QUEST FOR POWER:
THE WARLORDBy Konrad
PART 11
Rhoderu ran as fast as her scrawny eleven-year-old legs could muster. Tears of terror ran down her cheeks and she searched frantically for her way back. In a moment of panic, she got separated from her father as they were trying to make their way to the evacuation ships and, not knowing what to do, she broke into a desperate run. Her beloved city was no longer recognizable. Buildings that weren't half-toppled were in flames while the streets were now littered with rubble and bodies. Meanwhile, the shrill screams of planes clashing, their guns blazing and their bombs dropping, continued to ring horrifyingly above.
Rhoderu couldn't think straight anymore. She doesn't how long she had been running for. Maybe a few minutes? Her legs ached from the effort but it didn't matter. She just had to continue running away from the scenery, even if she didn't know where she had to go to. Her fear and her instinct just kept her legs moving on their own.
Suddenly, a giant slab of concrete slammed into the ground mere inches from her, almost crushing her. Emitting a small yelp, Rhoderu abruptly changed directions and ran into a nearby alley.
"Papa!" she screamed out desperately. But her father was too far to hear her now.
When she got on the other side of the alley, Rhoderu was shocked to see Planet Traders' troopers pouring into the neighbouring street, randomly firing at Jubian military and civilians alike. The Jubian soldiers were being cut down one by one even as they struggled to protect the population as well as themselves. Rhoderu's eyes swelled again and she ran back in the direction she came from.
"PAPA!" she yelled out again from fear.
"What the…!" said one Traders' mercenary at the added commotion.
"PAPA!"
"Rhoderu! Rhoderu!" Rhoderu's heart almost skipped a beat when she heard a voice calling out her name.
Rhodan quickly pulled out from the shadow of a nearby building. He stopped briefly to catch his breath. After running for so long his lungs felt like they had needles in them. His face was pale from the effort. He scanned his surroundings desperately to find out where he was. His mind was working so furiously he couldn't properly make out where he was or where he came from. All he could think about was retrieving his daughter after losing sight of her while they attempted to make their way to the continuing evacuation. If something happened to her…
"PAPA!" Rhodan whipped his head around in the direction of that familiar voice. He saw a teary eyed little girl dashing madly towards him.
"Rhoderu!" he yelled as he rushed to his daughter. He knelt to embrace the crying girl in his arms.
"Oh, Papa!" Rhoderu couldn't stop her sobbing.
"It's ok, sweetie. Everything's going to be o…"
The sound of weapons loading drew the pair's attention to their surroundings. Without realizing it, they had been spotted and surrounded by a handful of enemy soldiers. Their guns pointed ominously at them.
"Well, too bad for you nothing will be ok. Waste 'em boys!" spoke one of them.
"I'm sorry, Papa…" Rhoderu said.
"It's ok, I'm here with you no matter what." Rhodan tried to console her.
Rhodan and Rhoderu closed their eyes and held each other tighter, waiting for their final moments. A quick series of blasts echoed and a tremendous amount of heat engulfed the father/daughter duo, causing them to flinch and whimper involuntary.
But nothing else happened. Rhoderu tentatively opened her eyes and looked around. The soldiers were all gone. Almost no trace of them was left except for one lone rifle on the ground and a pair of smoking boots with legs severed just below the knee, as if everything else had vaporized. Rhoderu wondered at the sight until she felt someone else's presence nearby. She looked up to see a tall half-naked stranger with three eyes and a slash scar across his chest.
"Eeep!" she yelped slightly.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Tenshinhan said. "It's alright." Rhodan opened his eyes also to stare at the Triclops.
"Oh, thank goodness, you're one of the Earth heroes we heard about. Thank you for saving us!" he exclaimed joyously.
"I cleared the area of every enemy trooper but you guys better hurry up and get out of here." Tenshinhan continued as calmly as possible to reassure the two civilians. "The last batch of evacuation ships is over there. I'll take care of everything here."
"Thank you very much." Rhodan replied as he picked up Rhoderu in his arms. "Even though so many of us died, every help we can get is appreciated so much. We'll never forget this, sir…"
"Tenshinhan. Or Tien for short." The Triclops replied smiling fondly.
"We'll see you later, Tien!" Rhodan said and he hurried off in the direction Tenshinhan pointed out. As they went off, Rhoderu turned her head to look at the Human one more time.
"Hey mister! Kick their butts!" she yelled. The Triclops couldn't help but smile at the quip.
Once he knew they were in safety, Tenshinhan released a breath he didn't know he had held since he rescued the pair. He had never realised how much it meant to save lives when he never met those people he helped. The fights in the fields far away from anyone had seemed to almost trivialize the danger in comparison to this battle. Again, Tenshinhan stood between life and oblivion for countless people but he doesn't remember ever seeing the terror stricken eyes, the panicked screams and the tearful, thankful faces.
That look in their eyes… They need us more than anything. Tenshinhan thought. He looked up as the activity in the air had seemed to grow heavier in the last few moments. More planes from both sides buzzed around overhead. Worse, a giant shadowy profile developed over the skyscrapers as the gigantic aircraft carrier drew closer to launch its planes quicker still. Why did they ever have to come? The Triclops felt his emotions boiling up.
Tenshinhan abruptly flew up in a burst of ki energy, speeding through incoming weapons fire. The Planet Traders ships spiralled to dodge him as best as they could. Meanwhile his aura only grew with his anger.
"Why don't you go back where you came from!" Tenshinhan yelled, challenging the opposing force. "Get out of here!"
The Triclops powered up and quickly sent a flurry of a dozen ki balls to destroy enemy ships. Some fighters shot back at him but he used his aura to shield himself from the blasts. Another plane sped directly at Tenshinhan but he slammed into it, sending it careening into others and crashing them. In a flash, the odds seemed reversed again in favour of the Jubians.
"Well that's better… What!" Tenshinhan started to comment when he felt Timber's presence behind him. He turned around just in time to block the Kosajin's punch.
"You're starting to get on my nerves, Earthling!" Timber cursed.
"And you're going to do something about it?" Tenshinhan mocked before receiving a blow to his face.
"Take this!" Timber a rapid series of beams from his eyes that the Triclops had to block as best as he could with his arms as shields.
Damn, I shouldn't have made him mad. And there's still all those ships and that stupid carrier I need to get too! Tenshinhan thought while under constant fire from the eye beams.
Suddenly the beams were interrupted. Tenshinhan looked on as Timber was blasted back in the air by Yoshuro's ship.
"What!" Tenshinhan marvelled. Yoshuro's ship approached him and from the pilot seat, the smiling Jubian gave the Triclops a 'thumbs up'.
"The guys at the base managed to fit my ship with some pretty nifty stuff!" Yoshuro said through loudspeakers. "I'll help with the planes while you take care of that creep, what do you think?"
Tenshinhan nodded his approval and looked back at Timber. Yoshuro's attack had projected the Kosajin several dozen feet further up in the air. Trying to regain his senses, he now floated directly between Tenshinhan and what appeared to be the carrier's enormous intake. Is that the carrier's engine? Tenshinhan thought. Well, two birds, one stone…
"Is that the best you can do? Being blown up by a single little Jubian in his ship?" Tenshinhan hissed intentionally.
"Y-you pathetic excuse for a warrior! How dare you insult me, I am an Elite!" an angry Timber spit back, a vein almost popping out of his forehead.
"In that case, why don't you give me your best shot? I doubt you could beat me with it!" Tenshinhan countered. Meanwhile he focused his mind as intensely as possible.
"Gladly! High Special Beam!" Timber yelled back. He brought his hands forwards and, concentrating all his power in a few short seconds, he fired an immense bolt of crackling energy. Tenshinhan continued to prepare his mind, then he abruptly joined his hands together in a ball with his index fingers pointing upwards together. Timber's beam meanwhile had almost completely closed the distance between the two fighters.
"TSUHOOOOO!" came Tenshinhan's loud cry. Timber's Special Beam seemed to hit an invisible wall mere inches away from the Triclops. It immediately bounced back and was sent flying back in the direction it came from.
"W-what?" Timber was shocked as his own blast was sent back speeding back towards him. Without any time to remove himself from the path of the beam in time, he resorted to trying to block and catch it with his hands but the force of it pushed him back. "Unnnhhh… How the hell… No!"
Timber turned his head only to see the huge intake seemingly grow incredibly in size as he got closer to it at a furious pace. His horrified screams were completely deafened by the sound of the engine. Into it went the blast, and the Kosajin attached to it. The engine erupted into several explosions until finally the entire ship itself blew up in a single giant fireball. The sky lit up in a blinding flash and the shockwave blew away anything nearby. Planes, building tops, even Tenshinhan was thrown forcibly into a skyscraper.
Several minutes passed before Tenshinhan could extract himself from the side of the tower. He looked to see that both sides had resumed fighting, but without the carrier to bring enemy reinforcements, the Jubians were now decidedly winning the air war. On the other side of the city, the last remaining transport ships used for evacuation were now on their way out. Tenshinhan was about to take a breath of relief when he stopped himself, suddenly realising something.
"What the… I can't feel Piccolo's ki!" he cried out.
"Tenshinhan!" someone called out. The Triclops looked in the direction of the voice to see Android 18 flying towards him, carrying Lulu.
"Lulu! 18, I got the senzu beans!"
"No, it's too late for her." 18 responded sadly. Tenshinhan felt shocked and saddened as much by Lulu's death as by 18's expression. She was definitely not the killer they thought of her before. "I couldn't help them…"
"It's ok…" The Triclops tried consoling her as best as he could. "And Piccolo?"
"I think he went to face Dudan himself and… I should've stopped him!" she yelled, tears streaming down her face.
"He wouldn't have let you! Piccolo did what he did because he wanted to see you get out of there." Tenshinhan responded firmly, almost startling the Android. "I'm sorry, 18. I can't believe Lulu died too, I feel sorry for Chen. And Trunks and Piccolo were like family. But right now we need to see if we can live first so we can mourn later. Let's go find Vegeta real quick."
18 nodded silently, her confidence slightly boosted, as she handed Lulu's body to the Triclops. They immediately flew off to find the Prince.
- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -
Now where'd he go? Sulfus thought as he searched through the city. He finally spotted the body he was looking for. Vegeta was lying face down, apparently unconscious.
"Well, so much for that famous Saiyan pride, Vegeta? Hmmm?" Sulfus picked up the Saiyan by his hair and brought him to his face. Still no movement registered. "Heh, that couldn't have been that easy. That'd be too bad. I wonder what Cerion's up to now?" He said aloud.
Looking up in the sky, with his sharp eyesight, Sulfus spotted a blue floating object in the far distance. He immediately recognized as a force field, sparkling with energy and electricity, erected by his mysterious companion. Probably fighting the child, Son Gohan. He concluded. Still she's hiding something from me. Not that I care! But… Sulfus fixated his gaze on Cerion's whereabouts. How long have I known her now? Meh, and she's still as inscrutable as before! Bigger explosions nearby brought his attention back to his immediate surroundings. This isn't good, our forces are losing here! Dudan overe… "Ughhh!"
Sulfus's train of thought was interrupted by the impact of Vegeta's boot to his jaw. He tumbled and rolled on the ground for a few feet before struggling to get back up but already the Super Saiyan was on him.
"I must admit the Namek has a few useful tricks I can pick up." Vegeta stated as he began to pummel Sulfus with punches. "You never should've made the mistake of challenging me. All I can see when I look at you is Freezer's ugly mug. The man who kidnapped me! Took me from my father, from my birthright, from my THRONE!"
Sulfus was sent sprawling to the floor with a thunderous blow that forced his left eye shut. He struggled to get back up as Vegeta approached him slowly but with a deadly assurance in his eyes.
"My life robbed from me… to toil away as a slave for twenty years. Twenty long years. Do you have any idea how long that is? Well to me it was an eternity!"
Vegeta rushed Sulfus and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying for a short distance. As he landed painfully, Sulfus coughed out dirt and blood.
"My life, my family, my entire race… everything that ever went wrong with my life because of your people. I don't care if Freezer's not here now, you'll have to take his blame!" Vegeta said.
As he spoke, a shockwave suddenly hit the city, blowing almost everything, and the sky temporarily became a thousand times brighter. Only then did they hear the continuous roar of Dudan's lead aircraft, the massive carrier that endlessly sent out more fighter planes, exploding in a giant blast. Vegeta grinned.
"Well, seems like the Human did alright for himself." He approached Sulfus as he was still reeling from his blows on the ground and picked him up by his neck. "And you've lost your ticket home." But he felt his assurance slip slightly as Sulfus grinned back.
"Heh, a fool like you wouldn't know that you shouldn't touch a Kosajin who can master his element!"
Sulfus opened his mouth wide and spit out a column of fire. Vegeta was instantly engulfed in flames and he let go of the Kosajin as the fire burned his skin. He took a quick roll in the ground and using his own energy at the same time he put out the flames. He wasn't particularly hurt, just enough to be warned. Damn, gonna have to watch out for that! He thought. Meanwhile Sulfus had taken a couple of leaps backwards to put some distance between himself and the enraged Saiyan.
"That should teach you why my name is Sulfus!" He countered, tentatively opening his bruised left eye and wiping the blood from his mouth. "And you should know better than to give me a lesson in morality, Princeling. And I've done far more for the Saiyans than your conceited head would have!"
"Shut the hell up! What do you have to do with my people? You said that they were alive, how the hell is that possible?" Vegeta yelled back. Sulfus smirked in spite of his annoyance at the Saiyan.
"Yeah. Cooler and Dudan anticipated that Freezer wanted to exterminate your race long before he destroyed your planet. They figured they were too useful to let die so we conspired to save a few dozen of them. While most of the leaders of Planet Traders were in the know and even some Kosajin figures were let in on this, we managed to keep it a secret from King Cold and Freezer. Those two were too proud of themselves to pay attention to rumours and secrets anyways."
"What! Where the hell are they now?"
"They can be anywhere." Sulfus shrugged. "Some, like Djoukien, served us regularly while most of the others were called on only occasionally. But don't worry, Vegeta." The Kosajin smirked. "They are being well taken of. Why, better than you would've done as leader."
"You freak! I won't stand for anyone of my people serving as slaves!"
"What's this? The proud Saiyan Princeling has a conscience! Hahaha!" Sulfus mocked. Then suddenly his expression turned deadly serious. "You trash! Is it true what I heard about you? That you hardly reacted when you heard of your entire race being murdered? Is that how a ruler is supposed to act for his people!"
"I…"
"Quiet!" Sulfus' boomed. "Sure, I'm a mercenary as you once were. But don't think a change of heart, that you're fighting the 'good fight', mean anything. Cooler was worried at not having gotten you out of his brother's clutches but even he, the optimist he is, eventually saw that was not a big loss. Vegeta, you are worthless!"
Vegeta couldn't believe his ears and gritted his teeth in rage. Yet, he couldn't move, his muscles seemingly disobeying him, as Sulfus' criticism kept stinging him.
"Yes, you heard me right, you spoiled brat!" Sulfus continued. "Sure, your life may have been messed up but at the end of the day, your faults are yours alone and your responsibility. You wouldn't have been fit to lead anyway. That's why the surviving Saiyans have a leader worthy of the best in the galaxy! Your father would have been foolish not to let his second child succeed him."
"What!" Vegeta yelled out. Again Sulfus laughed.
"Yes, that's right. Your people are ruled by one born after you, Vegeta. Your sister."
Vegeta's face paled. A s-sister? His mind literally burned from the day's revelations and he was once again paralysed by his thoughts. With that, Sulfus powered up more.
"Too bad for you, you get to die without seeing a sister you never knew, without seeing your own people!" He stated. Suddenly bright lights flickered all over Sulfus' body like stars. As he looked on in shock, Sulfus was wrapped in a blue field. "What the?… Cerion! What the…" He cried out before he vanished in front of Vegeta.
Vegeta looked on confused for a few long moments before everything started to take a toll on his minds. No!
"Vegeta!" The Prince immediately recognized the Triclops' voice. He turned to see him flying down with Android 18 at his side. For the first time in a while, maybe forever, both the Saiyan and the Human felt relieved to see each other, though either would be damned to let it show.
"You, what's going on?" Vegeta asked abruptly.
"Oh, a couple of things." Tenshinhan replied coolly as he and 18 landed. It was then that the Prince noticed Lulu's still body in 18's arms. "Lulu is dead. Piccolo and Trunks too probably. And that madman is heading this way!"
"What! That can't be." Vegeta said dumbstruck. He quickly reached out with his senses but he couldn't find either his son or the Namek. The image of Cell killing trunks replayed in his head.
Dudan's ki grew more overwhelming as the Warlord drew nearer. The Z soldiers could tell he was fighting, or rather massacring, everyone and everything in his path.
"Kami, he's close…" 18 stated nervously.
"So that's him? The reason I lost my son again?" Vegeta yelled angrily. He powered up and blasted off.
"Vegeta!… Damnit! This looks familiar." Tenshinhan said gloomily. He darted after the Saiyan immediately. 18 took a deep breath and laid Lulu on the ground.
"Well, I'm not going to sit this one down." 18 said to Lulu's body. "I may have failed you but I'll be damned if I can't help the others. Don't worry I'll be back to bury you… or not at all." She also flew off.
Meanwhile, as most of them left, some of the Jubian air force, including Yoshuro, stayed back to strike at Dudan, showering him with a barrage of laser fire. Dudan blocked them barely but his anger reached the boiling point. Tenshinhan wondered if Yoshuro would get out in time. As if answering his mental pleas, Yoshuro moved away after unleashing his artillery but the rest weren't so quick to react.
"You insects! You truly deserve to die!" Dudan bellowed. He plowed through some planes with his fists while blasting others out of the sky. A few lucky ones retreated quickly.
"Let's see how good you are against real fighters!" Vegeta yelled, already on Dudan with a kick to his waist. The blow knocked the breath out of the giant but he recovered in time to deliver a sweeping kick of his own, sending the Saiyan down to the ground.
"Does that answer your question?" he spat back.
"Try this!" Tenshinhan and 18 both yelled from behind Dudan and fired a combined beam at his back. The Warlord disappeared in the smoke from the explosion.
"Did we get him?" 18 asked.
"Don't think so." Tenshinhan replied. "But I couldn't follow him. For such a big guy, he's AAARRGHH!" The Triclops was sent hurtling to the ground below too when the giant rammed him from behind.
18 yelped and turned around in surprise to see Dudan before her. He smirked wickedly while she backed away, fearing the worst for herself. A quick glance downward showed Vegeta and Tenshinhan slowly and shakily getting back up. Well this is it, no one to rescue me now. The Android thought grimly.
"You're still here, after I soundly defeated you earlier?" Dudan asked sarcastically. "You're blinded by your emotions, your goodness, your heart! Really, is there anyone left who can challenge my power!"
"Yes, there's me!" came Gohan's voice. Shocked, Android 18 and Dudan turned towards the Saiyan boy. His power flickered wildly around him, lifting a sandstorm in the area. His eyes burned with a rage he hadn't felt in a long time. Slowly he powered up to Super Saiyan Two. "18, move away He's mine."
END OF PART ELEVEN