"These provocations were expected," I told Ada'la, sitting on what I could only describe as a throne. It was too grand to be called a simple chair.
I only had one at her behest, because she had gone through the trouble of having over a hundred designed for me. The look that she gave me when I picked the simplest one wasn't one I would soon be forgetting - a white stone slab that had a place to sit carved into it without so much as a cushion. It appealed to me more than any of the floating thrones in the small catalogue, or the overly decorated ones that looked like the designer had only stopped adding ornamentation because they had run out of room. "I killed Cooler's brother and stole a third of his empire. If he did nothing, that would make me nervous."
All around me were holograms, countless streams of information. I was used to it from the war, keeping up with thousands of battlefields all at once. Every order I gave was to prevent the loss of my soldiers. Now, I issued very different orders from my vantage point that still affected just as many people, if not more.
"Retribution was expected, yes, but there is the fact that you delivered such an ultimatum," Ada'la pointed out, stepping through one of the holographic screens. She was dressed as fancy as ever, though the style was different than usual - I think she took a liking to Earth dresses. I'm pretty sure I saw a similar white gown on the cover of a magazine. "When so much hinges on your reputation, then you have to be seen to uphold it. Always."
I nodded, flicking through screens of various patrol reports. I never would have thought that Robin would end up finding a ring of saboteurs in my empire, but he had pulled on a thread and it began to unravel. In the past weeks, Ada'la had launched her own investigations to find that the Trade Organization was rather active in my territory. Stealing resources, subverting orders, and kidnapping people. My citizens. That last one I cannot abide.
Thinking about it for a moment, I chose a target. An important trade depot that doubled as a luxury villa for wealthy merchants. I had never been there, but I had heard stories about it. Flicking the info to Ada'la, she looked at me. "Destroy it," I ordered.
"It is an escalation," Ada'la noted.
"It is," I agreed. "It tells Cooler that enough is enough, but it's still better than exterminating everything on his side of the border." A compromise. "I want additional missions set up - return the favor and free those that were taken. Trade disruptions, assassinations, bribes, and favors. A shadow war isn't what I want, but I'd rather that than the alternative."
To that, Ada'la smiled lightly, approving of the measures. I continued, "I'll organize them myself. For now - is it done?" I asked her, and in return, she sent me a data packet that contained the relevant information. A hologram formed in front of me. An edict. One that would implement the economy we had been designing all the weeks after the idea had been made.
All goods and services had been priced from the top down. All my citizens had been registered. A fair price was decided with factors of species, family size, and previously held wealth taken into account. It wasn't a perfect solution, I reflected. It was, however, a foundation to build on. With my power as King, I was within my rights to tweak the path when necessary or if I felt the need.
Reading it over once more, I nodded, satisfied with the result. With a press of a button, the edict went into effect.
"Congratulations are in order," Ada'la remarked, faintly amused. "Your empire now has an economy."
"The rollback of relief efforts will be done in stages," I answered, quickly moving on. "Everything must be carefully monitored. Decisions made on paper don't often reflect reality. The price that is set might not be what people pay." I didn't much mind the idea of capitalism. However, I had seen firsthand what unrestrained capitalism turned into - scourged planets and people hungry because they couldn't afford food.
The free market would be free to do as it pleased, so long as it understood that I held the reins and that there were lines I wouldn't allow crossed.
Ada'la hummed, "It's an interesting development. To have a credit be worth what you say it is," she noted, not at all displeased by the turn of events. She saw it for the power it offered me. I could say that a credit was worth a planet or I could decide it was worth a crumb. The power I held within my empire was absolute. Even the old Earth kings could have only dreamed of having the complete and utter governance over their domains that I had.
That power weighed heavily on me. Especially when I didn't fully understand it.
"There is the matter of Earth's integration. Or, rather, the heroes," Ada'la said as I continued to sort through holograms. Reports on the restoration of planets, patrols, food programs, incident reports, and everything in between. "Earth itself is proving problematic, but I understand there are a number of… strong personalities that have the power to tell you no." That, Ada'la didn't like.
I nodded, "It will have to be slow." I agreed, pulling up a number of video feeds from Earth. There were riots once again. These, even larger than the previous ones that had started in the wake of my arrival. There was also Lois Lane. Standing in front of the tower that I had constructed at the heart of the North Pole. A space elevator, one of two.
She really just went wherever she thought there would be a story. I would find the determination endearing if it wasn't for the fact that she was in an area that was strictly off-limits. The space elevator was under construction, as was the ground under it to make sure that it would be supported. Did she not understand that declaring the area off-limits was for people's safety? Or did she really think there was some great big secret?
A small sigh escaped me at the evident reminder of my failure. Ada'la frowned at the hologram. "Can we count on them for military service? They are not exempt from it." she pointed out, and she wasn't wrong. Earth wasn't receiving any special treatment. It was just getting special attention on account of the number of powerful people that inhabited it, as well as the fact that it was the first planet that was integrated into my empire instead of conquered. And that was a matter of debate.
"As of right now? No," I admitted. Forces like the Justice League saw themselves as independent from the military. They were in a position where government bodies could tell them what they couldn't do, but not what they could. That was a freedom that they were used to. If I gave the order for them to marshal, my expectations were that they would ignore me at best or fight me at worst. "But, they are compassionate people. If they feel like they are a part of the Empire, and they see people suffering, then they will take action."
It was manipulation. I didn't care for it, but it was a very useful tool. And in the end, I would simply be having the heroes do what they did best - protecting the innocent. The only thing that changed would be that they would be protecting all of my citizens at my behest, not just one medium-sized planet's worth.
The Teen Titans continued their mission, exploring the hidden corners of my empire that I didn't even know about. Where hidden black markets sprouted, or where people thought that cruelty was acceptable because they were strong. Abuses of power were alarmingly common, and that was because the power that people had was poorly defined so they just did what they thought they could get away with.
"I need them," I admitted to Ada'la. My empire was called Tarble's Empire, yet it was simply too vast for me to rule it alone. I could make sweeping decisions, such as terraforming hundreds of thousands of planets, building more space stations, and completely redeveloping huge swaths of the Galaxy. But, I couldn't do that and give the small details the attention that they deserved - the people that would be impacted by my decisions in ways that I didn't expect or understand. "Not just for their power. They're the kind of people I want to have in positions of responsibility in my empire. They want to protect people. Help them."
I didn't really know what the shape of the positions would look like. But, I knew if I placed Superman in charge of a number of planets, and I made a decision that would negatively affect them, then he would push back for their sake. He wasn't motivated by political power or influence. If he was, then I would have arrived to an Earth that worshiped him like a god. I wouldn't say I trusted Superman exactly, but I did trust his intentions.
My time on Earth showed me that I needed checks. People that could tell me no, and would tell me no for the right reasons. When they did, I could make compromises that would alleviate whatever reason they had for contesting my edict.
"You have a long way to go before they will consider integration," Ada'la told me, not sparing my feelings. She had been updated on the events on Earth, and she was less than impressed with me. I think it might be the first time I ever genuinely disappointed her. It wasn't a great feeling. "For now, it's best to let the humans scream and shout to get it out of their systems. My studies show that they tend to get worked up about something, only to forget about it when the next thing comes along. Over the next five months, give them more reasons to want to join and it should be a relatively harmless integration."
An alert caught my attention, making my lips thin. It was an alert that I had both been hoping for and dreading at the same time. It marked the return of the Teen Titans. As well as a few tagalongs.
"Nothing else requires your immediate attention," Ada'la said, doing a poor job of hiding her smile. I couldn't blame her there.
"The development of the Warworlds?" I asked her, mostly to buy time. I had several under construction. "Has the problem with the missing power source been solved?" I asked, knowing that the previous Warworld had used a crystal of limitless energy. There was enough energy in it that it could outpace the production of a million suns.
Ada'la knew I was buying time, but she indulged me anyway. "It was decided that the Warworlds would be powered by the Bleed - the infinite space between universes," she said, and that was reassuring. I missed the mental connection I had with the Warworld. It made coordination so much faster. "Your proposal for the border is entering its first renditions."
I wanted a strong border, yet I had spent a lifetime proving the ineffectiveness of Shield Worlds. With cunning or sheer overwhelming force, the Shield Worlds could be taken, and if enough of them were then large chunks of the Empire would become extremely vulnerable. So instead of relying on Shield Worlds, I was combining three methods of defense.
Starting with Shield Worlds - they were ineffective alone, but they served as an excellent foundation. They were snappish in terms of response time because each one housed massive fleets and armies. To build on that foundation, I would do two things - First, I would use the method of defense Earth had used against me. To heavily utilize parallel dimensions as a means to evacuate citizens, mobilize armies, and recover.
The final building block was the same kind of shielding that I had implemented around the Vega System, but on a much grander scale. It would be extremely resource-intensive to maintain a shield that would stretch across near ten percent of the galaxy, but it would be worth it. There was so much empty space in space that it made it incredibly easy to slip in and out without notice. The aegis around my empire wouldn't be infallible, but it would act as a natural barrier for enemy armies.
With natural weak points coinciding where my Shield Worlds would be to act as choke points for traffic.
"And the Lanterns?" I asked, and that made Ada'la frown deeply.
"Currently, they're focused on what is left of the Trade Organization. Intel is scarce about their operations, but our spies in the Federation have shown that they routinely take large numbers of slaves and bring them to Federation territory. However, trouble is brewing in the Federation. A number of slaves have been proven to be sleeper agents and have begun a terror campaign within their borders."
My lips thinned. That sounded familiar. The Trade Organization had picked up that trick from the Reach. The problem had been so bad that it was why I stopped sparing Reach civilians, because they didn't have civilians. They were either soldiers or sleeper agents with absolutely nothing in between. "The Federation response?"
"Indecisive. There's a push against taking in any more freed slaves, and others want to have the slaves become client nations to support the weaker nations against their more powerful peers. However, overall, there is a push against the Lanterns because they are just as active in Federation territory as they are in the Trade Organization. They're a disruptive element. Soon, they shall find none to welcome them." Ada'la explained. The New Lanterns weren't the Green Lanterns, yet they were suffering for the Guardians' sins.
The Green Lanterns had been there since before most civilizations rose, meaning that they were something that had to be grown around rather than something that was interjected into a race's ways of doing things. However, the Guardians proved to be as monstrous as the people they fought against. Because of that broken trust, Hal Jordan's New Lanterns were faced with overcoming the sins of the past in addition to carving out a place for themselves.
And, so far, they haven't done particularly well in either respect. They likely wouldn't find a fit until a few hundred years after the sting of the Guardians' betrayal had faded.
"Wait until the Federation looks to close its door to them, then reach out," I decided, earning a look from Ada'la as I felt a ki signature I knew appear within my range.
"Are you sure that is wise? You have a long history with Hal Jordan. He strikes me as the type of person who… cuts off his nose to spite his face," Ada'la said, sounding pleased with the idiom. Human culture was proving to be infectious, I found.
But, she was right about that. I hadn't seen Hal Jordan since the Vega System, where we lost the battle to win the war. Where he had fused with the Emotional Entity Ion and sent Frieza running with his tail tucked between his legs. Back then, his opinion was very clear - I was his enemy and he hated my guts. I sincerely doubt that fusing with the Will Entity made him less stubborn. Actually, I suspected the opposite would be true.
"Not likely," I admitted. "But he won't have much choice. Hal is immortal and I'm functionally immortal. The universe isn't such a small place that we won't ever run into each other, so we have to learn to work together." Or I killed him. Which was less than ideal, if it was barely more so than working together to help police my empire. "Odds are we fight a few times to get it out of our system, then we find a way to settle down."
"I shall monitor the situation… however, I believe that you have guests," Ada'la said, a smile in her voice. And through the hologram that displayed Lois Lane demanding answers at my doorstep, I saw the camera catch a blur before it smashed into the wall of the space elevator. The same floor that I was standing on.
A split second later, I found myself being tackled by Elery as she entered like a force of nature. "Tarble!" she exclaimed, throwing a high kick at my head that I blocked effortlessly.
I had missed it, I thought with some shame. For so long, Elery had been in her second growth spurt. After so long, and I'm guessing with the help of time dilation, Elery had entered her third growth spurt. No longer did she look like a small child, but now as a grown woman in her teens. Almost overnight, we went from looking over a decade apart in age gap, until we almost appeared the same age.
"You got taller," I remarked as Elery broke off, a large grin on her face. She also looked like Mom in the same way that Vegeta and I looked like our father. High cheekbones, a strong jawline with a stubborn chin. A single lock of hair dripped between her eyes, like my own, while the rest of her black mane of hair was pushed back in thick locks that brushed against her shoulders. Like me, she had abandoned the traditional Frieza-Force armor in favor of traditional Saiyan attire - a skintight black undersuit, and dark purple skirt wrapped around her waist that was held up by her tail. The only piece of armor that she wore was a tank top of Frieza-Force inspired armor with the crest of the Saiyan royal family on her chest.
Elery stood next to me, in front of the hole that she made before placing a hand on her head and… "You're still taller," she said, decidedly dejected, making me raise an eyebrow. She hadn't figured that out when she was at eye level with my shoulder? "Tsk." Apparently not.
"It's good to see you," I told her, and the grin on her face reappeared just as fast as it vanished. It was hardly the longest time we had been separated, but it felt like the one where the most had changed, in the month that we spent on opposite ends of the Empire. "How are the Teen Titans?"
"Fine. Robin keeps trying to usurp me as the leader, but I keep showing him who's boss," Elery dismissed, hands on her hips. Poor Robin. "Kara is a good sparring partner. But she really wants to kick your ass. All of them kinda do for conquering Earth."
"I offered to uphold the summit. Lex Luthor is the one that surrendered Earth to me," I pointed out, earning a thoroughly uncaring shrug from Elery.
"Don't care," she admitted, stepping back. "You're a lot stronger," she noted, and I was.
Time dilation was a powerful thing. I used it frequently back during the War, but there were few things quite as convenient as doing a hundred hours of work in a single hour. It's why I was closing in on my final growth spurt, which happened in the early twenties, despite the fact that I had only been born sixteen years ago. My uses of it now were far more reserved given the circumstances of my presence on Earth, but it was why I wasn't glued to the chair for the next year.
Technically speaking, I did six months of work in the past three weeks. All of it spent securing my empire's future. Naturally, I also dedicated time to train. My mastery of the base Super Saiyan state was lacking and I was improving my control over it, minimizing the endurance loss and learning to control the amount of strength I exerted. All just in case there was a round two with Earth.
I took in a deep breath as I felt another presence make itself known, racing towards the tower at high speeds. "Elery, there's something that I have to tell you," I began, making the playful grin fall, replaced with a serious look. As if she were expecting trouble. "It's about Broly. He's-" I started, only to be cut off by Broly's arrival. He entered in from the hole that Elery made in the space elevator, landing on his feet with an expression that said he was ready to fight.
Elery whipped around to face him, her hands clenched into fists… for a split second, the two friends stared at each other. One believing the other dead because of a lie I had to tell, and the other not seeing the former for half a decade. Predictably, Broly smiled, instantly recognizing Elery.
Elery turned around to look at me, tears in her eyes that made the snarl on her face that much more fearsome. "Jerk!" she shouted, punching me in the nose with all of her strength, and I leaned my head back so she didn't break her knuckles. Elery was a lot stronger now after weeks of sparring with a Kryptonian, but she wasn't that strong. Turning on her heel, she threw herself at Broly, "JERK!" she shouted even louder, punching him as well for good measure.
Then she left. Broly watched her go, rubbing his cheek despite the fact that the punch would have hurt him less than me. "She seems to be doing well," Broly said with a sigh, the heartfelt reunion not what he hoped for, but it was what he expected.
"I dare say that you two deserved that," Ada'la remarked lightly. And we did. It had been necessary to tell Elery that Broly was dead, but I should have come clean the moment that it stopped being necessary to keep the secret. I was too distracted by my own intentions to think about how it would affect Elery to suddenly learn that an old friend was alive.
A small sigh escaped me, "She just needs some time to vent. I'll go deal with the Titans," I decided, heading towards the hole. I could feel their ki signatures off in the distance, heading back towards Titan's Tower. It was an annoying message of… not quite insubordination, but a declaration that they didn't answer to me. Even though I had politely requested that they do so.
"Raven's back?" Broly asked as we departed the space elevator, feeling the frigid embrace of the North Pole. My restorations efforts were already having an effect. Ice on a predominantly ocean planet was a simple thing to make. Disks in the ozone were restoring the atmosphere while a number of drones were taking care of the islands of waste products that floated on the surface of the ocean. Two centuries of damage from pollution was undone in about two weeks.
I nodded, sensing her presence, "She is," I confirmed. Raven was something less than a friend but more than an acquaintance. Broly took a liking to her, though. And as an empath, I'm guessing that Broly was an easy person for her to like. After her brief return to Earth, she went back to rejoin the Titans. I'm told that they weren't particularly happy, but they didn't come back to Earth to tell me how unhappy they were, so I guess it was manageable.
"Good! We can't finish watching the Lord of the Rings without her." I'm not sure why that was a rule, but Broly had decided and I didn't care enough to argue. I still didn't really understand the appeal of movies, but I was content with the knowledge that Broly enjoyed them.
Broly sped up, and at our speeds, it only took a short minute to reach the Titan's Tower. I spotted Raven standing on the roof as if she were waiting for us. Her gaze flickered between us before offering a small nod at us as a greeting. I returned it, while Broly greeted her with a wave.
"I'm guessing that Elery didn't tell you?" Raven questioned, making me pause.
"No. She just punched me and left," I answered, making Broly scratch at his cheek again. "What should she have told me?" I asked, wondering what had to be told to me by Elery instead of sent through a message from the Titans.
Raven's lips thinned ever so slightly. Her changes in expression were always slight. Her control over her emotions was considerable, but not absolute. "You might have a succession crisis in the Vega System," Raven informed me, earning a deep frown in response. Sensing my displeasure, she continued with a small sigh.
"Do you want the long version or the short version?" she asked me.
"The short," I decided, needing to get ahead of this now.
"Komand'r wants to kill Kori, and you're going to get a message asking you to help her," Raven explained and I thought about that for a moment before I sighed.
"Give me the long version."
...
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