A Moment Too Late

[Deleted]

Basna hadn’t witnessed the massacre of Planet Vegeta over five years ago; but he, like many others, has heard of the events that had taken place. She probably didn’t know that Touketsuki was being apprehended right now. Heck, he was probably already dead. And none of them knew about Vegeta’s second attack; the attack that forced him to retreat back to his planet in fear of it falling under the same unfortunate decimation, and not even he knew the extent of that which took the entire planet itself.

Before the namekian could start informing them about what had occurred, he was cut off by the human who had begun lecturing the woman. Basna was indifferent. When faced with the question of their next move, he suddenly felt tired. The thought of repeating himself was very annoying. He decided to hold off on Vegeta for later.

“Nothing,” he responded bluntly. “There is nothing we can do to prevent it with a planet as large as this one. We can only wait for another attack and pursue it. Last time, we were too preoccupied to notice, but now we’re aware.” Whether they liked the plan or not wasn’t his problem. They could do whatever they wished: return to Pulitu or Danalan, stay here, search elsewhere –it was all the same. They couldn’t know where the next attack would be and so they would have to wait until another one or until Carnel gave out instructions.

Far above them, in space, flashing lights of energy could be seen by anyone who thought of looking up. But even with the namekian’s powerful ears, the sound of the clashing ki against the barrier which darkened the skies was masked by the faint shrilling screech coming from Yemall Village.

[Jaxine]

She held the bottle in both hands at arms length, turning it and tilting her head as if examining it. She snickered at the Lizard. "The hell do you need this for? Should be sober to play hero, don't you think?"

She looked at Ark. "Witch... brings me to your question I guess." she said, holding the bottle by the neck and putting a hand on one hip. Her stance was always very loose and she usually had a crazy looking smirk on her face. "See, I don't feel... Obligated, as you say, to help these people. See, Namek is split up into different groups. Clans, factions, whatever."

She shrugged and shook her head. "The Namekeans, the Demon Namekeans, the Infected, and the Blood raiders..." She pointed to herself, "... me that is, and now these people who want to come in here and mess shit up."

She would likely get some negative attention for calling herself a Blood Raider. Not a friendly name. So she explained: "My people are mostly drifters and refuges who have gathered here, surviving off of everything we can gather. Sell our skills off as heired guns and mercs. The names just for show..."

She wasn't lying, but not telling the full truth. Her clan has raided a few small villages on the opposite end of the planet and captured some water caravans, but they didn't need to know that. They have cut back on that since a couple of their guys were killed a while ago.

She was quite surprised with the Clone's idea. "Awesome!" she said. "Sit around and wait for more people to die? Good one! And they call me insane." she laughed, walking over beside the Lizard to tempt him some more with the bottle. But she forgot about the bottle for a moment when the flashing lights in the sky caught her attention. She said nothing.

She was attracted to bright and shiny things.

[hewhostandsalone]

(Skip me, guys. I can't muster the will to post right now and I've held you up for three days already.)

[Ark Ghiest]

Ark couldn’t believe it; the Namekian and the Saiyan seemed fine with waiting around. Only the red creature seemed to want to take any action. About to open his mouth again the human would catch himself, biting his tongue when he realizes he really didn’t have anything helpful to say. Of course he believed they should be helping, but the words of the Namekian would start to sink a little more when he actually takes some time to digest them.

It wasn’t that he was a hot headed individual, but the last couple of hours had rattled him. Strange lightning storms, strange pink fogs, a giant rampaging ape and now thousands of dead Namekians. His life had been peaceful up until today and he just didn’t know how to handle it. Part of him wanted to find those responsible and make them pay for what they had done or in the very least make them answer for it. That part of him was overruled by his fear of what might actually happen to him and the others. Glancing to the Saiyan he would be about to address her, even apologizing for his slightly demanding words a moment before, but she wasn’t paying attention to him, any of them.

Following her gaze an eyebrow would rise over one of his lavender orbs, strange flashes appearing in the dark blanket that had been laid over the planet. What was going on up there? Where those flashes people trying to enter the atmosphere only to be stopped by whatever magic had darkened the sky? If that wasn’t enough to worry him a roar would echo in the distance, no doubt generated from somewhere near Yemall village.

Drexx, Orenji, and the others were still in Yemall, he hoped they had not suffered the poor fate of that one creature that had simply disappeared. For a moment he would consider heading back quickly shoving that notion aside since he knew he could be no help. Instead he would state a question he hoped one of the others could answer.

”What are those flashes, people trying to get onto Namek?”

[Deleted]

Basna offered deaf ears to both the saiyan and the human. He wasn’t in the mood to start a fight, especially one he knew he could win. He also didn’t know why the sky flashed as it did, or why it was darkened in the first place. Better keep quiet than speak out of ignorance, he thought. The namekian soon realized he no longer had anything to do with the people gathered before him. Staying any longer would mean he had to stick around another full minute listening to the woman’s sarcastic comments or have to deal with the awkward silence of obvious disapproval from the others.

They had their own ideas for action, nobody was stopping them. Basna turned his back on them and began to float away. They could go up and check out the flickering lights in the sky, freeze to death before arriving or drifting so far from the planet’s core to suffocate and then drop back down like a flaming asteroid and burn to ashes long before they even reach the troposphere. They could return to Pulitu and Danalan village to help protect from an attack that would never come or die on Yemall while the serial killer was running loose under their noses and attacking yet another establishment. It was all the same…

The namekian crouched on his knees to prospect the decaying body of his brethren. He was no forensics genius, but it seemed to him like most were taken out with a single blow. And whatever or whoever did this was either equipped or clawed. Demon Namekians, he thought with disdain, being so quick to point fingers at the most obvious suspect. His ears twitch. He could still hear the voices the saiyan woman, the lizard and the human. He could also hear the sound of clashing energy, much clearer than they could. His antennae flick and a mental picture flashes through his mind. How accurate it was were anyone’s guess, but it seemed like the gist of it.

Basna looked askance as the sky. “A barrier…?”

[Deleted]

The Perfect Protector was no stranger to horrific sights. He had fought tyrants that had killed millions. He had seen genocides committed. But perhaps Ancient City would be the one that stayed with him forever. The android set down and the scene brought him to his knees. This… this had all happened while he was on the planet? While he was… while he was what? Barely distracting the villains he had met in Yemall village.

“I’m so sorry… I’ve failed you all…” was all the protector could say. He had found it strange flying over that he hadn’t sensed more power-levels in ancient city, but didn’t dare to assume… to assume this. He only sensed four in the entirety of the city now, and only two he recognized. Ark, and Gerrek Zig.

He slowly walked over to where he sensed them; there were three of them close together, a fourth one was slowly moving away from the others. Upon approach he found his human friend standing with what appeared to be a Sayain and Gerrek Zig. No doubt Gerrek and Ark would be shocked with the android’s new appearance, but with the atrocities they had seen they probably wouldn’t even bring it up.

“Ark, it’s good to see you’re still alive, I was worried when you ran off. Gerrek you as well.” A sudden power-level surge brought the android’s attention to the plains outside of Ancient City. It was nothing like the power of Tsurei or Aranea, in fact it was much closer in power to that of Ark, perhaps even a little less. And there were two. It would be worth investigating.

“Ark, come with me. Gerrek, perhaps you should stay here in case others appear in the village, and… inform them what happened.”

Drexx motioned for Ark to follow him, they would investigate whatever was out on the plains.

(Grabbing Ark and Exiting)

[Ark Ghiest]

His question would go unanswered as the Namekian moves away from them, again searching the ruins of the city for some possible clue as to what might have done this. Jaxine was still mesmerized by the flashing lights high above them, seeming to be in her own world at the moment. Letting out a sigh Ark would take a seat on a piece of rubble, resting his head in his hands. As much as the human wished he could do something there was simply no action to be taken. The two foes he knew of were far stronger than him, and if there were others the group had no idea where to find them

Getting back to his feet he starts to turn his attention back to the sky to again ponder the strange lights above them, but a familiar voice would call out to him, a voice that should have been nowhere near Ancient City. Turning in the direction of the voice Ark was initially confused at the man that approached him. For the most part it resembled Drexx, but yet his eyes were different as was his hair, a bright golden yellow compared to dark locks that closer matched his own. The human almost asks for verification that it was him, but that voice was unmistakable and his questions about the androids new appearance would have to wait. On alert now he would also sense the sudden power signatures in the distance, having no idea who they might belong too.

”Of course Drexx.” Lifting off the ground he would move to follow the android, questions already starting to form in his mind. Most of all he wanted to know how things had gone in Yemall. They must have at least been somewhat favorable seeing that Drexx was alive and well. With a nod to Gerrek and other two, if they were even paying attention to him, he would take off alongside Drexx.

(Leaving the thread with Drexx. Checked ahead of time with Blaze and got his okay to jump ahead of him.)

[Jaxine]

Jax lost interest in the Lizard after a while and turned to look into the sky. The Namekian and the other guy both commented on the bright lights in the sky. Looked nice with the excessive tint of black.

But there was bright white flashes of light in one spot. "Someones clearly fighting up there. Probly some Namek who found whoever did this. she said, tilting her head to the side a bit and waving a finger over her head in a circle to point at the ruined city around them.

Then, another guy similar in appearance to this Ark person showed up. He had little to say, other than he had failed. Judging by the damage he had taken, it was obvious that he had gotten his ass kicked. She snickered, but said nothing to him as he requested that Ark join him somewhere.

Good, now there will only be two of them.

[hewhostandsalone]

Zig stayed quiet for a long while, as if surveying the situation a second time more in detail than the first. His eyes followed the trail of destruction through the city before stopping on the skyline where the lights flickered. He was, once again, clueless as to what was going on around him. He felt blind to a degree. The things that had happened on this planet since he'd been here had all been far beyond a level that he could reach right now. He almost felt like he'd be better off throwing himself in front of an attack just to save someone else the trouble for all the good he'd managed to do.

He sighed heavily and closed his eyes, frowning at his current uselessness. If they offered to pay him after this job was finished, or if anyone even survived to pay him, he'd turn them down outright. So far he'd done nothing noteworthy for the cause. He wasn't even a meat shield. He opened his eyes, "Good luck, Drexx." He said to the android before he left with Ark.

He fell silent again for a few more moments before turning to Jaxine again, "First, I don't think it's your business to worry about my sobriety especially when you're decidedly not involved in helping us. And second, It would take half a dozen of those bottles to even get me a tiny bit warm in the head." He could really use a drink right now, but even if she gave him the bottle there wasn't enough in just that one container to get his mind off of everything. So he abstained from it for now. Unless she offered he'd leave it be now. It was just a weapon to be used if she decided to give it up.

"Since we're all just standing around here, I can at least show you both why I wanted the stuff in the first place. If you can give me just one drink, I'll show you." He said to Jaxine with a smirk. No harm in playing a little game until something happened.

[Nam Reikonaga]

(Skip me)

[Nam Reikonaga]

(Leaving, PL)

[Ark Ghiest]

(Ah yes, I did leave a little while ago, so PL whenever this is done. Basna reminded me)