Dragonball M, Chapter 2: Lighthouse! Across the Shores of Shattered Time!

[Tami]

So, this Colossus was the base of operations for the Nagadarr, and in six years, the Chromakai military had never so much as made a dent in the thing. That... was something they should have known days ago. Why Meagan would fail to mention that when she asked her about the Nagadarr was a mystery, but Sarada supposed that there was no point in begrudging her for forgetting such an important detail.

"Would have been nice to know that earlier," she said bluntly. Shaking her head, she folded her arms over her chest. "If the outside is too durable for your military to damage it after all this time, then I'm thinking the way to destroy it is on the inside. Maybe overloading the power source or something along those lines. Have your people tried something like that, even as a suicide mission?"

"Between our capture by the Junjo, and the rescue of the prisoners, there wasn't much time for a briefing. Even as we traveled, I did not know what the status of the combat was until I found a Data pad, and until I conferred with the Twin Police Officers. This was not how I envisioned returning to my home-world. Perhaps I should have at least tried to get everyone together to share what information I knew." Meagan left it at that.

[Lord Falcon]

A mysterious woman joined in the discussion. Sarada narrowed her eyes and looked her over with heavy scrutiny. Tanned brown skin, full slips, a lithe, slender build, hair that flowed like silk; the woman didn't look familiar in the slightest. Sarada would have remembered a woman this beautiful. "Who are you supposed to be?" she asked before the voice finally registered with her.

The dulcet tone sounded like a chorus of soft-voiced children. It was hard for her to recognize it because it wasn't a monotone, robotic voice filtered out through a voice-box.

Asha'rah.

"Oh, it's you," she acknowledge. "You got your skin back. Congratulations."

Asha'rah turned with light in her eyes to regard the Saiyan Sarada. She had been up to much in their time apart, ending centuries of tradition to finally rid her civilization of slavery. The god had to concede that Sarada had proved her initial estimation of her character wrong several times over. First impressions weren't always the right ones.

And she made Ishtar happy, had formed a bond of trust and intimacy with the blue oni. It was hard not to respect someone who did that.

"You got your squeeze back," Asha'rah said, a little smirk growing upon her lips, "congratulations."

[rhyvurg]

"Colossus is a heavily armored, heavily weaponized space ship the size of a medium sized City. It is used as the main Base of Operations for the Nagadarr Invasion and the years long war against my people. No matter how we tried, no Chromakai military force has ever made a dent in it."

"Understood. Give me it's location, I will disable or destroy it in 24 hours."

[Tami]

Asha'rah tapped her chin, joining the discussion even as her form of flesh started to flicker and fade.

"If the ship were invincible, I do not suppose the Chromakai would have made as much progress as they have. I take it they've been able to drive the Colossus off in the past. Any idea how?"

"Asha'rah, I see you are getting closer to your true form." Meagan nodded, then answered her question, "The Colossus is not something you can drive off. The Nagadarr Demons, the ones who are the leaders of the invasion force, reside there. Though I suppose there are others as well. The Devils are the one's with cloven feet and are the most skilled with weapons. The Ogres are the largest and the strongest and the most numerous. They act as the foot soldiers, the front line."

"Up until I left Chroma six years ago, the Nagadarr had pretty much taken over everything. The Peacekeepers, the military force of Chroma, were decimated by the Nagadarr. My father was a Peacekeeper, he died when I was very young, about 17 years ago. Once the Peacekeepers were gone, it was just a matter of survival. The Resistance was formed by the last survivors of the Peacekeeper force. They formed cells in each city, and trained civilians to fight or at the every least to wear down the Nagadarr, to destroy whatever weapons we could and to save as many lives as possible. We were in a holding position for years. The Nagadarr were trapped on the planet, they couldn't leave, call for backup or get new weapons or supplies. But we were trapped here with them. Until recently, from what I've learned."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"Between our capture by the Junjo, and the rescue of the prisoners, there wasn't much time for a briefing. Even as we traveled, I did not know what the status of the combat was until I found a Data pad, and until I conferred with the Twin Police Officers. This was not how I envisioned returning to my home-world. Perhaps I should have at least tried to get everyone together to share what information I knew." Meagan left it at that.

They had been traveling for two days. That was plenty of time for her to get everyone together and at least brief them on everything she knew. Even if she wasn't privy to the most recent developments, even potentially outdated information was better than going in completely blind. Sarada didn't know anything about any data pad, but it sounded like this had the recent details on the war.

Why was this not brought to their attention? Even mentioning that she had what Sarada assumed was a Nagadarr data pad would gone a very long way toward helping them come up with a solid strategy beforehand. "Minutes before we engage the enemy is not the time to develop a strategy. If you had a data pad with information of the current combat situation, it should have been brought to our attention. Keeping it to yourself does no one any good."

She sighed.

"It doesn't matter now. What about possibly destroying the power source in the ship? Any idea if that's possible?"

Asha'rah turned with light in her eyes to regard the Saiyan Sarada. She had been up to much in their time apart, ending centuries of tradition to finally rid her civilization of slavery. The god had to concede that Sarada had proved her initial estimation of her character wrong several times over. First impressions weren't always the right ones.

And she made Ishtar happy, had formed a bond of trust and intimacy with the blue oni. It was hard not to respect someone who did that.

"You got your squeeze back," Asha'rah said, a little smirk growing upon her lips, "congratulations."

Sarada felt herself chuckle. There was something... endearing about hearing the goddess' humor through the voice of a living being instead of an emotionless box. It was nice, and she knew that Ishtar felt nothing but joy at seeing her friend at something resembling her full glory. "I'm glad you got to taste your former glory again. I don't know what I expected to see when you finally shed your robotic prison, but what I see now surpasses it."

[Cyke]

"Understood. Give me it's location, I will disable or destroy it in 24 hours."

"It doesn't matter now. What about possibly destroying the power source in the ship? Any idea if that's possible?"

Still somewhat groggy, Zaofan plainly raised his hands, and spoke in an almost monotone sort. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I can't say that I know much about starships, but if these are conquerors and if the Colossus is the size of a city, it could have brigs or prisons or pens or whatever the size of neighborhoods, at least. And blowing that thing up while it's close to the atmosphere can't be good for the planet."

He then turns to Meagan. "Do you know if they have any Chromokai captured? Are they known for taking prisoners?"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

“The Colossus is nearly impenetrable. It is not only guarded by dozens of powerful people, it has layered energy shielding when they want to go into defense mode. That’s not including those inside, who are even more powerful. The fact the Chromaki have held out this long is admirable.”

Miras brings up a holographic display.

“I had planned on leading an assault there through stealth. I have diversionary teams set up creating havoc to draw some of the Nagadarr defenders away. At their weakest, we were going to strike. My new technique should tear straight through their shields and let me strike the hull. However, your ship most certainly blew our stealth option now that I think about it. However, with all you here and my diversionary forces, perhaps a more...front door style approach will work.”

A manic smile, eerily like Jinzi’s, spreads across her face.

“They’ll never see you lot coming.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Still somewhat groggy, Zaofan plainly raised his hands, and spoke in an almost monotone sort. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I can't say that I know much about starships, but if these are conquerors and if the Colossus is the size of a city, it could have brigs or prisons or pens or whatever the size of neighborhoods, at least. And blowing that thing up while it's close to the atmosphere can't be good for the planet."

He then turns to Meagan. "Do you know if they have any Chromokai captured? Are they known for taking prisoners?"

“There are prionsers aboard. That’s one of the reasons I haven’t called in a massive bombardment on the thing from orbit. Specifically, they keep kids as prisoners there knowing the Chromaki won’t risk them, and neither would the Galaxy Police.”

[Tami]

“The Colossus is nearly impenetrable. It is not only guarded by dozens of powerful people, it has layered energy shielding when they want to go into defense mode. That’s not including those inside, who are even more powerful. The fact the Chromaki have held out this long is admirable.”

Miras brings up a holographic display.

“I had planned on leading an assault there through stealth. I have diversionary teams set up creating havoc to draw some of the Nagadarr defenders away. At their weakest, we were going to strike. My new technique should tear straight through their shields and let me strike the hull. However, your ship most certainly blew our stealth option now that I think about it. However, with all you here and my diversionary forces, perhaps a more...front door style approach will work.”

A manic smile, eerily like Jinzi’s, spreads across her face.

“They’ll never see you lot coming.”

"Sounds promising. How do you think we should do this?"

[Cyke]

“There are prionsers aboard. That’s one of the reasons I haven’t called in a massive bombardment on the thing from orbit. Specifically, they keep kids as prisoners there knowing the Chromaki won’t risk them, and neither would the Galaxy Police.”

"Sounds promising. How do you think we should do this?"

Taking heed of Miras' note and Meagan's question, Zaofan chimes in further. "Seems like some finesse is going to be needed, yet again. Oftentimes the measuring spoons and the paring knife work better than the sledgehammer."

[Tami]

“There are prionsers aboard. That’s one of the reasons I haven’t called in a massive bombardment on the thing from orbit. Specifically, they keep kids as prisoners there knowing the Chromaki won’t risk them, and neither would the Galaxy Police.”

Meagan 's eyes widened in horror, "The Orphanage! They crossed the line, they attacked the Orphanage, didn't they?"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Meagan 's eyes widened in horror, "The Orphanage! They crossed the line, they attacked the Orphanage, didn't they?"

Miras nods.

“About two months back, just before I got involved here.”

[Sub-Zero MKA]

“The Colossus is nearly impenetrable. It is not only guarded by dozens of powerful people, it has layered energy shielding when they want to go into defense mode. That’s not including those inside, who are even more powerful. The fact the Chromaki have held out this long is admirable.”

Miras brings up a holographic display.

“I had planned on leading an assault there through stealth. I have diversionary teams set up creating havoc to draw some of the Nagadarr defenders away. At their weakest, we were going to strike. My new technique should tear straight through their shields and let me strike the hull. However, your ship most certainly blew our stealth option now that I think about it. However, with all you here and my diversionary forces, perhaps a more...front door style approach will work.”

A manic smile, eerily like Jinzi’s, spreads across her face.

“They’ll never see you lot coming.”

Finally, someone with some idea of what was going on and something resembling a strategy. Sarada nodded along to what Miras was saying, making mental notes here and there of what she felt were the most important bits.

The ship was impenetrable; proven by it surviving for so many years despite assault after assault by the Chroma military. It was guarded by dozens of powerful people -- she assumed these humanoid Demons Meagan told her about -- who were backed up by dozens of even more powerful people on the inside. It also had shields for when it was forced into a defensive position. Layered shielding, at that.

That would have made her think that a direct assault would be futile, until Miras noted that with them there and her diversionary team -- plus her new technique that would allow her to bust through the shields and strike the hull -- a direct approach was likely the way to go.

That was perfectly fine with Sarada. All she wanted was a chance to fight one of those Demons one-on-one in her Hitozaru form. She was willing that 50% of her Oozaru power was more than enough to handle one of them, and probably many more after that. If not, then she could easily just transform all the way and smash her way through the ship. If she was fortunate, these Nagadarr didn't know about her weakness.

"Sounds good to me."

Still somewhat groggy, Zaofan plainly raised his hands, and spoke in an almost monotone sort. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I can't say that I know much about starships, but if these are conquerors and if the Colossus is the size of a city, it could have brigs or prisons or pens or whatever the size of neighborhoods, at least. And blowing that thing up while it's close to the atmosphere can't be good for the planet."

He then turns to Meagan. "Do you know if they have any Chromokai captured? Are they known for taking prisoners?"

“There are prionsers aboard. That’s one of the reasons I haven’t called in a massive bombardment on the thing from orbit. Specifically, they keep kids as prisoners there knowing the Chromaki won’t risk them, and neither would the Galaxy Police.”

Her heart skipped a bit. "They... have children up there?" Her voice suddenly sounded very tense. If there was one thing in this entire universe she hated more than anything, it was someone threatening the well-being of a child. It always took her back to the Meat Market and those days with Dashir. There was no need to imagine how helpless those children up there felt, because she had felt the same herself years ago.

It was a sickening feeling that never went away, no matter how good a life they lived. No matter what, the trauma always dug itself back up at the most unsuspecting of times. While their trauma, hopefully, wasn't as severe as hers, it was going to effect them.

"I'm going to tear those bastards apart," she growled, her anger reaching a dangerous fever pitch before she took a breath to calm herself down. "We're going to save those children, and then blow that piece of **** to hell."

[Lord Falcon]

"Asha'rah, I see you are getting closer to your true form." Meagan nodded, then answered her question, "The Colossus is not something you can drive off. The Nagadarr Demons, the ones who are the leaders of the invasion force, reside there. Though I suppose there are others as well. The Devils are the one's with cloven feet and are the most skilled with weapons. The Ogres are the largest and the strongest and the most numerous. They act as the foot soldiers, the front line."

"Up until I left Chroma six years ago, the Nagadarr had pretty much taken over everything. The Peacekeepers, the military force of Chroma, were decimated by the Nagadarr. My father was a Peacekeeper, he died when I was very young, about 17 years ago. Once the Peacekeepers were gone, it was just a matter of survival. The Resistance was formed by the last survivors of the Peacekeeper force. They formed cells in each city, and trained civilians to fight or at the every least to wear down the Nagadarr, to destroy whatever weapons we could and to save as many lives as possible. We were in a holding position for years. The Nagadarr were trapped on the planet, they couldn't leave, call for backup or get new weapons or supplies. But we were trapped here with them. Until recently, from what I've learned."

Asha'rah dipped her head in thanks for the congratulations. She would have to retreat back into her robotic body soon. Maintaining the capability to fight and pushing past her robotic prison were two tasks best not undertaken together.

Meagan had not been back to her home in six years. While she had grown up with the asymmetrical style of warfare the Chroma had developed to survive, and outside intervention was an obvious factor in the turning of the tides, she had not seen the latter first-hand. She claimed the Colossus was not something capable of being driven off, but Asha'rah decided it best not to take her statement literally. Either the Colossus had retreated from assaults before it could be brought down, or the Nagadarr had been extremely cautious with their strongest weapon and never risked it in situations where they might be forced to retreat. Either way, the Nagadarr would not have been cornered if they had a completely unstoppable and invincible weapon. Either way, the Colossus had limits. It was simply a matter of finding them.

"Your home awaits your victory, and its freedom. We are in a position to make it happen. Fly when ready, Meagan. I will follow."

[The Dog]

Midori looked around the ruins of one of the Chromakai's cities destroyed by the current war, a frown marring her face. Any thoughts of the weird conversation between Adam, Erosa, and Sarada as well as whatever feelings existed between her and Erosa were pushed to the back of her mind as she took in the devastation. These people had been engaged in a planet-wide war for decades, and it seemed to be ending in favor of the Chromakai.

They just needed to put the final nail in this war's coffin, and it seemed she and her associates were the hammer to drive that nail in. After the war was done, THEN she'd deal with whatever happened on the ship.

Walking around, she saw a new woman amongst their group, and she walked over to the unrecognizable Asha'rah and said "Hello miss, I'm afraid I haven't made your acquaintance. My name is Midori, and its a pleasure to meet you."