AN: Ok… so here's that 1st chapter. If it doesn't seem like the story's going anywhere real fast, chill. We're just setting up some background info; we're probably going to even change some names around. I don't like the name we picked for our main char… so that has to go. But ignoring all that, please R&R.
Chapter One: Commander Sotomura
Over the past few years, hatred had made the boy's light countenance turn cold. His bright black eyes now had the dull gray quality of one who had lost his childhood long ago. The saiyans were now engaged in war with the terrible creatures that his father had correctly identified as changelings. Each month brought a higher death toll, and it seemed that every conquest was marked by a deadly struggle with the cold-blooded fiends. Nevertheless, to the boy it seemed that his race was now all the mightier. The saiyans were a warrior race. He had been bred for war from the time he was torn from his dying mother's womb. This battle with the changelings only gave him more of a chance to prove himself.
As one of the few survivors of the initial assault on the changeling home world, he was both respected and resented. Yet their looks and jeers only seemed to fuel the growing fire of progression which caused him to quickly rise through the saiyan ranks. At only 25 he was granted the request he had been formulating within his mind since he was still young, he was granted a force to push the Changelings back. He had chosen his comrades meticulously, and he was convinced that his squad was ready for a little test run. So it was that when a report came out of a changeling attack on a nearby planet, he and his team were ready to go. He threw on his customized battle armor, latched on his scouter, and fell out off the roof into his waiting pod. "I hope you're ready… scum."
With dreams of revenge floating through his head, he drifted asleep, setting the alarm to wake him as they approached their destination.
By this point, the Changelings had stood their ground for nearly 4 years….. That was the longest amount of time any race had ever lasted against the saiyans. King was becoming worried, the saiyans had never been any type of organized force… it would usually take only a single saiyan to rule a planet but this… This was different, it seemed that a single saiyan was no match for such a fighting force, and the saiyans, who were simply not meant to be organized in large groups, could not conquer such a naturally superior force. By now, almost every saiyan knew the word changeling, and the fear which went with it; could they be the ones that would finally topple the mighty saiyan race?
It was a stupid fear of course; the changelings didn't even have inter-stellar
Spaceship technology, so they represented little threat to those not residing within their solar system… but there remained the lingering fact that they might one day branch out and represent a true threat. To date, 50 saiyans had perished on the surface of the planet, and the changeling casualties were insignificant compared to the population of several hundred thousands thriving on that planet. It was in this spirit that King Vegeta had allowed for the organization of the force which had entered the planet's surface several years ago, the force which had been slaughtered by the changelings, which included the boy's father. It was in reluctance that the king had agreed for this second force to be assembled, by the son of the commander of the first no less… Yet Sotomura made his presence known. He was not a child… He had fought his way off the planet of the changelings when his father and all the others with him had been killed… He was a survivor… He had never shown that sort of power again since that day, but he had shown something greater, a fierce determination. He did not stop until he became the best within his academy; he had become a powerful soldier, then a brilliant strategist and then a wise commander… The instructors could barely keep up with his thought processes, his unique propensity for planning… His was a will which did not bend or break… And that was what he brought to the table before the King of all Saiyans.
"Sir, you know
this threat will escalate," he had said to the king.
"I know
this… But more and more saiyans die… I wish no more blood, at
least of our people, on my hands…"
"But please…. If the
changelings should ever leave their small solar system… they will
become a threat mightier to use then any other we have faced, even
the Tuffles…."
"The Tuffles… Ha, the way you make it seem,
one would think they were gods…. No, the Tuffles were never really
a threat, not to us. We had power… And power always defeats
intellect… always…"
"Yes, sir, that's the point I'm
trying to make… the changelings are powerful… as are we… If we
could combine these two different parts… we are smarter… if we
can use that to aid ourselves… Our own power aided by the vastness
of our technology and resources… we can destroy this problem before
it becomes a threat…"
"Alright… I'm listening."
Sotomura awoke eight hours later to a loud bleeping noise as his pod approached the Changeling home world. He figured he'd land on one of the small moons encircling the planet. This at least would give him time to organize his troops, and hopefully, maybe sneak up on one of the weak outposts they had placed on their pathetic moons. Unfortunately, he and his troops could not change into their oozaru forms on this moon, because the Changelings had had a stroke of inspiration when the first saiyan troops had landed. Only one of the three moons orbiting the planet gave off the right frequency of light to allow the transformation, and one of those blasted freaks had taken the initiative to blow that moon straight out of the sky.
Hopefully, the saiyans would soon profit from a similar stroke of "genius". Sotomura's experiences on the surface of the planet made him realize that the saiyans would need a distinct advantage in order to offset the cooperative skills of the changelings. With this in mind, he had some of the top technological minds of the saiyan race study their own moon. They were working on figuring out which properties of the moon made it possible for the oozaru transformation to take place. They were told to report directly to him, and when he discovered this information, all he had to do was find a way to imitate the frequency using a different source. Perhaps even a number of different sources. He had the feeling that the readiness of the transformation would play a great role in the battles to come.
Shaking himself from his thoughts, Sotomura stepped out of his pod, and turned to the sky to wait for 14 identical spacecrafts to touch down on the dark side of the moon.
A familiar voice floated through the comm.-channel.
"Commander, we have approached our destination. Awaiting further orders."
"Drach, meet up with the remaining members of the squadron and then meet me at this rendezvous point." Replied Sotomura, while hitting a few keys on the walls of his pod –giving way to a holographic display of the moon they were currently on.
He tapped a point just to the south of the changeling outpost he was planning to attack, lighting up the area with a red blaze. He knew that this mark would appear on his team's respective displays, so he closed his pod and covered it with dirt. As he progressed to the point that he had just highlighted, he remembered an important detail and switched on his comm.-link.
"Oh… and Drach?"
"Yes, commander?" inquired the impulsive soldier.
"We are currently on a moon in orbit around the Changeling home world as you know. I would appreciate it if they didn't know we were here. That means no flight, explosions, or for that matter any disturbances that would alert them to our presence. Alert the rest of your team members to the situation as well. If they attack first, it's on your head."
"Of course, Sir."
The saiyans had all reached their destination within the hour; the longer ETA being due to the inconveniences afforded them by the common scouter technology shared between most of the races inhabiting the systems around their own home planet. However, walking was a small grievance compared to a certainly torturous death at the hands of the changelings –who would have certainly detected them if they had flown. As Sotomura realized that his team had finally arrived, he began to address them.
"As you all know, we are here to take out this minor changeling outpost." He claimed, pointing to a display similar to the one in his ship, besides the fact that it was projected from his scouter. This is our first real mission, and I have taken this into consideration. This outpost should not be heavily guarded, but if we can take it out we might be able to set up our own outpost here at a later date. This task should be simple enough so I expect NO casualties on our part."
After this declaration he turned to one of the three female members of his group. He had first seen her in action a year or so ago, with a couple of lowlifes back on Vegeta-sei.
These two men had a few too many drinks, and were attempting to force themselves on her. As he had watched the scene play out before him, he could understand why the two men were so interested in her. It was obvious to any male observer that she was stunningly beautiful. Her "neon" green eyes lit up her pale face, while pulling the onlooker's eyes away from her shapely yet muscular form. With this in mind, however, he had not planned on standing by and watching. His morals required that he step in. However, he was shocked to find that it was completely unnecessary.
As the men approached her, she held out her hand and shot a large energy ball from her hand. The larger of the two knocked it away, and they both laughed at her seemingly feeble attempt to stop them. Suddenly a green light flooded the room as the ball increased in size and pulsated, drawing the attention of every patron in the bar. It was now her turn to laugh as the two thugs were distracted by the large glowing energy ball. She quickly ran up behind the smaller thug, and knocked him straight through the wall. Spinning around, she kicked the other, sending him through the hole created by the first. With a wave of her hand, she sent the energy ball out of the bar and before anyone could object, a small crater marked the spot where the two thugs had been thrown seconds before. Smirking at her accomplishment, she tossed a coin at the bartender and stalked out into the night.
By this time, Sotomura was standing at the bar with his mouth hanging wide open. On Vegeta-sei, women were stereo-typed as the weaker sex. This stereo-type was fairly accurate, because in most cases they were. However, he had just seen this woman dispose of two soldiers with relatively high power levels without breaking a sweat. After regaining his speaking ability, he sprinted down the street after her. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to check his appearance. He had just returned from a training session, and in addition to his already intimidating figure, he was bloody and droopy-eyed –and the perfect picture of yet another drunken offender.
Thinking that he had come for an "encore", she shot another green ball of light out of her hand. Luckily for Sotomura, he was far more skilled than either of those soldiers had been. He increased his speed and seemed to phase out. She glanced around wildly, looking for any trace of him, when he appeared behind her, pulled her arms behind her back, and pressed her against the ground in a submission move. At this point, he had explained his intentions, and the two had gotten "acquainted". After subconsciously drooling over her perfect body and the position he had her in, he remembered to ask her if she would be interested in joining the team he had been planning to form.
As he remembered it, she had paused for a small second. As he awaited her answer, she blew yet another energy ball into the ground, blasting both of them upwards. He had landed painfully quite a distance away, while she landed delicately on her feet and walked over to his clumped form on the side of the road.
"I'll be glad to join… just don't forget, I'm stronger than I look." And with a wink, she turned around and walked away.
As he remembered this event he chuckled a few times, surprising the rest of the group.
"Hey Sotomura, what's up?"
He snapped out of brief relapse, looking around sheepishly.
"Oh… sorry guys just got caught up in the past. Anyway, as I was going to say before I spaced out there, I want to even out the odds a little before we head in there." He glanced back at the emerald-eyed beauty. "Rianavi, I want you to head out near the corner of their out post and drop an energy bomb over their camp. I want it nice and bright… in fact, as bright as you can go. The rest of you, switch on the infrared filters on your scouters. Their lack of sight will give us a nice advantage."
"Alright Sotomura, but only 'cause you asked so nicely" she replied sarcastically.
"Rianavi! Stop disrespecting Commander Sotomura. He is our leader and should be addressed as commander or sir."
"Oh shut it Drach… you know he doesn't mind if I skip the formalities" she replied in an undertone as she seductively rubbed her hand across his chest. She sensed Sotomura shiver with pleasure and smirked to herself, sauntering away towards the enemy outpost.
"Sir… are you going to let her refer to you that way?" whined Drach as Sotomura replaced the dazed look on his face.
"Let her go Drach… you know I don't care about those formalities as long as you respect my wishes on the battlefield." replied Sotomura while absently thinking about how he wouldn't mind skipping a few more formalities with the scandalously flirtatious female.
"But Sir-" exclaimed Drach.
"I SAID… let it go. We have a mission to complete. There's the flash from the energy ball Rianavi set off. Flip to infrared and let's go." replied Sotomura, interrupting before Drach could side track him with yet another complaint about the lack of professionalism within the group. Sotomura knew that his team was disciplined enough when it really mattered, and he rather enjoyed the affable relationship he had built with most of them over the past few months.
At this point, stealth was not likely going to be a deciding factor, so the 14 saiyans blasted off into the sky, shooting towards the bright light that signified the beginning of what would hopefully be their first victory, and possibly the origin of a legacy of efficiency.
