Post by Tomaya on Nov 17, 2016 8:50:27 GMT
The sounds of combat filled the air – the sound of flesh upon flesh, of explosions and uproarious laughter. Perhaps not the quietest locale, but one that Tomaya found herself at ease within, sitting in a chair across the training room. She glanced up from the datapad she held in her hand, the display showing shaky camera footage of the invasion of Arcose. Ahead of her, one of the saiyan elite were busy feeding their ego by fighting a small number of weaker warriors at once.
She rolled her eyes, as each of them rushed him – sometimes in pairs, often alone – but never straying from a simple frontal assault. Such a fight was not in their favor, and predictably, they each in turn found themselves intimately acquainted with the ground. Now, if each of them attacked simultaneously, or perhaps went after his tail – assuming this particular elite hadn't already trained out of that, then these low class guys might stand a chance, but...
Nope. Once again, a couple of them decide to charge – this time, at least, they tried flanking him. A moment later, they were both kissing tile floor. Tomaya groaned slightly and returned her attention to the video playing below her. Footage was shaky, and of low quality – as it always was – but it was still useful. ”Not interested in joining them in the fun?” came a voice from behind her.
She glanced back, staring up at a large, brutish man – a large, square jaw with a jagged scar running along the length of it, and just a tuft of black hair sprouting out of the top of his head, though it was nearly eclipsed by his barrel-like chest. The man grinned down at her before jutting his head toward the group of saiyans, ”Looks like they could use the help.” Tomaya grinned slightly and shook her head. ”Why don't you get your ass in there then, Kabage? Show 'em how it's done,” she retorted, turning her eyes back to her datapad.
The man behind her let out a loud, hearty laugh at that and pulled up a seat behind her. ”Wouldn't be fair! I'd hate to emasculate all of them,” he replied, watching them for a few moments before turning his attention back to Tomaya. ”Could watch that thing in your quarters, y'know. Where you could actually hear the stuff on there,” he said. Tomaya shook her head slightly, not bothering to look up this time, ”Nah. I don't need to hear anything on here, just need to watch. Study what's going on – what we did right. What we did wrong. And those idiots are providing sufficient ambient noise to keep me from falling asleep watching it.”
The big man scratched his head for a moment and shrugged, looking over her shoulder to catch glimpse of the video on screen. It showed great apes showering fire on cities and some Tree of Might-infused warriors easily wiping out the defending Arcosians. Of course, it wasn't an entirely one-sided fight, as with any large scale war with another strong race, occasionally some of the footage showed a saiyan getting overwhelmed and toppled or simply ending up fighting a superior foe.
”Heh. Almost forgot what it was like down there. Hah! It was glorious, wasn't it?” he asked, face breaking out into yet another large grin. ”Not really. The outcome was never really in question when we had the Tree of Might and Queen Zeccuta on-hand. I'm surprised we took the losses that we did,” she replied, eyes narrowing as the video screen showed an arcosian wipe out a squad of saiyans before being overwhelmed by a few fruit-imbued warriors.
Kabage shrugged his massive shoulders, ”Eh, can't be helped. Arcosians are tough bastards to take down. Though, we still wiped them out pretty easily.” he replied, though his grin faded slightly as Tomaya switched the video from the invasion of Arcose to a familiar blue orb instead – Earth. ”And yet, despite being 'tough bastards' as you put it, Arcose fell, but Earth – who's inhabitants are by and large weaker than a saiyan or arcosian, managed to not only hold us back but defeat us soundly,” Tomaya replied, letting the footage of the invasion add weight to her words.
The big, muscular man growled slightly and looked back up at the group of warrior sparring – though it seems the elite had grown tired of games and had dropped all but one of them already. It didn't look like they'd be getting back up for a while. ”Filthy humans are just tricksters, that's all. If it wasn't for their damn androids and all their tricky little...tricks, they wouldn't have stood a chance,” he replied sourly.
”That's exactly right, if a little harshly said,” Tomaya replied. She watched the scenes of the fighting. By all accounts, the saiyan forces were stronger than the humans – in areas where they managed to land Oozaru units, the humans were easily wiped out. However, it seemed that the humans were easily able to lead several units into traps – they adapted to fighting more powerful foes, not by replying to brute force with more brute force, but with their minds. It was something Tomaya could relate to.
”The average saiyan warrior is a lot like you, Kabage,” she continued, fast forwarding the video feed through some of the more boring sections of footage that had been taken. No one cared about looking at broken cities. ”Big, strong and full of confidence. Assured of their own power – truly, a force to be recognized and feared!” she said, and with each word, Kabage's grin grew wider and wider – almost ear to ear.
”But, the average saiyan warrior is stupid,” she went on, Kabage's grin lingering only a moment longer before disappearing. ”Say what, now?” he asked, blinking a few times in confusion at the sudden tone shift. ”That is why the humans defeated us. Despite all our power over them, they more easily adapt than we do. I'd almost say they're smarter than us. At least, on average. They're individually weaker in most cases – and so, they build androids to fight us on equal ground – even against Oozaru!”
”And not only that, but they use terrain against us and adapt their own tactics to combat our own – and lets face it, our tactics rarely get more refined than 'throw pods at city and use a power ball, repeat until victorious'. They're tricksters, like you said, and that's what makes them dangerous,” she said, unaware that a small smile had crept onto her face as she spoke. Kabage made a loud huffing noise behind her, his voice a low, sarcastic rumble. ”Sounds like you're in love with the bastards,” he said dismissively.
”More like... admiring a kindred spirit, I think,” Tomaya replied, pausing the video, the image of a human warrior on the screen. She remembered that one – he would have killed her if she'd been alone. But she wasn't, and the human met his end there. She almost felt a twinge of regret – he'd have been fun to fight, under different circumstances. ”These humans are interesting. They defeat us, but they let us leave – they defeat Queen Zucceta, and they let her leave. No saiyan would have done the same. These creatures are...unique, and I intend to find out why,” she said, finally turning the power off on her datapad.
She stood, turning toward the door to the training room, ready to leave as the last of the low class warriors got punched into a wall. Kabage raised with her, a brow raised slightly, ”Oh no, I know that look Tomaya. You're planning to do something stupid, aren't you?” he asked, following Tomaya out the door as she left, keeping pace with her as she walked down the halls. Tomaya laughed slightly and shrugged her shoulders, ”I'm not planning anything stupid, Kabage. You know me better than that! I'm just planning to take a little vacation in the near future, is all,” she replied.
”We're at peace with the humans, Tomaya. We're not supposed to mess with them anymore – not until Queen Zucceta says otherwise!,” Kabage reminded her, speaking in a harsh whisper to try and not alert any of the others they passed by in the hall. ”I know that. I'm not going there to mess with any of them, I'm just going there to study the locals for a while. See what makes them tick,” she replied, tossing him an innocent grin over her shoulder.
The large warrior clasped a hand over his face, shaking his head in disbelief. ”You're gonna get yourself killed, you know that right?” he asked. ”Not if I don't go there shouting 'Muahaha! Your planet now belongs to me! Surrender your earth food immediately!” she retorted, finally reaching her quarters. The door opened in front of her with a hiss and she turned to face the burly man still following her, a little grin on her face. ”Relax, the humans didn't kill the queen and she invaded their planet and killed literally millions of them. They're not going to kill me for showing up and learning. Probably,” she said.
”Pft. I hope you're right," Kabage said, leaning against the door frame. ”If you're not, I'm gonna find you in Hell and beat the shit out of you,” he finished with a grin. ”Psh, maybe in your dreams, Kabage. G'night,” she said before sealing the door shut with the press of a button. Alone in her room, she placed her datapad on the lone table in the center of the room. It was getting late. To be honest, she probably should have been in bed, already, but it'd been becoming increasingly difficult to sleep.
She knew it was because of her imminent return to Earth. She knew Kabage had some legitimate concerns – they likely wouldn't be very pleased to see another saiyan after the invasion. Even if they did let Zucceta go, it was likely that the first earthlings she met on the planet likely wouldn't be as...forgiving. Oh well, chances were good that any earthlings she met, she'd be able to kill without issue. They were still an inferior species, after all. She just had to prevent herself from attracting enough attention to warrant the stronger members of their race finding her. Or, heaven forbid, those Oozaru-rivaling mechanized units.
She slipped her breastplate off and set it on her armor rack, then collapsed back onto her bed, arms folded behind her head. She did nothing but stare up at the ceiling for a few long moments, eyes slowly getting heavier as she tried to push thoughts out of her mind for a few hours and get just a little bit of sleep. Tomorrow is another day, and another day closer to Earth again, she thought to herself. She wondered just what kind of adventures lie in wait for her as she drifted off into slumber.
~Word Count~: 1,847
She rolled her eyes, as each of them rushed him – sometimes in pairs, often alone – but never straying from a simple frontal assault. Such a fight was not in their favor, and predictably, they each in turn found themselves intimately acquainted with the ground. Now, if each of them attacked simultaneously, or perhaps went after his tail – assuming this particular elite hadn't already trained out of that, then these low class guys might stand a chance, but...
Nope. Once again, a couple of them decide to charge – this time, at least, they tried flanking him. A moment later, they were both kissing tile floor. Tomaya groaned slightly and returned her attention to the video playing below her. Footage was shaky, and of low quality – as it always was – but it was still useful. ”Not interested in joining them in the fun?” came a voice from behind her.
She glanced back, staring up at a large, brutish man – a large, square jaw with a jagged scar running along the length of it, and just a tuft of black hair sprouting out of the top of his head, though it was nearly eclipsed by his barrel-like chest. The man grinned down at her before jutting his head toward the group of saiyans, ”Looks like they could use the help.” Tomaya grinned slightly and shook her head. ”Why don't you get your ass in there then, Kabage? Show 'em how it's done,” she retorted, turning her eyes back to her datapad.
The man behind her let out a loud, hearty laugh at that and pulled up a seat behind her. ”Wouldn't be fair! I'd hate to emasculate all of them,” he replied, watching them for a few moments before turning his attention back to Tomaya. ”Could watch that thing in your quarters, y'know. Where you could actually hear the stuff on there,” he said. Tomaya shook her head slightly, not bothering to look up this time, ”Nah. I don't need to hear anything on here, just need to watch. Study what's going on – what we did right. What we did wrong. And those idiots are providing sufficient ambient noise to keep me from falling asleep watching it.”
The big man scratched his head for a moment and shrugged, looking over her shoulder to catch glimpse of the video on screen. It showed great apes showering fire on cities and some Tree of Might-infused warriors easily wiping out the defending Arcosians. Of course, it wasn't an entirely one-sided fight, as with any large scale war with another strong race, occasionally some of the footage showed a saiyan getting overwhelmed and toppled or simply ending up fighting a superior foe.
”Heh. Almost forgot what it was like down there. Hah! It was glorious, wasn't it?” he asked, face breaking out into yet another large grin. ”Not really. The outcome was never really in question when we had the Tree of Might and Queen Zeccuta on-hand. I'm surprised we took the losses that we did,” she replied, eyes narrowing as the video screen showed an arcosian wipe out a squad of saiyans before being overwhelmed by a few fruit-imbued warriors.
Kabage shrugged his massive shoulders, ”Eh, can't be helped. Arcosians are tough bastards to take down. Though, we still wiped them out pretty easily.” he replied, though his grin faded slightly as Tomaya switched the video from the invasion of Arcose to a familiar blue orb instead – Earth. ”And yet, despite being 'tough bastards' as you put it, Arcose fell, but Earth – who's inhabitants are by and large weaker than a saiyan or arcosian, managed to not only hold us back but defeat us soundly,” Tomaya replied, letting the footage of the invasion add weight to her words.
The big, muscular man growled slightly and looked back up at the group of warrior sparring – though it seems the elite had grown tired of games and had dropped all but one of them already. It didn't look like they'd be getting back up for a while. ”Filthy humans are just tricksters, that's all. If it wasn't for their damn androids and all their tricky little...tricks, they wouldn't have stood a chance,” he replied sourly.
”That's exactly right, if a little harshly said,” Tomaya replied. She watched the scenes of the fighting. By all accounts, the saiyan forces were stronger than the humans – in areas where they managed to land Oozaru units, the humans were easily wiped out. However, it seemed that the humans were easily able to lead several units into traps – they adapted to fighting more powerful foes, not by replying to brute force with more brute force, but with their minds. It was something Tomaya could relate to.
”The average saiyan warrior is a lot like you, Kabage,” she continued, fast forwarding the video feed through some of the more boring sections of footage that had been taken. No one cared about looking at broken cities. ”Big, strong and full of confidence. Assured of their own power – truly, a force to be recognized and feared!” she said, and with each word, Kabage's grin grew wider and wider – almost ear to ear.
”But, the average saiyan warrior is stupid,” she went on, Kabage's grin lingering only a moment longer before disappearing. ”Say what, now?” he asked, blinking a few times in confusion at the sudden tone shift. ”That is why the humans defeated us. Despite all our power over them, they more easily adapt than we do. I'd almost say they're smarter than us. At least, on average. They're individually weaker in most cases – and so, they build androids to fight us on equal ground – even against Oozaru!”
”And not only that, but they use terrain against us and adapt their own tactics to combat our own – and lets face it, our tactics rarely get more refined than 'throw pods at city and use a power ball, repeat until victorious'. They're tricksters, like you said, and that's what makes them dangerous,” she said, unaware that a small smile had crept onto her face as she spoke. Kabage made a loud huffing noise behind her, his voice a low, sarcastic rumble. ”Sounds like you're in love with the bastards,” he said dismissively.
”More like... admiring a kindred spirit, I think,” Tomaya replied, pausing the video, the image of a human warrior on the screen. She remembered that one – he would have killed her if she'd been alone. But she wasn't, and the human met his end there. She almost felt a twinge of regret – he'd have been fun to fight, under different circumstances. ”These humans are interesting. They defeat us, but they let us leave – they defeat Queen Zucceta, and they let her leave. No saiyan would have done the same. These creatures are...unique, and I intend to find out why,” she said, finally turning the power off on her datapad.
She stood, turning toward the door to the training room, ready to leave as the last of the low class warriors got punched into a wall. Kabage raised with her, a brow raised slightly, ”Oh no, I know that look Tomaya. You're planning to do something stupid, aren't you?” he asked, following Tomaya out the door as she left, keeping pace with her as she walked down the halls. Tomaya laughed slightly and shrugged her shoulders, ”I'm not planning anything stupid, Kabage. You know me better than that! I'm just planning to take a little vacation in the near future, is all,” she replied.
”We're at peace with the humans, Tomaya. We're not supposed to mess with them anymore – not until Queen Zucceta says otherwise!,” Kabage reminded her, speaking in a harsh whisper to try and not alert any of the others they passed by in the hall. ”I know that. I'm not going there to mess with any of them, I'm just going there to study the locals for a while. See what makes them tick,” she replied, tossing him an innocent grin over her shoulder.
The large warrior clasped a hand over his face, shaking his head in disbelief. ”You're gonna get yourself killed, you know that right?” he asked. ”Not if I don't go there shouting 'Muahaha! Your planet now belongs to me! Surrender your earth food immediately!” she retorted, finally reaching her quarters. The door opened in front of her with a hiss and she turned to face the burly man still following her, a little grin on her face. ”Relax, the humans didn't kill the queen and she invaded their planet and killed literally millions of them. They're not going to kill me for showing up and learning. Probably,” she said.
”Pft. I hope you're right," Kabage said, leaning against the door frame. ”If you're not, I'm gonna find you in Hell and beat the shit out of you,” he finished with a grin. ”Psh, maybe in your dreams, Kabage. G'night,” she said before sealing the door shut with the press of a button. Alone in her room, she placed her datapad on the lone table in the center of the room. It was getting late. To be honest, she probably should have been in bed, already, but it'd been becoming increasingly difficult to sleep.
She knew it was because of her imminent return to Earth. She knew Kabage had some legitimate concerns – they likely wouldn't be very pleased to see another saiyan after the invasion. Even if they did let Zucceta go, it was likely that the first earthlings she met on the planet likely wouldn't be as...forgiving. Oh well, chances were good that any earthlings she met, she'd be able to kill without issue. They were still an inferior species, after all. She just had to prevent herself from attracting enough attention to warrant the stronger members of their race finding her. Or, heaven forbid, those Oozaru-rivaling mechanized units.
She slipped her breastplate off and set it on her armor rack, then collapsed back onto her bed, arms folded behind her head. She did nothing but stare up at the ceiling for a few long moments, eyes slowly getting heavier as she tried to push thoughts out of her mind for a few hours and get just a little bit of sleep. Tomorrow is another day, and another day closer to Earth again, she thought to herself. She wondered just what kind of adventures lie in wait for her as she drifted off into slumber.
~Word Count~: 1,847