Author's Note: I had to split this chapter up, so the next one will be the second part.
All DBZ characters portrayed are owned by Toei.
May 23rd, Age 771
The blue sun shined its light on the bombed out battlefield of the planet Gothos. The land was gray with destroyed buildings littering the landscape and fires still smoldering for ages. The planet was one of the first advanced planets that fell to the PTO in the opening stages of the invasion. The native population were turned to slaves, put to work for the organization to build their equipment and weaponry and were promptly exterminated after they were no longer useful.
Gothos became one of the many outposts for the PTO to resupply their main forces as they drove towards the center of the galaxy. In the last few years it had become one of the last major outposts for them when the GF began their counteroffensive. It was so heavily guarded that the GF determined that it could not be captured by their normal forces alone, and needed help of their clandestine groups.
The invasion began days earlier with the GF committing 5 divisions of troops. It had been successful so far as they had captured half the planet with minimal losses on their end. What helped them most was the decrease of Saibamen. With the data they acquired on Arkanos. Their scientists were able to create a toxin that targeted the saibamen's genetic code that killed within hours of inhaling it.
The toxin was used before the invasion, and its handiwork was shown when the troops found the bodies of the green vermin scattered on the planet. The PTO still had seeds left over however, and were able to grow more of them once the toxin had reduced itself in the atmosphere, though the numbers they fielded were not enough to turn the tide of battle.
In the former capital of Gothos, the headquarters of the PTO was under siege by the GF. They had managed to capture the spaceport the day before and cutoff the PTO means of escape. The troops were stationed on the outskirts waiting for their orders to move in. In the remains of what used to be a school, the bulky frame of Tavenport sat on a bench eating the contents of meal ration. He was now ranked as a Colonel, and was one of the officers leading the effort for the invasion.
His rifle was next to him and his helmet was removed as he was eating beef stew in the rare quiet of the battlefield. He only got to enjoy his hot meal before two soldiers came up to him. They both saluted and stood at attention before him. One had a rifle slung behind him; the other had no weapons on him.
"At ease soldiers," the colonel returned the salute.
"Sir, any word when we can launch the attack?" Asked the soldier with the rifle, his name patch read 'Ramirez'.
"Command hasn't authorized us yet, Major," Tavenport set down the ration pouch and fork.
"We're wasting time waiting around, we should move in and strike while we still have the initiative," responded the other, whose name was Stevens. He was a human fighter, one of the two who replaced Cilan.
"I know you're eager for a fight Specialist, but we won't move in until the higher level enemy fighters are neutralized."
"Let me go then, I can kill them!"
Tavenport chuckled, "They'll kill you faster than you can kill a saibaman. No, we won't go in until the Ghosts are done."
Stevens crossed his, "Why do they get all good missions? They're not even all that powerful!"
"Is that so?" Spoke an amused voice behind them. Behind them was a tall green fighter dressed in a black jumpsuit, a black helmet, and a black combat vest. He stood at 6'3"; had square ears, red eyes with black pupils, and his face had no nose. He had three patches on him, one was the patch of the GFSF, the other was the Ghost Recon patch, and the last patch contained his rank and name: Commander Armun
He was a Carian, and was also the great grandson of the legendary fighter Pikkon. He was one of the few fighters that managed to survive the initial stages of the war.
"Sir!" The two soldiers saluted once they saw his rank, Stevens brow was beading with a few drops of sweat. The Colonel just chuckled as he saluted Armun, "What brings you here Commander?"
Armun returned the salute, "Just to inform you sir that your forces should be ready to move in a few hours."
"Good, so will it be just you leading the attack?"
Before he could respond, a female voice interrupted, "For his sake I hope not."
From behind Armun stepped out another person into the room; she was dressed similarly like him, but was quite shorter, at around 5'8". She looked human with dark brown skin, blue eyes, and an angular face. The name tag on her read: Lt. Commander Milla
"I don't think the good commander can handle all of them by himself," she removed her helmet, revealing pointy ears and dirty blonde hair that was done up in a bun. Milla gave a salute to the Colonel with a smile that reached her eyes.
Tavenport returned their salute before he reached for his helmet, "Don't you guys usually work in 3's?"
"We do, but our third man is probably off somewhere stuffing his face," Armun answered bluntly.
"I was scouting the area before the attack, Commander," replied a gruff voice, but adding a sarcastic tinge to the last word. Stepping into the room from another doorway walked in the third member of Ghost Recon. He was dressed in the same clothes as the other two, but wearing a black balaclava, and darkened goggles. His name tag read: Lieutenant Cilan.
He saluted the Colonel, who had a smile on his face once he saw the tag. "Kid, is that you? You've gotten bigger. Last time I saw you, you were still a scrawny kid."
Cilan nodded before he pointed to the unattended ration pouch, "You gonna finish that?"
Tavenport just laughed before handing the pouch to him, "Same as always, just a walking garbage disposal."
The saiyan pulled down the balaclava and began to eat, while Armun looked at him in disgust. Milla just shook her head at his rudeness. Ramirez and Stevens looked at him with unease; they never met him, but heard stories from the other soldiers that did serve with him. For Stevens, it had added pressure for him to fill in the role Cilan left behind.
There were also other stories that spread from Cilan's time in Ghost Recon, some true, others outlandish that added to his infamy among allies and enemies. As it was, the enemy had a nickname for him, 'Grim Reaper'.
"What did you see Lieutenant?" Armun asked with his arms crossed.
"There's a team of higher powered fighters moving to the north, looks like they might make a break for the space port," he replied after scarfing down the last of the stew. "There's still a concentration of higher ki levels in their headquarters."
The Commander mulled over the new information before he turned to the Colonel, "Sir, we'll go in now. Tell the ground forces to move in after we eliminate the hostiles."
Tavenport nodded as he strapped his helmet back on, then turned to the two soldiers, "Ramirez, Stevens, get the men ready."
"Sir!" both men saluted before they left with their orders. The Colonel slung his rifle and followed them after he saluted the Ghosts. Armun looked at the other two, "All right, let's stop wasting time and go."
Milla had her helmet back on and nodded. Cilan tossed the empty ration pouch away and let out a burp. That only drew a glare from the green fighter, before he turned and left. The others followed him out.
The three flew low to the ground as they made their way to the north of the city. This was abnormal to their standard operating procedure, which was to attack at night as stealthy as possible. The troop movements necessitated a change in tactics.
"CIlan, why are you still wearing the ski mask and goggles?" Armun asked over their radio on a private channel. "This is a day time operation."
Before the saiyan could answer, Milla cut in, "The Grim Reaper has a reputation to maintain. Then again he could scare anybody with his real face."
Cilan ignored the taunt, "You two better go on north while I head to their headquarters."
"We work as a team Lieutenant. Why would you want to split off?" Armus asked annoyed.
"One of the fighters at their HQ has a combat power over 1 million," replied the saiyan unperturbed.
"What!?" The other two shouted over the radio.
"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" The Commander demanded.
"Didn't want to scare the others," again Cilan replied calmly.
"Why haven't our scanners picked him up?" Lt. Commander asked this time.
"Not sure, I think he's lowering his power like we can. I could sense his repressed power. Try it yourselves."
Armun and Milla closed their eyes and concentrated on the center of the city, and found who Cilan spoke of. They opened their eyes with stunned expressions.
Milla was the first to speak, "He's right! Whoever that is, they're tremendously powerful."
Armun debated it but could only come to one conclusion, "Are you sure you can handle him Lieutenant?"
"Affirmative."
"Ok, we'll go with your plan. What's the strength on the ones in the north?"
"One of them is around 200,000, being backed up by two others with 75,000 a piece."
Armun nodded, "All right, when we defeat those guys, we'll provide back up if you need it, understand?"
"Roger," Cilan nodded before he broke off from the formation.
"Cilan," Milla's concern was evident in her tone, "Be careful."
"I should be telling you that," he retorted in reply.
The headquarters of the PTO on Gothos was built on the remains of their capital building. The architecture of it was reminiscent of the other outposts the organization employed, small domes surrounding taller buildings, in a white and pink color scheme. It was being guarded by a dozen soldiers, most of them humanoid and Litts, the small bird warrior race.
Cilan watched them from the roof of one of the last standing buildings that overlooked the compound. His scanner indicated that his main target was inside and also guarded by a few other sentries. He would have preferred to blast the building away, but he'd been given orders to minimize damage to it, as the GF wanted to gather information from the enemy's computers.
With his power level suppressed their scouters hadn't picked him up yet. He sensed that the other two were close to confronting the northern squad, so he'd attack now and help back them up once he was done. Cilan unholstered his beam sword and held it in his right hand while he extended his left hand with two fingers pointed at one of the guards. Lining up the guards body with the tip of his thumb, he fired off a single blast.
The unwitting guard dropped wordlessly as the blast tore through his chest, killing him instantly. Moments after he fell, he was surrounded by the other guards a few inspecting the body, others with their arm cannons pointing in different directions. One of the guards was looking towards the west at the building that Cilan stood on. The next moment he saw the roof of the building erupt in a flame of white ki, and his scouter lit up in information.
He fired off shots at the roof, with the other guards doing the same when their scouters also lit up. Before the beams hit, the flame disappeared. A split second later Cilan stood before them, with his beam sword drawn. The guards stood stunned, their scouters fluctuating wildly, some began to step back slowly as they recognized who it was.
"It's him!"
"Fire!" One guard shouted before his chest was impaled by the beam sword. Another guard tried shooting at him, before a beam blast entered one of his eye sockets. The other guards met the same fate. Only one stood firing wildly trying to run away from Cilan.
"We're under attack! It's the Grim…" His voice was cut-off as his head was decapitated. Cilan re-holstered the beam sword and didn't pay the corpses a second glance as he strode to the entrance.
Walking down the corridor, all he found were empty halls and red lights flashing accompanied with a klaxon sound. The HUD on his goggles displayed where the hidden cameras were located.
'Being watched,' he thought to himself. 'Probably by all the small fry.'
He sensed that the remaining guards were in the center, surrounding the main fighter. The earpiece in his balaclava was transmitting frantic enemy chatter.
"He's going to kill us all!"
"Is anyone going to stop him!?"
Cilan suppressed a chuckle as he walked down the narrow hallway towards a set of steel double doors. He stood before them for a moment then delivered a punch powerful enough to knock them away. Inside the circular room was a bank of computer terminals along with 10 PTO soldiers surrounding a single person sitting in a chair. The troops stood with their arm cannons pointing at Cilan, some of them had shaky hands from fear.
'Can't battle them all here, might destroy the machines,' he surmised. 'Have to make them leave.'
He cleared his throat and pointed to the main person they were guarding, "Anyone not willing to die for this asshole, better clear on out the back."
The soldiers looked at each other, not sure if they heard correctly. They looked back at Cilan, and each other again. One by one they slowly walked backwards to the exits, not wanting to turn their back on him. The room was evacuated in minutes, leaving behind the Saiyan and his quarry.
Standing up from his seat, the main leader of Gothos was a Litt, but one that was nearly as tall as Cilan. The olive green skinned creature was dressed in gold and white armor with a blue cape. He had a white helmet on like the other troops, but had no scouter on his face. He shot Cilan an evil grin before he spoke, "So what brings the Grim Reaper here for a visit?"
"Just exterminating your organization," Cilan replied nonplussed.
"Of course," the Litt replied.
"Where have you been hiding for so long?"
"I've been here, waiting for this day."
"Well then, why don't we take this outside?"
"If you insist," the Litt raised a palm to the ceiling and blasted a hole, which he then exited through. Cilan followed close behind. When they were 1,000 feet in the air, they faced each other in their respective fighting stances.
"By the way," Cilan broke the silence. "I didn't catch your name. I prefer attaching a name to the corpses I create."
This only caused the Litt to throw his head back and laugh, "I like your sense of humor saiyan. My name is Krull, General Krull." His body was engulfed in an aura of purple ki, "Though the only corpse here will be you." He fired a blast of ki at him, which Cilan dodged.
Krull then began a series of kicks and punches but those failed to connect, Cilan paid him back by slamming an elbow into his back. The litt turned around to fire another blast but Cilan had already disappeared and reappeared to deliver a drop kick to Krull's chest.
"Stop holding back," the saiyan had his arms crossed, his tone unimpressed. "Show me your true power."
"Your funeral," Krull replied as his lanky frame grew bulkier along with his ki. Once he reached full power he disappeared and managed to deliver a right jab to Cilan's face. He tried to follow up with another, but was blocked. Cilan powered up his base form and attacked him, but found that each punch was blocked or parried easily. He broke off from him and assessed his enemy.
"Regretting this fight already?" Krull mocked.
Cilan didn't reply but instead chose to go into his super form. His golden hair was still constrained by the helmet he wore, but his body was surrounded by the golden glow. Krull never heard of the legends of super saiyan's so he didn't recognize what had occurred. Before he could comment however, Cilan went on the attack again.
The sounds of their fists impacting against each other reverberated in the air and the glow of their respective ki's illuminated the area.
Armun and Milla were moments from intercepting the northern enemy unit when they sensed the fight that erupted between Cilan and Krull. Unfortunately the scouters on the enemy lit up when the fight broke out, alerting them. The three soldiers stopped their movement and looked back to the city center.
"We haven't been noticed yet," Milla whispered into the throat mic as she hid behind wall. Armun nodded as he was opposite of her hiding behind a pillar.
"They might go back and help their leader," the Commander looked at Milla. "On three, rush them."
The Lt. Commander nodded and counted along with Armun. On the third count they sprung from their hiding spots and fired ki blasts at the enemy. The PTO soldiers dodged the surprise attack and went into their fighting stances.
The main fighter was a tall human with gray skin and a black Mohawk; wearing black and gold armor. His back up was two small imps that had no hair, but one was red while the other was yellow; they wore white and gold armor. All their armors featured a small orange insignia with a small white 'v' on the left breast plate.
Taking a look at their attackers, the human recognized who they were, "Ghost Recon!" Then he looked back at the area where their leader was fighting. "So that must mean the Reaper is fighting the General."
"You know us, but who are you?" Armun asked with fists raised.
The three fighters looked at one another before they broke out in poses, with the taller fighter in the middle with both imps at his side.
"Giim!" The red imp announced as he stood on his right leg, with his arms pointing to the side at the leader.
This was followed up by the yellow imp who stood on his left leg and his arms also pointing towards the leader, "Chee!"
Crouched down with his arms stretched out, the leader called out, "Captain Roma!"
"Together, we are: The Roma Trio Elite!" All three shouted in unison.
Armun and Milla looked at them as if they sprouted branches from their heads. After a pause, Armun finally spoke, "Is this a joke?"
"This is no joke!" Boasted Roma, "You Ghosts might have had an easy time with lesser forces, but you'll meet your end at our hands!" He then flexed his muscles.
Armun narrowed his eyes and stared at him for a moment before he muttered, "Fuck this." He then moved to attack Roma; Milla followed along as she took on the imps.
The fight between Cilan and Krull intensified, making nearly destroyed skyscrapers finally crumble under the new shaking. Their battle was stretching into its sixth minute, frustrating the General. His helmet was gone, his armor was cracked in several spots, and his cape was in tatters. Cilan's suit was still relatively undamaged.
"What kind of freak are you!?" Krull shouted at the saiyan. In all of his previous fights he was able to defeat his enemy moments after he went into full power. Cilan on the other hand was still holding back in his super state. It had been such a long time since he faced a moderately stronger opponent and didn't want to end the fight early.
'Shame I have to end this now,' he thought to himself as he felt the spike in ki of his comrades. Cilan knew he should be there in case they needed help. So he powered up and put into the motion the end of the battle. He fired a small ki blast at him, which Krull dodged; but left him open long enough for Cilan to land a punch on his beak.
On impact a loud crack was heard and the general moved back holding his beak, feeling that it was fractured. This only further enraged him and in his fury began to attack at the Saiyan. Krull launched various fists at his Cila's face trying to connect like he did earlier, but the Saiyan was dodging each one. After the twentieth unsuccessful time, the Litt tried a right legged kick at Cilan's ribs, but instead his kick was blocked and Cilan delivered his own kick to Krull's liver.
Without giving him time to recuperate, Cilan launched a series of punches that landed on his opponents face, and then followed it up with an open hand chop to the General's neck. It was powerful enough to send him tumbling to the ground. The impact of the hard landing had jolted Krull's mind back to speed, as he looked up and saw Cilan was flying at him with his beam sword drawn ready to deliver the final strike. Gathering up all his remaining ki, Krull threw both hands towards the approaching Saiyan and fired one massive blast.
Cilan's momentum and the speed of the blast had made it impossible to dodge it, so he covered himself with his arms seconds before the blast hit him. Once it impacted the area was lit up in purple light. Down on the ground, Krull laughed as he had thought that he had defeated the infamous Grim Reaper.
His laugh was short-lived once the smoke cleared and he saw the black figure of Cilan floating above. His face was in open shock, "That's impossible! You should be dead!"
In the air, Cilan's suit was slightly singed, but he had managed to use his ki cancel out most of the blast. He looked down at Krull, smirking at his shocked expression. Cilan landed on the ground a few feet from him and slowly walked towards the Litt. This only made the General try to get up and run away, but couldn't get to his feet, his energy was sapped.
"Get away from me you monster!" He shouted as he summoned all his strength in his legs to stand up. As he continued his slow pace towards Krull, he put away the beam sword. The Saiyan stood close enough to let Krull see himself in the reflection off the visor in his goggles.
Cilan raised a palm towards the defeated enemy and shot a single blast that incinerated him. He stood there watching until his goggles told him that Krull was dead. After that he turned from the remains and flew off to the north.
Armun and Roma were evenly matched; neither could get the upper hand in their battle. They circled each other in the air waiting for the other to attack. Roma moved first, as he disappeared and reappeared at Armun's left side to blast him.
Narrowly escaping that, Armun retaliated by firing his own blast at Roma's head. He was successful, but was surprised to find that it only singed his face.
"Not bad," Roma commented as he wiped his face. He then got it close to launch a series of kicks and punches to Armun's body. All the carian could do was block them as he couldn't dodge them easily. Once Roma had missed a punch, Armus was able to connect a right haymaker to his face.
That drew blood from Roma's mouth, but he responded by firing a small blast into the Commanders chest. Armun drew back, the vest absorbed the blast, but the impact of it still stung. He shook off the pain and moved to attack the enemy Captain again.
Down below on the ground, Milla was fighting a ground battle with Giim and Chee. The imps were trying to corner her, but she was quick enough avoid there ensnarement. One would attack with ki blasts while the other attacked her physically.
"Is this what the PTO calls the 'elite'?" Milla taunted as she avoided them again and fired off a pair of ki blasts. This only caused the imps to get angry Chee disappeared then reappeared behind Milla to grab her back, and shouted, "Fire at her now Giim!"
The other imp charged up his blast, but before he could fire it, Milla was able to tear Chee off of her and threw him straight into Giim. After they impacted they tumbled into the ground in a heap.
"Fuck this bitch!" Giim shouted as he stood up and glared at the elfin fighter, before tossing away his scouter. Chee also did the same, "Let's show her our true power!"
They both nodded at each other, before they stood side-by-side. Then they joined palms and shouted in unison, "Merge!"
Milla stood in her fighting stance as she watched the two imps were engulfed in a swirl of white light. When it died down, instead of two fighters, she saw only one. He looked like the imps but was taller and had orange skin. His voice was deeper when he spoke, "We are now Giimchee!"
"You have got to be shitting me!" Milla shouted as she realized this new fighter was now stronger than her. Before she knew it, Giimchee had somehow appeared before her and punched her in the gut that sent her flying into a destroyed building. She dug herself out of the rubble before the new fighter blasted it. Tapping into her full power she did her best to avoid his attacks.
Above in the air, Armun and Roma were slugging it out trading blows. Armun needed to end this fight as he felt when Milla was getting overpowered by her opponent. The problem was that Roma wasn't giving up any openings, what Armun needed was a distraction. He got one when the area to the south of them lit-up in light; it was from Krull's final blast.
Roma's scouter lit up and exploded as it was overpowered from the ki it detected. Using this, the Commander mustered all of his strength into a right hook that connected with Roma's chin, and then followed it up with a roundhouse kick to his sternum. Armun deiced to use an old attack his great grandfather invented, so he powered up and was engulfed in flames and shouted, "Blazing shoot!"
He delivered an uppercut to Roma which sent him flying in the air, but Armun rushed after him to deliver a powerful kick that sent the PTO Captain to crash into the ground. Armun then put both of his hands together and pushed all of his flaming ki into a red and yellow ball and fired it towards his enemy. When it impacted, it instantly killed Roma.
Milla was doing all she could to not be killed by Giimchee. His power had doubled because of the merging, and even at full power she couldn't match it; she had to try a different tactic. Holding her palms in front of her, she shouted, "Dark Mist!"
Giimchee was surrounded by a black fog that blocked his view. He laughed at this, "What's this? You think those witch powers of your will save you?"
He then began to fly up to try to escape but found it never-ending. The merged fighter then tried blasting in different directions to hit Milla. She herself had managed to dodge them and waited to unleash her other attack. Milla wasn't as powerful as Armun or Cilan, but what she lacked in ki she made up for it in special techniques. Once she saw Giimchee was distracted enough, she made her move, "Dragon's Fire!"
The mega-imp heard the shout and was about to fire a blast in that direction when he was suddenly engulfed in flames. He cried out in pain as he stumbled around trying to put out the fire. Giimchee rolled on the ground and had moved into another destroyed building, which Milla fired at with various ki blasts. They weren't powerful enough to kill him, but it caused the structure to collapse and fall over him.
Milla powered down and breathed heavily. She recoiled in shock when a hand was placed on her shoulder, but relaxed when she saw it was Armun. He scrutinized her, "You ok?"
She nodded, "A little banged up, that's all. You?"
"Same."
A third voice cut-in, "You guys didn't do a bad job."
They looked over to find Cilan was standing where they were hidden earlier. He was toying with a scouter left behind by one of the imps.
"How long have you been there?" Milla glared at him with her hands on her hips.
"A minute or two," he replied before tossing the scouter away.
"What's the status of the enemy fighter you battled?" Armun asked.
"Terminated," Cilan said simply.
Before they could press him further, their attention was drawn to a noise coming from the rubble where Milla fired at. They were shocked to see Giimchee exploding from the pile of stones and extended his hand towards Milla; he fired a concentrated beam at her. Milla didn't have time or the energy to dodge it, but in a split second someone stepped in front of her and absorbed the blast.
Cilan grunted when it impacted into his mid-section, and then fired his own blast that vaporized the top half of the imp. He dropped his hand to the side and turned back to the other two.
"Cilan…." Milla began until she noticed the hole in his armor. "You've been hurt."
"It's nothing," he grounded out.
"Come on Lieutenant, let's go back to the ship so the medics can look you over," Armun ordered before taking off. Cilan and Milla followed along.
The GSS Independence was in geosynchronous orbit over Gothos. After the battle with the enemy fighters, it had picked up the three members of Ghost Recon and was currently waiting for its next orders. Its mess hall was empty except for two people; Armun and Milla were having a late dinner.
They were out of their combat suits and in standard issue dark blue fatigues. Both of them made small talk, but every few minutes Milla would look towards the entrance waiting for someone. "Where's Cilan? It's not like him to miss dinner. Do you think he's still in the infirmary?"
Armun didn't look up from his bowl of soup, "I ordered him to write up his after action report once he was done with the medics."
"Why would you do that? He's probably hungry after his fight." Milla was surprised at her Commanders actions.
"I'm trying to teach him a lesson about disrespecting me in front of higher ranking officers." Armun and Cilan had been at odds ever since the saiyan was placed under his command. It all stemmed from the fact that he was the one that originally helped in the capture of Cilan years ago. Armun had thought Cilan was going to be tossed into prison, but was astonished to find out that the Galactic Federation instead took him in.
"Oh like that'll earn his respect," Milla muttered before she walked away from him. He looked at her as she left, but only grunted in response before going back to his soup.
Cilan was in his personal quarters, sitting at his desk as he typed up his after action report on a computer terminal. He was out of his combat suit and wearing dark blue sweats and gray tank top. After the main doctor told him he was fine, he went for a shower and tried to ignore his hunger pangs. As he worked out the details of his battle, he was mentally cursing Armun for making him do this tedious task.
He never understood why he had to write these reports up. There was always a verbal evaluation, so writing down the exact information was redundant. Cilan was tempted at times to write down nonsense just to see if there was anyone actually reading the reports.
Just as he was cursing his Commander to the deepest pits of hell, his door bell chimed.
"Enter," he commanded.
The door opened and he turned his head to see Milla walk in holding a tray of food. "I thought you might be hungry."
His mouth salivated at the plate placed on his desk and picked up a fork and dug in. Milla only smiled at his voracious appetite. She then looked over at his computer screen and read what he had typed up so far about the earlier battle."Wow! That was some fight you had. Wish I was there to see it."
Cilan looked over at her, noting her waif figure. The combat suit made her look bulkier. He also noted she was wearing a perfumed lotion. Swallowing the last bite, he cleared his throat, "It was less exciting than it seemed."
"Yeah right," she leaned on his desk as he went back to the keyboard to finish up his report. The minutes passed in silence, with the only noise heard was the tapping of keys. Once he hit 'Send' to submit the report he looked over at Milla, "So is there anything you need?"
"I just wanted to thank you for taking that blast for me."
"Don't bother," he waved her off. "Just doing what anyone else would."
"Sure," rolling her eyes at him. She turned serious then, "What did the infirmary say?"
"It was nothing, only a surface burn. I'll just have another scar."
Her face was inquisitive when she asked, "Can I see it?"
He got up from his chair and stood in front of his bed, where he removed his tank top; leaving his upper half naked except for the dog tags he wore. She stood in front of him as she inspected his body. It was well built, but was littered with scars he attained over the years. Milla focused her attention on a deep red mark that was under his left peck. She traced an index finger over it when she looked up at him, "Does it hurt?"
"Just stings," he tried to keep the desire out of his voice because of her familiar soft and warm touch.
There was a devious smile on her face, "Want me to kiss it and make it better?"
"Yes," his voice was above a whisper. In the next instant he was pushed down onto his bed, Milla was straddling him as she ran her hands over his body. Cilan's hands were busy unbuttoning her shirt, before she helped him along. After she tossed her blue shirt away, and revealing that she wore a black sports bra that held her petite bosoms, she undid her hair bun and let her blonde locks fall to her shoulders. She then held his arms to the bed and began to speckle kisses all over his chest, before she focused on his mouth.
He let himself be held in place and returned her kiss, before he felt her tongue run along his lips and opened his mouth to deepen the kiss. They made out while the planet Gothos filled the view of the window in his quarters.
Armun was working out alone in the gym. He was looking for Milla earlier to spar with, but was told by one of the crew members that she was seen heading to the crew quarters with a tray of food. So he was now training alone, but there was one question he kept asking himself.
Why did Cilan have all the luck?
Cilan was in his bed with Milla close to him as they basked in the afterglow. She was asleep as she had an arm draped over him and her leg was intertwined with his, while her head was on the crook of his neck. He was awake starring at the ceiling of his room, while his fingers were tracing random patterns on her back.
Their carnal trysts had been an almost nightly occurrence, which had been going for the last 4 months. Milla had been transferred to their unit a year before after another member was killed in combat. At first he treated her like he treated everybody else, which was to keep them at arm's length. This was simple as his reputation made people who didn't know him, to stay away.
After a while she started to get closer to him, once she saw he wasn't the monster he was made out to be. Milla first began to spar with him and got tips from him on how to better handle herself in combat. They developed a friendship, which Cilan had appreciated because the others had been fearful of him.
The turning point came on one night, when he revealed to her his origins and how his mother had died. She comforted him and he stole a kiss from her. Looking back, he didn't know why he did it at the time. It could have been from his raging hormones and she was the only female he was close to. Or it might have been that she didn't treat him as some sort of freak.
To his relief she didn't reject his advance, but instead kissed him back. They had to keep their relationship a secret, as regulations forbade relations between personnel. Cilan didn't mind, as he wasn't experienced in the traditional form of courtship; it was mainly a physical attraction.
He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a pair of eyes on him. Looking down he say that Milla was awake and smiling at him.
"I can't wait to tell everybody that the Grim Reaper likes to snuggle," her tone was teasing.
"No one will believe you," he smirked.
"You know you're handsome when you aren't glowering?"
"Funny, didn't you say I could scare the enemy with my ugly mug?" He retorted as he looked back up at the ceiling.
Milla only rolled her eyes, "I was only joking."
He didn't reply and silence descended on them again. Milla rested he head on his chest to listen to his heart beat. She broke the silence after a few minutes, "I think Armun suspects something is going on between us."
"Does he?" CIlan still didn't look down.
"He's been asking me where I go after our training matches, because he doesn't find me in my quarters." She looked back up at him, "Do you think we should break it off, so we don't get in trouble?"
"You might get in trouble, they still need me."
Milla raised herself on her elbows to scowl at him, "What does that mean? That the woman gets reprimanded while the man gets all the breaks?"
Cilan only shrugged, which just made her angrier.
"Hey buddy, I'm just as powerful as you are!"
He looked down at her with disbelief written on his face.
"Ok, strength wise, you got me beat. But my techniques can put me on equal footing."
"Point," Cilan had lost to her a few times due to her powers. "Anyway, don't be worried about getting in trouble. If you say I get all the breaks, then I can make sure you don't get in trouble."
"Really?"
He nodded as he rested his head back on the pillow. She laid back down by his side, "You know why they give you special treatment?"
"No."
"They're afraid of you. You're more powerful than they originally thought, especially Armun. They're afraid you're going to turn on them and take over the galaxy."
Cilan chuckled at that, "Last thing I want is to rule this galaxy."
"Why not? Didn't you tell me the Saiyan race conquered planets?"
"Yeah, and they were wiped out by a bigger tyrant. And that tyrant was killed himself. I could take over and rule like a brutal dictator, but then eventually someone will kill me. If I just stick to fighting evil fucks, I'm sure I'll live longer."
"That's a pretty insightful. You're a lot smarter than you look."
"Thanks," he smiled before he frowned and looked back at her. "Wait."
Milla only giggled and kissed him, "What are going to do once the war is over?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean we're a year or two from defeating the PTO. There won't be anyone left for you to fight."
His frown deepened, "Haven't thought that far yet."
"Haven't or wont?" Milla looked at him waiting for a response; she got none. "Are you going to look for your father?"
"I don't know, maybe."
"Even after you're mother warned you how dangerous he is?"
Cilan only shrugged.
"You could just stay with me after this is over, you don't have to leave."
He looked at her surprised, "I thought your people looked down on outside races."
"That's just the elders, my generation is less xenophobic."
"Hmm," was all he said, before there was silence again.
There was still one question Milla had on her mind, "When you said earlier, that you'll make sure I don't get in trouble, were you serious?"
"Yes," he sat up against the bed frame. "Why are you so worried?"
"I'm just concerned what will happen. I mean, not just the regulations, but also that I'm older than you."
"Only by two years. I'll be 17 this year," he corrected her.
"I know," she sat up next to him. "I just don't want others to think I'm using you."
"If you feel that way, we can just call it off."
She turned her head to him then, "What? No, no, no. If you feel fine how we are now, then I will too."
"I don't know," he sat his head against his arms as he looked at a particular spot on the wall; "Maybe it'd do us good if we took a break. I could sow my oats with some of the hot girls that hang out at the bars we go to." He watched her from his peripheral vision for her reaction.
Milla gritted her teeth and balled her fists ready to slug him, "Why you pig-headed…" he voice trailed off when she saw that he tried to suppress a smile. She caught onto his game and her face turned mischievous.
"Listen here tough guy," she whispered into his ear while she trailed a finger down his chest. "None of those sluts will know how to please a Saiyan like I do."
Cilan's face remained stoic as he stared straight ahead, betraying nothing. However his body couldn't do the same and a part of him reacted excitedly to her touch and sultry talk. She looked down and noticed a tent had formed on his bed sheet covering his body.
Milla only smiled from ear to ear at what she saw before looking back at him, "See? You can say whatever you want, but your body tells me all I need to know."
He only let out a sigh and cursed himself for not having better self-control. This only caused her to laugh before she kissed him again and they went for another round.
May 30th, Age 771
The Independence remained in orbit over Gothos. The main ground forces officially recaptured the planet days before and were currently mopping up the scattered forces left over. At the same time, ships carrying people from the Galactic Federations intelligence forces were brought in to pour over data left behind in the headquarters of the enemy.
Ghost Recon was in a mission briefing, which was concerning the data that had been gathered. All three sat in the briefing room, while there were two people sitting at a table before them, with an attendant standing aside. Behind the table was a display that showed the face of Major General Spiers, which they stood and saluted.
"Ghosts, we have two missions that we need you on," Spiers started without preamble. The attendant handed Armun, Cilan, and Milla each a thin tablet display. On the screen they saw a picture of a smiling blonde and blue skinned young girl. In a small box in the corner of the picture was the girl's information:
Dayana Winners
Sex: F
Age: 13
DOB: 7-12-757
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 114 Lbs.
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Hazel
"The girl you see there is the daughter of Niguel Winners. The president of Phoenix Aerospace, the company that's been building warships for us; one of them being the ship you three are currently sitting in." Spiers informed them before continuing on.
"His daughter was kidnapped from the family home three weeks ago. Local security forces had assumed it was a standard kidnapping for money ransom. However late last week Winners received a coded message demanding that he supply his ships to a point deep within enemy territory in exchange for his daughter.
"Once it was determined that the PTO was behind this, it was given over to us to recover her. Thanks to data collected from Gothos we've determined she's being held captive on an outpost on the planet Tyree."
The display changed to a photo of a reddish planet, with an arrow pointing at the northern hemisphere indicating the location of the outpost. The image changed to another planet, one that was green. Before they could ask a question, Spiers moved on.
"The second mission involves a recon of a science outpost on the planet Nibia. The intel gathered also shows that the enemy is trying to develop a new version of Saibamen that is resistant to our toxins. As you know our success in the war so far has been due to the neutralization of those green monsters.
"We need to know what the PTO has developed so far. Commander Armun, Lieutenant Commander Milla, you're assigned to recon that facility, and if necessary destroy it to halt any advances they may have made. Lieutenant Cilan, you're assigned for the rescue operation." Spiers looked at all three, "Questions?"
Cilan stood up, "Sir, we work as a team. Why can't the Night Marauders handle the recon mission?" He referred to the second special unit made up of ki fighters.
"They're still on assignment in the northwestern quadrant. I know this is breaking protocol Lieutenant, but you're the only group free for both assignments. The Prime Minister has deemed the return of the girl as priority number one, and we can't also ignore the possibility of the enemy trying to stunt our counteroffensive.
"I'll be frank with you Cilan. Out of all of our forces, you three are the best at what you do. Out of the three of you," he looked at Cilan directly. 'You're our best infiltrator, and you're the best candidate on bringing her back alive. Understand?"
"Yes sir," Cilan sat back down.
"Good," Spiers cleared his throat. "Armun and Milla, the Ark Royal is scheduled to rendezvous with your ship in 12 hours to take you to Nibia. Cilan, you'll be staying on the Independence for your mission. You three have your assignments, Good luck."
Spiers saluted the three, which the Ghosts returned before the screen blanked out.
With only a few hours left before the arrival of the Ark Royal, Cilan and Milla spent it together. They finally had to stop when they only had an hour before the rendezvous. Cilan sat on his bed as he watched the lithe form of Milla gather up her clothes; he was still in his boxers. She was snapping her bra together, but it kept unhooking itself.
This occurred several times until she turned to him, "Would you stop that!"
"What are you talking about?" Cilan's face was innocent.
She only hooked the bra back together again, while she cursed about horny saiyans with telekinetic powers. When her bra didn't fly open again she looked at him, "Ballsy move questioning the General."
He shrugged, "I was just being honest, and I don't like the team being split up."
"Oh really? What about back down there," she pointed down to Gothos. "You were ready to split up to fight Krull."
"That was different; I knew you two could handle yourselves with that enemy squad."
"What's so different about this mission?"
"I haven't scouted it. We don't know what's there."
"You read the mission report, the probes they sent only detected minimal forces," she was buttoning up her shirt.
"Yeah, and the probes and scanners didn't pick up on Krull either," he ran his hand down his face. "I just don't like it. I'd prefer if I was there."
Milla knelt in front of him and took his hand. "Spiers was right, the rescue mission is too important and you're the most capable one to complete it."
She ran her thumb on the crated scar on his left hand, "I know you feel you have to protect me, but I can take care of myself Cilan." Milla gave him a peck on the cheek and stood up to fix her hair. "Besides, Armun can take care of any tough enemy fighters we might find."
Cilan only rolled his eyes, "Like that reassures me."
"You know, you should really stop hating him. Just because he beat you years ago doesn't mean you have to disrespect him."
He only snorted in response, "He still won't give me a rematch."
"No duh." She rolled her eyes, "You can dismantle him, but really, if it wasn't for him you'd still be out in space being a thief."
"What if I liked being a thief?" Cilan looked off the side as he crossed his arms.
"Please. Being drafted was probably the best thing for you," Milla stared down at him. "You get fed, given shelter, and you get to fight as much as you want." She counted each reason on her hand. "And lastly, you met me; the greatest thing to ever happen to you, if I do say so myself."
Cilan smirked slightly, "Maybe."
Milla only exasperated at that response and turned to the door, "Oh forget it. I'll see you in a few days."
Before she left his quarters, Cilan had grabbed her hand, "Wait. There's something I wanted to ask you."
Milla raised an eyebrow, "What?"
"Remember a few days ago, when you said that after the war is over, that I can stay with you?" He scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah," this worried her. They never openly declared any feelings for each other. In the beginning it was treated as just sex with no emotional attachment. But for Milla, she had developed some feelings for him and had hoped Cilan felt the same. She was testing the waters with her offer, and was slightly disappointed when he didn't give her an answer. It told her that Cilan still viewed their relationship as just a fling.
His face was neutral, "Is that offer still available?"
Her eyes opened wide in surprise, "Yes."
"Then would you mind taking me in?"
"Of course you big lug," she wrapped her hands around his neck as she raised herself to kiss him on the lips. He returned it as he wrapped an arm around her and held the back of her head. They broke off when they needed to breathe.
"I told you I was the greatest thing to walk into your life," she smoothed over her uniform.
Cilan only smiled at her, before his face turned solemn, "Please be careful, ok?"
Milla only gave him a wink and a smile, "Don't worry. I'll see you in a week."
She opened the door and left his quarters. He stared at the door for a few moments before he shook his head and went to get changed.
To be continued.