by Jamie L. Word
Zephyrrian Saga
Chapter 1
The Planet Zephyrr.
The planet known as Zephyrr was a heavilly forested world with a large quantity of clear, blue water in many patches across the planet. Much of the planet was covered with great trees and vegitation, green and healthy. Large settlements speckled the planet in the form of villages and towns, and the technological level of these settlements was the approximate equivelant of modern-day Earth. At the northern and southernmost regions of the planet were frozen areas of thick tundra ice layered over barren wilderness. The trees were most heavilly situated along the planet�s equatorial band, thinning out the closer they got to the icy regions of the north and south. Despite the fair technological level of the planet�s inhabitants, there was not much in the way of commerce or an economy to speak of. The people were mostly farmers and technicians and little else.
A small group of round, baseball-looking space pods streaked into the atmosphere and plummeted to the ground. They looked like falling red stars from a distance, glowing red hot as they came in for a landing. They crashed into the ground with great impact, smoking from the heat of atmospheric entry against their hulls. There were seven in all, and they all landed in close proximity to each other.
The pods opened up, and seven human-looking individuals stepped out onto the Zephyrrian soil. They were all Saiyans, caucasian humanoids with wild black hair, Saiyan combat armor, and brown monkey-like tails wrapped around their waists. Their armor consisted of chest protectors and shoulderpads over the top of black, skin-tight clothing of various forms, and they all had on traditional Saiyan armor boots. Their armor also had three strips of plating hanging down from the waist, waist padding. Each Saiyan also had a scouter over his left eye, a technological device designed to read the fighting power level of an opponent, something Saiyans tended to obsess over.
One of the Saiyans was a big, hulking brute with a lantern jaw. He had skin-tight, black, spandex-style shorts underneath his armor. He had a well-groomed moustache and just a smidgeon of hair on the top of his head.
{Haruki.}
Another of the Saiyans was a slightly less hulking than the other, but he had bushy black hair on the sides of his head but balding on top. He was clean-shaven unlike the larger brute, and he wore long, skin-tight black pants underneath his armor.
{Takao.}
Another of the Saiyans was a well-muscled female with short, bushy black hair. She wore black, skin-tight, spandex shorts and a black, skin-tight halter top-style tunic. She seemed somewhat delicate compared to the larger males on the team, but she somehow seemed capable in her own way. She was somewhat attractive in spite of her attire and roughed-up appearance, looking somewhat like a disheveled teen warrior.
{Ayano.}
Another of the Saiyans was a more slender male, well-muscled but not near as massive as the other two. He had shoulder-length, bushy black hair, and he was clean-shaven . He wore long, black, skin-tight, spandex pants underneath his armor.
{Takeshi.}
Another of the Saiyans was about the size of the more slender Saiyan, but he had long, bushy black hair down to his waist, and he was clean-shaven. He wore long, black, skin-tight pants underneath his armor.
{Yasuhiro.}
Another of the Saiyans was another well-muscled female with long, black hair just below her shoulders. She wore skin-tight clothes similar to the other female underneath her armor, but she wore long, skin-tight pants instead of skin-tight shorts. She seemed to be slightly older than the other female, but she still looked young and somewhat attractive despite her attire and her roughed-up appearance.
{Miyoko.}
The final Saiyan was a powerfully-built male warrior, about the height of the more slender Saiyans but slightly bulkier and very well-defined. He was clean-shaven, and he wore long, skin-tight, spandex black pants underneath his armor. He seemed experienced but not much older than the long-haired female on the team.
{Akira.}
The entire team gathered around this Saiyan Akira, awaiting his decree. Akira carried the demeanor of a jovial sort, but he also bore the tell-tale signs of a battle-hardened warrior in his eyes. His smile was pleasant, and his manner was relaxed and cheerful. The others just seemed anxious to fight something.
�This planet seems nice,� Akira said as he surveyed the landscape with an enthusiastic eye as his countenance turned to confusion. �I don�t understand. There�s nothing here to interest Frieza or any of his friends. Why would they want anything to do with this place? It�s got no military value to them. There�s no known export comodities, and there doesn�t seem to be any sort of bustling economic infrastructure either. It looks like a nice place to relax and unwind.�
�So, what are we doing here?� Miyoko inquired of the team leader with a hint of shared concern in her voice and on her countenance.
�That�s a good question,� Akira replied, looking around suspiciously for signs of danger and trouble. �Keep your eyes open for trouble. Something just doesn�t smell right here, and I don�t mean Haruki needing a bath.�
�Hey!� the massive brute retorted with a look of surprise on his face before almost giving in to the urge to smile. �I had a bath!�
�Yeah, three days ago!� Takao replied prompting the others to break into a bit of laughter at their largest companion�s expense.
�Very funny,� Haruki muttered with a mixed expression of humor and aggitation over being the butt of the group joke.
�Okay, guys. That�s enough teasing Haruki,� Akira jestingly rebuked the rest of the team, restoring order to the assembly. �Seriously, stay frosty here. I�ve got a bad feeling about this.�
�So do I,� added Takeshi as he looked around apprehensively as if to locate some hidden danger to them.
�What�s everybody so wound up about?� Ayano inquired whimsically as she bore the demeanor of great confidence, perhaps of overconfidence. �We�re Saiyans. Why should we be afraid? We�re the baddest dudes in the galaxy!�
�If we were, we would never have had to be subservient to Frieza and his friends, now would we?� Yasuhiro replied, being a bit more nervous than any of the others.
�Well, you�re just a wimp, Yasuhiro!� Ayano rebuked her teammate vindictively. �If it wasn�t for the fact that you�re older than I am, I�d be stronger than you!�
�Yeah, she�s got a point there, pal!� Haruki interjected with a big smile on his face now that he wasn�t the target of the jokes. �You are a little on the puny side for a Saiyan! Maybe we should leave you here with the space pods so you�ll be safe!�
�Alright, guys. Lay off Yasuhiro,� Akira calmly rebuked his teammates as he checked his scouter to see if it registered anything in the distance. �It�s bad enough to have Frieza�s dogs talking down to us and the elite and royal of our own people looking down at us for being low-class Saiyans. Let�s not beat ourselves up to boot.�
As he completed his sentence, his scouter picked up on some power reading in the distance. The others reacted to the scouter�s beeping response with interest.
�So, what�s the deal, Akira?� Miyoko inquired, displaying the most composed bearing of the group after Akira.
�There�s a reading of many low energy signals all grouped together over in that direction,� Akira informed his team professionally. �It�s not too far from here. Must be a village or town of some sort. I�m checking for any more energy signals now.�
Akira activated the scouter again and began panning in a circle like a radar dish trying to pick up a radio signal. The scouter beeped numerous times as he scanned all around their position. After a few moments of this, he stopped scanning the area.
�Hmmm,� Akira sighed audibly as he pondered the scouter�s findings. �I don�t get it. I�m not picking up any high power levels on the planet right now. Sending us here was overkill in the extreme in my estimation. This is very strange. Why would they send an entire team of seven veteran Saiyan warriors of our caliber to a planet like this? It just doesn�t make sense!�
�I share your concern, Akira,� Miyoko replied as she locked eyes with the team leader, revealing through her eyes the sincerity of her words. �This stinks ... badly.�
�Oh, c�mon, guys!� Ayano interjected, a bit flustered over the reactions of concern from her teammates and filled with pride and overconfidence. �The only thing that stinks around here is Haruki! The sooner we beat down the natives, the sooner tall-wide-and-smelly over here can take a bath!�
�Ayano!� Akira rebuked the youngest of the team sternly enough to jolt everyone to the proper awareness. �You�re young and eager to fight. That�s natural, particularly for us Saiyans, but your youth makes you a bit impulsive. You don�t survive to become a great warrior unless you learn patience and develop your instincts. Your naivety could wind up costing us all dearly. Settle down. We�re going to check things out a bit first before we make any moves here.�
�We�ll lose the element of surprise that way,� Miyoko casually informed their cautious leader of the important detail.
�I know,� Akira replied with an air of grim determination and uncertainty about him. �I�d rather surrender that advantage rather than rush blindly into something nasty though. Let�s move out. Spread out, keep your eyes and ears keen, keep your scouters online, and proceed with caution. Haruki. Ayano. I mean it. Both of you.�
The hulking brute and the slender youth lowered their heads slightly with dejected looks on their faces as the entire team took to the air to fly to their destination. Akira flew at the front of the group, with Miyoko not far behind. The others fell into place in a spread out formation behind their leader.
They travelled a great distance over the forested landscape without encountering anything other than the occassional glimpse of the native fauna flitting through the flora. In the distance, they spied the buildings of a fair-sized town. They directed their course to make that town their first destination.
As the Saiyans drew near, they could see the inhabitants of the planet. The inhabitants were humanoid in structure, and they had light green skin with no hair and no noses. They were roughly the size of a standard Earthling, and they wore simple clothes specifically suited for their simple lifestyles. Among them were powerfully-built males with uniform-style attire, sleeveless and obviously some sort of armor. These strong-looking males also worked alongside their brethren in the fields. The Saiyans noted these sights as they closed on the town.
�These more heavilly muscled specimens are obviously the warriors of their people,� Akira noted aloud, getting the others� attention. �They seem to be a simple people - farmers, technicians, and the like. What could Frieza and his gang want from these people? It doesn�t make any sense! None of it does!�
�What difference does it make anyway?� Haruki interjected with a mean-looking grin on his lantern jaw. �I mean, what�s the big deal? We just break these runts and be off to our next mission in no time! It�s simple! I�m just disappointed that we won�t get a good work-out on these wimps!�
�No!� Akira scolded the gigantic Saiyan brute. �It�s not that simple! Haven�t you noticed that we haven�t received any word from Planet Vegeta in a while?�
The other Saiyans paused to ponder that for a moment, trying to reach the conclusion of Akira�s words from the onset.
�Yeah, well, maybe they�ve got better things to do than worry about a bunch of low-class warriors on a pitiful joke of a planet like this one!� Ayano rebutted.
�Then none of you has even tried to contact our homeworld, have you?� Akira inquired, noting their reactions of shame and perplexion. �Well, I have, and I couldn�t get a response on the communications system in the space pod! Something bad�s happened on Planet Vegeta! I fear for the worst for our planet ... and our people!�
�I too have harbored this fear as well,� Miyoko interjected, looking up with concerned eyes towards Akira. �I too tried to reach them unsuccessfully, but I didn�t want to cause a comotion with my concerns unless someone else on the team had also tried to contact our homeworld and failed.�
Akira stopped flying, hovering there in mid-air with a grim and distressed look on his face. The others likewise stopped and hovered there with him, pondering the look on his face and the meaning of this conversation.
�What�s up, chief?� Takao inquired of Akira in his most nervous attempt at joking familiarity since they arrived on Zephyrr.
�I really don�t like this now!� Akira muttered as if reaching a horrifying conclusion from the assortment of facts they�ve been pondering. �Something is definitely not right here! I think we might be in trouble, guys! Those minions of Frieza who sent us to this planet, I think they were setting us up!�
�Quite astute, Saiyan!� came a vicious-sounding voice from behind them, prompting them to turn their attention in that direction. �Just won�t help you now!�
They saw a large force of fighters wearing armor like their�s, only the armor didn�t have waist padding and it appeared to be of a superior quality. These new fighters also had scouters on as well, and all but four of these new fighters had strange arm-mounted blaster weapons in hand. Of the four who had no blaster weapons in hand, each seemed to be of a different alien race.
The frontmost was a huge, bulbuous spikey blob-like creature resembling Frieza�s special henchman Dodoria. He was not quite as large as Dodoria, and he was shorter than Haruki, but he was also wider than the heavilly muscled Saiyan. He had a wide mouth, his ears were large and pointy, his teeth were pointed rows of fangs, and his skin was a sort of pinkish color and covered with these knobby spike-like protrusions. This blob-like menace sported a sinister grin on his smug face.
{Kuang.}
Next was a taller, more slender and well-muscled speciman who somewhat resembled Zarbon, Frieza�s other lieutenant. This guy wasn�t quite as big as Zarbon, but he looked equally menacing. This fighter had light grey skin and long, dark brown hair tied in a ponytail. He smiled the charming smile of a killer.
{Cong.}
The next fighter was shorter than Cong and more slender still. He had long white hair and red skin, resembling Jeice of the Ginyu Force. He was clean-shaven, and he had the style of a suave ladies� man. He had a cocky smile as well.
{Wei.}
Next, there was a huge, hulking, caucasian brute, bald and clean-shaven, who was about Haruki�s size, resembling a bald Recoome of the Ginyu Force. He smiled the sinister smile of someone who was about to do a very bad thing.
{Feng.}
The remaining fighters, over a dozen in all, were aliens of various races and in all shapes and sizes. They all seemed eager to do something terrible as well. Some of them had antennae of sorts or other odd facial features besides different color skin than Earthlings and different sort of physiologies. Some were fish-like, some were lizard-like, and some were like nothing an Earthling had ever seen. They were the nameless minions of the four fighters without the blaster weapons.
�This is where you monkeys get off!� Kuang growled as he extended his hand towards Akira and his battle team.
The new fighters opened up on the Saiyans with a barrage of energy blasts, and the Saiyans pulled their arms up in front of their faces to shield themselves from the attacks! The area became obscured from the explosions, and the sounds of battle cries and screams mingled with the sounds of the explosions to make for horrific listening! While the minion fighters used their blaster weapons, the four special new fighters used their hands as channels for their blasts!
How did the Saiyans fare in the wake of this ambush? Did they survive? What of the fate of the planet? Who were these fiendish fighters who ambushed the Saiyans? The answers to these and other questions are answered in Chapter 2 of the Zephyrrian Saga!