Post by Rubega on Sept 9, 2016 20:32:01 GMT
PART I
Rubega’s eyes naturally squinted as he entered the atmosphere, the protective glass of his space-pod not doing much to stop the blinding light of two suns as he spiralled towards the ground. He always felt a sense of excitement when entering the atmosphere of a new planet, much less one in an unknown sector of the galaxy. His hands were practically shaking with excitement.
His mind was also plagued with questions, his curiosity distracting him for a moment. Was it hot, cold? What was the gravity like? How strong were the inhabitants? The young Saiyan wasn’t entirely sure why he was always excited when exploring new planets, maybe it was down to his childhood? He remembered how his father would cast him away for months on end to remote planets on the edge of the galaxy. They were all different, some were boring wastelands with barely enough water and food to survive, while others were gorgeous, filled with luscious jungles that had enough wildlife to keep him entertained for hours on end.
The control panel on the side of his pod sprang to life, breaking his memories as it counted down the distance until touchdown, the timer decreasing rapidly as the pod continued its descent from the sky. Rubega’s body tensed slightly as he watched the control panel’s estimated time of arrival tick down. Closing his eyes as the pod crashed into the ground, the Saiyan’s body was thrown forward slightly as his momentum was abruptly stopped.
Onyx eyes were reflected in the stained glass opposite Rubega as he slowly opened them, leaning back in his chair and taking a deep breath. He felt a sliver of nervousness before blocking out such pathetic feelings away as he reached for the eject button in front of him. While he would never admit to anyone about feeling such emotions, the facts of the matter were that he had no idea what was waiting for him on the outside.
Down the rabbit hole I go.
With a quick press of a button, the space-pod’s shuttle entrance ejected outwards, bringing in a gust of sand strong enough to make Rubega cover his eyes. As soon as he stepped out of his space-pod, Rubega almost choked on how dry the air felt. The heat was unbearable as he looked up at the pair of suns beaming down on him. Raising his foot slightly, the young Saiyan quickly noted that the gravity was a little heavier than what he was used to on Planet Vegeta, though nothing he couldn’t handle.
Standing up straight and ignoring the beads of sweat that were already beginning to trail down the side of his neck, Rubega activated the scouter located over his right eye and opted to scan the area for signs of life.
The Saiyan warrior waited for a few moments, pivoting his head around as the scouter’s readings projected in the HUD. Minutes passed with the scouter refusing to identify any signs of activity on the planet, and Rubega felt his heart sink slightly. “How disappointing…” he remarked aloud.
It seems as though the information I paid for is grossly inaccurate. Since there’s nothing here, maybe I’ll just go pay another visit to that scoundrel who thought he could get away with stealing from me!
Just when Rubega decided he’d wasted enough time in the blistering heat, something remarkable happened; the scouter beeped.
It was small, just a flicker on the HUD of his scouter, but he definitely saw it! Maybe his zenni wouldn’t go to waste after all. A purple aura flared to life around the Saiyan as he powered up slightly and prepared to take flight. His body felt a little heavy, no doubt due to the increased gravity, as he blasted off towards the coordinates located in his scouter’s HUD.
The flight was a fairly short one and luckily enough for Rubega, he had landed his space-pod not too far away from the location his scouter was displaying. However, it was still long enough for the Saiyan to delve back into his own thoughts.
He’d heard rumblings of an unusual planet located on the outskirts while he was in a bar, relieving some stress one evening after a rather unpleasant mission. It took the majority of his money to coax the old merchant to elaborate on his ranting, along with the coordinates to this rather incognito planet that had peaked the young Saiyan’s interest. After sitting with the merchant for another hour, listening to the merchant drone on about the place, Rubega came to the quick conclusion that the planet was currently unclaimed.
There was no name for the planet as far as he knew, with his scouter only referring to the asteroid as Planet XB-2812, due to its own lack of knowledge about the sector he was currently in, let alone the planet.
Nevertheless, he was desperate. Rubega needed to find a way to get into the Empire’s good graces. He needed to progress through the ranks in order to earn the Queen’s trust. As long as he was accepted into the Queen’s inner circle, he would be able to identify weaknesses. He’d heard tales of how strong the Saiyan Queen was, with rumours of her facing down entire fleets of Arcosians by herself. One deluded Saiyan even claimed that she was a legendary Super Saiyan, though he obviously didn’t believe that nonsense.
Regardless of the factual base in these rumours, the one overarching theme was that the Queen was insanely strong, infinitely stronger than himself, which naturally meant he had to be smarter than her. As long as he integrated himself into the Queen’s most trusted allies, he could study her, learn her weaknesses and plan accordingly.
Then when the perfect opportunity presents itself, I'll strike her down just like I did father and become ruler of the Saiyan Empire!
PART II
The young Saiyan couldn’t dwell on his plans for much longer though as something small in the distance caught his eye. As he drew closer, the once small blips that were in the distance escalated in size until they revealed themselves to be massive building structures embedded deep in the sand.
Rubega failed to supress his cat-like grin as he travelled closer. What he once thought to be a barren wasteland had proven him wrong. Somewhere on this desolate rock, a colony had formed, surviving and prospering on a planet that Rubega wouldn’t even have given a second glance towards, had he not received the tip off from that merchant.
The Saiyan slowed down as he approached closer towards the group of buildings, letting his aura die down as he came to a floating stop a few hundred meters outside of what looked to be a village.
As he focused his gaze towards the village, Rubega was able to spot the small alien species that inhabited the planet. They were strange looking things, the only way he could describe it was a crossbreed between a bug of some sort and a dragon. With little wings located on their back, they all hovered around close to the ground, too focused on what he supposed were their daily lives to notice him.
Well we’ll have to change that won’t we?
Almost tiredly, Rubega stretched out his right hand, opening his palm out towards the nearest building structure, a long pillar of made out of stone. A loud screeching sound echoed around the area, sand swirling around his forearm as a purple sphere of energy began to formulate around the palm of his hand.
He watched as the alien life forms suddenly stopped in their tracks, turning to gasp up at him with horrified expressions on their unusually ugly little faces. Rubega grinned slightly.
That’s more like it…
In one effortless movement, the Saiyan warrior pushed his hand out an inch further, his ki spiking upwards for a split second as he released the small ki blast that had moulded itself in his hand. The ki blast spun off towards the building, spiralling around unpredictably before it crashed into the stone pillar.
What followed could only be described as controlled chaos. Debris shattered outwards as the explosion toppled the pillar. The strange alien life forms all began to panic, their small wings flapping as the majority of them scattered in different directions back into their own respective buildings.
Idiots, as if that will help you.
Rubega looked down to the few who had remained. They were frozen in shock, staring up at his hovering frame.
“Tell whoever runs things around here that an important guest has arrived.” Rubega barked, revelling in the pure fear that was radiating off their petrified faces.
It didn’t take long for them to bring out the native who Rubega assumed was in charge of the village. The alien was a lot older than the rest that he’d seen, his green skin wrinkled and sagged. From the Saiyan’s observations he also noted that the elder seemed to be weak and fragile, with many of the other natives crowding around to help support him.
Rubega slowly drifted down towards the ground, landing in front of them. There was an eerie silence as the Saiyan stared them down, his tail swinging around in the air behind him, before wrapping around his waist.
“Under the authority of Queen Zucceta, I am hereby claiming this planet as an affiliate to the Saiyan Solar Empire.” Rubega revealed in a bored, monotone voice. He was lying of course, he was sure the SSE didn’t even know this planet existed, which played into why he was so interested in coming here in the first place.
“I see… well Genokians are a peaceful race and we have no interest in this so called Saiyan Empire of yours.” The elder replied, bluntly.
Rubega smirked at the elder’s boldness. It was almost refreshing to see someone oppose him, or the Empire. However, while it was refreshing to see something new, the elder's defiance began to irritate the young Saiyan. It was as if the elder had no idea just who he was dealing with. Or maybe he did…
Just to make sure that he wasn’t making some kind of foolish mistake, Rubega quickly pressed a button on the side of his scouter and waited as it zeroed in on the elder in front of him. It only took a few seconds but when the scouter beeped, the Saiyan almost laughed out loud at the number located on the scouter’s HUD.
Five! This fool thinks that he can oppose the Empire… no oppose me, with a power level of five?
“I don’t think you understand the situation, Genokian. This isn’t a request… it’s an order.” The Saiyan gritted his teeth. His blood boiling over in anger due to the insect’s audacity to oppose him.
“I understand you clearly, young one. However, once again we’re going to have to deny your request.”
Rubega hadn’t even noticed the blood dripping from his hands onto the sand. Clenched so tightly into fists at his side, the Saiyan tried his best to quell his rage before revealing an almost sadistic smile.
What a waste of time...
“Well I guess I’ll be on my way then.” Rubega replied, a fake smile plastered on his face as he hovered back up over the village. He watched with glee as he saw a few relieved expressions on some of the Genokian’s faces as they watched him float away.
It dawned on him that they had probably never been in this situation before. They had probably never interacted with another species like himself before either, fearing for their lives. Luckily for them, he would make sure they never have to be put in such a predicament again.
With his right hand outstretched towards them, he watched with a smirk as relieved expressions melted back into terrified ones.
“BLOODY… SUNDAY!”
PART III
Rubega fingers twitched as he flew back towards his space-pod, his anger still brimming. He’d left the village in ruins during his little tantrum, leaving nobody alive.
I’m definitely killing that merchant now for wasting my time!
He’d had plans for this planet and its people. Whether it was enslaving those Genoskians to do as he pleased, or the acquisition of any natural resources that the planet had to offer, resources he could have used to help fund his own personal goals. However, the pathetic species which inhabited the planet and the rock itself were both equally as useless to him.
Regardless, the sooner he got off this pile of rock the better. This was merely a tiny roadblock in his plans to gain power, and once he put this whole debacle behind him he would re-focus and work out his next move.
Caught in his own thoughts, the young Saiyan almost missed the ki blast which skimmed the top of his hair, crashing down into one of the mountains in front of him. The blast caused a small explosion, across the surface of the mountain which led to loose pieces of rock falling into the Saiyan’s flight path.
Acting on instinct the Saiyan adjusted his body slightly, flying underneath a large boulder which had be dislodged from the mountain, before flaring his aura and kicking his feet off another large boulder falling in front of him, in an attempt to redirect his body back in the direction of which he came from; the direction of the ki blast itself.
Rubega let his aura die down once again as he was met face to face with not someone… but something that stood a few metres away from the falling mountain. The Saiyan slowly floated down to the ground in front of him, staring the creature eye to eye.
“It was you! You killed them all.” the creature growled.
The Saiyan warrior stood there, his eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the creature in front of him. He looked similar to the Genokians in terms of outward appearance. However, he was much larger than the average Genokian that he saw back in the village.
“Well aren’t you an interesting looking creature. You’re different from the others.” Rubega noted calmly, ignoring the bug’s outburst.
The creature before him stood eye to eye with him, his height transcending his own. Instead of tiny wings located on his back, large dragon-like wings sprouted proudly as they shielded the creature from the incoming bursts of sand that spun around them frantically.
“You’ll pay for what you did to my tribe!” The creature growled out again, his voice gravelly laced with a sliver of sadness. A sadness that no doubt came from the fact that Rubega had just destroyed his village.
The young Saiyan stood tall, letting out a small sigh, “Are you really going with that cliché? I have to say I’m disappointed. If only I had a Zenni for every time a bug like you sprouted bullshit like that… I wouldn’t need to be here, I could be relaxing on an exotic planet somewhere. Not this barren wasteland.”
He was lying of course. Money didn’t motivate him at all, only power and status did. He had a dream that he was willing to do anything to achieve. He would become King, not matter how many dead bodies he had to step over! However, it was glorious to see the look of utter disgust and dismay on the Genokian’s face as the Saiyan revealed to him just how little their existence mattered to him.
“It… it was my responsibility! I was the one who was meant to protect them!” Rubega’s scouter beeped as the Genokian’s power level popped up on the HUD.
One hundred. This is perfect, this pathetic weakling is nothing compared to me! I’ll squash him like the bug he is then destroy this godforsaken planet once and for all!
“Well, let me relieve you of your responsibility.” The Saiyan grinned as he moved into his battle stance, his purple aura flaring up again around his body as he increased his power level towards its maximum.
“I’m going to kill you!” the Genokian screamed and in a blink of an eye the creature disappeared.
Wait, what the hell?
The Genokian suddenly reappeared in front of him, surprising Rubega into taking a step backwards. How was he so fast? The Saiyan didn’t get to think about it for long though as he was eating a swift right hook which was planted on the side of his cheek. Where he thought the punch would have no effect on him due to the Genokian’s low power level, Rubega heard the audible cracking of his cheekbone breaking as the punch sent him hurtling along the sand.
How is he so strong? The scouter says his power level is only one hundred!
Skidding along the sand on his back, Rubega was able to shift the momentum in his favour as he rolled back along to his feet. Once he was standing upright, the Saiyan noticed the Genokian’s power level rising rapidly in the scouter’s HUD.
How is he manipulating the scouter’s readings like this? This should be impossible!
Rubega’s attention quickly shifted back to the Genokian as he transitioned to attack once again. The Saiyan quickly guarded himself, not taking the creature for granted anymore. The Genokian obviously had some tricks up his sleeve in order to manipulate the scouter readings like that.
As he predicted, the Genokian dashed forward again, a visible white aura surrounding him as he closed in on the Saiyan. Raising his left arm to block the right hook that followed, Rubega was surprised at just how powerful this fighter was. Steeling himself, Rubega swung his right foot around to catch the Genokian in the neck in an attempt to catch him off guard. Convinced that the blow was about to land, the Saiyan was once again shocked to see his foot caught in the left hand of the monster.
Rubega was too shocked to follow up with another attack and quickly paid for it when the Genokian took hold of the back of his head and pushed it forward, slamming his face into the nearest mountain. The dusky haired Saiyan closed his eyes as his face crashed into the mountain side, his scouter shattering on impact, the shards digging deep into the skin around his eye.
Unlike himself, the Genokian didn’t have any hesitations in following up on his attack as Rubega felt the sharp sting of a cracked rib as the Genokian spun around in a 360° motion and kicked him in the side.
Rubega felt himself being thrown like a rag doll as he was kicked away from the mountain side, landing face down in the sand as he slid across the ground unable to stop his momentum. Rubega clawed at the sand as he pushed himself up onto all fours, blood dripping down from his cheek as shards of embedded glass stuck in his face.
How is he this strong? He’s faster and physically stronger than me. If I don’t think of something soon, I’m going to die on this rotten planet.
Shakily the Saiyan rose to his feet, his legs still wobbling from the assault he’d just endured. However, he had learnt a great deal about the creature opposite him. While he was superior in speed and strength, the one weakness that the Genokian had was his fighting style. Relying on his speed heavily, the creature’s attacks were predictable and basic at best. If he could just predict them before they happened, instead of reacting to them, he was sure he would be able to gain the upper hand.
Rubega lifted his head to meet the eyes of the creature who had just smacked him around. While he expected to see a smug expression on his face, the type of expression that he’d surely have if the situations were reversed, he was surprised to see absolute fury on the Genokian’s face.
“You’re pretty strong, I’ll give you that.” Rubega coughed, before picking out a particularly large piece of glass from his cheek.
“Be quiet! Fight me and prepare to die!” The green alien gritted out.
“Stronger than the worms I put down earlier anyway.” Rubega revealed the tiniest of smirks as he watched the Genokian tremble in rage. The comment had been meant as a throwaway, something to infuriate the Genokian into attacking him blindly.
The Saiyan had proved to be correct as the Genokian dashed forward again, using the same battle stance and the same movements, proving himself to be just as predictable as he’d thought. As the Genokian moved in, Rubega had already transitioned his body to phase away from the right hook that was coming and before the bug could follow it up with that spin kick of his, Rubega was already in the motion of driving his fist upwards into the jaw of the Genokian.
Rubega smiled. While he had paid the price for his ignorance earlier, the Saiyan was about to repay that debt ten times over by punishing the Genokian for his lack of experience.
Still stunned by the punch he’d received, Rubega wasted no time by moving in quickly behind the Genokian and driving his foot up into the spine of the bug-man. The kick sent the alien flying upwards into the sky, with Rubega’s purple aura quickly flaring up around him as he kicked off the ground towards the sky in order to follow up on his attack.
With the Genokian still recovering from the strikes he’d received, it was easy for Rubega to dart ahead of the flying body. By time the Genokian caught up to the Saiyan, he was met with a ferocious double handed club to the back of his head, which sent him hurtling back towards the ground.
The Saiyan warrior watched as the Genokian crashed into the ground, creating a large crater in the sand. Deciding that this was the perfect chance to end things for good, Rubega held bent his right hand at his side as he prepared to unleash his most devastating attack.
It was a rare sight to see as the two suns died down, creating an ominous shadow over the wasteland that both fighters were duelling it out in. As the shadow slowly crept over the desert, a red light illuminated the area as the Saiyan formulated the energy into his right hand. It took a few moments for him to gather enough energy into his right hand. Luckily enough for him, the Genokian on the ground laid there unmoving.
He probably has a shattered spine. Rubega thought gleefully.
The red hue that illuminating the area slowly died down as the energy condensed itself into a sphere which was held in the Saiyan’s right palm. Rubega struggled to keep the energy condensed in his hand as it crackled around dangerously, there was no doubt he’d need to release it now.
The Saiyan warrior didn’t bother with pinpointing his target. He figured the pure quantity of energy would be enough to eradicate the bug from existence, regardless of whether he was hit directly. Unable to hold the energy for much longer, Rubega stretched his arm out, pushing the gigantic amount of energy towards the ground below. The crimson beam of energy spiraled out of the Saiyan’s hand as it shot down towards the ground below.
“BLOODY SUNDAY!” The scream was primal as he released the large energy wave.
Rubega felt his arm go numb as he finished dispelling the large energy wave. Once the beam collided with the ground, a few metres outside of the crater in which the Genokian was lying in, a loud explosion echoed throughout the wasteland, followed by a massive shockwave strong enough to cut the surrounding mountains.
Mountains toppled and sand sprung up from the explosion, distorting Rubega’s vision as the beam hit. It was almost as if he were in a sandstorm, the way the sand blew around him. The Saiyan waited for what seemed like hours before the sand slowly started to settle, drifting back down to the ground, with Rubega following suite.
Immediately dropping to his knees once he landed, Rubega spent a few moments shaking his arm, trying to get the blood flow back to normal. One of the major flaws in his technique as it stood now was that he struggled to keep the large amount of energy under control. It was a flaw that he deemed unacceptable and something he would have to rectify immediately. If in some situation where someone like the Genokian had survived the attack, then he would be royally fu-.
Did I just see something move?
Rubega felt his eyes widen and his jaw drop as he watched the Genokian emerge from the cloud of sand, his left arm completely gone as a titian coloured liquid dripped from his shoulder, which the Saiyan quickly assumed was the creature’s blood.
The Genokian stumbled forward slightly before resting his eyes on Rubega, “Don’t think you’re getting out of this alive, monster!”
How did he survive? Fuck, fuck, fuck!
Fear tingled down his spine as he watched the Genokian move forward slowly. His only good arm outstretched, with his hand outstretched completely. The Saiyan watched as the Genokian channelled his ki into the hand.
What the hell is he doing now?
The alien’s hand took on a bright blue aura, which pulsed around his hand alone. Rubega knew what was coming next but felt his body too exhausted to react accordingly. In one swift motion the Genokian dashed forward, with his arm outstretched towards the Saiyan’s heart. In an act of desperation, Rubega dived to the side hoping to avoid the suspicious hand, but was unfortunately caught on the back of his leg. The Saiyan screamed aloud in agony as he felt the skin on the back of his leg tear away, along with the muscle underneath.
Dropping to the ground with a large thud, Rubega quickly turned his body around on the ground to prepare for a follow up strike, but was fortunate enough to see the Genokian standing a few hundred metres away, wobbling on his own feet as he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Okay, I need to calm down! He’s in just as bad shape as me. If I time this correctly, I can finish this.
Rubega struggled to get to his feet, having to rely on holding the majority of his weight on his right leg. The Saiyan knew it would be impossible to dodge another strike. There was only one thing left to do and it had to be timed to perfection if he was to survive.
He watched as the Genokian steadied himself, before redirecting his attention on Rubega again. Bracing himself slowly, the Saiyan watched as the Genokian darted forward again with a loud cry, stretching his arm out like a sword aiming for the Saiyan warrior’s heart once again.
Instead of trying to avoid the attack in its entirety this time, Rubega shifted his body a centimetre or two to the right, shifting his weight onto his good foot as he felt the Genokian’s ki laced hand slice through his chest. Blood escaped his mouth, splashing over the Genokian’s arm as it dug deep into his chest, cutting through cleanly out the back.
Gritting his teeth and trying to ignore the pain that threatened to shut his whole body down, Rubega grabbed onto the Genokian’s arm with his left hand and held it still in a vice grip. The Genokian looked up in shock as the Saiyan held him still, the alien’s arm still buried into his chest. With no way for the Genokian to possibly avoid this, Rubega placed his right hand over the bug-man’s chest and channelled what little ki he had left into his hand.
There was no grand attack, no screaming of technique names or anything spectacular. Rubega channelled enough ki into his right hand to release a simple ki beam, similar to the way he had killed his own father. A tiny ki beam with just enough power to kill situated in the most vulnerable place of the body. The release was immediate and Rubega watched as the beam pierced the Genokian’s heart, simultaneously blowing the alien and himself backwards onto their backs.
For the longest time, Rubega laid on his back, breathing in and out as he felt exhaustion threaten to take over his body. Trying to ignore the stabbing pain in his chest, he rolled over onto his side to see the dead Genokian’s eyes staring back at him blankly.
There was no sense of triumph or pride for Rubega in his victory. The only emotion that flowed through his body was relief. He’d almost died today. Today acted as a quick reality check that in all the plans and goals he had to be King of the Saiyan Empire, he’d almost been killed today by a bug. He’d almost been killed by a race that he had never even seen before today. It was unacceptable, shameful!
A wave of pain vibrated through his body, to which he took as a sign to get out of dodge. Rubega took his time climbing to his feet, his hand desperately covering the small hole in his chest, located mere centimetres away from his heart.
The walk back to his space-pod took hours in the state he was in, too exhausted to fly as he dragged his feet through the sand. He’d fallen a few times too, blood spilling out onto the sand, staining it crimson. Nevertheless he got up, again and again, fighting to survive. He’d just survived the battle of his life. He would never let himself be killed by the injuries he sustained on the walk back to his space-pod!
The space-pod eventually came into view, still sitting in its remote location from the first moment he arrived on this rock. His feet moved a bit quicker, eager to retreat back into a place where he knew he was safe.
He was vulnerable in this position, he was scared.
With his feet moving a bit too quick for the rest of his body, he toppled over onto his face. Exhaustion settled in quickly and he soon felt paralyzed by the pain in his chest. Slowly lifting his head up towards the space-pod, seeing how close he was to surviving, Rubega knew he wouldn’t die today. With a new resolve, the young Saiyan dug his gloved hands into the sand and began dragging his battered body along the sand, leaving a streak of red behind him as he moved forward.
I will be King… I will be King… I WILL BE KING!
FINISHED.