DBZ: The Fallen Empire (Chapter 5: Asylum)

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Kira set down Jaz inside the Gravestone, at the command section.

"Finally getting away from her..." Kira muttered before looking over Jaz. "Are you okay? You, did stand up to the Emperor's sister..."

Solaris let go of Basil as soon as they made it inside, and removed his helmet once more.

"Sometimes I like to look with my own eyes after escaping a near death situation, not sure why."
 
"I'm fine, thanks a bunch Kira!" Jaz took a second to look at her hands but rose to her feet before anyone could question her. There was some fear in the back of her head. Listening to Kira, she cheered herself up by smack talking Vaylin.

"Heh, Vaylin was no problem at all!" Jaz smiled while crossing her arms. "I bet she's quivering in fear at how strong we all are. She'll think twice before messing with us now and, hopefully, she'll end up bald and ugly like her brother so she can't tempt Junior or anything. But... I really couldn't have done anything without you guys! If you didn't distract Vaylin... I would've been..."

====

"As a matter of fact, I think I'll fire this cannon later Koth, I believe you should have the honors of firing it first." Kire smiled before rising from his seat and placing a hand on Koth's shoulder. "She's your ship, after all. Besides, Jaz is acting cocky and someone's gotta burst her bubble, right?"

The man spun on his heel and glanced at an overconfident Jaz, chuckling at her childish insults.

"I think you guys might wanna buckle up or somethin', this ship is goin' for a hell of a ride now that Vaylin got turned to fireworks."
 
Mioi was sitting in the first spot she had seen upon entering the ship, and was holding tightly to the nearest thing on the wall that she could grip. 

"Now we just have one to worry about now, correct?" She asked tiredly.
 
Vegetto held a blank stare as he entered the cockpit with the others, his attention falling on Koth who sat at the console controls. He gave Kire a small nod, facing towards the open window now depicting the ominous image of the Eternal Fleet before them, blocking out most of the open space before them in multiple rows and columns. Vegetto Jr. knelt down next to Jaz, resting his hand on her right shoulder while Koth narrowed her eyes.

"Alright everyone, hold on. Moment of truth: let's see if this ship lives up to the legends."

His left handled fiddled at a side console, a few buttons pressed in a sequence. To the side of the ship's open window, a bright green glow began to slowly mount and build, the source hidden from view and the energy rising.

"Firing...now!!"

The entire ship violently shook, the platform buzzing with a loud hum as the green energy blasted through the open black space forward directly into the small line of Eternal warships hundreds of miles away. A small grey vessel erupted into a green explosion, Koth's lips rising slightly with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm.

"One target..."

His eyes narrowed.

"Wait."

The small explosion began to billow up into a large green smoke cloud, green lines shooting out from the source of the first ship explosion and marking ships one by one as they covered past the grid. Each vessel marked began to exploded after a few seconds of being marked, Koth's eyes widening.

"Five targets...fifty...one hundred...I can't keep up!"

Vegetto blinked as well, watching on as the entire set of rows before them began to ignite into massive explosions and clearing a large space of black.

"It's real...we can take the whole fleet!"

Gogeta Jr. nodded his head once, his eyes narrow.

"Punch it Koth...we need to get out of here now."

Koth turned his head back down to the console, clutching onto a lever to the right of his seat.

"Right...activating the hyperdrive. Hang on everyone!!"

The Gravestone soon shot forward, rapidly entering hyperspace in the small window left behind by the ship's path of destruction and slipping through what little remained of the Eternal Fleet's firing line, silver metal debris spiraling all across the open space.

===============================

The ship soon emerged out into open space shortly after, falling quiet and floating steadily forward. Koth let out a quick sigh, resting back into his seat.

"Well...that's enough excitement for one day."
 
Both Brachi and Xenest sighed of relief, although they remained silent as they retreated to a darker area of the room they were in, evidently trying to contemplate things and making plans as they both still had an agenda of their own.
 
"Hopefully, yeah." Jaz replied to Mioi. "And he's a lot weaker than his sister so I think he shouldn't even be a problem to us."

Jaz warmed up when Junior knelt down beside her and remembered what he told Vaylin nearly at the start of the battle. Her cheeks turned red but before she could ask Junior anything she felt her father tugging on her arm, glaring down at her burned hand. The energy was strong enough to burn through the suit and even at Jaz's skin.

"You talk big for someone who was nearly killed, Jaz." Kire sighed. "That fight completely disabled KABS from use and it looks like I gotta repair it with some new upgrades. Might as well update KABS for Mioi too, I got a few surprises for you girls anyways. In the meanwhile I'll take this core and fix it..."

Kire grabbed the diamond centerpiece from KABS and yanked it off of the suit. The suit retracted back to just a tight shirt and shorts casual look. 

"Might as well fix yours too Mioi." Kire snatched the core from Mioi's suit, reverting it to a similar attire to Jaz. "For now I guess we're safe... Junior, why don't you take Jaz to clean her hands. Helga already set up the room next to the lab so you guys can rest. Mioi, you can rest in the lab since there is a spare bed, I don't use it that often."

Kire said nothing as he walked to the lab, his face more serious than usual while he gripped the cores tightly in his hand.

"Wonder what's up with dad..." Jaz said under her breath. "Guess he was really worried about all of us if he's super serious."
 
Kira turned her attention away from Jaz and Mioi when she heard the clanking of Solaris entering the room.

"I've seen two organic super weapons and Kira told me of a dozen more she's seen, but this one is far different from the rest." Solaris remarked walking in towards Koth. "And I don't think there's a safer place in the galaxy than this ship."
 
Perhaps he's realized by now that we can no longer rely on luck to save us from any mistakes we make. Mioi kept this thought to herself.

"Yes...I will go to the laboratory and rest up. I can't run on that cryogenic power-nap for much longer." Mioi said before departing for the lab. She needed a good spot to think without distractions.
 
"I agree. All this running is making me ache all over. It's nothing a quick nap can't fix, right?"  Oriko sat down against a wall, letting out a brief yawn. "Wake me up when we're inevitably hounded again, because I'm just-- way--- too-----" And like that, the young boy was asleep, succumbing to sleepiness and physical strain caused by the past events so far.
 
Vegetto Jr. eyed Kire as he left the cockpit, frowning slightly through Jaz's comment. He let out a heavy sigh shortly after, helping Jaz up to her feet by her forearm and carefully avoiding the burned hand.

"He's got a point Jaz. She could've killed you...and worse...Arcann is still a powerful enemy. We shouldn't take him lightly."

Vegetto Jr. kept a small smile, nodding to the door.

"But yeah, you did pretty good out there. C'mon, let's get that wound treated."

==============

Koth watched Oriko collapsed onto the floor, letting out an amused chuckle at the sight.

"Wish I could do the same."

His eyes turned to Kira next, frowning a bit.

"But we're not out of the woods yet. That jump took out the hyperdrive for sure and we're running on fumes. We'll need to repair the engine down in the reactor level, or else we'll be sitting ducks for the Eternal Fleet to track us down."

The doors to the cockpit opened up for Mioi and Kire to move through, and HK-47 steadily marched into the space after the two left. The rust colored droid stopped a few feet away from Koth, who perked his eyebrows.

"Ah, perfect timing HK. See what you can do for the hyperdrive."

Hk-47 merely nodded his head once, bowing at the mechanical hip slightly.

"Affirmation: As you wish, master."

The droid turned on his heel, walking towards the exit while Koth perked his right eyebrow, glancing around the room.

"Anyone wanna join him? We could use more mechanics besides good ole 'Captain Fat Fingers'-"

He pointed to himself with a small grin.

"-around here."
 
Solaris watched the assassin droid depart, keeping his ears focused on Koth’s words.

“I’ll be down to help in a bit.” He stated turning to Koth, pulling at his armor, one of the arms falling right off. “I need to get this repaired before we have to fight again, so I’ll help out the droid after that’s solved.” He stated before closing his eyes, focusing on the air around him. Suddenly feeling what he was looking for, he quickly walked off in the direction of Kire’s lab, boots still clanking.

Kira gave a glance to Solaris walking away before addressing Koth.

“I may have taken apart hyperdrives in the past, no one asked me to put them back together. I have some personal matters to attend to, so can’t help anyways.” She stated before taking her leave, following after Mioi’s footsteps towards the lab. She was somewhat surprised to see Solaris up ahead, heading in the same direction. Both of them were trailing behind Mioi. Guess Kire was a popular person.
 
Kire entered his lab and tossed the KABS cores on the same table he was working on his personal upgrades. He remained silent for a while before letting out a lonely sigh. The thought of Jaz being so close to death made him grit his teeth and ball his hands into fists. He quickly took a sharp breath and released the feeling from his body and ran a hand across his head, removing his bandana and ruffling his red hair. 

"Man oh man... What a day." Kire groaned in annoyance, shrugging. "I guess I got more work to do. And here I thought we were gonna die thanks to lil' miss Vaylin."

But still, if Jaz made one wrong move I would've...

"Master Kire, shall I repair KABS?" Helga chimed in from within the lab. "It appears that Lady Jaz's core has been only slightly damaged. The repairs should take no more than an hour. Shall I proceed?"

"Yeah yeah... I gotta upgrade it anyways. Been tinkerin' with this Ki shenanigan and I think I've found a way to expand KABS's potential."

"Affirmative. Your new parts are ready for testing, Master. Shall I begin the removal process?"

"Yeah, also, when Mioi comes here to rest, make sure her bed is cozy, poor thing must be tired."

Kire removed his shirt and rotated his left shoulder. Three narrow arms came down from the ceiling, two focusing on the diamond centerpiece for KABS, and one drilling at some screws on Kire's left shoulder. Pieces of metals and screws fell to the floor, dislocating Kire's shoulder from the base with a loud clang and his left arm went completely limp. Grabbing a hold of his arm, he yanked it off with a mighty tug and tossed it in the corner of his lab where he kept all the scraps of recyclable metals. He hummed to himself, taking a seat as Helga carefully unscrewed more bolts at his shoulder base as he began to prepare his right arm for the same thing.

A fourth arm came down, revealing Kire's new arms, both in a shiny new black metal and lined with green cables that looked more like veins, particularly around the hands and fingertips. Helga's arms gracefully attached one arm while removing the other, zapping and drilling everything in place. When the left arm was properly installed, Kire wiggled his fingers and the green cables began to glow similar to how the energy flows within KABS. The very tips of his fingers were transparent, shimmering with an odd light. The man snapped his fingers and held out an open palm, a small hologram of a video feed he has in his lab, formed and floated above his hand. He controlled the size and sound with his fingertips and closed his palm to cut off the hologram.

"Guess it works like a charm, eh? This will come in handy. ...Hah, get it?!"

"Humourous." 

"Well, at least I can take a break..."

Kire yawned loudly as he leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes, allowing Helga to work on his arms.



"I bet Vaylin was shaking in her boots when she saw how strong I got." Jaz scoffed. "Good, now she'll think twice before messing with us, especially me!"

Jaz walked to the room her father told them about and it was already set up like a nice cozy home, sofas and beds included, but not much else. There was a small sink and a towel rack nearby with a mirror. At least the room had a nice view thanks to the large window that took up the wall. Jaz stepped inside and giggled at how much of a showoff her father proved to be when it came to his technology. 

"Heh, dad thinks he's showing off but this room is as plain as ever, like his sense of fashion." Jaz laughed before heading to the sink and, like the blood on her hands, washing the smirk off her face. She thought silently about the battle they had, specifically Junior's words. She cleared her throat and watched her burned hands heal up, her skin threading itself together.

"Hey Junior, uhh... mind if I ask you something?" Jaz questioned, drying off her hands. Her heart raced and her legs trembled slightly. "Back when we were fighting Vaylin, you said something... interesting."

She tried to avoid eye contact with Junior, knowing fully well her cheeks were red. Jaz eyed the lonely sofa that faced the window and strolled over to take a seat, viewing the stars outside. Her overconfident voice from earlier sounded more timid, hesitant about asking him the question.

"You said that I was the love of your life... That you only loved me. You sounded really serious when you said that too... Uhm... D-Did you actually mean it..?" Jaz immediately cleared her throat, struggling to bring back her confident persona. "A-And even if you didn't, t-the look on Vaylin's face was priceless! You should totally say it more often! Maybe she'll cry next time!"

Despite her cocky outburst, her laugh died down and she stared silently at the stars, almost waiting for his answer.
 
Mioi was on her way for the lab to find her sleeping bunk, but slowed her walking upon hearing the steps of multiple people behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she spotted Kira and Solaris following her.

"My guess is that you two have business with the small one's parental unit? I'm merely seeking a spot to relax, so if you have queries for him, I will not be in your way." With the adrenaline rush from just now still coursing through her body, it was going to be difficult for her to enter a full sleep cycle; at most, some meditating would at the very least help her mind recharge if all she could do was physically rest her body. "Unless..." her gaze rested on Kira as she walked. "You have other reasons for following me."
 
Solaris paused his movements, coming to an abrupt halt. Putting his eyes on the Marclops, his expression was that of someone on the receiving end of an unexpected surprise. While he knew Mioi was a telepath, and had probably talked to her at least once through these adventures, he never really considered the fact he couldn’t remember the last time he had a conversation with a telepath, someone like himself. Focusing, as this had fallen out of practice for him, he offered a mental handshake to Mioi, as if his telepathy could be rejected.

I just have business with Kire. I don’t intend to bother you. With his message sent, he resumed walking towards the door.

Kira on the other hand had kept moving while Solaris “talked” to Mioi, keeping pace with her.

“There is one thing.” She said, a tad apprehensive. “I can tell that you started but never completed Jedi training. I’ll give you the same choice my masters gave me. Teach you the ways of the force, if you want.” She offered before pulling out her saberstaff. “That last fight though, I can tell you aren’t one for these. Maybe we can pick you up a blaster next stop.”

- - -

Solaris entered into Kire’s lab with all the subtly of a muscular Saiyan in full armor. Lacking his helmet, he glanced to the slice in his armor that was the cause of the visit. Somewhat concerned to see the robo dad being upgrade, never the less moved to his side.

“Kire, right? Think you can repair my armor for me?” He asked directly. The lack of pleasantries might be either him not knowing how to, or not caring. Either or.
 
Brachi and Xenest also moved forward.

"I can help with repairs too if you like," she offered, "I have Bulma's brains in a way, so I should be able to help using her technological knowledge and prowess."
 
Kire was finally about to take a well deserved nap until he heard someone enter his lab. Thanks to the loud entrance, he knew it wasn't Mioi and all he did was let out a groan at the thought of who it might be. All he did was open one eye and rolled it, annoyed at the newcomer to enter his lab. He tried to ignore Solaris as best he could but when the man spoke to him about his armor, Kire forced himself to sit properly on the chair and address the issue. 

"Yeah, uhm, who are you?" Kire cocked an eyebrow at Solaris, obviously not wanting to help the man.

"His name is Solaris, Master," Helga informed. "He is half Saiyan, half Solarian."

"Uh-huh... okay. Listen, I'm a busy man. I can't be bothered to repair cheap armor that ain't worth my time. So... take it to Koth or something."

"Master, his armor has materials that I have yet recorded in my database. Perhaps it will be wise to invest time to gather information on such new technology to better aid us in future battles."

Kire stared over at Solaris's armor and rose a brow. The style of it caught his attention, to say the least. As Helga was finishing up his right arm implant, he used his left to test another quirk he gave himself. He aimed his left to the armor and from his fingertips shot out green thread-like lasers that latched on, feeding him information. A hologram appeared above his hand and Kire was swiped through the information as if he was on a smartphone. Some information was restricted to him and it seemed that this is what peaked Kire's curiosity. After a while of navigating both his new arm and the armor, he closed his hand to rid the hologram and turned his head to Solaris.

"Alright, I'll fix your armor, but I won't do it for free." Kire pondered for a second. "Anything I find interesting in your armor, I'll take for my own use. Meaning I'll be finding exploits and weak spots in this pile of junk. I could potentially be your enemy, but hey, you're the one at risk, not me." Kire shrugged before holding out his hand to Solaris.

"So, do we have a deal, Solgalis?"
 
Koth turned his head up at Brachi's response, raising an eyebrow in confusion and glancing to Gogeta Jr.

"Whose Bulma?"

Gogeta Jr. shrugged his shoulders.

"Hell if I know."

Vegetto scoffed lightly, a small smirk forming on his face.

"That's a name I haven't heard in awhile."

He nodded to Koth and Gogeta Jr., who both looked up with perplexed stares.

"She's a scientist from Earth. A damn good one at that."

Koth shrugged his shoulders, leaning back into his seat.

"Well, then let's hope that hyperdrive comes online a bit sooner than expected. HK knows the ship better than anyone, but two great mechanics means we should be outta this jam in no time."

================

Having followed Jaz into the room, Vegetto Jr. kept his eyebrows raised a bit. He listened intently, visibly relaxing and smiling lightly while Jaz spoke. He cared very little in responding to her boasts or comments, mostly finding comfort in just listening to her voice again. His momentary daze broke slightly, perking his eyebrows at the sudden question.

Vegetto Jr. eyed her closely, walking with Jaz to the sofa and sitting down shortly after she did. His eyes watched on in wait of her to finish the questioning, but his confused look quickly vanished at the following question, his warm smile returning while she struggled to boast in confidence once again.

He slowly reached out with his right arm, wrapping it around Jaz's shoulders and gently pulling her close to the side of his chest. Keeping his eyes trained solely on Jaz, Vegetto Jr. dropped his head a bit while his voice went soft.

"Of course I meant it. And now that you're back, I'll never let you go."
 
As Kire and Helga talked, Solaris made sure to pay attention to both of them. Taking in the details of Kire's face and reaction, he couldn't help but feel disappointment in the initial lack of enthusiasm. Not what he was expecting. As for Helga however, the AI's intensive politeness was something the Solar Saiyan hadn't seen in a long time, and that put a soft smile onto his face. That smiled vanished when the multiple tendrils latched onto his armor, and it took Solaris' self control to not immediately sever them. Watching the green tendrils for a moment, he spoke.

"I came to you because of your intelligence and diligence. Koth couldn't compare in terms of what I need done. You simply are who I need." He stated before turning his head to one of the walls. "That AI of your's is very polite, it's a good trait. In fact I wished I knew more AI like here. That said, a warning." He mused before turning to Kire, his face suddenly hardening, hair starting to stick up. The normally silver and slicked back hair of Solaris suddenly reversed direction, rising up as a yellow aura suddenly engulfed the Saiyan, his hair turning to a gold color along with the smooth yellow aura surrounding him and eyes turning from grey to blue. The amount of armor he was currently wearing changed as well, the metal taking on a yellow reflection and the crystals glowing yellow as well. Looking to Kire with rage in his soul, he put out his hand and shook it with the robot.

"The deal is fine by me. I don't really care what's inside this armor, not anymore. I only care that it's repaired so I can maintain my best form in battle. This is the source of one half of my power. It's vital it works. Take whatever you want from it." He applied just the slightest amount of pressure to the hand. "Whatever you do. Don't reactivate the dormant AI inside this armor. Or I won't be the one killing you. It will." With his message delivered Solaris powered down back to his base state, returning to normal. Confident in what he had shown, he closed his eyes for a moment, teleporting a few feet behind himself, all the pieces of the armor dropping down onto the floor, including the removed helmet and severed arm. Starting to walk to the door, he moved his eyes to Kire.

"I won't be needing it for a bit. So feel free to do what you need to do to repair."
 
Mioi had nothing to say in return so she resigned to watching Solaris proceed to the lab without her, her eye briefly widening in surprise that he was also a telepath, before turning to look at Kira.

"You are correct. It doesn't help that I wasn't particularly good at it either. Battle isn't exactly my forte." Mioi said with a melancholic tone, leaning her back against the wall while hearing Kira out. "I wouldn't mind learning about the force even now, though. You're right that I'd fare better with a blaster. Those sabers aren't built for my hand-eye coordination apparently." Unhinging her jaw, she let out an instinctive yawn that revealed her monstrously large teeth through the thin malleable layer of skin covering them before it neatly reassembled itself. "Forgive me, I haven't had entered an actual sleep cycle since..." she tried to recall the amount of years that passed by in their time at the carbonite prison. "However long it's been. But my body won't let me sleep until we're safely out of harm's way out in space."
 
Kira didn't react at all at seeing Mioi's mouth. Having seen the gauntlet of other alien species on both Nar Shadda and in the Jedi Temple, a monstrous set of teeth was nothing. But she did give a subdued smile at the prospect of having an apprentice.

"As we continue into the training I can teach you a Jedi meditation that grants us calm. But we better get somewhere quiet and calm, where-" as she was speaking she could feel a sudden surge in rage and ki, looking to Kire's lab. Keeping her eyes in that direction for a moment, she turned back to Mioi. "We won't have to deal with distractions. Unless the Eternal Empire finds us. Oh and, call me master from here on, it's a formal thing for Force users."
 
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