Post by Zabun on Mar 7, 2016 22:04:17 GMT -5
Flames erupted around Zabun's spacepod; he could feel some of the heat of reentry through its worn walls. He took caution to make sure he lands in water, but he knew someone would still notice. His aim was for the nearest ocean to East City, his old home. I can hide out in the bamboo forest for a while. Hopefully I can find a better place to stay soon. I wonder if the plan worked. Does Grenban think I'm dead? Caught up in his thoughts, Zabun failed to notice the ocean waters rapidly closing in. Almost too late he noticed and braced himself for the impact.
The impact sent a column of water reach high into the air. Zabun didn't notice any ships nearby, and thanked his good luck that it was nighttime as well. Now he had to move fast; the deeper the pod sunk, the harder the door would be to get open. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door just open enough to squeeze through. He quickly shut it and swam behind. Gotta push it to shore, and fast. Don't know how much night I have left. Certain that someone would soon arrive to investigate the site of his splash down, Zabun pushed the spacedpod through the water, thinking it would be best to stay submerged for a while.
As he swam, his thoughts drifted back the bar, owned by the spikerian, tucked away in asteroid belt. Not the best of locations, but other than the occasional bar fight or meteorite throw the roof, there is very seldom any trouble. Just a few days ago it was where he learned that his old friend and former captain, Grenban, was not only still alive, but looking to get revenge. Revenge for Zabun stopping him from abandoning ship while they were under attack from the PTO. Luckily for Zabun, he had someone looking out for him.
The air was filled with the scents of burnt food, cheap booze, and anywhere between 30 to 40 patrons that haven't bathed in weeks. Well hidden speakers needlessly played music that was drowned out by the constant arguments and loudly told but highly exaggerated stories. Kurooll's Place was a den of thieves and smugglers: not really somewhere you go for the atmosphere. Seated in a booth that was not quite in a dark corner of the bar was Zabun, and across from him was Pearus, a dark green apel smuggler. Two of Pearus' men, A brenchian and a snakian, stood at the edge of the booth, facing away from the conversation.
"So, it's a plan then. We blow up that junk you call a ship, while you, from a location far away, high tail it to Earth in a that junk you call a spacepod," Pearus said with a smirk on his face. "You still remember our old meet up spot?"
What kind of question is that, thought Zabun, of course I remember the old mines. I want days for you to show up after that mess with the PTO. He decided to give a shorter answer out loud, "Yeah, I remember."
Pearus leaned back and slouched in his seat, "Now comes the tough part. There's no telling where Grenban has eyes and ears. So we gotta make it look like I was at least trying to catch you. You understand what..." Before Pearus could finish this statement, Zabun hit him across the table with a left hook. As he swung, his arm lengthened and his fist expanded. This hit knocked Pearus out of the booth and into the brenchian, sending both to the floor. The snakian turned to face Zabun but was met with a tackle. The snakian slide back but managed to catch his footing, grab his assailant and toss him into a table.
The patrons yelled as Zabun crashed through their table. He was struggling to get to his feet when he noticed one of the patrons, a bas, taking in a deep breath. Oh no you don't, he thought as he kicked the bas hard in the gut. The bas let out a muffled yell as the wind was knocked out of him. Trying again to stand, Zabun is picked up from behind by an angry crocolisk, but is saved when the Kurooll tackles them both.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Kurooll yelled as he picked the crocolisk up over his head. By this time it's too late; the bar is in chaos.
Zabun emerged from the water as he neared the shore. Gotta stay low, he thought as he stretched his arms to better grip the spacepod as he took flight, Low and slow. He scanned his surrounds constantly, paranoid that someone could be tailing him. If only I'd learned to sense ki. In the distance he saw ships taking off. The lights from the city were already visible to him. The last time he saw East City from this far away was when he was a child watching the city disappear from a window in the cargo hold of the ship he stowed away on. He never thought he'd see it again.
Nearing the bamboo forest, Zabun slowed even more. More memories flooded back to him. The sight of the forest reminded him of the 'friends' he would meet there sometimes. They would sometimes pretend to fight in the one of the battle against the saiyins; Zabun always had to be the saiyin. Sometimes this meet he would take an actual beating. Gotta take your friends where you can get 'em. I wonder how Pearus is doing. Probably still angry wit me for sucker punchin him. Again his thoughts drifted, now to the day his trip back to Earth began.
It was a dead system; no inhabitable planet to speak of, terraforming was expensive and this system was not a high priority. The PTO had already mined what resources they could and moved on. Only a few outside the PTO knew it was here, which made it a great place to hide. Pearus had paid good information about the system and used it to pick a small moon, one out of over a hundred, that orbited a gas giant. Zabun was always able to recognize it. It was the only one almost as purple as he was.
Zabun steered his ship carefully into the docking bay of the mining colony on the surface of the moon. As the bay doors shut behind the ship, Zabun noticed Pearus' ship. He opened the doors to his ship, and to his surprise, Pearus was already stand outside it; the brenchian and snakian from the bar were there too. They all still looked like they were recovering from the fight. Zabun couldn't help but smirk when he saw the black ring around Pearus' eye. I sure do got a mean left hook.
"So, we ready to do this? Cause I gotta say, I'm not looking forward to losing my ship, not to mention going back 'there'," Zabun said as the men entered his ship. Pearus snap him a quick look when at the word 'there'. "Don't worry, I know you don't want to know where I'm going. I'm not going to let it slip," Zabun reassured him.
"You're late," Pearus replied, "Grenban's already on his way."
"WHAT?" Zabun yelled as he grabbed Pearus. Before he could react, the other two grabbed his arms and pin them behind his back. Zabun struggled to get free as he continued to yell, "YOU TRAITOR! HOW COULD YOU! I SHOULD OF KNOWN!"
At this, Pearus punched Zabun hard in the face, "That's for the bar. Now shut up. How do you think Grenban is suppose think your dead if he doesn't see your ship blow up for himself?" This silenced Zabun. He still didn't know if he could trust Pearus now, but what other choice did he have.
He relaxed and Pearus' men let him go.
Pearus continued, "Now, we have to move fast. get you spacepod off and ready to go. You'll launch from here. We'll take your ship by remote to a moon on the other side, where we told Grenban you were hiding. When he gets there, we'll blow it, and when we do, it'll send out a distress signal, and that'll be your signal to run."
"I'm... I'm sorry I doubted you," Zabun said as the snakian move past him and into the cockpit.
"Just make sure you don't take a direct path to where ever you're goin, just in case." Pearus held out his hand. Zabun shook it, knowing this would be the last time he would see his old friend.
Zabun drug the pod deep into the bamboo forest. He found a nice deep hole to rest it in and covers it with leaves and fallen bamboo. He then climbed to the top of a bamboo stalk to get a better view of the city lights. That's home... or it was. Guess it is again. I wonder how much it changed; how much it stayed the same. The sun began to rise as Zabun contemplated what to do. Leaving his life as a smuggler behind was harder than he thought, and he never thought he'd come back here. He never wanted to either, but here he was, back at the home he hated.
The impact sent a column of water reach high into the air. Zabun didn't notice any ships nearby, and thanked his good luck that it was nighttime as well. Now he had to move fast; the deeper the pod sunk, the harder the door would be to get open. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door just open enough to squeeze through. He quickly shut it and swam behind. Gotta push it to shore, and fast. Don't know how much night I have left. Certain that someone would soon arrive to investigate the site of his splash down, Zabun pushed the spacedpod through the water, thinking it would be best to stay submerged for a while.
As he swam, his thoughts drifted back the bar, owned by the spikerian, tucked away in asteroid belt. Not the best of locations, but other than the occasional bar fight or meteorite throw the roof, there is very seldom any trouble. Just a few days ago it was where he learned that his old friend and former captain, Grenban, was not only still alive, but looking to get revenge. Revenge for Zabun stopping him from abandoning ship while they were under attack from the PTO. Luckily for Zabun, he had someone looking out for him.
--A few days earlier--
The air was filled with the scents of burnt food, cheap booze, and anywhere between 30 to 40 patrons that haven't bathed in weeks. Well hidden speakers needlessly played music that was drowned out by the constant arguments and loudly told but highly exaggerated stories. Kurooll's Place was a den of thieves and smugglers: not really somewhere you go for the atmosphere. Seated in a booth that was not quite in a dark corner of the bar was Zabun, and across from him was Pearus, a dark green apel smuggler. Two of Pearus' men, A brenchian and a snakian, stood at the edge of the booth, facing away from the conversation.
"So, it's a plan then. We blow up that junk you call a ship, while you, from a location far away, high tail it to Earth in a that junk you call a spacepod," Pearus said with a smirk on his face. "You still remember our old meet up spot?"
What kind of question is that, thought Zabun, of course I remember the old mines. I want days for you to show up after that mess with the PTO. He decided to give a shorter answer out loud, "Yeah, I remember."
Pearus leaned back and slouched in his seat, "Now comes the tough part. There's no telling where Grenban has eyes and ears. So we gotta make it look like I was at least trying to catch you. You understand what..." Before Pearus could finish this statement, Zabun hit him across the table with a left hook. As he swung, his arm lengthened and his fist expanded. This hit knocked Pearus out of the booth and into the brenchian, sending both to the floor. The snakian turned to face Zabun but was met with a tackle. The snakian slide back but managed to catch his footing, grab his assailant and toss him into a table.
The patrons yelled as Zabun crashed through their table. He was struggling to get to his feet when he noticed one of the patrons, a bas, taking in a deep breath. Oh no you don't, he thought as he kicked the bas hard in the gut. The bas let out a muffled yell as the wind was knocked out of him. Trying again to stand, Zabun is picked up from behind by an angry crocolisk, but is saved when the Kurooll tackles them both.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Kurooll yelled as he picked the crocolisk up over his head. By this time it's too late; the bar is in chaos.
--Present--
Zabun emerged from the water as he neared the shore. Gotta stay low, he thought as he stretched his arms to better grip the spacepod as he took flight, Low and slow. He scanned his surrounds constantly, paranoid that someone could be tailing him. If only I'd learned to sense ki. In the distance he saw ships taking off. The lights from the city were already visible to him. The last time he saw East City from this far away was when he was a child watching the city disappear from a window in the cargo hold of the ship he stowed away on. He never thought he'd see it again.
Nearing the bamboo forest, Zabun slowed even more. More memories flooded back to him. The sight of the forest reminded him of the 'friends' he would meet there sometimes. They would sometimes pretend to fight in the one of the battle against the saiyins; Zabun always had to be the saiyin. Sometimes this meet he would take an actual beating. Gotta take your friends where you can get 'em. I wonder how Pearus is doing. Probably still angry wit me for sucker punchin him. Again his thoughts drifted, now to the day his trip back to Earth began.
--A couple of days earlier--
It was a dead system; no inhabitable planet to speak of, terraforming was expensive and this system was not a high priority. The PTO had already mined what resources they could and moved on. Only a few outside the PTO knew it was here, which made it a great place to hide. Pearus had paid good information about the system and used it to pick a small moon, one out of over a hundred, that orbited a gas giant. Zabun was always able to recognize it. It was the only one almost as purple as he was.
Zabun steered his ship carefully into the docking bay of the mining colony on the surface of the moon. As the bay doors shut behind the ship, Zabun noticed Pearus' ship. He opened the doors to his ship, and to his surprise, Pearus was already stand outside it; the brenchian and snakian from the bar were there too. They all still looked like they were recovering from the fight. Zabun couldn't help but smirk when he saw the black ring around Pearus' eye. I sure do got a mean left hook.
"So, we ready to do this? Cause I gotta say, I'm not looking forward to losing my ship, not to mention going back 'there'," Zabun said as the men entered his ship. Pearus snap him a quick look when at the word 'there'. "Don't worry, I know you don't want to know where I'm going. I'm not going to let it slip," Zabun reassured him.
"You're late," Pearus replied, "Grenban's already on his way."
"WHAT?" Zabun yelled as he grabbed Pearus. Before he could react, the other two grabbed his arms and pin them behind his back. Zabun struggled to get free as he continued to yell, "YOU TRAITOR! HOW COULD YOU! I SHOULD OF KNOWN!"
At this, Pearus punched Zabun hard in the face, "That's for the bar. Now shut up. How do you think Grenban is suppose think your dead if he doesn't see your ship blow up for himself?" This silenced Zabun. He still didn't know if he could trust Pearus now, but what other choice did he have.
He relaxed and Pearus' men let him go.
Pearus continued, "Now, we have to move fast. get you spacepod off and ready to go. You'll launch from here. We'll take your ship by remote to a moon on the other side, where we told Grenban you were hiding. When he gets there, we'll blow it, and when we do, it'll send out a distress signal, and that'll be your signal to run."
"I'm... I'm sorry I doubted you," Zabun said as the snakian move past him and into the cockpit.
"Just make sure you don't take a direct path to where ever you're goin, just in case." Pearus held out his hand. Zabun shook it, knowing this would be the last time he would see his old friend.
--Present--
Zabun drug the pod deep into the bamboo forest. He found a nice deep hole to rest it in and covers it with leaves and fallen bamboo. He then climbed to the top of a bamboo stalk to get a better view of the city lights. That's home... or it was. Guess it is again. I wonder how much it changed; how much it stayed the same. The sun began to rise as Zabun contemplated what to do. Leaving his life as a smuggler behind was harder than he thought, and he never thought he'd come back here. He never wanted to either, but here he was, back at the home he hated.
Good read