Purple eyes scrutinized the screen in front of them, brow furrowed in concentration as their owner focused on her task. The line on the screen fell, ever so slightly, and immediately her hands went into action, twisting dials and pressing buttons until the line returned to normal. Stable once again.
Rima gave a small sigh, pressing a few more buttons on the console before her before leaving it alone, giving the individual inside another dose of anesthesia as he began stirring and turning her eyes up to him to observe the effects.
He didn't look good but he was looking much better than he had yesterday. Scorched orange skin was in the process flaking off, a new healthy layer rising to take the place of what had been ruined and filling the tank with biological debris that was slowly being filtered out of it. Rima's practiced eyes scanned for any signs of infection and luckily found none. That was good, there was a minimal chance of that as long as he was suspended in the healing fluid, but that didn't mean that infections couldn't happen. And the ones that did were usually partially nasty.
His reptilian face was scrunched in an expression of light pain which thankfully disappeared as the cocktail of drugs was pumped into his system. Rima's eyes strayed to his torso, taking in the severed stump of what had once been a blackened facsimile of an arm, the burns he had acquired having been much too severe to even consider attempting to save the limb.
Ki burns had a habit of being deeper than what was visible on the surface, and what had been visible was already looking to be extremely deep. It was likely that his entire arm had been nothing more than a mass of burned carbon, not a bit of actual tissue to be saved. She had severed it to save him from infection or worse as his body attacked his once healthy limb as it failed to recognize it.
She had a feeling that explanation wouldn't soften the blow at all for the man, but this had always been a thankless job and she didn't expect that to change any time soon.
"You're an idiot Pumm." She spoke to the unconscious Fruitian in the healing tank. There was no heat to her words, just exasperation, "A lucky idiot, but an idiot all the same. Fighting a Saiyan nearly as strong as you was…" She shook her head, "Stupid."
There was no love lost between her and Pumm, but she would at the very least say he wasn't a complete meathead like half of the people aboard the Vistri. Oh sure, he had a bit of a temper and was too arrogant by half, but he wasn't liable to cause a ruckus and give Rima even more work to do. Tha put him above most of his fellows in Rima's eyes and she was slightly thankful for it.
She would show that gratitude by saving his life. And maybe point him towards a prosthetic actually worth spending credits on. Maybe.
As she continued her work, Rima's mind strayed to the person responsible for putting Pumm in this condition. She cast a glance across the room, spotting said Saiyan floating in another healing tank just a few meters away.
Rima took in the nude Saiyan with critical eyes. Despite the incredible damage she had caused to both Pumm and Buri, it was truly remarkable that the Saiyan had remained relatively unscathed save a few broken bones. There was the telltale scarring that all Saiyans acquired at one point or another in their lives, but the youngest of said scars was still years old; that being what looked to be a wound from claws on her arm.
With a small thought, she interfaced with the console remotely and checked the girl's vitals, nodding as she saw all was stable. It had only been a day or so and the girl had already fully recovered from her wounds. It was honestly quite miraculous as her ribs had basically been rendered to mere powder by Davik. That man truly didn't know how to hold himself back it seemed.
She briefly wondered if all Saiyans had healing factors like this, before metaphorically shrugging to herself. It's not like she'd ever get the chance to ask. Even before their planet was destroyed their population was so miniscule that only Rima's own race was smaller, and the Visurii literally didn't have a way of increasing their population.
Despite their feared status throughout the galaxy, Saiyans numbered in the mere thousands before they were all but wiped from existence. That was mostly owed to their warrior culture, as most Saiyans didn't even see their thirties before being killed, which didn't exactly do wonders for their population.
Add into that the fact that they were normally only attracted to powerful beings and you begin to get a picture on why there were only around three thousand of them left by the time Frieza had decided they had outlived their usefulness. The galaxy at large wouldn't exactly weep for their race's genocide, but Rima certainly wouldn't celebrate it. It was always a great loss when a race was wiped from the face of the galaxy, even one as barbaric as the Saiyans.
In all likelihood, the girl floating in the tank was the last female of her species left. Rima had heard tell that a handful of males had survived, but zero rumors of any females had reached her ears. If that were true, then the complete extinction of the Saiyan race was all but set in stone. Truly a shame.
Her somewhat dour thoughts were interrupted by the door to the med bay opening with a sharp hiss. She turned her gaze over to the newest occupant, only to widen them as she saw a visibly livid Orishi stalking his way in. The Neijin's face screamed pure rage, a massive vein throbbing on his forehead as he stomped into the room, but that wasn't what was causing Rima so much worry.
That would be the potent aura that was currently leaking off of the captain. Orishi was practically glowing deep blue with the barely-restrained power that was surrounding him. It had gotten to the point that small sparks were beginning to flash around his body, a sign of the thickness of the potent energy that was rapidly filling the room with its presence.
His face twisted even further as he caught sight of the Saiyan floating in her pod. He began stalking toward it, and Rima's internal sensors began screaming warnings at her as even more ki began to leak from the massive man, charging the very air itself.
Rima's eyes darted to the pod Pumm was being kept in, widening with panic as his vitals started spiking once again. Orishi's ki was messing with the electronics keeping him stable and if things continued like this for much longer, he would die.
Not only that, but from what her sensors were telling her, Orishi's ki was leaking through the hull of the ship and given where they currently were, there was a large fuel line running directly beneath the floor. If this continued, he was liable to blow them all up or space them at the very least.
The Visurii turned back to Orishi, a heavy scowl on her face. Clenching her fist, she strode over to where he was standing in front of the Saiyan's pod, and as she reached him, she placed an open hand on his massive back. She winced slightly as her internal reserves strained to keep up with the sudden influx of ki, Orishi's ki, and just barely managed the feat. As the man himself turned around with an outraged look on his face, she placed her other palm to his chest.
There was a small moment, before he rocketed backwards away from her, propelled by the force of his own ki. He slammed into the wall, falling down to the floor just below the dent he had made in the reinforced steel. Rima shuddered as she felt the residual effects of having his potent ki within her for even a moment, before collecting herself.
"That's enough, Orishi!" Rima yelled at him, panting as her energy levels returned to normal from the overfilled state, "Do you want to space everyone on the ship!? Huh!? Because not only were you fucking up all the electronics in the med bay, but you were this close to charging a fuel line! I don't think I need to tell you how bad that would have been!"
Orishi rose slowly, a small dent in the front of his armor the only sign that anything had happened to him at all. Rima tensed as his eyes met hers, lowering her center of gravity to slip into a fighting stance at a moment's notice, despite how futile she knew it would be to fight the monster of a man.
Luckily for her, Orishi gathered himself relatively quickly, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath as he did so. Rima sighed in silent relief as the oppressive ki faded and soon disappeared altogether. He opened his eyes and while Rima could tell he was still more than a little angry, he was once again in control of his own energy.
"Very well. But Rima," He scowled at her as he stood to his full, intimidating height once more, "If you ever do that again, I will tear your head off your shoulders." He promised.
Rima just rolled her eyes, completely unphased even as she gave an internal sigh of relief, "You and I both know that wouldn't do anything but inconvenience me. I'd be back up and better than before within a month."
Orishi just ignored her, returning to standing in front of the Saiyan's pod while Rima stabilized Pumm once again. After a moment of her working in silence, Orishi spoke up once more.
"Why does she still have a tail?" The massive man demanded, anger visible on his face.
Rima sighed, walking over to a nearby console in lieu of answering. A small moment of tapping on the screen later, and a large holographic display emerged from the top of the emitter, "This is why." She gestured at it, and Orishi followed her gaze.
The projector was currently displaying a scan of the Saiyan's internals. Like all Saiyans, she was extremely well muscled despite her seemingly young age, and that made it a bit more difficult to get a complete scan. Luckily, the only part of her they actually needed was her tail.
Rima pressed a few buttons to zoom in on the appendage, highlighting the numerous veins and muscles inside of it.
"Unlike other Saiyans, it seems this particular one has an extremely strong connection to her tail. The number of nerves and veins in the appendage are nearly quadruple what is normal, and that isn't even mentioning how strongly it's connected to her spine. Pulling it out of cutting it off would likely kill her without extensive surgery. Expensive surgery."
Orishi scowled, "We could simply slice it off with ki and cauterize it at the same time while the monkey's asleep." He smiled at the thought.
Rima scowled, hearing the eagerness in his voice at the thought of causing the Saiyan pain. She wasn't the biggest fan of their species either, but causing unnecessary pain simply because you disliked someone's race was a big reason why there weren't many Visurii roaming the galaxy anymore.
Still, "It wouldn't work."
That caused the smile to fade. Orishi turned to her in confusion, "What?"
"It wouldn't work." She repeated, pressing another button and zooming out to show the Saiyan's entire body as she activated a secondary scanner. Immediately, the Saiyan's body lit up a bright blue, of which her tail was the brightest. A number was displayed next to her body 8,013.
Orishi narrowed his eyes at the screen, "What is this?"
"Her ki signature. As you can see, her power level hovers at around eight thousand or so. Not exactly weak, but also nothing that would stop us from cutting off her tail." Rima explained, "However…" She manipulated the scanner, this time focusing on the tail itself. After a moment, a new number popped into place. Orishi scowled.
She could understand his frustration. She had been extremely confused when she had first scanned the girl's tail, believing that her equipment had simply been malfunctioning. Subsequent and repeated scans have proven that to be false. Her readings were completely accurate, and all the more confusing for it.
While her normal power level was slightly below average, her tail was outputting one almost as strong as Rima's own at an astounding 24,039, exactly triple the rest of her body.
"For whatever reason, her tail is outputting ki several times stronger than her own." Rima nodded at the new number, "If we wanted to sever it while causing minimum damage, we'd either need someone who specializes in making their energy as sharp as possible which we don't have, or we'd need to completely drain her of her own ki."
"Which would kill her." Orishi finished, clearly unhappy.
Rima nodded, minimizing the screen once more, "Correct. As of right now, we have no means to cut off her tail without doing irreparable damage at the very least. It will have to stay."
Rima gave a small hum as she brought up the notes she had taken while examining the Saiyan, "Truthfully, that is not the only odd thing about her. If what Davik said was true then she had been stranded on that planet for long enough to not know about the war with Frieza or the fact that Grinn is now under Lord Cooler's perview. That's six years at least. And on a planet like Grinn, where the average power level of the wildlife barely reached the hundreds, she shouldn't have had much of a chance to get stronger."
She pulled up the scans again, comparing them to the scans of Saiyans that were on record in the PTO's database, however few that may be, "Despite that, she is stronger than most recorded members of her race even as young as she is, with only a few stand out individuals being stronger than her. Combine that with the odd coloration of her eyes and tail, as well as the fact that she somehow managed to kill Buri, the signs point to one conclusion."
"She's a Mutant." Orishi snarled, and Rima tensed as his ki began to rise. The mechanisms in her body began shifting, preparing to absorb even more of his potent energy if need be, despite how damaging it was to her internal systems. His earlier episode had already shot two of her ki refiners and damaged another, she wasn't sure the other five would stand up to another assault.
Luckily for her, Orishi managed to calm himself before he got out of hand. He huffed a breath, turning to the floating Saiyan who's face had scrunched uncomfortably, as if she had felt the rising danger, "Of course I'd get a fucking Mutant Saiyan on my ship."
As Rima sighed in silent relief that there wouldn't be another outburst, Orishi stomped his way over to a nearby storage bin. She watched as he opened it, retrieving a shining metal collar before closing it once more. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of it.
"Orishi, that collar is meant for high level-"
"Silence!" Rima's mouth snapped shut as he directed a sharp scowl her way, "If she is indeed a Mutant, then this is more than warranted." He turned back to the healing tank, "Drain it." he commanded
Rima followed the command, hands flying over the console as she activated it's draining procedure, Small hatches opened up on the interior of the tank, allowing the green liquid to rush through it as it emptied while the mask on the Saiyan's face began pumping oxygen into her lungs, preparing her for life outside of the tank.
Mere seconds later, the tank was completely empty. The occupant was curled up on the floor, long hair splayed around her, sopping wet with residual liquid as it laid against the hard floor. The door to the tank opened with a small hiss, allowing fresh oxygen to flow into the tank for the occupant to breathe.
The Saiyan immediately started stirring much to Rima's surprise. Her tail began twitching, wrapping around her waist like Saiyans tended to do. Her face scrunched as her eyes opened slowly, orange pupils remained unfocused as she slowly regained her bearings, letting out a small groan from underneath the mask on her face.
Orishi wasn't willing to let her do so however, and the Neijin strode forward to grab the Saiyan by her long hair, hauling her upwards until they were face to face, ignoring the grunt of pain as he did so.
At the feeling of pain, the Saiyan immediately came back to her senses. Her eyes snapped to Orishi and her pupils dilated at the look in the man's eyes. Rima's own eyes widened as the Saiyan twisted in his grip, throwing a flurry of punches at his face and upper body. Her fists impacted like thunderclaps, slamming into the Neijin's hard skin over and over again as a snarl underlined by mild terror appeared on her face.
It did absolutely to Orishi who was completely stoic in the face of the Saiyan's attacks, merely continuing to stare at her. Seemingly noticing this, the Saiyan's punches sped up even further, her arms becoming mere blurs as the fear disappeared from her expression, replaced instead with pure rage.
Rima's eyes glowed slightly and she quirked a brow in confusion, before turning to her captain, "Her power level just rose to well over sixteen thousand. Likely in response to her distress." She informed him as the girl's futile efforts continued.
He scowled as the attacks against his body began impacting much harder than before, the armor around his chest actually beginning to crack. He stared the feral Saiyan in the eyes for a moment, before slamming his fist forward into her stomach with much more strength than was needed.
Rima's eyes widened in horror at the sound of breaking ribs as the Saiyan let out a loud cry of pain. Her tail unraveled from her waist, lashing about with her distress while just below her breasts, a bruise was already starting to form mere moments after the impact.
"ORISHI!" Rima shouted, absolutely livid at his actions, "You and I both know that her attacks were doing absolutely nothing to you! You are being far too cruel!"
He simply ignored her, staring down at the pained Saiyan in his grip with amused eyes, before raising her slightly. He slammed the collar around her neck, clicking it shut with a loud beep to signify activation, before literally tossing her back into the empty healing tank, letting her fall to the hard metal floor with a slight smile on his face.
The Saiyan immediately curled into a ball, clutching her no doubt shattered ribs as she let out a pitiful whine of agony. Rima scowled at Orishi as the Neijin chuckled before turning to the Visurii.
"Refill the tank. Don't give her any anesthesia, the ape doesn't deserve it." He commanded and Rima immediately began tapping on the controls to the tank once more, activating the standard healing process.
"I am going to inform Lord Cooler of this development." Orishi said as he began to make his way from the med bay. Just as he reached the door, he turned back to Rima, purple eyes narrowed, "You will let me know the moment the ape is awake. Am I understood?"
Rima just nodded, not looking his way as she kept her eyes on the Saiyan in the tank, her body slowly rising with the liquid filling it. The doors hissed shut upon the captain's departure, and Rima immediately disobeyed his orders, pumping a healthy dose of anesthesia as well as sedatives into the mask on the girl's face.
She pressed a few more buttons on the console, making sure that everything was going well and was happy to see the Saiyan's heartbeat returning to a healthy BPM as she was forcefully calmed by the cocktail of drugs entering her systems. Rima turned her gaze back to the tank.
Confused and pained orange eyes stared out at her from a film of green liquid, and it was then that the Visurii realized just how young the Saiyan looked. Their species had always matured rather fast after their twelfth year or so, and yet the small pudge of baby fat and soft rounded edge to the girl's features hadn't yet disappeared. She was still practically a child.
The eyes staring into her own slowly closed as the Saiyan faded away into blissful unconsciousness, and Rima frowned. It was truly unfortunate that she was so young, because that was going to do nothing but make her life harder. In the coming months, the girl would likely wish she had died with the rest of her race. Her age would matter to exactly two of the people on the ship and one of them was Rima herself. She was in for an extremely rough time.
Maybe she would be fortunate enough to catch a stray shot on her first real mission but truthfully, Rima wasn't holding out much hope.
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