IC Posting Section

After Elprede went back inside Pyro sighed. Then he went back inside the ship and started heading back to his room. As walked by the room Elprede and the sayains he heard his name be said. Pyro paused for a second before decide to check one what was going on inside. "Speak of the devil and he will appear. So what is this meeting you all are having here about exactly?" Pyro asked as he stepped into the room.


Pyro room was starting to get littered with bottles as the crewmember lept on drinking the bottles. "Pyro is going to kill us..." One crew member said.


"Yep, so lets keep drinking until we won't feel the pain." another said deeply drunk.


@Deathrattle BB @ChoShadow @KingHink
 
Era chuckled at Elprede's response, and it was then that Pyro popped in at the door.


"Oh, there you are." Era said.


She stood up.


"To put it simply, I was elected as the leader of the Saiyans who remain when it comes to how we conduct ourselves in battle from now on. Up until now we've basically been fighting blind. No plan. No coordination. Nothing. Just do whatever, and we realized that with our enemies as organized and dangerous as they are that we can no longer fight like that or what happened to me last time will happen to someone else. And next time we might not be able to bring them back." She said, taking a breath.


"So I've been coming up with a few ideas for how we can better coordinate in battle, and I was wondering if you'd have any objections to being a part of this effort. Whether we like each other or not really makes no difference, as we're now fighting the same war on the Darkhoods. Even if you don't participate with us directly, I'd at least like it if you could coordinate something with me in regards to how we handle your presence on the battlefield so nobody steps on your toes and you don't step on ours."


She paused a moment, letting him take it in.


"So what do you say? Would you be willing to put aside whatever quarrel you have with Valkyrie and whatever other grudges you may have with the rest of us to work together just enough to prevent a needless death or potentially fatal injury in battle?" She asked.


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"Congratulation of become the boss of two elite saiyans. Moving up in the universe and such." Pyro said smiling when Era was pausing for a breath. Then he listened to what Era had to say about coordinating with each other during battle and how to put his grudges with Valkyrie aside. "I only have a problem with the super dirty monkey and the rest of you haven't gotten on my nerves as much. If you AND the others respect my authority on the ship and my crew themselves then I'm fine with coordinate with you on battle strategies. " Pyro stated.


Meanwhile in Pyro's room there was bottles littered all over the floor and the crew members were passed out. Another crew member walked by the room and sighed when he looked in. He knew what Pyro was going to do and started counting the bottle drunk and started figuring out how much money they were going to have to pay Pyro for there little binge.


@Deathrattle BB @ChoShadow @KingHink
 
"So when will you be leaving?" Fae asked. The siblings were backnowledge in their room. Well. Fae's room. Faero still had to stay in the med bay. 


"Once Jorn and Sheon are fit enough to travel. I will be taking them with me." He answered as he stared out the viewport into space. Fae on the other hand was going through some simple forms. Moving slowly and meaningfully. More dancy and flowy than most people would think her to do. She didn't particularly like the style, but it did well to keep the stiffness of yesterday's training at bay.


"I am not sure what state Metahn will be in upon my return. If word has traveled that Era and Valkyrie have become super saiyans as well, I would like to know where he stands on the matter. It would be very enlightening as to his motivations. For now, it is best to assume that his reaction will be that of animosity." Faero explained.


"Do you think he is really a super saiyan?"


"Yes. To a degree. He doesn't seem to be held back by the genetic limiter. Maybe he was born that way, like Era and Valkyrie. If the faux limiter gene is directly linked to their bloodline, then he very well could be related to them. Another theory would be that it is untrue, and other saiyans could be born with it. If that is the case, who knows how many have that potential. If it took some sort of activation, there could be many who don't know and never will. Or, he could have bypassed the limiter like you did. Which would begin the question where did he get the blood to do so. Otherwise... he either isn't as saiyan as we thought, or the genetic limiter isn't as absolute as we thought. This is just speculation. I will devote my attention to finding out more when I arrive."


"Was father taking it well?"


"In a manner of speaking. He and mother respect power. But they are not so stupid as to follow someone blindly, regardless of their strength. They share my cynicism but we shall how it plays out. I will be giving them the full report. But to others, I may have to report you having died or went missing during the Hokay mission. To that end, I want you to stay away from Jorn and Sheon when they wake." 


Fae paused midform as he mentioned the reporting to their parents. 


Faero looked over his shoulder with a small smile. "For once, I think they will be quite happy with you and very disappointed in me. They will certainly be quite sore about seeing me in this condition. As for you... well... I think they may very well feel pride in you for the first time, finally rising to appropriate Faerari heights and possibly even taking the family name beyond."


His words did not sting her pride. She expected such things from him. Yet, what did feel unexpectedly unpleasant was that thinking they would feel pride in her. Yes. It was something she wanted but... thinking on it... it made her feel very awkward. It was hard to imagine things being any different than they used to.


Faero chuckled at the silence. He expected such a reaction. "As for me, I expect you to be a super saiyan when you do return. We can't have the Faerari name be outdone, can we?" He said as he started walking to the door.


He stopped at the door as it opened. "I will have some things for you to practice before I leave. Some of my personal techniques. I do not want to leave you empty handed. I'm know you are competant enough to make good use of them. As for now, just get some rest." He said and shut off the light before leaving.


As the door closed, she was left there standing in darkness. Things... have really changed. She sighed and lowered her arms. 


She moved her way to her bed and sat down on it. She looked down at her hands, her eyes adjusting to be able to see them with the faint amount of starlight. She was getting stronger. She could feel it even now. It was something she wanted so bad... yet the thought of suddenly thinking what her parents would think left her uneasy. It shouldnt, but it did. And Faero... it was just like him to take everything in stride. But he did seem genuinely happy for her. At least... in his own little ways. 


She laid back in her bed, wondering what was to come. She didn't like quite time like this. She liked to be moving and working. But resting... it gave her time to think and reflect. That wasn't always nice.
 
Era nodded.


"I will do what I can about Valkyrie." She said.


"In the meantime I still have to actually draw up our battle plans. I will give you a report when I know for sure what we'll be doing." She said with a slight bow.


"Now, if you'll excuse me Pyro. I need to get some rest. It's been a bit of a day." She said.






Meanwhile, back on Metahnn...


The new King had taken to his throne and was seated upon it as one of his advisors entered the room.


"M-m-m... My liege," he stuttered as h began.


"You will not address me by that weak form of address. You will address me as "My King," and nothing less. Am I understood?" He demanded.


"Y-yes, my King." He replied.


"Good. Then what news have you?"


"Well... As you demanded our ties with specified allied races have been severed and open war has been declared on a handful of others. Our forces are now training and preparing to take to the positions and coordinates you gave them."


"Excellent. We can't have the universe thinking the mightiest beings in the universe are merely content with being protective detail now can we?"


"No, my King. We cannot." The advisor said, though internally he was cursing this man and his tyrannical plans.


"Then you are excused. Summon my father, please. I must speak to him. The rest of you will leave us to our conversation as well. Dismissed." 


The entire throne room was cleared, save for another being which entered the room. He was a Saiyan, through and through, but just like his son there was something off about him as Faero had said before to Valkyrie and the others in his briefing.


"What do you need?"


"Now father, don't be rude. You are addressing your King, after all."


"My son is my son, and I will be direct and upfront with you no matter the title you hold. Now what do you need?"


The King sighed.


"What news from the Hunt?"


"Very little. Ever since we lost contact with Death's forces there has been zero communication on the progress of the Hunt."


"I never did trust that one. I'll bet he went and got himself killed."


"How? He was several times stronger than even the Frost Demon in their company."


"We have to presume that, if Death has failed and been killed, one of our dear kinsmen must have become a Super Saiyan."


"What?!"


"Now, now father. It's noting to worry about. Don't forget, I hold a power greater than that of a mere Super Saiyan."


"Your faith in that power is going to be the death of you someday, son. Don't forget that."


"Oh, father. You worry too much."


"I worry because I have seen battles you never did. Most of your power has been given to you, not earned in combat like mine was."


"Perhaps, but I know what this power is capable of and what it's not capable of. And right now, if all they have is a Super Saiyan, they're going to die when next we meet."


"Don't count on it boy."


The King and his father argued for a few minutes longer before his father was dismissed and the King left seated on his throne in an empty throne room.


"So..." He said as he brought up a holo projector.


He flipped a switch and it beamed a holographic 3D display of both Era and Valkyrie.


"Which of you two gorgeous specimens did the deed?" He asked, standing up and walking over towards the projected images.


He smiled and gave his lips a single lick as he looked at them both, wishing he could reach out and stroke their cheeks.


"It matters not in the end, really... But it's a shame. To destroy either of you would be a crime against our race." He said.


His smile widened.


"But before your time in this universe is over, my beautiful kinsmen, you shall both become mine. And when you are made mine, this universe will see the birthing of a power never before witnessed by mortal or immortal eyes." He said.


As his smiled widened yet further, his eyes began glowing red and his body became engulfed in the golden aura of the Super Saiyan though he did not transform. The ground started rumbling and the castle walls began shaking and dust began falling from the ceiling and other high objects like the chandeliers. 
 


He began laughing maniacally with his father watching from through the doorway and shaking his head in shame and sorrow.


@Deathrattle BB @ChazGhost @KingHink
 
"Give me the reports when you can, and we discuss it more later." Pyro said waving good bye before leaving the room. Pyro headed back to his room to see a crew member writing things on a note pad as other crew members carried out the drunken card players. "Why does always happen? We have a whole storage area of booze for you guys and I just want to keep a nice wine freezer with some classic flavors of the beverage!... I assume you got the amount they drunk down right?" Pyro said ending in a sigh.


"Yes sir, about... well take a look" The crew member with the notepad said showing Pyro the note pad. Pyro groaned and shook his head.


"Get someone to clean this up and start taking the cost of the wine out of there treasure shares." Pyro said before grabbing a half empty bottle of wine and taking a sip. The crew member nodded before leaving the room.


@ChoShadow @KingHink @Deathrattle BB
 
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Approximately four days passed with little else going on aboard the vessel other than training and letting things calm down after the debacle between them all via Faero's called meeting.


Having since departed their company with the rest of his men, Faero was no longer a factor save for whatever he could report to them later on. Era managed to calm Valkyrie down and convince her to just leave Pyro alone for the sake of their united efforts in future battles, and it began to appear that they would need that very soon. As they traveled further through space they picked up distress signal after distress signal revolving around planets and peoples everywhere falling prey to obvious Darkhood activity. They couldn't save all these people, nor did they try. As hard as it was to do, they kept moving forward.


Era wracked her brain these four days to come up with the best strategy to utilize in battle, and at last she felt she had accomplished just that with a near perfectly unified effort concentrating on everyone's strengths in combat whilst keeping them out of each other's way.


She found Pyro and requested they all meet in the briefing room, and that they did. Once everyone was assembled, she took a breath and began.


"Okay everyone, so here's my proposed battle strategy." She said, firing up an augmented reality display from a device on the table.


The device projected small likenesses of each member of the team, Elprede having helped design and provide her with it just for this, and perhaps future, occasions where she may need such a visual to help her explain.


"For the sake of simplicity I'll refer to this formation as the Prime formation as it will be our go-to for most of our future battles. In it, I have split the battlefield into three sections. The section in the back, if you will, will be referred to as the Core. The Core is Valkyrie's position since her Super Saiyan Power is still our ultimate trump card at present, and we'll need her ready and waiting at full strength as often as possible to deal with any enemies the rest of us cannot overcome. As well, any enemies which make it past the first two layers of the formation are hers to deal with." She said, highlighting the three sections and using red to highlight the Core section in the back.


Valkyrie gave a half-hearted shrug of approval, knowing that Era likely had a greater reason for placing her back there where the least amount of combat was likely to take place.


"Next is the central section, here, which I'll refer to as the Fault Line. The Fault Line is Pyro's territory. The reason it's called the "fault line" is because most of our efforts in this formation will depend on his performance here as it's likely to be the position which sees the most combat. If too many enemies begin to slip by or around him and begin to crowd the field elsewhere, this Prime formation will have to shift to deal with the problem accordingly. I will get to the shifted formations once I'm done explaining this one." She said as she highlighted the Fault Line in a blue.


"Last is the front of the formation, which I'll refer to as the Blitz section. This is my, Faeora's, and Elprede's zone of operation. In this zone exist two roles. First, Faeora and I occupying the Press role in which we push forward through the enemy's offensive lineup and weed out those who Pyro and Valkyrie need not concern themselves with. Second, Elprede will occupy what I'll refer to as the Omni role, in which capacity he'll do a number of different things both before and after the battle truly begins." She said, zooming out to get a larger field of view for the visual.


"His first task in the Omni role is to immediately scan the area. He and Jasmine will analyze the most likely area of combat given the terrain and weather conditions and relay that information to the rest of us. Once that information has been relayed, his next task is what we'll call the Sweep. During this second phase of his tasks, he'll use his speed to remove the weakest enemies from the field to help clear things up for the rest of us. For the sake of ensuring that we all receive our fair share of combat, we Saiyans mostly so because we need combat or we start going batty, we'll compromise this with a stipulation. Among those enemies which are currently on the field, he will remove only the lowest 20% of enemies. So if the strongest enemy currently on the field has a power level of around 2 million, enemies with power levels of 400,000 or lower are his to deal with during this task. Does that make sense?" She asked, taking a moment to breathe and give everyone the chance to absorb all this.


"The third task on Elprede's list is that of a multipurpose combatant. While Faeora and I deal with whatever enemies we can get our hands on, Elprede will keep our backs clear and continue to weed out the weaker amongst those who enter our Blitz section of the battlefield while giving Faeora and I our respectful space to do our part of the fighting. He will also occasionally venture into both the Fault Line and Core zones just in the event that Pyro and Valkyrie begin to amass too many opponents. We want to keep them as fresh as possible in the event we see a more powerful foe take to the field, so we can't have the enemies forcing them to use too much of their power. So Elprede's job will be to keep their respective zones within a certain limit of enemies to prevent them wasting any unnecessary energy." She said, stopping to breathe once again.


"During battle, we need to keep the field relatively even like well cut grass on your front lawn. When weeds begin growing, they have to be plucked immediately or you risk the entire yard becoming saturated with unwanted pests before long. This is Elprede's final duty in his Omni role. Using his augmented reality tech, he will highlight areas of the field where the enemies are beginning to congregate in too great a numbers for our safety. This way we can all be updated in real time as to such congestion points and then deal with it accordingly to keep our "yard" clean and even until we've taken full control and can finish the battle."


She stood up a bit straighter and heaved a sigh.


"Since we have yet to test this formation, it's going to take some getting used to. Elprede has designed new Scanners which behave in much the same way as our old Scouters did, and I suggest we all wear one. His augmented reality is a bit of a trip at first, but you get used to it very quickly. This augmented reality will play a major role in our battles from here on out, as again Elprede can update it in real time with Jasmine's help to highlight any enemy congestion points, particular or noticeable groupings of enemies who fight better together than their other comrades due to camaraderie and training together, or general points of interest throughout the battle which we should pay attention to and keep in mind. This augmented reality will also help us maintain our respective positions on the field and stay out of each other's way, as our vision will flash a light blue for a brief moment if we begin to stray and get too close to someone else's area of operation."


She took a moment to look around the room.


"Does anyone have any questions thus far before I move on and explain our fall-back options in the event this formation doesn't hold?" She asked.


@Deathrattle BB @KingHink @ChazGhost
 
@ChoShadow


@ChazGhost


@KingHink


Elprede was already in the room by the time everybody else had arrived... and was out like a light, it seemed. It wasn't anybody's business to really wake him up, Jasmine's as well, since he had been quite busy these past couple of days. Building all this stuff took a lot more time and energy than he would have preferred simply because he had to build everything himself. The power supply, framing, wiring, coding, everything. It was both tiring and frustrating, especially with the sheer lack of raw materials that was aboard the ship. What kind of moron didn't keep a supply of spare parts on their ship in the case they need to make repairs?


He had his work cut out for him over the past four days just building simple Scouters -- which due to their microscopic technology and parts, took him a much longer than average time. He could reprogram a super computer with some dish detergent and a toothpick (brownie points if you get the reference), create an EMP grenade out of those same materials and using his own energy, or even make something obnoxiously complex with some other unorthodox materials. Considering how little he had to work with this time around, this was exceptionally difficult, and so led to him being awake for nearly four days straight.


By 'nearly,' that meant that he had only recently fallen asleep. His head propped up on his hand, elbow on the table as leverage, snoozing away. Jasmine, of course, was still listening perfectly fine even if Elprede was too busy getting some much-needed rest to hear any of it. The table was littered with four other Scouters with Elprede's personal manufacturers signature on them, as per his usual. He didn't need just because, well, he came pre-built with a thing named 'Jasmine.' He would obviously learn about the battle plans regardless.


Either somebody was going to have to wake up and then they would deal with a very grumpy Elprede, or Jasmine will just fully inform him later when he woke up.
 
Pyro sat at a large chair as listened to Era strategy. "I see. It seems solid enough with clean ideas where we all will be. There just one thing I want to bring up." Pyro said laying back in his chair. "I've been train a team of crew members to beable to the darkhoods. For each alone catch fight them but together they make a good team and be of use in the blitz section for the time being." Pyro added.


Then Pyro looked over at Elprede and sighed. "I take it the fox hasn't gotten much sleep... If your listening computer, tell Elprede when he wakes up that he if needs help making any of these new scouter or somthing my men in engineering can help. The fox is no use if he falls asleep this easy" Pyro said with a sigh.


@ChoShadow @Deathrattle BB
 
Era nodded to Pyro's new mention of a team.


"Hmm..." She thought.


"I suppose we could fit them in the Blitz section. If needed though, if you've been training them directly, they may better serve the operation fighting in the Fault Line with you. I'll run a few simulations of it and see how it goes." She said.


"Val, anything?" She asked.


Valkyrie shook her head, content to continue listening to Era's plan.


"Okay, Fae?" She asked.


@KingHink @ChazGhost @Deathrattle BB
 
Jasmine perked up the mention of her... or what she thought was her being mentioned by 'computer.' "You know, I have a name." She said indignantly at Pyro. "Besides that, Elprede has already finished each of the Scouters for you all. They are lying on the table right in front of you. There is a little button on the bottom of the main piece which would go over your ear that turns the augmented reality on and off. I'd suggest exploring the augmented reality in the days to come, you'll need to know how to work it for when Elprede will send you all notifications and pings." She said.


Elprede just shifted lightly in his sleep, his face falling forward and mashing into the table. He did not even seem to feel that, his arm now stretched out and forward across the table top, almost getting into the hologram Era had on.


"And I thought it would be obvious that I would be informing Elprede about what has been said here? You all don't seem to realize just how often he falls asleep..."


@ChazGhost @ChoShadow @KingHink
 
Era cleared her throat.


"Anyway, thank you Jasmine. Pyro." She said, trying to regain their attention.


"At this point, Pyro, we may presume that your team will assist any efforts which I myself am involved in moving forward."


"So as I said before, I have contingencies in the event that things don't go as planned." She said, giving a swipe of her hand to activate a change of the projection.


The center of the field was a single large golden circle, and another smaller red ring appeared around the edge.


"As you can see, this layout of the field had changed drastically for our first contingency. The situation in mind is that an overwhelmingly powerful enemy has taken to the field requiring the use of Valkyrie's Super Saiyan power. As you can see, the entire center of the battlefield belongs to Valkyrie while the outskirts of the battlefield belong to us. Fae in the North, Pyro in the South, Elprede in the East, and myself in the West. In the event that such an enemy appears, we have to spread ourselves as thin as possible giving Valkyrie as much room as she needs to take them down without outside interference or worrying about our lives and safety. We all stick to enemies we can handle, and let her do the heavy lifting against this new foe."


She gave another swipe of her hand and another new model appeared. This time, the battlefield was represented by two squares and a larger rectangle. Together they made one large square, the bottom half the long rectangle and the top half the two squares.


"This is our second contingency, designed in the event that we encounter any allied forces in the area of our operation. Should we find any such allies, we will assist them in retreating to the larger rectangular section and protect them. If need be, we will evacuate them entirely. Fae, myself, and Elprede will head this part of the plan while Pyro and Valkyrie contain and eliminate any and all threats to our allies safety in their respective sectors."


She swiped her hand, and the final display appeared.


"In the event we find ourselves in a battle we cannot hope to win, well..." She paused to breathe.


"Despite how grim it sounds, this will be our strategy." She said, gesturing to the display which was a single small red circle.


"In the event a power we cannot overcome arises again, as it did with Death before Valkyrie became a Super Saiyan, then our plan is to group together and hope for the best... That's about all we can do in such a situation. We cannot rely on the First God, as Elprede has already admitted that He is impartial and cares nothing for us. Our best hope is to stay together and continue to battling until we find some kind of weakness to exploit, no matter what it may be." She said.


With that, she gave a final wave of her hand and the visuals disappeared.


"Those are our plans... I know they're not perfect, but they're the best I could come up with. Until I think of something better, this is what we'll go with from now on." She said.


"Questions or concerns?" She asked.


@Deathrattle BB @KingHink @ChazGhost
 
Fae recovered well over the next few days, using this time to rest and commit to training that did not involve physical exertion and intense bouts in the gravity chamber. As her power grew, she knew there was lot to get used to. That is why even after recovering fully, she did not go back to sparring right away. Faeora wanted to, having this sort of power felt incredible. It was a little scary at how strong she had gotten so quickly, but the boon it delivered to her spirits was noticeable. She was focused and relatively upbeat despite still being leagues behind. Finally she had a hope to cling on to. This wasn't just growth, it was as if everything had been held back over the years had been unleashed. She couldn't wait to try it out.


Now, before Faero left, he showed her a few things to help her along. A few techniques he took pride in. Of course, given the time, she had been paying attention to only one. It still needed practice, as a spaceship was not the most ideal place to be trying out destructive ki attacks. No rush, the foundation was as important as the destructive capabilities, and practicing it was also a great way to practice controlling and manipulating her ki. Oh and so much ki she did have. She could feel it. Aside from Faero's technique, she took the time to refine her own to a lesser extent. While in the span of four days, it wouldn't seem like much progress had been made, it was a great way for her to get comfortable and familiar with her new power level, and coupled with some light solo training in the gravity chamber, it did well in pushing her power level even a bit higher.


Now it was that she sat in a meeting with the others. To be honest, it was weird hearing the commanding of strategies coming from Era. Not that she had anything against her friend, but she hadn't realized how accustomed she had been to having Faero be a commander. Oh well, Era was a smart one at least. So things couldn't go awry too quickly, right? Overall the plan seemed sound enough. Depending. At the very least the formation would be pretty easy to adjust on the fly with just a simple rotation of a quarter.


To be honest, Fae still had concerns of what her comparatively meager power level of four hundred and twenty thousand. She might not be weaker than the nephelem anymore, which was embarrassing, but she wasn't exactly stronger than him either. Oh well, she brushed it off. Just as she brushed off the feeling that Era might have been trying to wedge Fae into combat despite being the weak link for pity or something. The prospect of going into battle overwhelmed petty indignation at the moment. Well... Eleprede and Era might be able to mop anyone before Fae could get to them. That worried her a little, but nothing she couldn't take care of. Hopefully. That would rightfully piss her off, alright. Eh, it was a concern best left unmentioned, as it was a selfish one.


Fae reached over to the table and gently pushed Elprede's hand back towards him to get it from the hologram. She then would pick up the fancy new scouter and look it over to see what was so special about it, and pressed a few random buttons to see what they did. Her tail twitch before wrapping itself around her comfortably as she sat herself back down. "Well, if there are not enough of these scouters to go around, Pyro's crew might find it difficult to keep up with the data we receive from Elprede, and as such they could stray from the general strategy or get in its way depending on what sort of fanciness we get from this augmented reality. Not so much as a concern, but something to keep in mind should the crew be involved. A larger force means more to manage. As well, the Fault Line might be better suited for them. As you mentioned, they would probably do better serving under their Captain. But also it would give the Fault Line more of a buffer zone. It would widen its area of cover and should a formation shift need to occur, such as Era needing to leave her position, they would be well positioned to quickly fill in the resulting gap or give you cover. Not only would they be able to work together here in mass, but if that zone is going to see a lot of combat, it would become a more effective catchall should Blitz become overwhelmed by numbers. "


"As for the strategy in general, I think the best way to find out if it works or not is to try it out. If it needs adjusting, we will find out quickly enough. I could nitpick, but I do not feel that would be very constructive at the moment. A question I do have, though, is how do you plan about choosing the where we are going next. I know there has been a lot of distress calls, but which ones are taking priority in our eyes? And what is our simplified end goal out here?"


@ChoShadow @ChazGhost @Deathrattle BB
 
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Era was a bit surprised. Fae had been largely silent the whole time, but now that she was speaking out Era could see where some of her concerns were coming from. She shared them herself, actually.


"Actually... I don't know, Fae." She replied.


"As Faero has left for Metahnn, and I'm only commanding our battle strategy, the direction of what S.O.S. signals we respond to lies on Pyro's command. As a general principle, as heartless as it sounds, I believe it wise for us all to avoid any S.O.S. signals which carry Darkhood signatures or traces of Darkhood energy. It can only lead to more trouble. We have to get stronger as a unit before we can risk taking them on again." She advised, taking a seat.


"I think our best course of action is to begin a return trip to Zaero. Without the warp technology, it will take us a few weeks to get there. But I believe that it would be safest to take the long route instead of zipping straight there." 


"Why's that?" Valkyrie finally chimed in.


"... Call it a hunch, but I've a feeling the Darkhoods will be patrolling warp space, or subspace, or whatever it's called. Death made it clear in his boasting that the Darkhoods considered us a threat, and if they're planning to eliminate Zaero then they'll know that we're most likely to wish for warp space access to the planet to save ourselves time and energy. Again it's just a hunch, but I believe that for now it's in our best interest to take the scenic route."


She looked over towards Elprede.


"Jasmine, do you think Elprede would object to this?" She asked.


@KingHink @ChazGhost @Deathrattle BB
 
Elprede grumbled lightly in his sleep when Fae moved his hand. His eyes and fist clenched as if he was about to wake up and, like what he did to Valkyrie, punch the daylights out of Faeora. That probably would end in disaster, the only thing that kept Valkyrie from being straight knocked unconscious was the fact that her power level was already in the millions. Faeora's was still weaker than his base form power, and thus, she'd probably be critically injured by such a blow.


Luckily, though, he just drew it back in to him and rested his head against his arm.


"Object? No, I'm pretty sure he would go on a tangent on why going back to Zaero would be a terrible idea." Jasmine answered with a bit of a sour voice. "The Darkhoods already have a plan set to attack Zaero within the coming months... it was something I had intercepted in their communications about a month ago. Elprede has been touchy around the topic ever since I told him about it. He thinks if we show our face near Zaero that they're going accelerate their plans and attack momentarily. I don't really blame that logic, they've been fairly quick at executing their plans so far."


Elprede's ears twitched lightly and his eyes opened lightly at the end of what Jasmine had just said. He blinked blearily, lifting himself off the table and stretching his arms up above his head. "... Hey, what's going on?" He murmured, rubbing his eye. Jasmine winced.


"... They're talking about returning to Zaero for something, sir."


Elprede stopped his rubbing of his eye and blinked again. "Say what now?" He didn't let anybody answer. "No. No way, we'll just put Zaero in danger. There aren't any other Nephelem strong enough to try and defend against the Darkhoods. Showing our face in public will likely alert the Darkhoods and then we'll be dealing with a massive invasion of Zaero. It's not happening."


"Sir, just consider it for a moment-"


"I am considering it, Jasmine! What could possibly be so important that we need to go back to Zaero?" He glanced expectantly at Era. "Well? What's with this idea of going back to Zaero when there's already invasion plans?"


@ChoShadow @ChazGhost @KingHink
 
Era nodded when Jasmine replied, and then when Elprede woke up and confirmed what she said Era could only smile slightly. However, she lost the smile rather quickly.


"I thought if we returned to Zaero we might find some other kind of clue in the Vault about how to best make use of Valkyrie's Super Saiyan power. We met the Spirit of the original Super Saiyan there, after all, so I thought maybe if we went back, if even only for a single day, we might be able to meet the spirit again. If so, perhaps we could gain further understanding of this power so that Valkyrie could use it even more effectively..." She said, trailing off at the end.


"I already have an idea on how she could do so, but I would like to confirm it by communing with the spirit of the original Super Saiyan once more if possible."


She took a moment to stop and breathe.


"I know it's a huge risk, but I didn't come to this conclusion half baked. I know how dangerous it is with their responsiveness to our presence, but that's where we now have a bit of an advantage."


She turned to look at Fae.


"The Darkhoods don't know Faeora. To them, she's nothing. The only ones who saw her have been wiped out, so no records of her appearance or presence in our group will have reached their commanding units. Therefore if we only send Fae, carrying some kind of confirmation message from you that she's okay to land on the planet of course, then we could safely see her to the vault via the King and Queen and she could perhaps commune with the Super Saiyan spirit on our behalf. Since she carries our DNA in her system now, it's likely the spirit will recognize her link to us and assist her."


Era stood up and put her hands on the table.


"While Fae tries to commune with the spirit, the rest of us should continue to keep a low profile if possible. As cruel as it sounds, I think it's best if we turn a deaf ear to the S.O.S. signals which carry evidence of Darkhood activity. The less we broadcast our presence and location to them, the better."


She glanced over at Elprede.


"So what do you think? Do you believe that Fae has any good chance of reaching Zaero on her own to commune with the spirit of the original Super Saiyan? I know it's a bit risky to send her by herself, but we really can't afford to send anyone else lest we risk provoking an aggressive response from the Darkhoods."


@Deathrattle BB
 
Elprede put his face in his hands. "Yeah, but you want to know the problem with that? I have to be there for her to even get into the Vault in the first place. It's locked to my voice command, a.k.a., the First God's voice command. The Vault is not just some place you go to whenever you want, it's one of a few entrances to a realm other than our own that mortals cannot usually tread in." He looked at Era between the spaces of his fingers. "By that I mean, the realm of Gods. As far as I know, it might be the ONLY entrance into the realm of Gods that mortals can take now."


He grumbled and laid his chin down on the table. "And then another problem we encounter is that Fae will have to battle me to prove her worth to enter the Vault. There's too many complications for using it. The chances of actually reaching Zaero are good, however, she is not strong enough yet to defeat me without the First God deciding preemptively, like He did with you and Valkyrie. Then there's the Darkhoods waiting around for us to make a move. There are a lot of risks we're going to be taking if we step anywhere close to Zaero."


He sighed and closed his eyes. Jasmine. Your opinion, please?


Well... She started quietly, thinking for a reason that they would need to go besides just for Faeora. Well... there could be something else that we need to do there. There is plenty of spare parts and supplies that we could pick up in secret, plus it isn't difficult for you to hide yourself because of your ability to use Negative Ki without heavy repercussions... and... She sighed. Is there any other reason not to go besides the possible invasion attack by the Darkhoods?


Elprede sighed. "Ugh..." He groaned. "I could probably get us in using Negative Ki to hide us, and then subsequently to the Vault if they haven't figured out where that is yet..." He murmured. "But then we all need to be ready to possibly defend the planet if necessary. The fact that she will have to fight me for permission to access the Vault -- and, no, that's not something we can just skip. I can't open it without first performing the trial -- and then we have to wait it out for her to finish with whatever business inside, and THEN leave." He frowned. "This is extremely risky. I suppose we can vote on it even if my vote will lose."
 
Era considered Elprede's words carefully.


"I had forgotten the necessity of your presence... An oversight on my part."


She sat down and wrapped her thumb and index finger around the base of her chin, crossing her legs in thought.


"Hmm... Maybe there's another way." She thought out loud.


She then looked at Valkyrie.


"Val, can you recall anything about the way your transformation felt, in either instance of its happening? You said it happened twice right? First against Death, then again when you managed to force yourself to relive my own demise in your head?"


Valkyrie frowned.


"I remember all too well what it felt like the first time. The second time around was... Easier." She said.


"The first time it happened, my body felt as though it were being torn to shreds. Every muscle fiber. Every bone. Every ligament. Every square inch of my skin. It all felt like it was being tossed in a giant blender. It was almost as though my body was tearing itself apart on a microscopic level and remaking itself on the spot all in real time... I can't describe the pain accurately beyond that. It was so intense I lost consciousness for most of it and only regained it once Death was defeated. But the feeling before I lost consciousness was unmistakable."


"Can you recall any feelings of... shall we say, support?"


Valkyrie blinked, then closed her eyes and thought hard about her memories of the event.


"... Yes."


Era's eyes lit up momentarily, though her facial expression didn't change.


"Can you recall what it was, or what it felt like?" 


"It felt like... You." Valkyrie finally said, opening her eyes.


"As sentimental as it sounds, it felt like you. I sensed your energy, and unless I was hallucinating out of madness, which is likely, I swear by our ancestors that I saw your spirit appear before me and smile when it was over. It felt like you were the one helping me to transform, and it felt like you were there helping once the battle was over while beckoning me back to your side."


Era was a bit confused, but then smiled.


"I see... I don't think it was actually me at all then. After all, I was dead." She said softly.


"Don't remind me." Val snapped.


"Val, I think what you felt was actually the spirit of the original Super Saiyan. The dead have no more life energy, and thus cannot conjure up a spiritual form. But a being who is already a spectral entity, such as the spirit of the original Super Saiyan who's core is trapped in the Vault, possibly could. I'm not sure how. It's beyond my understanding. But I believe that you were assisted by the original Super Saiyan. It must have been able to acquire what energy was still present that had escaped my body during my death and used it to appear as a more familiar form to you in order to help you transform. Did you feel the same support when you transformed a second time?" She asked.


Valkyrie thought about it.


"Not really... At least not to that great of an extent. I felt something when I transformed, but it was very brief and I don't recall exactly what it was."


"Then I think that's our opportunity. Perhaps, as a Super Saiyan, you could find a way to commune with the original's spirit?"


"And how do you propose to do that?"


"Transform."


"Pardon?"


"You heard me. Transform."


"I can't."


"Why not?"


"I'm learning where the power comes from, but I haven't mastered harnessing it yet. Until I do, I don't think I'll just be able to transform at will."


"Ah... Well, I have a few ideas to help with that. But my idea is that if we can get you to transform, maybe if you start meditating and searching again for the core of the power of the Super Saiyan itself, you might just be able to connect to the spirit of the original Super Saiyan."


Era stretched her arms out a bit.


"It's a long shot. I don't even know if it's possible to commune with the spirit outside the Vault. But if what you say about your transformation is true, then I have hope that it is possible. And if we can find a way to commune with it, then perhaps that will be enough."


"Enough for what?"


"To confirm a theory I have about the Super Saiyan form."


"What theory? Mind sharing?"


"I have no evidence to support it yet, so I'll keep it to myself for now. But I promise that if my theory proves accurate I will disclose it."


"*Sigh*... You never change."


"Nope!" Era said happily.


"Well, I think that's enough for now. So this meeting is dismissed. I'd like to get something to eat and then get to training whenever the gravity room next opens up." She said, looking to Fae.


"Would you care to join me Fae? Your body should have recovered well enough to support one more go-around in there with me."


@Deathrattle BB @KingHink @ChazGhost
 
Faeora perked up when she was mentioned again. A plan to infiltrate Zaero. It was an interesting prospect. Then there was mention of trying to commute with the super saiyan spirit. Was that even possible? Era said she had the super saiyan DNA, but would it count since it wasn't truly hers? One step at a time though.


She looked at Elprede. "If the Darkhoods are interested in getting to you, and they do have plans to go after Zaero, then you can't just stay away. Especially if there is no one there strong enough to counter them. Should we press too much against them, they can hold the planet hostage, or worse, ravage it just to get to you. And if that happens, we might not be close enough to help. If we can get there, we can at least try to defend it, or try to lead them away. That is, of course, if things are as bad as we think. Either way, it is more advantageous for us to control the when as opposed to them doing it and leaving us unprepared with no way to help."


She looked to Era. "Faero said something similar. I think he is planning on taking advantage of that too. He has to report when he gets back to Metahn. He can't not mention you all, but he plans to report to the king of my not being there. Or dead, I don't know yet. Which would be believable given how many other members we lost on Hokay. I can send a report saying I'm alive, and by myself, go to Zaero seeking shelter after being left behind. Also, given my families usual treatment of me, the Darkhoods might not know any better and assume I'm just an ally seeking a bit of respite after narrowly avoiding Hokay. They wouldn't have any reason to think I had been with you all, if they even recognize me at all."


"Era, by the time we get near Zaero, Faero will likely be settled in at Metahn. You should be able to send a message to him to help plan that out, or at least ask for some information on what is going on. My father has enough pull that organizing private transmissions are well within possivilty. If he even thinks that I have a chance of out shining this new king, he would want to help along a Faerari coming to power and becoming ruler instead. If that is a possibility, he will no doubt side with his own blood. He may be an ambitious man, but he is smart. Same too, even if it is only Valkyrie that can rise above the king, he would rather see an elite in power than some mysterious and saiyan that came from nowhere."


Faeora frowned indignantly at Elprede's words. "You sell me short, nephelem. But you are probably right, as I am now, I would not likely be able to best you. As I am now. If we are taking the long way around, that is about eight days I have to train. If I can go as far as I did in those first few days of training, then that would no longer be an argument you can make." She said as she tapped a finger on the table in contained irritation."You do not know me very well yet, but I have spent the greater part of my life fighting with and against people much stronger than me. Nor am I so pillowy soft as our beloved Era and Valkyrie." She countered. 


Then... Era spoke again. Fae did listen intently to how Valkyrie transformed. But at the same time, it was actually a bit depressing at how quickly Fae was skipped over because she was too weak. To be fair, the super saiyan spirit was just at curiosity to her. Or it was. But now, as the prospect of being useful evaded her, it became something else that was out of her grasp. Making her want it even more. "Tch..." If she couldn't do it... then fine. Whatever. Or at least that is what she thought to herself. Not that she believed it. 


Fae stayed silent this time. Looking over to Era when she mentioned training. "Yes. I will join you. My body is ready whenever you are." She said, a bit indignant about this recent affair. "Though intend to go more than just once should time allow." She declared. Fae was quite determined to make the most of this detour. About a week. That would be about long she had to make Elprede think otherwise or whatever First God hooy was needed. Maybe she could change their minds by then. 


Fae sighed and calmed herself down so as not to sound so tight,"Alright. I'll follow you. Food first."


@ChoShadow @ChazGhost @Deathrattle BB
 
Elprede sighed and shifted in his seat, though still did not remove his head from the table.


At least we don't have to endanger Zaero anymore than it already is now. He thought grimly.


Yes, but how long can we stay away before they force us to return to Zaero?


I suppose we will just have to find out. He glanced at Faeora. It probably won't be much longer before I will have to go back and do whatever it takes to ensure that the rest of the Nephelem survive... whatever it takes.


He sat up straight and crossed his arms over his chest. "You underestimate me as well. You have no idea of my abilities, Faeora. You don't know how I fight, you don't know who I am, you don't know what I can do, and you don't know how strong I really am. Those are all things that will get you killed for underestimating your opponents like that. I'm not the most powerful force here currently-" He pointed at Valkyrie. "-However, that does not mean I am not a force to be reckoned with regardless. You will need to beat me in power level by several millions before you will come close to being a threat to me."


He paused and tapped his forehead with his index finger for a moment. "Okay, look at it this way; us Nephelem hit much harder than our power levels tell you. So, taking my power level now; 119,900, that means I can attack at about 1,200,000 or more, give or take. That is only in my base form. With the Primal Form, my power can currently be increased by a total of six times, which will set my total attack power to somewhere around 7,200,000. That is with my Primal Form alone, I have another technique to increase my power even further, and only Era knows how to do this as well as far as I know; the Mazunokari. I can push myself up another 15 times, which shoots my attack power up to about 108,000,000."


He paused to let her take that into effect. "Now, 15x is my maximum currently and I cannot hold it for very long, but don't you think, combined with my massively increased speed by that point, that I can take you out before you can even register the fact that I had even moved in the first place?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Not to degrade your own abilities, you Saiyans are very strong and it is likely that you will grow stronger than me at some point or another, it is just in the nature of Saiyans, but currently... you are extremely far behind, and naive to think that you can beat me any time soon. The only reason Era would stand a chance right now is because she is a combat prodigy, she'll figure out my moves just seeing it once... but there are ways around that. Valkyrie is too strong for me to truly harm when in her Super Saiyan state, not that I've gotten the chance to try anyways because she cannot transform at will still."


He sat back once more. "Plus, I do have a number of techniques designed for simply neutralizing opponents from the get-go instead of fighting them. One such technique is a nerve attack that inhibits your ability to use your Ki temporarily for a few hours, others to knock you unconscious, and even more to outright kill you in a single strike. Even Era knows how to perform my Ki blocking nerve attack. Plus, I also have the ability of abusing Negative Ki due to the First God, one of the few good things He has actually done for me, and can just become undetectable except by motion whenever I want. You aren't stronger than me yet, you aren't even going to beat me through the use of more advanced techniques. That anchoring thing you do? There are counters for that, I already have a few in my head."


He flattened his hands out over the table. "You will grow stronger, I am almost 100% positive of that. You will grow stronger than me at some point or another, but that will take you time and training to do. Speaking of which..." He pointed at Era. "Don't you guys think it would be a good idea to spar against me at some point or another? The other Nephelem on the Darkhood's side will just be avoiding me as much as possible by this point and primarily targetting you guys. You'll need to know how to battle them without just flailing around until you manage to hit them."


@ChoShadow @KingHink @ChazGhost
 
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Era listened to Fae and Elprede's exchange and sighed.


"It seems we can't go one day on this ship without someone boasting about their true power." She muttered.


"Look you two, this isn't a contest between us. We're not fighting each other, after all. So you can both stop your posturing and comparing techniques and how far you can multiply your powers." She barked, growing rather irritated.


"Let's just focus forward, and forget who's stronger or weaker. It doesn't matter." She said, a slight growl in her voice on the word "doesn't."


She took a deep breath and let it out on a sigh, speaking normally.


"What does matter now is how we coordinate ourselves and how we can move forward without risking our lives and the safety of our allies. For the time being, we will focus on training to help Valkyrie master her Super Saiyan abilities. As of now, it's still our ultimate trump card. But unless she can master it then it's a blind force which cannot be relied on based on how Pyro described the fight between her and Death the other day when I asked him." She said.


"Faeora and I will train first, and Valkyrie, I need you to continue whatever it was you were doing to find and master the ability to harness your powers. When and if you can master the transformation, then we can begin training with you again so you can achieve it at will and, if my theory is correct, push it to even greater heights." She said.


She then clapped her hands.


"This meeting is adjourned. Please get some rest and don't think about that which we can't do anything about, such as the Darkhoods. Focus on what we can change, what we can do, and what we all can accomplish together, such as ensuring we all maximize our potential together and work as a team. We don't need to be competing with each other, we need to harmonize with one another."


She glanced about the room.


"Dismissed." She said.


@ChazGhost @Deathrattle BB @KingHink
 
Faeora crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair as Elprede talked. Despite a prominent frown, she didn't seem very angry at his words. Not that she exactly happy with them. Fae already knew she couldn't handle him right now. So his words simply hammered home what she knew. Not a particularly good feeling. Not something she wasn't used to, but not good nonetheless. Fae probably would have tried to talk back if Era had not interjected. Fae once more returned to silence. 


Faeora however felt Era was wrong. It DID matter. It did to Fae, anyway. Pyro was a powerful and gifted being, Valkyrie was a Super Saiyan, Elprede was the first god with forms that pushed his power well beyond,  Era was as Elprede said, a combat prodigy. Fae was... nothing. How did it not matter? Even if she had a similar power level, compared to them she was still nothing. No gift. No transformation. No god. No multipliers. Just a borrowed gene that was shared by Era and Val. If that was all she had, how could she be comparable to them? Era may be trying to look at them as a whole, but Fae had to look at her role in it. If maximizing the teams potential was such a big deal, how would it not matter? What good would harmonizing be if her involvement held things back? 


Era was right on one thing. Focusing on what they can do. Despite the odds stacked against her, Fae beloved she could. She CAN become stronger. She CAN find a way to be more than nothing. She CAN train harder. She CAN work harder. Together was irrelevant if together for her meant staying out of their way. 


After Era adjourned the meeting, Fae stood up. "I will train with you. Elprede. Later. I will need to temper myself to your speed and techniques. Things I can not do by just watching from afar as I have. If can be broken by a nephelem, than I am not so tough as I wish to be. No offense to your kind. If I can't be strong, I will at least be unbreakable."


"Captain Pyro, if it is alright by you, I would like permission to train with your crew when I am not training with Era. So Era can focus on bettering herself. Era gains nothing by training with me. I do not wish to waste all of her time when she can spend her time helping Valkyrie with her mysterious theories." She said.


With that, she awaited an answer, gave a nod and left to go find herself a meal.


@Deathrattle BB @ChoShadow @ChazGhost
 
Pyro frowned when Era said Valkyrie was going to be the one to fight an over whelming powerful enemy. He knew Valkyrie as a super saiyan was stronger then him but he still didn't like it. He needed to find away to get stronger then her again... some how. But for time being he listened carefully to the rest of the back formations and how they worked. "I don't have any concerns with these plans, they seemed to be workable and I sure the little bugs will fixed as we use them, as Ms.Fae here pointed out" Pyro said when Era asked if there was any questions. Then Pyro watched and listened to every talk back and forth with each other. He started testing out the new scouter Elprede had made and checking out its different features it had.


Then Fae asked Pyro a question about training with his crew. "I don't see why not, through the only ones who you gain good experience from are the ones I currently training. If you want to you can join in their next train session later, my training course can fit another person" Pyro answered before standing up from his chair and heading out of the meeting room.


@ChoShadow @KingHink @Deathrattle BB
 
Era would have protested the idea that Fae was wasting her time, but there had been enough arguing already.


"Come on Fae. Let's get to work." She said simply.


...


And so time ticked by.


Later that same evening, after her long training session with Fae, Era was resting in her room when a knock came at the door.


"Come in." She said.


Enter Valkyrie, who closed the door behind her and locked it.


"We need to talk."


Era inwardly cringed at the thought of whatever Valkyrie could want. Her tone of voice didn't speak to anything good.


"What about?" Era inquired.


Valkyrie pulled up the chair from the nearby table putting it right next to the edge of the bed. Era sat up, but remained on the bed itself as Valkyrie sat down and looked at her very seriously.


"... Something important. And not just for me, but you and Fae as well." Valkyrie replied to Era's question.


And so began a long and private discussion and brainstorming session regarding the golden-haired warrior of the Saiyan Race.


@Deathrattle BB @KingHink @ChazGhost (Apologies for my absence. I've had a real busy week. But I'm back in the swing of things so we can continue)
 
Elprede rolled his eyes lightly at Era, though just stood up from his chair and stretched. That wasn't exactly a power contest to him, that was just him informing her in the general position of his own, personal power. There wasn't anything he could do or say that would convince them of that otherwise, he knew that plenty well.


So, he just ignored Era st the moment and nodded towards Fae. "Good mindset to keep. I'll be holding you to that sparring match." He replied with a small smile before he took his own leave from the room. He was sure he wasn't needed for anything else there, no point in staying to do nothing.


Besides, the heaviness of his eyelids was beginning to get to him again. He worked far too hard and far too late on getting everybody a pair of those Scouters, and now he needed to make at least three more... There wasn't enough materials. He doubted the pirate's engineers would be of much help to him, there was a massive difference between operating a spaceship and performing maintenance on one than the making of Scouters. He doubted they even knew how to make one.


Breathing a heavy sigh, Elprede entered his room and promptly collapsed on the bed. I hate engineering sometimes.


"I can't say I really disagree with that, sir," Jasmine hummed. "But it has been very useful in the past and will still be useful in the future. You can't really ignore that skill."


He pouted, groaning and burying his face into his pillow. Ugh. Well, until we get more supplies, I'm not making anything.


Jasmine didn't say anything, instead began to softly sing to Elprede. Her voice was smooth and gentle, making him feel warm and fuzzy inside. His eyes remained open for a while before they eventually drooped closed from the soothing melodies and he had quickly fallen asleep because of Jasmine. She just giggled quietly, bidding him good night. It was always amusing how he went out like a light when she began singing to him. She's never seen any other person be quite so susceptible to a lullaby like he was.


Pleased, however, she decided to power down into sleep mode until such a time that she was called upon. A fortunate feature of the new Scouters was that they had a direct line to Jasmine, allowing seamless communication without always having to go and seek out Elprede. She was sure they would figure out how to use that soon enough.


@KingHink


@ChoShadow


@ChazGhost
 
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