home

search

Learning on the Job

  Jaco is at the GP base on this pnet. On the outside it looks like the rest of the buildings here, a faded green rock molded into a rectangur structure. The big difference is the chimney-like structure connected to the back of it. It’s misleading however as on the inside it’s an enormous waiting room area with couches, a wide table with different kinds of flowers and gactic reading magazines. Jaco is at the front desk interrogating the young dy behind it. Her skin is smooth as marble with a purple tint and her hair is a dark pink shade with a little mix of red. She wears a look of wanting to be anywhere but where she is currently.

  Jaco-”So you’re telling me that you and a couple of your friends were asked to join, and you did, no questions asked?”

  Purple Girl-”Yes for the hundredth time that’s basically what happened. Why are you acting like it’s such a big deal anyway we didn’t do anything wrong.”

  (Parenthesis means a character's thoughts)

  Jaco-(Krilt was stationed here, but is he really capable of something like this? This whole thing is not making any sense and there is so much to worry about.) He’s deep in thought contempting his next move.

  Purple Girl-”Hello little short man are you going to give me an answer?”

  Jaco-”What exactly have you been doing since you got here?”

  Purple Girl-”Ugh nothing and it’s been so boring,” She sprawls across the desk. “The only thing we do is sit and watch the base and let them know when anybody else nds on the pnet. It was my turn to stay put while everybody else gets to have fun.”

  Jaco-”Well did you ever let them know about our arrival?

  Purple Girl-”I did not.” She says while looking nonchantly at her nails.

  Jaco-”Why not?”

  Purple Girl-”Because they never taught me! Seriously that Orange and Green guys are such idiots, how did they even join?”

  The subtle mention of Reddoc and Codder sparks something in Jacos mind. Simultaneously he gets a message from Trunks and some coordinates.

  Jaco-”Go out and find your friends and bring them back here.” Without eborating he leaves the building.

  Purple Girl-”Yeah sure thing.” She rolls her eyes not taking his warning seriously at all.

  Underground Cave

  Goten and Trunks fly down the hole and at first illumination they see the kidnapped Ooonja they’ve been looking for. They are being herded single file into a transparent bubble connected to the ship. As soon as Goten and Trunks touch down the figures in the cave take note of their presence.

  Goten-”Stop what you’re doing right now, I’m only going to ask once.” His anger almost boiling over, fist clenched ready to spring into action.

  Trunks takes notice of an Ooonja standing off to the side, almost looking like they’re watching over the proceedings, a voice catches his attention.

  Krilt-”You must be new, when they said some members of the patrol were here I was expecting to see some old friends of mine.” His voice is soft and distant. He now sports armour that covers every inch of his body courtesy of the discarded hair they took from the Ooonja. It looks more like quills now instead of hair.

  Trunks-”We don’t really care about any distraught feelings you’re having, we're just here for the Ooonja and that's it.” Krilt holds his hands up in a pcating gesture.

  Krilt-”Please just listen,” He lets out a deep sigh. And he reaches up to take off his helmet, revealing his gray skin and single strand of hair. “You can’t win”

  Trunks-”Wow, great start.”

  Krilt-”You won’t save anybody like this, there are lives on the line right now.”

  Goten-”And we're trying to save them!” He’s at the end of his patience and he’s getting ready to rush.

  Krilt-”There's a bomb,” That gives the boys pause, they look at each other for a bit then wait for him to continue. “That machine over there is rigged with explosives and of course if they so choose to press the button then everybody's lives here would be in danger. Not only that but this machine is what allows us to be here on this pnet, so if you somehow survive the explosion you won’t survive the toxic atmosphere.” He doesn’t look them in the eyes while he speaks. “There are other lives at stake, a couple of kids they took from a different pnet.”

  Trunks-”Why do you speak like you’re not with them?”

  Krilt-”I’m not with them, I’m doing this to save lives.”

  Goten-”And what do you call this!” He points to the trafficking taking pce.

  Krilt-”A chance to fight another day.”

  Goten-”Bullshit” Gotens power rises and he takes a fighting stance. “Trunks, go find a way to free those Ooonja and get them out of here, I'll handle this guy.”

  Trunks heads for the ship and gets in the way of the remaining Ooonja to keep them from getting on the ship. Before he gets the chance to say anything, a sharp weapon is thrusted towards the side of her head. He easily dodges but the attack comes again and again and again forcing him to move from his spot. He swerves an attack aimed for his throat and loads up a punch. Once again he has to dodge as another attack comes from behind him. He’s not fast enough and gets scraped on the shoulder drawing blood.

  Codder-”We got him good Reddoc, don’t let up he’s almost done for.” Like Krilt, Codder and Reddoc both wear full body armour made from the Ooonjas hair. They also have a javelin made from the same hair.

  Reddoc-”Hey boy if you give up now we’ll kill you and just stab your corpse over and over instead of keeping you alive through the process. HAHAHAHAHAHA!” They both lunge at him again.

  Trunks jumps high into the air to avoid both attacks. Then he comes down hard, smooshing Reddocs head into the ground hard enough to leave a small crater. Codder tries his luck again but Trunks easily dodges once again and sends a heavy punch into his armour sending him flying to the nearest wall.

  Trunks-”You guys have some skill I guess but you need to do waaaay more before you start braggin-” His words are cut off as Reddoc grasp Trunks foot with his hairy gloves. “It’s not like I don’t appreciate effort but I think you should really give u-” His words are cut off again but this time with a cry of pain as a quill is sticking out of his leg.

  Reddoc pulls another quill from his gloves but Trunks wrenches himself free. However he gets cut across the chest courtesy of Codder and his thrown javelin.

  Trunks-”Don’t tell me you guys are actually competent?” He pulls the quill out of his leg and blood quickly exits the wound. He looks at the Ooonja getting on the ship. (I have to hurry this up.) He says while Reddoc and Codder advance on him.

  Goten charges Krilt and sends a punch towards his helmet. Krilt catches his hand and squeezes.

  Krilt-”You’re gonna have to do better than that.” With his other hand he rears back and cracks Goten across the face.

  Goten is caught off guard by the force of the punch and how much it genuinely hurts a bit. He didn’t get much time to contempte though as he’s kicked in the chest hard sending him flying through the holding cages and crashing into the wall a cloud of dust momentarily appears.

  Krilt-”I don’t believe for a second that took you out, there is no use in trying to trick me.” And sure enough a ki bst is sent from the dust cloud heading straight towards the ship with the Ooonja on it. “What the hell are you doing!” He’s not really looking for an answer as he dashes to put himself between the ship and the bst. He holds his arms out ready to take the full brunt of the attack. Before the ball reaches its target it dissipates into mid air. Krilt is left confused and looks to where Goten was, but he’s nowhere to be seen.

  Until he comes flying in and delivers a hard knee to the side of Krilts head. He follows up with a kick to the stomach to send him flying into the air. He flies up to meet him up there, he csped his hands together ready to spike him back down. Krilt however grabs his wrist twirls and tosses Goten back to the ground.

  Goten conjures ki into his hands and pushes his arms towards the ground. Instead of crashing into the ground he’s able to maneuver out of the way. Krilt nds on the ground with crushing impact.

  Goten-”You sure have a funny way of saving lives.”

  Krilts-”I told you I’m not going to let anybody die unnecessarily.”

  Goten-”So you just leave them to suffer? You don’t even try to make things better. You're just a coward!” He spits the words out and even he’s shocked by how much force was behind it.

  Krilts-”I told you it’s a fight for another day.” His voice isn’t as strong as it was earlier, but he gets into his fighting position again. “But maybe you’re right and I’m just a coward all along.” His voice breaks a little; he nonetheless continues the fight.

  Trunks while fighting the brothers his mind is still distracted by the Ooonja. It hasn’t moved since they got here and it’s kinda unnerving. Trunks just decides to go with his gut and momentarily stop fighting to ask a question.

  Trunks-”Is that your boss?” He points toward the Ooonja.

  Reddoc-”Well he sure is!” He gets a big smile on his face talking about his boss.

  Codder-”He is a great guy, unless you're not apart of his team like we are then he sucks pretty bad.”

  Trunks-”Goten the Ooonja over there is the mastermind behind all the kidnappings and the trafficking.”

  Goten tries to break away from Krilts but he’s moving with him step for step.

  Trunks decides to leave Reddoc and Codder alone and make a mad dash toward the boss.

  Sannja-”Stop right there.” His voice is cool and calm, and the reason behind that is being shoved through his mass hair, and in his hands is a detonator for the bombs.

  Everybody in the cave is frozen, not daring to move a single muscle.

Recommended Popular Novels