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Post by Dain Sincara on Jan 3, 2019 7:11:43 GMT -5
Although Dain had effectively surrendered, he was not done yet with Legume. The man had proven to be far more interesting then he had let on and held knowledge of a time which far surpassed his own. For all he knew the Saiya-Jin could held knowledge about techniques or scientific breakthroughs that could help him. Plus it would just not do to simply let himself be transported to jail. Perhaps if he could convince Legume, they could both agree to let things be gone. Those and a lot more thoughts went through his head as he stood in front of Legume. Both had just seriously dueled and wreaked havoc in the planet´s surface, albeit Dain was surprised they did not do more damage. Perhaps it was because both warriors were skilled enough to concentrate damage on the opponent, rather than simply blast energy everywhere. Dain had however lost and was in far worse condition then Legume. His entire upperbody was covered in small wounds and most of his robe was hanging around him by mere threads. Blood was still running from the corners of his mouth and he was actually wobbling slightly. “You are truly a Saiya-Jin allright.” Dain said with a feint grin as he crossed his arms and spat a clod of blood into the dusty ground. “Now that you have beaten me, allow me to do two things.” He said as he reached in the back of his black spandex pants and pulled out a small capsule. With a small pop and a cloud of smoke, a small hand held device appeared. “Here, that is the location of the ship I Hi-Jacked. You have about seventeen hours before it reaches `enemy´ territory by itself, so you can pick it up at your leisure and return it.” Dain said as he casually threw the device to Legume. It was the least he could since Legume had beaten him. His pride as a Saiya-Jin allowed not much different. He was at the core still a warrior, filled with the pride of his race and he had lost honorably. “As for the second… bye!” Dain said as he placed two fingers on his forehead and vanished from sight. … Only to reappear a few seconds later in exactly the same spot. “By the way I am just going down to the previous planet and grabbing a bit to eat. Feel free to join me, I´ll even leave a breadcrumb so you can find me.” He said with a sheepish grin as he transformed, allowing his golden energy to run freely, albeit not even having a fraction of the strength it had before. The transformation had gotten so easy over the centuries he had been using it, he could have done it in his sleep. Yet he lacked the energy to properly ignite the flame even if he wanted to. “See you there!” Dain said with a deep grin as he `ran´ from the long arm of justice. He was seriously starving. The Saiya-Jin had eaten a bite before he took the job, but he had not anticipated the battle that was about to ensue and he had burned through every last reserve he had. So almost on instinct he appeared in front of the small restaurant he had spotted before, when they had briefly made their appearance on the planet. There were a few startled cries as he appeared out of nowhere in the busy street, but he ignored them and as he was not causing the street to tremble this time, at it stayed at a few cries. `Yes this will do nicely´ He thought to himself as he looked upon the restaurant. It looked rather steampunk from the outside, with a metal facade and pipes running everywhere, but the inside looked quaint enough. There were a few wooden tables, some candles and the people who were eating seemed to be enjoying their meals. From what he could tell the dishes were a derivative of Italian cooking, as he saw several plates that looked like noodles, yet there were also meat dishes. Water was already running into his mouth and the smell was good enough that he completely forgot how he looked. The whole restaurant stopped for a moment as the blond, muscular man walked in, completely covered in blood and dirt. “Good evening. I would like a table for two, preferably in the back and order two of everything on the menu, including drinks.” Dain said cheerfully, only to notice everyone was staring at him. “Oh for crying out loud… you´d think they had never met a famished Saiya-Jin…” He mutter under his breath as he held up his hand and gave the computer on his an order. Within moments Petey -the AI on his ship- had finished scanning the planet and determined the most valuable mineral on the planet. “See I am good for it. Just serve me and don´t disturb me and my friend and you can keep it all.” Dain said with a steel face as a silver Ruby the size of his head appeared in his hand and he casually threw it to the barkeeper. What he did not mention was the fact that it was in fact an imitation gem. Even he did not have a treasure big enough to have it include rare silver ruby´s. So Petey had just created one using the technology of the ship. She had ensured him though that the quality was high enough, it would take the inhabitants of this planet at least a hundred years of technological progress to be able to determine it was fake. So far all intends and purposes, albeit fake, he made the bar owner the richest person in the village and neighboring countries. -He also just incited several decades of civil war over a `sacred treasure´, the eradication of entire bloodlines and made sure the bartender would not survive the week… but hey that is life, right…- For a moment there was only silence, but then the bartender jumped into action and quickly guided Dain to a backroom, as he began barking orders to the kitchen. “Ah there you are. Shall we have a bite to eat… call it a final request if you must ratify it… and discuss what you are going to do with me?” Dain said with a grin as he felt Legume appear near him, just as he was about to sit down. Word Count: 1100 Legume
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Post by Legume on Jan 4, 2019 8:57:42 GMT -5
With a climactic finish and a dual Vanity strike slashing across Dain's body, the battle between the two Super Saiyans came to an end. The abandoned world underneath their feet could take an easier breath and move on with its existence. As Legume landed back on his feet, the golden aura surrounding his body fading into the air and the spiky hair descending back into a mundane black, he continued to glare towards Dain, not sure if his declaration of surrender was an honest statement or an attempt at a feint to have Legume lower his guard. You never know with these bounty hunters, they are not bound by the same code of laws, or often even a code of honor, as the normal person is.
A couple of thoughts floated across the sword wielding Saiyan's mind. He had to be honest with himself and state that this was actually kind of fun. Even if only partially, Legume was still a Saiyan, and that part of his genome always held a desire to try to test his skills against other powerful fighters. Not anywhere near the same level as the Saiyans of this time - the blood of all the other species flowing within him balanced it out somewhat - but it was always present somewhere in there and Legume had to recognize that.
Thankfully, Dain did not seem to be as untrustworthy as one might have considered, as after having been defeated fair and square, the bounty hunter recognized his defeat and surrendered the location of the stolen spaceship, tossing the tracker to Legume's hands. Extremely primitive and brittle technology, but you'd hardly find anything better at this point in time. Afterwards, Dain even invited Legume to have a snack together, offering to follow his power signature to the planet they had landed on beforehand. Running away from justice, again? Or trying to bribe it for leniency? The sword wielding Saiyan let out a sigh.
Perhaps it should be surprising how quickly Dain got over his loss at Legume's hands, but that's Saiyans of the past for you. A much different breed.
Pressing his index and middle finger on his forehead and focusing on the bounty hunter's energy, Legume vanished from the surface of the abandoned rocky world and flashed back into reality right behind Dain, with an accompanying sound, just as he finished ordering the entire restaurant for the two Saiyans. The sword wielding Saiyan's sudden appearance shocked a few of the visitors sitting at the tables across the restaurant, but didn't seem to cause all that much commotion outside of that, thankfully. With the bill paid - with a gigantic ruby the bounty hunter summoned out of nowhere, clearly with the blood of innocent people washing it - and Dain offering the fellow Saiyan a seat, the next phase of their prolonged meeting may begin.
This time, Legume actually considered himself a little bit more prepared - and with Dain seemingly acquitting to having committed a crime, he had slightly more leeway with where he can take the discussion towards.
"Alright then, Dain." the Saiyan began, placing Vanity by the wall and sitting down. "Consider this a sort of hybrid between an interrogation and a discussion. Since we know how our fight went and I hope that you have more than a shred of honor, hopefully you'll let yourself to answer these questions with honesty."
Man, maybe he should have stayed in the police for longer.
"For starters, I'm going to need to know what faction or nation the spaceship you took over originally belonged to, who hired you to take it over and, if you are aware, what is their concrete reasoning for that act."
(624 words, total 624)
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Post by Dain Sincara on Jan 5, 2019 5:03:18 GMT -5
Dain simply nodded to Legume as his fellow Saiya-Jin appeared. The waiter was just starting to bring the bread, upon taste clearly a variation upon garlic bread. Using his tail Dain reached for one of the baskets and pulled it near him, just as he noticed Legume´s look at the ruby. “No worries, it is neither stolen nor wrongfully acquired, it is simply synthesized by my ship.” Dain said with a grin as he waved his hand, seemingly to wave Legume´s bad thoughts away. He was just starting to chow down on the bread when Legume asked him to be completely honest, causing Dain to almost choke on his bread. It went against almost any code he had as a bounty hunter to reveal such information. Much of his image and continued success dependent on him being able to keep secrets. Still Legume had beaten him fair and square, which was a first, so he was honor bound as well. … … “Fine.. Dain said eventually after he had managed to dislodge the piece of bread stuck in his throat, slightly out of breath. “First of all, the faction the ship I stole from belonged to the Xönöot, a warlike race currently conquering their own solar system. Most likely to expand outward after that. That was not the original race though from what I could tell. It originally belonged to a peaceful race, I believe their neighboring planet, they conquered and seized the ships from.” Dain said, repeating what information Petey -his ships AI- was feeding him through a direct chip in his brain. Between sentences he was now quickly finishing the baskets of bread, needing the food to replenish the energy he had burned and was now burning, as his immortal body was already undoing the damage. If looked close upon, one could actually see the wounds on his body slowly closing and what should have been scars, vanishing. “As for who I am stealing it for, I never ask, part of the job you know. Clients hate it when they get asked too much questions and it is irrelevant for me to be honest.” Dain said as he shrugged his shoulders, just as several plates of steaming noodles were placed on the table and he dug in. “However… I am willing to bet, considering the drop of location and the situation in the system… I think I am stealing it for the Trzygustzyap- a race in the solar system, at the moment being invaded by the Xönööt. I can´t guarantee that though.” He said with his mouth full, trying his best to speak between bites. He was not entirely sure that was the truth, but enough so that he was trusting Legume to come to the same conclusion as he had. “Oh and please don´t read too much into that. I just followed the money, for all I cared I would have stolen it from the other side.” Dain said quickly, giving Legume a serious look, as he did not need to be given the accidental title of hero. He knew how good people tended to think, always looking for things that were not there. In any case he had answered Legume´s questions, now it was time for his own. “Say Legume, what do you intend to do now? You know my strength and handing me over to the XÖnöot would only result in more death.” Dain asked the Saiya-Jin completely serious. “You know fully well that there are no prisons that can hold the likes of us. Worse though, what if the Xönöot bargain with me. The one who effortlessly crippled their war effort and stole a dozen ships… what if they over me my freedom and gold to eradicate their foes?” Dain asked, Legume seriously as he was curious. Perhaps in the man´s future the technology existed to contain KI users, but at this time it would be extremely difficult. Especially for a technological inferior solar system like this, that had barely begun building their own spaceships. Word Count: 700 Total Word Count: 1,800 Legume
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Post by Legume on Jan 6, 2019 5:17:51 GMT -5
Presented with the demand of explaining who he was working for in the operation and what was the country which suffered from his actions, Dain appeared reluctant at first - which should come as no surprise, given that from what he knew of how these bounty hunters operate, they were not allowed to reveal their contractors or targets to any outsider to not compromise the whole mission - but eventually, his knowledge of having been defeated by Legume fair and square won over. The bounty hunter dropped the names of two species living in the same solar system and currently engaged in a war against each other. Once was a conqueror species and the other was defending from them, and hired Dain to take out one of their convoys in the conflict.
Right, Dain was at least corrent in his adamant assurances that this was more complicated than a black and white criminal encounter. This was a war, after all, and Legume knew that - and while what Dain did to the crew members of the convoy was certainly disgusting and reprehensible, what could he really do about it? The bounty hunter had a point - this was not his era, he could not expect a Super Saiyan to be safely apprehended. First, he could simply teleport out of any cage or jail cell he was held in, and second, he could easily power out of any jail he was held and slaughter everything in his path. Both of these wouldn't be feasible if he had ki suppressor technology at hand...
...god damn primitive distant past, making everything so complicated and difficult.
Really, there were only two options available to him. The first was go full judge, jury and executioner on Dain and give him a death penalty by his own hands. The second was to just drop the matter and let the bounty hunter go with maybe a stern warning. Both of them didn't tickle him the right way, though. The former was completely morally incomprehensible. Life is a universal right to any living being, not something which the government or an another person can take away at a whim. But the latter is far too weak. It won't discourage Dain from simply doing the exact same thing, again, over and over. Continue racking up the body count.
If there was a some sort of galaxy wide legal authority which had the power, both the physical and the legal, to judge Dain according to a universally agreed upon code of laws... Okay, okay, he has lamented about the poor state of the Galaxy more than enough. It's not going to change if you keep complaining.
"I could kill you, you know." Legume suddenly spoke, eyes staring towards the bounty hunter. It was probably the most awkward possible way of restarting a conversation, but the sword wielding Saiyan did his best to not break his menacing appearance. "We live in a time when extrajudicial capital punishment is not only still legal, but approved by the majority of the population. I do not approve of such barbarism, but keep in mind that I never discount that as an option for repeated offenses. Especially keep that in mind if you are thinking of doing something like this again."
Whether he would actually bring himself to do it if the situation created itself is a different question entirely, but for now, it was a question which did not need answering. The purpose of that statement was intimidation, not necessarily presenting a fact. After an intense glare towards the bounty hunter, Legume slightly leaned back, taking an easier breath.
"You are correct that trying to jail someone of your tier without ki suppressing equipment would not be a good idea - so I'm not going to try it. Because my options are limited, I'll only mandate you to a financial compensation for all the lives you have taken away. And knowing how precious life is, even in this barbaric time, you'll have to pay more than just a fake ruby for every single one."
"And don't even consider trying to cut losses by "miscounting" how many people you killed, lest I start counting all the corpses you left back on that ship."
(713 words, total 1337)
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Post by Dain Sincara on Jan 6, 2019 6:38:32 GMT -5
Dain raised his eyebrows at the comment Legume made and then burst out into a full laughter. “Oh I wish you could my friend, oh if only you could… Dain said as the irony of the statement caused him to shudder from laughter. Even to the point tears began to roll from his face and his tail crinkled itself up completely. Of all the useless threats, that one has been made so often, so futile against him. He just wished that for once the people who boasted such promising words would be capable sticking to their guns. It was not that Dain actually had a death wish. He enjoyed life and all the pleasures it had to offer. All the Saiya-Jin was missing was the ability to die. It was more about wanting what he did not have, then actually desiring what it truly meant. “Sorry to tell you, but the best you could probably do is torment me forever. Due to some cursed race from the past my blasted body won´t let me die.” Dain said growing rapidly serious as he gave Legume a deadly serious look, to ensure he would not think he was boasting. Strange thing though, that he told this Saiya-Jin from the future. The one secret he kept from everyone, even from his mistress. Dain could not really explain it, but perhaps he felt a connection with the man, as they were both beings out of time. “You might be from a distant future, but I stem from a distance past. From my calculations I am roughly 1400 years old.” He continued as he shoved the plate of food away for a second and put all his attention on Legume. “Hence you made me happy when you said I am not around in the distant future. It means I will, at some point, have finally found a means to return my mortality to me.” He still continued talking, as he took a sip of the excellent red wine. The wine was rich in flavor and albeit he did not recognize the taste, he definitely tasted the grapes and the process of turning grapes into wine. It might not have been the best he ever had, but there must have been something in the soil or with this strand of grapes that added a very nice sweet flavor. He then decided to stop his rambling. “So what is the future like? It sounds like a Utopian place.” Dain said, as he turned his attention back to the food, albeit eating a lot slower now, as he kept his attention on the Saiya-Jin. He just hoped the man did not take the true meaning from his statement in order to adjust his punishment. After all not being able to die rescinded the death penalty, but it also left open many forms of torture. Dain had already experienced several, being drowned for days on end and being burned alive for a week. In those circumstances immortality was his biggest enemy. Being able to suffocate forever, the constant excruciating pain in his lungs, the exploding feeling in his brain, yet never the sweet relieve of death. There was still the matter of the financial compensation though and that was not something Dain liked a whole lot. Money was the only reason he was in this job and he was not willing to part with it. There was another reason though, which made him blatantly refuse. “Sorry I refuse. Even if I had that kind of money just lying around -shocker, he just lied for the first time- who should I pay it to? What about those with no family left? Shall I pay it to the government, so they can use it to build more ships?” The Saiya-Jin said seriously, albeit with a feint smile as this was exactly where he wanted Legume in the first place. Now they were negotiating and he believed he could do better, without wasting his money. “I do however have a better offer. What if I offer to end this war, free of charge. Would that not matter more to the living, then some small sum of money?” Dain asked, hoping this would actually spark Legume´s interest. “Oh and I promise to even do it without blowing up both planets.” He said as he chuckled loudly, as the thought had just entered his own mind as the easiest option, making it no longer an option. “This is my counter offer. I stop the war and save as many people as possible. Let me deliver the ship as promised, retain my status as a bounty hunter and my gesture I will take that as my next job. Stop the war between the two races. Is that acceptable to you? If not give me an hour to acquire the money needed to pay the fine.” The Saiya-Jin said with a grin, putting emphasis on the word acquire, as Legume had failed to state where the money had to come from. He just had to pay, so if it had to be he could simply pay a visit to the central bank on either planet and make a generous withdrawl. It was not as selfish as it might have seemed though. Aside from the freighter job, there were plenty of other jobs in this solar system and one of them was to pacify the system if he recalled it correctly. There was a giant trading company relying on the rare materials found in the system and they had been having a hard time with the war going on. So they offered a handsome reward for making it stop. Word Count: 950 Total Word Count: 2,750 Legume
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Post by Legume on Jan 7, 2019 8:00:07 GMT -5
Apparently, Legume's statement that he could very easily just execute Dain here and now was so amusing to the bounty hunter that he outright went to a full laughter. Not because he believed that Legume was too weak to kill him for whatever reason, however, despite him having come out on top in the duel they had earlier - but because, as it turns out, Dain was simply incapable of dying. Apparently, a some sort of curse had been placed on him a long time ago which made it so no matter what happens to him, he will linger on, and that was getting genuinely frustrating to the bounty hunter. How would you not get frustrated by that when, if you believe what Dain is saying, you are over a thousand years old? It must have gotten really boring to linger on at least by the time he reached the third or fourth century.
Which, apparently, is also the reason why Dain was surprisingly happy when Legume told him during their battle that he has no knowledge of him. Because that means that some time during the next forty millennia, Dain was able to find a way to rid himself of his curse of immortality and pass away like any other mortal. In response to which, Legume snickered a little bit. This was not what he presumed when he first heard the question leave Dain's lips. He assumed that the bounty hunter was worried about preserving his memory for generations, but no, apparently, he was actively trying to erase it and needed to know if he succeeded. If this is what the question is about, then the answer may be completely different.
"Don't consider yourself to have achieved what you wish for so quickly, Dain. I'm only one man and the Universe is a vast place." Legume replied, a smirk having formed on his face. "Forty millenia after this day, this Galaxy will have long since broken the intergalactic and even the interuniversal barrier. If one so desires, they will be able to board a ship and make their way towards any number of uncountable planets, stars and galaxies - and who knows, maybe, in the distant future, a bitter electricity wielding Super Saiyan is still lingering on in one of those uncountable galaxies, still searching for a way to pass away."
Although... who knows.
Someone who lived for the next forty millenia in his physical prime, and especially a person prone to fighting and growing stronger such as a Saiyan, is bound to reach God knows what heights of power by the end. And someone this powerful would definitely not have slipped under the radar of the Galactic Federation, especially if they were a Saiyan and a bounty hunter much like Dain was.
So maybe he's gone by then after all. But it's not like Legume has a way to check and see if it's true. He never will. Not until someone in this time develops a powerful enough time machine to send him back to his time.
Legume was about to reply to Dain's next question, wondering about what the distant future is like, but before he could mutter even a single word, the bounty hunter moved on to a different subject, explaining why him repaying for the damage he caused while boarding the freighter is not going to happen and instead offered an alternate solution - have him, without pay, stop the war happening between those two planets and thus prevent a further loss of life.
That...
That is actually kind of perfect. Why didn't he think about this option earlier? It makes perfect sense! The cause of Dain's slaughter and the reason why he was hired is the ongoing war between those two planets, so the logical option is to have Dain stop that war and thus leave everyone happy.
Although... there was still a problem he had to resolve first.
"I can only accept that proposal, Dain, with a caveat." Legume spoke, the smirk on his face having disappeared during Dain's explanation. "That is, to have me tag along with you. I am sure that you are already sick of me repeating this statement, but it is always going to remain true - I simply cannot trust you to do the right thing."
Not that this was something directed towards the Saiyan. He wouldn't expect any bounty hunter to have enough of a moral backbone to pull off something like stopping a war without mass murder or enriching themselves during the way.
(763 words, total 2100)
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Post by Dain Sincara on Jan 7, 2019 9:21:24 GMT -5
Dain raised his eyebrow as Legume explained how the universe had changed in 40k years. Apparently it had become a place which had broken through all known boundaries in this current age. It sounded like an interesting place. Yet he had to admit that Legume might be right, that if the universe had become so vast, it was not unlikely that he was still alive. However it was also not unlikely that he had been able to find a cure. He guessed all he could do was wait and see. For all he knew he actually found a reason to want to keep living and enjoyed his immortality. That was the one good thing about the future: everything seemed to be possible. Especially considering the fact that he was now in the presence of someone from that future. “Well this future does sound like an interesting place.” Dain remarked with a smile as he began to dig in. “So how come you actually ended up here? From what I can tell it was not by design… some kind of freak accident?” He asked curiously as he began to stuff his mouth with a mix of shrimp nudeln, which tasted amazingly good. … or stupidity… He finished the question in his mind, smart enough though not to say that out loud. What came next though almost ruined his appetite. He had hoped the Super Saiya-Jin from the future would accept his offer and was even willing to compromise a bit, but he had not expected the man to insist he´d come along. Normally that never happened, as it was well known that a bounty hunters word was his bond. However… he could not deny the fact that it made sense. “Okay I guess you have a point there.” Dain said as he forced himself to grin and laugh, as he wrecked his brain. Although he had meant what he said, about ending the war and not blowing up planets, his method was not exactly clean either. “I do hope you can stomach a bit of violence, foul play and blackmail though, otherwise you are not going to like this.” He said with a grin as he continued eating. Of course there was the diplomatic way, making both parties listen to each other and make peace on their own accords. An ideal solution, for which he had neither the time nor patience, even if he believed such a method might actually work. The Xönöot were the aggressors and winning. There was no way they were going to listen to him if he came as a simple diplomat. “There is no way currently to broker a peace through normal means. So I am going to be a bit old fashioned. I will place my war cruiser in the middle of the system, stopping all fleets from passing. Don´t worry I will not destroy the ships, simply disable them. After that demonstration of power I will pay a visit to the governments of both worlds. After a simple demonstration of power, I will `ask´ them to stop the war, implying that if they won´t I will do it for them. Of course they will resist, I will destroy a few things and in the end I will proof I am a bigger threat to them, then they ever were to each other. In the end they will be forced to make peace and work together to get rid of me. I think I can do this within a week or so.” Dain said, explaining the plan he had to Legume. It was not the first time he had brokered a peace like this and albeit messy, he had found it to be the most effective. “Is that something you can live with and watch me as I work?” He asked as he continued to eat, barely slowed down by the plan he had. In this case for him the end truly justified the means. The quicker he could get both parties to listen, the more lives he could save. Something he believed was important to Legume. “By the way, if the future is such an amazing place, how did you manage to get so strong? I would presume that in a peaceful universe, there would be no need for warriors like you and me.”Word Count: 700 Total Word Count: 3,450 Legume
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Post by Legume on Jan 8, 2019 5:44:49 GMT -5
After grinning and laughing yet again - clearly, Dain was having a hell of a jolly good time in their meeting despite having been beaten to a pulp only a few minutes ago - the bounty hunter agreed to Legume's decision and proceeded to explain what his plan on stopping the war between those two nations was going to be. Using his spaceship to block any travel between the two warring planets and disabling any spaceships which might be trying to make their way to the other side as a show of force, all while opening communications to the governments to see if they can come to their senses and stop the conflict. Fairly simple and also not as violent as he might have initially imagined Dain to do. And yes, some people ae going to die, but at this point, Legume was well aware that some loss of life was pretty much unavoidable if they want to resolve this conflict quickly.
He might have been the sword of justice in this poor, uncaring Galaxy, but he was still a former military man and knew how these things are supposed to work.
"Fine, I can live with such a plan. If we're trying to save as many lives as we can, then this is the best possible approach."
After the whole question of what he was going to do with Dain was resolved, the bounty hunter moved on to something else - he was wondering on how Legume ended up in the past in the first place and if it is such a peaceful place, then how did he manage to end up so strong in the first place. The sword wielding Saiyan stared into Dain for a few seconds, before releasing a sigh and speaking:
"Perhaps this might come as a surprise to you, but I'm not trying to hide or overstate anything when I say that I am nothing special in my time. Before I... ended up here, I was an officer in the armed forces of the Galactic Federation - and there, Saiyans such as myself are not only known, but expected to breach their Super Saiyan barrier so they would be able to meaningfully contribute to the military. Although I suspect that this is nothing to be surprised by. Imagine taking the million strongest fighters in your Galaxy right now and forming an army out of them - it would be a fairly considerate force, wouldn't it? Now consider granting each one of them at least five years of training specialized to their biological needs and strengths and imagine where that force would end up by the end."
Though, of course, saying that Legume was completely unimpressive is probably an understatement as well. He was, after all, sometimes called a prodigy by his peers for a reason. But that was probably because of his unnatural ability to become a Super Saiyan earlier than most. He wasn't even in the top 1000 of the strongest warriors in the Galactic Federation, that's for sure, although he had never counter.
Legume's eyes trailed to the side.
"You know, when I first arrived to this time, I was shocked that this Galaxy is so fractured and divided among hundreds of competing factions with no rule of law above them, but now that I think about it, this is not too indifferent from what my time is like, except on a much more miniscule scale. Instead of planets fighting among each other, you have galaxies and galaxy clusters, united among single governments, doing exactly the same. It's why this Galaxy, after thousands of years, still needs strong warriors and a powerful military - because what's the point of having liberty and freedom if you are not always ready to defend it with your life? Perhaps the difference comes in that this Galaxy, unlike my Universe, does not have any nation professing those ideals. Or maybe it does? Perhaps it would be possible to build a better galaxy-spanning society using it as a foundation...
As for how I ended up here, well, I never asked for this. I never planned to travel forty thousand years to the past and get unwillingly stuck here with no way of getting back. It's... hard to explain, but it's safe to say that my time leap was a complete accident."
(728 words, total 2828)
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Post by Dain Sincara on Jan 8, 2019 8:08:21 GMT -5
Perhaps it was something Legume could not understand, but for Dain it had been a rare treat. Finding himself up against someone who could not only keep his own, but actually managed to beat him soundly. For the Saiya-Jin it was a bit like Christmas or winning the lottery. It just happened to rarely he got to go all out and be serious in battle for once, he did not even care he lost. He was just happy something interesting happened to him. Something he could not -yet- resolve with brute force. Not only caused it this delightful scenario, it also gave him somewhat of a goal. He wanted to achieve that second form. Dain wondered how long it had been since he actively sought for more power… Once more the Saiya-Jin from the future surprised him though. Dain would have expected him to make a fuss about the plan, but he seemed to calmly accept it. Perhaps there was more to the man, than the boring hero he had played before. A sense of realism. One much needed in this time, as unlike the future Legume came from, there was a lot more gray, then there was black and white. At least Dain presumed. “That is a plan then. I´ll send for my ship then… … … done!” Dain said after a silence fell for a moment as he contacted the AI on his ship through the chip in his skull and gave it new orders, including the heading. The next thing Legume said made him grin widely though. Granted, he could not imagine the scope his friend was talking about, but from what he could tell, not all that much had changed after all. Just on a grander scale, probably with a lot more destruction. What was even more interesting was the fact that Legume did not even rank among the top warriors of his time line. Just the thought made Dain´s tail wriggle from excitement, as he thought about all those amazing fighters. Perhaps I might want to stick around after all… He thought to himself, his grin expanding even further -if possible at all- as his tail began to move up and down, causing the cafe to tremble as it hit the ground, forming cracks in the pavement as it did. “That… sounds like an interesting time indeed. There might be a reason for us too work together after all.” He said with a spark in his eyes, just before he noticed the area trembling and he quickly grabbed his tail and rolled it around his waste again. “My bad…” He said before he broke out in laughter again. From what had started out as a shit storm, his mission being interrupted, was now quickly turning into something that might turn out to be glorious. “Well to be honest, these are interesting times. Two hundred years ago the universe was truly splintered, but recently we might have seen the first convulsions that might eventually turn into this federation of yours. We have seen the rise of the Galactic Empire. It was led by a Changeling called Polaris and incredible leader and fighter. Recently he died though and it will be interesting to see how the empire fairs now. Whether it falls or reinvents itself, is going to be interesting. Albeit I would have to tell you that many considered the empire to be evil, though as I said before, that is simply a matter of perspective. If you want to establish your confederation, that might be a good start.” Dain spoke freely as he suddenly had an interest in seeing Legume succeed. “On the other hand we DO have an organization that claims to govern the law in the universe. It is called the galactic patrol and it claims to be a righteous organization. Though they don´t actually control any planets… from what I can tell your future is basically a combination of the two…” Dain said as he pondered whether a combination of the two could eventually result in the Federation Legume was talking about. There was an even bigger obstacle though. “Legume… do you know the starting point of your federation or what your history actually calls the starting point. It could simply be that an already existing organization suddenly became influential or simply changed it´s name.” Dain asked curiously as he stared at Legume. Still it was possible for one man to change the universe. He had met Goku and Vegeta, although briefly and always from a far distance and had witnessed how they singlehandedly changed the universe. Changes that, albeit now forgotten, still could be noticed in the universe. Dain was not exactly a betting man, he hated losing money too much for that, but if he was forced to, he would probably make a bet in the favor of Legume. He actually believed the man might be able to achieve what he wanted. Although probably not with his own hands and he would not see it with his own eyes… but he might actually create and plant the seed that eventually would cause the Federation to be born. -and allow the freak accident that would send him back in the first place… the universe was funny like that…- Word Count: 900 Total Word Count: 4,350 Legume
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Post by Legume on Jan 9, 2019 6:26:30 GMT -5
Upon receiving the fellow Super Saiyan's opinion on the plan, Dain gave his final word of agreement and then used what Legume presumed to be a chip installed in his brain to contact his spaceship and relay the order they decided on together. Presumably, it is going to take a while before the vessel reaches its designated position in between the two warring planets, which is why they apparently had enough time to continue discussing Legume's future.
Interesting, he had a similar chip installed in his brain, too. In the distant future, it would allow him to connect to the Galatic Ultranet and access any information or web page he might need at any given moment with his mind, but here, long before the entire Ultranet network was constructed and activated, it was just a useless nanochip at the side of his head, which was a source of constant frustration to the unwilling time traveller. Sometimes, when faced with a question he didn't know an answer to or a term he wasn't sure about the meaning of, he'd reflexively press on the side of his head to bring up the Ultranet browser, only to realize time and time again that it was no longer an available option.
Which sucks, always.
Dain moved on from their plans of stopping the war to discussing Legume's future as well as the current past. The bounty hunter seemed interested in the united federation which the sword wielding Super Saiyan was thrown out of, stating that while the galaxy has been truly disunited during the previous two hundred years, it has recently seen processes which might end up leading towards unification. The Galactic Patrol and Polaris's Galactic Empire which followed it are two names which Dain dropped as possible actors in the process. Again with the Polaris name mention, he's definitely an important player in the political scene of this era... Maybe Legume should find a way to learn more about that Frost Demon, because he was sure that he had heard that name being dropped in his time as well... maybe he'll actually recall something from his history course while reading up on his accomplishments.
How many times have I said that I regret dropping out of that AP history course? Too many, definitely too many.
Dain followed up his explanation by asking Legume on the founding date of the Galactic Federation - in response to which, the sword wielding Saiyan let out a grin. He knew exactly where the bounty hunter was hoping to lead. Trying to see if the nations of this time have managed to survive for all those forty thousand years and one of them ended up reforming into the Federation. An interesting thought, but a highly unlikely one.
"Twenty five thousand five hundred seventy six in the current era. The formation of the Galactic Federation is declared on the newly established megalopolis of the Galactic Core. The next few centuries were a little problematic, but that's basically the starting date." Phew, at least he remembers that. Although it would be a little humiliating if he managed to forget something as central to the national identity of the Galactic Federation as its founding date. Hell, "25576" was even marked down on the armbands on their uniforms in the Galactic Armed Forces. "Truth be told, I am not sure if anything I am telling you here will ever become relevant. I still don't know what the nature of my leap to the past is - whether the Universe I come from is one where I had already travelled to the past and everything I accomplish here has already happened... or whether I have leapt to an entirely different timeline and everything I do will leave the Galaxy different one way or another."
My god, time travel is so complicated. Legume wasn't even sure if what he had just explained makes any sense. "Or, to put it in simpler terms - whether anything I do will have any impact forty thousand years down the line. Not that it has ever discouraged me from doing what I do."
(692 words, total 3520)
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Post by Dain Sincara on Jan 10, 2019 6:01:58 GMT -5
“Ah…” Was all Dain managed to bring out as Legume told him of the starting point of the federation. Even for his many years that was a very a long time. He could simply not imagining that anything they would do would last that long. At the very least not anything his friend could do. It would take to much time and effort to nudge it along. Even if they had all the time in the world, there was only so much they could do indirectly. That was the problem though. On a smaller scale, a few could make all the difference. In a planetary war a single soldier could make a difference. In a solar system, one ship could make the difference. Yet to make a difference on such a grand scale, to influence the entire universe… “Legume, I can´t tell you. I have read a few articles of time travel in my time. The multi-verse, parallel universes, etc. For all you know the time line you came from is the original one and just by your accident you could have created this entire time. You being responsible for an entire universe being there, billions of planets, billions of years of history… or all of that is rubbish and there is only one time, one universe.” Dain said as he shrugged his shoulders, not really sure whether it mattered at all. The man was here now, that was what counted. “I honestly can´t think of anything a single person can do. Well not unless you are willing to abandon your standards for a bit.” Dain said as he got an idea, Legume probably would not like. “There might be a single way to have that kind of an impact. Make a big enough splash in the universe so that it will remember. Like Hannibal or Caesar on Earth. Now I am not saying making a splash that would last twenty thousand years would be easy, but it is your only choice. You are by far the strongest warrior I have ever met, aside from my own Mistress. If you were to get your own force and conquer the universe, you might just be able to plant the seed.” Dain said with a grin as he talked about as fast as his mind was processing data. He truly believed it was the only way though. History tended to water itself down and down, until events were forgotten. No matter how bloody or violent a crusade would be, in the end the headline that would be remembered could still be: “… conquered/united the universe and created a system of law and order that stands at the basis of ours today.” Something Dain actually might have no problem with. He realized all too well that mortal lives were over in a heartbeat anyway There was however a more important question he needed to ask. “Legume, may I ask what you are going to do now? Do you intend to stay in this time or will it ultimately be your goal to return to your own time?” Dain asked. Just at that moment he got the signal in his head his ship would be arriving in several minutes, so they would slowly have to start wrapping it up. Dain was actually looking forward to working with Legume, the man was interesting and it would be fun to walk the rope again, knowing that if he did not play by the agreed rules, there was actually someone who could stop him. He missed that part of actions and consequences. Word Count: 650 Total Word Count: 5,000 Legume
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Post by Legume on Jan 11, 2019 5:41:40 GMT -5
Upon hearing Dain's next point, Legume let out a snicker. It really did show the difference between the thought process of the Saiyan of the past and him, didn't it? Dain offered that the one way for him to truly have an impact on the history of the Universe would be to drop his standards somewhat and find a way to gather an army. Become a warlord, a conqueror, like a few names which he dropped and Legume had zero knowledge about, and subjugate the Galaxy to establish the future he wishes to happen by force. The sword wielding Saiyan had never even considered such an option. Forcing this Galaxy to do your bidding... it just doesn't feel right, you know?
"That's not how this works, Dain. You can't build a stable nation or a stable civilization by forcing others to follow your bidding with violence or murder. As soon as such a nation displays weakness or starts losing its strength, it's bound to collapse. You mentioned this so-called 'Galactic Empire', didn't you, and its leader Polaris has died recently, sending it to turmoil, right? That's exactly what I am talking about, put into practice."
Legume leaned back, trying to remember a little bit more from his paultry knowledge of history.
"Peace can only remain if it is formed through mutual agreement, not through force. Force only causes the only side to become bitter and full of resentment, ready to take revenge one day for what you had done to them. It's the same with people, you know? If you murdered a person's family to force them to join you, you wouldn't trust him to be perfectly loyal, would you?"
Of course, it depends on exactly how much violence you put into the equation. After all, physical and mental torture in order to break a person's mind and force them to do your bidding without question is an existing concept in the future just like it is in the distant past. Not that Legume would ever see himself do that. Disgusting.
Dain's next question was a lot more relevant one. Having been informed how Legume ended up in the distant past, the bounty hunter Saiyan opted to ask on what his plan is. Try to find a way to get back to the future? Or stay in the distant past and continue working on making it a better place to live? It was a question which the Saiyan himself did not have a concrete answer to.
Legume let out a sigh, then continued:
"If I was ever in a situation where I would have to pick between one of those two options, then we would have never met. It's not even a question - if I had the option to return to the future, I would pick it without a second thought. That's where everything I could ever associate with my life is - my family, my comrades, my fiancee - while in the past, I have nothing."
Legume spread out his arms and snickered. "But, since I am here, I think you can tell that I don't have that choice. I can't return to the future. The time machine which sent me to this time did not come with me, and there is no such thing as a time machine in this time period. None that I know of, anyway."
The Saiyan slightly leaned forward. "But hey, if you know of some mad scientist who could have a time machine lying around somewhere, then please, I'm all ears."
(596 words, total 4114)
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Post by Dain Sincara on Jan 11, 2019 7:49:27 GMT -5
Dain listened to Legume rather amused as the man seemed to stick to his guns. Yet there was something he did not seem to understand, although it is possible Dain did not explain himself properly. “Legume the goal of the empire would not be to create something lasting. Every empire falls. Eventually even your Federation will fall. Whether it takes a thousand years or a million, eventually every organization, every faction falls. It is the law of nature, it needs destruction in order to be able to create. From the ashes of your federation something might rise that transcend even that.” Dain said with a grin, wondering if Legume could accept such a truth, if it meant that even his beloved Federation would eventually fall. It was not the point he was trying to make though, so after taking a sip of his beer and lighting one of his signature black cigarettes, the Saiya-Jin continued. “No it is undoubtedly your empire would fall, no matter how good it is. However that is not what you should aim for. Empires fall, but they can have a legacy. Introduce your system of absolute law and order, embed it strongly into your empire, so strong that even after it falls, the system will be remembered. That is the seed you could plant, the seed that could eventually grow into your federation.” Dain said seriously as he exhaled a big cloud of smoke into the air. “Well at least that is the only way I can think of, but hey I am just a relic of the `past´. I am sure you can come up with something better to help the universe in it´s current state.” He continued as he shrugged and a big grin appeared on his face. The other point of Legume was valid though. Dain had no knowledge of anyone operating or owning a time machine. The technology simply did not exist or it had been kept hidden, very well. Ironically he did know of a time machine in the past. A genius woman on Earth had supposedly build one to help her son go back in time and solve a problem or threat. Sadly at the time he was too far away from the Earth to even know there was a problem, yet he learned of it several decades later, when the rumors were still `fresh´. At the time he had simply ignored it as he had no need to travel to the past and relive it all over again. “Nah I am not hiding such fancy technology in my back pocket. If I had, I am sure I would already have come back to help myself defeat you.” He said with a chuckle, as that was obviously a joke, though he decided to push it. “However if I did, I definitely would have placed a big juicy Cobe Beef steak on my plate right about now.” He said still chuckling, albeit he could not prevent his eyes from wandering down to his plate to see if anything would happen. “See, no time machine.” He said after a few moments, both relieved and disappointed at the same time. Still it proved to be a bit of a problem. With Legume here, there would actually be someone who could stop him or at least annoy the hell out of him. He actually liked the super Saiya-Jin from the past though, so at a whim Dain made a decision. “By the way, here is my contact data.” He said, pulling a small storage device from his pocket, capable of reaching him. It was something very few people had, a direct line of contact to him. In his work secrecy was a preferred asset. “If you ever need help or something, feel free to contact me. I might even give you the friends discount.” He said with a chuckle, leaving it in the middle whether the last part was a joke or not. Still it was about to be time to get to work, as suddenly the voice of Petey appeared in front of them, followed by her holographic face, projected from a small orb she had teleported into the room. “Okay I am in place and am currently broadcasting as we speak. There is about a thirty second delay between what you see and before they hear it, so feel free to chip in or make changes as you wish.” She said in her neutral tone of voice, before changing her face, displaying it with the icon of a dragon. Within thirty seconds the following message would be delivered directly to each governing body on both planets and on every media channel Petey had hacked into, which was virtually everything. From simple radio to the hypernet. `To the leaders of both planets. We are the Red Dragons, a group of traders who have been fed up by your silly little war. As your sensors can soon confirm, we have placed a small war vessel in the space between your planets. From this moment forward your war ends. Either you do it yourself or we will do it for you. From this moment no ships will be allowed to be send out and you have a forty eight hour deadline to make peace. If you fail to comply, we will abdicate both governments and replace them with our own. Feel free to attempt our patience and test our resolve and strength. If you decide to attack we will send in our fleet and clean your planets. We don´t actually need you alive to mine your planets for the resources we want. It would just look bad on the quarterly statement if we killed all inhabitants, but you know what… the one thing shareholders hate more then bad press, is a bad quarterly figure. You have forty eight hours, goodluck.´ With that the icon would disappear and normal broadcast would continue, but the dice had been thrown. There was a bit of bluff and subterfuge, as there was neither fleet nor would they kill the planet. However with the Atrioch being about ten times the size of their flagships and much more advanced, there was no neat. Even by itself it could swat both fleets out of the sky as if they were flies and Petey made her bet the opposing forced would be able to recognize that. “Well shall we get to work?” Dain asked with a grin, looking forward to the job. It might be unpaid, but he hated politicians and if he had the chance to wrangle them a bit, it was a good day. Word Count: 1,100 Total Word Count: 6,100 Legume
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Post by Legume on Jan 12, 2019 6:22:08 GMT -5
Perhaps it should come as no surprise that an immortal such as Dain has a very long term view towards problems. Sure, if Legume were to rally an army and conquer the Universe to impose his will, he would compromise his ideals, leave a lot of people dead, and his empire would almost certainly collapse within a few generations... but it would all end well by the end, because his imposition of the rule of law would remain even after his death and could end up picked up by a lawful, democratic Federation thousands of years later.
Which... well, it makes sense, it's a logical conclusion to come to, but it nevertheless left Legume amused at its detachment from reality. Putting on a smirk, the sword wielding Saiyan replied:
"It could pave a way towards a universally respected rule of law. Or it could also set a precedent for future wannabe conquerors to follow and to try to conquer the universe, leaving millions dead with each conquest. I'm not sure if I want to flip that coin."
He didn't really consider himself politician or warlord material, anyway. Those types of people need to constantly distance themselves from the average person to be able to work most effectively, and Legume simply didn't see himself acting so brutish without something major changing the way he acts.
The conversation soon moved on to time travel, and Dain explained that no, he did not have a time machine at his hands nor did he know anyone who would have one at his disposal. After waiting out the Saiyan bounty hunter's joke about using it get himself a good steak, Legume replied:
"I figured as much. Time travel is a highly experimental technology in my time, so it makes sense that thousands of years in the past, it would be something completely unheard of."
Which means that unless, somehow, he manages to meet an another time traveller from his era who just so happened to make the trip to this exact point in the past, Legume is going to be stuck in the past for the rest of his life. Which is something he had already been trying to live with, but Dain's response helped solidify that scary thought. Legume had been actively trying to shove that thought as deep to his mind as possible, however. Sure, he's from the future, but he's not going to change that and his priority should be to make the past a better place to live, leave a some sort of lasting legacy in this time period so he could claim that his life was not in vain.
And speaking of making the past a better place to live, Dain was finally informed that his spaceship is in position and the two warring planets received an ultimatum on making a peace treaty or else face genocide to enforce a peace in the "leave a desert and call it peace" kind of way. Legume was well aware that the bounty hunter was bluffing with the last point, however. Dain wouldn't dare to be this heavy-handed when the sword wielding Saiyan is besides him.
Receiving an offer from the bounty hunter to get to work, Legume nodded and stood up from his seat, picking up his weapon which had been resting on the wall next to his seat by its handle.
"I'm as ready as ever, Dain." Legume replied. "Pax et justitia."
Hey, he still remembers the motto of the Galactic Federation, too!
(592 words, total 4706)
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Post by Dain Sincara on Jan 12, 2019 8:30:09 GMT -5
Dain had to think about that for a second, as it seemed he made an error in judgment. He had presume the Federation to be at least at some point be the result of a conquest. Even if it started out all diplomatically, he could not imagine everyone just willingly joining up. He had imagined that there would always have been more militant factions that would not see eye to eye and would have resisted such a federation. At least that was his experience and he had assumed that considering the considerable military power the federation was able to wield, that had to be true. He had to admit though it was possible. So much could change in forty thousand years. The human race came from being monkeys to a dominant species in space. Not because of physical might, but because of technology and incredible diplomacy. As for himself… he just had to look back a thousand years and could see how much he himself had changed. Sure compared to a Saiya-Jin from the future he must be barbaric, but if he had known a thousand years ago what he´d become, he would not have believed himself. At the time he had been a mere soldier, reveling in the results of war and destruction. Enjoying killing his enemies and tearing down soldiers. Compared to his state now, where he realized that killing people was a waste of materials, he had come a long way. He realized all too well that war was not the best way to reach what you want. That destroying a city you wanted to conquer was rather futile. All you´d end up was a heap of rubble and the inhabitants having to work for years on end to recover. The city you wanted to own -for whichever reason- effectively rendered useless. The same went for large scales as well, conquering a planet would leave it in so much turmoil that for years it would not be useful. That is why he believed diplomacy and extortion worked much better. He still does not care for the actual lives -although he has no desire to kill either- it just tend to be not worth it. It was why he believed being a bounty hunter/mercenary/assassin was such a good job. Aside from the incredible pay, he could do what an entire army could not. Regardless from who was right or wrong. For example killing a warlord. Sure it was an act of `evil´, but it also meant that there did not have to be an entire war to remove him or ensure his victory. Perhaps the Saiya-Jin was just using it to justify his means, but he truly believed that his way was not evil and in the end did help. Had he not believed that he probably would not have taken the job. Even him stealing ships and killing the crew, would have helped defend the planet and perhaps saved millions of life from being wiped out from orbit or enslaved while invaded. Now considering the progress he made, Dain had to admit it was entirely possible that in forty thousand years the universe on a whole would follow and actually turn into the federation without bloodshed. Just a normal process. It was not something he could or would easily believe, but he had to admit it was possible… “Yes or it could pave the way for a long reigning empire, that would save billions as in the time it reigns, war on a smaller scale would be eradicated as long as it existed.” Dain said with a smile, albeit smiling wearily as even he did not believe that. “Well maybe you are right and I do hope you will find ways to make the universe a better place… although hopefully not too good, or I will be out of a job.” Dain said with a chuckle as he pushed back his chair and got up. “Shall we visit the aggressive party first? I would presume they would need the most … `convincing´” Dain said, leaving a small pause to pick the right words. Just at that moment Petey, listening in on their conversation, chipped in, just as he had expected her to. She was an excellent AI and had learned to be pretty good about reading situations and acting at the right time. “The Xönöot race is a humanoid species, albeit with four arms and naturally incurring metal skin that acts like a natural armor. Their eyes however are still on the side of their head, a trait evolution has not cured yet, from a time they were not the top predator on their planet. They do have incredible hearing though, far superior to the average human species and some kind of radar vision, based on psychic abilities, complementing their senses.” Petey inform in a single breath, not slowing down even a second as she kept spouting information. “The current government is formed by a council of nine elders who have absolute power. Power is transfered through genetics, the current council members having been in place for at least several generations. There are no elections and their rule is supreme. They delegate their orders to the appointed officials. The entire system is a gigantic tree, displaying an exact hierarchy, with surprising efficiency. According to public records there can´t be any disputes as no role overlaps. As I said, power is transfered through genetics. If an official dies, regardless of their skill or role in the tree, one of their sons or daughters takes over. If there is no direct family, the next of kin will be taken. Which means the entire process of gaining power in this system is still based on marriage and clans, always trying to extend their reach. It is why they need to conquer and expand their breeding pool. To protect their clan and power, there has been too much inbreeding and their scientist have predicted their civilization to start declining within the next thousand years if nothing is done. That is all the relevant information I have. All other information has been uploaded to your devices, which reminds me, Legume could you take the bracelet I have just put on the table and equip it? It contains a small holo emitter which allows me to display any new information as I get it.” Petey rambled on, before finally shutting up, emotionless as the AI she was. The moment her sentence was done, the voice and face simply vanished, not waiting for a response. If it came, she would simply appear. “Sorry about that. She doesn´t exactly follow etiquette, but she is efficient.” Dain said with a grin as he shrugged his shoulders and processed the new information. It was such an awkward, medieval form of power, that he had not even considered it. If that was the case, it would give them trouble to strong arm them. “Oh well, shall we go? Considering you are the diplomat and well versed in law, do you want to do the talking at first?” Dain asked as he grabbed Legume´s arm and transported them to the coordinates Petey had provided them. A moment later they arrived in some sort of council chamber. It was luxurious. So much so that Dain had to blink a few times to adjust to the amount of gems, precious metals and other displays of Wealth and power that decorated the room the size of several football fields. It was like stumbling into the lair of a dragon. The room was obviously designed to intimidate as it was far too huge to be useful for any other purpose. At the back end of the room there were nine thrones, heightened above the rest of the room and in the middle there was a round table, made of pure gold, from which Dain presumed they actually talked, as that is where they found them as he and Legume appeared, frantically discussing the ultimatum they had just received. “Hi there!” He said with a grin as he jumped on the table to draw their attention. From the corners of his eyes he saw the guards react. Had it not been for Legume´s presence he might have used a bit more deadly force. “Oh please don´t, we are simply here to talk, nothing else.” He said with a grin as he pointed a single finger like a gun and shot several times, hitting some of the approaching guards in the knees, causing them to drop to the ground. “I presume it is preferred to actually keep them alive, right sir? I know we are simple traders, but sometimes it would just make our lives so much easier if we could display the power we actually wield.” Dain said with a grin as he looked at Legume, falling into his role, as he clenched his fist and transformed into his super Saiya-Jin form. A small crater formed in the pure golden table, yet he made sure that it was minimal and did not harm the council members. Word Count: 1,500 Total Word Count: 7,600 Legume
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Post by Legume on Jan 15, 2019 5:11:38 GMT -5
After debate over the possibility of establishing lasting long-term peace in the Galaxy through conquest and brutal enforcement of law concluded, Dain finally moved on to more important matters, offering Legume to finally take off and visit the more aggressive party in the conflict they had decided to resolve - in response to which, the Saiyan merely gave a brief nod. He didn't even know which one of the two nations they are dealing with is supposed to be the more "aggressive" one, so it's not like he had any reasonable input in the debate, anyway. If we're stooping so low that we are even immersing ourselves in the moral relativism of international conflict, then wouldn't both parties in any conflict could be reasonably labelled "aggressive", at least by the other side? Whatever, we're not here to discuss philosophy either way, though it might appear like that sometimes.
Dain's helper, Petey, provided the necessary explanation - the species they are targeting first to enforce a peace is called the Xonoot, four armed humanoids with metallic skin which also acts as a some sort of armor for basic protection, not that Legume imagined it would be anything more than a pretty ornament in high pitched ki wielder battles. After the brief explanation of the species and their natural abilities, Petey moved on to give the two Saiyans a few insights into the government structure of the planet. Legume fairly quickly guessed it as a standard gerontocracy, or oligarchy - indeed, it was ruled by a small group of elders whose position was hereditary and their prestige among their peers based on their superior genetics. What an ancient, ineffective form of government - however, Legume learned that primitivism in this era is something he should not even bother to question. It's no matter, anyway. Much like Petey explained, within a few thousand years, these people, like any other, will come to realize the inherent inefficiency of hereditary, undemocratic governments. Their slow pace of innovation and the lack of participation of the population in the government are just one of many of their faults. The last might seem like a feature and not a weakness to, say, an authoritarian - but Legume and the rest of citizens of the Galactic Federation knew very well that when you are certain that your government is an expression of everyone's will, including your own, you will fight significantly harder to defend it and make it a better place than if your government was just an elderly guy in a fancy chair.
A stable democracy is always much, much tougher to break and force to surrender than a stable dictatorship.
After the explanation, Petey pointed to the table and requested Legume to put on a bracelet which she would be able to use to record and process any new information.
"You mean this one?" the sword wielding Saiyan spoke, picking the bracelet up and putting it on his right wrist. It looked a little blocky, but it should be able to serve its purpose well. "I can ask you for any other info with this bracelet too, right? I think you could probably tell that I would need help on a lot of things."
Which played exactly into Dain's following point, that he should probably be the one negotiating with the government due to his experience in law and diplomacy. Really now? "That works, but... don't expect me to enchant them with the charisma I hardly have." Negotiating with a government is definitely going to be something new for him - Legume had witnessed plenty of diplomatic missions in his career, indeed, but not as one of the negotiators, but rather a guard in attendance to make sure that the other side does not try to pull anything stupid.
Has any of that experience in watching diplomatic meetings diffused into him? They'll have to go and find out. To be fair, though, none of the missions he attended in the past involved Super Saiyans using intimidation tactics. Dain teleported them both to the planet of the Xonoot, landing them immediately in the heart of a vast room with a single table surrounded by several frantic looking elders in the center. The room itself was illustrious and generously gilded, which spoke just as much about the vanity of the elders they are about to meet as it did about the wealth of the nation they govern. Dain immediately pulled the trigger, leaping straight on the table and frightening the elderly men, while also firing energy blasts towards the guards incoming to try to take down the assailant. The blast hitting the soldiers in the kneecaps and their energy signature remaining informed Legume that Dain was holding back significantly and not even trying to kill them, but still, a frown formed on his face.
"I'd like you to refrain from showing off like that. It does not paint the message we might want to present." Legume muttered towards Dain, his hair turning into the familiar Super Saiyan golden not long after his peer, though now with as much of an aura. "And you should probably get off the table, too."
With the orders to Dain given, Legume's eyes shifted towards the council of elders. "I suppose proper introductions are in order. My name is Legume and this is my subordinate. As I am aware, you have received all the information you need to know about us, as well as what we seek from you, in the message you had been, presumably, discussing before our rude introduction. So I will not bother with repeating myself and move on to what is relevant... do you accept our demands, or refuse?"
If they choose the former, then everything's fine and merry and they can move on to the other planet. If they choose the latter... intimidation may be in order.
If what Dain had just did to some of their, presumably, most elite warriors did not yet count.
(1000 words, total 5706)
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Post by Dain Sincara on Jan 15, 2019 7:46:01 GMT -5
For a moment the remaining guards froze as their peers went down, seemingly without any effort from the invaders. Confusion took hold as they never faced this kind of scenario before. They were the elite guards of the council, they were uncontested. Unlike other positions, theirs came from absolute strength and skill. They were handpicked, all veterans in war and had undergone the most rigorous training available. Yet these aliens took down three in the blink of an eye and what was more, they were in the middle of the council. They had effectively taken the council hostage, as there was no doubt they could kill the elders, before they could reach them. Still their training and instinct told them they should charge. The council was in danger and it was their job to protect them. Half heartedly they began to move again, drawing their swords and guns. Each able to wield two sword and two guns at the same time with impeccable timing and skill, making them the most dangerous beings on the planet. Except for these two… especially the one on the table, who only seemed to grin even wider as they drew their weapons and readied his finger again. “I warned you!” The man with the golden hair said just as the tip of his finger began to emit light again. Luckily for them just at that moment the council and the other Saiya-Jin intervened. One of the council members firmly told the guards to stop, which they eagerly obliged, having no interest to charge the man with the finger. At the same time the other man muttered something and the other lowered his finger, shrugged his shoulders and simply jumped off the table. He did not look happy about it though. For the guard it mattered none though, as they breathed in relief for the moment. The delay gave them the time they needed to regroup and think of a strategy. ——————————————————————————————— Meanwhile Dain landed on the floor next to Legume and gave the man a weary look. “Oh come on, I was not even killing them yet. You know I could have taken the entire room before they even got close you know…” He said, feigning disappointment in his voice as he decided to ago along with one of the oldest routines in the book. Good cop, homicidal cop. “You did promise though that if they refused, I would get to destroy a few cities to make our point right?” He said, a devilish grin appearing on his face as he looked at the council, rather then Legume. He wanted there to be no doubt that the only reason they were still alive, was by the good grace of his superior. “I mean we could simply cover it up with… meteorites again, like last time. The shareholders would never have to know.” He continued speaking, almost sounding hopeful. On the inside he could face palm himself though. In his desire to sound evil he had tried to come up with a good cover up and all that had been there was meteorites. Who the fuck would believe that? Even as he said it, he could feel the stupidity in his words. ———————————————————————————————— Luckily the council was being far to busy with other things then picking up on that slip-up. Maybe they would think about it later and realize Dain´s bluff, but right now they were trying to figure out what it is what they needed to do. Giving up the war would be impossible, they had spend too much resources and manpower already. If they backed down now, without reaping the rewards their planet and empire would face years of poverty and other effects of the backlash. However the first intel of the enemy ship had already indicated that it probably was not an empty threat. Not only was it much bigger then even their biggest ships, it seemed to be a lot more modern and yield weapons and shields, they could not even identify. If that was true, it was also very well possible, that these traders could send in a true war fleet. Everyone on the council agreed the threat was real. What they did not agree on, was what to do. They had never even heard of these Red Dragons and they had been arguing what could be done. Perhaps they could have asked for help or find an organization at war with these traders. The meeting had been a shambles, the nine elderly talking wildly through each other and almost going at each others throats. Before they could have reached a conclusion though, these two man had appeared. Where they had thought to have forty eight hours to come up with a plan, they were suddenly faced with a deadline of minutes it seemed. To make it worse, it seemed these aliens seemed to be as superior as their ship. The one called Legume luckily seemed to be in control though, as the other left it pretty clear that he would not be as good mannered. A shiver ran through the spines of the nine elders as if one, as he casually mentioned wiping out whole cities if they disagreed. For a moment all were left silent, unsure what to do, afraid to speak the wrong words and upset their guests. After a few moments of silence, that seemed to last like an eternity, the elder named Graoyk finally spoke. As the eldest and longest in office, he was the first to regain his wits. “I am sorry Legume. I am not saying we are not going to comply. I am just hoping you could enlighten us exactly what we would gain from making peace.” He said, trying to sound calmly, hiding the nervous tremors in his voice, as he erected himself and placed his four hands together at the fingertips, trying to assume a dignified position. “Unless there is something to be gained, this is not a peace offer… this is a conquest. So what do you offer us that would make this peace worthwhile?” He said, erecting himself even further, carefully observing this Legume´s reaction. Graoyk made a career by reading people and he was placing everything on the bet that this man could be reasoned with. He seemed to be much more diplomatic then the other. In the end though it was merely a stalling technique. The arrival of the two had caught them completely of guard and unprepared. Their guards were the best on the planet, but they had much more effective weapons. If the guards were allowed to equip their bio-armor suits, they might even stand a chance to these Saiya-Jin. More importantly though, they had been given demands to accept or refuse. Forcing them to make a split second decision. If they could start talking, they might gain valuable time and… “Legume, they are talking, yet their words are neither a yes or no. Permission to make an example of the old one who talked without using either the words yes or no?” Dain asked, still grinning, yet a fake anger lied in his eyes as he uncurled his tail and slapped it hard into the ground, causing the stone floor to crack where it hit. Word Count: 1,200 Total Word Count: 8,800 Legume
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Post by Legume on Jan 16, 2019 5:12:04 GMT -5
Again, Dain was not making matters worse by letting his nature flow straight out of his mouth. After leaping off the table and stopping next to Legume, the bounty hunter began to complain that he could have slaughtered all of the guards in this room without much of a problem and that he was already limiting himself by only knee-capping them. Hell, he even made up some promises of being able to exterminate a few cities if the negotiations fair - which got the sword wielding Saiyan to let out a wince.
He might have replied to Dain harshly and told him to behave, but the response given by one of the councillors, where they pretty much declined the peace demand if not granted something in exchange, got Legume to reconsider his options. The Xoloot council was clearly intimidated, and yet they were still considering to refuse their will. Legume's mind, on the other hand, went to the times he attended diplomatic conferences as an entourage guard on the behalf of the Galactic Federation. Though it was never the first option it would resort to, intimidation tactics were not forgotten by the Federation, and because of their position as one of the most industrialized and well armed nations in the Universal geopolitical arena, they often put both of those advantages to use in order to strongarm their fellow nations into following their will. What says that he cannot do the same thing here? It's not like it is illegal. And in many ways, it's even a better choice than to have diplomacy lead to armed conflict.
"You are absolutely correct," Legume spoke towards Dain, purposefully ignoring the Xoloot councillor for a few seconds. "We did consider that as our plan B, didn't we? I didn't consider them to be this stubborn and thus didn't think it would be an option, but..."
Legume glanced towards the councillor, putting on a slight smirk.
"...how many people live in one of your cities, on average, sir? Five million? Ten million? I don't know, how many do you want to put on your conscience?"
Alright, that's enough of that. Legume turned his face directly towards the council, the smirk on his face fading and being replaced by a stern frown. After a second of silence, the sword wielding Saiyan continued:
"Look, this is not a question where you can demand something from the other side. The balance of power is firmly in our hands. And I have grown sick of the pathetic, poor state of this Galaxy and all the millions of people perishing in pointless wars all across it, including yours - so I am going to put this power advantage to use, even if I need to drag this Galaxy to peace kicking and screaming.
What I can offer is the disarmament of your opponent's spacefaring military fleet upon the conclusion of the treaty, to make sure that you are not threatened by your neighbours ever again - in exchange for your own disarmament. That is the one thing I can offer you."
(518 words, total 6224)
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Post by Dain Sincara on Jan 17, 2019 6:25:56 GMT -5
Ironically it was Dain who recognized the situation. After their first refusal, the use of force to meet their demands would actually result in them effectively conquering the planet. It was an option he had considered, yet did not expect his friend to roll with it. It was the most effective way to get anything done though. The whole command structure of the Xonoot made it so very little information trickled down. A decision of the council was probably the last word said and they never had to explain themselves. If they were to force the council to accept them as a tier above them, they could `conquer´ the planet without bloodshed or anyone knowing it. To the inhabitants of the world it would simply look like the council had decided the war was futile and announced to go with disarmament. It would however not last. Legume and Dain could not always stay here to control what they were doing. Within a few years at best they would notice their absence and could simply resume. Not to mention the planets they had already conquered in the system. Nothing was to prevent them from overthrowing their weakened usurpers. Thinking back, this was exactly the moment were Dain made a mistake. Through his link with the warship he gave Petey permission to look into this return and offer it to the Xonoot. He did actually believe their demands were not unrealistic and if they could add some water to the wine, it might be possible to get the council to swallow it. Without more then a few seconds of delay a small orb appeared in their middle and the voice of Petey was projected again, along with the familiar logo. “I am glad you seem to think there are things that can be negotiated. As traders we do see the benefit of tit for tat… for things to be given in return for others. We have been going over your situation and in return for disarmament, we could offer several technological uplifts. Including ones which well help you mine and process the precious metals and minerals on your planet. Increasing the process with a factor of five, maybe even six.” She said, followed by a long explanation of the tech and a load of pictures to demonstrate. “Of course we´d demand supervision of the process and a 10% benefit, but our projections indicate you could start a golden age that would last for centuries. With time, if the agreement stays in place, we could even help you with your little `diversification´ problem. Further let me demonstrate-” She continued to hold her speech, ignoring the council completely every time they would speak up. The council seemed to be listening intently to the words of the holographic voice, so Dain took the time to pull Legume to the side. “Legume, what are you doing?.”[/golden] He said softly, his right eyebrow raised, careful not to let his words be heard by anyone else. “Don´t start an empire if you don´t feel like it. However what would happen if you forced peace upon them? Do you think it would last? Strong arming them is a good, valid tactic, but only to bring them to the table. To negotiate. Press too hard and you will eventually snap the leverage you have.” Dain said still softly.
Just at that time though, the council finally snapped -quite suddenly- out of their paralyzed state as a signal was given everything was ready. “You should have killed us when you had the chance!” On of them said as a the nine chairs slid back simultaneously and they were quickly encased in some form of protective layer. It looked like a bubble of some kind of glass, but the composition was wrong and it refracted light too much. “Did you really think we had never prepared ourselves?” The eldest council member said with a smug smile, just as their chairs reached their appointed place. A loud click could be heard and immediately the chairs began to sink down into the floor.
Of course both Legume and Dain could probably have stopped them. Dain did not think much about such protective layers. Sadly their attention was drawn away momentarily as the entire roof was simply snatched of the building by a ginormous robot. It´s fingers easily tearing through the steel construct of the roof, as if it was made out of straw. At the same time guards came rushing in. Unlike before though Dain could not sense their power. They were encased in some kind of living suit that seemed to combine their own mechanical plating and a kind of reinforced metal. A brief flash of light appeared, when two guards seemed to touch each other, indicating at least some form of shielding was included. Needless to point out were several armaments, making them look like proper warriors, even to the Saiya-Jin.
It looked like the council had merely tried to buy time to ensure everything could be setup. In retro perspective it was logical they did have the means to defend themselves and it would even made sense that they simply were not prepared for two assailants to appear in their midst.
“Okay… I have to admit I did not see this coming…” Dain said a bit embarrassed as he scratched his skin. Unsure what their next action would be.
It was obvious that they could face their assailants directly, yet it would probably mean the council could escape for now. On the other hand they could follow the council, yet it would result in a double pursuit were they followed the council through any defensive obstacles there might be, while also being pursuit by the guards. There was of course the third option, that was almost hardly spoken. They could retreat and regroup, wait for the council to eventually reappear and try again. Perhaps it was even possible for them to escape the building and track the council through subterfuge?
Dain was really not well trained for this. “uhem…” He said, still embarrassed, as he looked at his companion. “What now?”
Word Count: 1,000 Total Word Count: 9,800 Legume
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Post by Legume on Jan 18, 2019 10:42:13 GMT -5
Immediately after Legume's statementto the Xonoot Council on what the balance of power in these negotiations is, he was followed up by Dain's AI companion Petey, who added on to the Saiyan's demands by stating that they can offer a technological uplift to make it more acceptable for both sides. Right, how did he not consider something like that initially? It definitely makes sense for someone with goals such as his - drag the rest of this Galaxy out of the primitive rut, and social development is bound to follow afterwards. Hell, maybe they'll actually start making this entire rotten galaxy a slightly better place by then!
Dain, on the other hand, was far from enthusiastic, suddenly pulling Legume in to berate him for wasting his opportunity and ruining the meeting by continuing to act strong arming tactics at a point where he should be acting more constructive. If he continues like that instead of changing his tactic, then apparently he is going to squander any and all leverage he might have. The thought immediately got Legume to be more self-conscious about his image in front of the Xonoot, and the Saiyan clenched his lips, lost in thought for a few seconds.
Which was apparently enough for everything go to shit. The Xonoot Council was apparently not as weak as powerless as they had initially imagined, and the elders suddenly encased themselves in a some sort of... protective shield, all while they summoned reinforcements which were clearly more powerful than the usual guards whom Dain had easily dispatched of earlier. They even had a some sort of titanic robot taking off the room of the palace and staring down into them like a hungry beast staring down into his dinner for tonight.
Highly...
problematic.
Especially since these clearly were not living beings and instead bots, thus Legume had no idea whether they are cannon fodder or stronger than his Super Saiyan form. And uncertainty is the last thing he ever wanted to encounter. Even Dain was unsure on what their plan is, his eyes turning towards the fellow Super Saiyan with clear surprise gleaning in them. This... yeah, this didn't have an easy way out.
But Legume had an idea. First, however, he had to make sure that neither the robots nor the councillors themselves could hear what the two of them are planning. For that reason, Legume closed his eyes and reached out into his psychic powers, creating a telepathic connection with Dain's mind and speaking directly into his mind:
"I have an idea. Dain, prepare your Instant Transmission. If this fails, I want you to teleport the two of us back to safety - I am not going to risk it and see whether these robots are a threat or not. We'll make a plan when we're not under pressure."
Legume stepped forward, towards the protective dome behind which the Xonoot council was sitting and sinking to the floor, then exclaimed:
"Hold up! I want to bargain! I want to hear out what terms you want!"
(516 words, total 6740)
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