Chapter 48
Preparations for Battle
Tuesday July 1, 2:30 p.m.
Kit was busy exploring the ship. After Roshi had left she had walked around the room and found each of her relatives who had survived. Over half of them had traveled to safety aboard the Phoenix. Kit had always hated space travel, and even on a ship as large as the Phoenix, she was less than comfortable. So it was something of a revelation to think about all the people that had once been crammed into the small compartments.
She had walked into the next and found the beds made up and capsules of food waiting for the potential Saiyan refugees. Considering what she has seen and heard of Ichigo's insistence that no one was going to be evacuated, these preparations must have been done without her knowing. It seemed like classic Roshi, however, Kit doubted Roshi even knew the extent of the work done. 'Hidden heroes all,' Kit had thought as she exited the room.
Kit marveled at how Roshi's family could do so much unseen and unknown with little thought toward reward. However, that secrecy was also a major annoyance to her as it was near impossible to get any of them to actually open up about what they were doing or why they did what they did. It had always been her biggest problem with Roshi.
It was also rather disconcerting to her to realize that Roshi seemed to be trusting Ichigo more than he trusted his normal friends. He might even trust her more than Mariah or even Kit herself.
Kit thought best when she was running. The long corridors and passageways past the various compartments and holds gave her plenty of room to quickly glide a long and still watch for any new signs of her people or their time aboard the vessel.
While the Phoenix itself had been built as something of a super huge pleasure yacht for Bulma, the modular design had allowed it to be used for many things. The current rescue ship part had originally been built as a freight and cargo vessel. According to Roshi, when the call for help from Vulpe had arrived, it was quickly overhauled to be made useful as a hospital and supply ship for the evacuation.
As the extent of the radiation brought by the comet became more apparent, it latter ended up hauling a good number of the sickest and most needy away from Vulpe.
Sadly, even though the vessel was large enough to transport many thousand more than it had, it did not have the ability to support that much life on board. In hall there were plaques hanging on every door. In that hallway she found every door welded shut, never to be opened again. The plaques listed the names of the lost, and the number of unnamed. They stood as a stark reminder that even when one does everything they can, it is sometimes not enough.
The last trip away from the planet some 16,000 people had crammed aboard the ship. The ship's air plant had not been up to the challenge and almost every person on that lowest deck had ended up slowly asphyxiating.
Kit had been to the cemetery where those who had simply died, and those who had been on that fateful deck had been interred. It was a solemn place around which a memorial to all those who never made it off Vulpe had also been built.
Simply being on the Phoenix had at first been a thrill for Kit. The ship had a sort of mythos about it. Even with all those who did not make it, the term Phoenix had come to mean something special to her people.
As the trip advanced closer to Saiya however, Kit was slowly gaining a sense of awe and respect she realized she should have always had for her ancestors and Roshi's family. It perturbed her some to realize that part of the silence, part of the secrets kept by Roshi and his family was to remember those they could not help, and protect the dignity of those they had.
Kit had found a mural painted by a refugee up in one of the top decks. It was the artist's depiction of the comet as it crashed through the purple sky of Vulpe. The mural showed the first attempts to contain the spreading destruction and the later landing of the Phoenix and the rescue attempts on a rapidly freezing and dieing planet. Vulpe's sun had been up in the first area of the mural. There was no mistaking that the color of the sky was what it should have been.
'I never knew our sky was purple.' Kit thought. She had spent several years of her life on Vulpe after her sister had died and before her family moved back to Earth. A small group of specialists were working there constantly to in essence terraform the world back to what it had been. Even with the blue sun shining down, the sky had always been a dark dead gray.
Kit had thought of many things as she ran and was now scouting a new hallway for more signs of her people's past. She was starting to look back at the hall she had just ran through as she rounded a corner and ran into Ichigo who was rapidly walking the opposite direction while massaging her temples and staring at the floor.
Kit jumped and spun out of the way and just barely missed having a head on collision with the Saiyan girl. Even with her fast reflexes she still slammed into Ichigo's shoulder and was thrown into a wall by the impact. Ichigo looked up at the last second but didn't even start to slow down until Kit had already slammed into the wall her.
"Ow." Kit said as she tried to rub her throbbing head and smashed ear with a sprained wrist.
"Where did you come from and how did you jump like that?" Ichigo blurted accusingly before holding up her hand. "Wait, I mean, you reacted before I even realized you were there. You have remarkably fast reflexes." She said as she kneeled down to look into Kit's eyes. "Talk to me so I know you do not have a concussion. Here, follow my finger." She said as she slowly waved a finger in front of Kit's eyes.
Kit winced and blinked a few times. "My reflexes were obviously not good enough. Now help me up, I am not hurt too badly." Kit replied as she started to get up and then wobbly sat back down again.
Ichigo looked worried as she reached over to clamp Kit's head her hands so she could look into Kit's eyes. "Well your eyes are not dilated like they would be if you had a concussion. However, that one ear is bruised. I can see the bruise forming through your fur already. I bet your balance is off from the impact."
Kit glared at Ichigo for telling her what she already knew. "Why is it that I can never sneak up on Roshi cause he can sense me coming, and you can practically mow over me without knowing I am there?"
Ichigo pulled a hand back from where she had placed it on Kit's shoulder and glared at her. "Perhaps because unlike Roshi, I do not think I am omniscient, nor do I act like it."
Kit started laughing. "Roshi doesn't think he is omniscient. He is actually quite the clueless goof. Let me guess, the rubbing of the temples was because of Roshi?"
Ichigo grimaced. "Yes, he is so flustering. You are his friend; you have known him for years correct? Have you ever wanted to just wring his neck?"
Kit's ears perked up a then folded down as she started laughing. Laughing hurt, and folding over her ear hurt worse. "Yes, thousands of times. It is part of his charm I think. So what did he do or tell you that has you so flustered you didn't sense me coming down the halls."
Ichigo glared at her. "This ship blocks ki, besides do you always listen to everything you hear, or take in everything you see? Just because I can sense ki does not mean anything was registering." Ichigo stopped talking and looked around. "Oh and before you say anything, Roshi probably does not have to actively be trying to sense things out with his ki. It is probably second nature to him. I, on the other hand, am fairly new at the skill."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Roshi nearly went bald trying to teach me how to do even the simplest of things with ki."
Ichigo shook her head. "That would never happen, only those with dessert blood go bald and Roshi clearly does not have desert blood."
"It's just a saying. I wasn't being literal."
"Oh, well regardless, he will never go bald."
Kit couldn't help but to reach up and rub her own temples. "Ai yi aye!" She said to herself.
Ichigo cocked an eyebrow at her.
"It is a wonder Roshi hasn't strangled you." Kit replied to answer the unspoken question.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Ichigo demanded as she stood up to glare down at Kit.
Kit slowly rose to her feet to look down at Ichigo. Even if as their impact had proven, Ichigo was harder than a titanium wall, being able to look down and into her eyes felt like it gave Kit just a little bit of equalizing power.
The immediate response by Ichigo was so fast it had to be subconscious. Her hands were already on her hips, but now her fingers clenched tighter. Her stance became more ridged as she quickly set her feet slightly further apart. Her shoulders became stiff and she even arced her back and stuck out her breasts some more as her always nearly perfect posture became even more ramrod straight.
Kit realized that she was suddenly in a war of body language with a Saiyan Princess who she could only hope to beat in a verbal spat. The thought was ludicrous and she started laughing. Even though it hurt she couldn't help and was soon bent over laughing her head off.
Ichigo just stood there and looked at her like she was plum crazy. "Why are you always laughing for no reason? Seems like any time I talk to you, you start laughing and then refuse to tell me why you were laughing. You are almost as confusing as Roshi is."
Kit stopped laughing and looked at Ichigo. She had relaxed back into what was essentially her normal posture.
'I wonder.' Kit thought as she stood up again and then looked down her nose at Ichigo.
Ichigo did it again.
This time however when Kit started laughing Ichigo turned and started walking away. "Forget it. It is not worth the frustration of attempting to get a straight answer. You will no doubt be just as confusing as Roshi just was."
Kit forced herself to stop laughing. "Ichigo please come back. I'll try to explain why I was laughing. Besides, I promised Roshi I would show you something, and I can't very well do that if you are not speaking with me."
Ichigo stopped and slowly turned. "I am tired of people saying they will explain only to confuse me more. If you even attempt to explain your laughing at me by claiming that I am humorous or funny, I think I will be forced to kill you and make slippers out of your pelt."
"That's monstrous! How can you even say that?!?" Kit burst out as she suddenly had images of Ichigo doing just that.
Now, Ichigo was laughing. "That was cruel I admit, but do you honestly think that I have use for anything as useless as slippers?"
Kit tried to picture Ichigo wearing a pair of slippers. An image of her sitting in a big over stuffed chair sipping hot cocoa before a roaring fire came to mind. Soon, she was laughing with Ichigo.
"Roshi said you had a dangerous sense of humor when you cared to use it. I will have to remember that in the future."
Ichigo just smirked. "While I do want to know why you seem to find me so hilarious, I would much prefer your insight on how I should deal with Roshi."
Kit waved her hand at the idea. "Deal with Roshi? Why on Earth would you have to deal with Roshi? Just what did he tell you that has you so uppity?"
Ichigo cocked an eyebrow at her. "We are a long way from Earth."
Kit threw her head back and sighed. "It is a figure of speech! It means there shouldn't be a reason or something like that. Don't Saiyans have any figures of speech? Little sayings?"
Ichigo rolled her eyes. "Yes, but all of ours are about things that make sense. Human sayings pop up all the time and are random."
"Not if you know them! They make perfect sense!"
Ichigo's mouth dropped open as if she was suddenly realizing something for the first time. "You are not human."
"Well duh!" Kit replied exasperatedly, "you couldn't very much make a decent pair of slippers from skinning a Human now could you?"
Ichigo actually had to brace herself against the wall. "I guess I deserved that comment. My statement must seem quite odd to you; however, it seemed the only obvious thing to say in the moment. I just realized that most of my problems with Roshi and his family come from feeling like I am such an outsider. I was never prepared for the culture shock that I have experienced and even after living on the Earth for the past few months if you count the time spent training, I often feel out of place. I at least have some common grounds with Roshi as he is a Saiyan in spirit if not in mind or custom."
Kit finished the line of thought for her. "Where as I am totally alien to not only Roshi and his kin, but the rest of the human culture I have mostly grown up in." Kit shook her head. "Don't worry so much about feeling like and outsider when dealing with Roshi. I have known him for years and I am just starting to understand how he thinks. His family is an enigma. In many ways they exist outside the rules. Now, as far as whether I am myself an outsider? Yeah, there are many things that I am not and cannot be part of because of who I am. But, there are also things that I have that they are not part of. What I have to show you will probably help me explain better than anything else can. Now, what's the problem you have with Roshi?"
Ichigo gave her a hard stare. "The same problem you have with Roshi."
"Huh? The only problem I have with Roshi is... well it has nothing to do with this."
Ichigo shook her head. "Okay, perhaps it is not a problem but you noticed it. You said yourself that you cannot sneak up on him. He notices you coming. Roshi perceives things. Just how much he does see and remember is almost frightening."
"Oh, well that's just Roshi. But tell me what he did that has you so wound up."
"He brought me food."
Alarm bells started going off in Kit's head. Bringing any Saiyan food for any reason was a sure fire way to get prompt attention. Kit was couldn't think of the number of times she had gotten Roshi to do things just by dragging him to a buffet or restaurant.
"He brought you food?"
"Well, it is more then that. I have been thinking about things. A lot of things," She added as if in hindsight. "I was so deep in thought today at the noon meal, that I did not eat as much as normal. Roshi noticed and had Max cook some extra food for me." Ichigo smiled in a way that sent shivers down Kit's spine. It was the same way Mariah smiled whenever Roshi did the slightest thoughtful thing for her!
"He then got me to talk about some of my worries. I do not know how to take what he told me."
Kit nodded knowingly. "Ok, whatever he said was probably about Saiya and none of my business so I won't pry." Kit was hoping that Ichigo was like Roshi and telling her that she wasn't going to pry would loosen the Saiyan Princess's lips so she would tell Kit everything. "But there are two things you need to remember about Roshi."
She held up one finger. "Thing one: Roshi is a clueless goof. He really doesn't know what he is talking about most of the time."
Ichigo seemed to tense up and her face started to flush with anger so Kit hurried to hold up her second finger. "But secondly: You saw Roshi bulking to promise to stay alive so he can go home to Mariah and his other friends. No one is perfect, and everyone lies, but Roshi tries not to. If he told you something directly, then he truly did believe it to be true."
Ichigo had nothing to say but her face relaxed.
"Oh, and I should probably mention this too. The third thing about Roshi is that he is normally so stubborn that anything he believes to be true ends up being true in the end. So even if he doesn't have a clue about what he is talking about, don't second guess whatever it is he told you."
Kit stopped and waited for Ichigo to fill her in on whatever it was Roshi had said.
Ichigo just sucked on her lip for a moment before abruptly raising her hand to her mouth and touching her lip. She turned to look at Kit. "You have cleared a few things up and given me much more to think about. You said you had something to show me?"
Kit felt her shoulders sag. It would do her no good to pry now. "Yeah, follow me."
* * *
5:00
Roshi arrived on time, which is to say he was late for the planning meeting. He was however, not the last person to get there. He was also the only one in room that seemed alive.
"What's with the long faces? The news can't be that bad. Can it?" He asked as he looked around the room.
They were holding the meeting in the bridge lounge. Once used as a small show room and meeting place to discuss the sale of the various cargoes on board, it had served as a nerve center during the evacuation of Vulpe. There were even still some maps of Vulpe showing on a few of the old screens.
Everyone with the exception of Kit, Ichigo, and the healers they had picked up at Namek were present in the room, but only his father looked up at him. "Things could be better. The data from the probes is back, and it is looking fairly grim."
Nail spoke up, "your father has always had a talent for understatement. Show him the map." He said as he pointed to a flimsy sheet of paper Slip was holding.
Roshi realized he had never in his life seen Slip so utterly calm. She was horrified by whatever was on that paper and it had shocked her into a state of white-faced calm.
"Where are Ichigo and Kit?" Roshi asked as he took the Paper from Slip.
"We don't know." Goshu said. "They will be here shortly not doubt."
Roshi nodded and looked down at the paper. He felt his blood freeze.
Preliminary Probe Data:
Four Changelings detected on Planet Saiya.
234,212 other humanoids detected. Computer analysis of Ki patterns indicates that approximately 5,000 to 20,000 of these may be Saiyan plus or minus 5,000.
It then showed a surface scan of the planet indicating were each of the Changelings was and were the concentrations of other life forms were.
Roshi looked up. "We cannot possibly show this to Ichigo."
Goshu looked at him sharply. "And what can we do? Lie to the girl? She deserves to know the truth Roshi. Hiding it from her serves no purpose."
"What about keeping her sane?" Roshi replied incredulously. "If she sees this after everything else that has happened..." Roshi trailed off because the rest of what he said did not need to be spoken.
Boxers held up a hand. "I want to know if this changes our plans any. I mean, we sorta expected a Saiyan Army to be fighting with us in this battle."
Tee spoke up, "I don't mean to sound coward here, but the sensible thing would be to turn around. The map shows it clear as day. The remaining Saiyans are huddled in small areas. It is as though they are confined. Even if we did land, how many of them would be alive by the time we got there to rescue them?"
"Tee!" Roshi gasped. "You can't be serious. How can we turn around now?"
"Because the odds are stacked." Slip said suddenly. "I know I wasn't part of the main fight on Earth but I have heard the tales. Roshi, you needed everyone's help to finish off Snow. What pipe dream are you trying to sell even thinking about taking on four of them at once?"
"What a bunch of yellow bellied cowards we've all suddenly turned into." Max suddenly spoke up to clear the silence that had descended after Slip's question.
"I couldn't have said it better Maxine." Goshu said as he walked over to stand behind Roshi. "We are not about to run away. While that might be prudent and it might be wise, letting the Changelings win without a fight would be the same as saying we agreed with them. They must be stopped. No matter the cost."
Nail shook his head and smirked the way Namekians always did when they found something humorous. "I have not the love of battle that pumps within the savage places of your hearts, however, I would not be doing my brother justice if I let his sacrifice come to such naught."
"Then what's the plan?" Boxers asked humbly.
"When Ichigo gets here we can discuss evacuation. There are enough encapsulated miniships onboard for all 200 million or so people Ichigo said were on Saiya. Since we don't need them all, we won't have to worry about an extended evacuation. However, I think evacuating the planet is the only reasonable coarse of action." Goshu stated as he walked over to a large display screen. "We do not truly need to defeat the Changelings. We can still trick them into believing that we are only Snow returning from battle. Once on the planet we can rescue as many people as time allows and then retreat before the Changelings become too involved."
"Once in space again we can use the gravimetric bomb Boxer's father built to collapse the wormhole and seal the Changelings in their section of the Universe."
"Sounds like a plan," Roshi replied, "but how do we brake the news to Ichigo?"
"Break what news to me?" Ichigo asked as she came into the room with Kit. Kit was laughing about something, and even Ichigo looked like she was in a better mood than Roshi had seen her in a long time. Seeing her smiling there unaware of the horror he knew she had to know sent ice though his heart. 'Oh, Ichigo, why did you have to finally find a sliver of joy now?' Roshi thought to himself as he numbly started to walk over to her.
"This news."
Ichigo took the flimsy from him and looked down at it. She shook the paper once as if she could shake the ink right out of it. Roshi watched as her eyes scanned the page several times. He expected anger, or denial, or tears. He expected some reaction from her. Instead she just blinked a few times and then handed the paper to Kit.
In that moment her walls went back up. In that moment the part of Ichigo that Roshi had tried so hard to bring to the surface hid back in the depths of her soul. Roshi suddenly felt as though he had been cut off. Cut off from what he didn't know, but he felt Ichigo retreat into herself again, and he feared what was happening.
"When do we land?" Ichigo asked calmly.
"Ichigo we need..." Roshi started to say but she cut him off.
Ichigo grabbed the paper back from Kit so fast it made a snapping noise as it was wrenched through the air. "No! Do not!" Ichigo said glaring at him in a display of utter calm yet forceful poise. "Do not even attempt to say any of your words. You speak liquid honey Roshi, but your words cannot fix this!" She said as she held the paper up in front of his face.
"Ichigo." Roshi tried again.
"No. The time for words is past. There are still a few of my people left and I will not rest until they are free. When do we land?" She said looking directly at Goshu.
"As soon as you tell us where you want to go. We can land." Goshu replied calmly.
Ichigo smiled. 'She's lost it. That's the only explanation. She's gone. Only someone who is completely insane could possibly be smiling now.' Roshi thought as his stomach did it's best to tie itself into knots.
"I want one group to land here. This is the Capitol City. The month of Strength just started. It will be cold yet. If this is what it looks like it is then the largest group of survivors will be in the catacombs. What time is it?"
"Ten after five, why?" Slip commented from where she stood looking at a similar map.
Ichigo looked up at her. "Not here you idiot, on Saiya. Saiya has a thirty-six hour day. If we end up fighting in Hayashi during the night it will get well into dangerously low temperatures."
"According to this the sun just rose there." Slip replied. "But shouldn't it be near summer now?"
Ichigo glared at her. "Are you so clueless as to think all planets follow the same seasons as your Earth? While our year ends up being nearly the same length as yours, we have only eight months. Conviction, Honor, Valor, Strength, Pride, Glory, Battle, and Remembrance. In the north, the months of Valor, Strength and Pride are winter months."
"As I was saying before Slip started asking inane questions, the Catacombs are not real catacombs but a huge network of tunnels normally used for training purposes. I told my aunt to hide there if things lead to the worst. I didn't expect her to need to, but it would look as though many others have followed her into hiding."
Ichigo looked at the map again. "The rest of you need to go down here into this southern agricultural region. It would look like they have imprisoned a good portion of the people they have captured down there. Possibly because it is easier to feed them there, or just because that is where they were from. It does not matter."
"And what do we do once we have freed these people? Do you want them transported off the planet?" Goshu asked.
Ichigo glared at Roshi for several seconds. "If they are sick, feeble, or young children, then yes. I expect everyone else will want to help fight."
"That basically sums things up. So who do you want where?" Goshu asked.
Ichigo glanced at the map. "All four of the Changelings are in a volcanic region in the North. They are not far from the Capitol of Hayashi. I will go to Hayashi. I want Roshi, Boxers and Tee with me. We will take Snow's old ship. From what I was able to learn from Banana and then her, I am guessing she meant to capture rather than kill me. It will only seem logical that they would take me directly back to the Capitol."
"The rest of you go free those down South."
"Ok, sounds good."
"Then now starts the battle to free Saiya." Ichigo deadpanned as she turned to head for the docked Changeling ship.
"Wait just one second!" Roshi blurted. "I walked by the galley on the way here. I now Max has something cooking. I think we had better all eat first." He said as he looked at Ichigo.
Ichigo glared back at him. "If we must."
Ichigo lead them without word to the galley. No one spoke a word that evening around the table. Each and every one of the Saiyans going to battle ate more than they normally did. Even Ichigo, Roshi made sure to watch that. They each prepared their minds as they prepared their bodies.
In the battle to come, Roshi knew that they would face death at ever turn. He knew that one way or another the blood of many of the soldiers in the Changeling's Army would be on his hands. He knew he would live with that because it meant the possibility of life for an innocent people. Roshi could not help but fear that they had already lost the battle of the mind. Boxers, Tee, and Slip did not go willingly into this battle. Even worse was how distant Ichigo seemed. She was cold, emotionless, and stoic.
More than anything else, Roshi feared she was already dead. The news had killed her. Her body and mind were going through the motions, but her soul was gone.
* * *
Up on Kaioshin's planet, Goku looked down.
"So they are going to fight?" The Kaioshin asked quietly.
"Yep, the battle will start soon." Goku said sounding just a bit too anxious.
"You know you are not to help them in any way." Kaioshin warned.
"I know. They won't need my help. At least not on Saiya." Goku replied.
Kaioshin had to shake his head. "Your people always were delusional. How you find hope in such a moment is beyond me."
Goku looked over at him. "Which is why I never lost and you constantly fear the loss."
Kaioshin shook his head. "Yes, you. Nothing could stop you. However, my friend I must point out that you will not be fighting today. Not one of those who do has the faith in themselves that you did. When I look into their thoughts I see only fear. Nothing solid can ever be built on fear."
Goku didn't even look at him this time. "Then why do you fear so much?"
"It is my job. And today, I fear I will you will be wrong. The house of cards they have built will not stand. They ran out of time, and they unlike you, have ran out of hope."
Goku shook his head sadly. "We shall see. I'll still bet on them." Goku said as he watched as the two ships separated and entered the Firbald Wormhole.
Within a few hours they would know which of the two would be right.
*******
Thank you for reading. Please Review.
The Smooster.
