Cosmic Crisis 3 - A New Enemy

Chapter 15 - Vela

The pod shot through the sky, moments away from the station. Everyone had now showered and dressed, and were going over the plans.

"You two." Sirius said, looking and Trunks and Goten. "You will have to suppress your power levels considerably. There are no Saiya-jins on New Vegeta with power levels as high as yours, and if you reveal them, the authorities will become suspicious."

"New Vegeta?" Trunks asked.

"The original planet Vegeta has already been destroyed, remember? Some of the remaining Saiya-jins that survived the destruction while on operations of their own, grouped together and founded New Vegeta, where they multiplied. New Vegeta isn't nearly as large, and there is no monarchy any longer." He explained. "A few other races have interacted with the new Saiya-jins, producing hybrids. Trunks, you're going to be a hybrid. Goten you are too, even though you look like a full-blooded Saiya-jin, your ki doesn't have the attributes of one."

Trunks and Goten stared long and hard at Sirius before Goten spoke up.

"Tell me, is there ANYTHING you don't know?" he asked, bewildered at Sirius' knowledge of the world around him. Sirius was discomfited at the question and cleared his throat a few times.

"How old are you?" Trunks inquired.

"Counting the aging, I'm 14." He replied. Trunks almost fell over.

"Fourteen!? Hell, you sure are smart for that age, not to mention huge."

Reena laughed at him.

"Trunks, Vela's years are longer than those of Earth. Sirius is the equivalent of 18 in Earth years." She explained.

"Oh." He replied. "That makes sense."

"One year on Vela is equal to 1.3 years in Earth. So our ages seem younger, but really aren't." Sirius interjected. Just as he finished, the ship was jerked and almost stopped completely.

"What...?" Trunks said, looking out the slim windows, and seeing nothing but stars. Reena walked towards the door.

"We have arrived at the defense station. They automatically stopped our engines and reduced out momentum...though, it was rather sudden." She explained. Trunks and Goten had already suppressed their ki's, and were aware of their "roles".

The ship slowly pulled into the docking bay of the station. Trunks could now see the planet Vela from the windows. It looked much like Earth, with the exception that there were several more, smaller continents, and the water appeared to be a bluish purple color. There was also a ring of ice around it, similar to Saturn. The planet got closer and closer as they were pulled into the station. Soon, the planet was out of sight and they were completely inside the docking bay. The ship slowed to a steady halt and finally rested. The door to the bay closed and the large room was pressurized. After a few lengthy seconds, Trunks opened the automatic door and shut down the system's controls. There was a hissing sound as the door opened and decompressed. Clanking noises and voices filled the air. Reena, Ceres, and Sirius all hopped off and onto the cold, metal floor of the room. Goten followed quickly thereafter, leaving Trunks still on the ship.

"Come on Trunks. What's wrong?" Goten said. "It's no big deal."

Trunks hesitantly but surely, stepped out of the ship and onto the floor. Goten reached up and shut the door manually, but didn't lock it. Suddenly, there was a voice from behind them.

"Ah, Reena, Ceres, Sirius. I see you have arrived."

The five turned around to see a young man of about 25 standing before them. He was wearing a uniform and had a microphone attacked to his jacket. He was also wearing an earpiece. Trunks swore that he looked like an FBI agent in alien clothing.

"These must be the two Saiya-jins you spoke of. They don't look like Saiya-jins." He man spoke.

"Altair, these are hybrids from New Vegeta." Sirius explained.

"You know, you three look a lot bigger than you were when I saw you last." Altair observed. Trunks gulped, but thankfully, not noticeably.

"We trained on New Vegeta." Reena said. "So that explains the change."

"I see. Well, what are you bringing these Saiya-jins to Vela-sei for?"

Reena paused. There was an error in their plan.

"Oh...we...met these Saiya-jins on New Vegeta and...well they...wanted to see the planet!" she stuttered. Trunks facefaulted.

"Well...I guess I can let you five through. But there's no way you can take that big thing." Altair said, guesturing to the Capsule Corp. pod. "You can teleport to the spaceport on Vela."

"Hai." Sirius said, nodding. Altair led the five of them through a series of cold, sterile hallways. They passed many other uniformed men and women, most of them wearing the microphone and earpiece like the one Altair wore. Finally, they reached a secure entrance. Altair typed some numbers into a control panel, placed his hand on a scanner, and looked through some kind of device, which scanned his eyes. After everything was complete, Altair pressed a final series of buttons. The large, metal door slid open from the bottom and the top, revealing one single room.

As they walked through, Goten looked hardly impressed.

"What's so special about this room, anyway?" he whispered to Reena. Altair, obviously having heard him, stopped and turned to the boy.

"Interesting that you would ask that. This room is your only means of getting on that planet. We don't want just anyone walking in and teleporting to the surface." He explained. "So, this room is heavily guarded, especially lately, with tighter security and all."

Goten was already embarrassed that he was heard, and now even more that the man acknowledged it in front of everyone.

"Now, you will have to step onto this platform here. You will be teleported to the spaceport in the city of Orion."

Trunks jumped.

"There is a city named...Orion?" he asked, not sure that he heard correctly. Altair nodded slowly.

"But Altair we were hoping to arrive in Sidra. Ceres, Sirius, and I have to meet with Carina." Reena said.

Altair looked at them for a few seconds before clearing his throat and shifting his weight.

"Let me explain something to you." He began, looking directly at Reena, though he would occasionally steal glances at the other four. "Security has been exceptionally tight during the past couple of days. Normally, we wouldn't allow anyone directly into the city. But, since you have close ties with the royal family, I'll make an exception."

Reena's face brightened and she started to thank him.

"I'm trusting your judgment. These Saiya-jins don't look like potential threats, so I'll trust you." He continued.

"Thank you Altair." Sirius said, stepping forward. "But we really are in a hurry."

"Ah, I see. Well step up here." Altair said, pointing to a large platform. The five senshi all did as they were told. "You three know this process. I assume the two Saiya-jins don't."

Trunks and Goten looked at him in response.

"You two ever teleport before?" he asked. Trunks replied.

"Well actually, Goku-"

"Of course not. I didn't think so." He interrupted. Reena facefaulted. "Just don't let it get to you. It's not as bad as it seems."

"Yes, but-"

"Just sit still, now. I'm almost finished setting this thing."

Trunks produced a sweat drop and buried his face in his hands. Just as he looked up, a bright light enveloped the room and the last thing he saw was Altair smiling at them.

When Trunks finally came to his senses, he realized that they were on the planet Vela. He was startled as he looked around. Though it was obvious that this world was one of great knowledge and technology, the general approach wasn't extroverted in that sense. They had arrived just outside a large complex, obviously the spaceport.

"Trunks, I have to tell you something."

Trunks turned to face Sirius, who has a look of deep concern on his face.

"You realize the risk that we are already taking by coming here, am I correct?"

"Yes." Trunks replied.

"And you may not like some of the things you see."

"I know."

"But I have to tell you, under no circumstances are you to interfere with events that will take place. I don't care if Hermes tortures Carina to her death, you cannot save her." Sirius said in a grave tone. Trunks almost choked as he tried to speak.

"You mean that...you would just sit back a...and watch?" he said, making sure he had heard correctly. Sirius nodded slowly.

"Being a guardian, it is my instinct to protect her. But, my place to protect is not in this time anymore. Whatever happens here was meant to be, and we cannot obstruct that." He said, and looked towards the purplish blue sky. Trunks looked down at his feet. He was starting to regret coming here in the first place.

"Sirius, we don't have long. We need to act quickly." Reena said. He nodded and started walking towards the city. Everyone instinctively followed.

As they neared the city's core, Trunks was astounded by all that he saw. The architecture was very similar to that on Earth, incorporating round shapes into the designs. In the inner city, the dense buildings began to diminish and there were smaller complexes and individual buildings. Then, in the middle of it all, stood an enormous palace, Trunks guessed, where the royal family lived. A large wall surrounded the castle, with a few entrances, which were obviously heavily guarded. The castle itself probably housed more than just the King, Queen, and Princess, judging by the mass of it. Trunks scanned the ki's in the area, and noted that the general population was of average level, hovering around the ten thousands, but there was a high power coming from the castle itself.

"Trunks are you coming?" Goten said, breaking his concentration. Trunks realized that he had stopped in the middle of the street as he gazed at the castle.

"Oh, right. Gomen." He said, and quickly caught up with the rest of the group. After a few minutes, they had gotten so close to the castle that Trunks could see in detail the features of the structure. It was made entirely of white and soft grey materials, appearing to be stone, but could very well be some kind of foreign material. The castle was far from the typical image one would expect back on Earth. It was more rounded, had four tall columns in front, and there was no moat. Over the top of the structure, above where the columns fitted into the support arch, there was a symbol imprinted on the surface. Trunks then looked at the breastplate of Sirius' armor and realized that they were the same. Obviously, this was some sort of symbol that represented this place and the people here.

Suddenly, Sirius stopped in his tracks and turned to Reena and Ceres.

"You two, we can't just walk in looking like we do. Remember, our former selves are also behind those walls, and we can't have any contact with them. We have to camouflage ourselves enough so that we don't raise any suspicions, but we can't look like foreigners, or we will never get in." he explained. Reena nodded and reached up her ponytail, ripping the band from around her hair, and allowing the dark purple strands to fall to her shoulders. With her hair down, it was no easily longer than Natalie's was. Goten was trying not to stare as she ran her fingers through her hair to get the knots out and make it presentable. Reena then turned to Ceres.

"Here." She said, handing the band to the girl. "You will need this."

"I don't think I have enough hair to pull up." Ceres said, grabbing her locks and pulling them tightly to the back of her head. Needless to say, she had just enough hair to complete her task. The tiny bob of hair sat firm in place as she moved around, not like Reena's, which had bounced around freely, much like Natalie's did when her hair was up.

"Sirius what about you?" Goten said, looking at the warrior.

"I can't do anything about my appearance. Hopefully nobody will recognize me. But, we will have to travel into the castle in two groups. Trunks, you and Goten will come with me. Reena and Ceres, you go in the second entrance and we will rendezvous in the courtyard." He explained. "You cannot look suspicious, or you will be thrown out in an instant. That's how tight the security is around here."

"Then how in hell did someone like Hesperos or Hermes get in and attack?" Trunks whispered harshly.

"They have connections with the family." Sirius replied, also whispering. "In our present forms, we do not."

"Damn. This is more complicated than I expected." Trunks cursed. "But wait...can't you use the little symbol on your armor to get in?"

"No, all Sidra-jin armor has that symbol on it. It's nothing unique to us."

All of the sudden, Sirius paused and looked to his left.

"Kuso. Run." He said, grabbing Ceres' hand and bolting into a nearby alley. The rest followed. Trunks peered around the corner of the building to see a figure walking toward the gates of the palace. It almost looked like...

"Orion." Sirius whispered. "I forgot about him."

Trunks paled. What the hell was Orion doing here?