A/N: aco305 - Yeah, name has been withheld because it would be instantly recognized and thus (most of) the suspense would then be gone. Don't worry too much, though. His identity will be revealed before the end of this Saga. Already have the reveal scene 'written' in my mind. ;)
guitarlover57684 - Yeah, I've seen them. Kind of makes sense, post BoG, since Goku absorbed all the SSJG power at the end. He's umpteen millions of times stronger in base than, like, everyone. Except golden Freeza apparently. Kinda worried about Revival of F but we'll see.
Chapter Seventy-six - Ornja's Back-up Plan
Cheri had made sure to close the door behind them, they didn't want the refugees stumbling into the hallway. They were supposed to be secret, after all. However, this posed a problem almost at once. With the door closed the hall was plunged into darkness. Cheri said their were lights that could be turned on, they weren't very bright but they let you see, but Sakura told her to leave them off. She was worried the guy Goten had seen was still here and would know he had company if the lights suddenly came on.
So, instead, the ten year old lead the way with a small ball of ki cupped in her hand. It didn't make enough light to give them away if anyone else was around. Just enough to see the floor ahead of them and notice when the hallway turned... before they ran into the wall. They reached the first door out of the hall after a few moments and came to a stop. They could sense a few people in the area beyond, likely kitchen staff trying to come up with a dinner for a palace full of refugees.
Still, the kids didn't want anyone seeing them. They didn't want to risk Ornja learning they were tracking her again. So they'd had Akemi leave her body and scout the area beyond the hall for any signs of her or her allies. When she returned she reported she'd seen no signs of them and so they'd continued on. The next door lead out into the guest wing and they were currently standing in front of it.
"There's only a few powers out there." Trunks said, shifting his mind from one to the next. "None of them in groups of five, though."
"They may not be all together." said Sakura, shrugging. "So, ready Akemi?"
"On it!" Akemi cheered, closing her eyes. Her vision changed as she floated away from herself and through the wall into the hallway beyond. She couldn't sense any of the powers that were around when like this, but she'd made note of where they were and quickly set off. Passing through a few walls she found herself in one of the guest rooms. There was an alien sitting in a chair watching the news reports about the on going problems.
She ignored him, he wasn't who she was looking for, and continued on. After a few more walls she was in another guest room. It looked empty but she knew one of the powers had been in this area. Hearing sounds coming from beyond a closed door she floated over and looked through. It was the bathroom and the sound she'd heard had been the shower. She hesitated for a moment, not really wanting to look, but she had to make sure it wasn't Ornja or one of the others.
She hurried over and quickly poked her head inside, then pulled it back out right away. "Gross!" she cried. There were two people in there and... She shuddered, not wanting to think about what they'd been doing. She didn't think either of them were who she was after so she kept going. A moment later she stepped into another guest room and saw two people sitting at the small table in the room. She instantly recognized Ornja and smiled. She'd found her!
"Are you sure this is the best time to act?" asked the other person at the table. It was the guy with the scar that they'd followed.
"This chaos makes the perfect time." Ornja said. "Nearly everyone is busy dealing with zombies and Demons or refugees. Security is almost non existent. What's more, the King is gone off to battle. That means she'll have almost no protection, certainly none that we can't take. This has to be done, and you know it. We have Changelings in the palace as GUESTS."
Rycel nodded. Things had been bad before but the royal family hosting Changelings? That was beyond unacceptable. "I know." he said. "I'm just worrying that what's happening will interfere with our plans. You're right, though. There wont be any better opportunities for this than now. Has the Queen been located?"
Ornja grinned. "Torrac spotted her just before you arrived." she said. "It's already in motion."
Akemi's eyes widened as she realized they must be talking about Trunks's mom. They were going to take her, like they did Marron! She rushed back to her body. "Sakura!" she cried, as she slipped back in.
"What is it, Akemi?"
"I found Ornja! I think they're after Trunks's mom!"
"What!?" Trunks cried.
Akemi nodded quickly. "They were talking about a queen, and she said Torrac's seen her! He's probably after her right now!"
"Oh man... Where are they?" Trunks asked.
"Come on!" Akemi pushed open the door and quickly lead them out into the public hallway. She had to think for a second, to figure which way to go. She'd not used the halls before, but she thought it out quickly and then lead her friends through the hall. They reached the door into the guest room and Trunks didn't slow down, just broke right through. The room beyond, however, was empty.
"No, they're gone!" Akemi cried, looking around. It was the same room, she was sure of it, which meant the two people had left already. She tried to sense them out but wasn't sure where they'd gone and couldn't find any powers that felt like they might be them. "What now?"
"We have go find Bulma, or one of the adults." said Sakura. "We have to warn someone."
"Right." Cheri said. "Come on, I think I know where Bulma is."
"You... you do?" Trunks asked, clearly worried.
Cheri nodded. "She put out a call earlier for volunteers to help with coordinating resistance efforts. She wanted them to report to conference room 7, I think it was. We'll go there first." The kids all nodded and then rushed off again. Cheri lead them back to the security corridor, it was the fastest way back to the main hall. This time they turned the lights on so they could rush.
Emerging back into the grand hall they quickly made their way through the crowds and into the next section of the palace. Cheri said she knew of another corridor that would get them to the conference rooms faster and they quickly located and followed it. They flew by two doors before going out again and Trunks recognized the area. They were near the conference rooms, room 7 was to the right and maybe two or three hundred yards away, and he took the lead.
They'd not gone far, just down the hall and around the first corner, when they came to a stop. A figure in battle armor was laying on the floor. Cheri's eyes widened at the sight because, even though they were laying on their stomach and she couldn't see the person's face, she instantly recognized her hair.
"MOM!" she cried, rushing forward and kneeling down beside her. She put a hand on her shoulder and shook her. The woman groaned a little but didn't wake.
"That's a bad sign..." Sakura said worriedly. Vadora was Bulma's personal guard. If she'd been knocked out then...
"We have to find mom!" Trunks cried.
"We well, Trunks. We will." Sakura said, then turned to her sister again. "Akemi, scout around. See if you can find Bulma."
"Ok." Akemi said, eyes still wide and staring at the unconscious Vadora. She quickly closed them and focused. It took a moment longer than usual but soon the world came into view again. She stared at Vadora for a few seconds, worried about her friend's mom, then shook it off and set out to look for Bulma.
"I can't wake her up!" Cheri said, worry evident in her voice.
"She's ok, Cheri." Goten said, walking up beside her.
"But she wont wake up!"
"I can sense her, though." the boy replied. "Her energy's not falling or anything, she's not hurt."
"Goten's right." said Sakura. "She's ok, just unconscious."
XXX
Shinkai, Planet Vegeta, Palace Courtyard
Piccolo was looking over the defense plans they'd drawn up for the palace. They'd set up a watch around the perimeter to keep an eye out for any zombies or Demons. Nova's elites, with the exception of Tsunamo who insisted on remaining in medical until Nova was out of her regen tank, were stationed at regular intervals along the wall. Barring any more instances like Gloom they were more than a match for any of the Demons on the planet.
Teams had been coordinated, groups that would reliably work alongside the Changelings without issue. Those resistant to having the Changelings on the perimeter had been pulled back to work crowd control. As much as a danger the Demons outside were, the clashing personalities and heightened fears of the refugees were just as bad. The almost riot earlier had proven that. Tensions were still high, the whole situation was a powder keg that could go off at any provocation.
"It's not ideal, but it will do." Piccolo said. "At least for now. If this doesn't end soon, though..."
"I know." Vegeta said with a sigh.
"As long as things don't get worse that's good news." said Pug. "It means our forces in Otherworld haven't fallen."
"I don't even want to consider what will happen if they don't succeed." said the Senator.
"I don't think we'd last long past that." Piccolo said. "Anyone strong enough to take out Bardock, Goku, Gohan, Videl, and Vegeta would tear through the rest of us."
"Now there's a cheery thought." Raditz said as he landed nearby. He'd been up on the outer walls speaking with Nova's elites, making sure they were all set and the Sai-jins left with them were comfortable working along side them. A few had seemed a little less than happy with the arrangements, but none seemed like they'd be a problem. With things as they were right now everyone had bigger concerns.
The Sai-jin looked around at the crowd still gathered in the courtyard, somewhere around three thousand people at this point, with even more already inside the palace, and sighed. "So now we're left with nothing to do but wait." he said, crossing his arms.
"Unfortunately." replied Piccolo. "I don't much like it either but we've done all we can for now. We have to be ready for any other problems that come along. The Demons left out there will just have to keep until the main threat's been eliminated."
"I wish I was out there with them. Wouldn't likely stand a chance against whatever it is they're up against, but just to see it..."
Piccolo grunted. Typical Sai-jin. Unwinable battle, insurmountable odds, and still wanted to be involved. "You could always go help with the coordination efforts." he said.
Raditz shook his head. "I'm no leader, I'm front line. I'll just stay out here, keep an eye on things. Keep anyone from getting out of line, zombie, Demon, or refugee."
"Don't forget to get some sleep." said the Senator. The sun had already set, maybe ten minutes ago, but the day wasn't quite over yet. Still... "There's no telling how long things will hold like this. We'll all need to get some rest before morning comes."
"Yeah. I'll just make sure everything's in order then get some shut-eye." Raditz said. "It's been one hell of a day."
XXX
Shinkai, Somewhere on Earth
"How are we doing?" asked Ward.
"We're making good time." Jairel said, checking the GPS again. "Though it'll still be hours before we get there." After they'd stolen the pursuit cruiser from the EDF base, something he was still coming to grips with, Autoro had originally taken the wheel. But about twenty minutes ago he'd turned the controls over to him and moved to the back of the cruiser to take a nap. Far as he knew, the man was currently asleep.
"I'm not sure 'making good time' is a positive at this point." said Gard from the passenger seat beside him. "You've heard the reports coming through lately. North City is the worst possible place to go right now."
"Actually, to me, it's sounding more and more like Autoro was right." said Ward. "Most of these monsters or Demons or whatever are being sighted around the area of North City. Definitely seems like Bad Guy Central."
"Exactly my point." Gard said. "These things are being recorded with powers of ten, fifty, a hundred thousand. That one's almost two hundred thousand. We can't deal with something like that. No one on Earth can."
"No one but Autoro." said Jairel.
Gard sighed and turned his head to look out his window, but said nothing. He knew Jairel was right about that much, at least. Autoro had said he could get his power up to almost six hundred thousand. That was more than enough to deal with even the strongest Demon known to be on the planet. Far more power than anyone else currently on Earth could manage.
That didn't mean he had to like flying right into the heart of the enemy. It's not like the four of them were needed to handle this. The people on Planet Vegeta were coordinating defense efforts. The EDF forces on world, the ones that actually had some power unlike him and his two friends, had the situation in hand. And the big guns, the guys that had fought against Cell seven years ago, were likely out there taking out the command structure for these attackers.
So things were getting done just fine with them up here, out of the conflict. The survival of the galaxy didn't depend on them reaching North City and putting a stop to this themselves. There were people out there better informed and better equipped to deal with it. He'd much rather just find somewhere to lay low until this mess was over. Though... he knew he couldn't do that anyway. Even if he hadn't been roped into this crazy trip to North City.
It just wasn't in his nature to run and hide. Not by himself, at least. Even if he wasn't flying to North City he'd likely have been out on the streets looking for civilians trying to hide from the zombies, working to escort them to safety as best as possible. Dangerous work, but not utterly insane like this trip to North City.
After a few moments Gard turned from the view out his window. "Autoro can take the strongest known threats on the planet, yeah." he said. "But he wants to stop this entire thing, which goes beyond just North City. Unless you think the zombies and Demons elsewhere in the galaxy all came from North City, too."
"No, of course not." Jairel said. "But what could Autoro do other than stop the threats up north? Yeah, he talked about cutting this mess off at the source, but North City is as far as this cruiser can go. What's he going to do, steal a space ship and go world to world fighting zombies and Demons?"
"I suppose you have a point. Though... I'd not bring that up when he wakes up. He'd likely take it as a suggestion, then drag us along with him."
XXX
Shinkai, Planet Vegeta, Sai-jin Palace
"Hasn't Akemi found them yet?" Trunks asked, pacing back and forth in the hall, eyes locked on the young Tanarian.
"If she had she'd have come back." Sakura said. "I know you're worried, Trunks, but she's doing the best she can."
"Something happened to mom once already today!" Trunks said, turning his gaze toward Sakura. "We have to save her and we can't do that until Akemi finds them!"
"Snapping at Sakura isn't going to make things go faster." Cheri said from where she was still kneeling on the floor shaking her mom, trying to wake her. "We'll find your mom."
Trunks clenched his teeth for a moment, then let out a long sigh. "You're right, Cheri. Sorry, Sakura. I just don't like not being able to do anything!"
"It's ok. I understand." she said. "But... maybe we can do something. We may not know where Bulma is right now, but we know where she came from."
"What good does that do?" asked Goten.
"We get help." replied Sakura. "We let the adults know what's happened and they can put the entire palace on alert. Everyone will be out looking for her."
"I'm not going anywhere." Trunks said, shaking his head. "If Akemi finds them I want to know right away so I can go after them."
"I'm going to stay with mom." said Cheri. "Goten can go."
"No." Sakura cut in, before Goten could speak. "I'll go. Just... keep an eye on Akemi for me, ok Goten?"
"Sure!"
Sakura nodded, gave one last look at her sister, then took off at a run down the hall. She wasn't sure where the conference room was but she could sense a small knot of energies in the area and figured that had to be it. It only took a moment to reach the door and she quickly threw it open. The room was full of people, most of them looked like Sai-jins but she saw several heads of silver hair and a couple aliens. The first face she saw that she recognized was her dad.
"Dad!" she called, hurrying into the room.
"Sakura?" Yamcha asked, turning toward her and realizing she was pretty agitated. "What's up?"
"It's Trunks's mom, she's been kidnapped!" At her statement the room went almost completely silent nearly at once, and every pair of Sai-jin eyes in the room snapped in her direction.
"Are you sure?" Mango asked, moving toward the young Tanarian. "Vadora went with her as protection."
"We found her unconscious in the hall." Sakura said. "Cheri's still trying to wake her up. Akemi's trying to track the people that took Trunks's mom."
"Track? How?" asked Yamcha.
"It's complicated." Sakura answered. "One of her abilities."
"Take me to Vadora." Mango said, interrupting Yamcha before he could say anymore. "Toma, contact the King..." she paused and cursed, remembering he'd gone through the tear into Otherworld. He didn't even know Bulma had been revived yet, she'd be damned if she'd let her die again before he got back. "Contact Senator Vegeta, tell him what we know so far and to contact me. Tangerie, alert the palace security..."
"No!" Sakura quickly interjected, drawing the woman's attention. "The ones who took her are palace security."
"What? Why?" asked Yamcha.
Sakura bit her lip as she tried to figure out how to answer. They didn't know about Marron being kidnapped the other day, and she really didn't want to get into that but... She wasn't sure how else to explain how she knew about Ornja. And she didn't want something bad to happen to Bulma just because she wanted to avoid getting into trouble.
"We ran into these people before." she said at last. "They... they took Marron a few days ago, before the tournament. Something about the Sai-jins running the Sennari. We stopped them and rescued Marron but..."
"Wait, they took Marron?" Yamcha asked.
"Explain on the way!" Mango called from the doorway, standing half in the room and half in the hall. "Tangerie, get the word out, but do it quitely." With that she turned and left. Yamcha hesitated for a second and then quickly followed the Sai-jin out. Sakura hurried after them and took the lead, leading them to where Vadora was.
"I'll explain everything about Marron later." Sakura promised. "But it's how we know about Ornja. Akemi saw her earlier and we went looking but lost her. But Akemi learned she was after Bulma so we came looking to find Bulma or someone to warn but..."
"You found Vadora." Mango said.
"Yeah."
The three hurried along the hall in silence then. When they rounded the corner into the hall where she'd left her friends and the unconscious Vadora Mango pulled away from the group and rushed over to them. Vadora was groaning a little more frequently now, but she was still out cold. Akemi was still standing perfectly still in the middle of the hall, eyes closed, right where she'd been a few minutes ago.
"She's still not back?" Sakura asked, worried. Akemi had never stayed out of her body for so long before.
"No." Goten said. "But she seems ok still."
"What's up with your sister?" Yamcha asked. He didn't like the way she was standing there so still, swaying gently like a small gust might just blow her over.
"Her... mind or spirit or something... it's not in her body right now." Sakura explained. "She's off searching through the palace somewhere."
"She's... what?"
Sakura sighed. "We told you she was powerful." she said, walking up to her sister and resting a hand on her shoulder. She couldn't really feel it, she didn't have any real connection to her body when she was out of it. She could hear someone talking to her, if she focused on it, but that was all she'd said she could do.
"Vadora's going to be out for a while." Mango said. She'd been kneeling beside the woman, checking her out.
"What's wrong with her?" asked Cheri.
"My guess? Gassed."
"Gas?" Yamcha asked, looking over.
"Yeah. I'd say either Xiethal or Rektrion, but most likely Xiethal..." She stood up and moved over to the nearest wall, examining it closely. "Yeah, here we go. There's residue on the ducts. They triggered the Xiethal gas defense system."
"Sakura said they were palace security." Yamcha said with a frown. "So they'd have access to the defense systems."
Mango nodded. "They just needed to know where their target was and trip the proper systems. Vadora and Lady Bulma wouldn't have even known there was anything wrong until it was too late. Xiethal acts in seconds." She looked like she was about to say more, but paused and reached a hand up to her scouter.
"Yes, sir." she said. "I'm at the scene now. It looks like rogue agents within palace security. They used our own defenses to disable the Queen and her guard. Sakura mentioned an Ornja, I think I got a report about her earlier."
"Yes, I remember her." Senator Vegeta said in her ear. "Detained her just before the games began. She escaped after this mess started. But what does Sakura have to do with this?"
"We can go over all the details in person." she replied. "The kids still need to explain a few things to me. Can you meet me in medical? I'm going to get Vadora into a tank, she'll recover from the gas faster that way."
"I'll be there in five minutes. In the mean time, try and coordinate a search, but keep it quiet. If they're palace security..."
"I know. Don't want to tip them off that we're on to them already. I've already got Tangerie on that." She lowered her hand from the scouter and then lifted Vadora up off the floor. "We're off to medical. The Senator will meet us there."
"Hang on." Sakura said. "Akemi can't move like this. We have to wait for her to get back."
"Carry her."
"Can't. She has to know where her body is to get back to it. I'll... I'll try to call her." She leaned in next to Akemi's ear. "Akemi, if you can hear me I've got help here. You need to come back so we can go."
"When she's ready to move, come to medical." Mango said. "I'll meet you there."
"I'm going with her." Cheri said, following Mango and her mother.
"Me too!" Goten called, hurrying after them. Trunks watched them go, considered going as well, but then decided to wait. He wanted to know what Akemi had found.