Initiation-Celerus (Complete)

Initiation

Easy Quest

Requirement: Must be a Saiyan or Half-Saiyan.

Reward: 1,000 zeni and a Third-Class Commendation.

You may be a member of the Saiyan Army now, but you have a long way to go before you can prove yourself, runt. King Vegeta has a simple task for you to test your ability. We want to resale a nearby planet, Tranex. Go there with your squad, wipe them out, and reclaim the planet in the name of the King.

Third-Class Commendation - You are considered the rank of Third-Class Saiyan.
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Celerus woke to the hiss of the pod door opening. She still felt groggy from the cryogenic gas that was escaping into the open air. Around her the other members of her squad were already emerging from their space pods and stretching. Before leaving for Tranex she only had enough time to learn their names; Borlotti, a female Saiyan far taller than her, Okrune who’s suspected stupidity was likely to be surpassed only by his terrible odor, and their squad leader Taro.

When Celerus could finally muster the energy to leave the pod, her companions were already gathering together in a circle making plans. As she approached she could see and hear Taro lay out their plans with his fingers in the dirt.

“It’ll be easier if we all split up and take a fourth of the planet.” He said while sectioning off a circle into fours, “The towns and smaller cities will be easy and it shouldn’t take that much time. But the capitol city is a different story.” his finger circled the cross section, “Its pretty densely populated and it houses most of the army so we’ll meet back here near the pods in one week and take on the capitol together. Everyone got it?” Borlotti and Okrune nodded in agreement.

Celerus bit her lip. She was still unsure of what exactly she was supposed to do.

“Celerus, you understand the plan?” Taro asked her.

Borlotti gave a short nasally laugh, “She’s probably too weak to go it alone. Afraid to split up.”

Taro rolled his eyes, “Maybe you should worry about yourself for now, Borlotti. You take the north eastern and Okrune will take the south eastern. Celerus has north west and I’ll take south east. Meet back here sunset in one week.”

The squad split up and soon Celerus found herself overlooking a small town. She knew she was supposed to claim the planet for her King… but how exactly. Perhaps she could reason with them. In her mind she couldn’t think of any other way than diplomacy.

She hovered over the town for half an hour, making sure she had their attention until a large crowd formed before lowering herself to the ground. While their whispering echoed around her she called out to them, “I am here to claim this planet in the name of my king, Vegeta.”

She waited for a long moment while the creatures stared back at her in awe. Celerus found them quite grotesque with their horizontally open jaws and bubbled red skin. Finally one picked up a spear and charged at her with a high pitched scream. She swiftly dodged the Tranexian warrior slammed her elbow into his face taking care to only render him unconscious.

She addressed the angry mob again, “I have no desire to harm anyone, but I will defend myself. Now take me to the person in charge so we can discuss the conditions of your surrender.” As she suspected, they were initially reluctant to oblige to her demands. It wasn’t until all of the town’s warriors lay in an unconscious heap at her feet did they bring her to the small brick building that housed their Mayor. At the sight of Celerus the Mayor’s oddly hinged jaw quaked with fear.

“Tranexian Lord, I’ve been sent to claim your world in the name of my king, Vegeta. I’ve dispatched your strongest warriors and offer you the chance to surrender and pledge loyalty to my Lord.” It sounded as reasonable to the Mayor as it did to Celerus who truly believed that her King would treat them as kind and justly as he ruled her own race.

By mid morning she was off again to the next town which she also conquered with ease and delicate care and continued her way across the country side for the better part of the week. As the eve of the squad’s impending rendezvous draws near Celerus had converted barely half the quarter of Tranex she was responsible for and doubted her team members had been much more successful.

Mid afternoon of the seventh day she came across a town that could not be reasoned with. Almost like they had been expecting her they hurled rocks into the sky in attempt to knock her down. Her claims of peace were met by the mob by chants of “MURDERER! MURDERER!” While subduing the angry mob, lethal blasts of ki suddenly exploded around her until only singed corpses lay at her feet. Any Tranexian remaining fled, running from their homes to find shelter in the hills.

Celerus turned to see Taro touching down behind her covered in a weeks worth of dried blood and sweat. More than a dozen bodies at her feet, the young Saiyan filled with rage and lunged at her squad leader, “What do you think you’re doing! You’ve killed them!” she growled, shoving him onto the ground where they grappled, rolling in the dirt and fresh blood.”

“I’m following orders!” Taro roared as he held her face down in the dirt, “More than I can say for you, woman! I finished up early and came to see if I could lend a hand… Only to find that you’ve spent the last week rubbing elbows with the natives!” He released her and leaned back. Celerus sat up on her knees and wiped away blood from her cheek.

“They surrendered… they pledged loyalty.” She said in disbelief.

Taro gave a short humorless laugh, “Theres no value in their loyalty.” he picked up a handful of bloody soil and released it into her lap, “This is all that matters… and its damn worthless as long as these miserable whelps live.”

Celerus wiped her lap clean in disgust, “Whats the honor in all that?”

“Don’t be so dramatic. Its not like you’ve never killed before.” There was a long, pregnant silence. “Almighty Gods!” Taro exclaimed in disbelief.
He grabbed Celerus by the shoulder and turned her to face him, “Listen, that’s just how things work… This is our job. The king sends us out here to conquer planets, Freeza sells them, we get paid. Toughen up a little and you might actually have a little fun.”

Celerus was careful to keep her expression tight, “Lets head back to the pods. I’ve got the other two doing a quick sweep to finish this zone and they’ll catch up with us tonight. Tomorrow the real work begins.”

When they arrived back at their ships, Celerus immediately climbed inside and curled up into the seat after punching in a few commands to fill the chamber with cryogas to push her into a dreamless sleep. No sooner than she closed her eyes, the beep of the alarm commanded her to wake. She stepped out into the dawn’s light to find Taro already awake and roasting the remains of an unfortunate Tranexian. The others were still sleeping.

“Come here, sit down.” he patted an empty spot on the log beside him. Celerus’ stomach heaved the closer she got to the charred Tranexian flesh. As she seated herself next to Taro he pulled the limb from the fire and offered it to her. “Eat this. Gotta be on our game today.”

Celerus tried no to hesitate while taking the steaming meat from him, knowing he was silently testing her. As her teeth tore the flesh off the bone her stomach quieted. Despite her reservations Tranexians didn’t taste bad at all. When she took her second bite, Taro placed a hand on her head roughly and messed up her hair, “See, girl, we’ll make a warrior out of you yet.”

A pod behind them hissed open, and Borlotti stepped out stretching and yawning. Upon seeing Celerus she scoffed. “I see you’re still alive. Coulda fooled me… thought those miserable creatures did you in.”

Before Celerus could respond Taro cut in, “Wake up Okrune, we have work to do.”

Borlotti made a face and reluctantly edged to his ship, “Ugh! It smells over here!”

When the squad approached the outskirts of the capitol city they found it mostly boarded up and abandoned. What few remaining Tranexians they found were quickly dispatched by the rest of the crew while Celerus tasked herself with leveling the emptied buildings until Taro finally dragged a terrified and struggling woman to her.

He flung her to the ground and held her there by the back of her neck. “Alright Celerus, this one is for you.” When she hesitated Taro threw the girl at her feet and roughly grabbed Celerus’ hand and held it over the Tranexian, “This is your JOB. And its MY job to insure the safety and success of this squad. If you can’t do this you’re a traitor and a risk to the rest of my squad. Now do your job, Celerus.”

As Taro’s grip tightened around her wrist Celerus closed her eyes and frantically searched her memories of her father’s training but could only draw a blank. He never prepared her for this kind of situation. The bones in her wrist started to ache. She had to make a decision.

Even as the rush of ki collected in her hand she kept her eyes tightly clenched. All sound slowly faded away except a deafening buzz that remained with her even a few moments after she released the energy downwards. Slowly sound started to fill her world again along with the heavy smell of copper and the feeling started to return again in her hand. When she opened her eyes again she discovered that the feelings of doubt and anxiety she had felt before were replaced with exhilaration. Taro smiled and clapped his hand over her shoulder. “Welcome to the team, Celerus.”

When the squad’s ships landed again at the dock on Vegeta, Celerus only had a vague recollection of the week before. Her hands and clothes were caked in a thick layer of dried blood and dirt and though she knew she should be concerned she found she wasn’t. If anything she felt rested and energized. Borlotti gave her shoulder a gentle shove as Taro reported the success of their mission to his superior. “Damn, girl. Who knew you were such a powerhouse! That was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Celerus could only scratch her head and shrug. What could she say about a week she could barely remember? Taro having finished his report returned to the squad. “Alright guys. Drinks are on and I’m buying.”

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Word Count 1745/1500