A/N: There's gonna be a lot of jumping around in this chapter. Just a word of warning for those that like long segments.

A/N: And damnit… I made another mistake in chapter 16. I have Blight calling his mother gargantuan and she's only 200 feet long. sigh. Ignore that alright? Think gargantuan, ignore the 200 feet long part. Or if you want think of it as meters. That'll put her at about 600 feet, and since females are USUALLY smaller than males, it'll seem a bit better.

A/N: Sorry, this wasn't proofread, figured you'd want it sooner as I made you wait awhile. Please bear with any grammar mistakes.

A/N: ... ... I HATE THIS FUCKING WEBSITE! I hate them and their damn editing system! unleash our imagination and free our souls eh? What bullshit. It's 'their way' or 'no way'. Fucking pricks. Hate them... ARGH! This may very well be my last story because this site is continually making it harder and harder to format your stories the way YOU want them. They want it all THEIR way, even though THEIR way is probably the WORST way you can possibly fucking do it. That line break they have is COMPLETELY USELESS! It's SO ugly and unweildly I'd rather choke and die on my own vomit than use it but they won't allow for anything else! Once again my custom scene break has been fubared again thanks to this 'oh so wonderful' site.

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Response to Reviews:

Limar – About the triangle thing, just wait and see, if I was reading this story that'd be half the fun for me. Seeing just who exactly Gohan will end up with. Although by now I'd have set my eyes on one and hoped he'd get with her. And I didn't say they had to destroy the entire dragon race. That race was being manipulated by the third party; it may not even be the race they have to destroy. It COULD be, but it may not. You just have to see. And let me just add this tidbit. It's quite possible for the 'race' they have to destroy to consist of just 1 creature. 1 unique creature that is in a class of its own. And remember, there's Blight, who the big guy in charge doesn't really care all that much about. Anyways about Sapphire and her mother… Not sure, that's just something I never really delved into I suppose. I guess she would be. Emerald WAS her mother after all, yet she was the person Sapphire feared the most. I'll delve into it a little this chapter I suppose. Gohan only got a sneak peek because I'm a pervert like 99 of the other guys on this planet. Muscle bound, yes, you know those pictures of female body builders? Ya, that's about the muscle density that Karreth has. Although probably a bit less because those girls dehydrate themselves to help the muscles stand out.

MysticSuperSaiyanGohan – The thing is with power levels, I agree, and yet I don't. With Goku starting at 300,000 and then hitting 15,000,000 with super saiyan, that's a MAJOR boost, BUT… His base afterwards was forever boosted upwards. When he powered down to normal he didn't hit 300,000. He was in the millions. The initial transformation gives a MASSIVE boost to your base, but afterwards your base is much higher. The same is with Gohan and the others. The boost to super saiyan gave them a massive base so that sub sequential power ups wouldn't be 50x but more like 3x or something around those lines. In my first story, The Saiyan War, I took a calculator, and accurate power levels, and calculated just how much each boost gave a saiyan and I've been using those ratios ever since. But regardless, Gohan in mystic is about, oh I forget exactly, but around 6 hundred million. Even with a 3x boost that's 1.8 billion. That's fucking huge; he doesn't need any more than that. If he goes super, that may be the only level he reaches, because that may be the only level he needs.

Jolly Rancher – I had Trunks get his arm chewed off too make it realistic. I'm tired of heroes coming out of each fight unscathed, or beaten in such a way that they can make a 100 recovery within a stupidly small amount of time. And because I thought it'd be neat to have in. And yes, logarithmically increase means by powers of 10. Much like pH, dB, and the Richter scale. A saiyan's power is increased 10 times in Oozaru form.

Dany le fou – Yes, I can see why you'd be worried. I can tell you that there are only 4 more OC's that will join the party. One you'll see on this world here, 2 in the third, and 1 more in the fourth. I may have a hard time fleshing that one out, may end up being another Alihvan but I'll try my best to flesh that character out as much as possible. Any other OC's will be bad guys, or not have any real importance to the story (like Gahlanthas and Emerald.) As for Trunks' arm, correct. I may or may not do that suggestion, if I do, it won't be until late first universe, and that's a maybe. I might just end the story with him only having 1 arm. And a warning… this story is probably going to end up the most depressing of ALL my stories, despite my earlier attempts to make it light hearted.

Krypto – Don't worry about Sapphire, but by the end of the second universe she'll be a mass murdering maniac. Hehe, j/k. Just wait and read. Krypto, as for transformations. Nothing beyond what has already been seen. Hmm... well… maybe one transformation. I had a bunch in the fourth universe yet none in the third… hmm… I might have 1 person go further. And those dragons, by far, are NOT the most powerful race in the universe. You'll see. This next planet houses 6 races, 2 of which are STRONGER than the dragons. 1 Titan can take down a score of dragons with ease, and 1 Thrask can take down a score of titans with ease. The Thrask is easily more powerful than Trunks so you'll just have to wait and see. Also remember its all relative. As in 1 young adult titan can take on a score of young adult dragons. An elder wyrm could probably smack down several titans. Dragons live far longer than titans and CAN grow stronger, but not many dragons live to such an age and overall… well you get the picture.

Granite54 – well… thanks. That's quite the praise you've given me. I still have a ways to go I believe, still not at the level of people like David Eddings, R.A. Salvatore or Robert Jordan.

GothicGohan – I would… if I still read DBZ fan fictions. I kinda got bored of them, among other reasons. I still write them, because it's easy to do and can still be exciting, but reading… shakes his head. Nothing against your story, it's just DBZ stories in general.

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Chapter 18: Complications

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She quaked in fear as she kneeled there, not daring to raise her head. She had known the moment her subordinate had been killed, and so had he. She had been summoned only hours later and now she was kneeling there in front of her master; a being too powerful for her to even touch. The room was brightly lit and decorated extravagantly. The floor was tiled with plates of gold while the columns were sheathed in platinum. The walls were constructed from huge slabs of adamantine, sheathed with a thick layer of gold and covered with paints and wall hangings that were worth a king's ransom. It was a room fit for a meeting of emperors.

And it by no means meant its owner was a foolish pompous fop who loved money. No, the owner was a powerful, calculating tactician and the room was the way it was because it had in fact at one time been the meeting place of emperors. He appropriated the room from them and now they all served him, much like she did.

"That foolish subordinate of yours, Raxchillious was it, got himself killed by one of their chosen." He rumbled. His voice had a deep baritone quality to it.

"Yes master. I'm sorry for failing you." She apologized. She hated swallowing her pride, but not doing so while kneeling before him meant a long and painful death.

The man chuckled, "Failed in killing them, yes, but you did succeed in other fashions. And it was not a complete loss; the one known as 'Trunks' is permanently handicapped now. He no longer remains a true threat." He said as he crouched before her.

"I shall do better next time." She replied.

"Perhaps, but you have done more than anyone else has. The others' subordinates did not even reach our quarries let alone wound them." He said as he tipped her head up to stare into her eyes. "Come, stand Sari." He pulled her up to her feet, "Forget them for now. They will be in this universe soon. Then you will have the chance to meet them, but it will be on our terms instead of their own. They will not find an army or nation willing to fight for them here."

"I will kill them all when they arrive here, master." She said fervently. "I won't use just one of my subordinates, I'll bring them all, and I shall go myself to see that the no longer remain a threat."

He smiled, "Yes, I know you will, which is why I am not worried. I have faith that you will pull through. After all, if you managed to strike that much damage with your weakest subordinate. I can very well imagine what you and your remaining five vassals can do." He said with a soft voice as he smiled at her. "Now come, for tonight you will call me by name 'empress'." He said as he led her towards his bedroom.

"Yes Tachiyon." She said as she let herself be escorted away. She knew what was going to happen but after what she was afraid would occur… this was, by far, more pleasant.

"See, that was not too hard now was it?" Tachiyon replied as he smiled. Sari was more than just one of his subordinates. She used to be one of the twelve emperors and empresses that met in this place and by far she was the most beautiful of them all. He had taken an instant fancy to her. It didn't mean he was going to give her any special treatment but it gave her additional value to him. After all, men have urges, and why go out and find an unwilling female when he had a beautiful, and willing, one right here where he could access her at all times. Although to make her willing, he had had to break her first, and that had been both a long, and enjoyable, process. She had lasted longer than any of the others.

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oo-O-oo

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The next day…

A passing dragon paused momentarily in its flight through the sky as a mysterious portal sprung up out of thin air several miles below. Now magical portals springing up were nothing really special, but there wasn't anything here. No city, no mountain ranges, no water, just long flat grasslands that stretched from horizon to horizon. What was also curious was the amount of magical energy pulsating through the gate. Judging from the high level of magical energy the portal was connected to a distant location, a very distant location, as in across the galaxy type of distance.

This dragon was old, wise, and powerful. Its dark blue scales had dulled much with the passage of time, but it was just another indicator of its awe and majesty. He was currently on his way to a meeting of the ancient wyrms when he noticed the portal spring up. His enormous wings kept its eight hundred foot long body suspended in air as it observed the anomaly. Gates didn't just spring up for no reason and he wished to discern the reason for such a portal appearing here.

He didn't have to wait long as soon small figures began to exit the portal. There weren't very many of them, so it wasn't an invading army, but perhaps an invading army would have been more preferable. Only six individuals appeared through the portal before it collapsed but each one was worth an army in and of themselves. Three of them were easily equal to that of an average dragon, while another 2 could challenge all but the greatest creatures on this planet and win, but it was the last that worried the dragon the most. His power was truly terrifying, and what was worse, it was corrupting him in a manner the old dragon had never seen before. Currently the only thing between him and the darkness was his pure heart, a heart that had been fashioned and tempered into something harder than diamond by a loving, if strict, mother and a father that always put himself on the line for him. But if something wasn't done, that being could end up becoming the greatest threat to exist since the time of the Great Devourers.

The dragon frowned and sped off towards the meeting place. He knew who they were now. They were the ones that this meeting was supposedly going to deal with. After both the betrayal, and defeat, of the shadow dragons they were all on edge. The remnants of the shadow dragons had returned only an hour prior, having raced here as fast as possible through the Hakanar, fleeing what they had called 'monsters'. It was true that those beings had killed many dragons, but they had only acted in self defence. Now that they were here however… the old dragon ceased his musings and flew faster. Their intentions will be discovered first before anything is to be done about them. No point in making such powerful enemies if one didn't need to.

"Where the hell are we?" Demanded Vegeta as he stared at the vast and empty grasslands. They had to wait an entire week for Sapphire to calm down enough to be able to cast magic properly. The death of her last family member, and the shock of actually having killed a creature, had all tumbled down on her at once leaving her relatively incapacitated for the larger portion of a week.

"I'd say in the middle of no where." Karreth said in amusement.

"GAH!" Vegeta yelled. He knew that already and that wasn't what he meant. She knew that, and he knew she knew that and it only served to upset him even more.

"We're on the right planet, calm down." Gohan said as his gaze followed the dragon until it was out of sight. "At least, if that huge dragon was any indication."

"What dragon?"

"If you'd pay attention to your surroundings you'd have noticed it watching us when we first arrived. Now let's find the nearest city." Gohan said. "We could always follow the dragon but after our last encounter I doubt they'd be very…welcoming."

"Who cares! Let's just go kill them all and move on." Vegeta said.

Gohan sighed, "We don't even know if they are the ones we're supposed to kill." He replied.

"Gohan!" Trunks called, "Over there, south from us." He pointed south, or at least they assumed it was south judging by the sun's position.

The group flew in silence as they traveled swiftly southwards. The landscape didn't change very much as they went. The grasslands slowly changed to plains as they moved further south and before long a city appeared on the horizon, a city that grew larger at a rather, alarming pace. Gohan frowned as he stared at the city. There was something definitely odd about it. For one the buildings seemed much too tall, for another the energy levels of the creatures living within the city were far higher, on average, than the dragons they'd just fought.

"Everyone, stop!" Gohan said abruptly as he halted in his tracks.

"What's up Gohan?" Trunks asked.

Gohan didn't respond and instead turned to Sapphire. "Could you use your magic and check that city over there? Something is odd about it and I'd rather know ahead of time."

"Sure Gohan." She said with a smile. Her eyes glazed over as she stared intently south. It wasn't long, not even a minute, before she snapped back. "Umm…" She started. "They're a little bigger than us." She said.

Gohan frowned, "How much bigger?"

"About four times our height and size." She replied with a small laugh.

Five sweat drops rolled down the back of five saiyan heads. "WHAT!" Vegeta and Karreth shouted in unison.

"That's hardly 'a little bigger' Sapphire." Gohan said with a light smile on his face. "I guess they're giants. Don't suppose if you know if they are friendly or not."

Sapphire shook her head. "Sorry Gohan. They look civilized, they treat each other with respect from what I saw, but I have no idea how they would treat us."

"Ah, it's alright. Only one way to find out I guess." Gohan said with a smile and took off towards the city.

As it turned out that while they were quite civil towards one another, they were anything but with Gohan and his comrades. They'd barely gotten within a hundred meters of the city before all kinds of spells were slung their way. Luckily Sapphire and Gohan were in front so the vast majority of them were deflected away from the group, or absorbed by Sapphire.

Gohan had told everyone to retreat and Karreth had to bodily drag Vegeta away as he was about to burst into super saiyan mode and throw himself at the enemy. Attacking a city of a half million creatures easily thirty times stronger than a dragon was suicide.

"Well, that'd didn't work so well." Gohan mused wryly when the group was several miles away from the city.

"You think?" Vegeta grumped. His hair was singed and he was upset at not having the chance to do at least that in return.

"Hush Vegeta." Karreth said as she bonked her little brother over the head eliciting a glare from him. "What do we do now Gohan?" She asked.

"Well, we look for a different source of life energy and hope it's not a bunch of territorial bastards." Gohan replied with a shrug.

"Already have a new gathering of life forces located Gohan." Trunks said, this time he was pointing eastwards.

Gohan smiled, "Thanks, glad I can count on you. Now let's go see if these people are any more welcoming then the last bunch."

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OO-o-OO

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There were six of them, all different colors. There was a dragon representing each of the different branches of dragon kind. They were gathered in a huge cavern, one easily large enough to house a large city. They were the oldest of their kind, the largest, the most powerful, and the greatest of their kind. They were the ancient wyrms. They were all lying upon beds of precious stones, the color of the stone matching that of their scales: Sapphires for blue, rubies for red, black agates for black, diamonds for white, and emeralds for green. There was one exception; the oldest of them all was resting upon a bed of silver and gold.

"So what should we do with them?" A deep, ancient voice asked. This came from the black dragon. He was referring to the shadow dragons.

Shadow dragons weren't a true dragon species. A shadow dragon isn't called that because they're like shadows or because they have dark scales, but because they are just that, a shadow of what a dragon is supposed to be. They were a mutation, an adaptation, created to stave of the devourers of the past great wars and due to their key roles in defeating them they were allowed to live and exist as the seventh branch of dragon kind.

However, despite what they had done in the past, it did not give them right to try to take complete control over all dragons.

"They should be exterminated." The ancient red dragon snarled. Reds were notoriously short tempered. However both the green and white dragons agreed with him.

"Don't you think that is a bit excessive?" The ancient metallic dragon said as she rose from her bed of silver and gold. "From what I have been able to gather they were being manipulated by an outside force."

"But perhaps necessary." The blue said softly as he looked at the most ancient. "Their madness doesn't seem to be abating with the death of said force. It may be that we will have to put them down, not for our sake, but for their own."

She sighed, "Yes, but it may simply take a little time for them to regain their senses. I think we should give them that time."

The red snarled at her. "Time? I think they've had more than enough time. Are you suggesting the destruction of our eggs is to go unpunished?" He growled aloud. "They killed all of your children! How can you just calmly say 'give them time'?"

The metallic dragon looked down with deep sadness in her eyes.

"Tyranixious!" The blue dragon snapped.

The other had the gracious to look guilty. "I'm sorry Liantrianious." Tyranixious apologized. "You know my temper; it gets the best of me at times, even at this age." This caused my eyeridges to rise in surprise. Hearing this from Tyranixious was akin to anyone else grovelling on the ground and begging for forgiveness.

They had all suffered losses when the shadow dragons had turned on them but nothing compared to Liantrianious. Her brood had been the first to be targeted, the one to be decimated the most. Very few of her kind existed anymore, and none of them were male. Unlike most races where it could go equally either way or it's a combination, the offsprings were wholly that of the father, in appearance at least. It was very likely that her branch of the dragon race may soon become extinct.

"It's alright Aarntyrious. He has a right to be upset; they did kill his current mate and children." She said.

The system that the dragons used is far different than many higher order creatures. The females had complete control over whom, when, and where any and all sexual encounters. That wasn't to say that they could force male dragons into doing what they wanted, only that if a male wished to couple with a female that female has to approach them. There was no marriage, no commitment. No attachments save between parent and child, but then, all parents looked after all children. Female dragons choose their partners based on two factors, how much they currently cared about said male, and how compatible that male was with them. Since what was compatible constantly changed as the females grew older keeping firm attachments to any one male would mean no more children and that wasn't acceptable, not with the high infant mortality rate. The only thing that was frowned upon was coupling between a mother/father and a child that was directly related.

"But…"

"And it's not like they managed to kill 'all' of my children." She said with a slight smile. "My youngest son of my last batch of hatchlings still lives."

The ancient blue wyrm's eyes opened wide, as did the others. "Then you mean that…"

She shook her head. "Not him, but perhaps his children. He has already found a mate."

"He's so young, how is it possible?" The white dragon asked. Of the six here, only she and Liantrianious were female. "He would be much too young."

The other smiled. "I guess growing up as a human has caused him to mature at the same rate. Regardless of how, he is capable of mating and already has. He should be expecting some children within a little more than half a year." She replied.

"This still doesn't solve the problem at hand though. The shadow dragons need to be dealt with somehow." The green growled.

Liantrianious nodded in agreement. "Yes, I agree. Something must be done, but complete extermination is not the answer. I've noticed that all those under a certain age appear to be, unaffected. It is likely that only the older ones, those that would be useful in battle, were influenced."

"So you suggest that we simply target those that are completely mad?" Darkorananious inquired. The ancient black wyrm closed its eyes for a moment before reopening them. "And the strongest first."

"I could live with that." Tyranixious said as he grinned wickedly. "Just say the word and I'll start ripping into them."

Liantrianious stared at the ancient red dragon. "Yes, but only those insane, and start with the strongest first. Isolate those that just returned as well. They seem to be far saner than those that stayed behind and if the entire branch as a whole begins to see reason I want the slaughter to stop immediately. We are only culling those that are dangerous to all." She said.

Tyranixious grinned and left the cavern. He had been given the okay; there were a whole lot of dragons to slaughter. They had lost before because they had been taken by surprise and the ancient wyrms were, as a rule, not allowed to interfere with draconic quarrels unless all of the ancients gave it the okay. But now that he was allowed to take action, and with the major defeat the shadow dragons had suffered wherever they had gone, it was going to be a whole different story. The only difficulty he could foresee would be taking down Zarytinous: The ancient shadow dragon.

Soon it was just Liantrianious and Aarntyrious still residing within the cavern. The youngest were always the first to leave while the oldest stayed till the last. It was an unspoken tradition, just a way things had been done since the dawn of their race.

"What is I Aarntyrious?" She asked quietly. The ancient blue wyrm was the oldest next to her but he wasn't making any attempt to leave.

"I… witness something that is potentially worrying earlier today." He said. Liantrianious raised an eyeridge at him but didn't speak, waiting for the other to continue. "A gate appeared in the middle of the Titan territory, normally I wouldn't find this peculiar, but it was near the very center of their territory, not near any kind of city. It was too small for young titans wishing to get away from their parents prying eyes. What worried me the most however, was the sheer magnitude of magical energy that was coursing through the gate. That is what caught my attention. It felt as if it was coming from some distant place, so I stayed and watched a little longer and out came six strange creatures. One looked much like the Arkons but the others were just strange, four had tails and another pointed ears. They are not from this world I know that much."

The blue paused. "There must be more than that." Liantrianious said softly as she left her bed gold and silver and walked gracefully to the others side. "Such creatures are generally beneath our notice."

"Yes, usually they are. I would not have brought this to you attention, had not one of the creatures exhibited powers that could rival the Great Devourers, and a deep darkness that was slowly eating him up from the inside." Aarntyrious finished, finally giving words to his worries.

"My son told me about some friends that were 'terrifyingly powerful'." She said with a smile. "It appears as if those friends of his may have just arrived."

"Do you think they'll cause us any problems?" Aarntyrious inquired.

She smiled and nuzzled his neck. "Only if we strike first. If they are people my son could become friends with, then they'll most likely only act out of self-defence."

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A couple days later and far away…

Sai awoke with a start to find a shadow standing over her, with a hand roughly squeezing her breast. With a snarl Sai smashed a fist into the assailants face and rocked him backwards. A kick to the stomach sent said person across the room to slam into the far wall where he slid to the ground.

Sai slowly slid from her bed and rose to her feet as she glared down at her molester.

"Hah, feisty are we?" The unknown man said as he rose as well. "I like that about you Sai."

"Well I don't like you." She hissed back. "I told you to stay away from me. I. Despise. You. And now you dare touch me." Sai's face looked frighteningly demonic as she began to advance on the stranger.

"Ha, like you meant it. I know you want a real man to take you for a ride." He said with a hoarse laugh.

"Yes, you are right, a 'real' man. However there are NONE that fit that description here." Sai said as she stopped a foot away from the man. "Just a bunch of perverted fucks that think woman are nothing more than their 'play things'.

"Hmph, that's all you woman are really. Just a hole to plug into whenever we wish it."

"And you… are nothing more than another name to add to my long list of victims." Sai said as she brandished her kodachi, seemingly from thin air.

The man barely had time to scream before Sai began cutting him up. No one came to help; no one came to watch even. Such occurrences were frequent in the underground complex. Everyone knew it was coming anyways. A few were even surprised that Sai had put up with the man for so long. What the man had said earlier about woman was accurate for the typical female. But Sai was hardly a 'typical' female.

When she finished she wiped the blade of her kodachi clean and exited her room. She pointed to one of the men in the hallway.

"You, clean up the mess." She demanded as she left.

The man grinned and entered her room. He would dine well tonight. It wasn't often he was able to eat fresh meat. And what was so great about this, said meat was already cut up into bite size pieces. He could just sit back and enjoy the delicious delicacies of the flesh.

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oo-O-oo

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A couple hours later…

Sai and a few others shot through the city, completely unnoticed and undetected. The best had been assembled for this task; a task that would take their all to accomplish. It had to be fast, it had to be powerful, and they only had one chance. The request had come from a very powerful individual, and very wealthy. The funds were coming straight from the combined treasury of the high conclave which consisted of the twelve most powerful empresses and emperors. The task they had to accomplish was an X rank mission, one of the highest ratings that could be possibly given. The only higher ones, Y and Z, all dealt with the Overlords, and were never done with anything short of several groups of several score of the best in all fields. No one tangoed with the Overlords alone, not unless they had a death wish.

There were five of them in total. Unlike classic assassins they weren't all draped in black but they didn't need to be; they were just that good. Sai herself had donned her black and white cloak. The cloak had several special abilities built into it. It had the ability to cloak its owner completely as well as add extra protection against attacks of all kinds. In addition there were various pockets in the inside, nice for storing little tools that were sometimes required on missions.

The play they had created was quick and simple, but those were sometimes the best. They were easily carried out, effective and always got straight to the point. If they wasted too much time they were all dead. This had to be over in an instant.

A hand signal from the leader brought Sai to a halt in the shadows of one of the buildings. She was half a mile up, standing upright on the side of the building. The others had also all stopped. This would be the place. It was very difficult to ambush someone here, due to the lack of hiding spots, which was exactly why it was the best for them. They were the best; they didn't need hiding spots; they made their own on the fly. It also gave them the added benefit that the guards would be relaxed the most in this area. It was, after all, the very center of the high security business sector of the capital. Any wrong move here was swiftly punished by local security bots or guards. She had no worries about being seen, her cloak would keep her from sight.

Sai smiled. This mission was actually a bit exciting. It had been a long time since she'd been assigned such a mission. Mission levels U – Z always required more than one person, and never anyone but the best. Her being here was a testament to her achievements. She was one of the few women to ever be assigned such missions.

She would be the first to strike, an honour, and a test to see if she was as capable as she appeared. She was to cut the car holding their target in two the moment it passed the center of their group and the leave the area. This was to expose their target to the third part of the plan. There were only five parts to the plan, each one crucial, and had to be executed perfectly. The vehicle their target was in was armoured and the only weapon at their disposal that had a chance of cutting through it was her kodachi, hence her crucial role in the plan.

The second part would be initiated by Joanne. He was to follow Sai right behind her and created a massive shockwave the moment they reached the vehicle. This was to push away the guards and bots that would most certainly be guarding their target. It wouldn't do to destroy the vehicle only to have an annoying bot snatch him up and take him to safety.

The third part would be executed by the leader, Tachiyon. He was going to be the one to actually strike the blow against their target. He was going to lob and detonate a small plasma grenade into the interior of the vehicle. It's not particularly hard to throw a grenade, even accurately, but to get the timing down was the hard part. He had the task because he couldn't wait for Sai to finish cutting before throwing. It all had to be over in an instant. He had to predict just where Joanne and Sai would end up, where and how the car will be split, calculate how, where and the speed of its movement and time it just right. He only had a quarter second window to get the grenade inside. If the vehicle splits to far apart the explosion wouldn't be contained well enough to actually kill their target. Their target had more protection than just the armoured vehicle. In addition to all this he had to worry about the shockwave Joanne was going to emit. The throw would have to be powerful enough, but not too powerful, to make it through the shockwave and into the vehicle. There were so many variables that he had to take care of, but he was a master at these kinds of tasks which was why when he had chosen himself to be the leader and gave voice to the plan that few objected.

The fourth part of the plan involved dealing with the security. It was certain that the moment they killed their target the security would turn on them. That was where Kilyano came into play. He was to deal with the guards. The moment Sai started to cut into the vehicle he was to make his move and begin to destroy as many of the guards and bots as fast as possible. This meant he wasn't going to hold back. His biggest and best skills and techniques were going to come right out at the beginning. There may be a few innocent bystanders killed in the process but the money he was making from this mission eased his guilty conscious.

The last member of their group was female like Sai. The two of them made up the only two currently living females that were powerful and skilled enough to be trusted with the top level missions. Ithildai was going to handle their retreat. An emp shockwave was going to be used to take out any damaged electronic units like security bots or sentry weapons. Of course unshielded civilian vehicles might get caught in the blast and smash into the ground a half mile down but that wasn't really her problem. They should have foreseen this event and bought emp shielding for their vehicles. After that she was to recover their retreat with a massive blanket of darkness. It wouldn't prevent all units from following them, but only the heat seeking ones would be able to follow after that point and those that did follow could be taken care of by simply collapsing a nearby building behind her. That should put enough bodies into the air to sufficiently confuse the heat seeking units.

Again Tachiyon's hand went up signalling the approach of their target. Sai calmed herself and became relaxed. She found the more tense she became, the worse her performance was. This was going to be over an in instant, and she would start it off. She didn't acknowledge Joanne as he settled down near her, she didn't need to.

The vehicle was now in sight, shooting towards them at super sonic speeds.

Three hundred meters… Sai crouched.

Two hundred meters… Silently the kodachi was brought to her side.

One hundred meters… Sai jumped.

Target point… I hope Elena won't be to mad at me. Sai thought as she cut the vehicle perfectly in two.

A shockwave rippled outwards followed moments later by massive explosions and screams of agony.

Ten seconds later five people, silent as death and quick as lightning, shot through the city away from the epicentre ahead of the massive blackout that was following them on their tails. Continual explosions, screams of terror, and the rumbling of a collapsing building continued to follow them as they made their way through the city. There were no smiles, no slaps of congratulations. This was their job, and they were simply doing what must be done to complete it as efficiently and as effectively as possible.

Mission Complete.

Mission Successful.

Body Count: 30,487.

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oo-O-oo

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The next day…

"This sucks!" Elena shouted as she kicked a stone into the pond.

She was in the royal gardens, one of the few places on the planet that even remotely resembled wilderness and only because it wasn't being put to use for anything aside from recreation and relaxation. The garden was groomed daily so that it was kept in perfect condition for the royal family and visiting nobles. Guards were never allowed within the confines of the garden, not that they were ever really needed. It was situated in the very center of the royal palace with high walls that, while on the inside looked like they were made out of marble, were actually constructed with so much Adamantium plating that it would put most capital ships to shame.

Elena was upset; she wasn't allowed to leave the palace under any circumstances, not even with Sai. Her mother had come to her earlier that morning and had forbidden her from leaving and had given her shadow direct orders to detain and confine Elena to her room should she try to sneak out. All members of the royal family had shadows, elite weapons that were trained virtually from birth to be both weapon and shield for the royal family members. Elena had on numerous occasions given her shadow the slip, usually by saying she had to do lady things. Her mother had however told the shadow that to never let his eyes off her.

It's not that Elena didn't understand why she was being confined to the palace or why her mother was being so protective of her. She knew, but she didn't have to like it.

Elena wondered how Sai was doing at the moment. Probably killing someone, it was after all her profession. Elena sighed wishing she could be as cool as Sai. A mysterious black clothed figure with extreme powers flitting through shadows: Silent as death, quick as lightning, and as graceful as a Yishuna dancer. Her code name would be Death and she'd strike both awe and fear into all that gazed upon her.

Elena was abruptly pulled out of her day dream when she rolled off the bench and bonked her head off the ground. Elena quickly shot to her feet and kicked the bench. The bench, used to such treatment by now, simply dodged to the side as Elena's foot came near it. Elena stomped her foot on the ground and pouted as the bench resumed its original position.

Elena sat back down on the bench and smiled as it morphed into a lawn chair perfectly accentuating her body.

Most inorganic things on this planet had some sort of artificial intelligence built into it. They weren't given emotions, but they were able to, by watching the actions of those around them, tell what they wanted. Even walls, to a certain degree, had AI built into them. But it was more on command from the owner of said structure than anything else.

She sighed. Her father had died last night. He had been returning from a meeting when his vehicle was attacked. It had come suddenly and without warning. The security bots and guards had rushed to defend her father but had been blown away by a shockwave. They hadn't been able to do anything, they merely added to the body count in the end. The total death toll was near thirty thousand when the dust settled. Many innocent bystanders had been caught up in the attack, especially when a building suddenly collapsed throwing seventeen thousand people through the air to land a half mile down below. They were still cleaning up that mess. An emp shockwave that erupted near the end of the attack knocked out the power grid. A stray blast had ripped a small hole into the emp shielding of a nearby power station and the following emp wave had caused a massive blackout. The culprits still hadn't been caught, in fact there was no clue as to who they were or the number that attacked.

It wasn't an ordinary attack that was for sure. Royalty was far more valuable alive than dead. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence would have realized that. It's not like her mother would ever take another husband and that could have been the only possible reason for removing her father.

She was an only child. Her mother wouldn't reach the child bearing period for another year. It takes thirteen years for the females of her race to recover from their first pregnancy and with each successive pregnancy the time is halved.

And that was the reason she was confined to the palace. Her mother was frightened of losing her. She was her only child and that made her value sky rocket. One could demand anything should they get their hands on her. Even killing her would serve a great benefit. It would forever end her bloodline, cripple her mother, and effectively leave the empire vulnerable to virtually all attacks. There were no council of advisors to push her mother aside should she become crippled like that.

"Ah! There you are Elena!" A voice called out from behind her.

Elena groaned into her hands. She had come here to be alone. "Whadda want Jerko?" She quipped.

"I'm hurt by such a greeting my dear Elena. My name is Chirko and I'd appreciate it if you'd call me that." Jerko said as he walked around the chair and squatted down on the ground before her.

Jerko was your regular aristocratic retard whom thinks he's the center of the universe and everyone and everything exists to fulfill his whims. He was wearing the classic suit, tie, and all that bullshit that most aristocrats wear because they think it's cool or something.

"Not now Jerko. I don't wanna talk to anyone." Elena said as she closed her eyes.

"Ah, your father." Jerko said solemnly. "I'm sorry for your loss. He was a great man."

"He was a waste of space." Elena spat out. "You know that, I know that, everyone knows that. Mother only kept him around because he was good and bed and he was the only one who could give her babies."

"Tsk tsk tsk. My dear Elena. Such words are not becoming of a lady of your station. You should respect your father." Jerko said with a greasy smile.

"I'll show you something less becoming of a 'lady of my station' if you don't leave me alone!" Elena shouted as she shook her fist at Jerko.

"You wouldn't hit me my dear! I am-"

A loud crack was heard throughout the garden as Elena ploughed her fist into Jerko's face splattering his nose and sending the retard flying across the pond. There were a couple of splashes that ended in a thud as Jerko's body skipped across the water and slammed into a rather solid tree trunk.

Jerko jumped to his feet holding his nose and ready to give Elena a piece of his mind only to find she was gone.

Elena had up and left the moment Jerko began skipping. She hated dealing with people like him. She knew her mother was worried about the bloodline ending but why she would set her up this early, and with such a pompous idiot, had her baffled.

Her shadow quietly followed with a little smile on its lips. Elena was anything if not entertaining to guard. She may be hard to guard, but she was worth the effort. She would make a good empress when she took over her mother's spot. Elena could be cute and cuddly and didn't mind being pulled around, but when one tried to push her to do something she didn't want she made damn sure that said person knew their place.

Elena stomped through the halls of the palace in a foul mood. She was going to talk to her mother. It was bad enough that she was confined to the palace, but to be forced to listen to Jerko was taking it over the edge.

Elena opened the door to her mother's study and stomped inside. Her mother was a beautiful woman, desired by virtually everyone. She was perfectly proportioned in all aspects of her figure.

"Mom! Lemme go out! I don't want to stay here any longer! Especially not with Jerko bothering me." Elena pouted and turned her puppy dog eyes upon her mother.

Unfortunately her mother was probably the only person that it wouldn't work on. "I'm sorry Elena, but I can't. You know why as well as anyone else. And don't call your future husband Jerko. You'd better get used to calling him by his name." She replied.

"NO! I'd rather choke and die on my own vomit then marry him! He's stupid, selfish, stuck up, a retard, weak, spineless, and ugly!" Elena shouted. "I don't wanna live the rest of my life married to that freak."

Elena's mother sighed in exasperation. "He may be all that but he is the son of a powerful noble. It would greatly improve and solidify relations with them. He has also been checked already and is compatible with you. There aren't very many men like that." She said.

"But-"

"No buts Elena." She said firmly.

Just then a messenger burst into the room. "Empress! It's an emergency!" The messenger gasped.

"What is it?" She asked.

"The Overlords, they've begun to move!" The messenger said; his eyes were wide and panicky.

"WHAT?" She shouted. "Why now?"

A second figure entered the room. This one decked in full battle armor. It was one of the six high generals. He stood stiffly at attention and saluted the empress, "Empress Sari, I see you have heard the news. What are our orders?" The general asked.

Elena looked back and forth between the general, messenger and her mother. Perhaps today would be a good day stay inside after all.

To be continued...

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A/N: There, chapter is out, hope you enjoyed it. Got delayed due to work and reading week (9 days without a computer, god that was hell).

A/N: Great Devourers: This is something I thought up, not sure if I got it somewhere or my twisted mind just brought it up. But a devourer is just that, a devourer. It eats EVERYTHING, and what's worse it has regenerative powers that would make Buu jealous. A Great Devourer could eat a planet in mere hours, and what's worse is, like Buu, with each thing it eats it gets bigger, and the bigger it gets the more it can eat, and the stronger it becomes. Scary thought eh? Well anyways, not going into anymore depth than that. Consider it like the big war that wiped out the supreme kais from the fourth universe, only this universe faired a little better than the fourth.

A/N: I got the aspect thing from Warcraft, I liked it so sue me for using it, hehe.

A/N: Yishuna Dancer: A dancer of the Yishuna style, I'm not going to get into what it is, it's not important; just consider it a dance that requires very graceful and precise movements.