IC Posting Section

Fae laughed a bit at Val's reaction. She never figured Val was the type to blush.


"Heh, well, you kind of hav-" She started then immediately froze as Valkyrie said the next bit.


Blinking, there was a few moments of silence as the words really sunk in. "Wait... you what? Killed him? Impossible. How... what? How?" Needless to say. Out of everything said so far, this was perhaps one of the more farfetched claims out there. "240 million! I know you are ungodly strong now. But even so that sort of power he would still... how? What sort of technique could do that?" 


Fae looked down,  rubbing the back of her neck. Thinking what sort thing could possibly be done to kill someone that strong. Again. Fae believed her. But... also didnt. Seriously... 240 million...


She looked back up to Val. She seemed a little reluctant to say. Was it something bad? Fae wouldn't blame her for needing to do something underhanded to win that. Whatever it was. 


@ChoShadow


(Sorry it is so short. Wanted to get one last post out for you before I fall asleep.)
 
She knew it.


Sure enough, Fae asked the question... "How did you do it?"


Valkyrie took a deep breath and let it out on a long sigh. She then turned to Fae.


"... Fae, listen to me." She said softly, putting her hands on Fae's shoulders.


"What I am about to say will sound like something out of a fairy tale, but it is the truth." She said, removing her hands.


She turned to face forward, looking at the floor.


"When Era died, I felt it... Down to my core I felt it." She said quietly, her hands clenching into fists.


"I had treated her so poorly, denouncing her as my sibling because of her Low Class heritage. Yet all this time her power was beyond mine by a good margin, and I still couldn't get past my own pride to acknowledge her as my kin." She closed her eyes.


"At the moment Era's last vestiges of energy faded, I felt as if something inside of me died with her. A loneliness I cannot describe... Pain."


Her hands clenched a bit tighter, resting in fists on her knees.


"I don't remember what happened all that clearly, but somehow Era's death sparked something altogether new. Something extraordinary. My power began to explode beyond anything I'd ever felt or experienced before, and the next thing I knew my body began transforming. My hair and the fur on my tail, as well as my aura, turned gold and I felt my power rise to new heights which I never could have imagined possible before. But I didn't care about that when it happened. All I cared about was avenging Era's death, and the next thing I knew I was fighting evenly with the Darkhood. But the longer I fought, the stronger I became. It was as if every time he spoke my anger, and my power level along with it, surged, pushing me further and further into a well of energy which felt like it had no end."


She relaxed herself with a slight and soft sigh.


"Golden hair... Golden fur on my tail... A golden aura around my body. And a feeling of power, anger, and deliberately murderous intent which I'd never felt before."


She looked at Fae again.


"It is one of our own legends Fae, and it is the only explanation for what happened to me... I became a Super Saiyan." She said, hoping Fae wouldn't take this too hard.


@KingHink (No worries)
 
Val put her hands on Fae's shoulders... oh... it really must be pretty bad. Wait. Fairy tale? Her eyes narrowed and listened intently. The story didn't sound so unbelievable at first. At least... not until she began to recount the change she began to go through. Fae knew the legend. What saiyan didn't?  Though, it didn't click right way. Because such a thing was impossible. But sure enough... as she spoke it really began to piece together in her head that it could not be anything but that. Especially as she finished the story. Spelled it out... and said that she was now the legend. 


Faeora listened now wide-eyed. She met Val's gaze for a few moments before looking down at the bed. Not saying anything as her mind tried to process the information. A lot of feelings went through her. The legendary super saiyan. Val was a super saiyan. Blessings from the original super saiyan. She killed someone at almost a quarter billion... Free from all limitations. So powerful... 


Faeora's hands balled up around her knees. Squeezing her own legs. Her face oddly unexpressive. She just sort of stared down at the floor. Everything seemed rather surreal at the moment as her mind tried decide what she was feeling. 


She finally blinked. She felt... small. Her mind didnt want to focus on it right now... but her chest felt an actual pain. Valkyrie was beyond special. She had reached heights a saiyan hadn't seen since... 


Faeora took a deep breath, trying to bring herself back into the moment. Trying to think of something to say so as not to keep Val waiting in silence. "To think... that... it wasnt very long ago that I thought i could count myself as a peer to you two."


Fae looked back up to Val. "Whatever is happening. You really are more special than I can say. I don't know... I don't what to say..." She said as she looked away again. "I'm speechless... I..." She rambled.


What could she say to sum what she felt? Nothing really. She herself barely knew how to take this information... but there was one thing she needed to say.


"I believe you."


@ChoShadow
 
Valkyrie watched Faeora's reaction, and it was better and more calm than she thought it would be. Fae was always one to compare herself to others though... What must have been going through her head right now? Val could only guess, but it wasn't likely to be off the mark.


She put a hand on Fae's upper back.


"Let's not concern ourselves with that right now. The main thing I'm concerned with is making sure you, your brother, and whatever's left of your unit recover after what happened down there. You should go back to the Medical Bay and rest." She urged.


She then reached for her Scouter which was sitting beside her bed on a small lamp table.


"Medical Team, this is Valkyrie. I need a fresh cot prepared for Faeora. She'll be returning shortly." She relayed.


The Medical Team responded positively, saying they'd have one ready when she got there. Val then took her Scouter off and put it back where she grabbed it from.


"You've been through a lot Faeora. Go take it easy for a while. Maybe once you're fully recovered we can all train together if you're all still inclined to remain on board this vessel. The Frost Demon may not be good for much, but he has a gravity room with up to 100x normal Earth gravity. It's quite the bracing workout, and one of the reasons Era and I got so strong so fast aside from the battles we've engaged in. I can only imagine what it would do for you once we help you break free from your limitations." She said.


@KingHink
 
Faeora let out a sigh and look to the ground when Val placed a hand on her back. It wasn't a concern right now, she said. Fae found it hard to think about it. It was pretty big shock. Yet, "I suppose you are right." Fae said and got up slowly from the bed.


Her unit... only four of them left out of a sizable fifteen. Jorn comatose and Sheon not in much better of a state. Then there was Faero... she hoped he wasn't going to push himself too hard.


"Alright. I'll go get some rest. I will probably try to stick around. I'm not sure what good I can do, though. But I don't want to leave Era behind again. Or you for that matter."


As she walked to door, she paused. Taking in the last of what Val said. Breaking her own Genetic limiter."you think that's possible?" She asked somberly. Training. Maybe. 


Fae awaited an answer before heading back through the halls to the medical facility.


She looked around. To her crew and then to Era. This was all so much to take in.


She limped over to her freshly made cot and collapsed on top of it. Closing her eyes she buried her face in the pillow. Small... she felt so small here. She hated how selfish her feeling made her feel. She should be happy for them. But she didn't feel happy. Overwhealmed... yeah. Maybe that was it. Or... Fae just wasn't special like them. They always did seem to excel at everything while. Petty. Petty worries. Petty thoughts. 


Fae just needed some sleep. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep. Unsuccessfully ignoring thoughts of insecurities until she drifted off.


@ChoShadow
 
Pyro sipped his wine as he listened to Faero. The crewmember bowed and left after Pyro waved him off. " There will be time later to discuss the compastion for the medical treatments and such later, but I can insure we won't charge anything that we didn't provide or that you can't afford" Pyro said when brought up compastion. When Faero started talking about Valkyrie he fround alittle.


"I do hope you can get her to be less... Outright disobedent and stop her from thinking and treating my crew and I like tools for her to get her goals. As you as a commander the people you lead arn't tools but family in a way. And if she doesn't stop this... I will kill her when I fully surpassed her." Pyto said calmy as he took another sip of his wine.


@KingHink
 
Valkyrie nodded as Fae agreed to leave and get some rest. They all needed it, after all.


She laid back down on her bed and shut her eyes, relaxing herself with a breathing exercise as she again began searching for that spark of energy she'd discovered before.


She concentrated hard on her energy, and as before she found a tiny spark deep within herself which she identified as a separate entity from the rest of her Ki. It was almost as if this was a single planet held within a much larger universe, but this one tiny planet felt... different. That Ki she felt from herself when she transformed. She felt it here.


Was this little spark the heart of the Super Saiyan transformation?


If it was, could she bring it out? Or was it something which could only manifest and become a universe all its own under the right circumstances?


Valkyrie focused hard on that spark for over an hour, but nothing happened. The more she tried to grasp hold of the power she felt from it, the further away it felt. Despite the fact that she was relaxed and laying down, Valkyrie was sweating after this first hour. She also felt tired, almost as if she'd just had a long and bracing workout. However, towards the end of the hour, she finally found a breakthrough.


As she was about to give up and began to relax, the spark seemed to flare briefly before returning to normal and seeming once again out of reach. She took in a deep breath and relaxed herself, slowly reaching her hand unconsciously towards the ceiling as she envisioned the spark from within. As she reached for it with a calm and clear mind, the spark began growing and flaring almost as if it had become a tiny sun.


Valkyrie tried to grasp hold of this power, but it puttered out and disappeared before she could gain a hold on it. The tiny spark returned to normal, and she opened her eyes and let out a long sigh before realizing how sweaty her clothing and bedding was. She got up and replaced her clothes and sheets, laying down and resting for real now.


Perhaps with some more training and practice, she'd finally be able to get ahold of that spark and, if she was lucky, begin to master the Super Saiyan form. She felt she had to before they ran into any new and powerful enemies.


@KingHink @ChazGhost @Deathrattle BB


((I think we've run this course long enough, so once Faero departs the bridge I will do a time skip of about 10 days (if there are no objections to said number) which gives everyone time to have recovered and settled down. From there, we can continue to relax, train, and discuss OOC what we'll do next))
 
Faero took a large sip. "That is more than fair, Captain. I am glad to hear that you are man of dignity." He said.


"As for Valkyrie, I can not make any promises. As I said, I do not have authority over her. I am not her commander. I understand your views, and your feelings for your crew, and will do what I can. However, I would advise against senseless violence. Better for you to ask her to leave your ship at the next port than butt heads over pride. A fight between you two could endanger others here. She is a elite saiyan, and like many before her, her pride is important to her. Just like you, Captain. I do believe a common ground can be found. Especially if you are as honorable as I think you are. " 


Faero finished the glass of wine quickly, and pulled himself up with the crutch. With a subtle groan he turned to look back at the Captain again. "Again, I will do what I can when I get the chance. In the meantime, think about what sort of alliance you want to have with her. Or if you wish for one at all."


"I need to get some rest. Apologies, for my dropping in. And I am again grateful for your hospitality. Hopefully next time we talk I will be in a better condition for an extended conversation.  I would quite enjoy hearing your story." Faero said, giving the frost demon a respectful nod. 


With that, he limped his way from the bridge and back to the medical facility before his leg gave put on him.


@ChazGhost
 

5 Days Later
​




 
​







The next 5 days came and went very slowly. The tension on the ship wasn't eased very much, though nobody can fault Faero for trying. He asked Valkyrie to not provoke Pyro and to treat his ship and men with more respect than to view them as assets, but Valkyrie made no promises. She had no respect for Pyro, and therefore it was difficult for her to view them as anything other than assets. As a Frost Demon Pyro was nothing but a pirate to her no matter how strong his final form was.


Still Faero tried. He had more than one talk with Valkyrie, and by the end he finally managed to convince her to at least give Pyro his space and to consult with the others before taking any action on her own. However it required Elprede to also serve as a hub of communication and a participant in whatever plans were created. He couldn't go off on his own like last time leaving Valkyrie and the others to trail after him. Yes, he was the fastest among them and could get there first, but that didn't mean he should go by himself. If the wrong enemy happened to be at the other end, he may as well speed to his death.


After the first two and a half days, Era was finally free from the Rejuvenation Chamber and her power level had risen to 7.3 million from 6.8. Faero went in next due to his injuries, and Faeora after when he was done. At the end of the five days, their other comrades still needed to spend time in the chamber, and thus they chose one to put in while the other was kept stable in a medically maintained comatose state.


During the five day period, Valkyrie had trained and focused on her inner spark. She had finally gotten to the point where she could feel a weak grasp on it and feel it expanding, but never far enough for it to become anything more than a tickling sensation deep within her core. Nothing concrete yet. But she was getting closer.


But the promised day had come. Now that Era was free of the Rejuvenation Chamber, it was time to unlock Faeora's Genetic Limit. They hooked her up to an IV, draining a cup of blood from her body while simultaneously infusing half a cup from Valkyrie and Era each. They consulted the doctors and found it safe, as both Valkyrie and Era held a universal donor blood type. They wanted to be doubly sure that the gene in question was absorbed by Fae's body, so they gave it two sources. Within a few hours it was confirmed that her cells were absorbing the gene, and that by nightfall her body would have completely absorbed and adapted it to its own system.


Val and Era were happy for her having finally been free from her limitations, but there was no time to just sit back. It was time to put that new expulsion of limits to the test.


It was time to train.


Valkyrie and Era brought Fae with them to the gravity room where they turned the gravity on to 15x Earth's gravity, which was just enough to prevent Fae from moving around normally, but not enough to hinder her so badly that she couldn't move at all. Fighting in this level of gravity would be difficult for her, but she could do it. If they turned it up any further to around 17x-18x, she wouldn't be able to do more than trudge about getting used to it. They didn't need that. She needed to be able to move and fight, so 15x gravity it was.


With the chamber at 15x gravity, it was time to get to work.


Era and Valkyrie both took their stances and powered down to 40K so that Faeora could fight with them more evenly, though they could draw on their further powers to continue pushing her to her training limits.


"I hope you're ready Fae. It's been far too long and I'm more than a little excited to spar with you again!" Era said with a smile.


"I won't go easy on you Faeora. As one Elite to another, it's the least I can do." Valkyrie added, cracking her knuckles as she balled her fists.


Now it was up to Fae. Her training would be as difficult as she made it for herself, as both Era and Valkyrie could move in this gravity without hindrance even at these powered down levels. If Faeora was truly without limits now, her body would slowly begin drawing on power it didn't know it had in order to keep up with Valkyrie and Era.


@KingHink (You can take total control of the training if you'd like. If we did back and forth posts it would take forever. At 40K and free of the gravity's influence due to being so used to it, both Era and Valkyrie will definitely be pushing Fae to the absolute limits of her physical and mental abilities. But feel free to write the training for Fae in its entirety. I'll leave the amount of power she gains when it's over up to your discretion, but both Era and Val saw increases of between 6-12x their base power levels when they were still at Fae's level from gravity training and battles that pushed them to their limits. So it's up to you.)


@ChazGhost @Deathrattle BB (Now that we have King on board it's really time to buckle down and start discussing what we're going to do OOC. Let me know what kind of story arc ideas you have in mind and I'll present mine as well. I'd like to do at least a few that don't involve Darkhoods and their exorbitant power levels so that Fae has a chance to shine before we return to Metahnn to liberate it from Darkhood control.)
 
@ChoShadow @ChazGhost @KingHink


Elprede had been using the gravity chamber much for the many days that had gone by, he had a lot of training to make up for and not a lot of time. Every threat currently seemed to just be coming out of nowhere and they were never prepared for it, so this was him using his time wisely to properly prepare now. They couldn't just keep facing these threats as they came, they needed to plan for the worst and work towards it. Heightening their skills and increasing their overall power was only the first few steps to achieving this, the next few would require for them to have regulated teamwork. That was going to take a miracle.


Whenever he wasn't in the gravity chamber (usually due to anybody wanting to use it and increasing the gravity beyond what he could do). He had made some very good progress so far, getting his Primal Form up to 6 times once more, however, it was going much slower this time around than before. That was something he figured would occur to him at some point or another, considering Era and Valkyrie's own growth had slowed considerably as well. Regardless, all training indirectly strengthened his Primal Form, including him practicing with a much more refined version of the Mazunokari. He had yet to show it to anybody else, or even tell them about it, it was more or less strictly a Nephelem technique currently. He had designed it with Nephelem Ki pathways and physical structures in mind, they would have to figure out something else. It was far from perfect still in his eyes but he was making amazing progress.


For now, however, he was simply relaxing in the training room with Era, Valkyrie, and Faeora. He was laying across the floor on his side on the other end of the room, back against the wall. He could hardly feel the effects of the gravity here -- he could probably even sleep in it if he wanted to. Not that he would, that was just asking for trouble.


He watched the Saiyan women with amused eyes. "Don't kill each other now, we need you all alive," he yelled from across the chamber.
 
It was time. Finally, she was back in working order. Though if she were to be honest... the idea of breaking the genetic limiter through the means provided, gave her some conflicting emotions. On one hand, it left her with a bad taste in her mouth. This sort of felt like cheating. But on the other hand... this could mean that for once she could be catch up. 


Faeora would not delude herself though. She knew that to catch up, she had a lot of work ahead of her. And it would start here. She was determined to grow to their level. She was determined to not be left behind this time. They would grow stronger too, so she would have to work harder than them. She would have to train harder than them. She could not allow herself to slow down. This was her chance.


In the gravity room, she was just finishing some stretches. Getting out that last bit of stiffness from all the resting. The gravity room... now that was an impressive place. She could see herself coming here a lot. The weight was uncomfortable... but at the same time she could feel a thrill because of it. This weight would make her stronger.


Fae smiled back at Era as she pull her gloves onto her hands."I am excited too. It certainly has been a while since we last fought. I can't wait to see what sorts of things you have learned."


She took her fighting stance, her grin widened,"I can't wait. I will be sure to give you my all. As one Elite to another, I shall repay you in kind. I think you will be proudly surprised." 


"Remember girls, two in one doesn't mean taking turns. I have a lot of lost ground to cover."


With that said... they stood there in silence. Moments passing before the first move was made. Then it began. Era striking first, zooming to Fae. In this gravity, Fae was too slow to block. Era's fist drove into the shorter saiyan's stomach. As Era might have expected, Fae remained solidly attached to the ground and was already following up the attack. Era evaded it simply by a short jump backwards. Fae slower than usual.


Val was already coming in. From behind, she delivered a low roundhouse kick to Fae's lower legs. Yet... to Val's surprise, Fae had unanchored herself. Yet she didn't fall, instead used the momentum of the kick to spin herself upside down in flight. Touching the ground with one hand, she anchored herself through her hand. Now she wrapped her legs around Val's neck and arched her body to slam Val into the ground with enough force to bounce her in this heightened gravity. Fae was still moving... following up her attack by slamming her fist into Val to crash her into the ground again. 


Era, of course was coming around in front, taking an unanchored Fae by surprise, Era's fist struck into her face and sent Fae flying across the room and into the wall. Fae didn't land so gracefully, but kicked off the wall nonetheless back into the fray. 


The light start was over... now they got serious. What followed was quite the spectacle. Fae gave it her all. Fighting like she meant it. Mostly, she was on the defensive... but that was just fine. She welcomed it. The sisters would do everything they could to push her to her limits. Making sure that Fae didn't have an advantage for long.  Of course, Fae still manage to put up an incredible fight. While she was of a lower power level, that said nothing of her fighting ability. 


For hours throughout the sparring, Fae wouldn't slow. Despite the heavy blows that she took. She was quite the tank. This being more easily seen at the more equal levels they were fighting at. The training would press on, Fae pushing them on. And wouldn't stop until Era and Val grew uncomfortable continuing, to the point they ended it themselves. It wasn't light training either, Fae had reached her limit. He massive well of stamina tapped out, her body looking like she had just been picked off of Hokay. Begrudgingly, Fae accepted the sparring as over and collapsed to a sitting position where she stood. 


Yet... it wasnt over. Now it was Faero's turn to train her. He declared this as a break, and Fae went to rest for a short bit of time. Which she did not do idly... Rather than going to a medical bay to fix some superficial wounds, she sat outside the gravity room. Just sitting... splitting her attention between several methods of training. Meditating on her ki. Fluctuating and manipulating it within her. And watching the goings on in the gravity room while others trained. When there were groups of Pyro's crew, she watched them all. Trying to keep track of each one, and their individual energy signatures. When it was those much stronger than her... she watched them carefully. Training her eyes, trying to track their movements despite their superior speed. Era, Val, Pyro, Elprede. She just stared intently watching whoever it was. 


After the bit of rest, she went back into the gravity room. It was time for exercises. Faero was merciful and figured that the sparring served as hard body training that Fae normally did every day. Instead, he turned up the gravity slightly. This segment was much more controlled, consisting of general exercises, Fae going through her forms and general fighting moves. Pushups. Pullups. Moving around. Faero made sure that she didn't over exert herself in this. But he also made sure that she was pushed hard.


Afterwards came another rest. And like before, she sat outside the gravity room to continue her mental and ki  and reflex exercises. This time the "break" was a bit longer, as what came next she would need it. Such inner exercises, she would take every opportunity to do when not exerting herself.


Era and Val were convinced to continue with the training. And once more the three would spar. While Fae wasn't in as prime a condition as she had been the first time, she had gained second wind and was up to the challenge. Thus, for a few more hours, the two other Saiyans would work to push Fae to her limits. And that they did. 


When that was over, and after another bit of stretching, and some light exercises at normal gravity. Faero finally called it quits for Fae. Fae found her way back to the cot physically and mentally exhausted. It had been a long day. But Fae was tough, and felt she paced herself well. Despite it all, she held up solidly. She fell asleep almost instantly. Pleased with herself. She could do this. She could get stronger. Tomorrow would be another day. 


@ChoShadow
 
If they had been back home on Metahnn, this would have been considered a spectacle and a battle for the ages amongst the Saiyan Race. Even without their newly liberated powers, Era, Valkyrie, and Fae were two of the most respected members of the Saiyan's Intergalactic Allied Force. Valkyrie and Fae due to their Elite status and family names, and Era due to her nature as a prodigy. Not only that, but all three of them held good standing in the IAF for their performance and battle record.


This was going to be a special training session for all three women.


The first move belonged to Era, and she decided to open big with a simple charge towards Fae. When the smaller Saiyan tanked the hit, Era smiled and evaded the counter which was sent her way. Faeora was known for her defenses, and Era more for her grace and adaptability. Era's techniques were good, but lacked the kind of punch needed to break through defenses as highly tuned as Faeora's.


Valkyrie, however, was a different story. But her problem usually lay not in the damage output, but in getting it to its target. As was demonstrated by Fae, Valkyrie's powerful attack was enough to seemingly knock Fae off her feet, but it was a clever ploy which Fae used to flip herself upside down, anchor herself, and then send Valkyrie down into the floor with great force. Era was there to take Fae's opening and sent her into the wall, but Valkyrie was merely having fun right now as a smile crossed her lips.


This was the kind of training she'd missed.


Throughout the next several hours the women trained going back and forth with their best techniques while making sure not to actually damage one another. Training which actually broke the body wasn't training at all, but torture, and it wasn't something the Saiyan body responded positively to. While they had rapid recovery rates compared to other humanoids, broken bones were broken bones and the Saiyan body seemed to know when it was pushed too hard in training versus in a life and death battle. Whenever Val or Era had broken bones in training, their bodies never saw any growth from it afterwards. But when in the heat of a real battle, they saw tremendous growth.


It was an odd phenomenon of the Saiyan biology that their bodies and cells seemed to be able to tell the difference between such environments, but then again they weren't called a "warrior race" for nothing.


Throughout their training, Era and Valkyrie pushed Fae to her limits and beyond using their excellent tag-teamwork. Whenever Era failed to break through Fae's defenses, Valkyrie would finish the job. When Valkyrie failed to deliver a solid blow, Era would take up the slack. And vice a versa. Together the half siblings ran Fae ragged across several hours of non-stop combat. By the time it was finished, the only thing which prevented Era and Valkyrie from collapsing was their reserve of power compared to Fae. Having only used a fraction of their full potential, they had stamina to spare in spades and were ready to continue training at a higher level when she was asked to leave by Faero.


Once they were finished and others had had their respective turns, it came time for Faeora to enter the chamber once again. Both Era and Valkyrie were slightly concerned about the idea of training with her again, but after some convincing from Faero they decided to enter the chamber again. They could both feel her power was less than before, and so adjusted their powers accordingly enough to give her a good fight while not overwhelming her in her condition. They dared not underestimate her, but still they both were concerned that at any time Fae's body could give out from overexertion.


For almost four more hours the siblings trained with Fae. They were impressed that her second wind lasted as long as it did, but at last the training came to an end with Fae as she could no longer continue and her body reached a limit it could not push itself beyond.


Once Fae was finished, Era and Valkyrie decided to call it quits too. They'd trained with Fae for most of the day, and with each other for at least two hours straight at a much higher level. They were spent, and they could tell their bodies wouldn't get much more from further training if they continued. So they made the decision to rest while they had the chance. Tomorrow would be another day, and training could continue.


With the Darkhoods still out in force they couldn't afford to dilly dally. They needed a plan of action now. Some sense of direction... But what to do? They weren't exactly ready to just barrel into the Darkhood headquarters and ask the Master to kill himself and have his Darkhoods commit suicide in his name and memory... Though that was a rather attractive dream.


No. They needed more than this. They needed something to help them move forward. Something to make them all more powerful and more effective. But what could they do?


@Deathrattle BB @ChazGhost @KingHink (I think now would be a good time to skip to the next day and have Faero call Era, Valkyrie, Fae, and Elprede in to bring up the idea of working as a unit. He might begin by asking how well they all work with Pyro's crew (more to look for an admission to not working well with them at all having spoken to Pyro previously), and they won't exactly give him a positive response. This can spark the arc to get them all to open up and accept Pyro and his crew as allies and start working on ways to work together as a unit so they are better coordinated and don't risk another death like Era's. Also this will give us a chance to move forward with a few new missions and events that do not feature the Darkhoods. They are a large antagonistic force in this RP, but they aren't THE major antagonistic force we'll be dealing with. We don't need to deal with them at every turn anyway, so we'll take a break from them for a while before the destruction of Zaero arc later.)
 
Come the next morning it was clear that things were beginning to deteriorate. Pyro and his crew wanted the gravity room. Val, Era, Fae and Faero wanted the gravity room. Val and Pyro had more heated words. Faero tried to diffuse the situation... To no avail. Eventually it came down to Era needing to pull Val aside and calm her down.


Finally, Faero had had enough of the situation. It was beyond evident that there was no sense of connection or camaraderie which would be mean the irreversible death of at least one member of this group before long if something wasn't done.


Faero pulled Fae, Valkyrie, Era, and Elprede aside and called them to his room where he sat them all down and decided to have a long chat with them about the situation at hand.


"Everyone, this can't continue." He said.


He glanced to Valkyrie.


"Valkyrie, you're better than this. Why must you continue to antagonize Pyro?" He asked.


Valkyrie made a "tch" sound.


"Because that worthless space pirate is nothing. Just another bug waiting to be squashed. Need I remind you that we hunt space pirates for a living to protect our allies?"


"Need I remind you that so long as you are on board another's vessel, you are subject to their authority?"


"What authority does a space pirate have?!" She yelled, slamming her fist into the wall and putting a massive dent in it.


Faero looked at her calmly.


"The same authority I would if it were my vessel. Just because you have no respect for Pyro as a space pirate doesn't mean you get to be choosy about how you show respect to authority. If authority were so easily cherry picked based on petty social feuds and disdain, then what would even be the point of authority as a concept existing in this universe?" He asked.


Valkyrie made another "tch" sound and crossed her arms.


"We cannot be choosy about such things. For the sake of our own future and the sake of maintaining the good name of our race, you cannot be choosy about such things any longer. I may not be your commander, but you know as well as I do that, even as an Elite, you are beneath me both in rank and experience. You would bow to my authority were this my vessel, would you not?"


Val nodded with an aggravated sigh through her teeth.


"Then start acting like the Elite you claim to be. We are better than this kind of behavior." He said calmly, but with finality.


Valkyrie's eyebrows furrowed, but she sat down which was symbolic of accepting his order.


"I know it won't be easy. I'm no more a fan of the Frost Demons or space pirates than you are. But if we hope to survive this mess with the Darkhoods, we're going to have to be smarter and more coordinated. To that end I propose that we create a hierarchy with respect to how we conduct ourselves in battle and to whom we all agree to view as the one with the final word on such important matters. In short, we create a ladder of authority. Are there any objections to this idea?" He asked, looking around the room.


Valkyrie was no longer making eye contact, but she waved her hand indicating she didn't care and Era shook her head "no."


He looked to Fae and Elprede. Fae shook her head, content with her brother's choice. Now it was up to Elprede. If he didn't object, then Faero would ask Pyro to join them and become part of their planning process for the power hierarchy. They needed some form of coordinated effort if they were going to be more effective in battle. Power alone meant next to nothing, and even Pyro would have to know and accept that if he also wanted to survive on his own once the Saiyans and Elprede parted ways with him.


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Elprede only sat in the gravity room with the Saiyans as they trained. The gravity was not nearly high enough for it to be much of an effect on him yet, so he figured; why not? There was no harm in it, not to mention he was sitting at about half his normal power at x15 gravity. It was a cinch.


However, the meeting was something he did not account on. He had no true plans of staying with the Saiyans forever, he didn't think that they did either. Their union was just one under circumstances only. He figured that they would be gone the day that Metahn was safe once more and under the control of the Saiyans, not the Darkhoods. He couldn't really blame them.


However, that was not the reason for his next answer. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I will have to decline." He answered promptly, but held up his finger for them to not speak yet. "Now, that isn't out of selfish pride or my position as leader of the Nephelem -- that will be news to you, Faeora and Faero, not to Valkyrie and Era. It's simply because I will know the situation at hand and be able to react accordingly to it faster than you can. I've got three minds going on in my head at the same time, one of them being wiser and more experienced than you ever will hope to be. Not to take away from anybody's brilliance or anything." He said the last sentence with a shrug.


"I work better without being ordered around." He continued. "Now, I may take it as a suggestion and pay more attention to that particular thing you're talking about, but you're better off just leaving me to my own devices. Not to mention, you won't even be able to see me most of the due to how fast I'm moving around usually, and it isn't as if I can speak back to you. I move faster than the sound waves. Do with that as you will."
 
((Oh boy... Thanks to a triggered Faero it's time to knock Elprede down a peg or two... or three. Just note, deathrattle BB, that this is an honest reaction on Faero's part to Elprede's statement, and it is definitely an opportune time to humble the silver Nephelem a little bit as part of his character arc.))


Faero listened quietly to Elprede's response, and when he was done speaking Faero shook his head in amazement while Era and Valkyrie both stared at Elprede with mouths slightly agape.


"I don't think I've ever heard arrogance demonstrated so eloquently and casually as with what I just heard." Faero said calmly.


Era and Valkyrie both sighed softly and looked away, knowing full well what was about to happen. They made no move to prevent it. In fact, they quickly glanced back at Elprede somewhat sadly and knowingly as Faero turned his way.


"I heard about you during my conversation with Era last night, Elprede. Vessel to the First God. Leader of the Nephelem. Jasmine the AI. The other Nephelem can't so much as raise a hand to you because it's basically part of their DNA that they can't turn on the First God and they instantly ally themselves with you despite some of them having been Darkhoods who previously turned on their own race... It's all very impressive, but it hardly gives me reason to believe leaving you to your own devices would be a good idea. In fact it makes me think now more than ever that what I say is necessary for everyone, especially you." He said, taking a breath.


"First God's vessel or not, and no matter how wise or experienced the First God may be, wisdom does not give one an excuse to subvert or avoid yielding to authority or avoid adhering to an established order when it proves necessary to save and protect lives. What you speak of when you say "leave me to my own devices" is defined very clearly with a single word Elprede: anarchy." He said, taking a seat and folding his arm across his chest.


"For the vessel of such an important figure to so casually dismiss the idea of following an established order because you think that the First God is wise and experienced beyond reproach is nothing short of astounding... And I don't meant that in a good way." He said calmly.


"Anarchy always leads to one outcome: death. The First God may be wise beyond our understanding, but you as his vessel are not. I will not play to your ego by pretending that the First God's wisdom will save us, or even you, from every situation we find ourselves in."
 


Faero's tone of voice grew a bit more accusatory as he continued.


"All the knowledge the First God possesses didn't help you during the battle with the Darkhood army before Era and Valkyrie came to save you did it? In fact even with all of his knowledge and experience at your disposal you'd have died without Era and Valkyrie's aide, wouldn't you? Somehow, despite the First God's knowledge and experience at your fingertips, the Darkhoods successfully tracked you, cornered you, and engaged you in a battle of attrition which drained you of energy to the point where you could no longer escape using your assets as the silver Nephelem..."


He tilted his head slightly to one side.


"Why were they able to track you, corner you, and wear you out when you had all of his wisdom and experience at your disposal Elprede? Shouldn't the First God's knowledge and experience have helped you evade their trackers, avoid being cornered on some backwater world, and escape their forces once they were in the atmosphere of the planet before your energy ran out if you're obviously good enough to be left to your own devices?" He asked.


Faero's eyes hardened a bit as his next wave of analysis came forth.


"All of his wisdom didn't help you prevent Era's death either, did it? Based on what Era told me last night during our conversation, you had enough time to rest for several minutes before the Captain emerged from the ship and began to attack Era and the others. Even just one minute is an eternity to a Nephelem when it comes to recovering Ki, yours especially as the Silver Nephelem based on what I understand. So why weren't you or the First God able to come up with anything to save her before she was killed? You had more than enough time to think about it, formulate a plan, and act on it since you'd had time to get your Ki back... So where was the First God's wisdom and experience when she was killed? Even running on fumes, shouldn't he have been able to help you do something to save her?" He asked.


He tilted his head a little bit to one side.


"Did the First God even care to save Era, Elprede? Or did she die in that battle because the First God decided she wasn't worth saving?" He asked.


Era's mouth dropped slightly, and she had to gulp down the lump that formed in her throat as she looked away for a brief moment.


"Since you are his vessel, are you not in some way speaking for him as well as yourself when you say "I'm better left to my own devices?"" Faero asked.


"Is the First God so full of himself that he believes his vessel is capable of saving everyone from every danger and operating on his own authority because the First God is in the background watching over what happens? Are we simply to trust that he will find a way to make it all work out despite your limits as his vessel which were made painfully clear when the Darkhoods cornered you before?" He asked.


He then sat down and folded his one good arm across his chest again, still speaking calmly but with a firm tone.


"It's clear to me Elprede that you are the one most desperately in need of learning how to bow to someone else's authority and follow an established order of operation. You've lived on your own authority since you were born as the Silver Nephelem, and have never had to bow your head to another have you? Not even the "king" and "queen" of your home world, as Era tells me. It has made you arrogant and overconfident in your natural Nephelem assets, and what's worse is that it has clearly made you overly reliant on your connection to the First God. I will reiterate: the First God is wise and powerful beyond our understanding. But you, as his vessel, are not. You're faster than the sound waves. You have three brains thinking at once for you. And you're faster than the humanoid eye can see... But all of that is meaningless Elprede. Yet for whatever reason you treat those details as if they're everything." He said with an exasperated tone.


Faero returned his head to a neutral position and, despite his previous exasperation, stared Elprede right in the eyes as he asked his next question.


"Without the silver fur or the connection to the First God that comes with it, who or what would you be Elprede?" He asked.


Era and Valkyrie both covered their mouths trying to stop a stifle a soft gasp as Faero continued.


"I understand if you, as the silver Nephelem and vessel to the First God, feel entitled to some level of autonomy. But I think it's time you had a long talk with the First God if and when he next gives you the chance. For all of his wisdom, it seems he hasn't seen fit to share with you the importance of teamwork and the benefits of working with others. Working together always trumps singular and solitary efforts Elprede... I would have thought the First God would have taught you that long ago if he was truly as wise as you claim." He said with a more somber tone.



"All the knowledge and experience in the universe won't help a lone king accomplish greater feats than the group of ignorant and uneducated peasants who share a unified goal and vision for the future. They will always enjoy greater success and personal rewards for their efforts than the king will. When the king builds a castle, the peasants build a city. When the king builds a garden, the peasants plant a forest... See where this is going?" He asked.


Era and Valkyrie both released quiet sighs as they calmed themselves down while Faero once more spoke with a somber and rather saddened tone.


"If you cannot accept such a simple idea as adhering to a sense of coordinated order on the battlefield, then we may as well say our goodbyes. That kind of arrogance and lone wolf attitude won't just kill Era next time, but all of us along with her and I refuse to let that happen." He said as he put his hand on his lap.


"I am a warrior Elprede, not a God. Perhaps my mortal judgement is skewed by my ignorance and youth compared to the First God, but based on what I've heard about you and the First God from Era I have little reason to put my faith in you or the First God himself if I leave you to your own devices. You both failed to save Era once already despite being in a position to have done something given the time you had to regain your Ki and thus your ability to reenter the battle... so why should Era, Valkyrie, myself, or my crew trust you or the First God with our lives and just accept the idea of leaving you to your own devices?" He asked.


There was a brief moment of silence before he spoke again.


"I will not see you fail to save my sister or my other comrades because the First God cannot, or will not, help you act fast enough to save them as he did with Era last time Elprede... Do we understand one another?" He asked.


Meanwhile Era and Valkyrie shared a worried glance.


@Deathrattle BB @KingHink @ChazGhost
 
@ChoShadow @ChazGhost @KingHink


Elprede almost looked amused by the fact that Faero mentioned his so-called 'arrogance'. That wasn't arrogance that he would be able to know and react to something before Faero did --  that was a fact. He knew battlefields that he went into inside-out for the most part, making it rather simple for him to decide where it was best to be. All the knowledge in the universe wouldn't have been able to save him when they planted a bug on Jasmine to track him.


"Sir, that's not fair..."


What isn't? I wasn't blaming YOU for that.


He actually snorted in laughter a bit before covering your mouth. "Oops, I'm sorry, that was just... priceless. Okay, let me lay out the cards here..." He held up his hand, one finger going in the air. "One, you believe that you're better and smarter than me, because I decided not to yield to your so-called authority when you have absolutely none over me. Did you forget to notice that little fact that I am in no way, shape, or FORM required to listen to you? I'm not a Saiyan. I am a Nephelem. Your religious Elite Saiyan stuff does not affect me. Sorry, but that just isn't how it will happen." He stated.


"Now you're just being rude." Jasmine stated. "And you DO have a bit of an ego."


Yeah, I know, but it takes two to tango. I'm working on the ego thing still.


Jasmine scoffed. "You've been saying that since we were twelve."


He mentally shrugged. Well, some things just take a bit.


He put up a second finger. "Two, I did not even mention the First God, yet you're making him out to be something that's even been that useful to me. All I've gotten from the First God so far was a few tricks and the Primal Form. That's it. For the better majority of the time, it is Jasmine who keeps me updated on everything around me. I WILL know what's happening before you do. I WILL be able to react to it far before you can. If that bothers you, I'm sorry, but I don't particularly care either. I'm not going to trap myself to your authority; you seem to know so much about Nephelem, you're an expert now, hm? Let me pitch this one; there is a damn good reason why we have never submitted to authority before, and that was before we met you Saiyans. And... there's also a reason why I hardly enter Zaero."


Jasmine was actually silent for a few moments this time. "Are you sure you should bring up the past like that?"


Why not? He asked.


He leaned back in his chair, laying his hand flat on the table. "So, check out this situation; Silver Nephelem -- supposed to be the rulers of your people, right? Well, one or two of them got corrupted, the ones directly proceeding me, and then they start some awful reign for us. Mind you, this was one to two thousand years ago. They decided to abuse their power, forced labor, trapping us, whatever. So then comes a Black Nephelem -- they're special, they;re immune to the will of the First God, whatever. So, the Black Nephelems get up and beat the shit out of the corrupt Silvers. Done game, whatever. But that kind of instilled in us a sense of always-longing freedom. No Nephelem will ever willingly relinquish their freedom to authority because it is not within our nature, and it is especially not within mine."


He shrugged. "So I, when it came to be my turn to rule, established a different form of government. One that wasn't restraining on Nephelem, allowed them to really be what they like, and allowing ME to be what they want. You see, people on Nephelem either hated me or believe I belong on the dirt on the bottom of their foot. So I left, and I haven't planned to come back until I intercepted some Darkhoods orders concerning Zaero. There's a planned attack coming months from now, and unfortunately, I can't be stuck sitting with YOU for that." He sighed.


Elprede raised his hand and put up three fingers now. "Numero tres, the First God doesn't care for any of you. Hell, the only reason He cares for ME is that He needs me to come back. He's some sort of... 'enforcer' of the Gods or whatever; the real ones, the immortal ones. He isn't alone. There's some other Gods out there besides him that I don't even know who they are because the First God hasn't decided to share that with me."


Fourth finger came up. This time, he growled. "If you cannot give constructive reasoning on why I should join you without sitting there and insulting me, then you have no business even being the 'leader.' I would not put you in charge because I don't trust you. Just like I would not put my life in the hands of Valkyrie." He looked at her, shrugging lightly. "Sorry, I'm still a bit bitter over the tail thing. I'll get over it. I haven't even decided if I want to trust anybody else, because you know what happened the last time I did? I nearly died for it, my family was killed, and my people were almost razed, and I had to kill my brother for it."


He got up, shaking his head. "Do whatever you need to, Faero, but don't think giving fancy words and constantly insulting me will earn you any ounce of respect or authority. We have a bit of a different moral standard that does not follow degrading each other, nor blindly following some bigot who has decided he is better than me because he feels that he knows more." He glared pointedly at Faero. He turned invisible with Negative Ki and left.


"Call me when you stop trying to talk about things that you have no idea about. Then we'll have a real conversation on whether or not I should submit. Good day, Saiyans, Frost Demon." He said over the intercom. 
 
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Meanwhile in Pyro's room...


A big table was set up with chairs all around it with Pyro and four members of his crew sitting around it. There was a deck of cards in the center of the table and each of them held cards in their hands as well. Next to the deck of cards was a increasing size of a pile of money. The men at the table looked at each other trying to figure out what the others were thinking. Silents kept a hold of the room until the chief engineer, a Tuffle with a robotic arm, said "Pyro do you have a five?"


"Go fish" Pyro said with a big grin. The Tuffle cursed under his breath and placed some money in the center as he grabbed a new card. "Jack, do you have a king?' Pyro asked to a dog looking humanoid. The dog man growled as he handed Pyro a king. Pyro smirked as he took the card. "Roger do you have a queen?" Pyro asked a man who seemed human.


"Sorry Pyro but go fish" Roger said smirking. Pyro sighed as he tossed some money into the pile and grabbed a new card.


Then Elprede spoke over the intercom. "What did I do? I don't remember saying anything like that to that crazy fox... Excuse me I have to figure out what is going on. You can keep play." Pyro said laying his cards on the table and began heading out of his room. Before leaving it completely he turned and said "If a drop of wine is missing, I'll take that amount of your pay". Pyro started looking around his ship for Elprede to figure out what he was talking about.


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Elprede had completely left the inside of the ship and was sitting on the top of ship outside. He figured that they would try to find him in his room. He was not really in the mood to be talking to anybody else right now. All they would probably be doing is yelling at him for not listening to Faero, to which he would simply give the middle finger and go back along his day once more. He was not going to give himself up to somebody else.


Era and Valkyrie would not even need saving if he hadn't been stupid in the first place. That's why he had declined, they would be better off not having to worry about him. He could handle himself in a fight, and if it required it, get away from one. That was just something he needed to start doing instead of attempting fights. If he had kept going when the Darkhoods were chasing him, he could have outflew them easily, been able to rest for a bit, and then keep going. No, he was stupid and decided to fight them, which just turned from bad to worse.


He just couldn't do that again. So he just sat on the top of the ship, letting himself relax for a little bit before going back into the ship. Only Pyro would be able to come out here to him, assuming they didn't have some space suits in there.
 
Faero smiled and shook his head.


"Who said that I was taking the role of authoritative figure? That's why I asked about a power hierarchy, so we can figure out who is in charge in a way that best suits everyone. If he wants to assume I was taking command because I gave him a stern lecture, that's his oversight." He said


Valkyrie shook her head, sighing.


"Why didn't you stop him from leaving?" She asked.


He shrugged.


"If he wants to leave without hearing a reply, then he's either an immature child or he's a coward. Either way it's not our problem. Now that a weed has been plucked from the garden, we may concern ourselves with what really matters. Though I had hoped that he'd at least give some thought to the idea of working together with all of you. Clearly he's too full of himself to do that though, which is rather upsetting. But so be it."


Valkyrie gave a "hmph."


"We may as well let him leave already. He's too arrogant and short sighted because of what he can do to understand what you were talking about. He heard you mention authority and instantly assumed you were trying to take command and take his freedom away, and he based his entire pathetic excuse of a retort on that assumption... Simple minded fool."


"Come on Val-"


"Don't even start with me Era. You know as well as I do that Faero is right on all counts. Elprede was blowing smoke with that pathetic excuse of a retort, and completely missed the point of the lecture... He is arrogant. He is an anarchist who follows no authority but that which exists in his own head. And he will get us all killed if we decide to let him remain amongst us with that attitude of his. We're better off without him, and you know it don't you?" She demanded.


Era half opened her mouth to speak, but let her breath out on a soft sigh without saying a word as she couldn't bring herself to argue that point.


Valkyrie crossed her arms.


"I don't care if he's the silver Nephelem and a vessel for the First God. Elprede himself is a weak and pathetically simple minded fool who has relied on assets which don't even belong to him for far too long. The only reason he can do what he does is because the First God made the silver Nephelem that way. But what kind of God relies on such a weak and simple minded vessel?"


She made another "tch" sound.


"Without the First God, the Nephelem race wouldn't even exist. We Saiyans evolved without the First God's influence, and we can do what we do today because it's how we evolved as a warrior race. The Super Saiyan is part of our genetic makeup because we evolved that way. Nobody had to give it to us. We earned our abilities. We earned our power. And we earned our place in the universe. He was given his place. He didn't have to earn it, but he's acting like the universe owes everything to him." 


She let out a huff.


"I don't have much against him personally save for his attitude, but I also don't trust Elprede in the slightest. You may have a soft spot for him Era, but that's because you're a bleeding heart and try to like everyone you meet. But if you want to survive in this universe, it's time you started acting and thinking like the Saiyan you are. As far as I'm concerned it's now obvious that we're better off without that fox holding us back and acting as if he's some kind of God unto himself who doesn't need any authority but his own."


Faero raised hand.


"That's enough, Valkyrie. We don't need to waste our breath on him any longer. He's not part of this conversation anymore, and it's rude to talk about someone behind their back like that. So let's move on to what matters, shall we? I want to know what you two think about coordinating your efforts in battle so that nobody risks getting blindsided or killed like the First God let happen to Era last time."


Valkyrie heaved a sigh and cracked her neck.


"I'm a follower, not a leader. I may be a Super Saiyan, but I'm in no position to lead anyone. If you want to create a coordinated effort, just tell me where I'm going and I'll do my job."


Era sighed as well and nodded.


"I'm also more of a follower. So long as I know where I'm going and what I'm supposed to be doing, I can do my job without any issues or complaints."



Faero nodded, glancing to Fae who just gave a nod in return.


"Faeora is in the same boat, it seems. But that presents us with an issue... Because I do not intend to remain here. I must return to Metahnn and report on what we encountered. I already discussed with Faeora last night that she will remain in your company. Now that you've released her limits, it's what we agreed is best for her. So take good care of her you two. I'm counting on you." He said with a smile.


Era nodded with a returned smile.


"Not a problem." She replied.


"Good."


"Question..."


"Yes, Valkyrie?"


"So who's in charge? You know I will never bow to the Frost Demon, and Elprede is no leader despite his 'God-given' position amongst the Nephelem. He can say what he wants, but if he was turned against by his own people as he says then that proves he lacks the skills to lead properly which is why he's reluctant to face his own people now. He failed them, and he knows it though he'll never admit it. That's no leader, and I won't ever follow an order from him."


"Point taken... However who is in charge is for you three to figure out for yourselves. Between the three of you, despite her claims, my two cents are that Era is best suited to lead. Her prodigious nature and keen eye for the flow of combat would make her an excellent leader if she put her mind to it."


Era gulped silently and looked partially away.


"But again, that's for you to decide. I gave my two cents on the matter, but your coordinated efforts are yours to coordinate from now on."


Era glanced to Faero.


"But if you're leaving, what do we do now?... We don't exactly have a plan you know. We were really just kind of going along for the ride so far... Should we return to Metahnn with you?"


Faero shook his head.


"Metahnn is not safe for you. Before we left on our most recent mission, and before our encounter with the Darkhoods, Metahnn was taken over by a saiyan with power far surpassing even yours. He killed the King and has declared himself the new King of Metahnn. He established a new order, and cut ties with nearly all of our previously allied races save for a small handful of them. Since we no longer have the allies we used to, he changed our focus of operation to intergalactic mercenaries who only work for the highest bidder instead of us operating out of good will towards our allies. I don't trust that man, but there's nothing we can do to stop him at present. After all... He's a Super Saiyan as well."


Era and Valkyrie were shocked.


"But how?"


Faero shook his head.


"I wish I knew. But he is. He even showed us his transformation to emphasize his right to rule. There's no mistaking that golden glow and the golden hair. But there's something... different about it compared to what I heard about Valkyrie's version of the form." He said.


"What could possibly be different? A Super Saiyan is a Super Saiyan, isn't it?"


Faero again shook his head.


"I don't know... Just a gut feeling. Something about him as a Super Saiyan was off, but I can't put my finger on it. Either way, he's far more powerful than Valkyrie is, so there's no sense in you going back to Metahnn in your current state. You're better off waiting until you hear from me that it's either safe, or that your return is necessary for other reasons. I will be keeping in touch. Until then you should continue training and growing even stronger so that if you do have to come back you'll be ready for him." He said.


Era and Valkyrie nodded.


"All right Faero. Be well my friend." She said.


"I will Valkyrie, thank you. Era, it's been a pleasure seeing you again." He said.


"You as well Faero. And don't worry. Fae's in good hands." She said.


Fae huffed a bit out of amusement at the statement, but shook her head with a smile on her face.


"Very well. Then I leave you all to your business. Take care. Be safe. And be smart about how you pick your battles from now on. You can't trust Elprede, and you may not wish to trust Pyro. But between the two, as strange as it sounds, Pyro is easily the more honorable and reliable so long as you find a way to work with him. He may be a pirate, but he's a leader through and through and he cares about his crew's well being just like any real commanding officer would. If you can find a way to get around whatever squabble you have with him, you may find him a powerful and reliable ally."


Valkyrie sighed through her nose.


"Doubtful." She huffed.


"Please do try, Valkyrie. You can't afford to make an enemy out of him at this juncture. You need all the allies you can get... Well, all the allies you know you can count on anyway."


Valkyrie chuckled and Era sighed softly.


"Well, that's it for me. I must be leaving. Myself and my crew will return to Metahnn and observe our new King's behavior. We'll be in touch with you regarding what we find out as time goes on."


He gave them all a salute, which they returned, and then was off to find the rest of his crew and depart for Metahnn. With Faero now out of the picture, however, that left Fae, Era, and Valkyrie in a rather precarious position amongst themselves.


"So... I don't suppose you'd consider me a leader, would you Val?" Era asked.


"You need to ask? Of course not... But I can't argue with Faero's assessment. With your prodigious talent you'd pick up real leadership skills in no time at all. So if you want to be the one to coordinate our efforts, I'm all for it."


Era looked to Faeora.


"Fae?"


Fae shrugged.


"I trust my brother's judgement, and I know you best of those here. I won't object if you give me orders, for now at least. But if they don't make sense, don't expect me to follow them."


Era nodded.


"All right then. I'll get to work coming up with a plan for us to follow in battle. I know both of your strengths, so it shouldn't be too hard to come up with something we can all agree on."


Val nodded.


"Fair enough. Then I'm going to bed to take a nap. I'm a bit high strung." She said.


"All right. Rest well Valkyrie."


Val nodded and gave a wave of her hand as she left the room.


"I'm off too. I want to get back to my workouts so I can keep my body loose while I recover from our training session. See you Era."


Fae left as well, leaving Era alone in Faero's room to think about what they'd all just decided on.


"Oh Elprede..." She whispered.


"Why couldn't you get past your ego and see that Faero's right about you? Your anarchistic attitude and belief that your own abilities and authority need not bend to another or even remain flexible enough to follow some kind of order of operation in the field of combat is going to get you killed. It almost did once already. You've been lucky so far because we were there to save you. But it's clear you're not ready to face this universe alone with the Darkhoods after you. Not anymore." She said sadly.


"... Well... As the humans say, there's no use crying over spilt milk. It's time for me to get to work." She said to herself.


Era returned to her own room and brought out a pen and paper. She listed all of the traits she knew of about Fae and Valkyrie, and then listed her own. All their strengths, weaknesses, and where they best complemented each other. She didn't know if Pyro was going to care to work together with them now that Faero was leaving, but just to be safe she wrote down what little of him she knew as well and tried to work him into the plan.


On a separate sheet of paper, she wrote down what she knew of Elprede and was dismayed by what she wrote as it included the following points which didn't bode well for their rather weak alliance with Elprede: arrogant, lone wolf, emotionally isolated, stubborn, weak minded, zero reliability because of no loyalties.


She put the pen down and sighed, leaning back in her chair as she stared at the ceiling.


It was going to be hard convincing him to stay, and she wasn't sure she wanted to convince him anymore. Despite how much she liked him, she couldn't argue with Faero or Valkyrie when it concerned him being more a danger and a hindrance than help.


With Faero gone Elprede was likely do one of two things: brood by himself and try to act as if it never happened later once he realized Faero was gone, or come back to visit and talk to Era about what a blowhard he thought Faero was. But Era had to side with Faero on all counts. Elprede was weak minded despite what he felt about himself. That much was proven by the fact that, without Jasmine, he lacked any emotional connections or emotional stability and put more faith and stock in his abilities than was deserved. If Jasmine suddenly disappeared, Elprede would have nobody and would undoubtedly lose his sanity. Nobody could survive in the universe alone and maintain their sanity for very long. As well if his body suddenly stopped working to produce and rejuvenate Ki at the rate it did now, he'd lose nearly all of his near infinite stamina and after one or two bursts of speed he'd be spent and become easy pickings for any enemy, Darkhood or otherwise, who came along. His speed was the basis of his combat style. Without his speed and near infinite stamina, what did he have?... Not a lot.


He took his own assets as a Nephelem for granted because of how numb and overconfident in them he was.


She also had to admit that Elprede wasn't nearly as smart as he wanted to believe. All of his own knowledge came from the First God whether he wanted to admit it or not. He said the First God hadn't given him much, but that wasn't true at all. Everything Elprede was, from his body as the vessel to his knowledge and experience, originated with the First God at the time of the creation of the Nephelem. Without the destruction of the First God's original form and the creation of the Nephelem, Elprede wouldn't exist or be able to claim ownership of his own knowledge or combat abilities.


It was then that another reality dawned on Era.


Elprede owed his existence, and that of the entire Nephelem Race, to the Saiyans. Elprede had told her once, not long after the Vault incident, that the original Super Saiyan, a member of the Saiyan Race in times of old predating the Nephelem, caused the First God to destroy himself in single combat which led to the creation of the Nephelem in the first place. Without the Saiyan Race and the original Super Saiyan, neither Elprede nor the Nephelem would currently exist.


The Saiyan Race predated the Nephelem by thousands, if not millions of years, and the Nephelem owed their existence to the Saiyans which meant that so too did Elprede.


With that fact in mind, Era sighed quietly to herself as she looked at her list of his negative traits.


... She had one more thing to add.


"Sorry Elprede..." She whispered.


Taking up her pen once more, she wrote one final assessment about Elprede based on her realization that he owed his and his entire race's existence to the Saiyans before putting the pen away and lying down on her bed to rest...


Liability.


As much as she hated to write that word, it was the truth. He was now a liability. His recklessness and inability to cooperate with anyone was a danger to them all, and not something that she as the newly appointed "leader" could tolerate. Whenever she saw him next, however hard it may be, she'd ask him to dissolve the spirit link if he hadn't already and go about his business without further involving himself with their group.


... It was going to be a very sad conversation for her, and she wasn't looking forward to it.


@Deathrattle BB @ChazGhost @KingHink
 
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As Pyro was searching the ship he got a message on his scouter from a crew member on the bridge that the cameras outside the ship spotted Elprede sitting on the ship. Pyro headed to the ship emergency exit. A few minutes later he started flying around the ship looking for Elprede. Once he found him he landed next to him with his arms crossed. "So what exactly was that all about on the intercom? I Don't believe I have said anything that I wasn't aware of... It was the dirty monkeys wasn't it? The red head... Valkyrie did it right? That monkey's pride and arrogance surpasses my expectations every time" Pyro said looking at Elprede waiting to get an answer.


Meanwhile the crew members Pyro left in his room were drinking a bottle of wine as the continued the game. Little did they know Pyro had a secret camera insulted to keep an eye on what happened in his room connected straight to his scouter. They were going to pay for the bottle and more later...


@Deathrattle BB @ChoShadow @KingHink
 
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@ChoShadow @ChazGhost @KingHink


Elprede let off a sigh and put his face in his hands outside the ship, closing his eyes. He knew he wouldn't be able to do this alone, he just wasn't willing to follow somebody that he could not trust. He had assumed that Faero would be the one that would be being the leader, he was not going to accept that. It wasn't the fact of working together that he had declined in the first place, it was the fact that the leader was simply wrong for him.


He couldn't just be 'expected' to immediately follow through with that plan without any previous mention or talk about who was going to lead. He wasn't a leader that was forced into the position anyways because some stupid God decided that he was 'the one.' What was even special about him in the first place anyways? He wasn't that smart compared to others, nor strong, and he doubted he would have even been that fast compared to other Nephelem. Why him?


The question irked him so much. What would he be without the First God deciding him to be His vessel? What would he be? Would he have become something different, would he have met Era, Valkyrie, Pyro, or anybody else anyways? Would he have just been stuck on Zaero, doing nothing and making nothing of his life? What kind of life would he lead?


There was so much more to that question, though. Who who was he? Who was he actually without the First God's influence on him? That same God was probably inflicting influence on him even still, disturbing his thoughts and making him think differently than what he would have previously. In a time before the Darkhoods, he had actually been on the road to maybe redeeming himself in the eyes of the rest of his race. That was a path that he couldn't really take anymore, he couldn't be there much anymore even if he wanted to.


Maybe it would be best to look at all of his negative qualities first. He did have a lot of them. Inflated ego, arrogance, he had the emotional ties of tinfoil, he loved freedom so much that he was unwilling to bend to other authority. That was a particular reason he had never tried to speak to the King of the Saiyans, figuring that he would screw something up. He usually managed to do something like that. He'd probably--


"Sir, stop."


He paused in his thoughts. Is there something wrong, Jasmine?


She huffed. "There's a lot wrong right now, sir, and I can't let you continue on like this any longer. You're going to break yourself in two, and you're doing it on purpose now. You won't even tell me anything anymore, and we hardly talk like we used to." She spoke boldly and bluntly. He needed to hear what she had to say right now. "Sir, you can't keep doing this to yourself. You're not just going to hurt yourself, you're going to hurt others, or even get them killed. I KNOW you know that Faero was right. Its in your head right now but you're just not acknowledging it."


He rolled his eyes. And you would know, because...?


Jasmine even growled at him. He didn't even know she could do that, so that took him off guard. "Because I AM YOU. I was made with the intentions of being able to work perfectly with you, as if we were one, but lately I haven't been able to. You're trying to force yourself to change into something worse because you believe that you're already at rock bottom. But you're not! What are you so afraid of?"


Elprede looked down. What am I so afraid of? I'm afraid of getting them almost killed again. I'm afraid of becoming a hollow husk that has no thoughts or emotions and only doing what I'm told. I'm afraid of the First God. I'm afraid of the world around me. I'm afraid of what's beyond me. I'm afraid of what's going to happen to me, to them, or to anybody else. I'm afraid of everything! EVERYTHING, JASMINE!"


Jasmine stayed quiet for a moment, however, he suddenly felt a burst of happiness from her. "You finally admit it. I've been waiting for a while to hear you say that." At his confusion, she continued. "You've been running for so long that you forgot what you were even running from, sir. They may not be able to tell you what you really need to hear, but sometimes you just need to listen to others. Let go of your guilt... let go of your fears for a moment... and just think. Remember back before you had received that distress signal and saved Valkyrie's life?"


He was still confused but decided to humor Jasmine. Yes... I was just afraid I wasn't going to be fast enough to get to her.


"And remember at the tournament, where you planned to challenge Pyro to defeat or kill him? To protect others?"


What are you getting at here?


She scoffed. "What I'm trying to say is that... you're overthinking everything. It is not as complex as you're making it out to be, and though it still is a complicated issue, you're making everything more difficult on yourself and on others. It doesn't have to be that way. You can trust others, Elprede," she REALLY had his attention now with the mention of her saying his actual name instead of 'sir'. "You can trust me, you can trust Era, you can probably trust Valkyrie... I can't say whether or not you can trust Pyro yet, but maybe you should try it out."


He's a pirate, he's--


She interrupted him. "--Been helping you ever since the Darkhoods had showed up and destroyed the Outpost. You are on the same side as them, there's no reason for you to believe that they will betray you at a moment's notice. They might not be the same as you, just like you're not the same as them, but you're all working together for a better future. That's what this fight has been for, dear Elprede, to protect everybody. Don't you want that?"


He gaped. Of course I do! But how can I... How do I...


If she could smile, she would. "It's simple, sir. Just be who you were before."


Be who he was before...


That echoed for a long time in his head before he finally realized what it really meant. That meant being brave, being strong. Willing to do whatever it takes to protect somebody else, no matter who they were or what was asked of him. He was ready to give his life at a moment's notice, even for a total stranger at a time. He was ready to die for a world he had never even heard of before. He was not just some toy of the First God at that point; he was Elprede. He was not a deity, he was not a Nephelem, he was nothing. He was just Elprede.


That struck him hard and he actually recoiled as if he had been stricken. His eyes were wide and he looked down at himself. Had he really been being so stupid for so long? He replayed the events of the past in his mind. He had nearly let Era die because he was too distracted thinking about himself to act. He had LET Era die to Death because he had been afraid for himself. That was not the First God's doing, he was a coward. Why had he been being a coward for so long?


The First God had an influence on him. He was being turned into some sort of thing that had no emotions, no feeling, nothing. Was that really what the First God was? A being that was only used as some thing by somebody else? Was he just a toy, and because the First God was treated as if he was nothing at all, did that in turn effect him due to the First God's own mistreatment? There was something bigger at play than he was... but like Jasmine said... maybe it did not have to be that big.


Maybe it was smaller than him. Maybe he just needed to finally look and see beyond what was in his own head.


He stood up slowly on the top of the ship and looked out at the stars. Era would have been able to feel something, something like a change of heart. Maybe feel a bit taller, a bit stronger, a bit more secure of herself than before. She may have even felt that she felt lighter, like something had finally just gotten off her shoulders. Elprede certainly felt that, and it felt like he was glowing.


... Oh, wait a minute, he was glowing. Oops. He let his Ki fade.


He decided to reenter the ship after finally getting out of his existential crisis. Until he got stopped by Pyro.


"Oh, nothing to worry about." He said with a wave of his head, for some reason sporting a dumb grin on his face. "I was just being incredibly stupid and now everybody can hold it against me forever and ever." He said brightly. That should NOT have been something you would be happy about.


He quickly went by Pyro and reentered the ship. Now, if he were Saiyans that were trying to come up with a coordinated plan of formation, who would he choose as the leader...? Oh, Gods, not Valkyrie... Faero maybe didn't seem like the type... definitely not Faeora... that left one candidate.


He went to the room that he had left in a bit of a tizzy, following the Spirit Link to Era. When he saw she was there, he stopped in the doorway and gave a small wave. "Hey... um, can I reconsider my application for joining that plan? I know that I'm terrible, arrogant, egotistical, narcissistic sometimes, probably half the time a retard, been being a massive moron, could not see past the fact that -- oh my Gods you're not gonna believe this -- that I am ACTUALLY my own person... and, uh, that Faero was actually right about everything except the First God. The First God is somebody that I don't want to be, though."


He actually looked down at his feet, as if ashamed. "I'm completely ashamed of how I've been acting recently and I apologize... if you want, you can ask Jasmine. She wasn't actually equipped with the ability to lie, believe it or not."


"Elprede, please no--" she started out loud.


He kept going. "And I am willing to accept whoever has been chosen as leader. I've got a feeling that it's you, though. I completely understand if you want me to leave or do whatever, just..." he paused and looked up at Era. "Can I ask for a second chance or is it too late for that?"


((So I can better differentiate, Jasmine's dialogue will be put in gray, and in italics when it's internal, instead of just plain like Elprede's. All of the First God's dialogue is in light blue, and Elprede's will remain normal. Obviously all his italic dialogue is just him talking in his head.))
 
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Era was laying on her bed gazing at the ceiling.


She had so much to think about now.


For a Low Class Saiyan to be thrust into a leadership position was not unheard of, but incredibly rare. What was even more amazing to her was that both Fae and Valkyrie accepted her leadership rather easily. Val was obviously less pleased than Fae, but had relented all the same.


Now Era was forced to coordinate their battle plans. Coordinate their actions whilst in combat. Coordinate their very thoughts. The way they think about battle and approach it now depended on her... But more than that it was their very lives which now depended on her leadership and ability to step up and do what must be done for the safety of the group. 


It was a heavy burden which weighed down on her like a planet stacked on her shoulders.


However...


After a few moments, a rather odd sensation came over her.


She could feel as if her body was becoming lighter. So much so that she looked to her side and found she had started floating above her bed. She set herself back down and sat upright, looking at her hands and her body.


"What is this?" She asked herself.


She couldn't describe it, but it was a rather warm and enlightening sensation. Even though she wasn't experiencing any sudden revelations or enlightening realizations, she felt almost as though she had. And instinctively, her mind traveled to Elprede. The Spirit Link. It had to be. Whatever Elprede was doing now must have lifted a burden from his mind and heart. She didn't know what it was, but judging from the level of elation that came with it he had to have accepted something and come to terms with whatever problems he was having.


Not long after, Elprede entered her room and started going off about something.


"His own person?"


She didn't know what that meant, but she couldn't stop herself from smiling at him the whole time despite herself.


Her hand slowly reached for the paper with his information on it, and she crumpled it in her hands and tossed it in the trash as he asked for a second chance. When she had done that, she shifted her weight to sit on the edge of the bed with her feet flat on the floor and smiled sweetly at him.


"I'm not the smartest woman around when it comes to things like psychology and self worth, so I only caught the basic idea of what you said about being your own person. But I did understand that you have come to realize a problem and have done what you can to solve it for yourself, and I respect that." She said happily.


"I'll give you another chance Elprede. I've had a nagging feeling for a while now that you had changed in ways that made our original encounter seem almost like a dream gone by. I was worried that version of you I'd met would never see the light of day again. But I'm glad you're back." She said, extending her hand to him.


"So how about it? Are you ready to make good on our original promise to see this through together, even if we all don't always agree or get along?" She asked.


@Deathrattle BB @ChazGhost @KingHink
 
@ChoShadow


He gave her a very frank nod, moving to take her hand. "Of course I'm ready... I guess before... I never really thought that the fate of everybody would rest on us really being able to work together." He only gave her a half-smile. "I don't like the thought that maybe whatever mistakes we make will have massive consequences on everybody else in the universe. But, at the very least, I'm prepared to face those challenges now. Jasmine had to knock some sense into me."


Jasmine huffed. "Well if you hadn't been so caught up in your self-imposed guilt, I never would have needed to!" She said hotly. She sounded just like a nagging sister or something.


"Hey, things happen sometimes. I'm still to blame for that, but I can't really help the circumstances that happen. Now, anyways..." He tossed Era a Scanner. It looked a little different; sleeker in design, completely unpainted, and had a different emblem where the manufacturer would usually put their symbol. It had a triangle with an 'E' in it. Perhaps this was something made by Elprede himself?


"Put those on for a second... don't worry, its pretty much like your normal Scanner that you had before, just... a small enhancement?" He shrugged. "Enhancement, that's subjective. It'll just help."


As soon as she would have put that on, the world would have been different. Especially looking at Elprede. Things that would not have been there before appeared; a HUD seemed to float in front of Elprede. It had the temperature of the area, a small bar that zig-zagged constantly, probably a heart monitor. There was the time in the upper right of where Elprede would be, along with a multitude of other very useful tools to have around at all times.


"Welcome to augmented reality. I just wanted you to be able to see things like that, because trust me, I leave A LOT of augmented reality crap laying around." He paused. "Don't look at my bedroom unless you want to see my crazy writing on literally every surface existing in there except the ones actually part of me. Plus, a lot of virtual crumpled papers that I SHOULD clean up." He shrugged. "I just... well, thought it might be useful to you. There's a little button on the bottom of the scanner's main piece that attaches to your ear that will turn it off and on whenever you want. On the plus side, it has a number of performance upgrades and stuff from the ones you Saiyans get?"
 
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Era smiled and accepted the gift. 


When she turned it on and used it, the augmented reality was... different. Seeing various elements like this was quite the change. She could make general sense of it all, of course, but it would take some getting used to. Her first Scouter took getting used to as well, so this was nothing new.


"Thanks El. By the way, have you seen Pyro around? I need to speak to him about our plans of coordinating ourselves in battle." She asked.


@Deathrattle BB @ChazGhost
 
@ChoShadow


Elprede gave her a small shrug. "Last I saw, he had come onto the roof of the ship to ask me what I was yelling about before. Speaking of battle coordination, though..."


He glanced around for a moment. "When I was speaking about 'leaving me to my own devices' earlier, that wasn't an anarchist statement or something. I meant that as more or less that I'm usually jumping in and out of combat quite a lot in battles such as those, not staying in any real centralized location usually, as I'm sure you've come to notice." He leaned against the wall, folding his arms. "You can give me a general position to be in, just don't expect me to be in exactly that spot the entire time. That won't quite work for me, and due to the nature of my speed, I need a lot of room to move around. What distance you Saiyans cover in a second, I cross over a million times that in a second.


He looked over at her. "I hope you get what i mean. I'm just trying to say that locating me to one specific position won't be very helpful, and it will probably end up bad for all of us when I get hurt because of it. That will probably be hard to work into whatever plan you've got so far -- if any at all -- but I just figured I'd point it out."
 
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