8282. Just 8282. No listed name. The doctor hadn't given her name to whoever had processed her. Technically it was optional, if you survived refusing whomever asked, but not many people bothered with that kind of defiance. Everyone had so little left already that depriving themselves of that last small dignity was blasphemous. People here had already been stripped of everything. Intriguing.
I took away the carving knife I had to the woman's neck, tucking it back into a sheathe just under my right shoulder and making sure it was secured in place.
I'd have protected 8282 just to have an extra pair of hands in the kitchen that understood the necessity of proper cleanliness and following instructions. Half this fucking ship can't even wash their damn hands. Sometimes including the only one I have to tolerate. The clever shit knew I wouldn't eat anything she smeared blood on. That's why I had to stop making food for both of us at the same time.
It shouldn't even be too hard. If it was the doctor, people would hesitate to kill her either because they wanted in her pants or because they didn't want to piss off whomever was. That was shield enough to put her over common fodder, and I could trust her not to poison my dishes when I wasn't looking. She's been here too long for that. The threats were because I could tell she was the type to keep her cards close to her generous chest, and while I respected that in my enemies I would always make sure they end up firmly on the table if I can, especially if someone was now a subordinate of mine.
So technical skills, medical expertise I could direct at observing Apara, and blackmail? That was just a nice cherry on top of things. I would be more than happy to perpetuate an agreement. It was just one thing…
This woman's energy. The reflection of her being was violent and dark. If I didn't know better I'd say she'd been outside with us stomping locals heads in. She was motivated by survival but it wasn't her goal, and she wanted something badly. I could feel it just under the desperation, I sensed a hunger, an ambition maybe?
Not something I wanted pointed at me.
Of course I was no one to judge, but having someone like that just playing around with my things and acting as my primary physician while she was at it was risky. I'd need more time to get into her head and see what her tick before I decided to make her safety one of my priorities.
I'll take the nameless woman under my wing for now, however-
"Apara and I have work to do today. We're gonna have to go. Feel free to tell people I'm looking after you now, but we'll need to have a talk after this.
"Oh?" She asked, lips curling into a smile now that she was back in control of her situation, or as in control as she'd ever been. She was beautiful.
"I'd like to have a meal with you. Just so we both understand the nature of this relationship of ours. My treat." The nameless woman smiled at my jest, nodding at me.
"It'd be my pleasure." I could all but taste the calculation under the coiled mess of the woman's ki. Every thread of energy interwoven into her being was still in a way I didn't see in civilians. Usually there was movement of some kind, even among the untrained. A natural sort of reaction like a heartbeat or taking a breath. If you wanted to consider it from a more abstract perspective you could also consider energy movements as the flickers of an open flame or waves in the ocean. A natural process as much of a part of your ki as your ki itself. While you might be able to stop it or change it, there would always come a time when it reverted back to it's natural state.
Her natural state felt like a carnivorous plant. Suppressed movement all primed for one explosive action. It made me curious. So I'll do a song and dance she's comfortable with.
I turned, letting my eyes fall over a hint of cleavage as I walked out of the door, Apara was already down the hall and around the corner by the time I started moving. I paid close attention to the satisfaction in the doctor's ki at the glance I had sent her, taking note. She felt safe behind that wall of seduction. It protected…Whatever that ambition was.
Ah, so that was my in. My ki curled lightly at the thought.
The chaos I saw outside had worsened in the time it took me to get back outside. When I tapped my scouter again it practically exploded with calls for reinforcements on the channel used for crew-wide communication. When I switched to the communication channel we used for ship-to-ship contact it was the same. Whatever was happening here was happening everywhere. The battles I could see and feel were desperate, and if it weren't for commanders running interference we'd already be in deep shit.
As it was, that shit seemed to be bubbling up regardless. Was this all my fault? Or was I just in the wrong place at the right time? What started this, and why wasn't it waiting for us when we landed?
"Hey Apara." I flicked the little girl on the back of the head.
"Yeah?" The pinched look on the little girls face gave me a laugh. She was anticipating a complex set of orders, or a plan to ruin her time in her new playground.
"Just stay close." She was gone before I had to see the grin on her face. Whether her definition of close matched my own in this situation was a mystery. I had a guess though she'd listen though. In seconds she had collided with a warrior desperately holding off two box shaped robots as they tried to stick spinning fingers into his eye. The Albino looked around in confusion before finally glancing below at the trail of destruction Apara had left in her wake. When he looked at me I shrugged, before flying off. I dodged a number of robotic limbs as they attempted to intercept me, accelerating to a pace I knew they couldn't match, if one I couldn't maintain for long. They had enough prey to choose from.
I tapped my finger again, switching to Squad communications. Politics. Politics. Politics.
"-ELP! HELP! I need reinforcements on my location! Broadcasting 642…" I turned down the volume at the sound of Forian's voice. He had a big mouth, and after our first encounter as I was leaving the ship I figured the Spaklan could sink or swim for a while.
"Reinforcements requested on my location. I'm engaging a gaggle of defenders and one of those robots showed up, Feathers has taken a few hits. Looking a bit dicey." Grennec sounded winded, but otherwise like he was managing.
Belk didn't respond, and from what I could sense it seemed like he had his hands full. He was only fighting 2 defenders at the moment, but they were both around over 1000 battlepower, and the damage he was taking told me they had some robots with them. Normally Belk was our reinforcements, and if it wasn't him it was a commander who had the time. That or teammates who liked you.
In fact every battle power exceeding 800 was being attacked, and not all of them by enemies I could sense. Interesting.
Aside from myself no one seemed to have the time today.
I cleared my throat, getting on the channel.
"Dennis here, I'll be on your location in about 2 minutes." I was already cutting through the skies at my top speed. It wouldn't be too difficult to get there.
The sub sector Grennec had pinged was more trash heap than cityscape at this point. A mountain composed entirely of what was once titanic city buildings. Habitations capable of housing hundreds of thousands of people individually, now a shattered heap of stone, rotting corpses and blood left in the open air for far too long. We had cut hundreds of holes through the rubble, each leading down into the deepest reaches of the ecumenopolis. Now I could see mechanical hands pulling themselves outward, the metal beasts joined by a renewed wave of the planets inhabitants, each of them wearing Galactic Patrol uniforms.
I landed with a crunch, my boot meeting the skull of a little green man as he readied a blaster from his position in a hole in the ground.
The body spasmed and twitch as I ground by foot, and I threw a bit of fire down another hole. The robots would be fine, but space that enclosed shouldn't have too much air to go around, and it wouldn't take much energy to make it an attractive place to move through.
My target was at the top of a small mound of rebar and metal. A figure struggling with several others. The Naldinnian was crushing the skull of one of the locals, a spotted yellow humanoid with the head of a cat. Robots were trying to pry him off his quarry, one pulling at his arms and another trying to force his head back and away. Grennec was a scary example of his species. Like most of his people he stood on two hooves, had little hair on his body, and sported a set of pointed teeth that were currently stretched into a rictus grin. Blood poured down his right side, a bone sticking out of his forearm. His energy told me he was a spiteful loser, and while he knew he might not survive the robots, he wanted real blood staining his hands one more time before he died.
He sported almost as many scars as I did, and from what I could tell he had them before he joined up. As his opponent jerked still with a snap, Grennec looked over to me, smiling past the blood bubbling to his lips.
"Dennis! And here I thought you'd be somewhere below. We've lost comms with most of the boys down there. Ain't looking good on that end." His voice was strained with the effort of remaining upright, his wounded arm losing its strength now that its task was done.
I backhanded one of the robots off of him, sending the metal combatant flying with a particularly heavy blow. As it stood the machine left me frowning at the dent I made on its body. It was marked with yellow paint, the symbol of the Galactic Patrol on it's 'shoulder'.. The concave in its chest was about the size of a basketball, yet it didn't seem like I had done anything but cosmetic damage to it. Somewhat weaker than the one I first fought, but still distressingly durable.
What made it different I wonder? That paint job probably meant something about it's design, but did it have to do with combat or something else? I decided to let it go for now as I answered my squadmate.
"Well they can see in the dark, and with how many they have pouring through here and everywhere else I don't think we have anyone left that deep." Grennec growled at my words, before forcing his fingers into the blinking lights that made up his opponents "face".
"Like on Herridan? Maybe I should invest in a light. A big fucking light I'll just put behind me whenever I go somewhere dark." I huffed at the joke, feeling the relief in the Naldinnian's ki and watching as fire erupted from my own adversaries legs. I poured energy into my arms and sword in response, waiting for a beat as the robot rocketed forth, its arms stretched out on either side to catch me if I attempted to leap to the right or left. Instead I let myself fall back, keeping the blade in the air as I did. Its own momentum did the work for me, however many hundreds of miles an hour the thing could go, it wasn't all that agile.
With a sound not unlike nails on chalkboard, two halves of a machine split open, spilling black coolant and rubber tubing in every direction, an interesting reflection of the idea of 'robotic gore'.
After a moment of listening to the battlefield and watching the energy of those around me, I stood, cracking my neck. Just under four hundred warriors were more or less holding their ground, either in the sky or on the ground. It was a tenuous balance, and we were on the backfoot. But not by as much as I imagine the defenders would like. I could be a help here. I had a few ideas, but should I?
I was technically being tested on my combat utility. I think. But having a few people who could vouch for me probably wouldn't hurt. Relying on the goodwill of crewmembers was usually a quick way to die, however I think I can appeal to the "moral" side of their being if I try.
When I looked back over to him Gerrick was hammering his still working arm into a slowly crumbly machine on the ground, occasionally brushing away the limbs trying to get at his throat. It took him over a minute of almost uselessly bashing away at it's chassis before it started to waver and die.
When he was finished the alien started to stand, turning towards me before my hand landed on his shoulder, keeping him on his knees. I tightened my grip at the realization in his eyes, before I leaned in.
"Go save Forian if he's still alive, collect Feathers of Black and meet up with Belk. I'm recommending a retreat from this location. If you stick around I can't guarantee you'll be safe from what happens next. Got it?" My energy flared, and I felt Apara began to approach my direction from her own position just a few miles south of us. Her response was three flares, telling me she was bringing her opponent with her. I clenched my teeth. That was supposed to be for if she needed help, and I could tell it wasn't.
I saw Grennec thinking past his own gasping breaths, the alien nodding at me as he stood, cradling his arm and taking to the air. When he was gone I started to gather energy in my hands, taking the time to charge an attack. A ki blast of moderate power I was concentrating on shaping into a moderate drilling motion. Like a lot of things in the physical world, ki was more effective if it was shaped in a manner more ideal for piercing attacks, if you were focused on one opponent anyway.
It took the saiyan girl around two minutes to arrive, Apara desperately keeping a grip on a one armed robot's remaining limb, sending shattering kicks into its already severely dented body. I unleashed the built up energy in her direction, forcing the girl to let go of the machine with a frustrated yell.
"I was using that!" She screamed, trying to point a finger at me in accusation. It didn't work since most of the digits on her right hand were pointing in different directions. I stepped towards her, taking the hand in my own despite her protests. As I forced her bones into the right places I spoke.
"They're everywhere and you're fast enough they won't follow you with everyone fighting around them. I don't need you wasting time because you want to fight small fry. If I call you that means I need something. And what usually happens if I need something?"
"A bigger fight?" She answered, and I nodded my head deciding to use a teacher's tone as I lectured the girl. She thought it was annoying and that meant she'd actually take the time to hear what I was saying. I waved a finger at her.
"A bigger fight. So listen next time." I took a few seconds to pop her last finger back into place before continuing. "-How about you go find out what day it is up there?" I pointed to the sky above us, the view above the city was at all times a starless, black, cloudy night made all the worse by all the artificial light below.
"Really?" She asked, apprehensive. She was excited by the idea of it but she also knew she couldn't control what I was suggesting. We had spoken of the times she had transformed on her original purge world. From what she's told me in the past it was always painful, always difficult to remember, and always impossible to control.
We were both aware of the fact that Elite members of her species could do it, but I had no insight on how, and right now that was of no concern to me. I didn't need control, I needed an example of destruction, and a distraction.
"Yeah, go show everyone what you're really made of, just make sure you'll land here." Apara smirked, lifting off into the sky and dodging a few attacks while she did it. She made no effort of subtlety, screaming and yelling and cursing as she blasted off in the direction of the sky, throwing energy blasts in every direction she could see robots in, and a few she couldn't. My first instinct at the idea of Apara actually utilizing that facet of her racial technique was to flee, I could dip down one of those holes and be all but undetectable while things blew over, but I wouldn't. I couldn't.
With a desperate speed I always found myself calling upon in times of fear, I was moving. I reached down to the robot Grennec had destroyed, cutting open one of its arms and covering my hand in the coolant. Like the first time I had encountered one of these things, it was cold. Cold enough to be dangerous to me if I drew my strength back to human levels. Hypothermia's symptoms included excessive shivering, slowed breathing, mumbled speech, confusion, drowsiness and weak pulse. I had gotten damned familiar with that feeling on my first purge.
I splashed more of the liquid on my face, before covering my arms, chest and legs. I wouldn't stop until not even an inch of me was unexposed to that same oily liquid. For this to work I needed to be a fly on the wall. Unseen, and all but unnoticed.
I looked around, before lifting off into the sky myself, following Apara's path. Thankfully between all the fighting going on the only attacks I had to dodge were strays. No machines followed me as I ascended. Most were already following Apara if they weren't distracted by their own battles.
I tapped my scouter, signed on to the general channel, and switched my message to a priority one. Everyone would hear it, and usually if you used it and weren't a commander one of them would kill you. Exceptions were made for information important enough to change the course of a battle.
"This is 4561 Dennis of the Diligent Frost speaking. Me and Apara will be covering 11-D. Anyone still here in the next minute or so can expect friendly fire." My tone was measured and arrogant. I expect most won't listen, but they can't say they weren't warned.
I crushed my scouter in my hands before anyone could respond, hitting the clouds at the same moment. This close I could smell the chemicals they allowed into the air, and from my position I could tell the locals probably didn't drink rainwater if there was any kind of alternative. I focused inward, bringing my energy to the absolute lowest I could while still maintaining flight. I managed it just in time for Apara to break through to the top, closing my eyes and focusing on her energy and her energy alone for the first time since I'd met her. I didn't need to learn anything else from anyone else on this battlefield. I needed to know the truth of what she was capable of.
There was no better view to a hurricane than the eye of the storm.
Apara's energy inverted upon itself, mixing with something I couldn't actually sense but could feel in the movement of her ki. Like feeling something in your teeth, it wasn't the object itself you noticed, but the space it was creating between them. That must be whatever energy the moon provided. That had to be why it was a necessary part for the process to happen.
The Saiyan's ki froze for the briefest moment. I could feel fear, shame, and doubt all come to surface. Every insecurity and every dark thought that ever crossed Apara's mind had to have come rushing back, but instead of feeding into itself or making her feel sad or alone, Anger rose up to meet it. A grand escape from reason or rational thought, it washed over every feeling and every structured idea and began to replace it with violence.
Her energy once again inverted on itself, like a balloon turning inside out, just like when she was healing and her power would boost, but this time it was on a grander scale than anything I had seen before. This time I could see every step of the process. Inversion, a twist in the right direction, then expansion. There was a few differences, but it was remarkable similar.
It was like a key unlocking an aquarium door. Whatever happened didn't create most of the power now flooding into my protege. It unlocked what was already there. A flood of strength unlike any I had seen in person. The greatest individual power level I'd ever sensed up until this point, just suddenly there at the drop of a hat. All triggered by a single movement of energy and something else coming together. All focused on the place where her tail met her spine.
Something fell through the sky past my position, crashing into the planet below with the same feral ferocity I had long since become accustomed to. People screamed and machines converged on her position. A city quaked with titanic steps and apocalyptic rage. An evergrowing roar shook the sky, and an advanced world in the throes of a war for its very survival felt the most primal sort of fear.
The Oozaru had arrived.