Obligatory copyright disclaimer: Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z and relative characters are intellectual property of their respective owners. I'm using them without permission, but this is only a no-profit Fan fiction.
Author's notes: I really appreciated all the reviews! Feel free to comment!
Crispywheat: Thanks!
Jewlbunny: You are very perceptive. I like to leave small seeds in previous chapters that bloom later. Try to catch them all XD.
Crystal: OK, the side notes are here! Look after the chapter.
AnonymousZGirl: You were right! And now for Usagi's chapter...
Whiteling: You will know shortly. XD
sunshinekc: I like adding twists, and this fic is really five stories in one. Expect the unexpected!
Chapter 12, Ami
Walking slowly, the distraught girl wandered through the meandering halls of the Saiyan fortress city. She was starving, her stomach grumbling loudly, yet the mere thought of eating something, anything, never crossed her mind!
She had previously recorded Tarble's power signature, so she had no problems tracking him to the Tsufuru Science Center. Getting there was the real problem. The halls seemed to follow no logical pattern in their sequence. However she kept mental notice of all her movements. She estimated her time of arrival in no more than twenty minutes.
Exactly twenty minutes later she found herself in front of a huge towering complex. Evidently damaged, the building was still impressive. The grand staircase was comparatively small, probably intended for the smallish Tsufurus.
Easily climbing the stairs, Ami reached the entrance. Alien characters were carved into the stone lintel. They read as "Plantian Academy of Science".
Entering the building, the young woman marveled at the beautiful architecture. The alien structure was impressive and elegant. High columns supported a vaulted roof, light shining from concealed recesses in the column tops. Broken glass and pulverized stone crunched under her boots. The main hall was a mess. Destroyed stands and counters were separated by small mounds of dirt and rubble. Small tombstones marked the mounds. It was a graveyard!
A calm voice startled her. "The researchers were all dead. I buried them. It was the least I could do."
"Tarble!" Ami yelped, surprised by his sudden appearance. "I'm sorry! I should have called you…"
"Don't worry. I was hoping for your visit." He smiled at her, opening wide his arms. "Welcome to the Science Center! My home, workplace and place of exile!"
Still smiling he invited her towards a wide hall, going deep in the building. "Let me show you something."
Ami nodded at him, blushing. She followed the strange Saiyan into the bowels of the structure. Avoiding great hunks of twisted metal, burned wood furniture and fused plastic mounds, they made their way into the long hall, finally reaching a metal door, broken and fused in place.
"We have to squeeze here." He told her pointing at a small opening in the metal of the door. "I dare not to blast a larger opening. Many power cables and data streams pass under this door. Using too much power could destroy the archives." He squeezed his minute frame through the opening.
Being of small stature herself, Ami managed to follow him just barely. Entering a small tunnel dug in stone and gravel she stopped, Tarble's face looking at her out of the end of the passage. "Please, close your eyes; I want this to be a surprise." He told her chuckling.
"O-OK!" She replied moving forward. He helped her out of the tunnel and into the room. "You can look now!" He told her, smiling in anticipation.
Opening her eyes, Ami gasped at the sight!
She was in a tall tower, the roof lost in darkness. The only light was coming from hundreds of computer screens, all showing some sort of data. Images of stars, animals, alien landscapes, mathematical formulas, chemical models, program flowcharts, 3D schematics and diagrams of buildings, devices and more!
There was no stairs, as the floor gently sloped upwards in a single slowly spiraling hall, up to the tower roof. The walls were packed full of science stations, experimental devices, data storage and laboratory doors. Each door was clearly labeled with the research stored within. "Gravitation control lab", "Unification theory debate room", "Warp engines development testing", "Energy wave dampers prototype" and so on.
Ami was amazed. "The tower is a mile high, and each floor is no more than seventy feet tall so there are…" she started to say.
"Exactly eighty four floors and three hundreds thirty six labs!" Tarble informed her. "All of them packed full of tech. Tsufurus loved science so they amassed all their knowledge here. This place is more a museum of sorts than a cutting edge lab however. Nonetheless it is fascinating. All their history, culture and discoveries survive here. It is my reason of living, to preserve all of this."
The young woman momentarily forgot all of her plights. "Oh Tarble! This place is wonderful! Can I… study here?" She asked him, her eyes sparkling at the thought of all the knowledge stored in this tower, unheard of in her universe.
The young Saiyan relished the look of joy in Ami's eyes. "I made her happy. This is a first in my life!" He thought, his heart swelling in delight, many years of loneliness and despair melting away in the brief moment of a woman's smile.
Remembering her question, Tarble nodded. "Sure! You can come here anytime you want. You may want to fly to this balcony however. It's faster than crawling through the tunnel." He pointed at an open balcony at the tenth level of the tower.
"Hem, I cannot fly, I'm sorry!" She replied blushing.
He looked at her curiously. "You can't fly? Are you aero phobic? Underdeveloped power nodes? Wavering flight syndrome?" He asked her, a look of concern on his face.
Ami blushed red. "N-no… I simply don't know how to…" She hated to sound lacking, but the first step towards enlightenment was admitting ignorance.
Tarble sighed out of relief. "Oh, that's not a problem then. Learning to fly is pretty easy. Don't worry, you will find a good teacher in any one of the training halls. There are many of those."
Ami was thinking otherwise. "Maybe, you could… teach me?" She asked hoping to avoid the need of finding a teacher. In her mind played the horrible image of Nizuki with Nappa's head, ordering her to zenkai while squashing her on the floor! She gulped nervously.
Tarble's reaction was strange. The young man blushed intensely, staggering slightly. "Y-you want m-me to t-train y-you?" He stammered. Was she really asking him for a date? For him, this was a dream come true!
"If this bothers you I'll find another teacher, I'm sorry! You must be very busy!" She replied whispering, embarrassed.
"Oh, I must have insulted him!" She thought. "A complete stranger, a normal girl like me, asking him to train her. He's a prince…" Sighing she started to apologize again, when Tarble interrupted her, seizing the opportunity before the woman changed her mind.
"Yes! I'll train you, in everything you can possibly want to be trained in! My father instructed me in all the basic skill of a Saiyan warrior. I may be weak for an elite, but I know the theory and… I mean… I studied 23% of the entire Tsufuru database and I can aid you in finding interesting topics and… and… I know 23% isn't much of it but…"
While speaking he become redder and redder, until Ami thought he was going to melt! "Thanks, you are very nice!" She told him trying not to look in his eyes. Why he was blushing? The entire situation was becoming awkward, when her belly growled loudly!
The sound startled Tarble. He looked at her, while the noises become louder. "Now I can die!" Thought Ami, while covering in shame her face with her hands.
A hearty laugh surprised her. Tarble patted her on the shoulder. "You are making me hungry! I have a huge stasis pod filled with food from the castle's kitchens. Let's eat a snack!"
Ami followed him to a huge device. A ten feet tall cylinder with a computer station on one side and a hatch on the other. Tarble punched some commands on the computer and the hatch opened. Inside there were three huge plastic boxes. Taking one, Tarble closed the hatch, leaving the other two boxes in the device.
Opening the box, a delicious smell filled the room. Dozens of bento-like small trays were stacked in the box; all filled with food. By the smell it was of good quality, not the mess-hall junk Makoto hated so much.
Tarble pointed at the box. "Please, eat your fill! You can take the trays to eat while you work at a research station if you like. I do it all the time!"
Ami liked the idea. Tarble was so very similar to her. However the smell of the food churned her stomach, making her taste bile in her mouth. "I cannot. Sorry". Struggling not to cry she ran away.
She knew Tarble would not understand her. He would be probably felt insulted. But Ed's face haunted her. A face of terror and fear and sadness. The last face of his life, only a moment before she, Ami, consumed him! She stopped running, leaning on a wall, throwing up again. She had only bile in her stomach now, but the feeling of uncleanliness, of defilement, was still there.
"What's the problem? Was the food not of your taste? Are you sick? Please, speak to me!" Tarble had followed her. He was worried.
"You can't throw up without replenishing liquids, you will dehydrate! Please, at least drink some water!" He handed her a bottle full of cool and clear water. Grateful she accepted it, gulping down the soothing liquid in moments.
"Oh I needed this, thanks Tarble. I'm so sorry!" She apologized to him.
"Are you sick?" He asked again. He was truly concerned for her.
"In a way… I can tell you why, if you really want." She looked at him, asking for help with her eyes if not with her words.
Helping her to a nearby small chair, Tarble nodded her to go on, handing her another bottle.
Sighing Ami took it, this time slowly sipping the cool water. "It all started when we were forced to abandon our home and following the signals of this old scouter we reached this city…"
She told him the whole story… Except being a reincarnated alien warrior-princess from another universe obviously! He listened to her tale with great attention and interest. When she finally told him about Ed's demise he paled visibly.
Ami gasped in sobs, covering her face with her hands. She knew Tarble would be horrified by what she had done! She started to stand, to run away in shame, but his hands stopped her, firmly placed on her shoulders.
"Ami… you had no choice. You had never been trained to control the Oozaru state. It's not your fault. You would have never known about it if you had not activated your scouter's registration mode! Please, you must eat something or you will die!" Tarble's voice was full of apprehension.
"What do you mean? A human body can go for a full month with water only…" She started to say, but he interrupted her.
"I don't know what a human is, but a Saiyan's metabolism starts to eat reserve tissue after the third day without food. After a week you will be unable to move and in ten days you will be dead. All the while your strength and coordination will worsen until you will lose consciousness, by the eighth day! How many days of food have you skipped?" He asked her very seriously.
Ami shuddered at the gruesome account of a Saiyan's way of dying by starvation. "I remember for sure two full days, and I was in stasis for two full weeks. Cannot say anything about when I was an Oozaru." She replied meekly.
"Each day of stasis is roughly equivalent to 12 minutes of real time, 14 days is more or less three hours. Not a problem, don't worry about it. You are not in danger but having a real meal should be your priority!"
"I cannot! The thought of eating something formerly alive… I cannot!" She shook her head.
"Ami… We are a mostly carnivorous race. We can eat anything, but to sustain our supercharged metabolism we have to consume protein rich food! Vegetables are good but you cannot go without meat!" He tried to reason with her, gently shaking her shoulders.
"N-no! I don't want! No meat!" She cried trembling. "I know it's stupid, but I cannot!"
Tarble sighed, nodding at her.
"He understands!" Ami thought. "My friends didn't but he did!" she smiled weakly.
"Maybe I can do something for you." Tarble stood up thoughtful. "Wait for me, I must check a lab." He walked away.
Sighing Ami tried to compose herself. Having such a breakdown was unusual for her, but the exceptional stress of the last weeks had weakened her will, and fasting had not helped at all. Yet, she was proud of having never hurt innocents. Now her pride was broken. It was a fragile illusion, good while it lasted. Her hands were bloodied now…
Her train of thought was mercifully broken by Tarble's return. He was carrying a huge device in his hands. Putting it down before her, he smiled. "Done! Try this, Ami!"
The young woman looked at the bizarre contraption. It resembled a small appliance fused to some sort of high tech device, maybe a fusion reactor? It had a small computer keyboard and monitor attached. Studying it she readily recognized its function. "It's a food synthesizer! You insert unliving matter here and it breaks it down and reassembles it into edible food! It's amazing!"
Tarble coughed. "Err… Yes it is. But it only produces unappetizing gray slabs of cardboard-like gunk. Awful tasting and smelling. Very nourishing though. I tried that for three months and I had no negative reactions." He failed to mention her the horrible nightmares about killing and eating everything else beside the hated gray slabs he suffered in the last month. This was not the time for punctiliousness.
She was very curious, a device like that could solve the malnutrition problem on earth! "Let's try it!" She said, turning the machine on and throwing stones and water in the input funnel.
Humming and shaking the device worked his magic in less than a minute, producing a grey tablet, book sized, of a bread-like material. It smelled of chemicals and ozone. Ami chewed it.
It tasted worse! Like wet cardboard with a sour aftertaste. She forced herself to properly masticate and swallow the mouthful. However her hunger was great and her stomach needed food. Any food. She devoured the slab, activating the machine to get another.
Tarble looked at the girl stoically eating slab after slab of the awful material in horrid fascination. He never managed to eat more than five, even when very hungry, but Ami accomplished in gulping down seven full tablets!
She looked wearily at the eighth slab and commented; "This one we can use to fix the device. One of its supports is slightly shorter than the others, causing it to wobble. I think this stuff could be easily used as a cheap brick too…"
They both laughed.
~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~
A short time later Ami was standing in the large plaza, outside the Science Center Complex. She was wearing some strange hi-tech goggles. A thick power cable was running from the goggles to a portable generator, near Tarble. The Saiyan sage had a remote controller in hand.
"Now Ami, I'm going to turn on the goggles. They will flash your eyes with a Blutz wave of the necessary amplitude. You should try to follow the red light however. Remember, follow the red light! If you can't, the Blutz wave will stop and the transformation will reverse." Tarble had explained her the device. Built by Tsufuru scientists over thirty years ago, it was designed to help baby Saiyans in mastering the Oozaru state without damaging the countryside. No Saiyan clan chieftain ever accepted to use the contraption however, as reported by the Tsufuru archive.
She nodded nervously, having accepted this training method as the least dangerous for life and property. Tarble told her untrained Saiyans were unable to divert their stare from the full moon once the transformation started, unless in full control. The device capitalized on this principle, with a fixed Blutz lamp and a small red light randomly moving inside the goggles.
After following the red light with her stare for long minutes that seemed like hours, she had to ask. "Tarble, it's not working! Nothing happened."
"Don't worry Ami. You failed only a little over two hundred times. Just follow the light." He replied smiling.
"T-two hundred? It is possible?" She was bewildered.
"Yes. You lose consciousness during transformation and regain it when it stops. It's normal. Stay focused."
Trying to concentrate, the young woman poured all of her will into following the red light. It was hard. It had the habit of instantly move away, making her lose track of it. "When I lose it, it is probably the moment I start to change. I must focus more, more, more…"
The world started to change around her, growing smaller. Tarble shrank down to doll size! She looked at her arms; they were hairy and so big! Bringing her hands to her mouth she found a muzzle and fangs! She was an Oozaru!
"TARBLE! I MASTERED IT! I MASTERED IT! I'M SO HAPPY! I WILL NEVER HURT ANYONE IN THIS FORM!" She jumped up and down, crashing the pavement and disconnecting the power cord. The transformation immediately reverted, leaving her amidst the rubble.
Helping her out of the wreckage, Tarble smiled. "I'm so glad for you, Ami! Now to learn flight…"
She smiled back at him, slightly blushing. "Yes, Sensei!"
"I have to infer Sensei means 'teacher' in your clan's dialect. Very well, I like it. Tarble Sensei. It sounds right!" He replied laughing.
Ami liked his laugh. It was never haughty or cruel, only cheerful. He was smart, wise and caring. And strong! He told her his strength was feeble, and by Elite standards it was. His power level was 'only' 2500. Two times stronger than her. He could fly and shoot bolts of power! On earth he would be a real superman. She sighed. Too bad she'll have to leave him here.
"Tell me, oh Tarble Sensei, how can one unworthy girl learn to fly?" She teased him.
"It is simply a matter of mastering your body natural power! Now, hear me out…"
~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~
Two hours later they were slowly soaring in the sky over the Science Center. Ami managed to levitate in less than five minutes, but precise control was still beyond her. "Try to read the air currents! At your level you still cannot ignore them. When you have more skill you will be able to rocket at full power. For now remember to take it slow."
"Yes Sensei!" She replied while gracefully moving in the sky like a fish in the sea. To Tarble's eyes, she seemed to swim in the air rather than flying. "She's beautiful!" He thought following her. Finally they landed in front of the tower.
"Thanks Tarble! It was incredible. I'm so grateful…"
He stopped her. "The one thanking should be me. If I can help you, please tell me!"
She looked at the ground, his eagerness making her blush. "I will not take advantage of your generosity."
"Please… I'm a bit lonely here. If you want to study the archives, I won't distract you." He replied, a hint of sadness and longing in his voice.
"Well, if you insist…" She smiled at him, their eyes locking for an instant. They averted their gaze, embarrassed.
They walked inside, in awkward silence. Finding a computer station near one of the windows she sat on the small chair. For her, it was a stool at best.
"I can bring you a larger chair, or I can build one…" Started Tarble, eager to please her.
"Don't. I can seat on the floor. Maybe you can give me a mat or something similar?" She asked.
"Right away!" He vanished in an instant, returning after less than a minute with a soft plastic sponge slab.
Politely thanking him, Ami sat cross legged on the mat, trying out the alien computer system.
"I will be on my station, if you need something!" Tarble told her, reluctantly walking away.
She sighed in reply, ignoring him on purpose. She hated to be cold to him. Tarble was a fine young man and she liked him a lot, maybe too much. Yet, they would have to return to their universe. No, it was better to not deepen their fledgling bond. From now on she would have to control herself. No more blushing or dreamy smiles and such things.
She sighed again thinking. "He is an alien prince, and he likes me. Just like in the romance novels I use to read when I'm alone. He helped me and now I must be mad to push him away! We can just be friends, can't we?"
Concentrating on the computer she studied the alien operating system. After a while she was happily browsing the huge data library of the Tsufuru archives. The topics she was interested in were two. First of all, she had to build the wormhole stabilizer. Her friends thought her capable of any scientific feat, but she knew her knowledge of the matter was incomplete. Without her mercury computer, she was severely limited. Fortunately the Tsufuru researched wormholes in their drive to build viable faster-than-light star ships. Lab forty-two was devoted to the study of wormholes and alternate dimensions. A negative mass matter stream projector prototype was built but never tested. This was a real stroke of luck!
On the other hand, surviving in this new dimension was of primary importance, so she searched also for information about the planet, the galaxy and the Saiyan race. When looking at the star chart for the system, she was very surprised! Despite her decision about Tarble, she had to speak with him.
The young prince was half-heartedly reading through an old anthropological paper about the ancient Plantians, the fabled progenitor race of the Tsufurus and according to some sages the Saiyans. He was really thinking about Ami though, so he had to re-read a chapter more than once. When the young woman called him he jumped out of his chair.
"How can I help you?" He promptly asked.
"I found some interesting files in the archives. Please Tarble, can you confirm this one?" She accessed the file on his station.
The forsaken prince looked at the document on his screen. "It's an astronomical essay on this star system. It's pretty accurate, why you ask?"
Ami was afraid to ask, but she had to. "Please, can you explain me the origin of the names of the celestial bodies of this system?"
Tarble scratched his head. "I think they come from a very old legend. According to the archives, both the Saiyans and the Tsufuru have their version, almost identical to each another. There's a file on it. I can find it for you."
The young woman shook her head. "Maybe I'm asking too much of you, but please, can you tell me about it? It will be quicker…" She told him, but she was actually scared.
"I know only the Saiyan's version… Oh well, it's an old tale that was narrated by night, when our ancestors lived in the great forests of the north continent, before the time of the reservations. As many of our legends it begins with a duel…"
~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~ The legend of the three lovers ~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~
"Once upon a time there was a clan in the northern forest. It was a small clan, but its hunters were the strongest, the fastest and the toughest of all the other clans."
"One of the hunters was in love with the chieftain's Daughter. But he was born from the weakest members of the clan, and his status was too low to ask her hand. He could win her in a duel however. So the Hunter trained, and trained and trained more, until he was the strongest hunter in the tribe."
"However the Chieftain wanted to marry his daughter to the chieftain of a southern clan, to forge an alliance and see his nephews rule over a larger, stronger clan. The Southern chieftain was a warrior, a strong one, experienced and cunning. He survived many battles, for the southern clans were often at war with each other."
"So when the Hunter asked the hand of the chieftain's Daughter, he was forced to challenge the Southern chieftain. The duel was long and difficult, but in the end the Southern chieftain won. He spared the Hunter though, as he had never seen a man so fast and powerful. It would be a shame to kill him in a stupid duel. Better to test his strength as a warrior, in a real battle."
"The Hunter had no choice, he lost. He wowed to serve the Southern chieftain in exchange for his life. This way he could follow his beloved in the south. Chieftain's Daughter loved the hunter as well but she knew her duty to the clan, so she married the Southern chieftain."
"The three of them returned to the south, braving the dangers of the journey and despite all, the Hunter and the Southern chieftain became friends. Chieftain's Daughter was happy to see this, and she grew to love her husband. The three of them sparred with each other and hunted together, and became inseparable."
"Fighting in may wars, the Hunter's strength grew, until he was stronger than the Southern chieftain. Yet, they were friends now and he never challenged him again for the love of chieftain's Daughter."
"One day however the enemy struck at the encampment while the Hunter and most of the warriors were away. They killed many, but many others were saved thanks to the Southern chieftain's strength. He fought bravely, his valiant bride at his side. Then the Enemy struck him from behind, almost killing him. He took chieftain's Daughter as a prisoner and fled, leaving him for dead."
"When the Hunter returned he found his friend dying and his love kidnapped. The Southern chieftain told him of the attack, and then died. Mourning him, the Hunter wowed to kill all the enemies and to save his love."
"He followed easily the enemies, tracking them by smell. Then he attacked with his skill, killing them one at a time. But when he fought against their chief, he was defeated. The Enemy was smart, and poisoned his nails. He killed the Hunter and took away chieftain's daughter."
"She mourned the loss of her friend and her mate in the same day! Her strength, while great, was not up to the task and she could not free herself from the Enemy. So by the night she asked the Moon for a sign. Something to avenge herself and her loved ones, for the Moon was the spirit of peace and justice."
"The Moon was fond of the Saiyans and she granted them power every a hundred years to survive the harsh long winters, when the small sun was sleeping. The Enemy however was a dishonorable warrior, winning his battles against weaker opponents or using tricks. Such a shame could not be tolerated. Crying for the chieftain's Daughter, the Hunter and the Southern chieftain, the good and peaceful Moon shed a single tear."
"Becoming Crystal in the cold air above the world, the tear was like a little moon, shining upon the Hunter's broken body. Moon's daughter was endowed with knowledge and life, and she shared it with the Hunter. Her light gave him a new life!"
"Emerging from his cold grave he thanked Crystal and Moon for their help. 'Be warned Hunter!' Moon told him. 'The Enemy's power is greater too, under Crystal's light. You have to get stronger by your power, not mine, if you want to win and save your love.'"
"The Hunter nodded, thinking of a way to best the Enemy in brains, when brawns had failed. He thought of asking power to someone different. Someone the Enemy would never think of. So the Hunter climbed the highest mountain of the southern lands, to speak to the red sun, Flame!"
"Flame was a great spirit, passionate but wise. The Hunter told her his tale. However she replied negatively. 'I'm sorry, brave Hunter. My power is great but it burns everything. With it you would kill your loved one together with the Enemy.' The Hunter thanked her, and then he asked for advice. 'Try asking to my daughter, Thunder. She is strong and powerful. She might aid you.'"
"Following the advice, the Hunter searched for the tallest tree in the plains. For Thunder was said to love striking them. Finally he found her, the green orb in the sky, the spirit of truth and courage. Asking for her help, she told him; 'How you dare to beg me for power! I might share it with you, but then your victory would be mine! You have to find the power within yourself!' She scolded him!"
"Ashamed, the Hunter wandered away, thinking how to win back his love. He could challenge the Enemy again, but he was sure he had new tricks under his pelts. And this time Crystal could not revive him. He had only one chance. Sitting on a stone, he thought hard and for a long time. Then, at the end of the long winter, the small sun finally dawned! Like a rain of gold, her rays bathed the land in shining light. Her name was Gold, the spirit of joy and love!"
"Looking at her, returning spring to the land after the long winter, the Hunter made up his mind. No tricks, no deceits, nothing would stop him from saving his love. He marched to the Enemy's lair and openly challenged him. 'You coward! Fight me without tricks! Show to your men your real power! Are you afraid of me?' And the Enemy came. He had to fight straight or his man would betray him. No weakness was tolerated."
"'You challenge me for this one woman?' He replied to the Hunter. 'Then how well you will fight me, if she is dead?' And he killed her! The Hunter saw her falling down, her black hair upon the cold snowy ground. Great rage swelled in his heart! He, always calm and collected, burned with anger and regret! Bellowing his challenge he charged the hated Enemy and all of his men."
"They fought for hours, the Hunter slowly winning. Gold's rays shone in his hairs, making them golden in color. His eyes became blue-green, like Crystal is. His power was unstoppable, and he won. He killed all the Enemy's men and then the Enemy too."
"But his victory was hollow. She was dead. His friend was dead. And he lived for nothing. A Saiyan warrior never cries, but he howled at the moon all of his sorrow. And the Moon cried for him, for his lost loved ones. Her rays touched him, together with Crystal's and Flame's and Thunder's and Gold's. They all mourned with him."
"Bringing together all of their lights, they changed him into a star. And the same they did for the chieftain's Daughter and the Southern chieftain. They called them at their side, brightening the night sky, finally together for all eternity. And the same they did for all the strong and proud warriors, man and woman, who died defending their loved ones, from then until now."
"Looking at the night's sky, between the Moon and his daughter Crystal, one can still see three stars shining, the three lovers, still together."
~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~
Coughing to hint at the legend's ending, Tarble smiled at Ami.
"This is so beautiful and sad." Ami said with shining eyes. Impulsively, she kissed him innocently on a cheek. He blushed deeply, babbling incoherently about other legends or something similar.
She was distracted however. Thinking about the legend she was worried. "Five planetary bodies other than planet Vegeta. Moon, Crystal, Flame, Thunder and Gold… Peace and Justice, Life and Knowledge, Passion and Wisdom, Truth and Courage, Joy and Love. This is very suspicious. I have to speak to Jean-san… Could be… entanglement? To this scale?" She nervously walked on the large balcony, looking at the red sun… Flame. Up in the sky, her eyes found the small blue-green moon, Crystal. She was enraptured by her light… so beautiful…
Her thoughts were stopped by the scouter's beeping. She activated the device quickly. Usagi's voice buzzed from the speakers.
"Ami! Finally! I called you a lot of times! Why no one ever answer my calls?" Her friend was clearly concerned for her well-being.
"Usagi, I'm OK. Don't worry. The Science Center walls are shielded for preserving sensible data from EM emissions. I'm out now and I was going to return to our quarters after a quick dinner. I learned to fly and I can be back in five minutes."
"This is great, Ami. But I must tell you something important! Rei has challenged captain Nappa to a death duel! Tomorrow morning they will fight! We must help her, or he will kill her!"
Ami looked at Tarble with disbelieving eyes. He paled immediately, knowing the strength and cruelty of that particular warrior.
"I'll be back in a minute!" She replied to her friend, quickly taking flight. Tarble followed her.
Ami's Scouter Data.
- Recording. Planet Vegeta. Day 70.
"Starting today, I'm going to feed my scientific scouter with data taken from the Tsufuru Archives. I will begin with the star charts for this star system. This data bothers me, I must ask Tarble about it."
- File 7589125.P001 - Flame/Gold Star system data analysis.
Binary system (ex Triple system)
Main star: Flame. Type: Red super giant. Mass: 10 G. Spectral class: M. Mean temperature: 4500 K. Orbiting planets: Thunder
Secondary star: Gold. Type: Yellow far companion. Mass: 1 G. Spectral class: G. Mean temperature: 5500 K. Orbiting planets: Plant
Tertiary star: Seed (Destroyed). Type: Unknown, Very far companion gone nova 2 billion years ago. Mass: Unknown. Spectral class: Unknown. Mean temperature: Unknown. Orbiting planets: Unknown. - Note: Seed remnants were classified as Neutron Star fragments. One of them was captured by Gold gravitational pull and became the nucleus of planet Plant. The other fared the same fate but was captured by Flame and became planet Thunder. Without the death of Seed, our system would have no planets.
Planet name: Thunder. Type: Gas giant. Mass: 317 P. Orbiting moons: 42 small satellites. Orbital period: 2.18 Plant years. Conditions: Uninhabitable. - Note: Planet Thunder atmosphere is shaken by continuous storms of enormous magnitude. Her EM field is so strong to influence the magnetic field of planet Plant once every 4.36 years.
Planet name: Plant (Tarble's note: Renamed Planet 'Vegeta', after war's end). Type: Super telluric. Mass: 1 P. Orbiting moons: 2, Moon and Crystal. Orbital period: 1 Plant year. Conditions: Habitable. - Note: Planet Plant has a very high gravity compared to most telluric planets in the galaxy. This is due to a small fragment of the neutron star Seed in Plant's core. This contributes to the high volcanic activity of the planet.
Moon name: Moon. Type: Telluric. Mass: 0,1 P. Orbital period: 0,99 Plant years. Conditions: Breathable atmosphere, no free water. - Note: Moon is almost tide locked to Plant. She varies her phases very slowly, being full once every 100 years.
Moon name: Crystal. Type: Ice (Heavy water and rare earths). Mass: 0,025 P. Orbital period: 0,875 Plant years. - Note: Comet captured by Plant's gravitational pull. Probably one million years ago. Conditions: Uninhabitable. - Note: Crystal is almost tide locked to Plant. She varies her phases very slowly, being full once every 8 years.