DB Multiverse

Wigner was fighting like a demon to oblige the stranger in the blue costume to cede ground in the direction of his beast of an ally. Keeping such an adversary at ground, even with a weapon as lethal as God's Blade, required using all resources. It was impossible to keep an eye on the hindered barbarian somewhere behind him at the same time. A quick glance at his screen confirmed to him that he was still there, apparently inactive. According to his estimations, if he managed to keep all three of them where they were, everything would work out in the end.

Below them, Fuller wasn't moving anymore. All his indicators were in the red, no one could do anything for him now. With him, the annihilation of the three invaders would have cost the lives of three Ultras. A high price to pay for four unknowns from nowhere without backup or the slightest equipment. Radom wasn't going to get his intel, and Wigner was realizing the consequences of such a loss.

The low hum emitted from the blades made the air vibrate without end. Vegeta knew himself to be fast enough to evade without much effort. However, the concentration the exercise required was perturbing his train of thought... Yet the warning sounds from his scouter required attention. To kill the Heloïte and concentrate on the new problem, or not, that was the question. It was evident now that after the death of his friends, he wasn't disposed anymore to show himself cooperative in any way. The possibility to negotiate through him seemed highly compromised. Rendering him docile promised to take precious time now, but eliminating him meant having to find a new intermediary worthwhile before the arrival of the rest of the elite troupe. Despite the inferiority of these Ultras, their number could pose problems, and Raditz was already diminished. A show of force had seemed the best option, and killing Kiwi too early on would have warned the tyrant at the other end of the galaxy. In any case, it was impossible to go backwards now. He had to think of the next step, think and decide, very quickly!

An immaterial page suddenly floated in front of Radom's eyes as well as the eleven other Grand Sages. As surprised as his colleagues, he nevertheless kept his composure. He merely contented himself with sharing the information to the other members of the assembly... for now.

Despite his best efforts to seem otherwise, commander Mow was sweating heavily. Communicating his anxiousness to the rest of his squadron in such a critical time was the last thing to do however, any beginner knew this! It was one of the first rules of combat taught to future officers. The atmosphere within the large ship was loaded with fear and anger... Two elements that didn't mesh with concentration and efficiency. Each of his gestures, the slightest mimic, it seemed the more he tried to appear as proud as usual, the more his level of stress was visible. A very uncomfortable impression... but it was less than having the responsibility of authorizing the firing a class V shot on his own native planet. Breaching the Code wasn't the issue for his conscience, diplomatic issues weren't his problem, and ethically, bombarding home-ground wasn't properly speaking an act of aggression. The problem was elsewhere. Other than exposing his precious ship and the hundreds of souls therein, the risk of damaging the terrestrial crust was gut wrenching. In addition to executing Ultras, which for him was a true act of treason, spitting in the face of the myth. He wanted nothing more than to scream, to hit something to evacuate even a modicum of his tension, but he had to remain exemplary. He contended himself with checking once more the calculations. The strongest of Ultra-waver canons was conceived to pierce indestructible armours, eliminate monumental constructs, not to shoot precise targets like a sniper. The Council ordered a hit on a large perimeter, however, covering such an extensive field didn't allow for any power modulation. The only way to limit the damage to surface depths required an emission as short as feasible. Mow took a deep breath all the while trying to appear casual. To achieve this, it was impossible to not enter the atmosphere, and what's worse, the lower the better. If only the screen would light up with a counter-order! Alas, it wasn't the time to hesitate. His mental command sent his orders to all positions as he gave voice to them.

The titanic warship was readying for combat as it entered the first layers of the Heloïte atmosphere.

Wigner was at the end of his run. He had deduced from their raised faces that they had noticed the manoeuvring of the Tethor. The element of surprise was long gone. He needed immediate back-up to stick the three targets in place. His screen confirmed to him the take-off of Cartesis hunter-drones. The pilots hated these machines, commanded at a distance that rendered them more operators than warriors. But for kamikaze missions, they were ideal, perfect for distracting these monsters before they had a chance to kill again. The leader of the Ultras only wanted one thing: for it to end, fast!

Vegeta's senses perceived the multitude that composed the crew of the corsair looming above their heads. Though he didn't yet fully master his new capacity to feel precisely the evolution of combat strength, he was still able to feel what the jammers of the ship prevented his scouter from picking up. What's more, according to the sheer amount of vital energies in the high atmosphere, the size of the ship promised to be truly titanic. This was without compare to any he had previously come across throughout his life as a mercenary for Freezer, and he had seen many. This part of the galaxy seemed to live with different rules, other codes, and he was starting to realize why his world and theirs had never collided until recently. But all that was going to change. The cold demons were now masters of vast empires, and Freezer had no doubt thought that now was the time to attack his dangerous neighbours, and acquire their amazing technology while he was at it. Vegeta, on the other hand, was only interested by one thing, the only one that could allow him to get his revenge. But for that, he had to stay alive!

Destroying a monument such as the gigantic ship wasn't a problem in and of itself. The problem was then not being stupidly killed by the mega-carcass that would undoubtedly fall on them afterwards!

The saiyan's scouters suddenly started beeping frantically, a swarm was heading their way. The Heloïtes were really determined to finish this, and countering their new tactic was vital!

Wigner was both surprised and striken as his target seemed to disappear right in front of his eyes. The huge bald gave voice just before taking off at an astounding speed. Behind the Heloïte leader, the wounded barbarian had also taken a tangent.

Despite the death of the young man, Raditz was still fuming with rage against the Ultra that wounded him. Before him, Nappa was in the lead, the other two were flying as fast as the colossus could. After the sanction of earlier, Vegeta's orders were clear: if he couldn't follow, he had to stay behind and cause as much damage as possible. As if such a small flesh-wound could weaken him! The Saiyan's pride compensated easily his loss of energy from his wounds and the just anger of his monarch. Even if he didn't understand why his prince had suddenly changed tactic, he had confidence in his decisions. Though much quicker, Vegeta hadn't taken the lead so as they would stay grouped, it was far from over, and this wasn't running away, it was a tactical retreat.

Even though Wigner knew he was incapable of catching them up, he still launched himself in pursuit of the trio. The plan to corner them with hunters was failing miserably, there were only the ones that had already taken off to quickly engage the barbarians. What were they aiming for? Did they truly think the Tethor wouldn't be able to follow them? These were amongst Wigners thoughts when he finally realized the directions the invaders had taken.

Bastards!

Their leader was far from stupid! According to his sensors, they were already almost within the shade from the ring!

Maybe the stranger wasn't aware the corsair was perfectly apt to perform oblique shots, maybe he was betting on their fear of damaging the ring... nevertheless, this new constraint was going to complicate even further the delicate calculations of this perilous manoeuvre, added to that in plus this new angle meant damaging a larger surface of the ground, especially if the trio took altitude. The impact zone risked touching residential areas!

Even though its force field would no doubt also be useless against the curious energy of these raging beasts, protected by the Tethor, the ring wasn't in any risk. Wigner couldn't help himself from a certain despair at the next fight to come. By the seven hells was it frustrating to be so strong and yet feel so powerless.

Wigner was not the only one fulminating. Commander Mox was annoyed to see the parameters of his calculations changing every second, they had been ready to spit death to the invaders. Protecting the ring was his priority, and thus he took the decision to descend further into the atmosphere, and place the large vessel also under the artificial sun of his planet. Thinking about it, even if his shields didn't block all the energy thrown by these lunatics, the armour and mass of the Tethor were such that it was capable to taking some hits... and at worst, they were close enough to the ground for an emergency landing. Indeed, the Tregor plantations would be almost entirely destroyed, and a few nearby cities also risked being touched, but it was his responsibility to choose the least of worse options.

A brief order screamed dispersed the Saiyans as a fleet of winged metallic machines descended on them with laser canons.

The two first squadrons had finally reached their targets and the three Saiyans knew that more were soon to join. Not fast enough, and handicapped by trajectories much too long, these hunters were no match. But their number remained highly dangerous. It was easy to destroy a bunch only to take a hit from one that would have benefited from an angle momentarily opened.

Nappa chose direct contact by throwing himself at the nearest cockpit. When his fist when through the tinted glass bubble, his rage exploded:

— Empty! These fuckers are empty!

In his anger, the giant grabbed the machine to use it like a gigantic club. If there was no one to kill, there was still the thrill of savage destruction.

Raditz had preferred to follow his prince to cover him as best as possible, as long as he managed to keep up. He knew it was urgent to return to grace. The machines were falling like flies beneath their conjugated blasts and the sky was quickly peppered with blots of smoke ranging from white to very dark black. The ground was pummelled by successive crashes and was surely transmitting the shakes to rest of the continent.

Wigner was finally arriving also to the zone. As expected, the barbarians all still seemed operational; the Cartesis hunters had filled their role, nothing more. Their loss wasn't in vain however, even if keeping the barbarians in place was useless now that they were problably going to hold ground under the ring, at least they had kept them occupied for a time which could prove decisive.

Vegeta was presently content to merely evade the few laser shots fired in his direction. He left his two subordinated to clean the sky of the remaining flying pieces of crap. A more familiar sensation suddenly acquired his attention at the same time as his scouter signalled the arrival of a living presence. He was almost certain Raditz hadn't payed attention to the new tone of his own scouter. He stayed there, arms crossed, observing. If this imbecile took another hit, tough luck for him. If he wanted to continue accompanying them, he had to prove himself worthy.

The surviving Ultra launched himself towards the mass of hair that was the barbarian and passed into offensive mode. Still flying, he activated a large beam barely visible. A sudden acceleration preserved Raditz from the mortal salvo. Seeing his Saiyan riposte as quickly and with panache filled Vegeta's heart with satisfaction. Even handicapped, they remained the ultimate warriors! The Ultra evaded the first two attacks, but the next one promised to land. Vegeta scorned. One of the combat machines had just thrown itself into the trajectory of the blast. Saved by the interposition of a drone, the shame! As the debris from the hunter blocked the assault of Raditz, Nappa came to the rescue to block the route of the Heloïte. Enjoying the view, Vegeta nonchalantly extended his arm, without even looking, to disintegrate a drone that had locked on him as a target. The two drones still flying were now making large ellipses around them, no doubt waiting for the moment they could be useful to the only Heloïte still apt for combat.

The Ultra stopped moving. Vegeta understood he was defying his two opponents. As one, Raditz and Nappa dived towards him together. Flanked, he was doomed, so what was he hoping for?

Vegeta was surprised to see Nappa stop suddenly. The voice of the colossus electrified his reflexes. Without thinking, he threw himself to one side as his scouter gave the alert, a little late! Without the vigilance of Nappa, he was done for! The Saiyan raised his eyes to see the unthinkable: two Ultras were descending from the shadow of the warship whose immense silhouette was now barring the horizon. From where did these two come from? The burning wave that had almost hit him, it must have been them! Nor Vegeta nor his scouter had managed to detect these two extra vital energies amongst the multitude of those of the massive warship.

The implants of Wigner transmitted him the familiar intonations of two voices he didn't dare hope to hear again. Of course, despite the gravity of the situation, one of them was overloaded with confidence.

— So Boss, you've gone on a vacation without your friends?