Post by Lute on Nov 22, 2017 21:49:26 GMT -5
Music rose and fell in elegant harmony within the restaurant.The waitress poured Lord Snow a glass of a luminescent purple wine, filling his glass halfway. The grapes that had been squeezed to make it were of an exotic breed grown on some forlorn planet that the Frieza Force conquered centuries ago. Like most worlds, it had been cleansed of all inhabitants and any valuable assets, such as fine wine, were collected, boxed, and shipped. He sipped the wine, swishing it over his tongue and breathing in to get the aromatics. It was delicious and splendid. And it was a real shame the xenos who made it no longer existed to recreate it. But, maybe that was what added to its value, and to its rarity. Their legacy lived on, despite extinction. No one would ever have another bottle of the special vintage or anything close to it. The planet was more than likely sold to some bored lord of Arcose or Brench or a fat xeno merchant had plenty of money to spend. No doubt this lord built a large estate or fortress on the world and renamed it after hismelf. And there it was a desolate world and a ghost of its former self. Lord Snow had heard many stories as such, and it always left him feeling bittersweet. Galactic real-estate--that was the real business of the Frieza Force. They were just the muscle, the military arm of the larger economic system of the Planet Trade Organization. Even Lord Snow, despite all his military power, had bosses he answered to. They were shareholders. Sure, he had bribed and extorted a vast majority of them to get what he wanted, but the point was--he was beholden. His time on the casino ship had not been very fun. He didn't enjoy gambling. It wasn't his style. He preferred to win, no matter the cost. The door wished open and armored soldier of Zarbon's race stumbled in, his face nearly white with fear. "What is it?" Lord Snow said, leaning back in his chair. "Sire," the soldier said and fell to one knee. "I've received an encoded emergency message from Arcose. It held grave news." "What news?" The Lord set his glass down and leaned forward in his chair, resting both elbows on his thighs. "The Third Division has been defeated and Arcose has fallen into the hands of Earthlings." Lord Snow cleared his throat and chuckled. "Excuse me, can you repeat that?" The soldier began to speak, but Lord Snow held up a finger to halt him. He heard the report well enough. He just couldn't believe it. "T-They report that Earthlings b-brought several powerful warriors. The last recorded number from their best registered a power level of over fi- fiv- f-five hundred thousand." Did I underestimate these Earthings? Did the Saiyans have involvement in this? Lord Snow's mind reeled with possibilities. He often planned so carefully, tried to stay five steps ahead of his enemies. His moniker was The Cunning for a good reason. Without the Third Division, only the First remained, his own personal soldiers and vanguard. Sure, the power difference between the First and Third was like night and day, but the loss of Arcose and that many men didn't look good. He was beholden after all to shareholders and to the perception of power. Deep in thought, he didn't realize the soldier had been asking him for orders. Unlike Lord Glacio's men, Lord Snow's own were not afraid to speak to him, offer suggestions, or question his orders. Lord Snow was not a murderer or a psychopath like many in power. He didn't lash out at his subordinates or get off on hurting weaklings. No, he inspired loyalty and built confidence as much as he could. "I am going to return to my ship. Thank you." His tail swayed behind him as he made his way through vaulted glass atrium and along intricately groomed gardens inside of the casino barge. He passed an artificial waterfall, running his fingers along the smooth metal banister protecting pedestrians from falling into the miniature lake below. Sirup had been the first loss of this little retaliation. After killing the Earth's king, he had expected that. They tried to recover Dende and failed. The world suffered the consequence, having been shattered in the battle. Lord Snow's own son had almost died. The Absolution, his flagship, had been connected by a tubular walkway to the casino ship. The solders guarding the ship's entrance looked frightened and uncertain. This was affecting morale already. Not a good thing at all. I will correct this error. The vault within the core of his cruiser required several methods of authentication for him to get past the doors. First was a spoken password that recognized his voice patterns. The second was a retinal scan and finger print detector. And the final was a DNA scanner, requiring a droplet of his own blood. He bit his finger and placed it on the glass, smearing blood on there. The machine chirped and warbled. A few heartbeats later the double reinforced kachi katchin door rolled open. It didn't make a sound and neither did Lord Snow as he slipped into the shadowy chamber. Sitting on a pedestal in the center was a perfect cut metal cube. On its flat surfaces had been etched circles and triangles, each casting a dull green glow. The cube had an enormous weight to it. If not for Lord Snow's massive power level, he wouldn't have ever been able to lift it. Studying the very simple markings, he tilted it to one side and found the tiny button along the edge with his fingertip Sweat beaded his forehead. The Rogue Angel had warned him to be careful, to not press the button until he knew exactly what he wanted. The cube could make any reality true, so long as it had enough power. Otherwise, it could only alter small things. It had been storing whatever cosmic power it needed for five decades. The etched symbols had changed from red, to blue, to green over the duration. The Rogue Angel had died before he got to explain anything else about how to operate the cube. Lord Snow always wished he had gotten more time to ask the Rogue Angel more questions about the relic. But, those foolish enough to steal from the gods never lived long to tell their tale. Lord Snow was lucky to get out of that situation with his life, after much groveling and apologizing to the God of Destruction. Still, the God didn't know he had it. "What did you this thing, old friend? Zen-Oh's Cube?" He hesitated in the dark, his eyes fixated on it. The minutes quickly melted into an hour. Dwelling on things wouldn't get it done. This was a do-over and Lord Snow's one chance to fix things. Yes, he would go back and make sure the Earthlings could never threaten Arcose. He depressed the button, envisioning the reality he wished to be true in his mind's eye. |