A Bloody Rain (Closed)

The battle raged, filling the night with flashes of brilliant light and terrible screaming. The pressure had, at least, been taken off The Merciful, but as the defenders realized who the real threat was, Sanngrior found it more and more difficult to maintain her composure. She had expected that this would not be an easy endeavour, and the saiyans had not disappointed her. Despite the overwhelming amount of force she had brought about on the planet's defenders, the toll was still incredible. She had to wonder where they were coming from - why they rushed so eagerly towards their deaths... but perhaps that was simply the famous saiyan pride, refusing to allow them to acknowledge their helplessness.

Blood trickled from beneath the woman’s hood, where a lucky strike had added to the scars already in place. Her movements were more erratic than before, and though there was no individual present who could threaten her, the sheer weight of numbers was taking its toll. Wherever she moved, there were more to lash out at; more blasts of desperate light flaring to try and destroy the dark warrior dancing among their presence.

Still, though, the dead and the dying mounted in greater number. For every scratch the insects inflicted on her, she felled another of their number – their lives bought nothing more than pain for her, and that pain pushed her to reach deeper into her soul and find new ways to bring about their end.

Below, the assault team finally managed to breach the walls of the factory. Jango’s fist smashed through the door, and the outer wall shattered like it was an eggshell. Duo ducked in behind him, and her swinging foot cracked the neck of a startled defender.

“Spread out, find the latest shipment.”

Cauli’s voice cut through the sounds of chaos, and the team scattered as they spread out through the factory. There were fewer defenders in there, most having rushed to engage the larger bulk of pirates outside – or the monstrous Captain, whose presence they could feel even now, drowning the world below her in blood and death.

“VRIXXXX!”

The lizard’s hissed screech indicated that he had found the prize that all of this was about, and the others were by his side in an instant. The crate was large, though not particularly heavy, it would still be easier to protect with two of them, and the cargo inside… none of them wanted to risk the danger should the crate break open. They didn’t know what it was, exactly, but The Captain had made it very clear that if they allowed anything to happen to the shipment, she would be taking out her displeasure on their hides.

Across the side of the crate, the words: [FOR DELIVERY TO KNUTTS] was stamped in bright red lettering.

“Jango, Falkoon, you two carry it.”

Cauli’s order had the two larger men – physically the most imposing of the gang – grasped the crate and shared a look before they began to manhandle it up between them.

“The rest of us, we’ll try to keep the enemy back. We're almost home free boys. Easy as pie.”

Not one amongst them believed it, but it was a nice sentiment.



Sanngrior’s spear shone a solid, jet black and terrifying as she scythed through the opposition. Unleashing her fury, it was almost impossible to see her weapon in the darkness of the night, except as a silhouette against the brighter flares of power that the enemy continued to try and unleash pointlessly in her direction. The tarry darkness swallowed up the assaults of her enemies and left nothing in return before she unleashed it in a terrible wave. The defenders – or pieces of them – were sent scattering back across the world below. For a moment, she was able to take a breath, to recover herself… it was easier to know where she had been than where she was, by the screams of her victims. 

And then she saw the crate being pulled from the wreckage of the factory below. Her voice was a strained growl issued gutturally into her communicator.

“Merciful. Descend and open the lower hatch. The rest of you. Cover the assault team and then withdraw.”

The amount of pirates who withdrew were markedly less than the amount who had first descended from that intimidating vessel. Sanngrior rose with them, and as she approached, the entrance to the cargo bay opened to allow them passage.

The defenders continued to fire, and the ship shuddered with each impact. Around her, the bodies of her lesser crew fell, and Sanngrior merely worked her fingers back to life, allowing them to suffer whilst she allowed her own pain to be eased from her bones.


It was as the assault team made the last desperate push to the ship that one of their number finally succumbed. A bolt of light shot from the defenders and struck Vrixxx in the back. The lizard screamed in agony, and dropped from the sky with blackened and smouldering flesh falling from his spine.

“Don’t you dare drop that crate!”

Cauli’s snapping voice kept the others in the moment, and they were forced to watch their friend – who, odd though he may have been, fought and bled alongside them – topple back towards the ground. There wasn’t a soul amongst them who didn’t know that when the eyes in a skull turned as white and empty as the lizard’s, that was a sure sign that he wouldn’t be rising back up to join them again.

“Gods damn it…”

Duo snarled, and hurled a ball of yellow energy down into the mass of defenders, the blast detonated and threw some of them back. In the last few moments before they were able to manhandle the crate onto The Merciful.

The pirates didn’t hesitate to fall back the moment that Sanngrior raised her hand. The survivors practically tripped over themselves to do it, cramming into the cargo bay as the door began to rise. At last, Sanngrior herself ducked back into safety, and the ship lurched as its engines kicked back into overdrive.



Sanngrior sat in the Captain’s chair, and her fingers played over the controls as she guided the vessel back onto a course towards Kabocha. Blood dried on her clothes, but at least she was no longer bleeding herself. The victory had not come without a cost, but it had come – it would be some time before they needed to take such a risk again.

But she had her prize.

The device was tiny – merely a few inches across, and bright steel. It looked so delicate in her fingers. It was difficult to believe that this was the key to the entire plan - a simple thing that could potentially tip the balance of power across the galaxy.

“Was it worth it?”

Cauli’s voice couldn’t quite hide the hint of judgement that crept in at the edges. Sanngrior's voice, by contrast, was as cold as it ever was.

“Yes.”

The saiyan stomped around to stand in front of the Captain, glaring down at the hooded woman.

“Do you even know how many died?”

Sanngrior merely shrugged her shoulders. “Irrelevant.” She said. “It was necessary.”

“Was it? What did we even get? Are we going to get those reaches you promised us?”

The hooded figure drummed her fingers against the arm of her chair for a moment.

"In time. Look."

Sanngrior lifted her fingers up, the tiny device pinched between them as she held it out to Cauli to take. The saiyan did, and turned it over as though she could divine what its purpose was simply by staring at it hard.

“It is a weapon.”

Cauli blinked, frowning faintly. “A weapon? But it’s tiny! How dangerous could it possibly be?”

Sanngrior merely shook her head, leaning back in her chair. The Captain’s ways had – mostly – ceased to cause Cauli too much discomfort, but there was something in the near-serpentine satisfaction that leeched into the cruel woman’s voice that sent a shiver down Cauli’s spine. That voice would stay with her for days.

“That depends on how you use it.”