Chapter 32: Talia's Contempt

A few hours passed and it was finally dark outside. Niku was performing a few routine checks on the ship's interior and the electronics and stuff like that. All the mechanic stuff, another job he had handled in his time with the Cold Empire. Guida was in the control room, mapping out some possible locations for work and a way to keep away from any enemies. Airen seemed to have powered down for a short period of time, that made sense.

Niku continued on his rounds and made it to Talia's quarters. He was just going to pass it by and let the girl rest, but noticed that her door wasn't actually closed. Niku stopped and turned to look in the room. He didn't want to intrude on Talia's space, again, but he had to check. He walked in, nervously and slowly, only to see that the room was completely empty. He immediately rushed back to the control room and tried to bring Talia's signal up on the tracker. Guida didn't know what was going on, but Niku certainly seemed concerned about something.

According to the tracker, Talia's communicator was in the same room. He looked over to the seat that she normal occupied and saw the communicator sitting by the computer. Niku whacked his hand on the tracking system and turned around. Guida finally came to attention and walked over to Niku.

"What is it?" Guida asked.

"Talia's not here," Niku informed him, "Her room is empty and she left the communicator here."

"Right?" Guida questioned, not sounding concerned about it at all. Niku glared at him.

"Considering she's helping us I would have hoped you'd care a little more," Niku said in a very commanding tone, "It's far too dangerous out there for her."

Guida shifted uncomfortably and walked over to the tracking system, even though Niku had already just told him about her not taking the communicator with her. Guida seemed to check something on the system and then turned to face Niku.

"We don't need to worry about her, I'm sure she knows what she's doing and will return later," Guida explained, "And if she doesn't then it's her own fault, right?"

Niku breathed a heavy sigh and walked away from Guida. He didn't know if he should just listen to Guida or go out and look for Niku himself. It was complicated, but he knew Talia could fend for herself.

"I hope she'll be ok," Niku stated, with one last look back to Guida. The former Patrolman nodded back at Niku, somewhat in agreement. They would have to wait and see. It would be a bad idea to go out and attempt to look for her in this moment.

Out in the city, on the completely opposite side of the port where they had landed, Talia was diving for cover down an alleyway as a group of Cold Empire soldiers walked by on patrol. She backed right up against the wall to avoid being seen and made sure to keep her face hidden, just in case. She was wearing a big black cloak to cover her body and weapons.

As soon as the patrol passed by Talia jumped out of the alley and continued heading towards the outer sections of this city. She saw them as they passed overhead and now she wanted to check them out for herself. The camps. Whatever kind of camps they were, Talia was going to get inside and put a stop to them. She started running, fast and stealthily. All those years of training with Niha made her very light on her feet and hard to catch with a glance. She spotted another group of soldiers nearby some sort of checkpoint and she had to drop and roll into some cover.

If she could get through the checkpoint without being caught then she would basically be in the camp. She didn't know what she would find, but seeing how badly some of the people in this city were being treated just made her so angry and she had to stop it somehow. The group of soldiers were standing around talking, they probably wouldn't notice her if she tried to get around the outside of the checkpoint and even if they did see her, she could deal with them.

There were some spotlights that were being used to check out and around the checkpoint and Talia had to basically time it with the light. They seemed to move in a systematic way, almost in the shape of an eight. If she kept behind the light and moved with it then she would manage to avoid being seen and maybe luck would be on her side. Hopefully none of the soldiers would decide to look her way. She took a breath and found her moment, rushing out of hiding and sticking around the point that the light occupied.

That group of soldiers didn't even move or look over to the light, so Talia was completely in the clear. She rushed around the checkpoint and realised that she basically had a short stretch of a walk before she reached the fence of the camp. She just had to make it over the bridge, but if she walked straight across it then there would be chance that a soldier would see her. The only other option she had would be to climb the side of the bridge, and if she slipped at all then she would fall into the river that run under the bridge and it was running pretty quickly.

Talia could hear voices behind her as she took the time to make her decision. She looked back to see a couple of that same group of soldiers heading her way. She had to make a snap decision. Drawing on her training with Niha once again she rushed to the side of the bridge and jumped over, gripping onto the side and beginning to move across as quickly as she could.

Once she reached the end of the bridge she looked back over her shoulder, while still hanging, and saw there was a door with a large cart waiting outside it. This was some sort of delivery and Talia knew that she could make something of this. It might be her way in. Talia leapt over to the other ledge and headed towards the doorway quickly. She could hear voices as she approached the cart and moved behind it, ducking low to avoid being seen.

She waited until the voices had gone before looking over the cart and trying to spot them. She could only see one person and they didn't appear to be a soldier, more of a caretaker of sorts. They had their back towards the cart and Talia, but they were carrying something heavy and were about to turn around. Talia could either dive through the door first, or stay with the cart and wait for another opportunity to show itself. This was another one of those times to make a quick decision. The guy didn't turn around and instead put the object down and moved to the left to find something else. Talia took this as her chance and rushed into the room and in the opposite direction of the man. She was almost completely inside now.

Talia took this time to start thinking about what she was really hoping to get out of this and where she would go once inside. There wasn't much of a plan. Maybe she just wanted to check out the conditions… or maybe she actually intended to fight them in some way. She just made a snap decision again, exactly like Niha taught her to. Turns out they weren't always great ideas. No sense in stopping to think about it now, she just had to move forward.

Talia rushed through a hallway and came to a big door. To the right of the big door there was a guard sitting at a small control panel. He looked up at Talia and she froze on the spot. She had been seen. The guard then looked back down as if he hadn't seen anything important. Talia didn't move for a second and the guard continued looking at his screen… until… he looked up at Talia again and this time seemed a bit shocked. The guard stood up, but Talia closed the gap between them quickly and jumped, kicking the guard in the throat. He flew back against the wall, hitting his head and falling to the ground.

Talia stood up and took a breath and turned to look at the controls for the door. She opened it up and stepped through, letting the door close behind her and that's when she saw it. A sight she had expected, but not one she liked looking at.

The ground was dirt. There were awful pathways that had clearly been laid out by the occupants. There were some pretty shoddy looking huts that served as the homes for the occupants. It was an open roof so it was really cold and wet from whenever it rained. There were guards perched in towers around the place and the occupants were dressed in rags and appeared to be doing a lot of manual labour. There were men, women, children, families… ordinary people.

Talia could feel tears coming to her eyes as she saw the awful conditions. She continued to walk on through the camp. Some of the prisoners were glancing her way, but didn't dare speak to her. There was the occasional guard that would walk through the camp, but Talia made sure to keep out of their way.

She walked past what looked like a little pen where there were a lot of children pretty much crammed together and looking like they were very deprived of food. They were weak, dirty and unhappy. Talia went closer to them. She started to think back to her time on the streets and she understood how awful these children must feel. She entered the pen and the children all started to stand and walk over to her.

They didn't say or do anything, they just walked around her. Looking her up and down. They didn't know if she was going to hurt them or help them. Some of the children would back away and cower and this hit Talia in her heart.

She slowly walked over to a group of children that were cowering away and she crouched down to be level with them.

"I won't hurt you. I'm a… friend," Talia said to the children, hoping they would feel at ease. The children continued to back up and Talia wasn't sure about what she could do. She looked through the group and spotted someone green-skinned with white hair. She stood up and walked closer. The children dispersed and ran to the sides to avoid Talia. There was a small green-skinned girl with white hair and the two were both staring at one another. Talia crouched down and looked at the girl.

The little girl held her hand out and gently touched Talia's face, but as soon as the finger connected she backed up again. Talia didn't know what it was, but this girl had to be the same species as her. Sure, she had never seen another of her race, but this girl looked almost identical to what Talia did when she was a child.

"Hi, I'm Talia. I think we're the same race. Where are your family?" Talia was starting to speak quite quickly and it seemed to be scaring the girl a little bit. The girl stepped back, but ended up touching the wooden fence of the pen. She had nowhere else to back up. "Please… help me out."

The little girl said nothing and only stared right at Talia. The girl didn't seem like she would speak. Talia stood up and looked down at the girl one last time. She turned around and started to look around the camp, hoping to spot some more people from her race. This little girl must have a family, Talia was thinking.

As Talia walked on, leaving the pen, the little girl decided to follow. Talia didn't notice this, but the girl was sticking very close to the strange new arrival. The other children just watched. As Talia walked on through the camp she started to notice more new things about it. Like how the guards seemed to hang around near all the young women and got a little too… touchy. This made Talia's skin crawl and it really angered her. She couldn't attract any attention though. She still didn't know why she was here.

Finally, Talia stumbled upon two people that looked like they could be that child's parents. The little girl behind Talia noticed her parents and ran past her. This shocked her as Talia had been completely unaware of the child's presence. The parents looked up and seemed very happy to see their child, especially seeing that she was unharmed. Talia didn't know how long it had been for the trio.

They seemed to be talking to one another, but Talia couldn't hear anything. That's when the little girl pointed in her direction and Talia froze. The parents looked up and stood straight. They were just staring across at each other and Talia had no idea what to do. They started to slowly approach her and Talia just remained in position. She was feeling really anxious about this.

When the parents were finally close enough they started to speak and that's when Talia realised something. She had forgotten her in-ear translator and couldn't understand a word these two were saying. She inwardly cursed and just shrugged her shoulders and made a face as if to say she didn't know what they were saying. The parents looked at each other and started saying things and Talia tried to make sense of it, but nothing. She felt something tug on her cloak and looked down to see the little girl. Talia smirked lightly and looked back at the parents.

"I can't stay here, but I'm going to help you," Talia started saying. They didn't react and Talia sighed. "You don't understand me. Damn."

The mother came closer to Talia and pulled her into an embrace, whispering in her ear.

"Midor."

She let go of the embrace and backed up. Talia didn't know what to make of that and just said the word back to herself. She was about to try and say something else, but something caught their attention.

"Hey, you there! Get back to work," A commanding voice said. Talia recognised that kinda of voice, and she actually understood them. The parents returned to work and pulled on Talia's cloak as if to tell her to go along with it. She did so and the guard eventually walked away again. Talia stopped and prepared to walk away to find something else to do, somewhere to go. She needed to figure out more about this camp.

As she walked on Talia heard some commotion happening nearby and she rushed to see what it was, but kept herself hidden. That's when she noticed a group of soldiers tormenting some of the prisoners. Talia wanted to fight back, but knew she couldn't. At least, not yet. A couple of the soldiers seemed to be hanging around some of the young women. They must only be teenagers, perhaps even younger than her. Talia's anger was getting the best of her and her energy was boiling up within her. Talia sees another of the soldiers pushing around… the young girl from before. She must have wandered away from her parents. Talia had to do something now, she told herself.

She slowly drew one of her swords and began to walk out. One of the other soldiers then walked through and Talia stopped. He seemed to be in charge of this crew.

"Grab the ones you like and let's go," The soldier said as he took a hold of the wrist of one of the teen girls and walked off with her. She was hardly putting up a fight. Actually, none of the girls were. Talia didn't like this. The soldier that was tormenting the girl of her species was about to walk off, leaving the girl alone. Talia felt some relief, but then the little girl ran up and kicked the soldier. It didn't do anything to him, but he did turn around and glare down at her.

"You little bitch," The soldier said. He reached down and took a hold of her by the hair and dragged her along, kicking and screaming. Talia had to act, but she wanted to wait until they were somewhere more hidden. She followed on from her cover. They seemed to be heading towards a fancier looking hut than the rest. It was clearly something for the soldiers. They entered with the girls and closed the door behind. Talia was fuming and had to do something now.

Talia reached the building and looked around trying to find either another way to get in, or something to help with a more effective entrance. That's when she saw a little generator attached to the side. This gave her a thought.

Inside the building, the soldiers group the girls up and stood there, proud of themselves. The soldier that had dragged in the little girl sat her down in a chair near the door.

"Turn around and be quiet, you don't wanna see this. I'll deal with you afterwards," The soldier said as he walked away from her. The girl faced the wall. The soldiers were ready to do what they wanted to these young women, but as they started to move in the lights suddenly went off. None of the soldiers could see anything and started to panic a little.

"Weapons out!" One of the soldiers said, preparing the men.

As they turned around on the spot in the dark, disoriented, the door opened, revealing a silhouetted figure, but then it closed and it was dark again. In the darkness, nobody could see what happened, but they heard the sound of blades slashing through something and blood falling onto the floor. The soldiers were making pained noises and were unable to fire their weapons due to the speed at which this happened.

The lights came back on. The girls were all huddled together. The child was still at the wall. In the middle of the room, a pile of soldiers' bodies, covered in blood and sliced at. Standing in front of those bodies, Talia. The girls looked at the bodies and then to Talia and they didn't know if they should be happy, or cry, or scream. They just stood there, frozen. Talia nodded to them.

"You're a little bit safer now, I'm gonna get you out of here," Talia assured them, nodding and smiling, weakly. She turned and approached the little girl. She crouched down and looked her all over to check she was ok. The little girl hugged Talia and the teen didn't know how to react. She just stood up and took the girls hand. "We need to move."

Talia led the pack and made sure they moved on quick, even though she didn't know where she was actually going. The rounded a corner as a group and there were a group of soldiers standing there, already with their weapons drawn. Talia stood and stumbled slightly, but stood strong. There were a few too many of them for her.

Back on-board the ship with Guida and Niku (I think I need to give the ship a name at some point?) Airen was sitting at the computer looking over things and suddenly seemed to perk up (if a robot can do that?) He turned to face Guida and Niku, and stood up.

"I have picked up some radio chatter from a camp in the Northern district. I believe it is something to do with Talia," the robot informed them.

"What kind of camp?" Guida questioned, not appearing to have any urgency about it. Niku looked over, clearly interested.

"It appears to be some form of Cold Empire Slave-labour camp," Airen replied. Niku rushed over.

"Pinpoint the exact location," Niku requested as Airen sat down and started to work on the computer again. It didn't take him too long to get it. Guida started to approach, wondering why Niku seemed so worried.

"Here it is," Airen said, pointing at a point on the map. Niku memorised it and headed off, grabbing his weapon.

"What's wrong with you?" Guida asked.

"Those camps are very dangerous, we can't let her be alone there," Niku started. He continued to ready his weapons, "There will be too many soldiers there for her to deal with and we need to save her."

Niku started to walk off and Guida stopped him.

"I'll come with you."

Niku nodded to his ally and then informed Airen to have the ship ready. They'll call for him when they're ready. The duo then rushed off, they needed to be quick.

Talia, standing there with all those Cold Empire soldiers in front of her, had to do something. She drew both of her swords and narrowed her eyes. She charged forward at the soldiers and started slashing at them with all her might and ability as they fired their weapons or tried their best to fight back against her. It wasn't going well for them. The soldiers were cut down too easily and dying quickly, but Talia was also fighting fairly sloppily. She was leaving too many openings and was at risk. That risk became reality when Talia was hit in the side by a laser blast and dropped to her knees. Talia cursed herself as she dropped her swords by her side.

A soldier approached and held a gun to her head, but suddenly a voice called out in a different language and Talia looked up to see two green-skinned people rushing towards them. It was the little girl's parents. Talia was about to tell them to stop, but there was the sound of a blaster firing and the father dropped to the ground, instantly. Talia went wide-eyed in shock.

The mother stopped and turned to her partner and dropped by his side, crying. A soldier rushed over towards them and she stood up, reacting, but was knocked down to the ground right away with a punch to the head. She slammed down to the dirt. The daughter screamed and went to run to her parents, but found herself held back by one of the soldiers. Talia was wide-eyed and angry, but in too much pain to move right away. Her energy was swelling deep within though.

Outside the camp, Guida and Niku were finally getting close. They reached the bridge with the checkpoint and didn't know how to get past that part. It seemed like defences and security had been recently upped as well. There were a lot of soldiers hanging around. Niku and Guida looked around for something to help them out.

"Once inside I'll know the layout, they're always the same," Niku explained to his ally. Guida started to think of an idea and began looking around for something to help him execute his plan.

"We need to find a soldier and steal his suit. You can disguise yourself as one of them and get us in there," Guida finally revealed his plan, even though it was pretty obvious, Niku could pull it off.

"It's worth trying," Niku said as they went off to find what they could.

Talia is hoisted up by a couple of soldiers and her arms bound. This was becoming far too much of a regular occurrence for her. One of the soldiers stepped forward and looked her in the eye.

"You've ripped through quite a few of our soldiers now. You're going to be taken before the Commander of this base, he can deal with you."

Talia glared at the soldier, but didn't say anything. She was still fuming with sheer rage though. The soldier stood up straight and turned to the soldier nearest to him.

"Grab the little girl," He ordered his soldier. The mother started crying out for her daughter. The lead soldier nodded his head towards the mother as a soldier walked over to her. Without any hesitation, the solider shot her in the head. The little girl started screaming again and Talia's eyes widened, again. She didn't know what to do anymore. She just let them drag her and the little girl away.

So, there's part 2. I really like the stuff I put into this part, in regards to Talia's species because, in reality, I haven't touched upon what kind of race she belongs to or where her planet is, but I do know that I'd like to address that at some point in the future, if there's a place for it in this story. If not, I may do a one-shot spin-off or something like that. Who knows?

Either way, thanks for ready. Hope you are enjoying this arc, even though it hasn't features any of our loveable Dragon Ball characters, but I always intended for this story to become more of its own thing. Please leave a review if you want.

Next Time... Chapter 33: Domination Diminished