Chapter 9: The Rescue!
It had been three days since the group had been taken to the so-called 'Devastation Complex,' enduring the dual torture/interrogation that entire time. They couldn't take much more of it, either- not that any of them would tell Lomar that, of course.
Speaking of the smug Arcadian, he came walking in a few seconds later, to begin the day's 'session' as he called it. "Let's get down to business. Tell me. Do you have any allies plotting to break you out?" he asked. "We already told you. We don't. The guy that would care enough to do that is probably dead," Rutaba said, shielding his sister from Lomar's view. "That is most unfortunate. Now step aside. I wish to question the woman," he said. "No," Rutaba growled. "I refuse to let you." Lomar opened his mouth to respond, when one of the guards walked in. "Sir, the warden has requested your presence in his office," he said. "Tell him I'll be right there," Lomar answered. The soldier nodded. "Yes, sir."
"You lot got lucky for now. I'll be back," Lomar growled, turning and following the soldier out of the holding cell. "That guy is way too condescending, and it gets on my nerves," Rutaba said. "That's for sure," Cornalia said, nursing his busted lip. "Packs a mean right hook, though," he said. "How are you the least beat up?" Rutaba asked. "Who knows," Cornalia answered. Rutaba sighed. "That's not an answer," he said. Cornalia chuckled and ignored him, going off into deep thought.
Up in the warden's office…
Lomar walked into the Warden's office, wondering what he wanted this time. "Ah. There you are," Arcturus said, looking up from his desk. "Have you gotten anything useful out of them?" Lomar shook his head. "Not a thing. They're very tight lipped, despite what I've put them through. I'm going to give them one last chance to talk before I get nasty," he said. "That is most unfortunate," Arcturus said. "It is. I need more time to confirm my suspicions," Lomar replied. "I fear we do not have much time. The Emperor expects results, not excuses," Arcturus said. "I know. He'll kill us both if we don't do something soon," Lomar said. "I'm grateful that you understand the gravity of the situation," Arcturus replied. "He may not kill us, but he will inflict a harsh punishment…"
Lomar shuddered at that thought. Others who'd failed had lost eyes, limbs, ranks, fingers, hands, feet, etc., or some combination of any of those things. "That is why we must not fail," he responded. "Yes. I will let you return to your work," Arcturus said. Lomar nodded and left the office, leaving the warden to his thoughts. "We need to get on top of this before the emperor decides to take care of this himself…" he thought nervously.
Space…
At long last, Kalrot's ship exited warp space on the edge of the Arcturus system. "Does this thing have a stealth system?" Commodus asked, nervously eyeing the control console. "Yes. I'll activate it now," Kalrot responded, pressing a red button on said control panel. "Alright. We're cloaked, invisible to the eye, but not to radar. As soon as we're within that range, we're going to have to fight."
Commodus nodded. "We'll be alright," he said. Kalrot nodded in return, happy that he had finally come around to his way of thinking. "I just remembered that I've got a radar jammer. Just give me a few moments to hook it up…" Commodus said. "That's really helpful. How long have you had that?" the Saiyan replied, the sarcasm evident in his voice. "Picked it up on Arbol, and forgot to tell you about it," Commodus answered, electing to ignore the sarcastic tone of the reply.
"Enable it. We need to jam their radar if this crazy plan of ours is going to work," Kalrot said, moving right along. Commodus nodded and did so, activating the jamming signal- rendering them invisible to the enemy's radar.
"Alright. Then our approach is good," Commodus said. "But now we have to deal with their guns on the landing platform," Kalrot sighed.
"True. But with your piloting skill, and the Quasar's weaponry, we'll destroy them and land without too much trouble," Commodus responded. "Right. But that's easier said than done," Kalrot said. "Why don't you take the fighter you picked up on Arbol down there and do it that way?" Commodus asked. "Because the Quasar can take a few shots from those. A starfighter can't," Kalrot responded.
"Even if I could- and the fighter's weapons would be enough, one slip up and I'm dead. Not gonna take that chance."
I see the logic there," Commodus said, taking in Kalrot's explanation. The Saiyan nodded, redirecting his attention to piloting the ship once more. Through a combination of the cloaking device and the radar jammer, they effortlessly evaded the Arcadian defense fleet, approaching Arcturus itself. "I'm going to have to disable the cloaking system soon. It draws too much power," Kalrot said, as they broke through the atmosphere. "Alright. I'll initialize the weapons systems," Commodus said. Kalrot nodded. "We need to get the side turrets manned. I'm expecting us to get attacked by Arcadian fighters." Commodus nodded and relayed this to the others over the comms. "Aria, Magnus, get to the turrets, like we planned."
Upon hearing the intercom, the two scrambled and headed down to the turret deck, which was located on the level below the bridge and cockpit. Soon enough, the pilots heard Aria's voice over the comms. "Alright. I'm in place," she said. They heard Magnus shortly after as well. "In position," he said. "Good. Then get ready for a fight. We're probably going to get swarmed as soon as we decloak," Kalrot replied. "Yes. Get ready to blow them out of the sky," Commodus added. "I've been itching for a fight," Aria said. "Me too. I was getting bored," Magnus said. "That's the spirit!" Kalrot responded. "Alright. I'm disabling the cloaking system, so get ready!" "Understood!" Aria said. "Affirmative!" Magnus interjected.
"Let's go…straight towards a potential fiery death.." Kalrot thought. Steeling himself, Kalrot quickly banished that thought, however, choosing to focus on their quite good 66% chance of success. Sure, that left a 34% chance of failure, but it was better than nothing. It didn't take long for the Arcadians to notice their presence, either.
Down in the Spire…
A soldier ran into the warden's office to deliver the news. "Sir! There's an unidentified vessel approaching the prison!" he said. The warden nearly spit his drink out upon hearing that, and his face flushed red. He quickly regained his composure, swallowing the liquid. "Scramble the fighters! I do not wish to get on Lord Hoarfrost's bad side!" he ordered. The soldier nodded, departing immediately to relay the orders. "This is unfortunate.. But headquarters won't have to be informed. I'll deal with this myself.." Arcturus thought, turning back towards the window he'd been looking out before the soldier had arrived.
Outside…
Kalrot's ship approached the prison. "Ready the cannons!" Kalrot said. Commodus nodded and readied the ship's weapons. They needed to deal with the prison's AA guns immediately. As Kalrot predicted, they were soon swarmed by enemy fighters, which Aria and Magnus began dealing with.
"Let's get in close and blast those guns!" Commodus said. "Right. Weak spot at their base! Blast it on all six!" Kalrot responded. Commodus nodded and began targeting the first cannon as Kalrot flew them down. Aria and Magnus rotated the turrets and began shooting down more of the pursuing fighters as the Quasar hooked downwards.
Commodus expertly nailed the weak spot on the first cannon, destroying it. "Nice shot!" Kalrot said, swinging the ship back towards their targets. Commodus smiled, preparing for another shot as they circled back around.
As soon as they were in range, he nailed that one too, resulting in the first two runway cannons being destroyed faster than the Arcadians could activate them.
"I think we could take a few shots from those things, but I don't want to find out!" Kalrot shouted, swinging back around as their turret operators mopped up what was left of their pursuers. "Good job, guys! Keep your eyes peeled for more!" Kalrot said. "Roger that," Aria responded.
"Alright, Commodus. Get ready. We're aiming for the two in the middle. I've got the right, you get the left!" Kalrot said. Commodus nodded, recalling Kalrot showing him that the ship's main guns could fire independently of each other.
They rushed forward, with Kalrot and Commodus both nailing their targets, taking out the second row. "Now! Let's get the last two!" Kalrot said, the adrenaline pumping. Commodus nodded as they prepared for the final run.
"Shit! Those things are activating! We gotta hurry!" Commodus shouted, nervous. "Yeah, I see that! Fire on my command!" Kalrot responded. Commodus nodded, awaiting the signal as they flew in closer, preparing their final volley.
They had just barely crept into the range of the last set of guns when Kalrot gave the command to fire.
Both shots hit their mark, destroying the cannons. "Alright! Now let's swing around and land!" Kalrot said. Commodus nodded, smiling. They swung the ship around and landed on the platform. "Let's get this crazy attack started," Kalrot said, getting up from his chair. "Yeah. Let's.." Commodus said, more hesitantly, yet rose from his chair just as quickly. They headed down to the common area to meet with the others and discuss strategy.
Inside the prison…
Warden Arcturus was starting to panic, something that his aide took notice of. "Sir, is there something wrong?" he asked. "Yes! AN UNIDENTIFIED SHIP JUST LANDED ON THE SOUTH PLATFORM!" Arcturus snapped, losing his composure. "That…sounds…bad…" the aide said, meekly. Arcturus quickly regained his composure, trying again. "Excuse my shouting. It's just that they destroyed the AA guns and then landed," he said.. "I understand, sir," the aide said. Yes, not only had they destroyed their extremely expensive AA guns, but they'd also landed on one of their platforms.
What was this? Some kind of prison break? That was not good for him. Not one bit. If the Emperor found out, it would mean dire consequences for everyone. Possibly locked up in the very same prison they were defending for their failure. Or worse, dead. Or missing an arm, or hand, or eye…or whatever he decided to do to them, which was quite the…unpleasant thought.
His panicked thoughts were then interrupted by a soldier entering the room, asking what to do. "Sir! That ship landed on our platform!" he said. "I KNOW THAT! Get a squad down there ASAP!" he ordered. The soldier nodded, sprinting out of the office to carry out the order.
As soon as the soldier had departed, Arcturus resumed his internal panic, fearing what would happen should this incident get out. He needed to stop this now, before it got any worse. His aide noticed that he seemed to be panicking, again, and spoke up. "Shall I call Lomar?" he asked. Arcturus took a deep breath and recomposed himself before responding. "No. Leave him be. I will deal with this myself," he said. The aide nodded. "What about the guards?" he asked. "Mobilize as many troops as you possibly can," Arcturus said.
The aide nodded and started pinging every comm channel that he could. Arcturus slipped back into panic mode as his aide did so- he couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if he failed, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he wouldn't be able to stop whatever this was.
Outside the Spire…
Kalrot and Comet Squadron effortlessly wiped out the Arcadian team sent to stop them. "Alright, guys. Let's get ready to do this," Kalrot said. "Like we planned?" Commodus asked. "Like we planned," Kalrot responded. "Me and Commodus were supposed to guard the ship, right?" Aldous asked. "Yeah. You two will wait here- keep the Arcadians away from our ride," Kalrot said. Aldous nodded. "The rest, with me!" Kalrot said, turning to face the security camera.
"I'm only going to tell you assholes this one time: give me back my crew!" he snarled, beginning a furious tirade. If the Arcadians expected mercy, then he had none to give. He was here to take his crew back. By deadly force if necessary. And he was betting that it would: the Arcadians attacked on sight.
Up in the Warden's office…
Arcturus' panic intensified. "You can contact Lomar now," he said. His aide nodded and began doing so, only to realize that he couldn't. "Sir, he's in the Devastation Complex. And security insisted that we not allow any communications in or out of it."
Arcturus froze, recalling the communications blocking network installed down there. "Get a messenger down there as soon as possible!" he ordered, a sense of dread washing over him as he watched the security feed. "Hurry…" he muttered, a chill going up his spine. His aide nodded, sending out a priority task alert.
Back on the landing platform…
Kalrot continued to stare up at the security camera, continuing his declaration of war. "Any Arcadian that stands in my way is a dead man, get it!?" he shouted. "I promise you this: I'm killing every man I see wearing an Arcadian insignia! So brace yourselves! Every last one of you pieces of scum are going right to hell!"
He immediately followed up that last bit by destroying the security camera with a bolt of ki. He felt that the act sent the message quite well: fighting him was suicide. But then again, for the average Arcadian, failing their emperor was also a death sentence, so they decided to fight him anyway. Kalrot and his team then stormed inside, preparing to attack. They'd give the Arcadians no quarter- not after what they had done.
Arcturus continued to panic, becoming sick to his stomach upon recalling where he'd sent that group of new arrivals…and what Lomar had likely done to them. He had studied the feed on the camera for several minutes before it went out. And he was now certain that the man declaring his wrath was someone the Arcadians were deathly afraid of.
He managed to recover his composure as a transmission from Lomar came through. "Ah. There you are," he said.
Lomar rolled his eyes. "What the hell do you want now?" he asked. "I had to go up three levels to find a holoprojector."
"I'm sorry, but I NEED YOU UP HERE!" Arcturus snapped. Lomar rolled his eyes again, not entirely convinced. "So you need my help with something," he said. "Yes! We're being attacked!" Arcturus said. "I TOLD YOU! MY PARANOIA WAS JUSTIFIED!" Lomar snapped, leaving Arcturus silently mortified.
"Whoops, sorry. I just don't know what came over me there," Lomar said, sarcastically. "That's alright…" Arcturus responded, slightly on edge after that, as if he was tiptoeing around whatever set Lomar off like that. "Head up to assist our forces as soon as possible," he said. "Yes sir," Lomar replied.
In a distant lobby…
Kalrot and his new allies charged into the base, finding themselves in an absurdly spacious lobby. "No one ever said the Arcadians weren't extravagantly wasteful," Kalrot said, glancing around the large, ornate room. "What are we doing now?" Magnus asked. "We're going to split into teams, like we discussed," Kalrot said. "Magnus, you and Tala are Team 1. Aria, you and Gradius are Team 2. You guys' job is to distract the Arcadians so that I can find a terminal and locate my friends," Kalrot added. "Got it," Magnus said, nodding.
Tala did the same and walked over to his side. "Sure thing," Aria said, stepping over to Gradius. "Alright. We'll meet up when we find a command center," Kalrot said. "Let's go. You guys know the drill. Anyone wearing Arcadian armor gets clobbered!" he added, taking off. The others nodded and split off in their own directions. "I'll find you, Rayna," he thought. Every Arcadian he saw promptly found themself on the receiving end of a fist. He and his allies cut a massive swath through the army there, with not one of them being capable of stopping their advance.
Soon enough, Kalrot found himself in a command center that overlooked the arena. He'd slaughtered nearly a dozen men just to get up here- and he wasn't about to stop now. A pair of guards approached him, blasters drawn. "Stop right there, intruder!" the first shouted. Kalrot smiled and sped forward, evading their shots. The first found himself clobbered by a punch to the face as Kalrot blitzed the other and grabbed him in a chokehold. He then walked forward, still holding the second guard as several more rushed forward.
"Intensify the guard around the arena! We're under attack!" one of them shouted over his scouter. The arena personnel heard that and began asking for as many troops as possible to be diverted to the arena. "Too late!" one shouted, ducking behind a console as a massive ki wave shot through the wall, blowing away the group that had accosted him.
An angered Kalrot stepped through the hole in the wall, still carrying the soldier he'd grabbed earlier. The soldier from before jumped up from behind the computer he hid behind, drawing his rifle. "Stop right there! And drop the soldier you're carrying!" he demanded. Kalrot cracked his knuckles, stepping closer- keeping eye contact all the while.
"Or what? You'll shoot?" he asked, clearly enraged. "You're gonna tell me where my wife is, or I'm gonna kill this guy, and then you," the Saiyan said, threateningly. "Why would I do that?" the guard said, keeping his weapon trained on Kalrot. "Wrong answer!" Kalrot said, rushing forward and knocking the guy into the back wall with one hit while still holding the other guy. "Guess I don't need this.." he thought, snapping the soldier's neck.
He dropped the lifeless body to the floor as the other guard recovered. The Saiyan slowly walked towards him as he reached for his gun. "You don't need that," Kalrot said, kicking it aside. The soldier gulped and backed away, drawing his sidearm. "Now you've done it! Surrender or I'll shoot!" he shouted. The Saiyan smirked, almost sinisterly. He shot his fist out, smacking the soldier to the ground. He followed that up by snatching the soldier up off of the floor and slamming him into the window that overlooked the arena. "Are you going to talk now?" he asked, threateningly.
"Never! I'd rather die than dishonor the Empire!" the soldier replied defiantly. "Fine. Have it your way," Kalrot said, blasting the glass out with a kiai. With that, he dangled the soldier out of it by the ankle. "Now. Tell me what I want to know. Judging by the fact that you needed that weapon, you can't use ki… And that means you can't fly..." he mused, allowing a wicked grin to cross his face. "Like I said! I'd die before I gave you any information!" the soldier replied, still defiant. "Fine. I guess you want to die," Kalrot said, loosening his grip a bit. The soldier slipped, his eyes widening. He let out a fearful scream, but still refused to cooperate. Kalrot rolled his eyes, preparing to try again.
Elsewhere, in the arena and the stands, the prisoners took notice of what was going on. "What's happening up there?" one asked. "Who knows. Looks like someone's attacking the place," another said. "Yeah," a third said. The others started to notice and started cheering, catching the attention of the announcer, who'd been too absorbed in calling the match to see what was happening. He turned to see Kalrot standing there, dangling a guard out of the window. "Who are you?" he asked, fearfully. "Your worst nightmare!" Kalrot answered, dropping the helpless guard to his doom at the hands of the prisoners in the arena.
The announcer backed away in fear as Kalrot sped over to him. The Saiyan gripped him by the shoulders and began interrogating him. "Where are the most recently captured prisoners?! The Emperor would've brought them here himself," Kalrot demanded. "I don't know! I just call the fights!" the announcer said, fearfully. "I believe you. Now get out of here before I change my mind!" Kalrot responded, letting him go. The announcer shot him a fearful look and ran away as fast as he could. Soon after, an explosion blew out another wall, revealing Tala and Magnus.
"Yo! You guys caught up!" Kalrot said. "Yeah. Racked up quite the kill count," Magnus said. "Heh. Yeah, these Arcadians try to shoot you on the spot," Kalrot replied, chuckling a bit. "There's a computer in the room we were just in. You can probably get the info you want off of it," Magnus replied. "Thanks. Can you guys do something crazy to cause a distraction? Like go over there and start freeing prisoners?" Kalrot asked.
"Sure," Tala said. "Good. Meet up with me when you're done," Kalrot said. The two Pyronians nodded and took off to accomplish their goal whilst Kalrot stepped through the hole they'd made in the wall. Inside the next room, he found several dead or maimed guards lying about, and an unlocked terminal. "That's what I'm looking for," he thought, walking over to it. He quickly started going through it, discovering a directory labeled 'prisoner logs,' and began snooping through it. After some searching, he found that his crew had been taken down a few levels. "Where's this 'Devastation Complex'?" he wondered, glancing up from the screen.
It was at that moment that he noticed that one of the soldiers that was slumped against the nearby wall was still breathing. So, he walked over, and yanked him up. Pinning the poor fool against the wall, he began his interrogation. "Where's the 'Devastation Complex'?!" he demanded.
"Five floors down, on level twenty! Please don't hurt me!" the soldier said, caving immediately. "Good. Now tell me how to get there!" Kalrot said. "There's an elevator over in the arena stands," the soldier said. "You'll need an access card. Take mine," he added, fearing for his life.
Kalrot nodded and dropped him, taking the card from the soldier's outstretched hand. He then turned on his heel and left, allowing the soldier a breath of relief. He quickly found his way to the elevator- though he had to knock out a few prisoners to get there. As he prepared to board the elevator, Kalrot heard a voice from behind. "Are you here to break someone out?" the voice asked.
Kalrot turned to see a slender, teal skinned alien woman. "Yes. Who are you exactly?" Kalrot said. "My name is Coriolis. A group of recent arrivals said that they were going to try and escape. They offered me a chance to escape with them," she said. "That sounds like my crew. Want to come with me?" Kalrot responded. "Yes. Just break these chains," Coriolis said, holding out her arms.
Kalrot nodded and effortlessly shattered the chain with his bare hands. She then rubbed her sore wrists for a moment before speaking again whilst the other prisoners engaged in a massive brawl with each other and the guards. "Can you break the one around my ankles too?" she asked. Kalrot nodded and fired a bolt of ki, destroying it. She stepped over it and stretched a bit before replying.
"Thank you," she said. "You're welcome. What are those for?" Kalrot asked. "They seal away your ki. To keep us prisoners from trying to escape," Coriolis explained. "Hmm. That poses a problem…" Kalrot said. "Yes, you'll likely have to free your friends this same way," she posited. Kalrot nodded. "Then let's go," he said, stepping into the elevator. She nodded and followed him, eager to escape.
"So, where are we going?" she asked. "Level Twenty," Kalrot said, activating the elevator. He decided to get on comms and check on the others. "Magnus- where are you?" he asked. "We did what you asked and freed the prisoners," Magnus responded. "And we're headed to find the others," Tala added. "Good. Then let me know when you find them," Kalrot answered.
"Alright. Will do," Magnus said, signing off. "What was that?" Coriolis asked. "Just checking in with some of my allies," Kalrot said. "Ah. So you didn't come here alone?" she responded. "Nope. This was crazy enough. Doing it alone would be insane," Kalrot said. "I can see why. This place is full of soldiers, and seems heavily defended outside," Coriolis said. "It is. We managed to get past the defenses, so here we are," Kalrot replied.
Elsewhere, in the communications hub…
Aria and Gradius fought their way into the communications hub. "These guys are defending this place pretty tough!" Aria said, blasting a few more guards away. "Yes. They don't seem to be keen on giving up," Gradius responded, taking a few out himself. More of this ensued as the two quickly disposed of the remaining guards and entered the room. "Now. Let's wreck this place," Aria said, blasting a terminal. "That seems like the most logical course of action," Gradius said. He then raised his hand and blasted another. "We should eliminate as many of these as possible. It would not be prudent to allow them to contact their fleet," he added.
Aria nodded. "I agree. That would be bad," she said. Gradius nodded, and they got to work, quickly managing to trash the room. "Let's go," Aria said, blowing a hole through the ceiling. Gradius nodded and flew through the hole with her.
"Hey! Where are you guys?" Tala asked over the comms. "On the third floor," Aria answered. "Alright. We're heading to you guys. Kalrot's going after his crew," Tala said. "He found them?" Aria asked. "Yes," Tala answered.
"Good. Then let's trash this place. Meet you on level four," Aria replied. "Okay. We can do that. Over," Tala said, signing off. "Did you get that?" Aria asked. Gradius nodded. "Then let's go," Aria said, sprinting off down a hallway. Gradius followed, checking to make sure they weren't followed.
In the warden's office…
Arcturus paced back and forth across the room, his panic having returned- this time even more intense than it had been before. "This needs to end! Right now!" he said. His aide prepared to reply, only to be cut off by a soldier rushing in.
"Sir! Outbound communications have been cut off!" he said. "What?" Arcturus responded. "Outbound communications have been cut off," the soldier repeated. "What's being done about it?" Arcturus asked, regaining a bit of professionality. "We sent a team to investigate," the soldier replied. "But it will likely be some time before we are able to restore them."
Arcturus nodded and took a deep breath, attempting to reassure himself. "I will gain control of this situation…" he thought. "Anything else?" the soldier asked, interrupting his musing. "No. You may leave," Arcturus answered. The soldier nodded and left the room, once more leaving Arcturus with his aide and the silence of his office.
"Has Lomar reported back yet?" Arcturus asked. "Yes. A few moments ago, he sent a message saying that he put the Devastation Complex on lockdown," the aide said. "This eases my nerves a little, but I'd feel more confident if we sent a couple squads down there to check it out," Arcturus said. "Right. Sending the message now," the aide said. Arcturus nodded and slunk back in his chair. That did a little to ease his nerves, but it was better than nothing.
Down on level twenty…
Lomar stood inside the security office, having locked down the Devastation Complex. "No one gets in or out of this level. Find the intruders!" he ordered, speaking over the intercom system, alerting all guards.
"They are considered extremely dangerous! Kill them on sight!" he added, signing off. "This is unprecedented… No one has ever attempted to attack this place before. And we can't contact the fleet because outgoing communications are down," he thought. "Damn it! This is extremely infuriating!"
At precisely that moment, a soldier came running into the room. "Sir! Elevator two is arriving soon!" he said. "That must be one of our intruders. Send a squad to ambush whoever gets out of it," Lomar ordered. The soldier nodded. "Any other orders, sir?" he asked. "Not at this time," Lomar said, turning back to the security feed. The soldier then saluted and left the room, leaving Lomar to his thoughts. He gritted his teeth, wondering who'd be stupid enough to attack this place.
And then a realization dawned on him- as if someone had dropped a block of solid katchin onto his head. Something that his latest torture subjects had all said: they had an ally whose fate they'd been unsure of. It all made sense now- that ally was, in fact, alive and coming to save them. This was his chance to end this crazy attack right here and now, which brought a smile to his face. "Soon…this will all be over," he thought. "I will deal with this foolish intruder myself."
Elsewhere, the elevator stopped at the bottom of the shaft, with the squad of guards there keeping their guns trained on the door. Inside, Kalrot cracked his knuckles, expecting another fight. "Coriolis, was it? Get ready," he said. "Right. Guards trying to kill us," she answered, taking a deep breath and raising her ki.
The doors opened shortly thereafter, and Kalrot rushed out, effortlessly taking out the squad of soldiers before they could even blink, let alone fire. Coriolis just stepped out of the elevator in shock. "Who is this guy?" she wondered. She shrugged and followed, noting that he was taking out guards left and right.
Even the ones capable of using their ki were unable to stop him, as he rushed forward like an unstoppable force of nature. "Stop right there!" one said, charging a ki wave. Kalrot simply glared at him and rushed forward with a ki blade over his hand. Before the soldier could even react, the Saiyan rammed the blade into his chest, inflicting a mortal wound.
He dissipated the blade and let the body fall as he rushed forward on his path of death and destruction- killing or maiming every Arcadian stupid (or suicidal) enough to stand in his way. Word of this quickly reached the security office as the Saiyan continued to cut a bloody swath through the Arcadian forces. The soldier from earlier ran inside to alert Lomar, who stood, silently watching the feed. "Sir! The intruder has exited the elevator and is currently slaughtering our men out there!" he said.
"I can see that," Lomar replied, not turning away from the screen. The soldier gulped, scared by Lomar's cold, callous tone. "What would you have us do?" the soldier asked. "Open the complex entrance. Let him come- I'll put him down myself," Lomar said. "Are you sure?" the soldier asked. "YES! NOW FOLLOW ORDERS, LIEUTENANT!" Lomar snapped. Intimidated, the soldier complied and left the room to carry out the order. "Spineless cowards…" Lomar thought, annoyed.
Elsewhere...
Kalrot came upon the entrance to the Devastation Complex, which was sealed tight. "They think this door's gonna stop me, do they?" Kalrot thought, raising his hand. "I'll just blow it open…" he mused, charging a ki wave. "You sure run fast!" Coriolis said, breathing heavily as she approached. Kalrot let out a small chuckle and prepared to fire. To his surprise, the door then opened, revealing a squad of nervous-looking Arcadians on the other side of it.
He then smirked and unleashed the blast, blowing them all away. "Idiots…" he thought, lowering his hand. "Is that all of them?" Coriolis asked, walking over. "Don't think so," Kalrot said. "Stay close if you want to get out of here alive."
The girl shook her head. "I get what you're saying, but I can take care of myself," she said. "Alright, then. Just don't die," Kalrot replied, taking off. "Wait…!" she said, before sighing and following him. Forming his ki blade, Kalrot slashed through several guards attempting to hit him with a barrage of ki blasts. Another squad bared down on him with energy rifles, only to meet the same fate. "None of these animals deserve any mercy…" he thought.
A few more darted out after him, guns drawn. Kalrot smirked, knowing what he had to do.
A few seconds later, several more guards lied dead, and he rushed deeper into the so-called 'Devastation Complex' as Coriolis followed at a distance, somewhat miffed that Kalrot was taking out all of the guards before she could catch up. In the security office, Lomar continued to silently observe the security feed. "He's heading for the interrogation wing…" he thought. A smile crossed his face as he went to gather as many men as possible to confront him there.
Kalrot came to a junction, noting that there were two doors, one on either side of the room. One was labeled 'Administration and Security Wing' and the other was labeled 'Interrogation Wing.' "It's obvious which one they're being held in…" Kalrot thought.
Coriolis caught up with him a few seconds later. "Trying to figure out where to go?" she asked. "Already figured that out. Just taking a breather," he said, turning to face the door. "This way," he said after a few seconds, raising his hand and charging a ki wave.
He unleashed the blast shortly afterwards, blowing the door away. He admired his handiwork for a few minutes and then charged ahead, leaving Coriolis exasperated once more. "I wonder if he's always like this?" she thought, charging after him. He fought his way through the guards, who were now massing to stop him, as per Lomar's orders. This caught the attention of his crew, who were stuck in the holding cell. "Is that Kalrot?" Rutaba asked, looking up.
"I think so.. Who else would be crazy enough to attack this place?" Cornalia responded. Rayna looked up at this, just in time to see a guard slammed against the ray shield holding them inside. An armor-clad figure could be made out engaging dozens of Arcadians at once, sending another flying into the shield. Said figure then unleashed a shockwave of ki, defeating the entire group at once.
The mysterious figure then finally stepped out of the shadows and into the light, revealing himself as Kalrot, alive and in the flesh. "That is Kalrot!" Rutaba shouted, able to see him better now that he was standing in the light. "Yo! Guys! Stay put. I'm going to get you out of there," he said, effortlessly taking out an Arcadian with the back of his fist. He turned and rushed back into the fray, dropping guards left and right, like some kind of force of nature.
As soon as Kalrot finished off all of the guards, he darted over to the cell. "How'd you even get here?" Rutaba asked. "No time for that," Kalrot answered, pressing a few buttons on the control panel. The shield dropped, and Rutaba stepped forward. "Are we getting out of here?" he asked. Kalrot nodded. "Where's Rayna?" he asked. "She's here," Rutaba said, his voice a bit…concerned. "What happened?" Kalrot asked. "The guy in charge of this place…" Rutaba replied. "He roughed us up pretty bad."
Kalrot looked up, noticing a nasty bruise on Rutaba's face. "This ain't the only thing he did," he said, noticing Kalrot's expression. He pulled his sleeves back, revealing what almost looked like scorch marks.
"What are those?" Kalrot asked, his anger beginning to boil up. "Burn marks. From this electric torture machine he ran most of us through," Rutaba said. "Rayna managed to spare the boys from that, but the guy in charge didn't take that well."
"I think he broke her arm," Spinak said, joining the conversation. "She cried all night from the sheer pain." Kalrot was practically shaking with a frothing rage at that, shoving past the two of them. His wife lay sleeping in the corner. He took in her generally battered state- the bruises, the burn marks from where she'd no doubt been shoved through whatever electric torture the others had been put through. Her right arm hung limply from the cot, clearly broken. A primal rage built up from within him as he noticed her shallow breathing. "Where's the bastard who did this?" he demanded, his tone full of vitriol.
Rayna stirred a few seconds later, struggling. Kalrot quickly shifted his hands, keeping her from falling. "I've got you," he whispered gently. "I'm so glad you're alive…" Rayna replied, her voice hoarse. Tears rolled freely from her eyes. He smiled at her. "You're alright now," he said. "Direct me to the guy in charge here. I'm gonna tear him apart with my bare hands."
Seeing as his sister was in no position to answer, Rutaba spoke up. "We don't know. We haven't seen him today," he said. Kalrot nodded. "I…thought…you were…dead…" Rayna managed to get out in between sobs. "I would've been, but some people found me. Now, we need to go. I'll explain later," he said. He quickly gestured for Spinak and Rutaba to join him. "You two! Carry Rayna for me. She's obviously in no condition to walk."
The indicated parties supported her much the same way they had the last time they'd moved her- after they'd first been brought down here. "I'm gonna choke the life out of the guy responsible for this…" Kalrot muttered. "Or perhaps beat him till he can't move and then end it?" A smile crossed his face as he thought of that one. "I think I'm gonna rip him to shreds… there won't be a body left to identify."
Supported by her brother and her brother-in-law, Rayna stared at her husband, refusing to take her eyes off of him. "Can we go get our stuff back?" Zora asked. "Yeah. Figured you'd ask that. Do you know where they took it?" Kalrot asked. "We found out about some vault where they take confiscated stuff," Zora answered. "Tell me about this vault. We'll head there now," he said.
Zora nodded. "We didn't get much. Just that it's on level twelve," she said. "Eight levels above this one, right?" Kalrot asked. "Yeah. At least according to the floor plan we found," Zora answered. "Alright," Kalrot said. "Everyone get ready. We're leaving." The group nodded, preparing to move out. Only for a dreaded, unwelcome voice to echo out from behind them. You aren't going anywhere," it said.
"Of course. Now you'd show up," Cornalia snapped. Kalrot turned his head to face the newly arrived Lomar, who was standing there, backed up by a few squads of soldiers. "So. You're the one in charge of this place?" he asked. Lomar nodded. "That is correct," he said. The Saiyan's anger returned in full force. "Rutaba, take Rayna, and get the hell out of here! All of you!" Kalrot ordered, stepping toward Lomar. A murderous look formed in his eyes as he spoke. "You. Are. A. Dead. Man."
Lomar flinched back, a bit unnerved as he recognized the Saiyan's face. "No…you're…" he stammered. "What? The Butcher of Sirius? The Harbinger of Blood?" Kalrot replied. "I haven't been that man in a long, long time…"
"But, then again…you've awakened something within me. The man I once was is locked away somewhere in my subconscious…and I just might let him out to play with you." Lomar again flinched, horrified at that prospect. The head guard got to his feet as Kalrot prepared to power up. "Are you ready to die?" Kalrot asked, the murderous look in his eye returning. Lomar rolled his eyes. "Please. You can't kill me!" he said, his fear replaced by anger. "I'll kill you! And I'll be celebrated!"
"Really?" Kalrot said, powering up right off the bat. Lomar checked his scouter as the lens lit up. "25,000!? This thing has to be broken!" he said, astounded. Coriolis rounded the corner and entered the room just in time to notice the soldiers. She stopped to watch for an opening, promptly ducking back around the corner to avoid being noticed. "You're going to pay!" Kalrot said, rushing forward, and landing a blow on Lomar's face, to cheers from his friends. As Lomar reeled back from the blow, Kalrot glanced at the others, particularly his wife.
"I told you guys to get the hell out of here!" he shouted. "We can't!" Rutaba said. "The only exit is past him!" Kalrot sighed. "Of course it is…" he grumbled. Cornalia stepped forward, smirking and cracking his knuckles. "I'm not going anywhere until this asshole gets his beating!" he said. "Tch. Fine. Just keep the others out of the crossfire, okay?" Kalrot responded. Cornalia nodded as he assumed his stance. Kalrot then rushed forward, launching into a barrage of potent blows aimed for his opponent's weak spots, taking the lead.
"Impossible! You cannot be equal to me!" Lomar cursed. "I am. Deal with it!" Kalrot replied, decking the Arcadian across the face, earning a cheer from Cornalia. "It doesn't matter if your power level is 5 or 1,000! If you can't fight worth a damn, you lose!" Kalrot snarled, kicking Lomar in the chest for emphasis.
The alien stumbled back, gasping for air as the Saiyan came in for another blow, striking him across the face. Kalrot drew back his fist for another attack, only for Lomar to catch it, to his surprise. Lomar followed that up with a knee to the chest, staggering him. That was followed by a series of blows that knocked the Saiyan off balance. Finishing off the series, Lomar jumped up into a kick, knocking Kalrot to the ground. The Saiyan jumped to his feet and wiped a bit of blood off of his face. "Not bad," he said, his voice a low growl.
Lomar winced in anticipation as Kalrot leapt forward, launching into a series of blows that forced Lomar to block or dodge them. Doing anything else risked taking a hit- and Kalrot would quickly take advantage. The furious melee continued for several minutes, with nothing really changing- until Lomar missed a block. And Kalrot promptly planted his fist in his face for his trouble.. The Saiyan followed that up with a kick to the chest, sending him staggering back.
Lomar recovered quickly, sprinting into battle. Kalrot smirked, blocking the attack with ease. "Die!" he snarled, unleashing a ki wave. Lomar crossed his arms, bracing himself. The attack washed over him, leaving his armor singed, and his body dirty.
"You're starting to get on my nerves, Saiyan!" Lomar said, angrily. "I could say the same for you," Kalrot retorted. Lomar's eyes narrowed, and he charged- this would not stand. Kalrot dodged the first blow, but took the second to the chest.
Lomar capitalized on Kalrot's brief stunned state to connect several more blows, only for Kalrot to respond with a kick to the crotch. Lomar stumbled backwards, in severe pain. Kalrot smirked, charging up a Light Cannon.
"EAT THIS!" he shouted, unleashing the blast. Lomar stared at the blast wide-eyed, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do about it. In the aftermath, Lomar's armor (and the accompanying undersuit) was mostly gone, shredded apart like paper. "That…actually hurt…" Lomar mumbled, covered in burns and scrapes.
Kalrot smirked confidently, staring him down. "Are you ready to give up yet?" he asked. "NEVER!" Lomar shouted, heading in for another barrage of punches. Kalrot dodged them all with ease and smacked Lomar back with a powerful right hook.
"You're starting to get on my nerves," Kalrot said. "And I think I'm going to end this soon!" Lomar flinched briefly, not knowing what to say in response. The dread he'd felt earlier returned as Kalrot unleashed a few powerful haymakers, dropping Lomar to his knees. Kalrot approached with a scowl as Lomar hauled himself back to his feet. The two combatants stared each other down for several seconds before either made another move. "I think this guy deserves a Light Piercer…" Kalrot mused. "How would I get the time, though…?" A smirk crossed his face as an idea dawned on him. "Hey, Cornalia? How'd you like a shot at this guy?" he asked.
Cornalia smiled, powering up. "I thought you'd never ask!" he replied enthusiastically, rushing into battle. He'd been waiting for a shot at Lomar, and this was his chance to take it. Kalrot smirked, channeling his ki into his fist to strengthen the next blow.
"STARDUST STRIKE!" he shouted, throwing the punch as Lomar crossed his arms to block. To the Arcadian's surprise, the blow hurt a lot more than the previous ones had. It had also sent him sliding back at least ten feet.
Kalrot smiled, jumping back and holding a pair of fingers out in front of his body, angled to the side slightly. He began gathering up his ki, preparing his Light Piercer, which was a sure kill if he got a straight shot. "I've got you!" Cornalia said, unleashing a Hammer Shot. Lomar recovered and deflected it, which damaged the surrounding area, destroying part of a wall. "STOP WRECKING MY FACILITY!" Lomar shouted, annoyed. "Like this?" Cornalia taunted, blasting the holding cell with another Hammer Shot, leaving it in ruins. "YES!" Lomar shouted, charging. Smirking, Cornalia unleashed two more, forcing Lomar to stop and block.
"You're very annoying!" he said, which only egged Cornalia on. "EAT THIS!" he shouted, unleashing another Hammer Shot. Lomar jumped back and evaded it as Cornalia fired off two more, forcing Lomar to block. "You suck as a guard, you know," Cornalia taunted, beginning a barrage of Hammer Shots, firing one from each hand. Lomar was thoroughly pinned on the defensive, being forced to deflect or dodge them. "Stop resisting!" Lomar demanded.
"Now, why would I go and do that?" Cornalia asked, sarcastically. "You see, you're no longer in charge here. Just shut up and take the beating!" Lomar found himself hard pressed to evade another volley of Hammer Shots, which further wrecked the facility.
He stopped to complain about that, but took another to the chest before he could retort. "Keep it up!" Kalrot thought, continuing to gather his ki. Cornalia continued to pelt Lomar with Hammer Shots, not caring about ki consumption. He'd waited all this time to put the arrogant piece of trash through the wringer. "Just a couple more minutes…" Kalrot thought, his attack nearly fully charged. "You know, you'll be dead soon," Cornalia said, unleashing another blast, which Lomar evaded.
"Preposterous," Lomar spat, deflecting the next one. "Are you sure about that?" Cornalia asked, catching Lomar off-guard. For once, the arrogant head guard had no response. "Silence. Like I expected. You Arcadian bastards never have any answers for the hard questions," Cornalia said, firing another shot.
Lomar, who was still in shock, took the blast to the chest once more, shredding away what was left of his armor and knocking him down. "I've got all I need!" Kalrot shouted. Cornalia nodded and ceased firing, taking a few steps back. Lomar recovered, noticing his scouter lighting up. He glanced up, seeing the orb of ki on Kalrot's fingers as the Saiyan pointed his firing hand straight out in front of him and braced it with his other hand. "You're finished!" he declared.
"I'll be the judge of that!" Lomar said, standing up and scanning the Saiyan with his scouter. "A power level of 28,000!? Impossible!" he shouted, rushing straight at Kalrot. "Heh…the fool's doing exactly what I wanted…" he thought. "LIGHT PIERCER!" he shouted, firing the shot. He realized his mistake at the last second, banking to the side.
The attack struck him in the left side, leaving him with a severe, but not immediately fatal, wound. "Eh," Kalrot said. "Not the direct kill that I'd wanted, but close enough."
Lomar gulped nervously as the Saiyan approached. He struggled to his feet, preparing to fight despite the wound he'd suffered sapping his strength away. Kalrot regarded him with a mixture of disgust and anger, quickly launching into a savage beating.
"This! Is! For! All! Of! My! Friends!" he snarled, pummeling the brutal Arcadian, beating him bloody. He hauled Lomar to his feet, kneeing him hard in the stomach. "And this is for my wife!" he growled, shattering the Arcadian's arm with a powerful kick. Lomar cried out in pain, stumbling back. "Now, you can either stand there and die quickly," Kalrot said, beginning to form another Light Piercer, or you can die slowly and painfully. Your choice."
Lomar did not respond, simply standing still- seemingly frozen in fear. "Heh. You chose wisely," Kalrot said. "This will be swift!"
Lomar recovered his senses a few seconds later, forming a blade of ki with his good hand. "You'll die today, Saiyan! Not me!" he sneered, charging him. Kalrot rolled his eyes as if he was bored, and fired his Light Piercer. Lomar realized that he was doomed no matter what- as he took the beam straight through the chest. He dropped to his knees, clutching the wound.
Kalrot dropped his hands, breathing heavily. "That's…what…you…get…" he panted. Lomar gave him a glare before speaking. "What was that?" he asked. "My ultimate technique. Designed to be able to defeat even an opponent stronger than me," Kalrot said. "And you ran right into it."
Lomar hung his head, realizing that he was right- and now his torso had a sizable hole in it. "There's no time for a medical team to get here, so…answer me this. How did you survive fighting my master?" Lomar asked. "Don't know. Guess he thought I was dead, because he left right after tossing me into a building," Kalrot said.
Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Lomar collapsed to the ground in a puddle of blood. "I told you to just let me take my allies and go, but you didn't take that chance. Serves you right to die alone, you monster," Kalrot said. Lomar gave him one last hateful glare and then expired, leaving Kalrot to tend to his allies. "So.. why that move?" Rutaba asked. "Because I wanted him to suffer just a fraction of the pain he put my wife through."
Rutaba gulped, not sure of how to respond. "And nothing else would have sufficed?" he asked, unsure. "No. Being disintegrated via Light Cannon was too good for him," Kalrot said. "He needed to die painfully." Rutaba immediately changed the uncomfortable subject. "Can we get out of here?" he asked. Kalrot nodded. "Alright. Let's get out of here," he said, blasting a hole through the ceiling. "What was that?" Coriolis asked, walking into the room. "A move that I spent a long time working on," Kalrot answered.
Coriolis nodded as Zora spoke up, surprised. "So you met our friend?" she asked. Coriolis nodded. "Of course he was looking for you guys," she said. "Wait? You guys know this girl?" Kalrot asked. "Yeah. Long story. Can we get out of here?" Zora responded. Kalrot nodded. "Let me contact my backup really quick…" he said, pressing the call button on his scouter. "Yo! Magnus, you guys there?" he asked.
"Yes. Where are you?" Magnus answered. "I found my allies. Meet me on level twelve," Kalrot said. "Alright. We're on level four, so we'll head up," he said. "We'll meet you there as well," Aria added. "Good! You guys found each other. Then I'll see you soon," Kalrot said. "Okay. Signing off," Magnus said, leaving the call.
Aria did the same a few seconds later as Kalrot closed the comm channel. "Let's go," he said, firing a blast through the ceiling. "Alright. We're on level twenty, so it's going to take a while to get up there," Kalrot said.
"Right," Rutaba said. "But it's gonna be hard for the three of us to get through that hole like this." Kalrot nodded, noting that Rayna was still being held up by Rutaba and Spinak, each supporting one side, with one of her arms around each of their shoulders. "I'll handle that," Kalrot said, taking his wife into his arms, bridal carry style.
Rayna wrapped her good arm around his shoulders as he prepared to move. "I'm not letting you out of my sight!" she said, laying her head against his chest. "I won't let you out of my sight, either," he said. "Come on, guys!" he said, flying through the hole he'd made, and continuing to blast more on the way up. The others shrugged and followed him up.
Eventually, the group made it up to level twelve, where they quickly found the vault entrance. As expected, it was sealed tightly, with none of them able to open it. Rutaba then asked the thing they'd all been thinking. "How are we going to get it open?"
Kalrot smiled. "Leave that to me," he said. "Can you stand for a few seconds?" he asked, directing his attention to Rayna. His wife nodded, and he quickly shifted his arms, allowing her feet to hit the floor. He braced her body with one arm, allowing her to lean against him as he raised the other. He quickly fired off a Light Cannon, making short work of the door.
"Well, that's one way to do it.." Rutaba snarked, noting that the door was now gone. Kalrot smirked, picking Rayna back up and making his way inside. Kalrot smirked and walked inside, holding onto Rayna once more. They ran inside, quickly finding their stuff, haphazardly thrown into a few crates close to the entrance. "Quickly, now. Get changed so we can leave this place," Kalrot said. The others nodded, grabbing their armor and equipment, and took turns darting around the corner to change. When it came to Rayna's turn, Kalrot walked her around the corner himself, knowing that she needed the help. She could barely stand on her own, and he was not about to leave her on her own.
"Can you help me?" she asked. Kalrot nodded, helping remove the prison jumpsuit. He surveyed her bare body, noting the sheer amount of bruises and burn marks. "That guy…" he growled. "Deserved worse than what I gave him…"
"It's...fine…" Rayna said, preparing to slip her armor's undersuit back on. "No," he said. "It's not fine. You're going right in a healing pod when we get back." Rayna nodded as he helped her get the undersuit on. "I don't know if I'm going to be able to get my gauntlets back on," she said. "My arm is a little swollen."
"I see that," Kalrot said. "But wearing it like a makeshift cast might help." Rayna nodded as Kalrot helped her slip her chest plate back on, followed by her right gauntlet, leg plating, and armored boots. Last was her right gauntlet, which fit back on, to their surprise. "Does it hurt?" he asked. "No," she replied. Kalrot nodded, picking her back up and carrying her back around to where the others were. He quickly turned to Rutaba, who was watching them closely. "Hold your arms out," he said.
Rutaba nodded and did so, confused. "Why-" he began, but was unable to finish before Kalrot dropped his sister into his arms, helping her get her good arm around his shoulders. "This is deeply uncomfortable," he said.
"Don't be dramatic," Kalrot said. "Just hang on to her while I scout out the area."
Rutaba nodded begrudgingly as Kalrot left. "Why me…?" he wondered. "Because you're my brother," Rayna said. "Not one of his friends- or his brother." Rutaba sighed, resigned to his fate. "That doesn't mean I have to like it," he said. "Holding you like this is weird." Rayna chuckled. "Kalrot has a weird sense of humor," she said. "But him holding me like this is sexy."
"And me doing it is just weird," Rutaba said, annoyed. "Just hold me like this until he gets back," Rayna replied. "Or he'll be mad at you." "Yeah," Spinak said, joining the conversation. "Me holding my brother's wife like that would be even weirder. Which is why he picked you."
"But why not Cornalia, Parsel, or Kallot in that case?" Rutaba asked. "You're her brother. That's why," Spinak sighed. "I'm finding it hard to believe that's the only reason," Rutaba said. "Ask him when he comes back. That's guaranteed to be the only reason." Rutaba sighed again. "Fine."
Spinak nodded, a satisfied smile creeping across his face.
Outside, Kalrot found a group of Arcadians waiting for him. About twelve of them, all weaklings holding ray guns. "You really want to fight me?" he asked, noting the nervous looks on their faces. They didn't back down, keeping their weapons trained on him. "For the Empire!" one shouted, leading the others into battle. He let out a sigh and sprang into action.
Within seconds, a dozen men laid on the ground, defeated. He wasn't sure that some of them were still breathing… He'd hit them harder than he meant to. However, he didn't have much more time to think, as another wave of them quickly descended upon him. One massive brawl later, there were a dozen more soldiers lying defeated. "These guys don't know when to give up, do they?" he thought, observing the dead or maimed soldiers lying around the area. "I did say that any Arcadian I found was going to die…."
He then noticed a third wave approaching him, and then sighed internally. "How many of these guys are left? I swear I killed a hundred of them just getting in here.." he thought. Nonetheless, he sprang into action once more, adding a third group of soldiers to the pile. This went on for a few more minutes, with the soldiers progressively getting tougher as they went.
By the time he was finished, there were easily a hundred bodies scattered around. The others stepped outside just as he blasted another soldier through a wall. "Why are there so many of these losers..?" he thought, exasperated. The others stepped out just as he did so, catching his attention. "Yep." Rutaba said. "Now take your wife back."
Kalrot chuckled, taking Rayna back into his arms. "Why'd it have to be me?" Rutaba asked, crossing his arms across his chest. "Because you're her brother," Kalrot replied, bluntly. "That's literally the only reason."
Spinak shot him an 'I told you so' look, and Rutaba sighed. "Not a word," he said. Spinak nodded, stifling a laugh. Kalrot started to say something else but was interrupted by his wife once more wrapping her arm around his shoulders. "I thought I'd lost you.." she muttered, holding back her tears. "It's okay.." he said, softly. "I'm here now."
Comet Squadron arrived soon after, interrupting the moment. "Kalrot! Are we ready?" Magnus asked. "Yeah. Let's go!" Kalrot said. "These are your new friends?" Rutaba asked, stepping up. "Yeah. I'll explain everything when we get to the ship," Kalrot answered. "It's weird. We didn't see a single Arcadian on the way here," Aria said. "That is odd," Kalrot said. "Right?" Aria responded. "That's suspicious. Be on your guard," he said.
Everyone present nodded (minus Rayna, who was still in no condition to do anything), and they headed out- straight to the landing pad. Kalrot found it strange that the place was empty as they exited, heading to the landing pad and their ship. There was no fight, no nothing. Just the group from inside rendezvousing with Aldous and Commodus at the ship with the rescued prisoners.
"Commodus! Go get the ship ready, we're leaving!" he said. Commodus nodded and headed inside, gesturing for Aldous to follow, with his compatriot doing so and heading inside. "You guys go on and get into the ship. It's really suspicious that it was this easy," Kalrot said, eyeing the building. His group, minus Rayna, who was too busy clinging to his side, unwilling to let him out of her sight, headed aboard the ship. "I agree. That seemed far too easy…" Magnus said.
"Right you are.." an unfamiliar voice said. Kalrot spun around, noticing a short, but muscular, alien accompanied by a squad of Arcadian elites. "I am Warden Arcturus. And I do not appreciate this little prison break you've organized," he said. "Well, blame your boss. He really should've made sure I was dead…" Kalrot responded.
"You dare insult our emperor in such a manner?! My family has served his family and ran this prison for generations! You will not besmirch our honor!" Arcturus shouted, angered. "There's no honor in serving someone so evil. Bring it!" Kalrot shouted. "Shall the woman also fight?" Arcturus asked. "No." Kalrot said, turning to his wife. "Can you get yourself inside?" he asked. Rayna nodded. "I think," she replied.
Kalrot nodded, setting her down. "Go inside. I'll be there soon." She nodded apprehensively, walking up the boarding ramp, her steps slow and wobbly. Nonetheless, she made it to the top of the ramp, stopping to give him one last look before going inside.
"Magnus, you guys can keep the ship from getting damaged, right?" he asked. Magnus nodded. "Yes. Why?" he said. "Because.. I've got to teach this moron a lesson," Kalrot said, stepping forward. "And what would that be?" Arcturus asked, somewhat annoyed. "Don't mess with my family!" Kalrot shouted, powering up.
The warden was caught off guard by this as Kalrot rushed him, pushing him back. He had no idea how powerful the warden was, as he'd not bothered to check his scouter before flying into battle. "I killed your stupid torture technician, and I'm gonna kill you!" Kalrot said, pummeling him with everything he had. He continued to press the assault, kicking Arcturus through a wall. The Saiyan smirked, confident that he'd won, before turning to the soldiers. "You guys can run now," he said. They didn't seem intimidated, though. Kalrot was surprised, though he couldn't dwell on that as they attacked him soon after.
They weren't that tough, though- and he defeated them all with ease. Soon after, though, he was sucker punched from behind, sending him falling down to the landing pad. Kalrot recovered, turning to see Arcturus there, powered up. "So. You're not done yet," Kalrot said. "No. And I will make you pay for that. Of course you were the reason Lomar hadn't reported in," the warden responded.
Kalrot smirked. "I'd like to see you try," he said. Incensed, Arcturus charged him, attempting to land a blow. Kalrot just dodged him, before responding with a kick to the face, sending him flying back into the prison, creating another hole in the wall near the first one.
"Eat this! LIGHT CANNON!" Kalrot shouted, unleashing the beam- which destroyed a good chunk of the building. "That should've done it…" he thought. This was quickly proven wrong as Arcturus blasted out of the rubble, looking a little worse for wear. "DIE, SAIYAN!" he shouted, unleashing a massive ki wave. Kalrot crossed his arms to block as the blast hit him. Once the attack finished, it was clear that Kalrot was still there. His arms were slightly singed but he had otherwise suffered no damage. "Is that all?" Kalrot asked.
Arcturus began backing away, scared. "Light Bullet!" Kalrot shouted, launching yet another attack. Arcturus attempted to block the orb, which exploded in his face, inflicting significant damage. "You little pest…" he grumbled, before firing another ki wave at the Saiyan.
Kalrot smirked and deflected the blast, sending it into the prison, destroying another large part of it. "STOP WRECKING MY PRISON!" Arcturus shouted, rushing him. Kalrot didn't say anything, and promptly kicked him aside. He then approached the warden, staring the alien down the entire time.
"Are you going to do it?" Arcturus asked. "Nope. Just this.." Kalrot responded. "What do you mean?" Arcturus asked, confused. "This!" Kalrot said, raising his leg, before slamming it down into the alien's knee, shattering it. Arcturus cried out in pain. "Good. Now you're useless in a fight…" Kalrot said, picking him up. Arcturus struggled to escape his grasp but found that he couldn't. The Saiyan tossed him through the entrance gate, before raising his hand, destroying it- which pinned Arcturus under rubble.
He powered down and turned around, heading back to the ship. "I'll leave your boss to deal with you. If my hunch is correct, you won't be around to menace me again," he said. Arcturus had no response to that, simply staying quiet as the Saiyan disappeared up the ramp. Magnus and the others followed him inside, astounded at his ruthlessness. They took off shortly thereafter, with Commodus acting as co-pilot, since Rayna was still in no condition to do so. He had dropped her in a healing tank, leaving her brother to watch over her. Spinak stepped onto the bridge a few seconds later. "Rayna's awake," he said. "She's asking for you." "Alright," Kalrot said. "Go tell her that I'll be there soon. And send Rutaba up here. I'll need someone to take over up here."
"Alright," Spinak said. "Was there anything else?" he asked. "Nah," Kalrot replied. "That's it."
Spinak nodded, turning and departing the bridge.
Elsewhere, inside the prison…
A lone communications officer managed to get a signal out. The inmates had all stolen back their stuff and then hijacked Arcadian ships to escape, meaning the prison was well and truly finished, rendered useless. Headquarters picked up, though it was only High General Jafar. Hoarfrost was off fighting some rival 'empire' in some remote corner of the universe. "What is it?" Jafar asked, noting the transmission's origin point. "The prison was attacked! The prisoners have escaped.." the soldier said. "WHAT?!" Jafar said, astounded.
"Please.. You must inform Lord Hoarfrost at once.. The Saiyan who attacked us killed a lot of our men.. We don't have the supplies nor the medical staff to deal with our dead and injured.." the soldier begged. "Yes. I agree. He will want to hear of this…" Jafar said. "Your attacker. Was he alone?" he asked.
"No. He had help. A team of mercenaries was with him. Their objective was to extract a group of recent arrivals.. And they succeeded. The other inmates took the chance to escape.." the soldier finished. "Good. I will contact the emperor immediately," Jafar said, cutting the soldier slumped back in his chair, relieved. "Glad that's over.." he thought.
Arcadian HQ...
At the Arcadian headquarters, Jafar opened a priority channel to Hoarfrost's flagship. "Pick up…" he thought, nervously. The line picked up shortly thereafter, but it was only Barak. "Jafar? Why are you calling? Did something happen?" he asked. Jafar nodded. "Yes. I have urgent news. Is Lord Hoarfrost there?" he asked. "His shuttle just returned. Why?" Barak responded. "Arcturus Spire was attacked," Jafar answered. "What?!" Barak asked, shocked. "Yes. That's what I said," Jafar responded. "Right. I will inform the Emperor at once," Barak said, walking away.
A few minutes later, Hoarfrost appeared on the holo feed, accompanied by Barak. "You say there is urgent news?" he asked. "Yes. I received an S.O.S transmission from Arcturus Spire. They were attacked," Jafar said. "WHAT! WHEN!" Hoarfrost demanded, enraged.
"Not too long ago, apparently," Jafar responded, nonchalantly ignoring his master's outrage- he was used to the reaction at this point. "What would you have me do?" he asked. "Gather the requested medical personnel and supplies. I want all of the survivors questioned," Hoarfrost said. "Yes, my lord," he responded.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some planning to do," Hoarfrost said, cutting the transmission. Jafar took a deep breath and turned to face the soldier standing guard at the office's entrance. "Relay some orders for me," he said. The soldier nodded and prepared to receive them.
Aboard the Quasar…
Kalrot's team met with Comet Squadron in the common area. Introductions were in order, after all. The two teams spent some time talking and becoming acquainted. "Zora?" Magnus asked, surprised. "That's me, Magnus." she said, leaning against Spinak. "How are you doing? You're just as beautiful as I remember," he said, much to Tala's chagrin.
"And you're just as sappy as I remember," Zora responded. "I missed you for a long time. And I still do to some extent," Magnus said. "I didn't." Zora answered bluntly. "Wait- you dated this guy?" Spinak asked, surprised. "He's entirely not your type."
"I did. A long time ago. When I first got in the Alliance military- before I'd left Pyron." Zora answered, seeming a bit annoyed. "And you broke up?" Spinak asked. "Yes. And I'm not going back," she said, kissing him just to spite Magnus.
"He's kind of naive.." she said. "Hey! Not anymore!" Magnus said. "Yeah. And you have me, remember?" Tala said, annoyed at his attempt to hit on his ex. "Oh.. sorry, forgot about you being here…" he said, attempting a sheepish apology. "Whatever. You know what you were doing," Tala said, turning away from him. The others broke out into laughter, finding all of this to be hilarious, which only further embarrassed Magnus. "Well, that didn't go well.." Aldous said, poking at his leader. "Yeah, yeah.. Clown me further, why don't you.." Magnus responded, sarcastically.
As this all went down, Rutaba stared at Aria the whole time, finding her extremely attractive. "You single?" he asked, unable to avert his gaze. "Maybe.. But not for someone like you.." she responded. "Ouch.. Why reject me so harshly..?" he asked. "Because I think that your boss is more attractive than you, and he's got a wife.." she said. "That's brutally honest.." Rutaba responded. "It's true. Prove yourself, and maybe I'll think about it." she said. "Alright, Aria. You've got yourself a deal. Next time we meet," Rutaba said, nodding. "Good. If you want to be with me, don't disappoint.." she said.
"Hey, guys? I hate to interrupt, but I could use a drink," Cornalia said. "What was that, anyway?" Kallot asked, laughing. "My attempt at impressing a Saiyan woman," Rutaba answered sheepishly. "You know, it takes more than that to earn the respect of Saiyan women," Cornalia said, piquing Aria's interest. "Yeah, I know that.." Rutaba said. "Yeah? Then try harder if you want her," Kallot said, laughing.
"You laugh at me now.. Just you wait! I'll have her all to myself!" he said. "Yeah right…" Cornalia teased. "Listen. The most surefire way to get the attention of a Saiyan girl is to beat her in a fight," Cornalia said. "Really?" Rutaba asked. "Yeah. It's how I convinced Yasa to give me a shot way back when.." Cornalia responded. "Yasa?" Pyrus asked. "Long story. Involves our past- those memories are kind of painful for him to think about," Rutaba said. "I understand," Pyrus replied. "Tell you what- since you're one of us now. Let's go get a drink, and I'll tell you," Cornalia said. "Are you sure?" Pyrus asked. "Certain," Cornalia answered. "Then someone get up there and tell Kalrot. I could use a drink," Zora said.
Aria chuckled. "I could get along with you," she said. Zora smiled. "I get that a lot," she said, electing a laugh from Aria. They walked away to talk for a bit while the others kept up their conversation. "I'll go talk to Kalrot," Rutaba said, heading off to the elevator.
Up on the bridge, Kalrot and Commodus expertly piloted the ship up out of Arcturus' atmosphere. "I doubt that trick from before is gonna work a second time," Commodus said. "I agree," Kalrot responded. "What are we going to do, then?" Commodus asked. "We fight. When I said that I've done modifications to this thing, I meant it!" Kalrot answered.
"Are you sure? That's crazy!" Commodus responded. "Really? We just attacked the most heavily guarded prison in the universe, and you think fighting our way through one fleet is crazy?" Kalrot asked sarcastically. Commodus sighed. "When you put it that way…" he said. Kalrot smiled.
"That's the spirit!" he said, bringing up the deflector shields. "Should we man the turrets?" Commodus asked. "Yes. One hundred percent," Kalrot said. Commodus nodded and got on the intercom. "Anyone available, get to the turret deck!" he said, causing the others to scramble. "Who wants to go?" Cornalia asked.
"I will!" Zora said, stepping back over to the others. "That ladder there!" he said, pointing it out. "Who else?" he asked. "I will," Aria said, walking over. "Okay. Then get to it!" he said. Aria nodded and followed Zora down the ladder. They quickly donned the comms headsets and got into position. "What are we doing?" Zora asked.
"Good. You're there," Kalrot said. "We're going to have fight our way past the defense fleet," he added. "Great… just great," Zora answered. "Relax. It's not that big," Kalrot said. "Define 'not that big'," she responded. "It's just a few light cruisers and one frigate. Probably a fighter screen too," Kalrot said. "Nothing that we can't handle." "Fine," Zora sighed, "Let's get this over with." "You sound like you're backing down," Aria said, sounding excited. "I'm not!" Zora responded, not going to be outdone.
Up on the bridge…
Kalrot was quickly informing Commodus of more of the ship's weapons ahead of the coming battle. "So you already know about the ship's heavy batteries. But we also have missile launchers," he said. "We do?" Commodus asked. Kalrot nodded. "You see that green button next to the firing controls for the cannons?" he asked. "Yes," Commodus answered. "That's how you fire them. They use the same targeting system as the cannons," Kalrot said. Commodus nodded and got ready to use them if necessary. Soon enough, they fully exited the planet's atmosphere and flew into space, coming up on the rear of the fleet, which was small as Kalrot described. "Hey guys?" Kalrot asked.
"Yes?" Zora answered. "Get ready to fire those turrets. As soon as they realize we're here, there will probably be fighters coming at us," he said. "Alright. Getting ready," Zora said, signing off. Kalrot glanced over to Commodus. "Get ready to target their engines with the missile launchers. We don't need them following us," Kalrot said. Commodus nodded and targeted the first cruiser's engines. "Green button, right?" he asked.
Kalrot nodded. "Green button," he said. Commodus nodded and pressed it, unleashing a pair of missiles, successfully disabling the cruiser's engines. "Now open fire!" he shouted, aiming the cannons. Commodus nodded and assisted him, inflicting significant damage. Aboard the Arcadian vessel, they noticed the sudden damage.
"What's happening?" the ship's commander asked. "We're being attacked! We've lost engine power!" a soldier answered. The commander prepared to give an order, only for a missile to strike the bridge, destroying it. "Nice shot!" Kalrot said, watching as the cruiser went down, crashing into another below it.
"Thanks," Commodus answered, firing on another, inflicting significant damage.
Aboard the Arcadian flagship, the fleet commander noticed the action going on. "What's happening?" he asked. "The fleet's under attack," one of his subordinates answered. "Deploy fighters and move us into range to fire on the enemy vessel," he ordered. The subordinate nodded and sent out a fleet wide message to deploy fighters as the ship began turning to face its target.
On the Quasar's bridge, Kalrot prepared another attack, having now destroyed three of the seven light cruisers. "Let's keep it up! Fire off another volley!" he said. Commodus nodded and fired the main batteries yet again, damaging the cruiser that they were now side by side with. "Shields are holding," Commodus said. "Good. Keep up the bombardment," Kalrot said.
The elevator arrived on the bridge shortly thereafter, and Rutaba ran in. "What's going on?" he asked. "We're having to fight our way through the Arcadian fleet here so that we can have a clear path to jump. What's up?" Kalrot responded. "Well, the others wanted to stop off somewhere and have a drink to unwind," Rutaba answered. "Good idea! But it'll have to wait!" Kalrot responded, having the guns fire another volley as several squads of fighters approached from the cruisers that weren't in range, as well as the ones from the frigate.
"Bridge to turret deck! We need you to be ready!" Commodus said. "Right. We see them," Aria responded. "Good. Be ready. Over," Commodus said, signing off. "Fire a missile at their bridge!" Kalrot ordered as he began pulling around to engage the fighters. Commodus nodded and fired, destroying the bridge of the ship they'd been fighting. "We're engaging!" Zora said.
Good! Don't let them get close! We still have a frigate to get through!" Kalrot replied. "Got it!" Zora answered, signing off. "Rutaba, can you get over to the radar terminal and monitor those fighters?" Kalrot asked. "Yeah," Rutaba said, jumping into the side chair. "According to radar, there are twenty of them approaching rapidly," Rutaba said.
"Alright. Can you get the headset on and direct our turret operators?" Kalrot asked. "Yes sir!" Rutaba responded, throwing the headset on, and carrying out the order. Zora and Aria began easily nailing the fighters with Rutaba's direction, using the radar to inform them of the fighters' positions.
"Hey, Rutaba, is that all of them?" Zora asked. "No. There's another wave incoming. You're doing great, guys! Keep going," Rutaba answered. "Right. Let's keep it up, then," Zora replied, signing off. "How's it going?" Kalrot asked. "Good! They've taken out the first wave, and are working on the second wave," Rutaba answered. "That's good. Keep up what you're doing!" Kalrot responded.
Rutaba nodded and resumed monitoring the radar. "Commodus, focus all fire on that frigate! We need to get past it if we're going to get out of here!" Kalrot said. "Right. Adjusting targeting parameters… locking on…firing!" Commodus responded. Aboard the enemy vessel, the Arcadian fleet commander took note.
"Divert all unnecessary power to shields," he said. One of the bridge crew nodded and began doing so. "Ready our weapons!" he ordered another, before returning his gaze to the main window, observing the battle. "They're not slowing down, sir," one of the bridge crew said. "I can see that. Open fire!" he called back. The crewman nodded and carried out that order, spinning up the guns.
"Alright! Get ready, Commodus! Prepare the missile launchers! Hit 'em with everything we have!" Kalrot said. Commodus nodded and started carrying out that order as their cannons continued to pelt their shields. This induced panic in the Arcadian defenders aboard the frigate. "Sir! Our shields are at 5%!" one bridge crewman said.
"Then destroy them already!" the commander snapped. "That's the problem, sir! We can't!" the crewman answered. "Why not?" he asked. "Our weapons are at full power, and they aren't doing a thing to their shields!" the crewman replied. "Then get us out of the way!" he ordered. The crew began rushing to carry that out, but the order came too late, as a pair of missiles struck the bridge, destroying it.
Kalrot smiled and breathed a sigh of relief as the ship crashed out of their way. "Disengage the weapons systems. We're clear!" Kalrot said. "Right!" Commodus answered, shutting down the batteries as they prepared to jump. "How quickly could we get to Arbol?" Kalrot asked. "If we jump now? A few hours," Commodus answered.
"Then do it!" Kalrot said. Commodus nodded and began inputting the coordinates. "At this speed, a warp jump would take us there much quicker than when we went from there to here," he said. "Good. That will burn a lot of fuel, but it has to be done," Kalrot said, engaging the warp drive. "Jumping in 3…2…1!" Commodus called, initiating the jump, leaving the pursuing fighters in the dust.
"Where are we going?" Rutaba asked. "To Alliance territory. The Arcadians won't follow us there," Kalrot said. "Full speed jumps are dangerous!" Commodus said, admonishing Kalrot for the risky move. "I know, but we needed to get out!" Kalrot responded. "And it depletes our fuel reserves much faster than otherwise," Commodus said, annoyed. "Knew that too," Kalrot said. "Hey, Rutaba, come here and take over," he said, changing the subject. "Where are you going?" Rutaba asked. "To go see Rayna," Kalrot answered, getting up. "I'll be back in a little bit," Kalrot said.
Rutaba nodded and slipped into the pilot's chair. "Just keep us on course?" he asked. Kalrot nodded and walked over to the elevator, leaving the bridge. He made his way to the medical bay, finding Rayna lying in one of the beds. Her armor laid in a plie near the bed. "Hey there," he said. She smiled, looking up at him. "Are you doing better?" he asked. "Yeah," she said. "Soaking me in that healing tank fixed most of it. But I'm a long way from being entirely back to normal."
"Would you object to going back to our room with me?" he asked. "Not at all," she said, slipping out of the bed. "Let's go." Kalrot nodded as he put his arms around her. "Would you like me to carry you again? It might be fun."
Rayna chuckled. "Nah," she said. "I'm good enough to walk on my own now."
"How's your arm?" Kalrot asked. "Better," Rayna said. "It still hurts, but I can at least use it again." Kalrot nodded again. "Are you ready, then?" he asked. Rayna nodded. "Yeah. We can go now," she said. "Then let's go," Kalrot replied.
Kalrot awoke a couple of hours later, holding her in his arms. The time she'd spent in the medical capsule had entirely healed her bruises, burns, and scrapes. He smiled as she peacefully slumbered, resting her head on his chest.
They'd had a little fun earlier, and had quickly drifted off to sleep in each other's arms. Kalrot shifted his arms slightly and went back to sleep himself, deciding that he wasn't gonna bother her any. He was just glad that she wasn't having any nightmares or the like.
But there was a dread in the back of his mind- he'd threatened to let something long buried back out. And he wasn't sure that what he had said was true or not. He desperately hoped that it was not.
And there we have it! The end of the Arcturus Spire arc. Next time, a short breather before the Star Raider arc begins! And then, after that, we're going to finally resolve the Sadala plot that the story started with!
Following that, we're gonna move on, right into the next saga. So buckle up, because it's almost time for the next one to start! Just don't expect them to come out fast- I'm a really slow writer sometimes, especially considering that I have multiple stories that I'm doing all at once.
This story is intended to share continuity with A Saiyan's Pride, but neither of them have reached a point where a crossover is yet possible- the biggest hurdle being that the Warriors cast has yet to end up on Earth. Which will happen eventually, it's just that I haven't gotten there. I'm still looking forward to Kalrot's interactions with Bardock. I feel that they'll be fun to write, when I get there. But that's putting my cart before the horse, so to speak. So we'll just have to wait for now!
As usual, signing off!
-Robbtastic01.