The Vicious Gods Wrath
Chapter 11: The Scholar of Violence
"You betrayed my father wicked woman! Proclaims the furious prince as he stares down his kneeling and sobbing mother, his hand tightly clenching the blood-soaked knife in his hand. Ignoring the corpse of his usurper uncle at his feet."
Shisami dramatically read the final pages of, Telmah, a classic of antiquity, dating back to the days of the first Galatic King and the founding of his main force, the Galactic Patrol almost 50,000 years prior. A bygone age when the King and his Patrol ranked amongst the most powerful beings in the universe, bringing order and stability to a largely lawless galaxy. But like any old beast forced to carry a weight beyond its years, the King's descendants are weak, and thus came the reason of a new power, the Empire of Freeza though with their leader's decade-long absence, the Planet Trade Organization is a far more fitting term for it now.
With great care, Shisami places the book a few inches away from his profusely sweaty face so as not to damage the paper, finding Telmah on a computer is accomplishable by any fool, but in its original format, in pristine collection no less? People have gone to actual war over such treasured things.
"I had no choice! Yells back the queen defiantly, her rage quickly overturning her fear. Your father was a cruel, horrid man who made my life miserable! The only good thing to come out of our marriage was you!"
"More poisonous lies to push your plans forward! He grabs her by the throat with his blade slowly inching towards her skull. It all ends now!"-
"I must say, this is the last thing I expected to see today!"
The former scholar halts his exercise and glances towards the source of the voice: a floating monitor making its way towards him revealing the unmistakable visage of his leader, the current ruler of the Empire, Sorbet, smirking at him.
"Lord Sorbet! I too wasn't expecting a visit today, much less of someone your caliber!" With a swift efficiency in movement, Shisami returns to a standing position and bows to the monitor with his hands neatly placed at his sides. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company, sir?"
"I have an important but dangerous task which only you may be able to complete for me, but let's not discuss it in such a... impersonal way. Meet me outside."
"Just give me a moment sir," With another bow, the monitor vanishes, temporarily leaving Shisami to his own devices. Wiping the dripping sweat from his body, Shisami mounts his armor's chest piece and through his telekinetic abilities, gingerly raises the book off the ground and into its usual resting place, a sealing unit meant to preserve its pristine condition when it's not being used. Upon leaving the room, he bows again to his waiting master.
With a slight upward motion of his hand, Sorbet prompts him to rise. "Walk with me,"
He complies with the order, following his tiny blue employer through the presently empty hallways of Planet Freeza No. 79, once known as Kanassa. The world once served as the home of the Kanassan race, beings rumored to possess incredible psychic abilities such as reading minds or even seeing into the future. Though the report does not say anything behind the reason for their extermination, Shisami can ascertain it well enough.
The deceased Emperor Freeza saw them as a threat to his rule, and so their fate was sealed.
"It's not every day I see a soldier of the Organization read classical literature, let alone a classic such as Telmah," Sorbet comments after a few moments of silence. "Then again, perhaps not so surprising given your previous profession."
Shisami laughs softly. Momentarily, he recalls the many years spent with his head in a book, scouring even the most remote corners of the 7 High Libraries for even the tiniest scraps of information. From ancient mythologies to theoretical super science, all of these were and to a lesser degree are passions of his. But not the main, recently discovered one. His true calling.
"Indeed, though I've read quite a few superior tales, Telmah has always... Struck a particular cord with me, ever since I was orphaned and left to my own devices."
"How so?"
"Just as Prince Telmah, I too sought the answer to the burning question of my own existence, the existence of all things even in a quest to fill a certain void in my soul. I sought these answers in books, the source of all knowledge in hopes of correcting this, ignoring pleasures of the fleshly world," A smile spreads across his lips. "Then as the Prince in this book, I discovered it in the act of violence! Once I had a taste of battle, the rush and the power it gave me continues to intoxicate me in ways I never felt possible, it is at these moments that I feel the most alive."
"An interesting comparison to make," Sorbet muses. "Though, I always saw his final acts of kin slaying then suicide as a form of escape from his woes."
"For certain," Shisami nods, enjoying the opportunity to discuss literature with another. To say his fellow soldiers lack interest in such things is a grave understatement. But just because a man realizes what he is, does not make him willing to live with the revelation. A great many would rather lie or end themselves than to live true to their nature. I don't intend to do so."
"A decision I am must grateful to you for. As I'm sure you're aware, you've become a valuable asset to the Empire, one of our finest warriors! Strong, intelligent but most importantly loyal!" A shadow suddenly casts itself over Sorbet's face. "Unlike others who showed such promise."
Ah, and so we begin to reach the heart of the matter.
"Tell me, have you ever heard of the Abo & Kado brothers?"
"I've read of their explains. They were among the strongest warriors the organization has ever had along with the Ginyu Force and Lord Freeza himself. I'm also aware of their defection from us a year ago."
"Defect they did," Sorbet face contorts into a permanent grimace."Even with my generous arrangement with them, they opted to abandon us in our time of need to go hunt a myth. For a year, they've evaded us, surprisingly so given the fact they're about as subtle as an exploding sun. Unfortunately for them, their luck has run out."
A sudden fire of anticipation and excitement erupts in Shisami's chest. "You mean... you've found them?"
Though being the most powerful has its benefits, Shisami's great strength has left him without a sufficient adversary to truly test him. If these two are as powerful as the databanks said, they may do just that.
"We believe so, which is precisely why I've come to you." Sorbets direction shifts and he halts before Shisami. "You're the only one with a chance defeating the brothers and returning them to the fold."
"Return them?" His excitement grows at the prospect of permanent, strong fighters to test himself. "But how, my lord? Their allegiances are clearly loose at best."
"Don't concern yourself with that Shisami, I have an idea in mind which will make sure they never disobey me ever again," The grimace morphs into a dangerous smirk, one full of confidence to back the claim.
"When am I to leave for this task?"
"That depends on the success of another task first, one you may be able to accomplish for me."
The smirk falters, and Shisami detects a hint of well but not fully cloaked hesitation concerning this precursor task.
"What I'm about to tell you is highly confidential, only a few of the highest level of authorization know of its existence. Should you choose to accept this task, you will keep any information concerning it to yourself, am I clear?"
The unspoken threat clearly hung in the air, Shisami doesn't mind it, if anything his excitement grows.
"Of course, my lord!" He bows again and Sorbet eyes him in silence, clearly wrestling with his own hesitation rather than any doubts concerning Shisami's loyalty. If that is in question, he'd have never heard of this in the first place.
"There is a project in the works," Sorbet's voice falls into a loud, coarse whisper. "One capable of pushing even an ordinary citizen into levels of power surpassing that of our deceased Lord Freeza."
"Do I not already fit this description?" He wonders out loud as he recalls the official designation of his strength, somewhat over half a million, quite a bit beneath Shisami's current strength. Then, his sharpened mind comes to a fairly obvious conclusion. "Transformations... Lord Freeza had them, didn't he?"
Though not common by any stretch of the imagination, species both primitive and highly advanced capable of transforming themselves were occasionally found in the many tomes Shisami devour. And all of these metamorphoses result in great increases in strength.
"Indeed he was, what our databanks say was but a fraction of his true strength. A level of power far above yours or anyone else' in the past or present of the organization. If I could combine every soldier currently at our disposal, we couldn't match half of it."
Such a strength level momentarily seems preposterous to ever actually exist, but the way Sorbet speaks of it, with absolute certainty, quells these suspicions. "And this project can make someone comparable to Lord Freeza?"
"Even stronger," He states with the same certainty. "Even a simple janitor could attain enough power to rule over the cosmos with an iron fist."
"Such a technology cannot be cheap," Though the databanks never speak of the financial situation of the organization, it's up until recently floundering... everything could only lead to near financial collapse. A single year of turnaround, even one as drastic and effective as this cannot overcome a decade of woes.
"It isn't," His grimace somehow deepens. "But the crux of the problem lies elsewhere. It is a matter of the body. As we've come to learn, only a select few with a particular genetic disposition can undergo the treatment and have their bodies adapt to it properly."
"A requirement I fill."
"Indeed," The worry seeps into Sorbet's voice some more. "But the procedure is highly lethal regardless. To undergo it, your entire bone structure and organs must be carved out and replaced by a series of sophisticated cybernetic replacements. All of which fulfill the functions of the original along with certain other additions to further bolster your strength and eliminate certain... weakness' of the flesh."
"It sounds like a form of torture rather than empowerment the way you describe it, sir," Shisami wryly comments on it, failing to lighten Sorbet's mood. Sensing his hesitation, he decides a different approach. "Is the procedure truly necessary for me to defeat the Abo & Kado brothers?"
"Individually? Yes, but with their powers combined, you are what an ant is to a boot."
"It's not as though I have a choice," Shisami decides to find the cause of his master's hesitation. "I am your servant, master, to do with as you wish so long as my own desires are met. Yet, here we are, discussing it as though I have a choice."
"Ordinarily I wouldn't think twice about simply commanding someone into this, this is true," Sorbet admits with unapologetic bluntness, the kind one can logically expect from a man leading such an organization. "But this is different, you are different. Unlike our past efforts, you are not only strong but have the necessary biological requirement to survive. You are also our strongest soldier and to lose you now would set us back considerably."
Shisami feels as though he's holding something back, some other piece to the puzzle of even greater importance. Another mission, perhaps? One of such secrecy he can't say it even after bringing this cyborg program to light? Regardless, Shisami finds himself undeterred by all of this. The mere fact of him being a simple ant to the brothers only fuels his innermost desire that much more.
"Then I must say, sir, you wasted a great deal of time with this."
A confusing array of emotions momentarily bloom and die across Sorbet's face. Relief, anxiety, anger, disappointment, surprise,... Shisami decides to ease things for him.
"You needn't have spent so much time over proposing this to me, I would have gladly accepted this operation even had you ordered it," He bows to emphasize his words. "Your organization has allowed me to elevate my desire to a level I thought impossible. I will gladly sacrifice this paltry body of mine if I can do so again and to repay my debt to you."
Once more, an avalanche of conflicting emotions graces Sorbet's features yet this time one ultimately wins out: relief.
"Very well then, Shisami, I expect you on the next ship out of this base, the surgery is due in two days."
"If I may sir, I would humbly ask for a favor should this not succeed."
Warily, Sorbet nods. "Speak."
"Should I die on the operating table or at any other point thereafter, I ask that you take care of my book collection. Though they don't bring me the same joy as my true calling, they remain very precious to me and I would see to it that someone who values literature can enjoy them as well."
"It will be done," Sorbet smirks with that same tone of certainty coming back. "As a matter of fact, I happen to know someone of very refined tastes. I'm certain your book collection will not go unappreciated."
I botched a small detail last chapter which I've fixed. Originally, I wanted to make Shisami's fighting career start a few years ago but later changed it to a few months. However, the years comment was left in with the months one so I've corrected that small mistake.