QUEST FOR POWER:
THE WARLORDBy Konrad
PART 7
In a secret lab on Planet Terius, Chen promptly visited the scientists and experts who eagerly greeted him. Time was always of the essence but doubts nagged the usually calm general.
"Quick question." Chen spoke. "We had this scroll for years now. With all the materials, information and equipment we had, we couldn't decipher them. And now you're telling me that you figured out what's in them in two days?" The head scientist coughed in nervousness.
"Er, not quite, sir." He responded. "As of now, we merely have a blueprint on how to translate it, which should hopefully be done within the day…"
"A blueprint?"
"Which brings me to how we were able to figure it out in so little time: we now have a source material in the same language as the scroll itself." The scientist explained.
"Wonderful!" Chen exclaimed. "Where did you find this source?"
"Um, we're not sure, actually. We received an encoded transmission containing this text and it's translation."
"Hmmm, I see. Who sent this transmission?"
"We don't know who sent it." The scientist continued. "But we thought if someone could reach us, it could logically only be from within the government or secret services. But we were told that it wasn't when we asked."
"So it could be a hacker." Chen added.
"That's always a possibility though he or she would have to be well connected to have found this material."
"Yes, but how would we know if it's authentic?" Chen spoke with a twinge of impatience in his voice.
"Well, the source material seems to make sense in its translation. But if you doubt it yourself, sir, we could ignore it if you wish. That is why we felt it was best to ask you." The scientist said. Chen sighed.
"This is the best we got. So what have you translated so far?" he asked.
"Well, it seems we have the precise location of the Power Stone."
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Trunks walked aimlessly throughout the compound. Thoughts about Lulu were racing in his head. After the entire squad, save Vegeta and Piccolo, had spent the day in the wilderness of Jubisei, Trunks lingered for what seemed like hours talking with Lulu. He was only vaguely aware of their mutual flirtation and now it burned inside his head. It seemed to him that he was falling more and more for her but now he didn't know what to do next.
Trunks stopped for a moment. He decided he had to talk to somebody quickly. He closed his eyes and started reaching out with his senses, trying to feel out everybody's presence in Chen's mansion. The first person to register in Trunks' senses was his father. He was heading towards the training room, and he wouldn't want to get interrupted. Not that he's the perfect candidate to talk to about personal things anyways. Trunks thought. His senses continued their search and he identified two people that were sleeping, Lulu herself and Gohan. But two other signals caught his attention, those of Piccolo, who was meditating, and Android 18. Trunks groaned. What would a Namek, especially this moody one, know about love and sex? … But then again, through Kami, he probably has seen a lot of things. 18's ki on the other hand suggested that she was trying to sleep though failing at it. She was in the midst of a relationship right now though nothing suggested she's had much experience before. Since he was becoming friends with the both of them and they seemed equally qualified to answer him, which is to say not at all, Trunks decided he'd go see them one after the other. He made out that the closer of the two was Piccolo so he headed in his direction first.
Trunks quickly made it to the large gym where Piccolo had decided to meditate in. Why he chose this particular place was beyond him. One of Piccolo's antennae twitched slightly as he sensed the young Saiyan's presence near him.
"Hey, I don't suppose the reason why you didn't go on the nature hike with us is because of Lulu's 'Namek express' thing?" Trunks teased. Piccolo opened his right eye only and looked murderously at Trunks then closed it once more. "Anyways, sorry to interrupt but I need to talk to you about something."
"Hmm." Piccolo grumbled annoyingly.
"I need advice about love and, um, sex."
"Simple. Don't do it." said the Namek without thinking. He wanted this to end as quickly as possible.
"Oh sure, easy for you to say, you're a Namek."
Before he knew what happened, Trunks' face met Piccolo's fist.
"Ouch! But that's true!" Trunks protested. Almost as quickly as he finished his sentence, another punch connected with his chin, causing him to stumble backwards. "Ouch, hey! Sorry! What's wrong with you?" Trunks asked.
"Don't ask!" Piccolo yelled.
"No, really, I need some help and I have no one else that can help me right now… I know that as the former guardian of Earth, you must've seen countless human romances. I need some advice." Trunks pleaded. Piccolo sighed
"Fine!" the Namek responded. He crossed his arms again and closed his eyes. Obviously, he wasn't getting out of this unless he gave a compelling word of wisdom. "Here's a key piece of advice, whatever your problem is, it starts with honesty. Not just to the one you're after but to yourself also. You can't say that you love him or her if you may not be, and conversely don't deny that you're in love if you are. And make sure it goes with your values. There's a lot more to it but that's the basics I think. That's all I can say for now." Trunks sighed.
"I guess it's not easy, huh?" Trunks said.
"No, but you think too much." Piccolo replied.
"Yeah, maybe…" Trunks pondered.
"By the way, how was your hike?" Piccolo asked. Trunks' face lit.
"It was pretty interesting actually. We visited a tropical forest with weird animals… yes, including those giant slugs called baktra…" The expression on Trunks' face turned to mild disgust as he recalled the slugs. "And we went through a canyon with winds so strong that they carried us without need for actual flying."
"Hmmm, sounds pretty interesting."
"Yeah, it was fun riding the air waves… Oh, Gohan, Tenshinhan and Android 18 got swallowed by dragons!" Trunks continued. Piccolo raised an eyebrow.
"What!"
"Not really swallowed actually." Trunks added. "These two huge dragons, kind of like flying dinosaurs with sacks in their throats, scooped up Gohan, Tenshinhan and 18 in their mouths and brought them to their nest. Lulu reasoned that they had probably lost their young ones and mistook the others for them since these creatures are partially. So Yoshuro watched them while Lulu and I went searching for the real kids who had fallen out of the nest. The parents kept tending to Gohan, 18 and Tenshinhan's needs like they were their offspring. But we were able to bring the little ones back and get our three friends back, thankfully."
"I see…" Piccolo added. "So you and Lulu were alone together for a few hours?" Trunks blushed.
"Um, yeah. And she kissed me. I wasn't sure what to do and I kissed her back."
"Well, do you like her?" Piccolo asked.
"I still haven't figured that out."
"Well, it's taking you pretty long. You should sort this out in your head, I think."
"Yeah, probably…" Trunks replied. Piccolo dismissed the slightly sad tone in the Saiyan's voice as part of his persona and didn't say anything. "Well, I'm gonna go."
"If there's anything…"
"I know. Thanks." Trunks replied smiling. He turned to leave.
"Oh, one thing." Piccolo said, stopping him. "So while you and Lulu were out rescuing baby pterodactyls, Tenshinhan, Gohan and 18 had to wait for you guys while being coddled and fed by their parents?"
"Yup."
"So how did 18 take it?" Piccolo asked smirking. Trunks burst out in laughter.
"Well, imagine a volcano erupting."
"That bad?"
"No, twice as bad." The two chuckled. "Well, I'll see you later, Piccolo."
Piccolo could feel himself relaxing more as he heard Trunks leave. Ah! Alone again… He thought.
"Now what was that all about? Piccolo all jittery because of a question on sex and love?" A voice called out and echoed throughout the room, startling Piccolo. It would've seemed to come out of nowhere for anybody else. But he knew very well to whom that voice belonged.
"NAIL!" Piccolo shouted out loud, infuriated. "Me concerned about love? How dare you say something like that! Just shut up and go back to where you belong." Nail chuckled, giving away the position of his disembodied spirit, behind Piccolo.
"Unfortunately, I belong to the back of your head so you know where I'll go if I go back where I belong, buddy." Piccolo mentally cringed at the word 'buddy'. "So Trunks probably found love, good for him. Now… what's taking YOU so long?"
"What do you mean what's taking me so long? I'm not looking for love, I'm not looking for anything! Now shut up, I want to meditate!" Piccolo said indignantly but Nail continued to mock him.
"Hmmm, as I recall, a couple of weeks ago, while we were still on Earth, you were distracted by a couple of women and you found them to be 'hot'. Now don't deny that, after all I belong to your head so I know all that you think!"
"Grrr… I don't remember." Piccolo mumbled.
"Yeah, I'm sure you did." Nail continued, smirking. "And I'm sure your antennae twitch every time you see a magazine like a Play…"
"NAIL!" Piccolo screamed cutting him off.
"Now, now, calm down, Piccolo." A new voice spoke out. Piccolo immediately felt another spirit materialize near him. "And Nail, stop making fun of something that's so important to him as love.
"Kami…" Piccolo muttered in anger, his teeth grinding together very loudly. If those two weren't a part of me…
"So what's with our friend over here?" Nail said to Kami.
"Well, I think there's something missing in Piccolo's life and that would be love." Kami replied.
"For your information, I'm not missing anything in my life and certainly not love. And for crying out loud, don't pretend like I'm not here!" Piccolo interjected.
"Well, what about that kid Gohan?" Nail continued, ignoring Piccolo. "Is that love Piccolo feels with him, right?"
"No, Piccolo feels more like a father figure with Gohan. He loves him but in a different way in this case. You should know that as well if you looked as closely at Piccolo's actions as I have." Kami explained.
"Stop talking about my life! And for crying out loud, Gohan is simply my former student!" Piccolo yelled.
"So… from what I've observed for the past couple of years, Piccolo would be looking for something more along the lines of what Son Goku has with his wife… or Vegeta with Bulma." Nail half-reflected out loud, half-talked to Kami.
"Something like that yes. Though I don't think he wants to follow those particular models." Kami replied.
"But how is that possible? Piccolo's a Namek. And so are we. Where could he have gotten such an urge?"
"Well, if you take a look at us Nameks closely, I think it's plain to see that we're not far from human or Saiyan males anatomically speaking." Kami said. "We're not sexual and that's pretty much the only difference between them and us. We act and look the same way. Nameks seem to have almost all the male traits common to most species except that particular point. When I think about it, I wonder if it's even possible that Nameks may have been sexual at one point. Maybe something happened to the females and all that were left were the males and they became asexual as an adaptation… but that's all speculation on my part."
"So, assuming your theory might be correct, Piccolo probably got those urges from back when we were males?" said Nail.
"Or he always had them and they were simply awakened by his constant proximity to Earthlings and Saiyans." added Kami.
"I'm not even the master in my own head…" Piccolo sighed.
"Wow, Piccolo's in need of love. Who would've thought!" laughed Nail. Then he stopped as he reflected for a moment. "Hey, I think I remembered something from the past, something that Guru had told me about Nameks a long time ago. But I'll leave that to another time, Kami. Anyways, what's there to do about Piccolo's situation and his feelings?"
"Well it's up to him to do something about love wherever and whenever he finds it. But we've spent enough time on this. Come on, Nail, I think our friend needs some rest and so do we." said Kami.
"Right. Well good luck, Piccolo. If you're in trouble… well, we'll know anyways, we're always with you!" Nail finished off with a laugh. Nail and Kami faded away and Piccolo could feel their personalities firmly back inside his head once again.
"Note to self." grumbled Piccolo. "Next time we get the Dragonballs, I'll ask for those two to be out of my head… or I'll get brain surgery."
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Meanwhile, Trunks continued walking to where he felt Android 18's ki and to his surprise, she was half-asleep… in Gohan's room. He entered it and found Gohan in his bed, sleeping peacefully. Right next to him, he saw 18 leaning back in a chair with her eyes closed. Seeing that, Trunks reconsidered and figured it was best not to disrupt her. He made a move to leave when something bright on a desk caught his eye. He recognized it as a laptop his mother had provided Gohan along with other material.
"Encyclopaedia and history of extraterrestrial civilizations, by Son Gohan" it read. Trunks spent several minutes reading it, amazed at Gohan's curious mind and his dedication. Over the next several pages was a description of the Jubian civilization, their home, their history, their technology, their customs and their characteristics, all the information that Chen had been generous enough to supply Gohan. Trunks even found the beginning of a chapter on Jubian animals and chuckled as he recalled their adventure of the day.
"He's an amazing kid, isn't he? He's so brilliant and devoted." said 18, smiling. She was still tired and woke up while Trunks was reading Gohan's manuscript. Surprised at first, Trunks simply smiled back gently at the Android.
"Um, yeah. No matter which dimension he's from, he's the same…" Trunks replied, lowering his voice at the end of this sentence. That saddened Android 18 slightly.
"I… kill him… in your world, I mean?" She asked. Trunks nodded. She looked downwards. "I'm sorry."
"Hey, we know you're not like that. You're not the Android 18 in my world. As for you, I'm glad you're one of my friends." Trunks said, smiling the best he could.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." She replied, smiling weakly. "Piccolo, Lulu, you… it feels nice to have people around you. Too bad you're going to have to leave and fight the other me and maybe even kill her."
"Well I don't care about that. If us two remain best friends, it won't matter." Trunks stated simply.
18 managed to pull off a genuine smile this time. She thought she would've been a pariah not long ago but instead she was blessed with wonderful friends, incidentally her former enemies who once vowed to crush her and her brother.
Suddenly, a loud siren blared in the room, shocking 18 and Trunks. Gohan woke up groggily.
"Huh? What's going on?" he asked.
"I got no clue what this is." 18 responded.
"Everyone to the war room immediately!" Lulu's voice resonated through an intercom. "This is an emergency, report to the war room now!"
"Well, looks like there's going to be some action." 18 said aloud.
A few minutes later, Trunks, Android 18 and Gohan rushed into the room where almost everyone was there. Yoshuro and Tenshinhan followed moments later, being the latest since they were outside.
"What's going on?" Tenshinhan asked.
"Alright, everyone's here, good!" Lulu exclaimed. Trunks observed her deeply furrowed brow. He had never seen her look so serious and determined. "I just got a call from my brother on Terius, we've finally got some news concerning the scroll and the Power Stone. The most important part of the scroll has been translated, the one that reveals the location of the Power Stone, it is on planet Mesata…" To this, Yoshuro gasped. "Chen gave me the exact coordinates for it. We're gonna go retrieve it right away before Dudan or his forces have a chance to get there. I'm pretty sure he'll find out about it, if he doesn't know already so we must hurry and get there before him. Gather anything you might need, we must depart immediately. Yoshuro, please prepare your ship."
As almost everyone nodded and departed to their quarters to get whatever they could, Tenshinhan hesitated as he saw Yoshuro sigh heavily.
"Are you ok?" Tenshinhan asked.
"Yes… yes, I'll be fine. It's just…" Yoshuro swallowed a lump in his throat and his face became livid.
"What is it?"
"Mesata… that's my home." The Jubian responded.
Tenshinhan felt his heart skip a beat. After all the fights in the past and battling evil, he had never heard an ordinary person's anguish from so close as their entire lives are going to be in the crossfire.
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Chen kept his vigil in the vicinity of the lab, watching the night sky of Terius as he waited patiently for the scroll's translation to be finished. After giving his sister the location of the Power Stone, he stayed to supervise the completion of the analysis and maybe he could even use the artefact against Dudan. Still, he felt uncomfortable as he felt control of the war slip.
"None of this is right." Chen said aloud. Not for the first time, he felt manipulated by a force he couldn't see. It couldn't be a coincidence that a translated source was handed out of generosity to his scientists. Certainly, someone who is involved in this somehow planted it and is moving things behind the curtains. He thought. But who? And why? What's the big picture that I'm missing?
Chen sighed. The weight of the war and the responsibility as protector of an entire society spanning many systems was bearing down on him. Maybe I'm getting too old for this. He wondered, trying to add some levity to his sullen mood.
"General Chen! Sir, please respond!" A voice urgently called out on Chen's transceiver. He immediately responded to the call
"What is it!" he asked.
"Sir, we're receiving multiple signals above the planet! Five ships have dropped out of warp and are about to penetrate the atmosphere, heading straight for the lab. Confirmed enemy contacts!"
"I'll take care of as many as I can! Stand by for anything that slips past me, put all systems and personnel on the highest alert! "
"Yes, Sir!"
Cutting the transmission, Chen powered up as much as he could and ascended rapidly in the air. He had anticipated that Dudan might find out about the lab and his instincts were correct. At least he was now there to keep the scroll safe. He flew up as quickly as he could, ignoring the cold blasts of the upper atmosphere. When he finally came to a stop, Chen looked up to see blazing arcs as the ships entered Terius' atmosphere.
"Great." Chen said to himself grimly. "This is it, I gotta win this. Without the scroll, all is lost."
END OF PART SEVEN