Monthly prompt #2: Meet and Greet (Patreon)

The Vega system. The dark alley of the Galaxy. The Green Lanterns never stepped foot in the cluster of planets, though very few knew why. I certainly wasn't among that number, so I had to rely on rumors and guesses. And there were as many guesses as there were stars. As far as anyone could tell, the Green Lantern corps never once entered the Vega system. Enough so that they would turn around at the border when they were in hot pursuit of a bad guy. 

It was because of that it became a favorite spot for the worst the galaxy had to offer. Slavers, drug traffickers, petty tyrants, and despots. The Vega system was the place they all drifted towards simply because of the Green Lanterns’ refusal to enter. Most didn't even care about the why so long as the space police stayed out. 

Some said it was because on ancient legends about a warrior alien giving birth to a warrior species and the Guardians made a promise never to enter her kingdom or her species would conquer the galaxy. Given that the warrior race was little more than a slave race, I had my doubts. Others said it was because there was a terrifying monster lurking in the system, but that also made little sense -- if they didn't want to disturb this monster then surely the Guardians would make sure none entered the system. Some said the Guardians struck a deal with their fellow scientist race to allow them to perform their inhumane experiments undisturbed, but from the records, it seemed that the Psions moved to Vega because of the no-entry rule was already there. 

According to the Citadelian empire that controlled a handful of planets, it was because the Green Lanterns feared them and their clone armies. Which was...kind of hilarious in a really sad way because it was clear that they believed their own hype enough that they declared war on the Frieza-force. They amassed their fleets, pumped out their clone soldiers and attacked the nearest Frieza-force controlled planet. They landed their armies, seized the planet and used it as a foothold to expand. 

Right up until I showed up. 

"Oi…" I commented balefully, looking down at the clones that attacked with suicidal intensity. "If you're going to be a pain in my ass, then you could at least make this fun," I said, raining fire upon the scurrying clones that took potshots at me with their blasters. I didn't even need to dodge them. They could barely scuff my armor, much less my skin. I only did on the off chance one of them was carrying an exotic weapon. I've seen too many die because they got cocky and complacent. 

Actually, over the past...fourteen years, or so, I nearly died because I got cocky more times than I cared to count. I had the scars to prove it and once I had enough of them, they eventually taught me that the image of calmly walking forward through an enemy’s defensive lines wasn't worth the risk even if it did wreck their morale. 

I jerked my head out of the way of a blaster before returning it with a ki blast that tore a chunk of the planet we were fighting on. Dust and fire and smoke exploded upwards, raining rubble and ash on the Citadelian HQ. My lips thinned as I fired again, tearing through their defenses and pathetic counters with disappointing ease. After so many years of it, the only thing I could compare it too was shooting fish in a barrel. 

I hated to say it, but it was boring. There was no challenge here. The Citadelians were too weak to offer a challenge, and their mass-produced soldiers too stupid to do anything but flail pathetically as I killed them. I had hoped they would have some kind of special soldier to at least make the trip worth it, but it seemed like I was better off fighting scarabs. A small sigh escaped me as I fired another ki blast that cut off any means of retreat. 

"Sir, are you sure you don't want any reinforcements?" A voice questioned through my scouter. For the briefest of seconds, I considered handing off this problem onto one of the local garrisons. I had much better uses of my time than dealing with these weaklings, but I stopped myself. Not everyone was strong as me and manpower was becoming an issue as of late. I was fine, but I've heard stories of fronts being pushed back because they didn't have the people to hold the territory they took. 

We couldn't afford to throw lives away on a sinkhole like the Vega system. Better deal with it myself, no matter how boring a task it might be. 

"No, I can handle this lot," I dismissed. I wouldn’t bother calling them an empire. They only had about thirty planets, how was that in any way an empire? Worse, they were all in the same system! At best, they were a jumped up kingdom with delusions of grandeur. "The 501st has its orders. See to it that they have the support that they need." 

"Sir...not to question your orders...but do you truly intend to conquer the Vega system alone?" The voice asked hesitantly as if I could kill him through the speaker. 

"No," I said, firing another ki blast. "I'm just going to wipe them out." 

The alien fell silent at that and I took it as a sign to end the communication. I floated above the carnage below, analyzing it with a clinical gaze before I nodded, satisfied. This encampment was wiped out to the man simply because these things were too stupid to retreat organized fashion. Satisfied, I flew over to my attack ball that had landed in the middle of their HQ, a large crater surrounding it from the impact. 

Stepping inside, the door closed behind me as I sat down, the rings on my neck jostling slightly with the action. With well-practiced ease, I imputed my coordinates, my attack ball floating upwards before the familiar scene of space became visible as I raced through the atmosphere. With the new floaters installed, I was ten times faster than the previous model of Attack Ball, so it would only be a few days before I reached the Vega system. 

With nothing else to do, I closed my eyes and slipped into myself for the duration of the trip. Something that was becoming more and more common as the war continued to ramp up in intensity and scale. I found myself taking care of minor annoyances like this on my way to bigger game. The others didn’t know why I bothered, and I’ve long since given up trying to convince them it was simply doing my part to win the war. 

Though, there were than a few elements that didn’t want it to end. Too many opportunities, and-

My thoughts were interrupted when my ship slammed into my targeted planet. I don’t even know what its name was. They just kinda blurred together at some point. The Galaxy was a big place, and sometimes it felt like I had seen all of it, but when I looked at a map, I’ve seen less than a single percent of the galaxy. But, it had all the important features that I looked for -- breathable air and an ecosystem that would feed me until I was done here. 

“Right,” I said, crawling out of my Attack Ball, stretching out any stiffness I accumulated over the journey. Activating my scouter, I saw plenty of power levels and even though none of them were particularly powerful I still held out hope that there would be something special here. The Reach adopted the strategy of using their scarabs in short bursts so we couldn’t pick up on their pl until it was too late. There could still be something that would help alleviate the awe-inspiring boredom. “Let’s get to it then.”

I blasted off towards the largest cluster of power levels, blasting through the sound barrier and crossing the distance in no time. From what I saw of the planet, the population density was rather sparse. No signs of any major cities or anything beyond rural villages in the humid tropical planet I found myself on. But, far in the distance, stood a metal spire that marked what seemed to be a city. 

Slowing down, I took in the situation -- idly noting that the orange-skinned saiyanoid aliens were looking up at me as I looked down at them. This city was an absolute mess, I mused. They almost appeared to be squatters living in a futuristic city -- they bartered rather than used currency from what I could see, their clothing was either made of cloth or hides, and I saw domesticated animals pulling carts. 

During the over a decade of war, I’ve seen my fair share of civilizations. From the Reach’s core worlds to backwater war worlds that never managed to get past the stone age. This place...reminded me of Planet Vegeta. So, likely these aliens had killed whatever race had lived her originally or they forgot how their technology worked. 

It seemed that my presence spurned a response, though not the kind I was expecting. In my experience, showing up above an enemy-controlled city would mean eventually they would give their position away by shooting at me. Instead, I spotted an orange-skinned alien take off from the top of the metal spire, though I noted that her skin was unusually pale compared to the other aliens below. Not only that, her hair was a pitch-black and deep purple instead of the reddish color, and while the others wore shades of purple, the little that she did wear was black and white. Royal colors, perhaps?

Likely. After moving up the ranks, I found myself dealing with royalty more and more often, even if they were the royalty of slave races under Lord Frieza’s rule. Her crown was shaped in the form of horns that started at her cheekbones, curved inwards around her temples, then jutted upwards around her forehead. The clothing that she wore was also far nicer -- a synthetic material similar to my undersuit, only her’s covered her torso and neck, linking up to the crown that she wore, while her shoulders were bare until sleeves covered her arms to her hands. The same with a pair of boots that stopped mid-thigh. 

I would never understand alien fashion. Or fashion, for that matter. 

Her eyes widened at the sight of me before she splayed her hands out wide, her palms up. Most likely her races version of a bow. She opened her mouth, her tone soft and charming, but it was completely undercut by the gibberish she was speaking. 

Huh. A language so remote that it wasn’t included in the translator in my scouter. That was rare. I thought I told the technicians to include every language they could find, no matter how backwater?

The...girl...woman… I don’t know. She seemed to be in her third growth spurt stage of maturity, but other than that I had no idea if she was an infant for her people or an ancient crone. Regardless, she seemed to recognize the issue before she made a gesture to herself, then to me. She was asked to approach. 

I jerked my head in acceptance, my gaze narrowed, but she couldn’t see it through my scouter. I watched her approach, wary of a desperate surprise attack, only for it to never come. She got closer and closer and closer until she pressed her lips against mine. A poison, perhaps? It wouldn’t do any good. I could almost guarantee that I put worse things in my body than the deadliest of poisons that could be found on this planet. Or it was something else since she just stuck her tongue in my mouth. Was trying to eat me, or something? 

“Greetings Prince Tarble, I am Queen Komand'r of Tamaran,” Komand’r introduced herself, backing off as she spoke flawless saiyango. Unknown to her, my eyebrows shot upwards, surprised to hear the language of my people coming from an alien. “Apologies for any forwardness on my part -- Tamaraneans can learn any tongue spoken by connecting lips,” she explained and I couldn’t help but wonder how that quirk of evolution came to be. 

I guess the saiyan race didn’t any room to talk in that regard. Especially after I learned the cause of our oozaru transformation.  

"I see. Are you this planet's champion?" I asked, wanting to get this moving. I trusted my troops, but I didn't want to leave them unsupervised. Not for the sake of their lives but who knew what those idiots were getting up to now that I wasn't watching over their shoulders? 

Komand'r stilled for the briefest of seconds before she gave a pleasant smile and a small nod. "I am the righteous sword and shield of my people but I would not dare to think that I would pose a challenge to you, Prince Tarble the First." She said before bowing ever so slightly. 

Disappointing. It seemed that I was too well known even in places like this. Oh well. 

"Then I take it you're here to offer your unconditional surrender?" I asked, thinking that this was a waste of time. According to the Intel I had, this planet was the second most well-defended one in the system, second only to the Citadelian homeworld. I was expecting to break their military backbone here, but if they surrendered without firing a single shot…

"...in a sense," Komand'r started, falling silent when I frowned. 

"That's a yes or no question," I rebuked. 

"Then yes, Tamaran surrenders to you, Prince Tarble, as do I." Komand'r returned without missing a beat, "but, perhaps there is a discussion to be had about the terms of our surrender in return for our aid?" She continued, her tone never wavering and her gaze never looked away from mine. In recent years, the number of people that could say the same were few. And most of them knew me since I was a child. 

I thought about it for a moment before nodding. "It sounds like you have a proposal in mind," I observed, wondering if I found something interesting on this planet after all. Komand'r smiled at me, her lips showing off the barest hint of teeth and I had to fight off a smile of my own. I knew that expression well -- it seemed she was convinced that she couldn't best me with fists but was determined to beat me with words. 

"I do," Komand'r confirmed, "but would you care to have this conversation over refreshments?" 

My stomach growled fiercely, loudly enough that some of the aliens below looked up. Komand'r's smile grew a fraction while I fought off an embarrassed blush off my cheeks. That thoroughly ruined the image that I was going for, didn't it? 

Swallowing a sigh, I simply nodded. 

With that, we flew back to the metal spire that I'm guessing was a palace. 

…

They are like saiyans, I thought as I stuffed my face with the platters of food set before me, chewing through meat and bone with ease. Komand'r had summoned her nobles and whatever for a feast to greet me, so the dining room was packed with people -- four long tables that were practically overflowing with food while Komand'r and I sat above them, a table of our own. They are like each bite could be their last and they would never see so much as a drumstick for the rest of their lives. There was practiced savagery to it that told me that they weren't simply copying my eating habits as if they could somehow endear themselves to me. 

Now, if people would start fighting each other for the last breadstick then it would be a spitting image of the 501st. 

"I take it everything is to your liking?" Komand'r questioned, daintily wiping grease from her chin, the only remains of what once was a giant boar-like creature. 

I nodded, knocking back some kind of green sweet liquid. "It has. This creature," I said, holding up a chicken-like animal that seemed to have been slow-roasted over a fire, "could it survive ten times galactic standard gravity? I would like to send some back to Planet Vegeta." I couldn't imagine that it would survive long out in the woods, but for as long as it did, it would make a great snack.

"Of course,” Komand’r agreed with ease. “Anything that your heart desires,” she continued, giving me a smirk that was sharp enough to cut. It seemed that once I agreed to hear her out, she was willing to let her fangs show. 

“You said you had a proposal,” I returned to the subject, thoughtfully chewing a thick bone of some animal. She brought me here so I would make the connection that I did -- she wanted to show me the similarities our people shared beyond similar shaped bodies. Smart of her, I suppose. 

“I understand that the Citadelian empire has recently declared war on the Frieza-force and, as a client state of their empire, we were...not consulted. Otherwise, we would have advised against such a move,” Komand’r started to make her pitch, her voice dipping low as she looked out at the feasting Tamaraneans below. “In truth, we are little more than a slave race to them, and it is only very recently that we won any measure of freedom and it came at a great cost.”

I chewed in silence, my eyes narrowed as I paid attention to her story. There was another similarity that she was trying to bring up. 

“I can’t imagine that you would be interested in my life story-” She started, deflecting from what seemed to be a sensitive topic. 

“I’ll decide what I’m interested in. If you think it’s important, then speak,” I interjected, leaving her an out to not talk about it, but all too often people had a habit of determining what was worth my attention. Most of the time they were right to not bother me with it, but every so often a detail made it worth the slog. In my position, details tended to decide if millions lived or died. 

Komand’r spared a glance at me, her eyes searching for something. If she found it, then I didn’t know. “For centuries, my people fought against the Citadelian empire even though they were more numerous, possessed far greater technology and weaponry. Our capitulation is only a recent development no more than a decade ago. On the day that I was born, a Citadelian fleet managed to bombard one of our cities, killing millions.” She spoke softly, quiet rage in her voice. 

I knew rage better than most, and I knew the sound of keeping such tight control over your emotions that you strangled them. So far, every word she spoke seemed to be true. 

“Growing up...I thought my people blamed me for it,” she admitted with a rueful chuckle. “My birthday was never celebrated, and when a disease left me crippled, unable to naturally absorb ultraviolet light, I was certain of it when my inheritance was passed over by my younger sibling, whom everyone loved and adored.” My lips thinned ever so slightly at that. 

“But when the Citadelian fleet came again and we were not prepared to fight them off, my father sold us to the Citadelian empire in exchange for a ceasefire.” Her gaze looked at something far away, at a memory only she had. Her eyes practically glowed with simmering anger and resentment as she stared through the tables of feasting Tamaraneans. “We suffered greatly in their care, and worse when we were given to the Psions. Though, it was through them that we were given the means to escape.” 

As if to prove her point, she held up a hand, a dark purple light emitting from her hands. It wasn’t ki, but something else. I’m guessing something related to ultraviolet light. 

“They overloaded our bodies with ultraviolet light, inadvertently curing me before our bodies reacted in a way they did not expect. Amongst our people, only my sister and I are capable of manifesting this kind of power.” She explained, and I had to admit, that was a little disappointing. “However, our escape was viewed as my people breaking the truce that was established. Before we even knew what had happened, the Citadelian empire fell upon Tamaran and conquered it, our defenses subverted.”

The rage in her voice grew, her gaze hard. “They stripped us of our technology, reducing us to barbarians. Now, their fleets circle our planet like Snorgealbacks, firing upon any concentration of our people that grows beyond the size of a village, and ensures we can never rise up again against them. They broke us militarily, economically, and almost spiritually.” 

Ah. So that’s where this was going. 

“Hm. I thought their presence meant that this was a highly valued fortified planet of theirs, but those fleets are just to boot on your neck, huh?” I summarized, mulling over what I learned. “Why not just wipe you on then if you’re that much trouble?” If they didn’t have the tech for space flight, then why bother so heavily garrisoning this planet? These people, from what I could see, didn’t warrant that kind of firepower to take out. 

“Because we are a popular as slaves,” Komand’r spoke, each word sharp as a dagger. “You could call this planet a farm of theirs. Whenever the demand grows, they come down to round up our young and attractive to be sold as slaves. Since they’re sterilized as apart of the collaring process, they control the only source of Tamaranean slaves, and thus the price.”

I nodded slowly, swallowing chewed up pieces of bone. “And you want me to take the boot off your necks,” I hazarded a guess, making Komand’r to look at me. Her gaze was firm, her lips pressed together into a thin line but her expression displayed a tranquil fury that she couldn’t quite keep in check. 

“No,” she refuted. “I want to ally the Frieza-force and assist you in crushing the Citadelian empire once and for all. For your aid-”

“Fine.”

“-we are...what?” It seems that I caught the queen off guard with my easy acceptance. Her lips parted as her jaw dropped a fraction, the tranquil fury vanishing to be replaced with naked confusion. She stared at me uncomprehendingly for a few seconds, so I took pity on her and explained. 

“I intend to wipe out the Citadelian empire. Once I’m done, one of three things will happen. The local commanders will decide to come in to lock the Vega system down, they don’t and let the system plunge into chaos with the power vacuum they leave behind or a clear new power emerges.” I started, grabbing a new cup of that green stuff that a servant poured me while pretending that she wasn’t listening. 

“The first is the most likely, but it’s also the most troublesome. Nearly thirty planets and all of them are habitable? The Green Lantern’s steadfast refusal to enter? Lord Frieza will have more than a passing interest in the Vega system. The issue is that thirty planets will require a sizable garrison to be stationed here to maintain control, and the number of troops necessary is hard to justify for a single system. Especially when we’re actively pushing on this front,” I explained, feeling some...enjoyment at finally being able to speak about military matters. I didn’t get many chances considering I was surrounded by saiyans. 

“The second is a more efficient use of our manpower, but it runs the risk of less than friendly elements emerging to prominence. Pirates, Reach forces and so on. The last thing that we need to worry about is dealing with a thorn in our side when we press forward to take more core worlds.” More than once, the Frieza-force suffered for pushing too far too quickly. Pockets of resistance formed, harassing supply lines, targeting production facilities, and add that to the spies or discontent slave races, it was a recipe for disaster. 

“The third is unlikely. Between the pirates, Spider Guild, Drenthax military and psions -- unaided, it’ll be centuries before a clear victor emerges. Which is fine, given that we can always come back and clean up, but by that time those elements will be entrenched and, worse, they’ll be convinced that they had a right to own the Vega system.” I couldn’t be everywhere, and throwing away lives years down the line when I can solve a problem today didn’t sit well with me. 

Komand’r nodded slowly, realizing where I was going. “The people of Tamaran would be overjoyed to take control of the system in the name of the Frieza-force,” she decided, a sense of certainty in her tone that I liked. “After the war is done, can we expect to maintain that control?” She asked, a glint of greed in her eyes now that she smelled blood in the water. 

“If you can prove to Lord Frieza that you deserve it. He’s hands-off in terms of management for individual species territories,” I explained. Perhaps a little too hands-off considering that there were a few prominent species inside of the Frieza-force declaring war on other species inside of the Frieza-force. “Given the value of the Vega system, I imagine that you’ll have a tough time of it unless you manage to serious contribution to the war effort.”

It seemed that she had something in mind because Komnad’r smiled like a predator. 

“Thank you for your advice Prince Tarble,” she said and I could practically see the cogs turning in her mind. She reached out to her cup of green liquid, raising it to me. I recognized the gesture and clinked my glass against hers. “May our battles be glorious and plentiful!”

“I certainly hope so.”