--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---
Chapter 24 - A Second Moment of Rest
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Kat yawned broadly, lying her head against the trunk of the tree as she sprawled herself along the think branch. Over to her far left, the ship sat in a newly-created clearing, the droids running about the surface repairing the damage incurred from a recent meteor shower. It was a remote enough planet to allow a temporary stop for a relatively mundane issue, and on the whole looked like most other planet's she'd visited, save for the odd purple trees, like the one she now lounged in.
Looking around below her, she spotted Flute and Viola meditating silently beside the burbling creek that ran through the grassy knoll they had set the ship down beside. Kaen, however, was using the time to put the twins through a few new drills; by the speed they were going, or rather weren't going, he was obviously showing them something new. Pi sat on one of the rocks nearby, occasionally calling out corrections or words of encouragement, but otherwise staying out of it. With another yawn, she focused her attention on Kaen's teaching, hoping to pick up something useful.
The remainder of the little group was still on the ship. Frost, with the assistance of the three adult male Saiyans, was assisting in the repair; on the whole, there was little risk that the meteor shower had done enough damage to weaken the hull enough for a breech, but better safe than sorry. The two women, however, were going about their usual cleaning tasks; they'd sooner blast off their own feet before relying on robots to do their work for them. Avery had disappeared soon after they landed, but that was hardly her problem.
Pi smiled to herself as she watched Kaen putting the twins through their paces; while he face remained stern, she could see the warmth he had for them in his eyes. After a while she stood up, tugging on Kaen's arm as she said, "Let's give them a little break."
Nodding at her, he turned back to them and barked, "Alright, take a breather. I expect the pair of you to do this perfectly when you get back." The two drew themselves up straight, bowed to him once, and then ran off to do whatever it was they did during their breaks in training.
Pi smiled again as they ran off, commented, "You're being easy on them."
He scowled, "I'm not the one coddling them." He made no effort to dispute her claim, however.
She giggled, "You don't have to act so scandalized. It's not a bad thing to be nice to them. I never said you were too easy."
"Didn't have to." He shrugged, "I know I'm going easy on them. After all, I worked you to the bone most days."
"Not that I minded all that much..." She grinned.
He grinned back, "Not that I noticed, no." Sighing softly, he added, "I'm just having trouble pushing them as hard as I probably should. I mean, I missed half their life, and that's a lot of catch-up."
She jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. "Well, it's not like they've exactly been slacking off all this time." Turning to face him, she poked his chest with her finger, adding, "They just like to make that extra effort for you. For some strange reason, they actually respect you."
He shrugged, a grin tugging at the corners of his lips, "Could have worse ambitions?"
"Like trying to be you?" Pi grinned back widely.
He shrugged again, pointing his thumb over at Kat as he answered, "Didn't do you or her any harm." She just kissed him on the cheek, strolling over to the creek. He briefly considered following her, but decided against it, throwing himself into the shade under one of the trees, ironically the one Kat was lounging in; well, the one she was in before she jumped down to join Pi anyway.
o-o-o
Inside the ship, Truniz lounged at one of the currently unused consoles. He had no real desire to do anything, and so, there he was, sleeping soundly against, of all places, Kat's console. Moving in his sleep, his head rolled to one side, coming to rest on a fairly inconspicuous button, pressing it in. Nothing seemed to happen...
o-o-o
Catching up with Pi, Kat chirped, "It's nice out here isn't it?"
The older girl nodded, a smile on her face, "Yes, it is. The purple trees are kind of funny, but other than that it seems like a nice place."
"I dunno," Kat began, taking a quick drink from the stream and looking around before continuing, "We had trees almost like those back home. In fact, there were trees in almost as many colours as there were flowers."
"Sounds nice," Pi mused, a wistful smile on her face, "I remember the trees in our old training ground back home, usually blackened from errant ki blasts." She paused, casting her gaze Kaen's way, "But then a lot of them were used for target practice I suppose."
Kat grinned cheekily, asking, "Was he as blunt as a kid as is he now?"
"Worse," Pi griped, "It took me a while to beat the small amount of manners into him he has now." She paused, giggling a bit before adding, "Scorch my dress will he..." When Kat just tilted her head curiously, Pi answered the unasked question, a sly smile on her face as she recounted the tale, "That's how we met. He shot a ki blast at me, scorching my dress, and it degraded from there into a fight; his older brother stepped in before we could finish it however. Then Kaen started training me, and the rest, as they say, is history."
Kat giggled, "Not exactly the most romantic story, but whatever works for you."
"On the contrary," Pi argued good-naturedly, "Many Saiyan girls dream of meeting their mate in such a way." She shot a wink at Kaen, and giggled when he rolled his eyes at her, adding, "He's still sore because it was his fault it all started."
Once her self-proclaimed sister had settled down, Kat asked curiously, "What was it like on Vegeta-Sei?" She didn't want to dig up bad memories of their old home, but knowing she'd never see it with her own eyes, she wanted to know what it looked like.
Pi's eyes got a far away look to them as she recalled her home, a fond smile on her face. "It was a mix of technology and wasteland, with small reserves of grassland and forest. The Tuffles, the previous occupants of the planet, built much of the cities but Saiyans took control ages past. The wastelands and grasslands remain for training purposes, and the forests both for speed training, and to sustain the planet."
A mild look of shock on her face, Kat managed, "Sounds... nice, I guess."
Pi just grinned, "As my father would say: 'A harsh planet for a harsh people, and one that won't die easily at that'."
The young redhead just nodded, "I'd heard that Saiyans were naturally stronger because of the environment they grew up in. I guess that explains that."
"Well, that, and the fact the gravity was ten times stronger than galactic standard, because the planet's core was so dense."
"Makes sense," Kat nodded, "From what I'd heard, the gravity on my planet was less than standard." She grinned wryly, a habit she had clearly picked up from Kaen, "Guess that would explain why my race is so much weaker than most wouldn't it?"
"Well, at least you're more graceful than most," Pi supplied, in an attempt to cheer the younger girl up a bit.
"You're just trying to make me feel better." The two girls shared a grin, "Thanks, I appreciate it, but I've accepted the fact I'm probably going to be weaker than most enemies I run into, and I've already worked out ways to compensate for it."
Pi laughed, "You're not that bad. You've got to stop comparing yourself to Kaen and I; we're strong even by Saiyan standards. I've seen some of your techniques, and they are powerful."
Kat just grinned again, "I try."
The two girls' conversation drew to a close as they heard Kaen whistle sharply, indicating to the twins that their break was over; a sign they'd come to understand long ago. With a nod, the pair moved to watch, sitting down on the rock he was on before as Oran and Lime raced back into the clearing, ready for the next round.
o-o-o
Back inside the ship, Kellre raised an eyebrow in question as a panel on one of the consoles lit up and began beeping, demanding attention. Walking over and pressing the button, he nodded to himself as he read the printout, stroking his chin and calling out to Avarrdo, "We'll be getting guests soon."
"How many?" the older man asked.
"Not much," Kellre replied with a shrug, "Just a small garrison." Stroking his chin again, he mused, "You know, I keep forgetting this thing's stolen." He could have been describing the weather for all the variation in his voice.
"I know what you mean," Avarrdo replied, setting his schematics down before adding, "Well, it looks like it won't be such a quiet day after all. Should we tell the others?"
Kellre just waved his hand dismissively, returning to his work, "They'll find out soon enough." Nodding, Avarrdo just returned to his own work, making a mental note to re-engage the radio shielding later.
o-o-o
Kaen cast a critical eye over the twins as they fell into line in front of him, asking, "So, you rested and ready to continue?" They nodded together, but before he could start giving them their orders, the sky lit up with the trails of falling drop pods, which appeared to be landing just over the horizon. A grin breaking his otherwise cold face, Kaen commented, "Looks like we have guests, and I'm willing to bet they won't be friendly."
Pi stood up quickly, dusting herself off slightly as she commented, "Looks like there might be something interesting to do today after all." Kat stood up after her, a grin on her face matching the one both Kaen and Pi wore; Kaen didn't know whether to be scared, or proud. Flute and Viola stood up also, both removing their weighted clothing where they stood, and flexing their muscles.
From the ship, April's voice called out, "Don't be too long; it's almost lunch time! And Kaen, don't let the twins over-excite themselves!"
"I won't." Even from inside, she could tell he was rolling his eyes at her. Turning to the twins, he asked, "So, you ready for this? This'll be your first real fight with something that'll fight back, and I don't want you freezing up at a crucial moment." They just nodded solemnly, so he added, "If it gets too rough for you, keep your head down and get behind me; I won't let anything happen to you."
"Let's go!" Pi cried cheerfully, "It would be rude to keep them waiting."
"Well, we wouldn't want to seem ungracious hosts." Kaen grinned back, taking to the air, and the others fell in behind him.
o-o-o
Entering the clearing where the ships had landed, the group could see no less than one hundred and fifty Cold Empire soldiers assembled; a full garrison, and then some. Grinning maliciously, Kaen began the fight with a warm-up shot, firing a series on nine blasts with a cry of "Firestorm!" Six of the grunts took a blast through the chest, killing them instantly, their faces forever frozen in shock, while three more dived out of the way on reflex alone.
Pi smirked, charging up energy in her hand before flinging it at the ground; "Gaia Disruption!" The ground shook and ki blasts burst forth. Only two of them were killed in the barrage, but ten more were knocked from their feet.
Flute clenched his fist, raising it above his hand as he focused ki into it. With a cry of "Raging Storm!" he threw the hand down, releasing the collected ki; twelve were instantly pinned as the ground below them became a crater in seconds before, with a quick flick of Flute's wrist, the ground beneath them detonated in a fairly impressive explosion, vaporising them.
Bracing her right hand with her left, Viola quickly charged up a thunder ball, releasing it with a cry of "Shockwave!" One flash of light later, seven charred corpses collapsed to the ground.
Forming a ball of black ki, Kat flung it at her opponents, detonating it with a cry of "Torment!" Eight more grunts were caught in the explosion, falling to the ground; the attack was non-lethal, but no doubt they'd wish it had killed them when they awoke.
The twins seemed undecided on what to do, engaging in a quick game of rock-paper-scissors; to his sister's chagrin, Oran won. Reaching between them to cup their hands together, they focused a ki ball that seemed torn between orange and red, flickering between the two colours, before throwing their hands out together, shouting, "Sibling Rivalry!" Four of the soldiers were caught in the epicentre of the resulting explosion, while three more fell to splash damage; the twins seemed pleased with that result.
In a mockery of all things combat, the remaining hundred-odd soldiers still alive attempted to fight back, but they had been caught off guard, and were terrified by the 'demons' that had turned up to boot. A few of them attempted to fight back, but even the twins easily managed to knock the blasts aside; at least half of them were too scared to even blink, let alone retaliate.
With a sudden cry, a bird flew into the clearing, changing in mid-air to reveal Avery in all his glory, the protean weapon on his arm shifting forms into a fairly large barrel. With a smirk, Avery fired, a wrist-length rocket launching from the barrel, exploding mid-flight to break up into five smaller rockets, which then impacted among the ranks; Avery's Cluster Rocket technique. Eighteen of the soldiers were caught in the explosions, and with a massive grin, Avery called out to the others, "That's how you do it!"
Not to be outdone, Pi reached her hand up to her left shoulder, dropping to the ground as she drew her sword, remarking, "Time for me to test out my new toy." With a grin, Pi levelled the green blade, shouting, "Zantetsuken!" as she dashed forward in a streak of brilliant green light, reappearing on the other side of the garrison and sheathing her sword again; turning back around, she watched as twenty-four of them suddenly fell in half, in a direct line from where she started to where she stood now.
Kaen just grinned, calling out, "Nice work. Glad to see it meets your approval." Pi simply winked at her mate, and poked her tongue out at Avery.
The gauntlet thrown, Viola began charging up her latest technique, copying her male counterpart from their last battle in flinging blasts around at random. Unlike his technique, however, her blasts didn't detonate; instead, when she shouted "Gigavolt Hellzone!" arcs of lightning began dancing between the ki balls, frying sixteen grunts.
Flute raised an eyebrow at her, remarking, "Interesting name..." The humour in his voice was dry enough to bake bricks.
Viola just shrugged, "Originality was never my strong suit."
Kaen just raised his hand, charging an ever-increasing ball of red ki, which, the observant onlooker could see, had another ki ball inside it, exactly one half the width of the other. "You want destruction?" Kaen asked, before grinning manically, "This is how it's done! Nova Destroyer!" The devastating attack cut a swath through the remaining fifty-odd soldiers, leaving a glowing crater deep in the centre of the clearing, and incinerating no less than thirty of them instantly.
The twins gaped in awe for a moment, before rushing over and gushing about how cool that was, tripping over each other. Pi, on the other hand, just called out semi-angrily, "Hey! That almost singed my hair!"
He just shrugged, calling back, "Well you shouldn't have been standing so close should you?" Flute just shook his head, cutting down five more with his eye beams. He felt no need to show-off or to one-up the others; besides which, after Kaen's attack, there wasn't much left of the clearing to show-off in.
Raising her hands, Kat focused momentarily, black flame dancing between her extended palms. With a cry of "Hellfire!" a gout of dark fire blasted forward, and the remaining grunts were turned to cinders by the wave of unholy flame.
Turning to his sister, Kaen remarked dryly, "Are you stealing moves from me?"
Visibly blushing, she hung her head, expecting to be chewed out as she stuttered, "No... Well, not really... Kinda... Yeah..." She looked up again as Kaen, and the newly arrived Pi, burst out laughing.
Reigning in his laughter, Kaen whistled sharply again, drawing the attention of the twins. When they flew over, he just inclined his head back in the direction they'd come from, saying simply, "Food." They grinned, and the group flew back to their new home away from home, as life once again returned to normal.
End Chapter 24
To be continued...