Chapter 8 - Nagata's Return
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"Vegeta!!  I can't concentrate with you hovering over my shoulder like
that!"
"Woman, you said these substances were highly explosive in nature!
How else will I be able to keep you from blowing yourself up?!"
"You mean you're not fast enough to save me from just two feet away?"
Bulma asked sweetly.
From the hallway, Jianu could heard Vegeta "hmph" followed by the
sound of a chair sliding out and the squeak of the springs as her prince
sat down.   Most likely to sulk for a few moments before poring over his
own work.   Smiling to herself, the elite soldier continued down the hall
toward the control room.  Vegeta and Bulma were growing closer
everyday.  'They're a perfect match.  Each one's strengths and
weaknesses balanced by the other.  She'd make a great queen . . . if
only she could fight,' Jianu thought pensively as she strode into the
control room.  That was, of course, the only reason Bulma couldn't be
Vegeta's mate.  Per saiya-jin tradition, in order to be considered worthy
of being the prince's mate, the female in question had to defeat the
Queen in combat.  Just as the prince had to defeat the King in order to
claim the throne.  And unfortunately, Bulma was no warrior  'Well, at
least not by saiya-jin standards,' she amended silently.  'But if Vegeta
loves her as much as I think he does, I'm sure he'll find a way around it.'
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A single, standard-issue pod zoomed through the stars, rapidly
approaching Chikyuu.  Its lone occupant sat drumming his fingers to the
rock music he had playing.  The twenty-two year old warrior was
returning home after one of the most boring briefings he'd ever
attended.  All about the "saiya-jin issue" and what to do should they be
spotted.  'A complete no-brainer,' he thought crankily, 'kill on sight, same
as before.'   Still, getting off-planet had given him the opportunity to get
some new music.   'Not like Chikyuu's produced any recently.  But
maybe, someday, I'll be able to change that,' a wistful look crossed his
features for a moment before the proximity alarm went off.  Frowning,
the handsome soldier turned off his music and signaled the base.
"Chikyuu base one, this is Captain Nagata.  Give me the atmosphere
and weather conditions so I can make a landing."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jianu was leaning way back in her chair, her feet propped up on one of
the terminals, with a pencil balanced on her nose.  To put it simply, she
was bored out of her mind.  'Vegeta's making sure Bulma doesn't blow
herself up, Kakarott's on the other side of the planet with Chichi and
Kuririn on a sweep and I'm stuck on surveillance duty.  This sucks.'
"Chikyuu base one, this is Captain Nagata . . ."
The rest of the message was lost to Jianu who abruptly fell out of her
chair in shock.  It took all of one second before Jianu was up and
tapping away at the computer for the necessary information.  "This is
perfect!  Finally something to do!" she stated gleefully before sending
Nagata the requested info.   'And if he's half as good a warrior as I've
heard, then I'm in for a treat,' at that thought a shiver of anticipation
ran
through her body.
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'Something's not right here,' Nagata thought as he prepared to enter his
coordinates.  'I've never heard that voice before and there shouldn't
have been any transfers while I was gone.'  Quickly the human warrior
changed the coordinates, hoping he'd judged the distance right.  'Either
that or I'll end up at the bottom of a lake.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"All of you spread out and start searching the area!  He can't have gone
far!  And stay alert!" Jianu ordered her squad.  It had only taken
seconds for her to realize that Nagata had changed his coordinates.
Immediately she had called Oribu and their squads to head out to
"meet" the Chikyuu captain.  They arrived mere seconds after his pod
crashed into the nearby forest region.  Long enough for him to find
cover.  Frustrated, Jianu growled softly to herself, punched her scouter
on, and joined the search.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Chikusho!  Just my luck, the saiya-jin came while I was gone!  This is
not good.'  Crouched in the underbrush Captain Nagata watched the
saiya-jin troops, waiting for his chance.  At the first opportunity he
darted
across the ground away from the saiya-jin.   Suddenly his cover
vanished as he burst into an unexpected clearing.  "Shimatta!" he
hissed attempting to return to the underbrush before being spotted.
High above him Oribu smirked, "Too late fool."  He signaled two of his
soldiers to his side.  "I'll defeat you, bring honor to my prince, and prove
my worth to Jianu."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" . . . the hell?!!" Jianu's scouter went wild as four power signatures
clashed in battle.  Blasting towards the fight her heart dropped as two of
the readings blinked out and a third dwindled to nearly nothing.  Pouring
on the speed, she gave her other soldiers the emergency summons.  It
didn't take long before she had reached the battle scene, her eyes
darting around, accessing the situation.   'He's gone, but can't be far off.
Kuso.  Two dead first class and . . . Oh Kami!'  Laying on his back by a
boulder was a barely-alive Oribu.   Rushing over Jianu was greeted to a
gruesome sight, the elite warrior had a fist-sized hole punched through
his chest and multiple bruises and lacerations to go along with it.  "Hang
on baka!"  Pulling out the small case Bulma had given her, Jianu
snapped it open and tried to remember which capsule Bulma had put
the first aid kit in.  "Here it is!" she cried triumphantly, tossing the
capsule to the side.  BOOM!  Pulling out the anesthetic and bandages,
Jianu quickly bandaged Oribu's stomach, wincing at the amount of
blood he'd lost.  'If I don't get him into a regen tank soon he's not gonna
make it.'
Oribu opened his eyes and smiled weakly at her, "At least I'll be able to
take the vision of your beauty with me to the afterworld."
Jianu snorted, "Giving up already?  That is so un-saiya-jin."  Carefully
picking him up she smirked, "and I don't plan on letting you die."
"Re-consider my offer then?"
"You never give up do you?"
"Iie.  Not until you're mated, I won't.  Aaah!"
The auburn-haired saiya-jin winced at his cry of pain, "Let's get you out
of here."
Her scouter blipped and Oribu croaked a weak, "Behind you!" before
she was sent sprawling by a painful blow to her back.  Determined to
protect her teammate from further harm, Jianu tucked her body into a
ball and rolled several feet before gaining enough control to stop.
Spinning round, she snarled viciously at her unseen attacker.
Captain Nagata smirked at the enraged warrior, 'She must be pretty
strong to take that hit and still be capable of getting up.'
"Kisama!" Jianu hissed, her tail lashing furiously behind her.  "Are you
so pathetic that you need attack like a coward?!"
Nagata raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
Despite her anger, Jianu's eyes began to sparkle with excitement, 'This
guy's strong.  But I have to get Oribu taken care of first.  He won't
survive much longer.'  Knowing Nagata would never let her leave, Jianu
prayed silently for a little help.  Her answer came when their scouters
blipped and both warriors turned to see the remainder of Jianu's squad
arriving.  "Nashi!" Jianu called up to one of the soldiers.
"Hai!" the female warrior replied, flying down.
"You and the others take Oribu back to base and remain there," Jianu
said handing the wounded warrior to her second.  "I'll handle things
here."  The woman looked like she wanted to argue, but said nothing,
instead asking what she should tell the prince.  "Tell him, I am engaged
in combat with Captain Nagata and will call should I require
assistance."  Jianu then turned her full attention on Nagata, knowing
that the others would follow her orders without delay.  As she
suspected, the human warrior had no interest in fighting soldiers that
were of no challenge, so he was completely ignoring her squad now.
"So you know who I am?"
"Of course.  I always keep track of who might be trying to kill me," the
female saiya-jin remarked in a somewhat dry tone.
"Smart of you."
For a time neither warrior said a word, sizing up their opponent in an
almost leisurely fashion.
'Kami, he's even better looking in person!  It's such a pity that he's
working for Frieza.'  Indeed, Captain Nagata was strikingly handsome,
with short, jet-black hair and emerald green eyes so deep you could
easily get lost in them.  His body wasn't bad either.  He stood a good 6'
7" and was well-muscled, without being bulky.  He wore a black, full
body suit, with white gloves and boots and the standard armor of
Frieza's army, complete with shoulder and lower torso guards along with
a blue-lensed scouter over his right eye.
Nagata was impressed with Jianu as well.  At 6' 4" the saiya-jin woman
was unusually tall by Chikyuu standards, with thick auburn hair that fell
past her knees and fell into untamable bangs over her fathomless black
eyes.   Deceptively slim, her body was extremely feminine, showing no
sign of the power he knew it contained.  She too wore a full body suit,
though hers was royal blue instead, while a purple-lensed scouter
graced the right side of her face.  Her armor was similar to his own, but
lacked the extra guards, save for a short one over her right shoulder,
and merely covered her upper torso.  'She's rather beautiful,' he
thought, taking note of the aggressive swing of her tail.   "You're
pictures don't do you justice, Jianu," he said aloud.   "You're quite
attractive.  It's a shame I have to kill you."
Jianu grinned, not the least bit surprised he knew who she was and slid
into a fighting stance, "Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about
you."
Nagata smiled in reply and dropped into his own stance.  Now the real
fun would begin.

December 06, 2001