Dragonball M, Chapter 4: Kidnapping! Invasion! A new Threat Strikes First!

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Inanna considered very briefly, simply blowing up Reshlan from orbit. Realizing that there was probably some measure to prevent this however, and deciding she'd rather strangle the life out of everyone to oppose her, with her own two hands...

She merely continued her approach.

[KingofPie]

The ships of the First Race were near silent in flight to those aboard, an almost unnerving quiet as they followed the other ship towards their destination.

Hidden Reshlan.



Eventually, guided by Held’s allies and Elder Nail’s gift, the small group of ships pop into local space above a beautiful purplish planet, rings round her center and multiple moons adorning her brow.

There does not appear to be any resistance in space to hinder them.

"Ah, 'bout damn time!" Sasheem sat up and stretched. "nnnn-Okay!" he yawned, cracking his knuckles. "Let's go **** 'em up!"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Parsley was right.

Well, duh. She was older, more experienced, and one of the smartest saiyans out there! Besides the Saiyantists that lived in Vaikuntha now, but Parsley's smarts were more... practical. Not that science was useless, because even a child like Seri knew it wasn't, but... gah, she was getting distracted.

"Yeah, that's right... and you want to train me so I'll be able to take on anyone that won't change," said Seri. "Because even though I think most will eventually come around, like our people did, some are gonna stick to being bad guys." Although she guessed, from their point of view, they weren't being bad...?

...politics and stuff made her head hurt. She'd leave most of that to Neva, who was smarter and more experienced with that stuff. Seri would just focus on figuring out how to make a good impression on the threshlings so they liked outsiders more and backing Neva up whenever she needed it!

"Hehe, I can't wait to show you some of the moves I've come up with!"

The child understood, to an extent. That spared Parsley the responsibility of having to explain religious fervor and the dangers of power voids.

Good.

Her determination was endearing. It reminded her of Pinach and Rutaba when they were going on and on about reforming the Meat Market. That came to pass; in that decrepit hell's place was a city worthy of habitation, even if those people were so-called bottom of the barrel weaklings. Perhaps the same reformation could happen on Reshlan.

The ships of the First Race were near silent in flight to those aboard, an almost unnerving quiet as they followed the other ship towards their destination.

Hidden Reshlan.



Eventually, guided by Held’s allies and Elder Nail’s gift, the small group of ships pop into local space above a beautiful purplish planet, rings round her center and multiple moons adorning her brow.

There does not appear to be any resistance in space to hinder them.

The First Race vessel pierced the pitch black veil of space with ease, practically bending space to its will to cut travel time to a mere fraction. For a few, this was only the second time they had been out in space. For her, she could hardly count the times. All the conquests, all the vacations to other planets, all the educational field trips with Maiz; all of it made traveling through the stars academic, at best. Sometimes, she passed by a celestial body that captured her attention.

This was one of those times. On the surface, Reshlan was beautiful, alluring even. Just below the surface, however, it quickly revealed itself to be nothing more than a white-washed grave, a pristine exterior polished to hide the gross and detestable interior. Worship of Auroc had rotted away the planet's very essence, leaving nothing but blind devotion and frothing fervor. Killing Auroc was only the beginning. It was tantamount to plucking dead leaves off a dying tree. The entire structure needed to be uprooted so that a healthy seed could be planted in its place.

It started with this battle.

As they approached the planet, she rose from her seat and approached a window that gave her the best view of the incoming world. She posited that the planet was surrounded by a magical field that prevented direct transportation planetside. She sought to confirm it. Activating Toki Yo Tomare, she tried to detect if there was indeed a magical field around the world.

[grampagen]

Flying in formation with the vessels of the First Race, the Navigation Guild vessel charted the course through stars unknown to outsiders of the Hermit Empire. The probe-transponders relayed the path through countless nameless stars, data-vectors to trace a linear path from captured Baradur to the silent planet that had been barred to all but Threshlingkind,

Until now.

The ships of the First Race were near silent in flight to those aboard, an almost unnerving quiet as they followed the other ship towards their destination.

Hidden Reshlan.



Eventually, guided by Held’s allies and Elder Nail’s gift, the small group of ships pop into local space above a beautiful purplish planet, rings round her center and multiple moons adorning her brow.

There does not appear to be any resistance in space to hinder them.

As soon as the planet loomed, Captain Ulysses Prizzm signaled the small squadron to slow to cruising speed, then hailed the various ships over the band. Held would be the first to hear it, and soon the rest would follow.
__

Seated on the bridge of the First Race cruiser, Ochazuke heard static prick up on the ancient receiver, and pressed the button.

"--is the--SS Penelope ov--r---this thing even receptive to the same band? Hailing FR Cruiser, this is Prizzm--SS Penelope, do you copy? We have visual, over. Motion detectors aren't picking up a thing outside of the satellite debris."

"Confirmed. Stand by, we'll take care of the rest."

"That's our destination, then?" Zaofan said aloud, though the only one who could verify this was the Threshling princess. "So this is home, huh?"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

There is indeed a magical field that surrounds the planet, halting teleportation to and fro.

The planet below seems to shine in the darkness, a rare jewel amongst eternal midnight, and to those with finely crafted senses it’s energy seemed......tainted, however. Wrong. Like an out of tune string on a guitar, the planet resonates incorrectly.

A single figure can be seen exiting the atmosphere. On closer scans, the armored figure of a clear Saiyan appears.




Without a breathing apparatus or ship, the single knight hangs in the space between the ships and planet below, dead eyes tracking each one.

Then the Knight gestures for the ships to follow him down, and he flies back towards the planet, the intent clear that he wants them to follow.

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

Flying in formation with the vessels of the First Race, the Navigation Guild vessel charted the course through stars unknown to outsiders of the Hermit Empire. The probe-transponders relayed the path through countless nameless stars, data-vectors to trace a linear path from captured Baradur to the silent planet that had been barred to all but Threshlingkind,

Until now.



As soon as the planet loomed, Captain Ulysses Prizzm signaled the small squadron to slow to cruising speed, then hailed the various ships over the band. Held would be the first to hear it, and soon the rest would follow.
__

Seated on the bridge of the First Race cruiser, Ochazuke heard static prick up on the ancient receiver, and pressed the button.

"--is the--SS Penelope ov--r---this thing even receptive to the same band? Hailing FR Cruiser, this is Prizzm--SS Penelope, do you copy? We have visual, over. Motion detectors aren't picking up a thing outside of the satellite debris."

"Confirmed. Stand by, we'll take care of the rest."

"That's our destination, then?" Zaofan said aloud, though the only one who could verify this was the Threshling princess. "So this is home, huh?"

Nevanlinna nodded. "Yes, that is my home, Reshlan. Beautiful, is she not? And once Auroc's taint is cleansed from it, Reshlan shall shine even brighter."

To be sure, there were many beautiful planets in the universe, but Reshlan had a certain beauty to it... though that was simply her bias for her homeworld talking.

There is indeed a magical field that surrounds the planet, halting teleportation to and fro.

The planet below seems to shine in the darkness, a rare jewel amongst eternal midnight, and to those with finely crafted senses it’s energy seemed......tainted, however. Wrong. Like an out of tune string on a guitar, the planet resonates incorrectly.

A single figure can be seen exiting the atmosphere. On closer scans, the armored figure of a clear Saiyan appears.




Without a breathing apparatus or ship, the single knight hangs in the space between the ships and planet below, dead eyes tracking each one.

Then the Knight gestures for the ships to follow him down, and he flies back towards the planet, the intent clear that he wants them to follow.

Nevanlinna narrowed her eyes, while Seri peered out at the...

"Hey, that guy's a saiyan! Did he come here to help us?"

The Threshling princess shook her head. "No, he is our enemy... and a powerful one, at that." How powerful she could not say, but she had a feeling it was 'overwhelmingly'. No matter, it would not be the first time this group had come up against an overwhelmingly powerful enemy and triumphed. Nor would it be the last.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

All this way, for formalities?

When the dead eyed revenant beckoned her down she simply sighed, before making the descent, but so far? Inanna was... underwhelmed. Bored even.

To the point of second guessing her decision to not annihilate Reshlan outright.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Descending to a place near the opulent palace, the M-Fighters are given a glorious view of a massive sprawling medieval style city, the capital of Reshlan.

The Knight indicates the ships to stop at a massive platform near the palace, seemingly designed specifically for ships to land at, and fairly recently at that.

The Knight touches down and waits patiently for them to disembark, four Gold Knights standing near as honor guards.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

There is indeed a magical field that surrounds the planet, halting teleportation to and fro.

The planet below seems to shine in the darkness, a rare jewel amongst eternal midnight, and to those with finely crafted senses it’s energy seemed......tainted, however. Wrong. Like an out of tune string on a guitar, the planet resonates incorrectly.

A single figure can be seen exiting the atmosphere. On closer scans, the armored figure of a clear Saiyan appears.

[snip]

Without a breathing apparatus or ship, the single knight hangs in the space between the ships and planet below, dead eyes tracking each one.

Then the Knight gestures for the ships to follow him down, and he flies back towards the planet, the intent clear that he wants them to follow.

When the Saiyan appeared through the atmosphere, Parsley narrowed her eyes. This was undoubtedly Kakarot, the once-dead conqueror who's genetic code was used to create the failed poet, Jagam. Strange. From the distance between them, she could barely see his features; yet she could tell that he didn't particularly look anything like Jagam.

It wasn't a big deal by any means, but it was bothersome.

He seems to be inviting us to take the plunge. How hospitable.

Surely, he knew why they were there and what was going to happen when they landed. Perhaps he wished to test his strength against there's right away. And perhaps prevent certain parties from getting a head start on the festivities from orbit to give themselves an advantage. Regardless of the reason, Parsley sighed. They could enter the atmosphere as they pleased, but she intended on doing something about that barrier before throwing herself into combat.

Perhaps still, she pondered idly as the ship began to descend. Extending her hand outward toward the planet, she initiated Sorcerer's Folly and attempted to quietly drain the barrier of its mana.

[snip]

Descending to a place near the opulent palace, the M-Fighters are given a glorious view of a massive sprawling medieval style city, the capital of Reshlan.

The Knight indicates the ships to stop at a massive platform near the palace, seemingly designed specifically for ships to land at, and fairly recently at that.

The Knight touches down and waits patiently for them to disembark, four Gold Knights standing near as honor guards.

Assuming her attempt was even successful, Parsley continued to drain the barrier as she exited the ship first. She took stock of the surroundings and raised an eyebrow. Rows of strange looking buildings led upward to the massive castle where Auroc undoubtedly continued to draw strength from his egg. The entire city was archaic looking, like something out of one of the fairy tales she read on Earth years ago. She wasn't sure what she expected from a race of people who still heavily utilized knights unironically.

"So, this is Reshlan," she said, mostly to herself. Long had she imagined what this world looked like. The sight set before her wasn't it, but as she realized before, it made sense. "I expected more images of the Pretender's visage to be plastered on every corner. Hm." Her cold gaze set upon the Saiyan traitor. "You must be Kakarot. How kind of you to escort us to the battlefield. I can only imagine you know why we're here, and wish to skip the formalities as badly as I do."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Parsley, you can attempt to drain the Magic, but it’s like teaspooning a bathtub full of water. A long, slow process.

Knight Kakarot turns its dead gaze towards Parsley, an eerie aura surrounding it. Parsley, having died once, senses the cold of the grave around Kakarot.

He nods towards the palace.

“Lord Auroc and the Grand Maven awaits.”

Kakarot’s voice is dry and cracked, like he hasn’t spoken in years.

[Tami]

Parsley, you can attempt to drain the Magic, but it’s like teaspooning a bathtub full of water. A long, slow process.

Knight Kakarot turns its dead gaze towards Parsley, an eerie aura surrounding it. Parsley, having died once, senses the cold of the grave around Kakarot.

He nods towards the palace.

“Lord Auroc and the Grand Maven awaits.”

Kakarot’s voice is dry and cracked, like he hasn’t spoken in years.

joining Parsley and the others, Dash leaves the ship. As she hears the Saiyan Knight's voice, his dead gaze as empty as a farmer's well during a drought. Her hand lightly fingers the bracelet on her right wrist, the one provided to them by Hilda, but doe snot yet activate it. She then straightened up her back. Though her instinct warned her, like a flashing red light, she calmly looks to Parsely, ready to follow the princess.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Parsley, you can attempt to drain the Magic, but it’s like teaspooning a bathtub full of water. A long, slow process.

Knight Kakarot turns its dead gaze towards Parsley, an eerie aura surrounding it. Parsley, having died once, senses the cold of the grave around Kakarot.

He nods towards the palace.

“Lord Auroc and the Grand Maven awaits.”

Kakarot’s voice is dry and cracked, like he hasn’t spoken in years.

This wasn't right. She could feel it, taste it like a pungent musk in the air. The putrid stench of the grave. Purgatory reeked of it, and so did Kakarot. The hand of Death still gripped around the Saiyan, giving off an icy cold aura that felt as unnatural as it did unnerving.

The being before her - he was no longer a man - was nothing more than a puppet; a macabre marionette hoisted into place by the false god to toy with as he saw fit. The dryness in his voice, like two pieces of sandpaper being rubbed together, gave more evidence than he needed. It was disgusting.

She spat on the ground in revulsion and narrowed her eyes. "Go," she said to the others. "This one is mine. Take care of Auroc and his maven."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

This wasn't right. She could feel it, taste it like a pungent musk in the air. The putrid stench of the grave. Purgatory reeked of it, and so did Kakarot. The hand of Death still gripped around the Saiyan, giving off an icy cold aura that felt as unnatural as it did unnerving.

The being before her - he was no longer a man - was nothing more than a puppet; a macabre marionette hoisted into place by the false god to toy with as he saw fit. The dryness in his voice, like two pieces of sandpaper being rubbed together, gave more evidence than he needed. It was disgusting.

She spat on the ground in revulsion and narrowed her eyes. "Go," she said to the others. "This one is mine. Take care of Auroc and his maven."

The Golden Knights stand aside, ready to act as honorary escorts for the group towards the palace.

Knight Kakarot steps aside, but keeps his dead eyes on Parsley.

“Yes. This one....is mine.”

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

The Golden Knights stand aside, ready to act as honorary escorts for the group towards the palace.

Knight Kakarot steps aside, but keeps his dead eyes on Parsley.

“Yes. This one....is mine.”

Inanna shrugged.

"Doesn't matter who I strangle in the end." Inanna said with a shrug. With that, the woman pushed past the Golden Knights. "Any particular reason you remain on the side of the soon to be strangled?"

The woman asked.

[Tami]

Nevanlinna nodded. "Yes, that is my home, Reshlan. Beautiful, is she not? And once Auroc's taint is cleansed from it, Reshlan shall shine even brighter."

To be sure, there were many beautiful planets in the universe, but Reshlan had a certain beauty to it... though that was simply her bias for her homeworld talking.



Nevanlinna narrowed her eyes, while Seri peered out at the...

"Hey, that guy's a saiyan! Did he come here to help us?"

The Threshling princess shook her head. "No, he is our enemy... and a powerful one, at that." How powerful she could not say, but she had a feeling it was 'overwhelmingly'. No matter, it would not be the first time this group had come up against an overwhelmingly powerful enemy and triumphed. Nor would it be the last.

Dash's attention is then turned to the other princess as she steps away from Parsely, "Ah gather you know the way?"