Arlic:
I woke up screaming.
Not in fear.
Not in excitement.
Not even in frustration.
But from sheer fucking rage.
"Stimulant applied. Awakening sequence completed." My pod informed me.
"Shove it up your ass you stupid piece of tin!" I snarled out irrationally.
Honestly, if I had the necessary power and S-Cells for it, I probably would've gone super from my current anger alone.
"Of all the stupid, asinine, shark-jumping bullshit to have possibly happened." I seethed as I fought desperately against letting my Ki run wild and blowing my pod up while in the middle of space, "DC with a dash of Viltrumites!? What the fuck!?"
Dragon Ball itself was already a hell universe with fighters constantly looking for new challenges to get stronger. But with DC in the mix?
I brought up the tablet that had fallen into my lap and powered the screen back on. Just like I had seen prior to the FTL travel, alien empires that only existed in the DC universe stared back at me. Including one rather large one that shouldn't have been there.
"A whole race of assholes who have strength on par with that of a Super Saiyan." I muttered in dread before trying to take a calming breath. Well, maybe not all of them, but the strongest ones definitely did if I remembered right. Like Thragg and Mark.
They couldn't manipulate energy as Saiyan's could, but energy manipulation didn't matter when you had the durability and strength to fight on the surface of a star for any amount of time. Hell, even Cooler got obliterated instantly when he was thrown into the sun.
"And that's not even counting these other empires." I sighed.
The Thanagar Empire and Reach were pretty standard for DC settings, but the Kherubims and Citadel? I vaguely recognized those names from lore explanation videos. But only somewhat, as the memoirs of videos I had half paid attention to were murky at best. Which meant there were probably other star nations on here that were equally as dangerous that I would have no knowledge of.
"ETA to destination in 7 minutes and 20 seconds. Please brace for entry into the planet's atmosphere and landing." My pod chimed.
"Alright. 7 minutes to come up with a plan." I nodded and switched to the notes section on my tablet. I might have been both angry and scared out of my mind right now, but even I knew that I needed a plan in place, "Alright, we'll make a broad outline for now."
Step 1: If I'm in the DC universe with the Saiyans and Viltrumites mixed in, that means Earth is probably a DC Earth. Which means Earth is the safest place in this universe despite all the bullshit that happens on it. Which means I need to find it. After all, some of the most powerful beings in the universe like Superman and Doctor Fate guarded the place.
Step 2: If the Justice League already exists, warn them about the Viltrumites and Thangarians if their Lanterns already haven't.
Step 3: Train in relative peace and quiet until I was strong enough to not be fucked with. Somehow acquire a gravity machine?
I hadn't exactly seen such machines on the galactic internet yet and I'm sure if they were commercially available the saiyans would be all over them already. But that didn't mean much when super-geniuses on Earth existed. After all the watchtower had simulated gravity did it not? I'm sure I could find someone on Earth to make one.
Step 4: Live in peace? Join the Justice League? Return to the Saiyain Empire and usurp the throne to stop its practice of genocide and slavery?
It was a very broad and basic outline of a plane. If you could even call it a plan, but it was all I had for now. It also hinged on the fact that I could even find Earth. Because if I remembered right, Earth in DC wasn't really on the galactic map until certain large-scale events such as Thangar invading and other such threats happened.
And I couldn't rely on looking at green lantern sectors, since I didn't even remember what Earth's sector is called.
I tried using the galactic web, but searching for rocky planets that had life orbiting a yellow star didn't exactly narrow it down in a galaxy teaming with life and untold amounts of star systems. Other than that, my only other clue was that it was by Thangar's Empire if I remember right.
My quest for Earth was probably going to take me a long ass time. Especially when said time was mostly going to be taken up by the military, cryo sleep, and training.
"What a pain in the ass."
"ETA to planet Galaluna in one minute and thirty seconds. Please brace for entry into the planet's atmosphere and landing." My pods AI informed.
That name sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it.
"Warning! Sensors show that hundreds of FTL signatures have recently appeared in Galaluna's atmosphere!" The pod blared a warning as we hit the atmosphere, "Further scans show mass movement of troops and energy signatures indicating a major amount of weapons being discharged. This planet is most likely under siege."
The hell?
The others must've gotten the same warning because the team's chat logs exploded with similar questions. Though it seemed mostly out of excitement rather than confusion, as the mission had suddenly become a lot more interesting.
"Mission plans mostly unchanged." My scouter pinged as it received a team-wide priority message from Mayze, "Sensors are feeding me data that whatever invading force this is, it isn't that much more powerful than the planet's defenders. Take and stop the space elevators from receiving any critical damage. Then go and teach these bastards what happens when you intrude on the rightful quarry of the Saiyan Empire. Arlic, only your mission parameters have truly changed. You are coming with me. - Mayze."
Wait what?
"Re-entry trajectory altering." My pod announced.
Oh fuck.
My pod jerked westward and crossed thousands of miles in an instant as it rapidly changed its vectored approach. Bracing myself despite knowing the pod would auto compensate like before, I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes as my pod slammed into the ground at mach fuck. Just like I thought, I barely felt a thing from the inside despite the grand crater that had formed around my re-entry.
Distantly I heard another great blast and tremors ripple throughout the ground as Mayze's pod landed.
Knowing that my team captain wasn't one to wait, I hit the door button and blasted out of the pod. Now that I was a little more used to my new power level, I hit the sky in record time as I steadied myself a couple miles up. Mayze wasn't too far behind as a sonic boom indicated she had left her own pod and was next to me within seconds.
"Any reason you brought me with you and separated me from the rest of the team?" I asked plainly before sighing, "Is this the part where you murder me for knowing too much while we are away from the others?"
"Tch." Mayze grunted as she reached over and painfully pinched my cheek, "Not only are you way too wordy for a 5-year-old, but you're also one hell of a smartass."
Letting me go and flicking my cheek for good measure, she just smirked, "If I wanted you dead I would just kill you by accident while training. Happens all the time. But no, I want you for something far more simple. Pest control."
I tilted my head in confusion, "Pest control?"
"Pest control." Mayze nodded, "My objectives require a bit of focus on my part. The plan was just to drop in, blitz them while they were trying to figure out what was happening and that would be that."
Looking up at a couple more alien warships that suddenly dropped out of FTL and entered the planet's atmosphere rapidly, Mayze sneered, "Unfortunately these fucker's decided to kick the nest before we even got here. So now not only are the planet's defenses on higher alert and in combat mode, but an entire other invasion force is here as well."
Yeah, I could see how that would be a problem.
"Which just means that you, brat." She continued, "Have volunteered to handle anything that tries to annoy me during my search. Consider it a reward for being such a nosy fuckhead and not minding your own business."
"Oh… ok." I nodded, "Guess it's better than you killing me."
"Yeah, you could say that." Mayze snorted before pointing out towards Northeast, "Intel I received from my private briefing from the quadrant commander says this planet's royale archives are that way. The city is the second biggest on the planet. Expect heavy resistance from both OpFors as such."
You know I never noticed it before, probably because I hadn't actually worked with her last mission, but Mayze was very professional and technical. Which just made my curiosity and suspicions skyrocket.
The very high power level that was being hidden, extra objectives hidden from the rest of the team, and way too educated by normal saiyan military standards.
Definitely some sort of saiyan black ops.
Hmm, I wonder what the Saiyan CIA was called?
"Try and keep up brat." She ordered before blasting off in the direction she had pointed in.
Sighing I called upon all my newly gained ki and pushed as hard as I could to keep up.
I was near euphoric as I ripped another purple mechanical arm off of a mech before shoving it through its center mass as a makeshift spear. The metal punctured its chest with ease as both the mech and pilot inside went down in an instant.
Dropping back down to my guard position, I crossed my arms over my chest as I waited for the next wave. To my back was the entranceway to royale archives that Mayze had been ordered to investigate. Every so often when I wasn't busy I'd catch her going through various books, scrolls, and computer terminals looking for… something.
To my front was an obliterated lobby with bodies of this planet's defenders and other invaders strewn about. The walls and ceiling had long since been blown away both from orbital bombardment and my liberal use of my newly expanded ki reserves.
This planet was only somewhat marginally stronger than Varme had been. Only a few hundred points stronger on average, even accounting for the other alien invasion that was taking place. My power level on the other hand had over doubled from the zenkai from Varme and the minor one I had gotten from Mayze beating the shit out of me and crushing my hand into bloody paste.
Which meant that this mission was going a lot smoother on my end. Probably also helped by the fact that the rest of the team was currently ravaging the entire planet and causing as much chaos as possible instead of lounging around while I took on the most armed part of the planet.
Still a little salty over that.
The non-existent infrastructure gave me an unobstructed view of the city that sat below the mountain line the library was built on. It would have been a beautiful sight had it not been on fire and currently in the midst of heavy urban combat.
Ah, who am I kidding? The horrific scene and sounds of bloodshed were poking my saiyan brain in all the right ways. The giant fuck off Kaiju that where the size of Oozaru's and currently ravaging the city and countryside as well just added another layer of perfection and excitement onto the scene.
Seriously. I didn't know who these other invading aliens were, but they had style. Their forces were composed of monstrous ground troops of different makes and styles, flyers that were just as diverse, and then the previously mentioned titans. It's like they were custom-made to give saiyans a much-needed dose of excitement during a boring mission.
Had it not been for Mayze assigning me to stop anyone who might want to interfere with her mission, I'd probably be down there in the thick of it.
My body nearly shuddered in excitement at the thought and itched for me to go down there and do just that.
"No, bad body." I muttered in reprimand to my saiyan blood, "The strong and scary female saiyan will kill us if we abandon the post she gave."
"Raghghg!" A warcry sounded from the steps leading up to the mountain as waves of alien invaders surged up the stairs and toward me.
I didn't know if they had an objective to secure this place or if whatever battle network they had told them that we were here, but this was like the 5th damn time they had tried to rush our position.
With a grunt, I launched myself at the green and brown monsters. While this planet's defenders had some sort of personal mechs that could kinda keep up with me, these monsters weren't as lucky. My hands tore through armored flesh as their 6 glowing green eyes failed to keep track of my movements and their occasional lucky laser blast just bounced off my armor or skin.
My foot caved in the head of the final beast from this squad as my scouter warned me of another mass of approaching low-powered beings. Moving to the edge of the grand stairwell that was built up the mountain, I snorted as indeed I saw another platoon of the other invaders hightailing it towards me.
With a flick of my wrist, I sent out a thin beam of Ki from two of my fingers. The beam arced wide as it simply cut through the approaching horde before petering out. The beast's bodies stumbled and fell forwards as they were cleaning cut in half.
A new trick I had learned. It seemed as my Ki grew that my control of it actually got better. Before I barely had enough control of it to empower myself, fly, and lob weak energy blasts. Now it was easier to shape and mold. It still wasn't enough to outright pierce any high-level armor or generate a blast that could wipe out anything within even a quarter mile, but it was enough for me to handle weak and fleshy beings with ease now.
And besides, progress was progress, and honestly, it was the preferred outcome. I had initially been afraid that my newly swelled Ki reserves were going to reset me to the basics of Ki control. Making it unwieldy to control until I got used to my new reserves. But no, it was almost the opposite.
Once again, my rudimentary understanding of saiyan biology led me to the conclusion that saiyans adaption/zenkai ability extended far more than just simply granting a power-up. It seemed in addition to growing stronger, my body had also adapted to using Ki more efficiently and granted better control.
Saiyans were so fucking broken.
My scouter pinged again and I shot up into the air as a barrage of missiles and energy lances pelted the area I had been standing. Looking upwards I saw another squad of large purple and smaller golden mechs flying down with the intent to pulverize me.
"Halt invader!" The lead purple mech of a newly arrived squad announced, "Surrender peacefully and you will be given fair trial once your Mutradi allies have been vanquished and forced off-."
There was a pause as the squad took in the sight before them. I'm sure a small 5-year-old covered in blood, ash, and standing amongst the bodies of their fallen allies and enemies painted a weird sight.
Mutradi. So that's what the monsters were called. Weirdly close name to the guys we had fought on the last planet.
"Sir, that's a child." One of the female-looking golden mechs said in confusion and horror.
"And he's flying without any assistance!"
"The reports were right. Somehow the Mutradi have super-powered beings aiding them."
"But look at all the bodies down there! There Galalunians and Mutradi alike strewn about."
"Lock it down, all of you!" The lead mech that was obviously the leader called out before looking down at me, "Though my squad does bring up a good question, who's side are you own invader?"
"The side of the Saiyan Empire." I snorted, "These Mutradi as you call them just happened to invade at the same time as us. Both you and they are our enemies."
"Saiyan Empire?" One of the golden mechs questioned.
"Galaxy is a big place." I shrugged, "Now I'd rather not have to kill you all, so how about you leave while you can."
I was lying of course. My blood was currently pumping hot with battle lust and I really wanted to just let loose and slaughter them.
But luckily for them, I still had enough human in me to control that battle lust. After all, they were just doing their duty to protect their planet.
"We cannot." Their leader declared, "Especially when the building you are currently raiding is the Royal Library itself."
I let out a sigh, "Your funeral then."
My hands blurred forward and began rapidly firing weak ki blasts. They weren't strong enough individually to pierce or even melt their mech suits, but they were dangerous enough for the team of five to have to break apart and scatter.
Taking advantage of the distraction, I pushed my new speed to its max, I threw my fists in front of me while I molded my Ki to shoot out of my hands. The result was a clean breakthrough as my small frame barreled through the chest of one of the large purple mechs.
Sometimes being child-sized due to being a literal child had its advantages.
The mech dropped out of the air from the instant death of the pilot and I felt my blood pump through my veins even hotter.
"Captain!" I heard a scream from behind me and dodged a swing from some sort of power ax that had aimed to cleave me in half. Twisting around I brought my leg up and lashed out with a kick. His armored helmet crumpled from the force and probably scrambled the brains of the pilot inside. The mech joined its brother on the ground as it plummeted.
A particular strong energy lance crashed into my back as it knocked the wind out of me and I found a hail of smaller energy blasts joining it as the three remaining mechs rained fire down on me.
I had to admit, these mechs seemed rather versatile compared to the Zentradi. Both purple and gold variations sported kinetic, energy, and melee weapons in a variety of different ways. I'd have been in real trouble had this been the planet my first mission had taken place on.
Flipping around I repeated the same trick that I had done earlier with the Mutradi and shot two condensed energy beams from my fingers. The first one pierced the smaller and less armored golden mech like a hot knife through butter. The last large purple mech resisted the 2nd beam better, but the death of the other golden mech freed my offhand and allowed me to form and lob a large energy blast at the defending enemy. Which upon impact reduced him to large burning chunks of metal and meat.
And then there was one.
Even though my enemy was encased in a mech suit, I could still see her whole frame trembling as she shakily pointed her palm blaster at me.
'It would be so easy to just fly up there and cave her skull in with a single pun-'
I took in a deep breath as I fought away the urge to slaughter. I couldn't tell if the higher level of Ki had also increased my blood lust and anger, or if it was just because I was finally feeding the proverbial beast by finally conducting warfare instead of just wasting away in an orphanage.
"The previous offer still stands. Please leave." I offered again.
C'mon lady, take the out.
The golden mech lowered her hand and stared at me almost unbelieving for a few moments. Then her senses kicked in and she whipped and fired her thrusters full blast as she blasted off in the opposite direction.
Finally, someone with some sense.
Sighing, I floated back down to my post and stood guard again. Once more turning my attention to the city and Mutradi titans in the distance.
"You know, it's generally not a very smart thing to let an enemy go during the middle of a planetary invasion." Mayze spoke from behind, startling me with how silently she had snuck up on me, "She could be going to gather reinforcements as we speak or to give our coordinates for some kind of orbital bombardment."
"She could be and if we were a conventional military force I might be worried. But we're not and those things would just make it more exciting anyways." I said, giving a very basic stock saiyan answer that most would just agree with, "She was too weak and scared to fight anyway. Not really worth it to fight her."
Well, most except Mayze.
"But that's not why you let her go." Mayze stated with certainty, "You gave her mercy because you felt bad."
I clicked my tongue in annoyance, "Maybe I did. Nothing wrong with that though, the objectives were just to secure the space elevators and help you on this mission. You didn't say we had to kill everyone. The Saiyan Empire does take slaves and client species does it not?"
Mayze tilted her head and gave me a weird look, "Most saiyans wouldn't care enough to not kill just because their orders didn't specifically say to."
"Well, most of our kind are fucking assholes." I shot back, "It doesn't cost anything to be kind when circumstances allow."
My team captain raised an eyebrow and bent down until she was at eye level with me, which meant that she basically had to fully crouch, "I don't remember if I've ever asked, but are you a full-blooded saiyan or a hybrid?"
I was actually taken a bit aback by the question, "Uh, full-blooded? The orphanage runs tests for those kinds of things, besides hybrids are incredibly rare."
I'd never even met one as far as I knew. They weren't exactly allowed to stay in normal saiyan orphanages. From what I'd been told, it was mostly because they lacked the killer instinct purebloods had. It made them far too docile in comparison to be allowed to live with a bunch of battle-hungry-blood knights.
It was part of the reason I knew for a fact I wasn't a hybrid even if the science guys messed up the test. I had way too much "rip and tear" within me when fighting to be anything other than a full-blood.
"I know, but as I've said before you are way too intelligent, both intellectually and emotionally, to be a normal saiyan child." Mayze pointed out before standing back up, "But I suppose you're just a weirdo."
"Gee, thanks." I said sarcastically.
"You're very welcome brat." She answered back without missing a beat and walked past me, "Now come on, I've already looked through everything I needed here and we need to take care of something before we continue to the next place."
Following her towards the edge of the cliff, she nodded towards the giant Mutradi, "Those things are a danger to the space elevator in this sector. The rest of the team have already handled them in their own sectors, but the ones here remain active."
"And I'm guessing you want me to go fight them?" I deadpanned as I looked at the giant beasts whose power levels were way too high for me to fight effectively.
"You're somewhat correct." Mayze nodded before opening her hand and creating a bright ball of light, "But more in a training and supervised way."
Looking at the ball of light in her hands I felt my chest tighten on its own and electricity raced down my spine and into my tail.
A power ball.
"Get ready brat. You're about to experience going Oozaru for the first time. Don't worry though, I'll be going Oozaru with you to make sure you don't destroy any space elevators." She said and launched the thing at mach speeds high into the atmosphere.
My neck craned upwards as my eyes stayed glued to the blutz wave creator without any input or control from myself.
As my vision dyed itself red and I felt my muscles rip apart and expand outwards, my last thought was of how ridiculously big Mayze's true power level must be with the Oozaru's 10x multiplayer.
What a scary bitch.
My body felt like it was burning when I woke up face-first in a mud puddle.
"Fuccckkkk." I slurred out as I lifted my face from the muddy water below me and rolled over to my back, "Why does it feel like someone roasted me with a flamethrower?"
"Because technically something did." My ever-fearless and supportive team captain answered while floating in a sitting position a couple feet away, "After you killed the first few giant monsters, another one made of pure fire showed up to avenge its brethren. It was pretty funny watching you rage about not being able to grab onto the fire monster and getting burned every time you tried."
"I don't remember any of that." I muttered as I sat up with a groan and took in the view. Or rather the lack of view to be more accurate.
All around me was a desolate burning wasteland. Nothing but ash, craters, and the corpses of giant beasts the size of skyscrapers that littered the land greeted my vision as I looked around to see if I could figure out how far we had moved while transformed.
I looked over at Mayze, "How far did we move?"
She shrugged, "A couple miles at most. Don't be surprised at not remembering either, your first couple of times are going to be nothing but mindless rage and animalistic instinct until you get used to it."
A couple miles…
"We were right by a city weren't we?" I asked grimly.
"We were." Mayze confirmed.
I gulped, "Which was the second biggest on the planet?"
"Was the second biggest on the planet." Mayze nodded, "Now some other city is. Congratulations to them."
"How many people…" I trailed off.
"Considering it was a mega-city on a unified planet with a population in the billions." Mayze hummed in though as she planted her feet on the ground and made her way over to me, "Probably a couple hundred million at least. Give or take some millions depending on how many those other invaders killed and how many were evacuated."
A couple hundred million. I just killed 9 digits worth of people. 100,000,000 million at least.
I let out a shaky breath. In a moment where I wasn't amped up at the thought of near combat, that number made me sick to my stomach. It was different when I was just fighting other soldiers, people who were trained for combat and the possibility of dying while the others did the dirty work.
But this…
Mayze's hand came down and ruffled my head affectionately, "Congrats on leveling your first city. Don't worry, it'll become routine soon enough."
Fucking hell.
"Now get up." Mayze ordered and floated back up into the sky, "I got most of what I needed out of the archives, but this planet's palace might hold something as well."
"Right." I sighed as I pushed myself to my feet and launched into the air behind Mayze. As we soared through the air gave me an even better view of the landscape below.
Damn, I really did a number on it.
I must've been in Oozaru form for a while too. There's no way the 17,000ish power level I would have had with the 10x multiplier would have been enough to do this sort of wide-scale destruction in just an hour or so.
"Mayze, how long was I transformed for?" I called out.
She looked over her shoulder mid-flight, "I dunno, wasn't exactly keeping track. Maybe about 12 or so hours?"
Alright, that sounded about right. I'd need Mayze's secret fuck off power level to destroy a city like that in any useful amount of time. Like she had when she nuked Varme's capital in seconds.
Meanwhile, it took a skyscraper-sized monkey who could shoot mouth lasers for half a day.
Elite class saiyans were bullshit.
Those thoughts stayed with me for another hour or so as shot through the atmosphere to where the palace was. Only an atmospheric dogfight or crashed warship was enough to distract my mind as we approached our new target.
Other than that it was oddly quiet.
Too quiet.
When we had first landed the sky had been choked by Mutradi warships and planetary defense batteries that had fired non-stop at them. Even the cities we flew over didn't seem to have much action going on and simply stood there, smoking and battle-scarred.
Turning my head towards my team lead I cleared my throat to get her attention, "You notice how calm everything is?"
Mayze grunted in acknowledgment, "When we inserted, this planet was in the middle of all-out war. These Mutradi as the locals call them must have invaded with the element of surprise, as they don't have the technological capabilities or even Ki's ability to compete with a race as advanced as the one that inhabits this planet."
I tilted my head, "So it was an all-out assault that they put everything into, to keep these guys on the backfoot?"
Mayze nodded, "Yes. Very good brat. But then we appeared and started killing their big monsters and shooting down their starships. Which in turn took the pressure off the inhabitants of this planet, which allowed them to rally."
"And now?" I asked.
"Now they've worn each other out and still have to contend with us. Most of the intense combat happened when we inserted and in the 12 hours that you were rampaging about. Now both sides are just skirmishing with whatever they have left and keeping their heads down to avoid us." She answered.
Once again, this bitch was way too knowledgeable in tactics to just be a low-class saiyan.
"Castle is in sight. I'll be searching for its personal library and archives. Clear the castle and make sure no one bothers me while I do so." Mayze barked as a grand and recently battle-scarred palace entered view from over the horizon, "If you find anything of interest while doing so, send a message over private comms."
"Yes ma'am." I sighed as Mayze broke off from our formation and blasted towards what looked like the more residential side of the massive estate. Leaving the main building to me.
'Time to go and kill the princess.' I thought sarcastically before pausing.
Wait, if this is the planet's capital, then its leader might still be here.
I think I had a plan.
The Depths of the Royal Castle of Galaluna:
"I won't leave! Not in our people's time of greatest need." A young woman with golden hair that was swept up in a point protested in anger, "You said it yourself, the Mutradi fleets have been almost completely wiped out! We can win, father!"
A sigh escaped a man garbed in a red and gold uniform that covered his massive muscular frame that lay beneath, "This is not up for debate Ilana. Yes the Mutradi invasion fleets have been decimated and our Manus armor network has been brought back up online, but it is only due to the invasion of another far greater threat. One that even if we were prepared, we would have no hope of defeating me."
He had heard of the Saiyans before. A violent and incredibly powerful species that had been on the up-and-coming in this section of the galaxy. For decades they had just stuck to space piracy and mercenary contracts until one day their king decided he wanted an empire.
The galaxy was a big place, even the smallest of empires and nations held hundreds if not thousands of stars in them. Yet these saiyans had expanded more in a decade than empires before them had done in a century. Though he did suppose conquering was made easier when it took only a handful of your troops to subjugate a whole star system in a week or so by themselves.
Even still, initially, when evaluating threats in their local galactic sector, his science guilds and advisor had estimated it would be decades at least before the saiyans made their way over to them. Decades to prepare, which is why their power armor program had been initiated in the first place.
But the fact they were here so much earlier didn't come as too much of a surprise despite the reports that had been presented. He had heard whispers that as of late the saiyans had been pushing even harder and faster.
As if some goal was driving them to go as fast as possible.
As if they were looking for something…
That last bit had been a personal theory, but was now all but confirmed from reports of two saiyans stopping at the royal archives and staying there for hours. Fighting off all patrols both Galalunian and Mutradi alike.
"Is it really that bad my king?" A dark-haired young man asked him.
The king of Galaluna grimaced as he looked at the young man that if he had just trusted and listened to, could have prevented the sneak attack from the Mutradi, "It is indeed Lance. The saiyans are a race that possesses supernatural abilities as many different Mutradi species do, only on a much larger and devastating scale. There is only a handful on the planet according to reports and they are probably only low-class warriors by their society's standards, yet they have completely annihilated both the Mutradis and our own military power in less than a day."
A bleak silence formed over the trio and various soldiers who stood guard in what was probably the last safe bastion on Galaluna.
Rumble*
The moment of mourning was broken as the palace itself and its very foundations seemed to shake. Dust and debris rained down from the ceiling as those in the room took cover behind pillars and computer consoles that lined walkways leading to a giant rocket that stood in its center.
"My king!" One of the guards yelled, "We're getting communication that an enemy has entered the cast-"
Whatever the guard was going to say was drowned out as the ceiling above them busted open and a small figure that was bashing a fully armored Manus's chest in, came rocketing through and slammed the mech and itself into the flood they stood on.
Most were thrown back from the impact and dust observed their vision for but a moment, but when it cleared, they were greeted with an odd sight.
The small figure that stood atop the ruined powered armor was quite evidently a child. A child whose armor was cracked, burnt, and stained with blood both his own and not.
The king now knew himself to be correct as he stared at the child who was practically still a baby by almost any species' standards. The saiyans had not only sent a low-class team at them, but one that had a child not even close to adolescence to subjugate them.
The guards brandished their rifles and took aim at the saiyan, meanwhile, Lance pulled out his gun and blade as he slowly guided the princess backward toward the ship.
The King of Galaluna saw the saiyan tense as the boy's eyes took stock of the situation and he knew he needed to act before this turned into a bloodbath.
"Hold your fire!" The king bellowed and everyone turned to him in confusion.
One of the guardsmen shot him a panicked look, "But my lor-"
"Where are you not paying attention to what I said corporal? These saiyans have been single-handedly taking on legions of our Manus units and the Mutradi army." The king shook his head, "Your laser rifles will simply get us killed."
The saiyan child looked at him with predatory yet at the same time surprised eyes, "Huh, you know, you're about the first smart enemy I've met all day. Guessing by the fact they called your lord, you're the king of this planet?"
The king steeled himself, "I am indeed."
"Oh good." The child sighed in relief.
The saiyan reached up with his hand which nearly made everyone flinch, but instead of attacking, he took off the one-eyed device he was wearing and pressed a button that seemed to power it down as the light in the glass dimmed.
"Listen, I'm going to be fast and blunt about this. Our orders are to take this planet because of the space elevators and to keep them intact. Nothing was said about needing to completely wipe you guys out." The child informed while nervously looking at the hole in the ceiling above them, as if he was worried something was about to come through it at any minute, "The saiyan empire has taken many species into it as either slaves, indentured servants, or as client species. I can take you to my team captain and hopefully, she'll accept your surrender now that your armies have been decimated and no more of your people have to die."
A thin flame of hope sparked within the king's heart. Perhaps the people of Galaluna would live to see another day and their culture could be preserved.
Many of his surviving guards did not share his hope.
"Don't listen to him, my lord!"
"We can still fight!"
"The Royal Guard never surrenders!"
Despite the grim fate that had befallen their planet, it made the king's spirit proud to see the men and women that served his people were willing to fight to the end despite the odds. Today though he would not be stoking that passionate flame, but instead give them a lesson in temperance.
The king fixed his guard with a kind but stern look, "You are all a credit to the Kingdom of Galaluna, but today, to ensure our people's survival, our knees must bend. To surrender to these invaders might gall you now, but one day I hope age and the wisdom that comes with it will have you understand why we must do so."
The saiyan child who stood by watching the exchange met the king's eyes and a measure of respect flashed through them, "You're a good leader. I hope your people remember you as the one who saved them, instead of a coward who gave up on them."
"Thank you." The king said earnestly, "But before we go and meet your leader, I have one request if you may humor me."
If this saiyan had the kindness to go behind his species' back, which is what the king was assuming he had done by turning off what was probably a communications device, then perhaps he would show him one last kindness.
The child raised an eyebrow, "And that would be?"
"Allow my daughter, her guard, and their robot to flee this planet aboard the ship behind us." The king requested, "Should your leader not accept our surrender, I wish for some part of our people to live on."
"Father no!" His daughter cried out.
Both the king and saiyan paid her no mind as they simply stared each other in the eyes.
Finally, the saiyan closed his eyes and bit out a sigh, "This is probably going to bite me in the ass one day, but yeah. Get your daughter out of here. Especially should my leadership order you royale folks to be executed to stop anyone from rallying behind your name."
A smile came to the king's face even with his daughter's cries in the background. He had been right in his guess. This saiyan possessed a level of sympathy and perhaps even empathy not commonly noted among his species.
"Lance." He called out simply.
"As you wish my king. It… has been an honor." The young man bowed his head as he swept the princess off her feet and began carrying her crying and thrashing form towards the ship. Behind them the specialized and prototyped AI lifeform they had created followed.
The three passengers entered and the ship's door was sealed behind them as the facilities AI started the launch sequence.
Everyone watched as the undamaged part of the structure above them opened up and the ship's engines came online, blasting hot gas at them as it lifted off and blasted through the atmosphere above. As it cleared the outer layers of the atmosphere and far beyond what those below could see with their naked eyes, a beam shot from the surface and opened a portal in front of the ship, which seconds later it entered. Disappearing from the star system entirely.
"Yo, what was that big ass beam that shot after the ship?" The young saiyan asked the now silent room.
"A special form of FTL that can bridge great distances in a short amount of time. Not very practical for a fleet of starships, as it requires large and specialized equipment at its current stage of development." The king answered honestly, "Now if you would allow me to wipe their coordinates off these computer consoles, we can go meet your leader and discuss our unconditional surrender, Mr…?."
"Oh, the name is Arlic." The now-identified Arlic waved off, "Those consoles over there are the only computers that have their coordinates?"
"Indeed, they are." The King confirmed.
"I got it then. This will be faster anyway." Arlic offered as he raised his hand towards the series of computer terminals.
A flash of light that left spots in his vision fired off from Arlic's hand and the computer terminals that held the princess locations were reduced to molten slag.
Arlic nodded, "Cool, ready to go?"
"Indeed I am." The king agreed as he motioned for the guards to unlock the blast door behind them and began making his way along with the young saiyan from out of the castle depths.
"If you don't mind me asking, what planet did you send your daughter to? Something at the far end of the galaxy I assume?" The young boy beside him asked.
The king shrugged and decided to humor the young man who had quite possibly just saved his race and or at the very least his daughter's life. After all, it was an obscure planet that the probes they sent through the experimental FTL during testing had accidentally come across.
"A low technological planet that's not on any galactic maps as far as I'm aware. I believe through some primitive radio waves we intercepted, the native dominant life form refers to it as the planet Earth. Strange to name a planet after the very substance it is ma-" The king idly mentioned before stopping as he noticed Arlic nearly trip and whip his head around.
The boy went nearly silent as he stared at the king with wide eyes and a mouth that was agape.
It was a few moments before Arlic seemed to be able to collect himself, "S-say the name of that planet again?"
"Earth?" The king questioned uneasily.
Why did the saiyan seem to recognize a planet that should be completely unknown to the galaxy at large?
Arlic's head slowly turned to the sight of the smoking and steaming mass of metal that had once been the computer console that held said planet's coordinates.
The child seemingly only had one response as he took a deep calming breath.
"Fuck."
Congrats if you know what series this planet is from.
Arlic certainly didn't.