Here we are at last, Chapter 8. It took me a while to get this up, even though it's been written for a while. Apologies.
Chapter 8: The Devastation Complex!
Lomar moved to the elevator, intending to head back up, only for the elevator to open, revealing Warden Arcturus. He stepped off of it, accompanied by a couple squads of guards. "Lomar," he said. "Warden," Lomar responded. "You have the prisoners here?" Arcturus asked. Lomar nodded. "Yes. How shall we proceed?"
"How many shock chambers do we have available?" Arcturus asked. "Seven," Lomar answered. "That seems low," Arcturus responded, seeming somewhat surprised. "Several are undergoing repairs, and three are occupied," Lomar said. "Ah. I was not aware of that," Arcturus replied. "Then what would you have me do?" Lomar asked. "Put as many as you can in the shock chambers, and do as you wish with the rest," Arcturus responded.
"Yes sir. Any special requests or orders?" Lomar said. "Yes, actually. The one called Cornalia is to be exempt. Force him to watch or whatever, I don't care," Arcturus responded. "Why is that, sir?" Lomar asked. "Because the Emperor has taken an interest in him- extended an offer to join us. He instructed me to give a transceiver with a direct line to him to the prisoner in question," Arcturus answered. "Ah. I see. You don't want the device to be damaged," Lomar replied. "Exactly," Arcturus said. "I will come with you for now."
Lomar nodded. "Yes sir. We should be on our way, then," he said. "Lead the way," Arcturus responded. Lomar nodded, turning around and leading them into the complex. They soon arrived outside of the holding cell where the prisoners in question were being kept.
"So… This is where you put them?" Arcturus asked. "Yes. It was a temporary measure whilst I awaited your orders," Lomar responded. "Interesting…you seemed to have roughed them up pretty good," Arcturus said. Lomar nodded, and went to say something else, only to be cut off by Cornalia spitting more venom. "Arcturus! Of course, it had to be your pathetic lapdog that came to stop us. Too scared to do it yourself?" he said. "No. I just have more important things to do," Arcturus responded, internally panicking. "Has he really seen through my confident façade?" he thought, trying to contain his fears.
Lomar interrupted, speaking up again. "Quiet, prisoner!" he said, before turning to the lead guard. "Take those two to the shock chambers," he said, pointing to Spinak and Zora. The guards nodded and opened the cell, dragging the two of them out. "You need to get your hands off of me…" Zora grumbled. The guard didn't budge, and just slammed the butt of his rifle into her side, stopping her taunting and grumbling. Spinak grimaced, but knew that there was nothing he could do with Lomar standing right there.
But even ignoring that, they'd put those sealer cuffs on them again and were preparing to move them. "Move out!" Lomar ordered. The soldiers nodded and escorted the two of them down a nearby hallway. He then pointed out Rayna, Rutaba, and Kallot.
"Take the three of them over there to the interrogation rigs," he said, gesturing to several sets of chains hanging from the ceiling across the hall from the holding cell. The guards complied and did so, taking the three over and locked their wrists in the shackles.
"You can raise their feet off the ground," Lomar said, before turning back towards the cell. The guard complied and pressed a button on a nearby panel, which left them dangling about four feet off the ground.
The cell was now mostly empty, containing Pyrus, Parsel, Cornalia, Beet and Bean, who simply glared at Arcturus and Lomar, who stood silently. He then pointed out Parsel, Beet and Bean. "Take those three to the shock chambers as well," he said, sending more guards into the cell. They brought the indicated prisoners out and took them down the same hallway that Spinak and Zora had been taken down. "What about the other two?" the lead guard asked. "Put them in the interrogation rigs. I think we'll have a rotation," he said.
Arcturus looked pleased at this arrangement as the guards took Cornalia and Pyrus and put them next to their friends, also hanging four feet off the ground. "I'll leave you to it," Arcturus said, leaving with one of the squads he'd brought. Lomar only needed him to leave one, since he'd already had some men with him. He had more than enough to assist him in keeping them from escaping, as well as the torture/punishment and the interrogation.
Any useful information was going to be gotten out of them by any means necessary. Up to and including torture in the shock chambers, the chosen method. They had several others, but the warden had picked that one specifically. It was his favorite, apparently- in some sick appreciation for the torture itself.
He then pressed a button on his scouter, contacting the tech in charge of the shock chambers. "You may activate the chambers now," he said. "Yes sir," the tech responded. "Just to clarify, you had prisoners put in pods one through five?" he asked. "That is correct," Lomar said. "Understood. Intensity?" the tech asked. "Set it to five percent for now. I will be there to interrogate them in a few minutes," Lomar replied. "Yes sir," the tech said. "Anything else?" he asked. "No." Lomar answered. "See you soon, then," the tech said, cutting the transmission. Gaining an evil grin, Lomar turned to face the group he had in the chain racks. "You five seem like the ones who masterminded the plan," he said to no response. "More specifically, you, you, and you," he said, pointing out Rayna, Rutaba, and Cornalia.
This time, his words elicited a shocked reaction, effectively giving him confirmation that his theory was correct. "That's not much of a way to hide any information you might have, you know," he said, again to a non-reaction. He walked over to Rayna, who was in the first rack. "You had the keycard, so clearly you were the one who was snooping in our computer system," he said. "What did you get off of it?" he asked. "I'm not saying anything," she said.
Lomar rolled his eyes and drew back his fist, striking her in the stomach. "Still not saying a word," she said, sounding pained this time. "Fine. Do it the hard way," Lomar said, drawing his fist back yet again. "I won't say a word!" she vowed, causing Lomar to let out a sigh.
He followed that up with another punch to her stomach. "Not…telling you…shit…." she muttered. "You've annoyed me!" he said, smacking her across the face, hard, eliciting a groan of pain. Rutaba was incensed at that, seeing his sister with a black eye as a result. Leave her alone!" he shouted, getting Lomar's attention. Perhaps you'd like to tell me something?" he said. "We got a floorplan of this place off that computer. But it doesn't help us now, does it?" Rutaba spat. Lomar walked over and got right in his face. "You'd better not be lying to me," he said. "I'm not," Rutaba said. "What would that get me?" Lomar chuckled. "Perhaps you have another goal, then?" he asked, condescendingly. "I have no ulterior motives," Rutaba replied. "I want you to stop hitting my sister."
Lomar glanced to Rayna and then back to Rutaba. "Oh. So the two of you are siblings? I can see the resemblance…" he said, trailing off a bit at the end. "Then it's only fair to rough you up a bit," he added, drawing back his fist. Rutaba braced himself as Lomar punched him across the face, leaving him with a bruised cheek. "Now. Tell me, do you have outside help coming?" the Arcadian asked. Rutaba shook his head. "No idea," he said.
Annoyed, Lomar rolled his eyes and punched him again, this time harder. Rutaba chuckled, seemingly ignoring the pain. "What's so funny?!" Lomar demanded. "You. I have no useful information apart from what I gave you. Yet you keep pretending I do, so you can keep bullying me," he said.
This served only to anger Lomar more, and he viciously kneed Rutaba in the stomach. "Is it funny now?" Lomar asked, getting in his face. "Yeah…" Rutaba answered, despite being in intense pain. Lomar just smacked him across the face yet again. "You infuriate me…" he grumbled, before walking over to Kallot. "Since your friends won't spill, give me some information," he said. "Like what?" Kallot asked.
"Same thing I asked your friend. Any useful information, starting with if you have any help coming," Lomar asked. "Honestly, I have no idea. I wasn't involved in the planning, and the only person who'd want to come save us is dead for all we know," Kallot said- only part of that being a lie. And Lomar had no idea which was which- that brought Kallot a bit of amusement.
Lomar considered that for a moment. "You seem to be telling the truth. Now tell me, what else did you get off that computer," he asked. "No idea," Kallot said. This angered Lomar, who promptly popped him in the face. "I'm going to kill all of them…" he grumbled to himself. "What's the matter? No more to say?" Kallot taunted.
Lomar yelled out something unintelligible and struck him again, followed by a knee to the stomach. "I'll teach you idiots to defy me!" he said. Cornalia laughed outright when he said that, catching his attention. "Oh, now you're laughing too? What's this hilarious joke that you all think is so great?" Lomar demanded. "You," Cornalia said.
Lomar marched over to him and demanded to know what he meant. "Me? Really? I don't follow," he said. "You're nothing but a pathetic bully who thinks he's tough 'cause he's an Arcadian. And he's got backup. But really, when has backup ever saved any of you types from an ass whooping?" Cornalia responded, delivering a verbal uppercut.
For once, Lomar was shocked into silence. Someone had the gall to talk smack to him whilst chained up. He could now see why the emperor had taken an interest. This one had moxie. "Oh, really? If you're so great, then why are you locked up?" Lomar shot back. Cornalia laughed again. "Let me down, and we'll see who's tougher," he said.
Lomar's anger returned in full force, and he struck Cornalia across the face, before striking his body several times in quick succession. "Shut up, Saiyan filth!" he spat, finishing with a knee to the stomach. "You're…the…only filth…here…" Cornalia said, spitting up a little blood. Lomar gave him an angry glare and walked away, marching down the hallway to the shock chamber room, where the other captured warriors were imprisoned in the cramped pods.
In each one, the prisoner's wrists and ankles were shackled to prevent them from moving. "Ah, there you are, sir," the tech said.
"Have they been receptive to the questions?" Lomar asked, his composure regained. "No. I've had to shock them a few times. They seem to be either very defiant, or they know nothing of use," the tech answered. Zora noticed him and glared through the window on the pod. This caught his attention, and Lomar walked over to check it.
"Open Pod 2. I will begin my interrogation with this one," he said. The tech nodded and pressed a button on the control panel, causing the pod doors to open, revealing the shackled Zora. "Get out of my face," she demanded. "You aren't in a place to make demands," he replied.
"Yeah, but I don't know anything about what they got off the computer," she said. "How did you…?" Lomar asked, surprised. "Please, it's obvious. That's the only thing we've done that would get your attention," she said. Lomar sighed. "Then tell me this: do you have any outside help on the way?" he asked. "No idea. You probably don't know this, asshole, but the one person who would've come saved us fought your boss and probably died," she said. "You miscreants are infuriating!" he snarled, taking a step back. "Close this one and open Pod 1," he said. The tech nodded and did so, closing Zora's pod and opening Spinak's pod.
"So. Tell me, Saiyan. Do you have any outside help coming?" he asked. "No freaking idea, jackass," Spinak said, further angering Lomar. "Why must you morons constantly give me that answer?" he demanded. "Well, let's see. My brother, who's the only person who'd care that's crazy enough to head here, is probably dead after he fought your precious emperor. So that's a start. And I guess, well, you know, attacking this place is probably a suicide mission," Spinak said, his voice practically dripping with a venomous sarcasm.
"I'm starting to think that this is an excuse, regardless of its truth or falseness," Lomar said. "It's not," Spinak responded. Lomar turned away and ordered the tech to close the pod, which he did. "Sir, do you want to open another?" he asked. "No. Clearly, they're all going to give me that same bullshit that I refuse to believe," Lomar said. "They must have allies.. Galactic Alliance, maybe?" he speculated. "Anything else?" the tech asked. "No. Resume shocking them. Eventually maybe they'll tire and give up the information we want," Lomar said.
The tech nodded and resumed the electric torture as Lomar left the room to set up a regular schedule for the interrogation. They were going to be here for a while- three or four days, minimum. Quite possibly longer unless they decided to spill soon. Not having confirmation that they had no outside help on the way was eating away at him- he hated the uncertainty. He walked over to the main office, where he began setting up the schedule for the regular torture/interrogation with the head technician there.
Deep Space….
Elsewhere, Kalrot's ship rocketed through space, getting ever closer to the Arcturus system. "We need more fuel again," Commodus observed, noticing that their fuel gauge was getting low. "I see that," Kalrot said. "Are there any inhabited worlds nearby that we could stop on?" he asked. "Let's check," Commodus responded, checking the map. "We're close to Arbol," he said. "How far?" Kalrot asked. "Not far. A couple parsecs from here," Commodus said. "Then let's head there," Kalrot said. "Right. Changing course. Do you want to take me and Aria again?" Commodus asked. "I'm not sure. I'd like to get to know your teammates better," Kalrot responded.
Commodus nodded. "Ah, yes. That might be wise. I'd advise taking Gradius if you want someone level-headed. Take Aldous if you want the joker, and you could take Tala if you want someone tactical. She's pretty much our tactician, and the most mature of them. It continues to elude me as to why she'd date someone like Magnus," he said.
"I see where you're coming from on those descriptions," Kalrot replied, laughing. Commodus nodded. "You've been around them enough lately to see my side," he said. Shortly afterwards, they arrived in orbit around Arbol, preparing to land there. "You think we'll be able to get some fuel here?" Kalrot asked. "I hope so, or we won't have enough to get there," Commodus said. "Let's hope we can get some then," Kalrot said, steering the ship down towards the planet as they prepared to descend.
"There's not much food left, either…" Kalrot thought to himself. After a few moments, Magnus walked onto the bridge. "Are we stopping for fuel again?" he asked. "Yeah," Kalrot answered. "Where are we landing this time?" he asked. "Arbol," Kalrot said. "I've never been here before," Magnus said. "This place is part of the Alliance, so we should be able to get fuel, and restock our kitchen," Kalrot said. "We're low on food?" Magnus asked. "Yep. We've been traveling for two days straight with only one stop," Kalrot responded. "Smart. We need food to survive," Magnus said, stating the obvious. "Yep," Kalrot said. "Now I know why Aria gets annoyed by him all the time…he does stuff like this," he thought.
"So, what about our trip? How close are we?" he asked. "Still about three days," Commodus said. "So we can't spend too much time here," Magnus observed. "Yeah," Kalrot said. "Alright, well, I'll go back and sit down," he said, leaving the bridge. "Does he always say obvious things like that?" Kalrot asked. "Yes. That's one reason that he gets on Aria's nerves," Commodus responded. Kalrot nodded at that, and said nothing, going back to flying.
"Out of curiosity, does your ship have a name?" Commodus asked. "Yeah. We call it the Quasar," Kalrot said. "Was that something you came up with?" Commodus asked. "Yeah. It had a different name when we bought it, but that was decommissioned when they released it to us," Kalrot said. "What was it called before that?" Commodus asked. "It was called the GAS Lightyear," Kalrot said. "Huh. Did it see a lot of action?" he asked. "I don't know. We didn't serve on it- we were on a different frigate- the GAS Photon," Kalrot responded.
"Why didn't you buy that one?" Commodus asked. "The Photon was newer, more expensive. They wanted to hold onto it for a while longer," Kalrot said. "Makes sense," Commodus replied. "Yeah. We didn't for a lack of trying. They just wouldn't sell it. I even offered them more," Kalrot said. "Well, it seems like you got a decent ship even without getting the one you wanted," Commodus answered.
Kalrot nodded and focused back on flying, as they were now starting to run dangerously low on fuel. "We need to be extremely careful about this landing," Kalrot said. "What do you mean?" Commodus asked. "Check the fuel gauge," Kalrot replied. Commodus looked up at the gauge, and immediately gained a shocked expression. "I see what you mean now," he said, gulping nervously. "Yeah. Fuel's running really low. We have enough to land, but it might be a bit rough," Kalrot responded.
"Seems like we've got to land without crashing into a fiery death," Commodus said. Kalrot nodded as they headed down through the atmosphere, noticing a city in the distance. "Looks like a city up ahead," Commodus observed. "I see it. Let's set down there," Kalrot responded. His co-pilot nodded, and they headed off towards the city, arriving a few minutes later as the ship sat down. "Alright. Time to disembark," Kalrot said, standing up and stretching. "Yep. This is a needed break from flying for days," Commodus replied. "Yeah. Let's go down and meet with the others. We'll discuss who's gonna go into town with me," Kalrot said.
Commodus nodded. "Maybe we should all go. We have been stuck in the ship for three days," he said. "That's not that bad of an idea. This place doesn't seem too rough," Kalrot responded. "Right. So we're headed down?" Commodus asked. "Yeah. They should be in the common area, right?" Kalrot responded. Commodus nodded. "Last I checked," he said. "Then let's go," Kalrot said, walking over to the elevator. Commodus nodded and followed him.
A few minutes later, they stood in the common area, where yet another argument was ensuing. "You cheated!" Aria asserted, slamming the cards in her hand onto the table. "I did not!" Magnus responded. "There is no possible way for you to have gotten that good of a hand that quickly!" Aria said. "No, on that last turn, I recycled my hand and got a new one. It's not my fault that you weren't paying attention!" Magnus replied. "Can you guys just- " Tala began, looking exasperated, only to be cut off. "STAY OUT OF IT!" they both shouted. She rolled her eyes and grumbled to herself. "Why do I even try…?" she thought.
Kalrot stood in the doorway, watching it with amusement as Commodus facepalmed. Gradius and Aldous sat across from them, each holding some cards as well. The Namekian looked as if he was staring off into space, trying to ignore the fight ensuing. Aldous, on the other hand, was invested in watching the drama.
"How often does this happen?" Kalrot asked. "Too much…" Commodus replied. "Alright, I guess I'll break it up," Kalrot said, walking over. "HEY, IDIOTS!" he called, getting their attention. "Who are you calling idiots?!" Aria demanded. "The ones arguing over a card game!" he responded, not backing down. Aria slunk back a bit. "That seems…really childish…." she admitted.
"I agree…" Magnus said, staring down at the table. Tala shot Kalrot a 'thank you' look, grateful for the assistance. "Now. Let's go over the plan here," Kalrot said. "What are we doing?" Tala asked. "We're getting some fuel. And possibly some other supplies, since our food reserves are running low," he answered. "And can we all go?" Aria asked. Kalrot nodded. "That was the plan. I know everyone's tired, having been cooped up here for days, so we're going to head into the city here," he said.
"Good," Aria replied. "I really need to punch something." Kalrot chuckled at that last part. "When we get to our destination, there will be a lot of that," he said. "I look forward to it," Aria responded. "Does anyone else have something to add?" Kalrot asked, getting no response. "Alright, then let's go," he said. With that, everyone stopped what they were doing and followed Kalrot down to the hangar, where he promptly dropped the boarding ramp. Upon exiting the ship, they were met by a pair of Alliance soldiers, in full armor. The first had his hand on his sidearm as they approached. "State your business!" he said. "I need to refuel my ship," Kalrot replied.
"Check his credentials," he said, gesturing to his partner, who walked over. "Credentials, please," she said. Kalrot nodded and produced his data pad, showing them. "Class III mercenary license…those don't get given out much…license to own a decommissioned Alliance vessel…crew registration…looks all clear," she responded, after a quick glance.
"According to your crew registration, you should have a larger crew than this," the guard said. "Yeah, long story. My crew got captured by the Arcadians, I didn't. These guys are helping me out," Kalrot responded. "Oh. So you must have been on Logamor," the soldier said. Kalrot nodded. "Yeah. We'd have been fine, but their emperor showed up. I fought him but lost. Guess he thought I was dead- because he just left afterward," Kalrot responded. "Consider yourself lucky. I've heard stories about that guy," the soldier said.
"Yeah. I don't want to run into him again anytime soon," Kalrot replied. "Do you know where they took your friends? We found it odd that they attacked Logamor and then pulled out," the soldier said. "Yeah. I think they took them to Arcturus Spire," Kalrot said. "That's unfortunate. Attacking that place is a suicide mission," the soldier said.
"Not for me it's not. I refuse to let them keep my crew there any longer than they already have," Kalrot answered. "Then I wish you luck. Head into the city. There's a fuel depot not far in," the soldier said. Kalrot nodded. "Thanks. I'll be back," he said.
The soldier nodded, stepping aside to allow Kalrot and Comet Squadron to pass. They approached the city not long after, which was a large and bustling metropolis. "Well, I guess we're heading to the fuel depot," Kalrot said. "Yeah. Why don't we see about buying some food as well?" Commodus asked. "I forgot about that. Then we'll split into two teams. We can cover more ground that way," Kalrot said. "Right. Then what will those be?" Commodus asked. "After that display on the ship, I think that Aria and Magnus need some time apart," Kalrot responded. "I most definitely agree with that assessment," Commodus said to the chagrin of his friends.
"Here's how we'll do it. Aria and Gradius will come with me. You take Magnus, Tala, and Aldous and go find the food," Kalrot said. "Have it delivered to the ship?" Commodus asked. Kalrot nodded. "Yeah. If they can take it there, we can load it," he said. "Right. Then what about paying for it?" Commodus asked. "Take this," Kalrot said, handing him a bag of credit chips. "That should be enough."
Commodus nodded and took the bag, dropping it in his pocket. "Let's go guys," he said, turning to leave. His designated teammates turned and followed him as they split up to accomplish their goals. Kalrot's team came across the fuel depot soon after, having only walked down the street a short ways.
Outside, they were stopped by yet another patrol. "Identification?" the soldier asked. "Right here," Kalrot said, producing the data pad once more, and showing his credentials. "You're good. Go on in," the soldier said, allowing them to pass. "What's with all the security checks?" Aria wondered. "Who knows. The Alliance is big on security," Kalrot replied. "That still doesn't explain why we had to be stopped outside a fuel depot," Aria said.
"Maybe they've had a lot of theft?" Gradius offered. "Eh. Maybe," Aria said. "That's as good of a reason as any," Kalrot said. "You know, it just dawned on me that I've never heard you speak before," he added. "There has been no reason for me to speak before," Gradius said.
"So, you're the silent type, huh?" Kalrot asked. The Namekian nodded. "Words are not necessary most of the time," he said. "Noted. You don't talk much. Reminds me of one of my friends," Kalrot said. "You've got someone like this guy?" Aria asked, surprised. "Not exactly. He's a Saiyan, not a Namekian. But otherwise, yeah. He likes to fight and thinks that words have no place in a fight. He doesn't talk a lot outside of that. Usually. Sometimes he does, but it's rare," Kalrot responded.
"Huh. I have never met a single Saiyan that didn't trash talk the opponent the entire time," Aria said. Kalrot chuckled a bit. "It is a bit unusual," he said. "We're coming up on the main building," Aria said. "I see that," Kalrot responded.
A few moments later, they stood inside the building, which was full of people waiting in line to buy fuel. "Crap…looks like a long wait," Kalrot said. "Yep. This is unfortunate. I'm starting to get hungry," Aria responded, sounding somewhat annoyed. "I know. But we need fuel to keep going," Kalrot answered. "Obviously," Aria said. "Glad you can see that," Kalrot replied. After twenty minutes of waiting, they finally made it to the counter. "What do you need today?" the soldier manning it asked. "I need to buy some fuel," Kalrot said.
"How many crates?" the soldier asked. "About twenty," Kalrot answered. The soldier nodded and typed something on his computer. "That will be seven thousand credits," he said. "That seems high…" Kalrot responded. "We know. But there have been a rash of pirate attacks lately, and goods have been stolen. Including fuel, so you're going to either have to pay more, or get nothing at all," the soldier responded. Kalrot sighed and handed over the credits. "Here you go," he said. The soldier nodded and took them. "Thank you. Which platform did you need them delivered to?" he responded. "Four," Kalrot answered. The soldier nodded and put that into his computer. "Your fuel will be delivered shortly," he said.
Kalrot nodded and thanked him before leaving with his companions. Once outside, Aria spoke up. "What are we doing now?" she asked. "Meeting up with the others, I guess," Kalrot said. "Do we even know where they went?" she asked. "I have no idea," Kalrot answered. "Finding them won't be necessary," Gradius said. "What do you mean?" Kalrot asked. "They've found us," Gradius answered. Kalrot turned around and noticed the others approaching. "Well, there's that," he said. "Talk about good timing," Aria added, walking over to where he was. "Yeah. Now we can get going," Kalrot said.
A few minutes later, the others arrived, and the group reunited. "How'd it go?" Kalrot asked. "Okay," Commodus responded. "What happened?" Kalrot asked. "Magnus picked a fight with the merchant's bodyguard over some insults," Commodus answered. Kalrot cracked up a bit as Aria facepalmed. "It was hilarious, you should've seen it," Aldous said, laughing just thinking about it. "What was said?" Kalrot asked as Tala continued staring at the ground, embarrassed.
"The guy got up in his face and started calling him dumb and clumsy because he almost tripped over something the jerk dropped," Commodus said. "Yeah? And then what happened?" Kalrot asked. "Magnus got angry and swung on him, which led to a fight," Tala said, finally working up the courage to look up. Kalrot chuckled some more before inquiring again. "So what happened then?" he asked.
"Then Tala tried to break it up, and the guy insulted her too. Magnus took that even worse, and hit the guy harder," Commodus said. "And then some soldiers came over and broke it up. They threatened to arrest both of them if it kept going," Tala added. "That sounds intense, but not wrong," Kalrot replied. "Yeah, but it doesn't mean that it wasn't embarrassing," Commodus said. "I have to agree," Tala added.
Magnus just gave a smug grin, not caring about the black eye he got in said fight. "I don't know what you guys are talking about. It was hilarious," Aldous said. "That guy deserved it," he added. Tala sighed. "You might be right," she said. "Of course I was!" Magnus said, wrapping his arm around her. "See! He does care about you!" Aldous said, attempting to make her feel less embarrassed about her boyfriend's behavior. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean that he's not an idiot sometimes," she said, staring at the ground again.
Magnus just ignored that and pulled her closer. "We got the food, though. They're gonna deliver it to the ship," he said. "That's what I asked," Kalrot said. "Did it take all that money I gave you?" he asked. Commodus nodded. "Yep. It took all of it," he responded. "Something about pirate raids driving up prices."
"Huh. They said the same thing at the fuel depot," Kalrot said. "That's odd…" Commodus answered. "Anyway. Aria, what's your opinion on Magnus' latest incident?" he asked. She sighed before responding. "I hate to admit it, but I think that I'm gonna have to agree with Magnus on this one," she said.
Commodus and Tala's jaws practically hit the dirt. "What?" he asked, completely dumbfounded. Kalrot chuckled, and Gradius continued to ignore the whole situation. "Yes. The fight might've been stupid, but that guy shouldn't have insulted him when the thing he tripped over was something that he dropped. And then to insult Tala on top of that? Guy deserved it," Aria answered.
"YES! I never thought I'd ever see you side with me for once," Magnus said, excited. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "It won't happen again if you keep this up…" she snarked. "You stink sometimes, you know that?" he said. She simply chuckled a bit and then changed the subject. "Can we get something to eat?" she asked. "Yes. That is a pressing issue," Kalrot said, rubbing his stomach. "There was a restaurant that we walked past when we were looking for that food to restock the ship," Commodus said. "Can you lead us there?" Kalrot asked. Commodus nodded and led the group back towards the restaurant they'd seen earlier.
Elsewhere, in an Alliance military facility…
In a building across the city, a soldier walked into an office. "Commander, we just had a mercenary with a Class III license show up here," he said. "Where is this mercenary?" she asked, intrigued. "He was last seen heading towards Gorman's Diner with his companions," the soldier said. "Then we need to meet with them. They could solve the colony's pirate problem…" the commander responded. "Right. Should we go now?" he asked. "Yes. You should allow them time to eat, but bring them here as soon as you can," she answered. The soldier nodded his head. "Yes, commander," he said, turning and leaving. "This is very fortunate," the commander thought to herself.
Elsewhere, Kalrot and his companions sat in a corner booth in the diner, eating some of the local cuisine, which was fairly good. "This is better than I thought…" Kalrot said, shoveling more food in his mouth. "I…know…" Aria mumbled, shoveling food into her mouth equally as fast. "Saiyan eating habits are disgusting," Commodus said, taking a bite. "Yeah. It never gets any better," Tala said. "Eh. I don't really care," Magnus said.
"That's because you eat just like them," Tala sighed. "I guess I do," Magnus replied, taking another huge bite, and making a further mess on the table. "It doesn't really bother me," Aldous said, swallowing a bite of food himself. "Yeah, but nothing bothers you," Commodus responded. Aldous chuckled a bit. "Yeah, maybe," he said, before taking another bite. "Do you have anything to add, Gradius?" Tala asked. "Namekians subsist on water. I have no opinion on the matter," Gradius responded, taking another sip from his glass. "Oh, that's right…" she said. Kalrot, who'd swallowed and subsequently demolished everything else on his plate, spoke up.
"So we agree to head back to the ship next?" he asked. "Sounds good to me," Commodus answered. Tala and Aldous gave affirmative nods, as did Gradius. Aria did as well, though she was still working on her thirteenth plate of food. "I will never get used to the amount of food Saiyans eat," Commodus said. Magnus chuckled. Yeah, and apparently Kalrot eats even faster than Aria," he said, pointing out the stack of empty dishes near his spot. "Yeah," Commodus said, seemingly shocked at that fact. A few moments later, Aria finished. "You know, you guys could be quieter if you're gonna trash talk me," she said. Gradius cracked a bit of a smile at that and downed the rest of his water in one go. "There's no fun in that," he said. "Oh, so now you're involved in the conversation…" she said, glaring at him. "Yes. I ignore the arguments. I never said that I'm not listening to our conversations," the Namekian responded.
Aria rolled her eyes as the others laughed, furthering her embarrassment. "Can we just pay and leave?" she asked. Kalrot nodded, having finally stopped laughing. He wiped a bit of a tear away and spoke. "Yeah. We can. But that was hilarious," he said to Aria's chagrin. "Don't keep it going…" she grumbled. Kalrot chuckled again and got up. "Alright. I'll go pay, and then we can go," he said, getting affirmative nods from everyone else. "We're going to go outside," Aria said. Kalrot nodded and headed off to pay whilst the others filed outside.
Outside, the others came face to face with an Alliance patrol. "Are you with the guy who has a Class III mercenary license?" the lead soldier asked. "Yes. Why?" Aria asked. "Because we might have a job for you," he said. "Well, the guy you're looking for is still inside paying," she responded.
"We can wait," the soldier said. Aria nodded and turned back to the others. "Do you guys need some exercise? Because I sure could," she said. "Yeah. Riding on a spaceship for days makes you stiff," Magnus said. "I agree," Tala added. "Me too," Aldous said. Gradius nodded affirmatively. "Why not?" Commodus said. Aria nodded and turned back to the soldier. "We're in. As soon as our friend gets out, we can go," she said. The soldier nodded. "Good. We'll be ready," he responded.
A few moments later, Kalrot walked outside, where the patrol immediately caught his attention. "Can I do something for you, officer?" he asked, as the lead soldier approached him. "We have a job for you," he said. "Go on," Kalrot said. "We won't discuss it here. Come with us and speak to our commander," he said. Kalrot nodded. "Where's this commander of yours?" he asked.
In our base on the other side of the city. Not far from the landing pads, actually," the soldier said. "Then take us there," Kalrot said. The soldier nodded. "Let's go," he responded. A short while later, they stood outside the base, which was actually quite large, appearing to have at least a dozen buildings scattered around the area, plus its own landing area. The soldier and his patrol stopped outside the main gate. "Stop here for a minute, guys," the soldier said. "I have to let the commander know we're here before we can take you inside," he added.
Kalrot nodded. "Take your time," he said. The soldier then got on the radio and had a short conversation with the commander, who allowed them inside. He ended the conversation and turned back to Kalrot and Comet Squadron. "You're clear. Follow me," he said. Kalrot nodded. "Lead the way," he responded. The soldier turned and lead them inside, across the rather impressive grounds. "This place is more impressive than I thought," Kalrot said. "Yeah. It's fairly new," the soldier said.
Kalrot nodded at that and kept walking. "So where are we going?" he asked. "That would be the main headquarters," the soldier answered, pointing to a large building not far from their current location. "Woah. That's bigger than I expected," Kalrot said. The soldier chuckled. "The commander's office is on the top floor. Let's go," he said, leading them inside.
The place was just as impressive and ornate on the inside as it was on the outside. "The elevator is over here," he said. Kalrot nodded. "Do we all need to go up?" he asked. "No. I can take you up by yourself if you want," the soldier said. "Would you guys mind waiting here?" Kalrot asked. "No," Aria said, speaking on behalf of the whole group. Kalrot nodded and turned back to the soldier. "Let's go then," he said.
The soldier nodded and called the elevator, swiping his access card to do so. "You know, I used to be Alliance military, and our bases never needed cards for elevators," Kalrot said. "We usually don't, but the increased security lately has them instituted," the soldier said as they stepped onto the elevator. Kalrot nodded and glanced to the elevator panel, which showed that there were seven floors in total.
The soldier pressed the button for the seventh floor, and the elevator started up. "Used to be with the Alliance, huh? How long were you in?" the soldier asked. "About five years," Kalrot answered. "Then… stuff…. happened, and I got out," he added. "Seems like most people's stories," the soldier said. Kalrot nodded. "How's the Alliance military doing, anyway?" he asked. "Well. The Alliance's strength lies with us. Part of it, anyway. The Alliance is thriving, as is its military," the soldier said. "That's good to hear," Kalrot replied.
"The Saiyan colony that used to be on Orgustal," Kalrot answered. "Ah. I've heard of that one before. Moved to the Argall system, right?" the soldier responded. "Yeah. We needed our own space. Though, we still need a better planet. I'm actually on a mission to find a new one, but I've hit a roadblock," Kalrot said. "That's rough. What kind of setback?" the soldier asked.
"A bad one. My regular crew got captured by the Arcadians. I'm on the way to rescue them," Kalrot said. "That sounds really bad," the soldier responded. "Yeah. It's really making me nervous. But I'm going to help you guys out first," Kalrot said. The soldier nodded. "That's really thoughtful of you. These pirates have been menacing us for a while, but we don't have the manpower to stop them," the soldier said. "You seemed to have a lot of soldiers here," Kalrot responded. "Let me rephrase that: we can't spare enough troops to take out their base," the soldier said.
"That makes more sense. I'm guessing that you can't attack them because you'd leave this place unguarded?" Kalrot asked. "Exactly. We can't leave the colony unguarded," the soldier answered. The elevator arrived on the seventh floor a few seconds later. "We're here. Let's go," the soldier said as the doors opened. Kalrot nodded and followed him off of it.
"Where are we going?" Kalrot asked. "This way," the soldier answered, turning to the left and heading down a hallway. Kalrot nodded and followed him down it, arriving at the commander's office. "The commander is waiting for you inside. She'll brief you," the soldier said. Kalrot nodded. "You coming?" he asked. "No. I'll wait here," he said. "Alright, then," Kalrot said, before walking inside.
Inside the commander's office...
"You asked for me?" Kalrot asked, approaching the desk. "Yes," the commander said, turning around. Her face turned to one of surprise. "Kalrot?" she said, stunned. "Amaria? Damn! I thought you died!" Kalrot said, shocked. "Obviously not," the female Saiyan said, standing up from her desk. "Can I give you a hug?" she asked. "Sure. For old times' sake," he said.
She smiled and embraced him for a few moments. "I haven't seen you in years! When did you get out?" she asked, letting him go. "Let's see…about three years ago?" Kalrot responded, trying to do the math in his head. "Something like that, anyway," he said. Amaria chuckled and sat back down. "You can sit in that chair there," she said, pointing to the chair in front of her desk. Kalrot nodded and sat down. "So, what have you been up to?" he asked. "Well, I stayed in the military. And I got married," she said.
"That's good for you," Kalrot said, smiling. "Who'd you get with?" he asked. "Do you remember Cabaga? From the colony?" she asked. "You mean that flirty guy that joined up around the same time we did?" Kalrot responded. Amaria chuckled and shook her head. "Yeah. He grew up. A lot," she said. "That's a funny visual," Kalrot said. "Yeah. I remember that no matter how many times we told him that you were my boyfriend, he kept flirting," Amaria said. "Yeah. I think I punched him once when he tried to kiss you," Kalrot responded, laughing. "I remember that…it was at a fair the year before we joined up," Amaria said.
"Yeah. Sure was. Rayna looked so dejected when we kissed after dinner that night, and I felt bad," Kalrot said. "How's she doing?" Amaria asked. "I married her," Kalrot said. "Is she here?" she asked. "Nope. Long story," he responded. "Ah. I see. You didn't know she had feelings for you, did you?" Amaria replied. "Nope. She confessed the night before we left," Kalrot said. "That's…rough," Amaria said. "I know. But by then, we'd broken up," he replied. "I remember that, yeah. Why exactly?" Amaria said. "I can't remember. Something stupid that we fought about. And then we joined up and got put in separate units," Kalrot replied. "Do you ever wonder what would've happened if we'd stayed together?" Amaria asked. "Used to. But not anymore," he answered. She thought for a moment before answering. "I have to admit, sometimes I still do," she said, sighing. "When did you start dating Rayna?" she asked. "That night she confessed to me. I kissed her, and then it developed from there. She ran off to join up because of me," Kalrot responded.
"Huh. Anyway, let's get down to business. We can talk more later," Amaria said. Kalrot nodded. "What's this mission?" he asked. "We know where the pirates' base is. They've been attacking the place and stealing stuff. Fuel, food, supplies. But what they really want is a prototype starfighter that one of our scientists created," she answered. "Where's this base?" Kalrot asked. "On the other side of Arbol's moon, there's a space station. That's where they're holed up," Amaria said. "Then I'll get to it," Kalrot said. "Wait. It won't be that easy," Amaria responded. "What do you mean?" Kalrot asked.
"They have a powerful shield surrounding their base. The starfighter we designed has tech integrated that can break that shield. It's why they're trying to steal it or destroy it or whatever," Amaria answered. "Just how do they know about this fighter?" Kalrot asked. "Because their leader is a traitor. An Alliance traitor who was kicked out for selling secrets to the pirates, Arcadians, anyone who'd buy them. He worked security here, and is now leader of his own pirate gang," Amaria said. "Who is he?" Kalrot asked.
"His name is Coronis. He's a highly dangerous individual, and a member of the Order of the Black Arms- a powerful organization of assassins," Amaria responded. "I can give you a dossier, if it would help," she added. "That would be helpful, yes," Kalrot responded, and pulled out his data pad. Amaria pressed a few buttons on her computer and sent him a file, which he promptly pulled up. It read as follows:
Subject: Coronis
Species: Hormol
Gender: Male
Coronis is an Alliance traitor and is incredibly dangerous. He is the boss of his own band of pirates and thieves. He is known to be a member of the Order of the Black Arms, an organization of assassins. We are unable to determine at this time if his operation is his alone, or if he works for someone. Has recently been attacking an Alliance colony on Arbol.
After a few moments of reading it, Kalrot spoke. "This guy seems like a real piece of work. So he's responsible for the attacks?" he asked. Amaria nodded. "That's right. He put Cabaga in the hospital for several weeks after they fought once," she responded.
"How am I going to get through that shield and destroy the station?" Kalrot asked. "You're going to take the fighter prototype," Amaria answered. "Are you sure?" Kalrot asked. Amaria nodded. "Yes. That thing has brought us far more trouble than it's worth. It's too expensive to produce on a mass scale, and too specialized to be useful. They're going to scrap it if we can't find a way to use it, so I may as well let you have it," she said. "Alright. Then where is it?" Kalrot asked. "In our landing facility's hangar. Do you have a ship large enough to carry it? Or do you need to fly it out?" Amaria asked. "I've got a decommissioned Alliance light frigate. I call it the Quasar," Kalrot said. "Impressive. Bought it at auction, right?" Amaria responded.
Kalrot nodded. "Yes. Not long after I got out, actually. We wanted to start a mercenary group, and we needed a ship. It was cheap enough," he said. "Well, then. Do you want to bring your ship here?" she asked. "It'd probably be easier," Kalrot said.
"It should be easy enough. If you can fly a frigate, then you can fly this thing. Those are way more complicated than starfighters." Amaria said. "Yeah. But you're forgetting that I flew starfighters for a while in the Alliance navy," he responded.
"That's right! Then you transferred to the army," Amaria said. Kalrot nodded. "Yep. I'm going to get on my way, then," he said. "Right. Come by, and we'll give you the rundown on how it works and what does what," Amaria said. Kalrot nodded, then turned and left. He had to go explain all of this to his allies, and then actually fly towards the station and destroy it. The Quasar's weaponry would be able to do that, he just needed to get the shields down. That was where the starfighter came in- it had weapons capable of disabling it.
A few hours later…
Kalrot returned to the base with his ship, having refueled and loaded the other supplies that they bought. Amaria met him as he exited the Quasar. "That's an older model," she said. "I know. We wanted to get the one we'd served on, the GAS Photon, but the Alliance wouldn't sell it. Too new at the time, so we ended up with this one. But don't let that exterior lie to you. I've modified it a lot over the years," Kalrot said. "Seems like you enjoy it. Have you come up with your plan?" Amaria responded. "Yeah. My ship is going to follow me. One of my new allies is also a good pilot. And he's going to use my ship's guns to blow that station to smithereens after I drop the shields," Kalrot responded.
"Seems good enough to work," Amaria said. Kalrot chuckled. "It better," he said. She cracked a smile at that, before speaking up. "Let me take you to the fighter," she said, leading him into the hangar. They passed dozens of ships, mostly traditional Alliance fighters, before finally arriving at the prototype- which looked similar, but was far sleeker, had heavier weaponry, and was overall better looking. "So this is the fighter craft?" he asked. Amaria nodded. "Yes. It was designed to break energy shields. Hence the ion weaponry," she said. "I see that. Does it have conventional weapons?" Kalrot asked. "Yes. There's a button on the control stick to switch between them and the ion cannons," Amaria answered. Kalrot nodded. "So does this thing fly like the standard Alliance fighter?" he asked.
"No. It was designed to be much faster than our standard Interceptor-class starfighters," Amaria responded. "So it's not part of the Interceptor-class?" Kalrot asked. "Nope. Not at all," Amaria said. "It was the prototype for a new class of starfighter called the Photon-class," she added. "Was that named after the ship we served on? It had ion weaponry- it was one of the first," Kalrot said. Amaria nodded. "It was. It was chosen to honor it and its crew after it was destroyed in the Battle of Arom against the Arcadians," she said. "The Photon got destroyed…shame," Kalrot said.
"Yes. A tremendous shame. That was one of our best ships. We had its plans, and made more, including one designated Photon II, but none of them were the original," Amaria replied. "I get how you feel. I wouldn't want to deal with that," Kalrot said. "What's going to happen to this thing?" he asked. "Well, we've been ordered to find a use for it, or scrap it. Or sell it, or whatever. The Alliance canceled the plans for the line, so they want to be rid of this one," Amaria said. "So that's why you want me to take it?" Kalrot asked.
"Yep," Amaria answered. "Ready to go up?" she asked. Kalrot nodded and climbed in. "Ready as I'll ever be," he responded, looking over the controls. "This looks very much like the fighters I used to fly," Kalrot said. "That's because it was designed to be easy to fly by pilots trained to fly Interceptors. It wouldn't require further training if the controls were the same," Amaria responded.
Kalrot nodded and absorbed this information as he put the seatbelt on and pulled the safety harness down. "I'll be walking you through everything from the control tower to help you refamiliarize yourself with the controls," Amaria said. "Alright," Kalrot responded. "The ship's comms are linked to the ones here. You'll have to recalibrate the transponder settings to communicate with your ship," Amaria added. Kalrot nodded. "So should I go ahead and start this thing up?" he asked. "Yeah. I'm heading to the tower now," she said. Kalrot nodded and pressed the startup button, causing the panel to light up.
"The old ones didn't do this…" he thought, making sure Amaria was clear of the engines as he prepared to start them up. He quickly found the button to close the canopy and got ready to take off. Muscle memory from his time in the Alliance military helped him quickly figure it all out, given his experience, skill, and the fact that the controls were exactly the same as the fighters he used to fly. "Are you ready?" Amaria's voice asked over the radio. Kalrot pressed the button and responded. "Yes," he said. "Good. Then let's get this thing off the ground," she said.
"I assume you remember enough to take off?" she asked. "Yeah, I remember enough to do that. I think I've got enough muscle memory to fly this thing alright. It's the special features that you're going to have to walk me through," Kalrot responded, taking off. "Okay. Let me know when you're out of the hangar," she said. "Right. Over," Kalrot responded, signing off.
A few minutes later, he rocketed out of the hangar and took off. "This is a rush I haven't felt in a long time," he thought to himself. He got back on the radio to inform Amaria that he'd successfully taken off and was in the air. "Alright, I'm up. What now?" he said. The radio crackled to life with Amaria's response. "Alright. Hit the accelerator first. Let's test that," she said. "Okay," Kalrot responded. He then reached down and pulled the accelerator lever, speeding forward much faster than normal. "What was that?" he asked. "That is how you use the boosters," Amaria answered over the radio. "Right. Noted. How do I switch between the weapon types again?" Kalrot responded.
"There's a button on the side of the control stick," she said. "And to fire, you pull the trigger on the front of it." Kalrot glanced at the stick and quickly found the button. "Alright. I see it. This blue one on the stick, correct?" he asked. "Yes," Amaria answered. "Alright. Let me test this… Is there a way to see which set of guns you're using?" Kalrot asked. "There should be an indicator on the control panel. It will be blue if the ion cannons are selected, and red if the conventional weaponry is selected," Amaria answered.
"Alright. Give me a moment to test this, and I'll let you know how it goes," Kalrot said. Kalrot looked up at the panel and noted that the indicator was currently blue. "Let's see how this goes…" he thought, activating the targeting system. He targeted a nearby rock formation and fired. Two blue particles of energy shot forward, striking the target, and fading away. "So they work, just not on something that isn't an energy shield…" he thought, pressing the button to swap weapons. The indicator turned red as the weapon mounts on the front rotated, switching weapon types. "Let's test these conventional guns…" he thought.
The cannon fired, launching two red bolts of energy that completely obliterated the targeted rock formation. "Alright! That definitely worked!" he thought. "Better let Amaria know…" he thought, pressing the radio button. "Hey. The weapons systems work fine," Kalrot said. "Good. Let's run a few more tests, and we'll be done for now," Amaria responded.
"Alright. Preparing to swing around for another weapons test," Kalrot said, flying around in a loop and targeting another rock formation. He then fired, destroying the target instantly. "Nice!" he said. "Are you done?" Amaria asked. "Yeah. Let's get these tests underway," Kalrot said. "Alright," Amaria responded. After a couple more hours, the final testing was completed, and Kalrot headed back to the hangar. Amaria met him in said hangar as he landed the fighter.
"The testing went well," she said. "It did. That was fun," Kalrot answered, raising the safety harness, and unclipping his seatbelt. "Do you feel comfortable flying it now?" Amaria asked. "Yeah," Kalrot said, hopping out of it. "Probably need to refuel though, after that," he added. "I figured that, so I had a crate of fuel rods brought over here," she said. "How many does it need?" Kalrot asked. "Four. It holds them in the back fuselage," Amaria answered.
Kalrot nodded and opened the panel that was marked as the fuel door. He opened the panel and checked the fuel rods, which were nearly depleted. "Do you have something to change these with?" he asked. Amaria nodded and walked over with a tool in hand. "You've used one of these before, right?" she asked. "Yeah. Hand it here," Kalrot said, taking the tool in hand. "Where should I put these?" he asked. "In here," she said, pointing out an empty crate. "We drop the spent rods in this box."
Kalrot nodded and used the rod removal tool to extract the spent rods and drop them in the box. "Now for the full ones…" he thought, picking up four new ones, laying them on a rolling cart, which he took over to the fighter. He used the tool to put the new ones in and closed the panel. "Alright. Refueling done," he said. "That's got to be easier than yours," Amaria said.
"Yeah. Mine takes about ten whole crates worth of rods. And recycling the empty ones doesn't get me much money back," Kalrot responded. "Those big ships take a lot," she said. Kalrot nodded. "Sure do. I guess this is goodbye for now," he said. "I'd say so. Thanks for helping us out," Amaria responded. "It's nothing," Kalrot said. "Are you guys going to pay me for this job?" he asked. "Take that fighter as your payment. We've got to get rid of it anyway," Amaria answered. "Are you sure?" Kalrot asked. "Yeah," she replied. Kalrot nodded and climbed back inside. "See you some other time, then," he said. "Kalrot. One last thing- Coronis flies around on a Defiance-class dreadnought," Amaria said.
"How'd he get his hands on one of those?" Kalrot asked, surprised. "The Alliance decommissioned them not long after you left. He scavenged one back together from a ship he found in a scrapyard and a bunch of extra parts. Took him a really long time to do that," she answered. "It's the pride of his fleet. If you see it at the station, he's there. If not, he's not there. Destroy the station either way, but do not engage that ship. He'll blow you to smithereens," she added. "You underestimate the Quasar," Kalrot said.
"You're crazy to take on a dreadnought with a light frigate," Amaria said. "You haven't seen the modifications I've made. It'll take almost a full destroyer to even scratch my armor. And the weapons? Well, they could shred the standard armor on a dreadnought like nothing," he responded. "You sure seem confident. I'm going to let you go now. You did recalibrate the transponder, right?" Amaria replied.
"Yeah. Did that before I came down. My allies are up with my ship- it's up in orbit," Kalrot said. "Alright. Then I'll let you leave. Good luck," she said. Kalrot nodded and he clicked his belt into place before pulling the safety harness down. Amaria waved goodbye as he dropped the canopy closed and fired up the engines. He waved back and then shot out of the hangar, nearly knocking her off of her feet with the backwash. "Always a speed junkie…" she thought, smiling.
Elsewhere, Kalrot rocketed off through the atmosphere, getting on the radio as he did so. "Commodus, I'm en route," he said. "Good. Then we can prepare for this attack," Commodus responded. "Yeah. I'll take out the shields on the station. Then you use the Quasar's guns to blow it away," Kalrot said. "Got it. Are we ready?" Commodus asked.
"Not quite yet. I'm still not out of the atmosphere yet," Kalrot said. "Affirmative," Commodus said. "Let me know when you've made it," he added. "Got it. Over," Kalrot said, signing off. A few moments later, Kalrot flew up next to the Quasar's bridge and stopped there for a moment. "I'm here," he said over the radio. "I see you," Commodus answered.
"Ready?" he asked. "Ready," Kalrot responded. "We're looking for a space station on the far side of Arbol's moon," Kalrot said. "Right. What does it look like?" Commodus asked. "I don't know. Amaria didn't tell me that. Guess we'll know it when we see it," Kalrot said. "I see. Did she agree to pay you for the job? Or were you just doing it for free?" Commodus replied. "She gave me this fighter as payment," Kalrot answered. "That's cool, actually. Though I was hoping for at least a little money," Commodus said. "Maybe next time. Let's go," Kalrot said. "Right. You lead the way," Commodus responded.
"Alright. Try to keep up. This thing is really fast," Kalrot said, signing off. "What does he mean by that…?" Commodus wondered. He didn't have to wonder long, as Kalrot hit the accelerator and took off at speed, leaving the Quasar in the dust. "So that's what he meant…" Commodus mused, swinging the ship around to follow him.
Kalrot approached the station, slowing as he got close. "Doesn't seem that impressive…let's get this over with, then," he thought, switching on the targeting system. He then fired two ion shots, which quickly disabled the shields. "Alright. I've dropped the shields. Just waiting on you guys," Kalrot said. "Gotcha. Approaching now," Commodus answered. "Alright. I'll keep watch for enemy fighters. Over," Kalrot responded, signing off. "I wish he'd have waited for me to get there first…" Commodus thought.
Aboard the station, a pirate ran into the command center. "Boss! Our shields just went down!" he said. "What?" the commander said, spinning around to face him. "Yeah! We think it was ion weaponry. Our shields will be down for a while," he said. "Get a fighter squadron out there to investigate," the station commander said. "No one crosses the Star Raiders and gets away with it!" he added. The pirate nodded and left the room. The commander turned back to the computer and to what he was doing. "Coronis won't like this…" he thought.
Outside, the Quasar pulled up next to Kalrot's fighter. "Shields are down, correct?" Commodus asked. "Yeah," Kalrot responded. "Then we can proceed?" Commodus replied. "Yes. Go ahead," Kalrot said. "Gotcha. Preparing to fire," Commodus said. "Alright. Let's- "Kalrot began, only to stop mid-sentence. "What?" Commodus asked. "There's a squadron of enemy fighters approaching," Kalrot said. "I'll take care of them. You just focus on that station," he said, signing off. Kalrot quickly swapped weapons systems and shot forward to take care of the enemy fighters. "He's not usually this impatient…" Commodus thought. "Perhaps he's an adrenaline junkie?"
Nonetheless, Kalrot focused on targeting the space station in front of him. "Let's do this," he thought, unleashing a volley of blasts. The station shook from the impact and took visible damage. Its occupants took notice, especially in the command center. "What was that?" the commander demanded. A pirate turned from the computer he was working at. "We've been fired upon!" he asked. "By what?" he asked. "Appears to be a light frigate," the pirate responded. "Hmm. Then get more fighters out there!" he said. The pirate nodded and turned back to his computer to send the message.
Outside the station, Kalrot successfully outmaneuvered the pirate fighters and destroyed three of them without much effort. "That's what you get!" he said, celebrating. Over in one of the pirate fighters, its pilot got on comms. "Who is this guy?" he wondered. "Who knows. The commander said to kill him, so let's get on with it," another responded. "Yeah…let's- "the first began, only to be cut off by an explosion. "What was that?" the second asked. "He's taken out another!" the first said, panicking. The second barely had time to react to that as Kalrot effortlessly destroyed the first fighter. The second pilot attempted to attack but was promptly blasted away by Kalrot's next shot. "Got 'em all!" he said into the radio, flying back towards the Quasar.
"Got it. Preparing another round," Commodus said. "Alright. Heading back to the ship. Open the hangar doors and let me land this thing inside," Kalrot said. "Right. Let me know when you're here," Commodus answered. "Will do. Over," Kalrot said, signing off. Commodus prepared to fire again whilst the pirates scrambled to get pilots in their fighters. "We've got to defend the station!" the one giving the orders said, rushing the others into fighters. "Right!" several others said in unison, whilst others climbed into fighters. Up on the command deck, the station commander paced nervously.
"How's the shield restoration coming?" he asked. "Badly. We don't have the tech to fix them. We just have to hope that the fighters can repel them," the repair tech said. "Great. How many fighters do we have?" he asked. "Twelve," another pirate answered. He sighed, resigned to their impending doom. "We're screwed," he said.
Outside, the Quasar unleashed a second volley, completely destroying the damaged station easily. "Alright! Mission accomplished!" Kalrot said, noting the fireball that he just outran. "Hangar bay doors can open now," he said. "Alright. Opening them now," Commodus said. "Thanks," Kalrot said. "You're welcome. Just don't hit my ship," Commodus replied. Kalrot chuckled as the doors opened. He then flew the fighter inside and landed, shutting the engines down. "You can close the doors now. I'm inside," Kalrot responded. "Alright. Got it. You coming up?" Commodus said.
"Yeah. I'll be there soon," Kalrot answered. "Closing doors now. Over," Commodus replied, signing off. Kalrot sat in the fighter for a moment as the doors closed and the hangar repressurized. "Time to head on our way," he thought, opening the canopy. He raised the safety harness and unclicked the seatbelt before hopping out. He then strolled into the elevator and took it up to the bridge. "You made it," Commodus said, glancing at him from the pilot's chair. "I did," Kalrot replied. "You want your chair back, don't you?" Commodus asked. "Yep," Kalrot said.
Commodus sighed and got up, walking over to the co-pilot's chair as Kalrot sat down. "Set course for the Arcturus system. No more distractions!" Kalrot said. Commodus nodded and began recalibrating the nav computer. "Got it. Let's go," he said. "Yep. Is there anything we need to do before we go?" he asked. "Yeah, actually. We should probably let Amaria know that we took care of her problem," Kalrot answered. "Right. Do you have the right comm frequency?" Commodus asked. "Yeah. But it'll have to wait. We're being hailed," Kalrot said, pressing a few buttons on the control panel to put it through. "I see you accomplished the mission," Amaria said. "Sure did. That's a coincidence. I was just about to call," Kalrot said.
"Yeah? We came up to check it out. We could spare a few fighters to do that," she said. "So you're in a fighter?" Kalrot asked. "Yeah. We're over near the planet- we saw you on our way back. Just wanted to say thanks," Amaria responded. "You're welcome. Call me if you need help again," Kalrot said. "Right. Will do. Oh, and Cabaga said hi," she said. Kalrot snickered a bit. "Tell him that I said hi back," Kalrot said. "I will. I'm going to let you go now," she said. "Thanks again. Goodbye," she said, signing off. "So you ended up knowing the commander?" Commodus asked.
"Yep. She was my girlfriend a long time ago. Then we served together in the Alliance military, so we've known each other a long time. I really thought she died in the Battle of Hypoll against the Arcadians," he said. "But apparently not, and she got promoted," Commodus responded. "Exactly," Kalrot said. "Let's get going," he added. Commodus nodded, and the two of them launched the ship once more, heading into warp space on the way to the Arcturus system.
Elsewhere, deep within the bowels of Arcturus Spire….
Kalrot's crew still refused to break or otherwise give up any information, frustrating Lomar. "There's not much left in my tank," Kallot admitted. "Then maybe you'll give me what I want. Do you have any outside help coming? It's the only way an escape attempt makes any sense," Lomar said. "Woah. I never said that," Kallot said. "I can take you to a shock chamber, which is much worse than being chained up, mind you," Lomar responded. "Is that supposed to be intimidating?" Cornalia asked, giving a smug grin. "You're hardly in a position to make demands," Lomar replied. "It's not a demand, asshole. It's a simple question. Is that threat supposed to be intimidating? Because it isn't," Cornalia said.
Lomar's expression changed to one of exasperation, and he marched over to Cornalia. "Shut your filthy mouth!" he snapped. "No. It's too much fun to wind you up," Cornalia responded. Enraged, Lomar drew back and socked him in the stomach. "Worth it…" Cornalia said, further infuriating Lomar. "I've got to draw his attention away from Rayna…." he thought.
She was trying to figure out a way to escape and free the others, who had been moved back to the holding cell. Lomar could not be allowed to discover that. "Hey! Who said we were done!?" Cornalia shouted, causing Lomar to stop in his tracks and turn back to him.
"Me," Lomar said. "You're an idiot, then!" he said, incensing Lomar, who marched back over. He took a few more blows before Lomar walked over to work on Rutaba, who simply refused to say anything at all. "Are you going to cooperate?" Lomar asked. "No," Rutaba replied. "Because I have nothing to say to you."
The alien's eyes narrowed, but he did not speak. Instead, he drew his fist back. Rutaba flinched in anticipation of the coming blow, but Lomar stopped. "No…" he said. "Hitting you will clearly yield no answers…" He immediately rounded on his heels and turned away, stepping over to Rayna, who immediately stopped what she was doing and stared directly at him. Fortunately, he did not notice her surveying the room. "I'm back. Tell me everything that you got off of that terminal," Lomar said. "Why do you care?" Rayna half asked and half growled. "It is my job," Lomar said. "And I don't like not getting results."
Rayna had to resist the urge to spit in his face, so she settled for a verbal barb instead. "You can take your results to hell with you," she snarled. Lomar rolled his eyes. "Like I haven't heard that a million times," he replied, nonchalantly. "Now, you're going to either tell me what I want to know, or you're going to suffer." "If my husband is alive, he'll kill you for this," she said. "And I want it to be as painful as possible."
Lomar was taken aback, not sure what to say or do. "You…you have gall, woman," he said, after a few minutes of silence. "Tell me what I want to know."
"You can get out of my face," Rayna replied. "And take shove those questions up your-" She found herself unable to finish as he smacked her across the face again. Her brother winced, but was equally unable to do anything. So he cursed under his breath, gritting his teeth. "Now. Please tell me what I require," Lomar said.
"Go straight to hell," Rayna replied, refusing to give in. It wasn't as if she knew anything of use to Lomar anyway. And even if she did, she'd be damned if she gave him what he wanted. Lomar snarled something unintelligible and delivered a sharp chop to her injured side. Rayna screamed in pain as Lomar took a step back. "I'm fairly certain that I'm already in hell!" he snapped. Even the guards nearby seemed to flinch back at the outburst as he turned his back to Rayna.
"Return them to the cells," Lomar ordered the guards. "I'm done with this idiocy for today." The guards nodded, moving to carry out the order as Lomar departed. "Useless…defiant…trash…" he muttered, annoyed.
A short time later…
Rutaba sat with his sister, attempting to comfort her. On top of the injuries she'd already sustained, Lomar had roughed her up some more. She was currently asleep, leaning against him. "That guy needs to pay for this…" he grumbled. "Tell me about it," Cornalia snarked, the only other one who was not asleep apart from Rutaba himself.
"Yeah. If Kalrot's alive, then he'd better show up here damn quick. I don't know how much more of this we can take." Cornalia nodded, moving a hand to his bruised chest. "I agree with you for once," he said. Rutaba nodded in response, looking toward his sister. Cornalia smiled and turned away, leaving Rutaba to his thoughts.
And that's that! The end of Chapter 8! You'll just have to wait until next chapter to see the conclusion of the arc! Next time on Dragon Ball Warriors! Bleak one, isn't it? I promise that the next one will be less so!
Until next time, signing off as usual!
-Robbtastic01