bit, meaning that the merc below heard something out of the ordinary. Noca had completely halted his movement and looked down to see that the merc had stopped and was looking to his right, as if trying to look over his shoulder and follow the sound. Noca held his breath for moment, unsure why, it just felt natural. What he didn't notice, was the gently rocking of the rafters had caused one panel to tilt slightly, and there was another loose screw resting on top, and it began to roll.

It was behind Noca, so there was no way he was about to spot it as it rolled to the edge and fell from the rafters. It clanged into the ground and instantly drew the merc's attention. He looked around and down at the ground, spotting the screw. Noca hoped he would pick it up, but the merc instantly looked up to the rafters, aiming his rifle, and seeing Noca up.

"Crap," Noca muttered to himself as he immediately dropped from the ceiling, landing directly in front of the merc. He crouched as he landed and then sprung himself up rapidly, connecting an uppercut into the merc's face.

The merc was knocked out cold by the punch and was thrown back, which isn't something Noca wanted to happen, as the merc flew back into a cell door, where there was more clanging noise. Noca looked to the rest of the room and saw that all three of the other mercs had noticed him. The one's at the table had to stand up and the one closest to Noca was already moving towards him, with his gun raised.

Noca had to act very quickly, but luckily that was something he was good at. He jumped up, utilised the grapple gun to pull the moving merc towards him, but to make the move quicker Noca also phased towards him and struck a powerful kick into their face. It was strong and fierce enough to throw them back into the wall and knock them out cold. And then Noca landed on the ground, rolled, and threw two of those small devices towards the two mercs behind the table.

Each device struck a merc in the chest and they were so surprised that they forget to act. They looked up as Noca opened his hands up and sent a powerful pulse of energy out that flung them both into the wall, where they were knocked out, while the devices activated and held them to the wall, binding their bodies.

Noca breathed a relieved sigh as he remained crouched on the floor. He looked down for a moment and stood up again, looking towards Talia. She was standing up with her arms out, as if to ask Noca what had happened.

"It's fine," Noca said, sounding rather exasperated. There was certainly a moment of panic.

"And you were doing so well," Talia teased, putting her hands on her hips.

"They didn't alert anyone, it's fine, we're fine," Noca said, smiling. The smile soon faded as they both moved to the cell, ready to free Guida.

It wasn't locked, it didn't need to be when Guida was chained to the wall and there were many mercenaries in the room to keep an eye on their prisoner, so the two intruders stepped inside the cell. Noca looked back, making sure to keep an eye on the room, just in case someone came along, while Talia rushed over to her unconscious ally.

"Guida…" she said softly, gently shaking him to see if he would awaken. He was definitely alive, but his breathing was slow and ragged. Talia moved to his restraints and drew her sword to break the chains. Guida was already seated, but because he was unconscious and weak, he started to lean forward, so Talia had to move in front of him to stop him from hitting the ground.

She slowly held him up and leaned him back against the wall, gently.

"Guida, it's me, it's Talia," she said, trying to get through to him. His eyes twitched slightly, although they remained closed, and his breathing seemed to shift. He heard her. Talia looked out into the room, and then to Noca. "Can you come and hold him?"

Noca took Talia's place and made sure Guida was stable, while Talia left the cell and went to the nearest mercenary. She grabbed a pack that was attached to their belt and opened it up, quickly rummaging through it. She seemed to find what she needed and rushed back into the cell, still carrying the pack. She sat on the other side of Guida and pulled out a small cylinder and pulled it open to reveal a needle.

Talia took the device and jabbed it into Guida's neck. Whatever was inside the cylinder immediately entered Guida's blood stream and his eyes snapped open, and he managed to push Noca and Talia off him as he stood up and rushed to the cell door.

Noca stood up, holding himself in a defensive position, but Talia held her hand out to stop Noca from doing anything. The Saiyan remained ready but weakened his stance.

Guida was standing by the door, he was breathing heavily, looking out of the room, outside of his cell, and he could see the unconscious mercenaries, and the one dead mercenary that Talia had dealt with. He slowly turned back to face the people in his cell, immediately realising Talia was there. He turned around completely and walked towards her.

"Talia," he said, his voice filled with surprise, or confusion. Talia smiled weakly, but Guida frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean 'what are we doing here?' We came to rescue you," Talia clarified, her weak smile fading, it was her turn to be confused. Guida's frown softened.

"'We'?" he questioned. His gaze shifted from Talia on the left of where he had been seated, to the right. "Noca?"

"Hi," Noca said, awkwardly, raising his hand into a small wave.

"How… what? I told you to warn him," Guida said, shifting his attention back to Talia.

"And we did, but we all worked together and came up with a plan to save you and stop Kuyato from getting to Earth," Talia explained, "We managed to come onboard and get all the way down here to you without being detected."

Guida turned and looked behind him into the room, at the downed mercenaries, then he looked to Talia again.

"Well, that doesn't count. We had to take them out to get to you," Talia said, defensively. Noca turned to her.

"We're wasting time," he said, and he started to walk towards the cell door again. "I'm glad you're alive Guida, but we should get you back to the ship."

"What is your plan?" Guida asked.

"Well, I'm sure we can just go back the way we came, while quickly and quietly dealing with any disturbances we may come up against," Noca replied.

"No, I meant what is your plan to stop Kuyato?" Guida elaborated.

"Well," Noca stopped and looked to Talia. "It's a work-in-progress."

"You have no plan?" Guida questioned, almost annoyed. He turned and frowned at Talia again.

"Noca's right, we should get back to the ship," Talia said, and she too rushed towards the cell door.

As they go through the room Talia picks up a rifle from one of the downed mercs and hands it to Guida. They walk through the room, without any problems, and head into the hallway, but as soon as they round the corner that leads to the staircase, they see a group of mercenaries walking down, and those mercenaries spot the intruders and their prisoner.

"Halt!" one of them yells. Guida immediately fires his weapon, taking out the one that yelled, at the front of the group, and then the trio dart around the corner to cover. Talia and Noca on the left side, and Guida on the right. The mercs take up attacking positions and begin firing rapidly down the hall.

"'Quietly'?" Guida said, repeating Noca's suggestion of their ability to get through things without being discovered. Talia sighed and went to her pistol instead of using her sword.

"I think I can hold them back and then try to get behind them," Noca suggested.

"How?" Guida asked. Noca looked up at him.

"I'm really fast," Noca said, smirking. Guida scoffed.

Noca closed his eyes and focused for a second. He opened his eyes and stepped out into the open, and the oncoming laser bolts. He powered up, showing off his aura, and despite being in his base state the aura was still golden. It appeared to work as a shield as the laser bolts dissipated as they touched the barrier.

Noca held up his hand, but as he did, he noticed that the mercs stepped to the side slightly and someone in a cloak started walking through the middle of the hall. Noca frowned, but it was the tiny distraction that the cloaked figure had been hoping for. They darted forward, all the way up the hall and came in close to Noca, that was when they revealed a sword and swiped at Noca's face.

The Saiyan reacted very quickly to dart back, away from the attacker, but the tip of the blade nicked Noca's cheek, and proved that it was very lethal as the tiniest part of the sword was able to cut deep. Noca felt a gash open on his right cheek and the blood trickled down. He backed up hitting a wall, as the mercenaries all prepared to fire again, while the cloaked Dark Blade was about to plunge their sword forward.

Noca was probably equal to it, and could have dodged with ease, but Talia made sure to act quickly either way and drew her own blade, blocking the attacker's sword and parrying to send them back. Talia turned to Noca after.

"Stop them from shooting us," she ordered, and proceeded to battle with the Dark Blade.

Noca didn't need to be told twice. He powered up his aura again and flashed forward at a blinding pace. He appeared behind the mercenaries, surprising all of them. Fortunately, Noca appeared in front of a merc that had been fully prepared to run away, presumably to get back-up, which was something they couldn't have. Noca smirked down on them and powered up, which worked to stun them. They stumbled a little, some of them tripping down the staircase slightly, and Noca had them right where he wanted them.

The Saiyan raised his hand and powered up again but sent out a pulse of energy that knocked them all off their feet and into the ground at the bottom of the staircase or rolling a bit further up the hall. This gave Guida a very good opportunity to come out of cover and shoot all the mercs dead. Noca descended the staircase as Guida finished them up. He didn't think the killing was necessary, but it showed that Guida and his crew certainly had a different method of survival to Noca.

They both turned to check on Talia but noticed that she was clearly the superior fighter. She had the Dark Blade on the ropes the whole time and easily finished them off by quickly swiping up on their block, opening them up for a quick jab into the chest and as she pulled back, when the Dark Blade fell to his knees, Talia jabbed forward into their face. She removed her blade and swiped it towards the ground, with all the blood splattering against the floor, and her blade was sparkly and clean once more.

Noca sighed and then looked up at his allies.

"We should get going, quickly," Noca said as he turned and rushed up the staircase into another hallway, but his senses would lead them the way back. Guida and Talia followed up at the back of the group, with Talia contacting their ship as they ran along.

"Airen, do you copy? We have Guida and we're heading back to the ship now," Talia said, but the voice that replied wasn't the one she had been expecting.

"Oh, Talia, can I speak to Noca?" Holline asked, sounding rather stressed and exasperated. Noca halted upon hearing Holline's voice coming from the communicator and he walked up to Talia.

"What is it, Holline? I'm here," Noca questioned. Talia was confused, but Noca could hear the concern coming from Holline's voice, plus he could feel that something was wrong.

"I'm so sorry, Noca. It got hectic here, and I don't know how it happened, I guess it's all my fault, I'm just so sorry," Holline rambled.

"What happened? Tell me," Noca said.

"It's Rei. He ran away," Holline revealed. Noca tensed up and inhaled quite sharply. "We were attacked by a couple of… troll-things… and in the panic I told Rei to hide but he must have ran out of the ship and I can't find him…"

Noca was speechless for a moment, he was processing the information, while simultaneously trying to narrow his senses to find Rei.

"I'm really sorry, Noca. Airen said it was safer that I stay with the ship in case anyone else tried to attack us," Holline explained further. Noca shook himself to attention.

"Look, Holline, calm down, stop panicking, and stop apologising. It's not your fault, this situation was always going to be difficult with Rei on-board," Noca said, doing his best to help his best friend feel at ease.

Guida looked to Talia.

"Who is Rei?" he asked.

"Noca's girlfriend's kid brother," Talia confirmed.

"You brought a kid?" Guida questioned.

His question was ignored as AIR-3N spoke up.

"I suggest that everyone should gather back at the ship so that we can all regroup and assess the situation," AIR-3N said, and Noca started to nod and was ready to agree out loud, but he noticed something was off. Not just about what AIR-3N said, but the whole situation.

"Where are Vegeta and Niku?" Noca asked. Talia frowned, looking towards Noca, noticing that his face had become very intense. He didn't just look worried, he looked angry.

Just then, before any answer could be heard, a small but noticeable explosion happened somewhere above them in the ship, and Noca could sense Vegeta in some sort of conflict.

Hey, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for reading. Don't forget to review, follow, favourite, pm, whatever you fancy. See ya next time!