A test... And a Job? (Vennel)

[Thread Battle Power: 34'614/138'455 | Weights in use]
[Present Battle Power: Suppressed]

The din of a lively tavern permeated the atmosphere that surrounded a drably dressed retired warrior. She’d recently added a sand colored cloak to her usual ensemble. It helped to hide her tail and armor from those who still harbored resentments toward her people. Which was good, because without her armor, she felt more naked than when she actually was, well, naked. But no sooner had she just thrown back a shot of some yellowish liquid, which had some live worm in it, did she hear a voice in her ears.

It sounded like… Alaistair? But how was he just… in her head? She wasn’t exactly fine with her mind being open to a foreign entity, but if he had this capability, he likely knew what he wanted to already, or was just incapable of digging that sort of thing out of her. Still, he requested her for training, and something else, she wasn’t sure what yet though. The ex-warrior thought the least she could do was entertain him, but she had no intention on fighting if she didn’t have to just yet. She’d rather drink the rest of her life away than fight for anything but self preservation. It was like there was no point in trying any longer.

She stood from her seat, and left a few coins behind. She’d picked up a bit of work that paid in some local currency, seeing as the Solar Empire’s currency didn’t work here- mostly just so she could afford to drink and eat, and not depend entirely on Alaistair. As she left the bar area, and out the front door, she started to head back to the Loft, while she pondered about the nature of this meeting. She wanted to spend as little time around him and depend on him less, because the more she came to rely on him, the more indebted she felt, it was just how her code of honor went. So knowing that, she saw this as an opportunity to finally call her score even.



As she strode through the front doors, she surveyed the area. His battle power wasn’t popping up on her scouter, which told her that he was suppressing it. Looking around, she noted that a female servant was in attendance. She was dressed in an alien attire that she assumed meant she was working here, but she could hardly tell. Her eye was mostly just trained to tell the subtle difference in a saiyan’s armor as to the nature of their prestige. So, approaching the woman, she cocked her brow up and shifted her weight onto one of her hips.

“So, where is he? He called for me- in my head. Unless, of course, I’ve finally gone mad. Which… would… make… sense…”

As she spoke her last sentence, she looked about the room with each syllable, as if she might find Alaistair hanging around off the roof or something. Hell, Vennel half expected him to pop out from behind her at this moment.

Just as her thoughts were turning to the idea that he may just spring up behind her, that’s just what he did more or less. She turned about to see the devil dressed in a different fashion than she’d ever seen him in. Usually, he was dressed in tight, cumbersome layers of clothing, but he seemed in a much more relaxed get-up this time. Or at the very least, ready for physical activity. Was that what this was? A request to train? He did apparently want to meet in the gravity room.

As Alaistair was upon her, he extended his hand for her to shake, she found herself at a loss, however. Not that she wished to be rude, she just didn’t care for or understand the need for all the touching aliens tended to do with their socialization.

“I’m not of a ‘touch’-y person. But if it’s that important, I suppose I can postpone another drink. I’d just had a few before I came over. So where is this place? Lead the way.”

Her tone was brusk, not for any reason in particular. It was just the way she behaved, hopefully it wouldn’t ruffle the feathers of more elegant, dandy.

(Alaistair Yup, short and sweet. next post will likely be a longer one, when we've more to do)

It seemed as though her host took mild offense, or, no, not offense. Perhaps it was nothing, but Vennel could have sworn he seemed a little off. Perhaps he wanted to socialize before hand? This was like a crash course for the warrior, on socializing in what most of the galactic community seemed to consider a “normal,” way. But all the same, Alaistair led her onward through his facility, down a chromed out hallway, but the design was unmistakably Vegetan. She still found it odd that this portion of the building alone paid homage to her people. Perhaps the rest of the building was just a mash-up of architecture stylings from around the galaxy, and she was just ignorant to what those were.

They passed by several rooms that seemed in various stages of construction, some even seemingly set up to be like the medical facilities back on her home planet. What really caught her eye, was the training room they closed in on. It reminded her of the one she had herself, tucked away in her capsule case. Only it seemed to be smaller in scale, perhaps? Or perhaps it was just another optical illusion, like how the Loft seemed larger on it’s interior.

It was when they came to this portion of the hallway, that her dapper tour guide turned toward a pannel on the wall, approaching it as he spoke to her about the nature of his request. He claimed it was very important, which made her wonder what would be so important to the man she assumed to be nothing more than a retired warrior-turned-entrepreneur. But he seemed keen on training with her as a means of time filler as they spoke. The idea seemed odd to be proposed by someone that wasn’t a Saiyan. After all, most aliens seemed to have a sour idea of the practice in general, unless it was for some stupid reason they always had.

But it was the mention of work that had her wanting to pull back, but maybe it warranted clarification. Ordinarily just fighting wouldn’t be a problem, most of the small jobs she did was basically just acting as muscle for various employers who needed the intimidation factor for some sort of deal, or to act as a bouncer. Helped keep food in her stomach and drinks coming her way, at least. But Alaistair wasn’t like most of the fools who she worked for. He knew something of her power, Plato had let on before that he probably wanted to ‘recruit’ her for something. So was this going to be that offer?

“I’ve never used a gravity chamber myself. In fact, I had just set one up for use on Vegeta before I- well, before I stopped fighting. I brought it with me when I left, though. More out of spite than an actual desire to use it. But to answer your question, if I remember correctly, gravity on dirt is a tenth that of my planet, and I think this world is also under that number. So let’s just go with ten for now.”

Vennel unclasped her cloak, taking it off to reveal her armor, complete with interior weight straps that kept her at least reasonably in shape. She then walked forward, towards the training room, leaving her cloak outside the door and walking towards the center of the large white chamber. It seemed so sterile now that she was inside one for the first time. She began to stretch out her body, making sure she was ready for strenuous physical activity. If Alaistair wanted a spar, she’d be happy to oblige him, though she doubted she’d prove much of a challenge for him, given his own power compared to hers.

“Whenever you’re ready, go ahead and turn it on. I’m curious enough as it is about this proposal of yours.”

[Alaistair ]

A soft chuckle came as a surprise to the young female. It was her own doing, though not of her own intention. She had involuntarily laughed at the mention of the fact this job wasn’t exactly something everyone would be okay with. For a minute she wondered if it had something to do with child rearing, but then she remembered he likely didn’t hold the same values she did. But all that aside, he listened as she continued to stretch, pulling her right leg up over her back and flattening her back parallel to the ground.

After she felt the pull against her musculature long enough, she let her leg whip down, before the whirring of the great machine could be heard and she felt the familiar pull of gravity once more. It was rather nostalgic. The surroundings being familiar yet different, and even just standing upright carrying the same familiar weight- it was a pleasant feeling.

Her host offered her to adjust to the weight, which was a noble offer, even if ultimately futile. She had spent most of her life being accustomed to this gravitational pull on her body. So if anything, it was almost like a matter of getting back into the swing of things. She boxed at her shadows, jabbing into the air as if to sort of feel the weight of things again. It felt, oddly right. But enough of that sort of reminiscing.

Straightening out her body and standing in front of the man, she pondered aloud to him.

“Right, so you want to merc me out for your needs. Or maybe its more than that. Let’s fight a bit, then. We saiyans believe that you can learn more about a person through watching how they fight, than words can ever convey.”

She hadn’t fought recreationally in a while, and she almost rationalized it the way one would a bad habit. She figured that since it was at Alaistair’s request, it was a favor to him, rather than her seeking it out. Her mind drifted on the thought that maybe she should have taken another drink, if her thoughts were sobering like this. But at any rate, she settled into a fairly common stance for Saiyans of her caliber. Arms raised, one above the head in front, and one to cover the flank and side, and keeping low to the ground. One side, her left, appearing to be unguarded as her body had an almost natural lurch to her right, and was the focal point of cover from her arms. The young saiyan warrior wondered now, what her sparring partner would do. She’d never seen the man fight, so this would prove interesting.

[Alaistair ]

Vennel was glad that her would-be opponent was as willing to share blows as she was. Granted, she didn’t do this with every employer. He was the only one, but she wanted to know more about his true intentions, and she was determined to find out the only way she knew best. She watched as the devil assumed a combat pose of his own. She’d never seen a stance like that, it didn’t seem very defensible.

The two warriors seemed to be sizing the other up, not sure as to where they should attack from, or best defend from. Or at least, that’s how the dark haired woman saw it. Her scouter wasn’t detecting any power level from him aside from ambient ki flow, which meant he was manipulating his ki to some degree- or supplanted by a robot. But the first idea seemed more likely. So she had no idea how much energy he was using, though she was doing the same.

As she had just about finished looking him over, she saw his muscles relax with his breath, before he sprung into action. Her old instincts kicking in, she saw as he was suddenly in her space, her arm above her head immediately moving down to parry the first blow with the back of her hand helping to block the blow away. Next came his true assault, though. Her body relaxed as she prepared. He sent a hook from his left arm, and as she went to stop it, with her right arm, his right came into play. It seemed she fell for his feint as his arm flew for her exposed right side, when a snap of her tail came into play, pushing off his arm in much the same way she had his first jab. But her tail wasn’t enough, though it did help. She’d underestimated her opponent based on how he had approached the fight thus far.

His attack struck her kidney, causing her body to recoil rom the pain, her tail quickly wrapping itself around her waist again as she dropped low, and tried to swipe her leg under his. But that wasn’t the only thing she intended to do. If there was one thing a saiyan did well, it was prove to be an idiot savant on the field of battle. Her eyes glanced in a moment, and roughly guessed the mean trajectory of all evasive actions and how quickly he could evade or be in a vulnerable position after her leg sweep. So she quickly tried to propel herself off the ground and attempted to crash her head into the devil as a follow-up, before distancing herself, if possible.

[Alaistair ]

Vennel grinned as her ploy seemed to pay off. She got some needed distance, after the two disengaged. She thought she might have another moment of observation, when it seemed Alaistair was back on the move. He darted at her, trying to make it hard to focus on where he was going. But she merely kept her focus forward. He came in close and kicked all the way up, extending it to it’s fullest and trying to catch her off guard. But it didn’t work, at least, so she thought. Veneer’s body bent back, displaying her flexibility, as she cleared the first swing of the leg. But it was the fall of it that she didn’t account for. She cursed herself thinking she should have seen something like this coming had she not been out of practice.

As the leg came down, it caught her in the chest, and if not for her armor, may have actually knocked the air out of her lungs. But the non-newtonian elements of the armor were great at absorbing shocks from blows. But what came next was her own quick thinking at work. Just after the attack, which hit her in the chest, Vennel’s arms pressed down against the floor beneath her, and her legs spun about like propeller blades, oddly reminiscent of break dancing. Her goal was to push Alaistair away from her, but connecting a hit would be a plus.

But, her assault wasn’t completed, not yet. After completing a rotation, she pulled her arms in, and used her upper back and shoulders to spin herself back up on to her feet, and launch a pair of ki blasts. She ended her assault to wait and see how her foe replied, but being cautious not to let her guard down, especially if any of her attacks didn’t work out right.

[Alaistair ]

As she expected, he’d dispensed with her assault. She’d failed to really connect with any of her attacks, but winning the match was by no means the goal in this fight. Her eyes narrowed as she watched him bring his hand up, pointing in an odd manner towards her, but her scouter went off as ki began to charge in his hand, warning her of an incoming attack. She ducked her head down, and launched at the man. Her scouter alerted her to two more strikes, as she darted, ducked, and dodged out of the way of the incoming fire until she up in his personal space.

She launched a hook for his right side, aiming for his own kidney after his attack on hers. But she was also loading her fist with ki, so that if the attack was avoided, she would follow up quickly with a shot at him. Or if the attack were blocked, she would be able to launch the ki at him in point-blank range. Her other arm was kept close to her chest and body, ready to try and guard if needed.

She didn’t bother to think much now of his actions, she was merely reacting and going with the flow of the fight. She’d be able to pause and reflect later, but she found herself getting back into her old fighting spirit as she was put through the warm-up.

[Alaistair]