[Return][Part Deux][Complete]

[Rensou Hiruen]

Blackened boots, white accents as clean as the day they had been purchased, carried an impressive figure forward with purposeful strides. A pair of recently built towers stood to each side of the gate the figure was approaching at such a hellbent pace, and aggressive and powerful guards began to funnel out, adorned in the attire of the Saiyan military. Elites, these were, and that determined one could feel their resonating energies and the hair at the nape of his muscular neck tingled with anticipation, for the aggression and tension in the dense oxygen of Vegetasei could be felt. Four to the man, and men they were – hardened by battle and loss, some of the final survivors of the purge of many of their race, a massacre orchestrated by Touketsuki Yakedo.

The intruder was unidentifiable, a black cloak enshrouding him from identification, even his race was a mystery. The only information the assembly of guards had was that none were allowed to enter the facility where their highest ranking officers were, at this very moment, meeting, and that this strange one before them would not gain entry! The men settled into combative stances, a rainbow of power dancing around them and melding into one great inferno as they reached the pinnacle of their power. Nothing was left to question now, not after what Yakedo had done, and the lead warrior offered one short warning before he would aim his men to the task. Those whom would do the deed flicked anxious tails behind them, ready and willing, like any Saiyan, to fight and die!

“Halt!”

At the utterance of the command, the one so intent upon gaining entry had simply disappeared from sight – these four were not yet strong enough to register the speed at which he moved, nor the speed at which they and their comrades were dispatched with the lethality of a trained and instinctive warrior. Nearly simultaneously, the four guards slumped to the ground with not a shred of conscious thought between them. The cloaked one stood before the massive doors built of Vegetasei's finest alloys, reinforced by their strongest shields. Those aforementioned boots of night slid apart, adopting a wide stance and anchoring the intruder to the ground beneath his feat as nearly one hundred thousand measurements of power signature roared to life around him in the most luxurious display of green and blue swirling together so wondrously that they became as one.

“Tsuuuuu. . .” it uttered, the monotonous growl uttering from the throat with all the primality of a beast. Twin spheres of identical color to the aura shuddered to life between two palms that had been carried outward by forearm and bicep, one of the biceps revealing an intricate pattern of ink layered beneath the tanned hide. The ki flared around him, the very ground cracked beneath his feet and the rubble borne from it levitated as such might stressed the physics about the cannon that was being primed for discharge. The spheres began to revolve around the shaking hands as if gravity itself were being exerted from them.

“. . .ruuuuuu. . .” he chanted, the voice cracking with exertion and strain. It would take much of him to destroy this gate and gain entry to the place he had come to conduct his business. The revolving spheres began to clash against the other at certain intervals, constantly bouncing apart from each other and not accepting the opposing energy. Sparks and wisps of smoke ensued with each collision, further demonstrating the absolute abhorrence the twin energies had for the other. Such a pair melded would pose an impressive and catastrophic threat the to gate, such was the nature of union so unwanted. The ensuing wave could very well be the most chaotic and destructive of its kind in countless millenia. Finally, they were forced to become one by the creator.

The outstretched arms coiled and cocked,
fully prepared to unleash hell upon the gate,
certainly a path would be paved!

Suddenly, the gates opened. A shot had not been fired, and the desired effect had been achieved. Still, the intruder held his beloved power at his side, vigilant to the last moment and totally prepared to unleash havoc at a moments notice. The opening revealed three Saiyan, capes draped behind them and stars and seals of Vegetasei identifying them as persons of importance. The largest, a male whom had taken the center, stepped forward. “I am Major Tato Tamoto of the Saiyan Solar Empire! By the order of King Boliko Koregutsu, stand down!” he ordered, his voice one tempered by years of service and immeasurable resolve.

“Leke, Appel, Tato. . .” the intruder growled outward toward the assembled trio, knowing each by name and rank, could recognize anywhere in the known universe. The palms relaxed and the energies dissipating, and the aura relaxed and drew inward into the dark cloaks the man had covered himself in. The voice took a softer tone, no longer labored with the intense focus the warrior had placed himself in just moments before. “It is good to see you alive.”

With that, a hand swept up, and the hood of the cloak fell backwards to revealed the coal shocks and scarred visage of a dead Saiyan, one whom had been blown to nothingness just a short time ago. Colonel Appel, Major Tato, and Captain Leke stepped backwards, fear rising within them as they each stared into the smiling eyes of a man that must certainly be a ghost returned to enact his vengeance for the shortcomings they could not have overcome when Anienne had sacrificed herself so that he may live, only to die in battle shortly afterward. To slay them for not miraculously stopping the suffering of the Saiyan people beneath Yakedo's crushing heel.

The three Saiyan were staring into the face of one General Rensou Hiruen of the Saiyan Solar Empire!

[Rensou Hiruen]

The harsh Vegetan winds whipped the cloak free of the shoulders, fully revealing the ghost to his closest associates before his untimely demise. A demise that had not proved enough to hold such a burning soul in the clutches of death itself, and here he stood, proud and triumphant. Whites flashed with the twin suns as he smiled with pure and simple happiness towards his officers, and it was the large male, Tato, who escaped the trance of surprise first. The Major stepped forward to embrace his General, gripping his armors tightly as the pair came together in a rare show of Saiyan affection. It was a brief thing, but it meant much to both men whom had come to know each other as something more akin to brothers rather than just comrades.

“But how?” Tato asked, still perplexed that a warrior whom had been evaporated in a flash of light could be standing before him now. The Major stepped backwards, falling back into rank and file with the Colonel and Captain of the Saiyan Solar Empire.

“In due time, Tato, for now. . .I would prefer somewhere more private,” the fit Rensou informed, and at once the disciplined men and women that were his to command led him within the military complex, and Appel shut the gate behind him with a quick fluttering of his lithe, yet calloused fingertips. Captain Leke attended to the business of having the unconscious guards taken to the medical facilities and replacements being sent, by her words, “faster than I'll have you executed,” over the communication network of the scouter upon her left ear.

And so the four traveled through the halls and doorways and checkpoints, with Rensou tagging far behind with Tato at his side as Appel and Leke relieved men and women of their positions momentarily so that the arrival of a dead man into their midst would go unnoticed. Finally, they reached a sanctum of absolute privacy and the last son of the Hiruen clan began to explain himself, or better yet, the series of events that had unfolded after the battle with Yakedo.

. . .he informed them that there was, indeed, life after death. . .

. . .that he had been confined to hell itself for taking the lives of so many. . .

. . .a demon lord had taken him as a reluctant student. . .

. . .how that very demon lord decided that his business was unfinished. . .

Rensou Hiruen told them all he could recall of his stay in damnation, the torment, the pain, the exhilaration, nothing was held back. He explained that his return must remain a secretive thing, for certainly those whom had lost their loves and friends in the purge of their proud race would cry out for justice, and justice. . .Rensou Hiruen would provide, but all in due time! A plan was to be set into motion, and immediately. The capital was in a state of unrest with King and General, the general well-being of Vegetasei a foremost priority. The last Hiruen would leave it up to Boliko Koregutsu to supply the Saiyan race with the vengeance they so lusted for, and Rensou Hiruen would provide the means for their recovery.

For the first time in a many years, a Saiyan craft was prepped with the necessary supplies to deliver a payload so grievously terrible that the inhabitants of the destination would forever rue the utterance of the word “Saiyan,” if any of their race remained after Rensou Hiruen was done securing what was the right of the powerful, resources the weak so uselessly clung to. The former gladiator would pry it from their hands as if they were not but babes against his awful might. Rensou Hiruen had initiated the first planet conquering mission that would be the foremost of a multitude.

[Gray Callahan]

800 Pl rewarded