3
GCS Dante, Outer Sol System
1705 Hours
Resa's face made his heart skip a beat—it had been doing that a lot lately. Now, however, was no time for sentiment; the tone in her voice was deadly serious.
"Yes, Colonel?" said Jake to the image of Resa floating in the holo-screen.
"As of 1705 hours, GCS standard time, I'm declaring an emergency on board the Acies. Probable Necron infiltration team." Resa's black eyes were piercing, her voice as cool as ice water. It wasn't probability she was expressing: it was certainty. A sinking feeling developed in the pit of Jake's stomach.
"What's your status?"
"We're dead in space. Engines went offline fifteen minutes ago, followed by a complete loss of main power. Internal sensors are offline, and I've lost contact with decks twenty-two through thirty."
Jake did not like the sound of this. If he remembered the schematics of a Dartim-class cruiser correctly, a third of the ship had already been lost.
"How far are you from the rendezvous point?" asked Jake.
"We're still three days out."
Jake did some quick math. At top speed, it would take them at least another...week to reach her. Damnit, she didn't have that kind of time. When he spoke again to the holo-Resa, he felt helpless.
"Colonel, at top speed we're—" Resa waved him off.
"I know, sir. But we don't have that long. Our only chance is to get the engines back online and hold out in engineering for as long as we can. I've already got a team working on it, and we're moving supplies and personnel down there as fast as we can. We'll try to reinforce the bulkheads, but I don't know how much good that'll do." Someone off screen called for Resa's attention and she turned to address them.
The brief respite set Jake's mind running. The layout of a Dartim-class Cruiser reappeared in his head, and his mind's eye zoomed to engineering. Yes...it wasn't great, but it was the best they could do. The engineering section was the largest and most shielded part of the ship. At least they'd be able to see the Necrons coming. Light-years away, Resa dismissed with a curse whoever was pestering her and returned her attention to Jake.
"No one has as of yet reported contact with the 'Necs, but that's probably because they were all killed before they could get a word out. At last count, we have reports that over two dozen people are missing."
"Missing" of course meant dead or dying. Necron infiltration teams were stealthy, crafty, and insidious, never attacking openly until they were certain to win—almost the exact opposite of their front line brethren. Resa was by far the strongest on the ship—almost certainly stronger than any of the individual Necrons—but an entire Necron team at once was too much for even Resa to handle. And she knew it.
"Resa..." Jake's voice trailed off.
"Not now," said Resa, "I know what we have to do. We'll hold out for as long as we-" Resa's image and voice disappeared for a moment as the connection was interrupted. When it returned, her face was basked in the eerie red glow of emergency lights. "Shit! That explosion took out primary communications and astrogation." The screen began to distort and crackle. "Secondary comm. is fading. Alright, Jake, we gotta get going."
Jake was deeply concerned, but now was not the time to let it show. "Okay, get to it. But Resa..."
"What?" Resa asked impatiently.
"Don't die on me."
Her mouth curved into her cocky Saiyan smile. "I won't." The screen went blank.
Jake punched up engineering on the comm. "Chief Vrakan."
"Yes, colonel?"
"I need you to increase our speed to max. Then give me 30% more."
"Uh, sir?"
"It's the Acies, she's in trouble."
"Aye, sir. I'll see what I can do."
The colonel leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, and ran his hand through his hair. There had to be something more he could do. Even at 130%, they were still days away. The situation looked hopeless until he recalled that Vegeta's lady friend, Bulga or Boogla or something, was a scientific genius. He quickly made his way to her quarters and roused her from her slumber with the shrill ring from the doorbell. Bulma answered the door, groggy and half-dressed, to find Sabre standing at the entrance impatiently.
"What do you know about engines?" he asked her.
"What?"
"Can you make this ship go faster?"
"I, I don't know. I mean, I could try, but I don't-"
"That's good enough for me. Get dressed. I'll grab you a stim on the way to engineering."
Bulma didn't have much of a choice. She threw on a pair of blue jeans and a white T-shirt, pulled her hair back, grabbed her shoes and followed Sabre. They stopped on the medical deck to grab the stim, which looked like a small syringe without the needle. He took her forearm with one hand and put the syringe to it with the other, using his thumb to depress the plunger. Bulma hardly felt anything.
"When does this kick in?" she asked.
"You'll see."
A moment later, she was awash with a feeling of euphoria, and uncontrollably laughing. A rational corner of her mind wanted to voice this, but couldn't get out anything more specific than a series of gagging utterances. Sabre, somehow, seemed to understand anyway.
"Don't worry, it'll pass." Sabre decided that now would not be the time to mention that he'd accidentally given her a dosage meant to be used on Saiyans. Oh well, she'd just come down hard and probably sleep for two days, but she'd be in the zone for the next twenty-four hours. Hopefully it would be enough.
"Whoa, you're right!" Bulma exclaimed second later. "I feel like...I don't know, I have so much energy. I feel like I could shoot it out of my hands!" Bulma stuck her hands together—an imitation of Goku's Kamehameha wave stance—and pointed it at the nearest bulkhead, giggling furiously. Sabre gently put her hands to her sides and gave her a gentle nudge onward.
"You can try that later. Right now we have to get to engineering."
"Oh, yeah, sure," Bulma said, intently looking at her palms.
Sabre took the energized woman down to engineering, with her practically skipping the whole way. When the arrived, he introduced her to Chief Engineer Vrakan and Warrant Officer Transa. Vrakan and Transa were Danti, and as such their elongated, bald heads and diminutive stature made them look like reptilian midgets. Bulma commented on this, but Sabre was quick to inform them she was hopped up on stims. The Danti clicked something to each other then Vrakan addressed Bulma in standard.
"Well, green-haired woman, what do you know about faster-than-light shipdrives?" Bulma actually stood still for one moment before exploding into a whirlwind of narrative.
"Um, well, I think I think I think what you gotta do is create a warp field around the ship in order to pull it through space and to do that you'll need some sorta massive power source and field generator to form the warp bubble and then you gotta keep the field calibrated and in alignment otherwise the ship will be torn apart and that would be bad we were working on that back on Earth but we could never solve the issue of field alignmentbutIguessyouguyshaveitsolved." The two Danti stood immobile for a moment, not sure whether they were supposed to be impressed or afraid. Watching her go on like that was really hypnotizing. Transa broke his trance first and tried to appease the beaming woman.
"You are more or less, correct," said Transa. He motioned to Bulma to come over to the control station. "Take a look at what we have here. We're trying to increase field output and raise the rate of fusion in the FTL antechambers..."
Sabre left them to their work and jargon. He took the lift back up to the bridge where the night crew was quietly monitoring their stations. All was quiet. The Dante had left the solar system hours ago and was now traveling through the void between stars. Aside from the occasional nebula or asteroid, these areas were filled with absolute nothingness.
And Resa was out there.
Jake now had to fight the urge to fidget and squirm in his chair, forcing his body to be still while his mind was raging. Above all things, he hated to be powerless, and in this situation that was exactly what he was. He debated whether to waken his slumbering passengers, but decided that it would be best to let them sleep. He could brief them in the morning before another training session, and hopefully by then the improvised engineering team could give him a better option than finding the Acies a ghost ship.
He didn't sleep, and probably wouldn't for quite some time. So he stewed. The night passed without incident, and Sabre received only a few status reports from engineering, most of them noting Bulma's enthusiasm, intelligence, and current state of hyperactivity. The team was considering some radical things, most of them proposed by the rambling genius human. By the time Jake went to waken his passengers, Bulma and the Thrakans had nearly finished a working theoretical model.
Most of the team was in the shower when he arrived to rouse them. The fact that they were nearly ready pleased him, and he decided not to awaken Eve; there was no reason to have her around except to complicate matters. He lead the team to the mess hall, and there they ate a variety of nutrient and energy-packed pastes. Goku was surprised at the flavor and texture of the meal.
"Wow, this is really good stuff," he said, while squeezing an entire tube of red paste into his mouth.
The rest of the group was more tentative, but soon finished the tubes they were allotted. Vegeta was eating alone, mumbling something about the presumption that a prince should eat with paupers. Piccolo sat with the rest, and was given a tube as well, only this one, it was explained to him, was metabolized directly into his body after putting it in his mouth, allowing for the Namek's lack of any real digestive track. Even 18, sitting across from Krillin, decided to eat, if only to fit in.
There was some small talk, but for the most part they were silent. Jake knew that they probably talked quite a bit last night, and were anticipating what would come next. Getting up from the table, he announced to them the schedule for the day.
"Alright people, there has been a slight change of plans. From here, we're going to a briefing, as there has been an unexpected development. After that, we'll go back to training. Today you will learn who your enemy really is."
When everyone had disposed of their trays, they followed Sabre to a mid- level deck near the bridge. Obviously the briefing room, it was large enough to fit them all, with seats to spare. Along the starboard side of the room ran a long rectangular window, giving the group a beautiful panorama of space. Since the warp drives were taken offline, the ship had exited FTL space and the view was taken up by an azure binary star system. The earthlings were enthralled by the sight. Vegeta looked bored.
"Alright, I have some news for you all. At 1700 hours yesterday evening, I receive a distress call from the GCS Acies, the ship we are supposed to rendezvous with. They are dead in space, and are under siege by a Necron infiltration team. Currently, Bulma and the ship's engineers are working on a way to get us to the Acies's position faster. Which means that when we arrive, we will be boarding the ship to rescue any survivors. You'll be fighting Necrons."
Krillin looked nervous. "Do you think we're ready? We only just got here yesterday."
"You'll have to be ready."
Vegeta looked incredulous. "Can't you handle these creatures all by yourself?"
"Base on their power levels, yes, I should. But Necron infiltration teams work differently. I'll need you all there to watch my back. They operate as a team, and never attack alone unless they are sure to kill quickly. It's not their sheer strength I'm worried about, but their craft. Working as a team, we should be able to take back the ship without trouble. Getting there in time will be the hard part."
"Well, if anyone can make a machine better, it's Bulma," Goku offered.
"I certainly hope so. Now," Jake said, changing subjects, "I hope you all are quick studies, because we have a lot of information to get through, and not much time to do it in."
Sabre pushed a button on the table and the lights dimmed. A viewscreen descended from the ceiling and flickered to life. It was positioned directly in the center of the room, and could be viewed from either side. Sabre entered a few commands into the system, and a picture of a black alien appeared on the screen.
"This is a Necron. We have been unable to communicate with them in any way. All attempts at peaceful contact have resulted in the destruction of our envoy. What you are seeing is a standard infantryman."
The black figure was certainly intimidating. It was covered with a variety of devices that were attached to its armor. It had four appendages, two of them legs and two arms, and it stood upright with a straightened spine, which made it bipedal. A scale next to the creature read it to be seven and a half feet tall. Its head was completely bald with a series of jagged lines crisscrossing its skull. Set into it were blood red eyes and noting else, not even a feeding hole to speak of. Its forearms were covered with an external, symmetrical, jagged bone structure. In its hands was a large gun unfamiliar to any of the warriors.
"They aren't too much to worry about, and have a power level of only about fifty thousand or so. The guns they carry are much more effective however, and are equivalent to a blast from a warrior with a power level of about a million. Even en masse, they pose little threat to warriors of our caliber."
Sabre flashed through a few more pictures of lower-class warriors and described their various strengths and weaknesses. He didn't spend too much time on them however, because that job would fall to regular army and marine units. He stopped at an image of a rather small looking fighter with a large, almost spherical head.
"Okay, this one is particularly nasty. They're not fighters, but support units with psychic abilities. They transmit false images in your minds, distorting reality. There is almost no way to distinguish the false images from reality. They can make you believe anything. If you see one of these guys, take 'em out as fast as you can."
"How is that possible?" asked Tien. "Chaotzu had limited psychic abilities, but nothing like that."
Jake sighed. "We're not entirely sure. At least, I'm not. All information regarding telepathy is classified information locked away in PsyCorps."
Yamcha noticed something Sabre had said. "You said there is 'almost' no way to distinguish those false images they send?"
"Normally, there isn't unless you have received intensive mental training from a high-level teep. The only other way is for us to have our own telepathic transmitters in the field with us, blocking their signals.
The image on the screen changed. It was a blurry figure, one the group immediately recognized. It was the Necron that followed Sabre to Earth.
"Assassin/Infiltration unit," Sabre informed them. "There aren't any discernable features separating the two except in how they operate. Assassins work alone, whereas the infiltrators work in teams of six to nine. All are moderately strong, and are extremely capable fighters. They only engage in direct combat when cornered, otherwise, they rely on stealth and sabotage to achieve their goals." Sabre repositioned the image on the screen and enhanced the magnification to 2x. "As you can see by their picture, they use some sort of energy system or their ki to mask their appearance. We haven't been able to determine which. This Necron was caught in a transition phase, otherwise the camera would have picked up nothing. They do not mask their ki, but project it all around, making it difficult to track them, but it can be done. From what I've seen, you've mastered that art in your own training."
"So, we won't see them, but we should be able to feel them coming?" Piccolo asked.
"Right."
Piccolo grunted, thinking about the implications it would have on the techniques he chose to use.
The briefing continued, and the group familiarized themselves with their new enemy. It was certainly a different experience, being given information before hand going into battle. They learned which Necrons were leaders, which ones to ignore, which weapons to watch out for, and how to identify friendly targets without visual contact.
Jake saved the most sobering information for last.
"Now, we come to the only Necrons we have not been able to study or defeat. The ones that destroyed my team." An edge was creeping into his voice, but he tried his best to keep it in check. He forwarded the images until he came to a crisp shot of a Necron cyborg in action.
Standing at over nine feet tall, it looked sleek and deadly. A grid was placed over its body, separating it into two layers. The interior layer displayed thin tubes interwoven through its musculature, snaking their way all over the Necron's body. The readout showed that it wore no armor, but instead had a superdense exoskeleton into which the tubes fed. The outer skeleton was broken at joints, allowing the creature to maintain free range of motion. Unlike the bulky and misshapen regular infantry, the cyborg had a perfectly rounded head with only two dull, robotic red eyes and the usual absence of any ears, nose, or mouth. Two ribbed, thick tubes ran from either side of its lower skull into its neck, at the nape of which was a circular implant that looked to be a jack of some sort. Its exposed skin looked completely smooth, but upon magnification, it resembled fine-grain sandpaper.
Its torso was V-shaped, broad shoulders and back tapering to a narrow pivot for a waist, allowing its legs to face both forward and backwards. A superdense, synaptic-linked rod served as its spinal column that terminated in the pivot. Its hands had only three cybernetic fingers and an opposable thumb that could connect to a variety of armaments, ranging from physical shields to energy canons. Its shielded limbs looked formidable, as the exoskeleton came to smooth, sharp edges along its ventral surfaces.
Sabre could sense the intensity with which the group was studying the image. He was glad they appreciated the importance of the information he was providing them. To be forewarned was to be forearmed. And they would need all the armament they could get in this war.
"So, these are their ultimate creations?" Vegeta asked, a hint of a challenge in his voice.
"Yes. They're unrelenting. They will give you no quarter, no respite. They will not gloat and they will not falter. If you are their target, they won't stop until you're dead. If you're in their way, they'll remove you."
Vegeta spoke up again. "So, I take it you weren't their target? You're still standing here."
The question was supposed to insult his pride, and it did, but Sabre didn't let it show. "No, we weren't. On Rigel VII they went after the planetary shield generators and then the command staff."
Piccolo wasn't happy with the lack of information about this opponent. "Is there anything else you can tell us about them? This report is less detailed than the rest. You did fight them and survive, after all. What insight can you give us?"
The question pleased Sabre. It showed initiative. "For starters, those rigid-looking tubes in its neck aren't rigid at all. I landed a lucky right hook on one of the bastards, and its neck spun damn near all the way around. Blocking hits from these things isn't easy, either. As you can see, their exoskeleton comes to sharp edges on its limbs, and I'm damned sure those sonsabitches are monomolecualr so that when they strike with their forearms and legs, the blows will cut. Try to counter with deflection blows, if you can. Unfortunately, I don't have much more than that. My fight with them didn't last long."
The group was silent for a moment, then Gohan asked, "There won't be any of those cyborgs on that ship, right?"
"No. The report I received described activity indicative of an infiltration team." Jake paused for a moment and surveyed the warriors. He knew they were still trying to absorb the enormity of the situation, so close to another titanic battle of their own, against another seemingly invincible enemy. It was now his job to encourage them. "Don't worry; I'm not going to put you into a situation I don't think you're ready to handle. You all are an exceptional group of fighters, among the best I have ever seen. I've studied your battles in the past, and the progress you've made over the years is nothing short of remarkable. I'm not going to let you down; this is my war too."
Nearly everyone appreciated his sentiments, except for the ever-surly Saiyan Prince. "Bah! Save your tripe for the children. Where do these abominations come from, anyway? The Saiyan Empire never fought anything resembling these creatures."
"Well, Vegeta, we haven't been able to determine exactly where they came from. We know they came from beyond the galactic rim. Whether they were spawned in the void, or they came from another galaxy, we don't know. We haven't been able to get any ships out there. What we do know is that this isn't the first time they've been in our part of space. Ancient records in the Tycho system indicate that the forerunners of this galaxy encountered them long ago, but only obtuse and vague references exist."
"Wow, this big," Yamcha said, letting out a sigh.
"Yes, yes it is. But, we have to take it one day at a time. I've covered all I wanted to for today. Now it's time to get back to training. Any questions?"
There were none. Sabre knew that had plenty stewing in their minds, but were not yet comfortable enough to ask them. The bonding process would be a difficult one. He knew it wouldn't be until their first engagement that walls would start to come down.
"Fine then. Make your way down to the training deck. I'll be down in a few minutes."
The entire group left the room at once, with the exception of Trunks, who stayed back to talk to Sabre alone. He approached the severe looking man tentatively.
"Uh, sir, I just wanted to know something."
The human looked at the half-Saiyan, and saw a face that had seen its own share of tragedy and destruction.
"Of course."
"How bad is it?"
"Do you really want to know?"
Trunks averted his eyes. "I've spent my whole life fighting against forces stronger than me. I'm no stranger to the ugly truth."
"It's bad. Real bad. We're outnumbered by at least four-to-one on all fronts. If we can't stop them soon, we'll have to begin evacuation of our home system."
"Where will you go?"
"As far away as possible. We don't know if they'll follow us. If they do, we'll try to scatter across the void, but eventually, they'll find us. And that will be the end."
"The end of what?"
"Everything." Jake looked out at the swirling star system. Trunks did as well. They both understood that feeling all too well.
The two stood in silence for quite some time.
Trunks finally asked, "Can we really make a difference?"
Jake had to convince himself that they could. "I believe that we can try. I gained my ability to transform when I was your age. That feels like a lifetime ago. It defied all logic, and all known science. What I became should not have been possible. What we are trying to do now is defying all logic, and defying all the odds. Our victory should not be possible. And yet, here we are. And I think that says it all."
The purple-haired teen nodded his head, turned, and left the room.
By the end of their conversation, everyone else was in the training room warming up. Vegeta and Goku were the first to start up, followed by the humans who commenced a three-way spar. When Sabre arrived a few minutes after Trunks, he took charge of the group.
"Today I'm dividing us up into three groups. The humans are with me in the first third of the room. The Saiyans will take the far third of the room, and Piccolo and 18 the middle third. I'm going to set the gravity to one hundred times normal at the far end and sixty times normal in the middle." The group would later find out that 'normal' gravity in the Tycho system was approximately one and a half times greater than Earth standard "We'll be training at twenty," he said, looking at the humans, who looked a bit embarrassed to be at such a low level. "The rest of you, train as you see fit. I will not interfere with you."
Vegeta resumed his fight with Goku at the far end wordlessly, leaving Gohan and Trunks together by default. Piccolo removed his weighted clothes and began his session with 18. Sabre motioned to a camera, and the sections of the chamber became visibly distorted with the increase in gravity. The blows from the other side of the room echoed strangely back to the humans.
"Hey, I know we're not as strong as the others, but I know we can handle more that twenty gees." Tien said, arms crossed.
"I know you can. But from what I gathered from my transformation, it occurred in here, and not out here," Sabre said, motioning to his head and body, respectively. "I honestly can't tell you what the trigger was. I wish I could. You'll have to find it within yourself. Just know that it is there. Now, let's begin with some floating meditation."
The humans shot each other looks of uncertainty, but did as they were told. Jake led them as best he could through their mental exercises, knowing that he could only show them the door; it would be up to them to figure out how to unlock it.
Noise from the rest of the chamber increased as time progressed, the fighters increasing their power levels evenly over time. Piccolo and 18 went at each other with calculated precision, only exchanging a few words here and there. Neither had anything to say to the other. A few hours in, Piccolo was nearing his maximum power level, and was mildly surprised that 18 kept up. He'd had a slight advantage over her twin in their previous encounter, but knew that his strength had significantly increased since leaving the room of spirit and time. The only explanation he could come up with was that 18 had somehow become stronger while inside Cell, perhaps taking some of his power with her when she was removed. The Namek pondered the implications of this and other aspects of the cyborg during the rest of their session. Whether she could be trusted or not remained to be seen.
Goku and Vegeta's sparring was going as well as could be expected. The intensity of their fight steadily increased, fueled by both men for different reasons. Goku's jovial and friendly competition only aggravated the Saiyan Prince, who insisted upon staking his honor in all of their skirmishes. When Goku used an unfamiliar combination of strikes and broke through Vegeta's defenses, knocking him into a bulkhead, the smaller Saiyan enraged himself into a Super Saiyan. And thus began their combat anew.
While Gohan and Trunks were training less intensively, they eventually transformed as well, if only to better avoid the stray blows and blasts from the other pair's duel. The increased gravity affected their performance, especially their ki beams, forcing the warriors to arc their blasts higher and lead further. The added strain on their bodies put more emphasis on focusing their energy and making their blows more precise. The Super Saiyans were surprised to find themselves tiring six hours into the training, unaware that they were actually enveloped in one hundred fifty times normal gravity.
On the opposite end of the chamber, hovering along the wall, the four humans, eyes closed, were deep into a linked meditation. This mental state differed from normal meditation in that the four minds each received a mental projection and sent one of their own. It was not telepathy, because it was a purely subconscious exercise, and each had to struggle to maintain their own metal integrity while sustaining the input from the other three. Sabre explained to them that it was a relatively new technique devised by a GCS R&D section, and would become easier as they grew accustomed to each other's minds.
Hours into the meditation, they were still only forming tentative connections at best, but there was a wealth of information and self- discovery laid before them.
Tien was the closest of the Earthlings to achieving a balance within his mind. Normal meditation had long ago become a matter of routine, but the addition of three other psyches into his mind was another matter altogether. They appeared to him as grainy figures, evidence of the tenuous situation. They would fade in and out of his vision as they struggled to anchor themselves in each other's minds. Sabre's white figure was the most prominent and clear. Tien could sense that he was trying to lead him towards something, but exactly what wasn't clear. After what seemed like an interminable amount of time, Sabre pulled out of the link, momentarily stunning the other three and causing them to fall to the ground.
"What did you do that for?" Tien asked, standing up.
Sabre rolled his neck. "Times up. It's been ten hours."
"Really? Man, it seemed like...I don't know, but not ten hours," Krillin said, surprised at the passage of time. He rubbed his head.
Sure enough, the others had finished their sparring and were leaning or sitting against the walls, including 18, whose energy core was shunting most of its power to regenerate and recuperate her spent body.
Yamcha rubbed his temples. "I don't know about you guys, but I feel drained, through and through."
"Yes, you should be exhausted. This was not an easy exercise. I didn't think it would last all the way through. Your minds are more developed than I thought," Sabre said.
Tien looked at Sabre. "Our training has always included some mental activities. But nothing like this."
"Interesting," was the reply.
After a few moment of silence, Tien asked, "So, what to we do now?"
Sabre looked past the other humans, down to the far end of the chamber, and yelled, "Alright everyone, we're done for the day. If there is any progress down in engineering, I'll let you know. Do as you wish, I'll be on the bridge." With that, he left the chamber.
"That guy is one cold stone," Krillin observed.
Tien sighed. "Yeah, he's not exactly buddying up with us. But, that mental link we were doing was one hell of an exercise. I felt like I almost got the hang of it near the end."
Yamcha was surprised. "Really man? I couldn't get the hang of it. I kept jumping all over the place."
"Well, we could try it again later, just the three of us," Tien proposed.
Yamcha rubbed his neck and looked down. "Huh? No way man, I got a killer headache."
Krillin was of a similar mindset. "Yeah, that was pretty intense, I just wanna rest up before we try again."
Tenshinhan was disappointed; he always wanted to push himself further. Unfortunately, his friends weren't as eager.
"Alright guys, I understand." Tien looked over at Goku, who was coming back towards them with the others staggered behind him. "How'd it go for you guys?"
"Pretty good. I think we got a good work out in, right Vegeta?"
Vegeta glowered. "If by workout you mean pounding your face, then yes, it was good. You're lucky I don't strike you down now, Kakkarot."
"Heh, I guess so! Chi-chi would be awfully mad at you, though."
The Saiyan prince grunted and walked past Goku, who had stopped with the humans, and out of the chamber.
"So, what were you guys doing over here? I felt some weird power fluctuations."
"Mental training," Tien responded. "Apparently, us humans' strength lies in our minds, or so Sabre tells us."
"Huh, is that so?" Goku thought about it for a moment. "I guess it makes sense. I always wondered why your Kikoho put out so much more energy than your body seemed to have. And your Kienzan too, Krillin."
Gohan came up behind his father, Trunks at his side. "Hey dad, I'm gonna shower and then find mom."
"Okay, son. I'll see you later. Don't get lost!"
Gohan rolled his eyes and left the room, followed wordlessly by 18, who shot a glance at Krillin, but keeping her usual look of icy detachment on her face.
"You know Krillin," Yamcha said, his face breaking into a grin, "I think she likes you."
The tiny man's cheeks turned bright red. "What are you talking about? I don't, I mean, she doesn't, I mean..." he continued to stammer until Goku mercifully cut him off.
"It's okay Krillin. We all know something's up. You should go and talk to her. She's real pretty."
"A pretty good killing machine," Trunks interjected flatly. "I wouldn't be alone with her, if I were you." The teen clenched his fists at the memory of the 18 of his time.
Goku noticed his tension, and tried to defuse it. "Trunks, I don't think she's like the one you know. She's been acting a lot differently, right? She's not exactly friendly, but, she hasn't tried to hurt us, er, recently."
His efforts were in vain. "It doesn't mean she won't try."
With that, the purple-haired teen left the chamber.
Krillin ran his hands over his bald head. "Well, he still holds a grudge."
"I think you would too, if you grew up the way he did," Tien said.
Piccolo, who had been standing in the middle of the chamber, finally made his way over to the group. "You know, he was out with the human girl the other night. They didn't return until the early morning."
"How do you know that?" Krillin asked.
"I heard them," the Namek responded, pointing to his ears. "I also heard Chi-Chi's incessant blabbering. I don't know how you put up with it, Goku."
The Saiyan laughed. "Oh, it's not that bad, once you get used to it. Sort of like training in high gravity. Man that felt good."
"Do you think this training is going to get us anywhere?" Piccolo asked Goku.
"I don't know. Hard to tell from just the first two days. I think they're just watching us, trying to figure out our strengths and weaknesses."
"Yeah, probably being all scientific about it," Yamcha said. "I remember for the longest time Bulma wanted to poke and prod me, but I wouldn't have any part of it."
Tien couldn't resist the opportunity. "Yeah, but now Vegeta does all the poking and prodding, right buddy?"
While the others laughed, Yamcha was half-heartedly indignant. "That was low, man."
"This is nice, you guys. Just like old times," Goku said, reminiscing.
"Except Piccolo isn't trying to kill us anymore," Krillin added.
Tien looked Goku in the eyes. "If Sabre can get us up to his level, I'd sure love to have a rematch of the 24th Budokai."
Goku smiled back. "I'd like that."
Tenshinhan had always wanted to go against Goku again, but ever since Radditz landed on Earth, Goku had been ahead by leaps and bounds. His warrior spirit was very similar to Goku's and he trained nearly as much, but his body was far more limited than the Saiyan's. He was able to strengthen the effect of some of his attacks, but it had been a long time since he could go blow to blow with his friendly rival.
When the group eventually left the chamber, Eve had already found Trunks, who was coming out of the shower.
"Ooo, my, don't we have a hot bod," she said coyly, squeezing his arm.
The blood rushed to the teen's face, as well as to a certain lower extremity.
"Heh, uh, um, I'll be right back, I'm just gonna, uh, change..." Trunks side- stepped and scurried out of the restroom as fast as possible. His towel nearly dropped, and Eve whistled to herself at the view from the rear. She clicked her tongue and walked to his room.
"Knock knock," she said, after opening his door. Trunks was fumbling around, trying to get his shirt on. Normally a simple process, but now it confounded him. Eve approached him, and helped pull his t-shirt down, keeping her hands on his hips.
"So, how was training today?"
"It was, uh, good."
"I came down to the training deck, and popped into the control room for a bit. You all looked like you were hard at work."
"Yeh- yeah. We were."
Eve removed her hands from Trunks's hips and sat down on a nearby mattress. "You guys do anything else today?"
"Uh, yeah, we had a briefing. Sabre talked to us all about the Necrons, we studied images, and uh, stuff."
"Sabre, huh? Like a sword. I guess that would make him sharp. His real name is Jake, you know."
"Oh, ah, no, I didn't." Trunks began to feel that strange sensation in his head again.
"So, what about those Necrons, anything interesting?" Eve asked.
"Uh, not, really, other than that they're evil, and destroying planets."
The sensation became stronger, and it felt as if something was pulling his head forward.
Eve stared at him intently, as if she expected him to say something.
"So, you guys are really going to fight them?"
"Yeh- yes."
"Think you can beat 'em?"
"I, uh, I don't know. But we'll try." Trunks felt his head begin to swim.
"So, you don't even know if you'll be able to stop them?"
"No, I don't, but," Trunks paused and rubbed his temples, "but, it's our duty to help."
"Really, huh? How noble." Eve curled her hair around her finger. A moment later, Trunks's discomfort faded. "You know what I want to do now?"
Trunks shook his head.
"I wanna go to engineering."
"But, um, is that really a good idea? What if we-"
"Oh, you mamma's boys with all your what ifs! Come on!"
Eve sprightly leapt off the bed and pulled Trunks out the door, his hair still wet. They rounded the corner to the lift when Eve ran directly into Vegeta's back, and bouncing off and onto the floor.
Vegeta turned around, arms crossed, a frown on his face. "Well if it isn't the happy couple."
"Oh, hi, uh, Vegeta." Trunks gently helped Eve off the floor.
The human girl had a smirk on her face. "So, this is your father? He's not very tall."
"You had better watch your tongue, girl," the Saiyan said, narrowing his eyes.
"Oh, I apologize," she said sarcastically, bowing deeply, "I meant no offense to his lordship."
Trunks leaned in towards the girl. "Why are you doing this, Eve?"
"Your insolence is amusing, for a human child. Why shouldn't I crush beneath my feet right now?"
The purple-haired teen clenched his fist, preparing to stop his father from doing anything rash.
"Because, you didn't do it to your sassy human girlfriend, did you?"
A look of surprise crossed Vegeta's face. "What? Wait! Damn you, get out of my head!"
Eve laughed.
The elder Saiyan turned to his son from the future, stomped towards him, and pulled him down the hall with an iron grip. When they stopped, Vegeta released his grip.
"What the hell was that for?"
Vegeta slapped the teen. "Don't you dare talk to me like that, boy," he growled. "Do you know what that girl is capable of? She's a goddamn telepath. You're staying away from her from now on."
Trunks matched his eyes with Vegeta. "You are not in the position to tell me anything. You didn't raise me, and I'll be damned if you're going to try to tell me what to do," the teen half-yelled.
Before Vegeta could respond, Trunks stormed away, taking Eve with him to the lift. Vegeta remained where he was, feeling a mixture of anger, relief, and concern. He was glad that the boy finally took a stand against him, but was concerned that he had only done so because of some girl. He'd have to keep an eye on them, especially because of the girl's psychic abilities. She could not be trusted.
Three decks below and falling, Trunks and Eve stood silently in the lift. The former was surprised by his reaction to his father. He hadn't said anything like that before, although he'd thought about it more than once. Why did he jump to Eve's defense so quickly? He hardly knew her, and yet Vegeta's words infuriated him. What's more, he was right to caution him about the girl's potential threat. He finally began to see the connection between his headaches and Eve. He decided to deal with the matter immediately.
"Eve, have the strange feelings in my head been because of you?"
She turned and looked at winked at him.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, Trunks my dear, I'm not going to lie to you. Yes, I have been messing around in your head. I'm sorry, I just can't help myself." Eve curled her lower lip outward moved in close to him, "Please forgive me."
Trunks pushed her away. "No, stop." He half expected her to flip out, as it would match her bizarre behavior, but she merely let out a soft chuckle.
"Oh, you're right. I shouldn't toy with you like this. I'm sorry. This is just how I've had to get by. I know, I don't have to any more...old habits are hard to break, you know?"
Trunks let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, I know."
The lift came to a stop and the door whirred open. Trunks motioned her to go ahead of him, when she turned and kissed him on the lips. It was his first kiss. Before he could say anything, Eve put a finger over his mouth.
"I just think you're sweet, that's all. You're a nice guy. I haven't met one in a long time. Don't say anything. Just walk with me." She took his arm in hers and they walked out of the lift down a long corridor. Trunks's heart and mind were racing at a mile a minute, but he dared not say anything; it would have come out as rambling anyway.
Eve kept a lazy smile on her face, but her mind was churning as well. Something inside her was pulling her to engineering, the same part of her that always wanted to look inside everyone's mind. As they approached the engineering section, her heart began to race, and she squeezed Trunks arm tighter. She didn't even bother to think about the signal she was sending to the boy, this was something much greater. By the time they entered main engineering, her legs were weak. When they came before the engine core, something she instinctively knew, she stopped, staring at the vibrant, multi-colored energy whirl behind the transparent casing.
"Trunks! Honey, what are you doing here?" Bulma skipped over to her son from the future. "Oh, it doesn't matter, it's perfect timing! We've solved it!"
"Solved what?"
"We can fold space! We can get to the Acies! Sabre's coming down now!"
"Oh. Uh, great, I guess."
Eve didn't hear any of this. She simply stared at the energy vortex before her, oblivious to the world around here. It wouldn't be long now.
GCS Dante, Outer Sol System
1705 Hours
Resa's face made his heart skip a beat—it had been doing that a lot lately. Now, however, was no time for sentiment; the tone in her voice was deadly serious.
"Yes, Colonel?" said Jake to the image of Resa floating in the holo-screen.
"As of 1705 hours, GCS standard time, I'm declaring an emergency on board the Acies. Probable Necron infiltration team." Resa's black eyes were piercing, her voice as cool as ice water. It wasn't probability she was expressing: it was certainty. A sinking feeling developed in the pit of Jake's stomach.
"What's your status?"
"We're dead in space. Engines went offline fifteen minutes ago, followed by a complete loss of main power. Internal sensors are offline, and I've lost contact with decks twenty-two through thirty."
Jake did not like the sound of this. If he remembered the schematics of a Dartim-class cruiser correctly, a third of the ship had already been lost.
"How far are you from the rendezvous point?" asked Jake.
"We're still three days out."
Jake did some quick math. At top speed, it would take them at least another...week to reach her. Damnit, she didn't have that kind of time. When he spoke again to the holo-Resa, he felt helpless.
"Colonel, at top speed we're—" Resa waved him off.
"I know, sir. But we don't have that long. Our only chance is to get the engines back online and hold out in engineering for as long as we can. I've already got a team working on it, and we're moving supplies and personnel down there as fast as we can. We'll try to reinforce the bulkheads, but I don't know how much good that'll do." Someone off screen called for Resa's attention and she turned to address them.
The brief respite set Jake's mind running. The layout of a Dartim-class Cruiser reappeared in his head, and his mind's eye zoomed to engineering. Yes...it wasn't great, but it was the best they could do. The engineering section was the largest and most shielded part of the ship. At least they'd be able to see the Necrons coming. Light-years away, Resa dismissed with a curse whoever was pestering her and returned her attention to Jake.
"No one has as of yet reported contact with the 'Necs, but that's probably because they were all killed before they could get a word out. At last count, we have reports that over two dozen people are missing."
"Missing" of course meant dead or dying. Necron infiltration teams were stealthy, crafty, and insidious, never attacking openly until they were certain to win—almost the exact opposite of their front line brethren. Resa was by far the strongest on the ship—almost certainly stronger than any of the individual Necrons—but an entire Necron team at once was too much for even Resa to handle. And she knew it.
"Resa..." Jake's voice trailed off.
"Not now," said Resa, "I know what we have to do. We'll hold out for as long as we-" Resa's image and voice disappeared for a moment as the connection was interrupted. When it returned, her face was basked in the eerie red glow of emergency lights. "Shit! That explosion took out primary communications and astrogation." The screen began to distort and crackle. "Secondary comm. is fading. Alright, Jake, we gotta get going."
Jake was deeply concerned, but now was not the time to let it show. "Okay, get to it. But Resa..."
"What?" Resa asked impatiently.
"Don't die on me."
Her mouth curved into her cocky Saiyan smile. "I won't." The screen went blank.
Jake punched up engineering on the comm. "Chief Vrakan."
"Yes, colonel?"
"I need you to increase our speed to max. Then give me 30% more."
"Uh, sir?"
"It's the Acies, she's in trouble."
"Aye, sir. I'll see what I can do."
The colonel leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, and ran his hand through his hair. There had to be something more he could do. Even at 130%, they were still days away. The situation looked hopeless until he recalled that Vegeta's lady friend, Bulga or Boogla or something, was a scientific genius. He quickly made his way to her quarters and roused her from her slumber with the shrill ring from the doorbell. Bulma answered the door, groggy and half-dressed, to find Sabre standing at the entrance impatiently.
"What do you know about engines?" he asked her.
"What?"
"Can you make this ship go faster?"
"I, I don't know. I mean, I could try, but I don't-"
"That's good enough for me. Get dressed. I'll grab you a stim on the way to engineering."
Bulma didn't have much of a choice. She threw on a pair of blue jeans and a white T-shirt, pulled her hair back, grabbed her shoes and followed Sabre. They stopped on the medical deck to grab the stim, which looked like a small syringe without the needle. He took her forearm with one hand and put the syringe to it with the other, using his thumb to depress the plunger. Bulma hardly felt anything.
"When does this kick in?" she asked.
"You'll see."
A moment later, she was awash with a feeling of euphoria, and uncontrollably laughing. A rational corner of her mind wanted to voice this, but couldn't get out anything more specific than a series of gagging utterances. Sabre, somehow, seemed to understand anyway.
"Don't worry, it'll pass." Sabre decided that now would not be the time to mention that he'd accidentally given her a dosage meant to be used on Saiyans. Oh well, she'd just come down hard and probably sleep for two days, but she'd be in the zone for the next twenty-four hours. Hopefully it would be enough.
"Whoa, you're right!" Bulma exclaimed second later. "I feel like...I don't know, I have so much energy. I feel like I could shoot it out of my hands!" Bulma stuck her hands together—an imitation of Goku's Kamehameha wave stance—and pointed it at the nearest bulkhead, giggling furiously. Sabre gently put her hands to her sides and gave her a gentle nudge onward.
"You can try that later. Right now we have to get to engineering."
"Oh, yeah, sure," Bulma said, intently looking at her palms.
Sabre took the energized woman down to engineering, with her practically skipping the whole way. When the arrived, he introduced her to Chief Engineer Vrakan and Warrant Officer Transa. Vrakan and Transa were Danti, and as such their elongated, bald heads and diminutive stature made them look like reptilian midgets. Bulma commented on this, but Sabre was quick to inform them she was hopped up on stims. The Danti clicked something to each other then Vrakan addressed Bulma in standard.
"Well, green-haired woman, what do you know about faster-than-light shipdrives?" Bulma actually stood still for one moment before exploding into a whirlwind of narrative.
"Um, well, I think I think I think what you gotta do is create a warp field around the ship in order to pull it through space and to do that you'll need some sorta massive power source and field generator to form the warp bubble and then you gotta keep the field calibrated and in alignment otherwise the ship will be torn apart and that would be bad we were working on that back on Earth but we could never solve the issue of field alignmentbutIguessyouguyshaveitsolved." The two Danti stood immobile for a moment, not sure whether they were supposed to be impressed or afraid. Watching her go on like that was really hypnotizing. Transa broke his trance first and tried to appease the beaming woman.
"You are more or less, correct," said Transa. He motioned to Bulma to come over to the control station. "Take a look at what we have here. We're trying to increase field output and raise the rate of fusion in the FTL antechambers..."
Sabre left them to their work and jargon. He took the lift back up to the bridge where the night crew was quietly monitoring their stations. All was quiet. The Dante had left the solar system hours ago and was now traveling through the void between stars. Aside from the occasional nebula or asteroid, these areas were filled with absolute nothingness.
And Resa was out there.
Jake now had to fight the urge to fidget and squirm in his chair, forcing his body to be still while his mind was raging. Above all things, he hated to be powerless, and in this situation that was exactly what he was. He debated whether to waken his slumbering passengers, but decided that it would be best to let them sleep. He could brief them in the morning before another training session, and hopefully by then the improvised engineering team could give him a better option than finding the Acies a ghost ship.
He didn't sleep, and probably wouldn't for quite some time. So he stewed. The night passed without incident, and Sabre received only a few status reports from engineering, most of them noting Bulma's enthusiasm, intelligence, and current state of hyperactivity. The team was considering some radical things, most of them proposed by the rambling genius human. By the time Jake went to waken his passengers, Bulma and the Thrakans had nearly finished a working theoretical model.
Most of the team was in the shower when he arrived to rouse them. The fact that they were nearly ready pleased him, and he decided not to awaken Eve; there was no reason to have her around except to complicate matters. He lead the team to the mess hall, and there they ate a variety of nutrient and energy-packed pastes. Goku was surprised at the flavor and texture of the meal.
"Wow, this is really good stuff," he said, while squeezing an entire tube of red paste into his mouth.
The rest of the group was more tentative, but soon finished the tubes they were allotted. Vegeta was eating alone, mumbling something about the presumption that a prince should eat with paupers. Piccolo sat with the rest, and was given a tube as well, only this one, it was explained to him, was metabolized directly into his body after putting it in his mouth, allowing for the Namek's lack of any real digestive track. Even 18, sitting across from Krillin, decided to eat, if only to fit in.
There was some small talk, but for the most part they were silent. Jake knew that they probably talked quite a bit last night, and were anticipating what would come next. Getting up from the table, he announced to them the schedule for the day.
"Alright people, there has been a slight change of plans. From here, we're going to a briefing, as there has been an unexpected development. After that, we'll go back to training. Today you will learn who your enemy really is."
When everyone had disposed of their trays, they followed Sabre to a mid- level deck near the bridge. Obviously the briefing room, it was large enough to fit them all, with seats to spare. Along the starboard side of the room ran a long rectangular window, giving the group a beautiful panorama of space. Since the warp drives were taken offline, the ship had exited FTL space and the view was taken up by an azure binary star system. The earthlings were enthralled by the sight. Vegeta looked bored.
"Alright, I have some news for you all. At 1700 hours yesterday evening, I receive a distress call from the GCS Acies, the ship we are supposed to rendezvous with. They are dead in space, and are under siege by a Necron infiltration team. Currently, Bulma and the ship's engineers are working on a way to get us to the Acies's position faster. Which means that when we arrive, we will be boarding the ship to rescue any survivors. You'll be fighting Necrons."
Krillin looked nervous. "Do you think we're ready? We only just got here yesterday."
"You'll have to be ready."
Vegeta looked incredulous. "Can't you handle these creatures all by yourself?"
"Base on their power levels, yes, I should. But Necron infiltration teams work differently. I'll need you all there to watch my back. They operate as a team, and never attack alone unless they are sure to kill quickly. It's not their sheer strength I'm worried about, but their craft. Working as a team, we should be able to take back the ship without trouble. Getting there in time will be the hard part."
"Well, if anyone can make a machine better, it's Bulma," Goku offered.
"I certainly hope so. Now," Jake said, changing subjects, "I hope you all are quick studies, because we have a lot of information to get through, and not much time to do it in."
Sabre pushed a button on the table and the lights dimmed. A viewscreen descended from the ceiling and flickered to life. It was positioned directly in the center of the room, and could be viewed from either side. Sabre entered a few commands into the system, and a picture of a black alien appeared on the screen.
"This is a Necron. We have been unable to communicate with them in any way. All attempts at peaceful contact have resulted in the destruction of our envoy. What you are seeing is a standard infantryman."
The black figure was certainly intimidating. It was covered with a variety of devices that were attached to its armor. It had four appendages, two of them legs and two arms, and it stood upright with a straightened spine, which made it bipedal. A scale next to the creature read it to be seven and a half feet tall. Its head was completely bald with a series of jagged lines crisscrossing its skull. Set into it were blood red eyes and noting else, not even a feeding hole to speak of. Its forearms were covered with an external, symmetrical, jagged bone structure. In its hands was a large gun unfamiliar to any of the warriors.
"They aren't too much to worry about, and have a power level of only about fifty thousand or so. The guns they carry are much more effective however, and are equivalent to a blast from a warrior with a power level of about a million. Even en masse, they pose little threat to warriors of our caliber."
Sabre flashed through a few more pictures of lower-class warriors and described their various strengths and weaknesses. He didn't spend too much time on them however, because that job would fall to regular army and marine units. He stopped at an image of a rather small looking fighter with a large, almost spherical head.
"Okay, this one is particularly nasty. They're not fighters, but support units with psychic abilities. They transmit false images in your minds, distorting reality. There is almost no way to distinguish the false images from reality. They can make you believe anything. If you see one of these guys, take 'em out as fast as you can."
"How is that possible?" asked Tien. "Chaotzu had limited psychic abilities, but nothing like that."
Jake sighed. "We're not entirely sure. At least, I'm not. All information regarding telepathy is classified information locked away in PsyCorps."
Yamcha noticed something Sabre had said. "You said there is 'almost' no way to distinguish those false images they send?"
"Normally, there isn't unless you have received intensive mental training from a high-level teep. The only other way is for us to have our own telepathic transmitters in the field with us, blocking their signals.
The image on the screen changed. It was a blurry figure, one the group immediately recognized. It was the Necron that followed Sabre to Earth.
"Assassin/Infiltration unit," Sabre informed them. "There aren't any discernable features separating the two except in how they operate. Assassins work alone, whereas the infiltrators work in teams of six to nine. All are moderately strong, and are extremely capable fighters. They only engage in direct combat when cornered, otherwise, they rely on stealth and sabotage to achieve their goals." Sabre repositioned the image on the screen and enhanced the magnification to 2x. "As you can see by their picture, they use some sort of energy system or their ki to mask their appearance. We haven't been able to determine which. This Necron was caught in a transition phase, otherwise the camera would have picked up nothing. They do not mask their ki, but project it all around, making it difficult to track them, but it can be done. From what I've seen, you've mastered that art in your own training."
"So, we won't see them, but we should be able to feel them coming?" Piccolo asked.
"Right."
Piccolo grunted, thinking about the implications it would have on the techniques he chose to use.
The briefing continued, and the group familiarized themselves with their new enemy. It was certainly a different experience, being given information before hand going into battle. They learned which Necrons were leaders, which ones to ignore, which weapons to watch out for, and how to identify friendly targets without visual contact.
Jake saved the most sobering information for last.
"Now, we come to the only Necrons we have not been able to study or defeat. The ones that destroyed my team." An edge was creeping into his voice, but he tried his best to keep it in check. He forwarded the images until he came to a crisp shot of a Necron cyborg in action.
Standing at over nine feet tall, it looked sleek and deadly. A grid was placed over its body, separating it into two layers. The interior layer displayed thin tubes interwoven through its musculature, snaking their way all over the Necron's body. The readout showed that it wore no armor, but instead had a superdense exoskeleton into which the tubes fed. The outer skeleton was broken at joints, allowing the creature to maintain free range of motion. Unlike the bulky and misshapen regular infantry, the cyborg had a perfectly rounded head with only two dull, robotic red eyes and the usual absence of any ears, nose, or mouth. Two ribbed, thick tubes ran from either side of its lower skull into its neck, at the nape of which was a circular implant that looked to be a jack of some sort. Its exposed skin looked completely smooth, but upon magnification, it resembled fine-grain sandpaper.
Its torso was V-shaped, broad shoulders and back tapering to a narrow pivot for a waist, allowing its legs to face both forward and backwards. A superdense, synaptic-linked rod served as its spinal column that terminated in the pivot. Its hands had only three cybernetic fingers and an opposable thumb that could connect to a variety of armaments, ranging from physical shields to energy canons. Its shielded limbs looked formidable, as the exoskeleton came to smooth, sharp edges along its ventral surfaces.
Sabre could sense the intensity with which the group was studying the image. He was glad they appreciated the importance of the information he was providing them. To be forewarned was to be forearmed. And they would need all the armament they could get in this war.
"So, these are their ultimate creations?" Vegeta asked, a hint of a challenge in his voice.
"Yes. They're unrelenting. They will give you no quarter, no respite. They will not gloat and they will not falter. If you are their target, they won't stop until you're dead. If you're in their way, they'll remove you."
Vegeta spoke up again. "So, I take it you weren't their target? You're still standing here."
The question was supposed to insult his pride, and it did, but Sabre didn't let it show. "No, we weren't. On Rigel VII they went after the planetary shield generators and then the command staff."
Piccolo wasn't happy with the lack of information about this opponent. "Is there anything else you can tell us about them? This report is less detailed than the rest. You did fight them and survive, after all. What insight can you give us?"
The question pleased Sabre. It showed initiative. "For starters, those rigid-looking tubes in its neck aren't rigid at all. I landed a lucky right hook on one of the bastards, and its neck spun damn near all the way around. Blocking hits from these things isn't easy, either. As you can see, their exoskeleton comes to sharp edges on its limbs, and I'm damned sure those sonsabitches are monomolecualr so that when they strike with their forearms and legs, the blows will cut. Try to counter with deflection blows, if you can. Unfortunately, I don't have much more than that. My fight with them didn't last long."
The group was silent for a moment, then Gohan asked, "There won't be any of those cyborgs on that ship, right?"
"No. The report I received described activity indicative of an infiltration team." Jake paused for a moment and surveyed the warriors. He knew they were still trying to absorb the enormity of the situation, so close to another titanic battle of their own, against another seemingly invincible enemy. It was now his job to encourage them. "Don't worry; I'm not going to put you into a situation I don't think you're ready to handle. You all are an exceptional group of fighters, among the best I have ever seen. I've studied your battles in the past, and the progress you've made over the years is nothing short of remarkable. I'm not going to let you down; this is my war too."
Nearly everyone appreciated his sentiments, except for the ever-surly Saiyan Prince. "Bah! Save your tripe for the children. Where do these abominations come from, anyway? The Saiyan Empire never fought anything resembling these creatures."
"Well, Vegeta, we haven't been able to determine exactly where they came from. We know they came from beyond the galactic rim. Whether they were spawned in the void, or they came from another galaxy, we don't know. We haven't been able to get any ships out there. What we do know is that this isn't the first time they've been in our part of space. Ancient records in the Tycho system indicate that the forerunners of this galaxy encountered them long ago, but only obtuse and vague references exist."
"Wow, this big," Yamcha said, letting out a sigh.
"Yes, yes it is. But, we have to take it one day at a time. I've covered all I wanted to for today. Now it's time to get back to training. Any questions?"
There were none. Sabre knew that had plenty stewing in their minds, but were not yet comfortable enough to ask them. The bonding process would be a difficult one. He knew it wouldn't be until their first engagement that walls would start to come down.
"Fine then. Make your way down to the training deck. I'll be down in a few minutes."
The entire group left the room at once, with the exception of Trunks, who stayed back to talk to Sabre alone. He approached the severe looking man tentatively.
"Uh, sir, I just wanted to know something."
The human looked at the half-Saiyan, and saw a face that had seen its own share of tragedy and destruction.
"Of course."
"How bad is it?"
"Do you really want to know?"
Trunks averted his eyes. "I've spent my whole life fighting against forces stronger than me. I'm no stranger to the ugly truth."
"It's bad. Real bad. We're outnumbered by at least four-to-one on all fronts. If we can't stop them soon, we'll have to begin evacuation of our home system."
"Where will you go?"
"As far away as possible. We don't know if they'll follow us. If they do, we'll try to scatter across the void, but eventually, they'll find us. And that will be the end."
"The end of what?"
"Everything." Jake looked out at the swirling star system. Trunks did as well. They both understood that feeling all too well.
The two stood in silence for quite some time.
Trunks finally asked, "Can we really make a difference?"
Jake had to convince himself that they could. "I believe that we can try. I gained my ability to transform when I was your age. That feels like a lifetime ago. It defied all logic, and all known science. What I became should not have been possible. What we are trying to do now is defying all logic, and defying all the odds. Our victory should not be possible. And yet, here we are. And I think that says it all."
The purple-haired teen nodded his head, turned, and left the room.
By the end of their conversation, everyone else was in the training room warming up. Vegeta and Goku were the first to start up, followed by the humans who commenced a three-way spar. When Sabre arrived a few minutes after Trunks, he took charge of the group.
"Today I'm dividing us up into three groups. The humans are with me in the first third of the room. The Saiyans will take the far third of the room, and Piccolo and 18 the middle third. I'm going to set the gravity to one hundred times normal at the far end and sixty times normal in the middle." The group would later find out that 'normal' gravity in the Tycho system was approximately one and a half times greater than Earth standard "We'll be training at twenty," he said, looking at the humans, who looked a bit embarrassed to be at such a low level. "The rest of you, train as you see fit. I will not interfere with you."
Vegeta resumed his fight with Goku at the far end wordlessly, leaving Gohan and Trunks together by default. Piccolo removed his weighted clothes and began his session with 18. Sabre motioned to a camera, and the sections of the chamber became visibly distorted with the increase in gravity. The blows from the other side of the room echoed strangely back to the humans.
"Hey, I know we're not as strong as the others, but I know we can handle more that twenty gees." Tien said, arms crossed.
"I know you can. But from what I gathered from my transformation, it occurred in here, and not out here," Sabre said, motioning to his head and body, respectively. "I honestly can't tell you what the trigger was. I wish I could. You'll have to find it within yourself. Just know that it is there. Now, let's begin with some floating meditation."
The humans shot each other looks of uncertainty, but did as they were told. Jake led them as best he could through their mental exercises, knowing that he could only show them the door; it would be up to them to figure out how to unlock it.
Noise from the rest of the chamber increased as time progressed, the fighters increasing their power levels evenly over time. Piccolo and 18 went at each other with calculated precision, only exchanging a few words here and there. Neither had anything to say to the other. A few hours in, Piccolo was nearing his maximum power level, and was mildly surprised that 18 kept up. He'd had a slight advantage over her twin in their previous encounter, but knew that his strength had significantly increased since leaving the room of spirit and time. The only explanation he could come up with was that 18 had somehow become stronger while inside Cell, perhaps taking some of his power with her when she was removed. The Namek pondered the implications of this and other aspects of the cyborg during the rest of their session. Whether she could be trusted or not remained to be seen.
Goku and Vegeta's sparring was going as well as could be expected. The intensity of their fight steadily increased, fueled by both men for different reasons. Goku's jovial and friendly competition only aggravated the Saiyan Prince, who insisted upon staking his honor in all of their skirmishes. When Goku used an unfamiliar combination of strikes and broke through Vegeta's defenses, knocking him into a bulkhead, the smaller Saiyan enraged himself into a Super Saiyan. And thus began their combat anew.
While Gohan and Trunks were training less intensively, they eventually transformed as well, if only to better avoid the stray blows and blasts from the other pair's duel. The increased gravity affected their performance, especially their ki beams, forcing the warriors to arc their blasts higher and lead further. The added strain on their bodies put more emphasis on focusing their energy and making their blows more precise. The Super Saiyans were surprised to find themselves tiring six hours into the training, unaware that they were actually enveloped in one hundred fifty times normal gravity.
On the opposite end of the chamber, hovering along the wall, the four humans, eyes closed, were deep into a linked meditation. This mental state differed from normal meditation in that the four minds each received a mental projection and sent one of their own. It was not telepathy, because it was a purely subconscious exercise, and each had to struggle to maintain their own metal integrity while sustaining the input from the other three. Sabre explained to them that it was a relatively new technique devised by a GCS R&D section, and would become easier as they grew accustomed to each other's minds.
Hours into the meditation, they were still only forming tentative connections at best, but there was a wealth of information and self- discovery laid before them.
Tien was the closest of the Earthlings to achieving a balance within his mind. Normal meditation had long ago become a matter of routine, but the addition of three other psyches into his mind was another matter altogether. They appeared to him as grainy figures, evidence of the tenuous situation. They would fade in and out of his vision as they struggled to anchor themselves in each other's minds. Sabre's white figure was the most prominent and clear. Tien could sense that he was trying to lead him towards something, but exactly what wasn't clear. After what seemed like an interminable amount of time, Sabre pulled out of the link, momentarily stunning the other three and causing them to fall to the ground.
"What did you do that for?" Tien asked, standing up.
Sabre rolled his neck. "Times up. It's been ten hours."
"Really? Man, it seemed like...I don't know, but not ten hours," Krillin said, surprised at the passage of time. He rubbed his head.
Sure enough, the others had finished their sparring and were leaning or sitting against the walls, including 18, whose energy core was shunting most of its power to regenerate and recuperate her spent body.
Yamcha rubbed his temples. "I don't know about you guys, but I feel drained, through and through."
"Yes, you should be exhausted. This was not an easy exercise. I didn't think it would last all the way through. Your minds are more developed than I thought," Sabre said.
Tien looked at Sabre. "Our training has always included some mental activities. But nothing like this."
"Interesting," was the reply.
After a few moment of silence, Tien asked, "So, what to we do now?"
Sabre looked past the other humans, down to the far end of the chamber, and yelled, "Alright everyone, we're done for the day. If there is any progress down in engineering, I'll let you know. Do as you wish, I'll be on the bridge." With that, he left the chamber.
"That guy is one cold stone," Krillin observed.
Tien sighed. "Yeah, he's not exactly buddying up with us. But, that mental link we were doing was one hell of an exercise. I felt like I almost got the hang of it near the end."
Yamcha was surprised. "Really man? I couldn't get the hang of it. I kept jumping all over the place."
"Well, we could try it again later, just the three of us," Tien proposed.
Yamcha rubbed his neck and looked down. "Huh? No way man, I got a killer headache."
Krillin was of a similar mindset. "Yeah, that was pretty intense, I just wanna rest up before we try again."
Tenshinhan was disappointed; he always wanted to push himself further. Unfortunately, his friends weren't as eager.
"Alright guys, I understand." Tien looked over at Goku, who was coming back towards them with the others staggered behind him. "How'd it go for you guys?"
"Pretty good. I think we got a good work out in, right Vegeta?"
Vegeta glowered. "If by workout you mean pounding your face, then yes, it was good. You're lucky I don't strike you down now, Kakkarot."
"Heh, I guess so! Chi-chi would be awfully mad at you, though."
The Saiyan prince grunted and walked past Goku, who had stopped with the humans, and out of the chamber.
"So, what were you guys doing over here? I felt some weird power fluctuations."
"Mental training," Tien responded. "Apparently, us humans' strength lies in our minds, or so Sabre tells us."
"Huh, is that so?" Goku thought about it for a moment. "I guess it makes sense. I always wondered why your Kikoho put out so much more energy than your body seemed to have. And your Kienzan too, Krillin."
Gohan came up behind his father, Trunks at his side. "Hey dad, I'm gonna shower and then find mom."
"Okay, son. I'll see you later. Don't get lost!"
Gohan rolled his eyes and left the room, followed wordlessly by 18, who shot a glance at Krillin, but keeping her usual look of icy detachment on her face.
"You know Krillin," Yamcha said, his face breaking into a grin, "I think she likes you."
The tiny man's cheeks turned bright red. "What are you talking about? I don't, I mean, she doesn't, I mean..." he continued to stammer until Goku mercifully cut him off.
"It's okay Krillin. We all know something's up. You should go and talk to her. She's real pretty."
"A pretty good killing machine," Trunks interjected flatly. "I wouldn't be alone with her, if I were you." The teen clenched his fists at the memory of the 18 of his time.
Goku noticed his tension, and tried to defuse it. "Trunks, I don't think she's like the one you know. She's been acting a lot differently, right? She's not exactly friendly, but, she hasn't tried to hurt us, er, recently."
His efforts were in vain. "It doesn't mean she won't try."
With that, the purple-haired teen left the chamber.
Krillin ran his hands over his bald head. "Well, he still holds a grudge."
"I think you would too, if you grew up the way he did," Tien said.
Piccolo, who had been standing in the middle of the chamber, finally made his way over to the group. "You know, he was out with the human girl the other night. They didn't return until the early morning."
"How do you know that?" Krillin asked.
"I heard them," the Namek responded, pointing to his ears. "I also heard Chi-Chi's incessant blabbering. I don't know how you put up with it, Goku."
The Saiyan laughed. "Oh, it's not that bad, once you get used to it. Sort of like training in high gravity. Man that felt good."
"Do you think this training is going to get us anywhere?" Piccolo asked Goku.
"I don't know. Hard to tell from just the first two days. I think they're just watching us, trying to figure out our strengths and weaknesses."
"Yeah, probably being all scientific about it," Yamcha said. "I remember for the longest time Bulma wanted to poke and prod me, but I wouldn't have any part of it."
Tien couldn't resist the opportunity. "Yeah, but now Vegeta does all the poking and prodding, right buddy?"
While the others laughed, Yamcha was half-heartedly indignant. "That was low, man."
"This is nice, you guys. Just like old times," Goku said, reminiscing.
"Except Piccolo isn't trying to kill us anymore," Krillin added.
Tien looked Goku in the eyes. "If Sabre can get us up to his level, I'd sure love to have a rematch of the 24th Budokai."
Goku smiled back. "I'd like that."
Tenshinhan had always wanted to go against Goku again, but ever since Radditz landed on Earth, Goku had been ahead by leaps and bounds. His warrior spirit was very similar to Goku's and he trained nearly as much, but his body was far more limited than the Saiyan's. He was able to strengthen the effect of some of his attacks, but it had been a long time since he could go blow to blow with his friendly rival.
When the group eventually left the chamber, Eve had already found Trunks, who was coming out of the shower.
"Ooo, my, don't we have a hot bod," she said coyly, squeezing his arm.
The blood rushed to the teen's face, as well as to a certain lower extremity.
"Heh, uh, um, I'll be right back, I'm just gonna, uh, change..." Trunks side- stepped and scurried out of the restroom as fast as possible. His towel nearly dropped, and Eve whistled to herself at the view from the rear. She clicked her tongue and walked to his room.
"Knock knock," she said, after opening his door. Trunks was fumbling around, trying to get his shirt on. Normally a simple process, but now it confounded him. Eve approached him, and helped pull his t-shirt down, keeping her hands on his hips.
"So, how was training today?"
"It was, uh, good."
"I came down to the training deck, and popped into the control room for a bit. You all looked like you were hard at work."
"Yeh- yeah. We were."
Eve removed her hands from Trunks's hips and sat down on a nearby mattress. "You guys do anything else today?"
"Uh, yeah, we had a briefing. Sabre talked to us all about the Necrons, we studied images, and uh, stuff."
"Sabre, huh? Like a sword. I guess that would make him sharp. His real name is Jake, you know."
"Oh, ah, no, I didn't." Trunks began to feel that strange sensation in his head again.
"So, what about those Necrons, anything interesting?" Eve asked.
"Uh, not, really, other than that they're evil, and destroying planets."
The sensation became stronger, and it felt as if something was pulling his head forward.
Eve stared at him intently, as if she expected him to say something.
"So, you guys are really going to fight them?"
"Yeh- yes."
"Think you can beat 'em?"
"I, uh, I don't know. But we'll try." Trunks felt his head begin to swim.
"So, you don't even know if you'll be able to stop them?"
"No, I don't, but," Trunks paused and rubbed his temples, "but, it's our duty to help."
"Really, huh? How noble." Eve curled her hair around her finger. A moment later, Trunks's discomfort faded. "You know what I want to do now?"
Trunks shook his head.
"I wanna go to engineering."
"But, um, is that really a good idea? What if we-"
"Oh, you mamma's boys with all your what ifs! Come on!"
Eve sprightly leapt off the bed and pulled Trunks out the door, his hair still wet. They rounded the corner to the lift when Eve ran directly into Vegeta's back, and bouncing off and onto the floor.
Vegeta turned around, arms crossed, a frown on his face. "Well if it isn't the happy couple."
"Oh, hi, uh, Vegeta." Trunks gently helped Eve off the floor.
The human girl had a smirk on her face. "So, this is your father? He's not very tall."
"You had better watch your tongue, girl," the Saiyan said, narrowing his eyes.
"Oh, I apologize," she said sarcastically, bowing deeply, "I meant no offense to his lordship."
Trunks leaned in towards the girl. "Why are you doing this, Eve?"
"Your insolence is amusing, for a human child. Why shouldn't I crush beneath my feet right now?"
The purple-haired teen clenched his fist, preparing to stop his father from doing anything rash.
"Because, you didn't do it to your sassy human girlfriend, did you?"
A look of surprise crossed Vegeta's face. "What? Wait! Damn you, get out of my head!"
Eve laughed.
The elder Saiyan turned to his son from the future, stomped towards him, and pulled him down the hall with an iron grip. When they stopped, Vegeta released his grip.
"What the hell was that for?"
Vegeta slapped the teen. "Don't you dare talk to me like that, boy," he growled. "Do you know what that girl is capable of? She's a goddamn telepath. You're staying away from her from now on."
Trunks matched his eyes with Vegeta. "You are not in the position to tell me anything. You didn't raise me, and I'll be damned if you're going to try to tell me what to do," the teen half-yelled.
Before Vegeta could respond, Trunks stormed away, taking Eve with him to the lift. Vegeta remained where he was, feeling a mixture of anger, relief, and concern. He was glad that the boy finally took a stand against him, but was concerned that he had only done so because of some girl. He'd have to keep an eye on them, especially because of the girl's psychic abilities. She could not be trusted.
Three decks below and falling, Trunks and Eve stood silently in the lift. The former was surprised by his reaction to his father. He hadn't said anything like that before, although he'd thought about it more than once. Why did he jump to Eve's defense so quickly? He hardly knew her, and yet Vegeta's words infuriated him. What's more, he was right to caution him about the girl's potential threat. He finally began to see the connection between his headaches and Eve. He decided to deal with the matter immediately.
"Eve, have the strange feelings in my head been because of you?"
She turned and looked at winked at him.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, Trunks my dear, I'm not going to lie to you. Yes, I have been messing around in your head. I'm sorry, I just can't help myself." Eve curled her lower lip outward moved in close to him, "Please forgive me."
Trunks pushed her away. "No, stop." He half expected her to flip out, as it would match her bizarre behavior, but she merely let out a soft chuckle.
"Oh, you're right. I shouldn't toy with you like this. I'm sorry. This is just how I've had to get by. I know, I don't have to any more...old habits are hard to break, you know?"
Trunks let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, I know."
The lift came to a stop and the door whirred open. Trunks motioned her to go ahead of him, when she turned and kissed him on the lips. It was his first kiss. Before he could say anything, Eve put a finger over his mouth.
"I just think you're sweet, that's all. You're a nice guy. I haven't met one in a long time. Don't say anything. Just walk with me." She took his arm in hers and they walked out of the lift down a long corridor. Trunks's heart and mind were racing at a mile a minute, but he dared not say anything; it would have come out as rambling anyway.
Eve kept a lazy smile on her face, but her mind was churning as well. Something inside her was pulling her to engineering, the same part of her that always wanted to look inside everyone's mind. As they approached the engineering section, her heart began to race, and she squeezed Trunks arm tighter. She didn't even bother to think about the signal she was sending to the boy, this was something much greater. By the time they entered main engineering, her legs were weak. When they came before the engine core, something she instinctively knew, she stopped, staring at the vibrant, multi-colored energy whirl behind the transparent casing.
"Trunks! Honey, what are you doing here?" Bulma skipped over to her son from the future. "Oh, it doesn't matter, it's perfect timing! We've solved it!"
"Solved what?"
"We can fold space! We can get to the Acies! Sabre's coming down now!"
"Oh. Uh, great, I guess."
Eve didn't hear any of this. She simply stared at the energy vortex before her, oblivious to the world around here. It wouldn't be long now.