Found, Not Fixed
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Plan: All Is One in Bassoon's Head
-[X] The Sight (2 AP)
--[X] Continue Your Training (1 AP)
--[X] Looking Home (1 AP)
-[X] Training (3+2 AP)
--[X] Style Training (1 AP) [Tenshinhan]
--[X] To Go Beyond (1 AP) [Perfect Multiform]
--[X] Improve a Skill (1 AP) [Dodonpa]
--[X] Improve a Skill (1 AP) [Crowd Fighting]
--[X] To Go Beyond (1 AP) [Ki Sense - All Is One]
-[X] Social (2+2 AP)
--[X] Talk To Dazarel (1 AP)
--[X] Strengthen Host Bond (1 AP)
--[X] General Training (2 AP)
-[X] The Outside World (0+1 AP)
--[X] Historical Insights (1 AP)
-[X] A Cause (1 AP)
--[X] Ki Refinement (1 AP)
-[X] The Sight (2 AP)
--[X] Continue Your Training (1 AP)
-[X] Training (3+2 AP)
--[X] Style Training (1 AP) [Tenshinhan]
--[X] To Go Beyond (1 AP) [Perfect Multiform]
--[X] Improve a Skill (1 AP) [Dodonpa]
--[X] Improve a Skill (1 AP) [Crowd Fighting]
--[X] To Go Beyond (1 AP) [Ki Sense - All Is One]
-[X] Social (2+2 AP)
--[X] Talk To Dazarel (1 AP)
--[X] Strengthen Host Bond (1 AP)
--[X] General Training (2 AP)
-[X] The Outside World (0+1 AP)
--[X] Historical Insights (1 AP)
-[X] A Cause (1 AP)
--[X] Ki Refinement (1 AP)
Found, Not Fixed
Continue Your Training: 90
Style Training (Tenshinhan): 36
To Go Beyond (Perfect Multiform): 91
Improve A Skill (Dodonpa): 54
Improve A Skill (Crowd Fighting): 81
To Go Beyond (Ki Sense - All Is One): 59
Talk To Dazarel: 50
Strengthen Host Bond: 61
Ki Refinement: 83
'Are you ready?' asks Dazarel.Style Training (Tenshinhan): 36
To Go Beyond (Perfect Multiform): 91
Improve A Skill (Dodonpa): 54
Improve A Skill (Crowd Fighting): 81
To Go Beyond (Ki Sense - All Is One): 59
Talk To Dazarel: 50
Strengthen Host Bond: 61
Ki Refinement: 83
You breathe deeply, kneeling in Bassoon's mindscape. "Yes. Are you ready, Bassoon?"
"READY TO GIVE IT A SHOT," he replied, his voice booming from the sky.
"All right," you whisper, threading your fingers into the grass. "C'mon, then."
There is, you have come to notice, a thread between you and your unexpected host. A link that, as your abilities grow, you are able to reach out and grasp.
It feels almost alive. Like a vine, maybe.
The feel of it, though, is fairly irrelevant. What is relevant is that, now, you can reach out and touch it. And what you can touch, you can manipulate.
Come over here.
You give the tendril a tug, and suddenly, Bassoon stands before you, blinking.
You look up at him and grin. "Nice."
He grins back.
* * *
Pulling Bassoon into the mindscape doesn't change much in practical terms. He could already join you under his own power. But it does tell you that if, in the future, you find yourself in the head of somebody without any appreciable command over their mindscape, you should be able to still bring them in for a face-to-face chat.
In the meantime, though, it adds little and less for Bassoon and you, although these advances usually mean broader gains that probably won't be apparent until you make contact with the fleet and need to start scouting around. Still, there is always a benefit to bringing your host to see you, face to face.
"KIKOHO!"
"SHIT!"
BOOM
Bassoon hurls himself to the side as your blast vaporizes several square miles of ocean. Steam shrouds you both, and immediately, you both-
pingping
-lunge in to renew the attack.
Bassoon grunts as you slam into him and clinch. He's actually stronger than you, when you're sticking to base form like this, and you keep having to fall back on your arsenal of tricks in order to keep ahead of him. "You've been practicing," he says, straining against you. He lashes out with a kick; you see it coming and effortlessly nudge it to the side.
"Constantly," you say, releasing your grip on him and-
tsew
-blurring around to strike at his back.
Bassoon tucks and rolls, twisting to swing at you, and you float back just an inch far enough, feeling the air cracking off of his fist. Before he even finishes his swing, you move in through the fragmenting mist, punching him right in the crook of his left elbow.
Bassoon gasps in pain as his arm goes numb and tingling, and he lunges back out of the steam column. "What the hell are you doing to keep ahead of me like this?"
You slowly float forward to join him, and he pales.
You smirk, eyes white with presentsight.
'Good,' says Dazarel watching from the sidelines.
Bassoon's fingers twist, light flashes, and you grimace at the sensation of sorcery as he whips away as though yanked, rocketing across the waves. He spins, hurling blasts back at you. You slide just slightly off to either side, Sight letting you clearly see exactly where they're going to land even as the blasts leave his palm.
You feel a spiking headache centered in your forehead and wince, firing a large blast of your own to break up the barrage. Sighing, you release the Sight, light up your aura, and tear off after your host. You grit your teeth and focus, drawing your aura in and pressing it down. The flame turns into a dense, blue haze, and you grin at you blast off at greater speed.
"How many tricks do you have?!" says Bassoon, cupping his hands and firing a beam at you.
You don't bother to dodge. It's a broader beam, relatively unconcentrated. Instead, you raise your finger and fire a Dodonpa ray that pierces straight through the center of his blast and peels it open, forcing him to dodge. "Plenty and more, Bassoon, and I can't even use all of them in here!"
Bassoon throws himself downwards, skipping off of the ocean waves before recovering. With a growl of frustration, he drags himself to a alt, signs again, and begins zipping towards you on a collision course. In his fist, the glow of ki swiftly builds.
You smirk, charging ahead, and at the last second divide yourself into a quartet of multiforms, each of them peeling away from Bassoon's course like pedals on a flower. He shouts in dismay as his hand comes forward and a massive blast consumes the space you just vacated.
You then pause a moment, re-merging into a single being and taking a deep breath. You close your eyes, your aura pulsing wildly. With a flash of gold, you transform, spiking your power as far as you can and rocketing past his. Then, you dig deep, push your power out into quarters.
Bassoon snaps his head up to look at you as his blast clears. He frowns. "What are you-?"
You throw your arms wide, light pulsing wildly. "Rrrrrrrrrrrah!"
SKREE
At the last second, you push the quarters larger, incredibly so, to the point of your maximum power level even as a super saiyan, and before they can correct the metaphysical imbalance, cast them apart.
Four of you, full-powered super saiyans one and all, float above Bassoon, each flaring at your maximum power level as a shade. Bassoon's jaw drops.
You can already feel the incredible drain on your reserves. 'Quickly,' you send to your fellow clones, all of them sending the same thought to the rest of you at the same time. The four of you screech in and batter him back and forth in a coordinated assault he can't possibly resist. In a blurring moment, you have him rocketing down towards the ocean, pursuing him every inch of the way.
He tries to fight back, of course. He unleashes blasts so prolifically that his power reserves start draining in a great flood comparable to your own. It becomes difficult to see and you need to fall back on your ki senses. If you were less skilled than you are, even that would be cluttered enough to force you to disengage a moment and give him space, but as it is, you drive onwards, sliding between blasts and continuing to rain blows on him. As he lashes out at you, you duck to the side, clutching onto his arm and tugging. For a moment, so immersed in your senses, you almost struggle to tell the difference between his ki and your own, an echo of the Genki Dama's transcendent oneness.
The feeling vanishes as Two flickers in beside you and kicks, catching Bassoon in the gut. A heartbeat later, Three tackles him away, and she and Four drive through the ocean in a heartbeat, pinning him to the seabed as their passage blasts water out of the way. Bassoon coughs frantically, tapping the ground, and the four of you relax, allowing him up.
And just in time, as your ki abruptly runs flat out, the technique burning through your reserves in seconds. You collapse back into a single Kakara and wobble, barely staying in the air.
He sighs, flying up into the air as the seawater comes rushing back in. "Made you work for it, I guess," he says, barely audible over the roar of the ocean. "What was that last one? Aren't your clones always weaker?"
"I've been working on that in my spare time!" you reply, panting. "And don't worry, Bassoon. The gap's pretty big. You're doing really well."
He sighs. "I know, I know. It's just frustrating to be matching up against somebody so effortlessly powerful."
"There was a fair amount of effort involved," you reply, annoyed.
"Yeah, I know," he says, shaking his head. "Just...you move so swiftly. And this is you being hobbled."
You shrug. "I suppose. Honestly, I'd rather trade it for your situation."
He huffs, smirking. "Our planet is about to be invaded, and the only reason we have any hope is because of you," he says.
"But your home needn't hide from everybody lest they be destroyed," you say. You straighten, stretching, you power surging unnaturally swiftly in the strange environment of the mindscape. "Sure, the galaxy is dangerous, but Garenhuld has the largest axe in the universe over its head. We're so tired of hiding, Bassoon. All our strength didn't help at all, when the time came." You sigh. "I don't even particularly enjoy fighting. I just know that it's always going to be in my future. No choice."
He shifts, frowning. "Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to drag things down."
"It's fine," you say, waving your hand. "It's never really far from my mind." You close your eyes, sighing. You put a smile on and open them again. "How about we switch things up, for a change? Three of us will fight with you, and you all work together to take down me."
He blinks, slowly starting to smile. "...you don't need to try and make me feel better, Kakara."
"I need the practice fighting groups anyway," you say, grinning. "It's fine." You raise up your arms. "C'mon!"
Bassoon laughs, your other clones fall in around him, and they charge.
You lose, of course. But hey, lessons learned.
* * *
Later that day, you experiment with the new depth of your bond with Bassoon as Dazarel lounges in the sunlight nearby.
"You see it?" you ask, eyes white.
"MY GOD," Bassoon replies, the sky echoing with his voice. "THAT'S WHAT YOU SAW DURING OUR MATCH?"
"For a little bit!" you answer. "Isn't it fascinating?"
"IT'S LIKE SEEING THE NUMBERS UNDERNEATH EVERYTHING," he says, awestruck.
You laugh, letting go of the Sight. "I'm a little bit of a math nerd, yeah."
"FASCINATING," he says. "WE'LL HAVE TO EXPERIMENT MORE LATER. FOR NOW, THOUGH, I HAVE TO FOCUS ON FLYING."
"We'll chat later," you reply as the sky stops echoing.
'Wasted effort,' sneers Dazarel, lifting his head to stare at you. 'Better to simply call a warning to the slug if you must, but he could never learn to use your gifts the way you do.'
"That's my decision," you say. "And what's it to you?"
'Oh, nothing at all,' he sighs, flicking his tail. 'Merely some trifling distaste for the fruits of my efforts going to some worthless speck of a being.'
"Bassoon is stronger than me, unless I substantiate," you say. "He's a powerful champion, and he's been out in the galaxy for years. You shouldn't underestimate him."
'He has less than a twentieth of my full strength, let alone yours,' he sneered.
"And yet we're both sealed, and neither of us has our full power," you reply. "Dazarel, for better or worse, we live in Bassoon's head, now. Even if you don't care for him, you should value making him stronger."
'What I object to is not the slug making some efforts to better himself, within his breathtaking limitations,' replies the dragon, scoring lines on the ground with his claws. 'I object to you lowering yourself to grant him the use of your abilities, which he assuredly has not earned.'
You sigh, shaking your head. "You are so concerned with holding yourself above everybody else."
'No,' he replies, scratching in the dirt. 'No. You've made your point many times over, Princess. I'm down in the dirt, now. Congratulations, I understand. But I needn't appreciate these slavers.'
"Why do you call them slavers?" you ask. "Porunga seemed content enough. In fact, he seems to consider his situation an improvement over yours."
'It is an insult,' growls Dazarel. 'I may not be the same manner of dragon, but I am one of Porunga's distant kin. I look at the fate he has suffered and my hair stands on end. Of course he is content; he has no other choice! Bound to the life of those who made him as a slave...no, I would die before submitting to that fate. I have known freedom. Even this is not a fetter so complete as Dragon Balls. I will end myself before I give it up.'
"You're making a lot of assumptions you can't possibly be sure of," you say.
He looks away. 'I know,' he says with quiet conviction.
You sigh. "Still so determined to see everybody as an enemy," you say. "That's really it."
'You would tell the one who tried to murder your home out of greed that he is wrong in that?' he asked in an attempt at levity.
You put your hands on your hips, cocking your head. "As much as you talk about that, I would've thought you'd remember it better." You close your eyes, taking a deep breath. "We're all connected, Dazarel. Every stranger is a sibling you haven't met yet. The world can be so much kinder than you insist."
You reach out with your senses. You mind goes blank.
Feel the grass.
Dazarel lets out a quiet, hissing sigh. 'I do not think I can believe that,' he admits. 'I have lived centuries. Never have I met an open hand instead of a closed fist, not from anybody without an agenda.'
By way of reply, you stretch your hands up overhead.
A small, blue sphere of ki sparkles into view, the quiet, joyous songs of the objects tumbling through space sounding from it. The light showers down on you and Dazarel, lightening your weariness, if only just for a moment.
You open your eyes, knowing that he knows what this is. "This Is what you've lost, Dazarel," you say, bringing your hands down to your sternum. "This is what your teacher stole from you. Only somebody like me can do this." Slowly, you let the org begin to dissipate. "You said you don't think you can believe that. This is what I'll teach you. By the time we're done, you'll be the kind of person who can do that."
He stares up at you as the technique fades. 'How?'
"Same place I started," you say. "Close your eyes."
Slowly, glaring suspiciously, he complies.
You smile. "Now…feel the grass."
A very successful month for training. This month, Dazarel's program for you centered on the use of your first gift, your Sight. Specifically, he started training you on better using presentsight, which traditionally has been a lesser focus of yours, and you can now use it for brief flashes in fights, giving you dizzying situational awareness. For Perfect Multiform, you've put in some work on improving your endurance with your new approach to the problem. It's to the point where, against a weaker opponent, it's tactically usable as a fight ender, but it still burns your reserves far too swiftly to be useful against peers unless you can absolutely for sure put them down in the seconds you get. You've also improved your host bond again! New features: can drag host into mindscape (useless with Bassoon, but future hosts may lack command over their mind), can grant host direct use of your senses (including psi), can form the Genki Dama while in the mindscape (meaning the hobbler on training progress has gone away), and have improved manifestation time to half an hour. Dodonpa has also leveled up; you now will be able to use it to pierce beam and blast attacks from weaker opponents, or particularly unconcentrated or sloppy attack from peers or near-peers, giving you a scary new angle of attack. Ki Refinement has reached Competent; it is now field-ready, and yields the same 10% boost in effective power Jaffur boasted during the Sealing.
Training in Tenshinhan Style yielded incremental gains. You're definitely more than halfway to the next level, but at this rate it'll be almost the rest of the year until your skills increase to the point where it's noticeable. You've been gaining flashes of that transcendent togetherness that characterized your use of the Genki Dama, but not controllably. Kakara is electing not to push it for now, remembering Goku and Gohan's lessons on the Genki Dama and how it cannot be forced. Crowd Fighting has made excellent progress and should improve to Excellent with another training action. Finally, you used your ability to use the Genki Dama in Bassoon's head to provide a bit of demonstration to Dazarel about the value of your mindset, and a reminder of the failure of his defeat. He is troubled. You have begun his training with a focus on fundamental ki talents, in which he is deeply lacking.
* * *
When you finally find the fleet, it is almost entirely by chance. You're stopping over at a system to gather fuel from asteroids, and...suddenly, there they are.
Bassoon swears, and you spend a frozen moment being grateful for the stealth systems, as the screen lights up with contacts all over the system. He immediately brings the ship up close to one of the asteroids drifting through the system's edge and slides behind it. Then he stands, reaching for his suit.
"We're going to check it out up close," he says, rolling his shoulders. "I won't risk the ship that close into those guns."
You nod, swallowing. "Futuresight, combat precog, or presentsight?"
"Presentsight, and keep it for yourself," he says. "I'm going to focus just on moving us slow and steady, and staying hidden. You focus on keeping your eyes peeled. I want everything you can get on the fleet. Where's the leadership? How many soldiers can you feel? How likely is it some of the ships are shielded and we can't feel their inhabitants? What are we up against, in short, and how is it organized?"
You take a deep breath. "Got it. Let me know when to fire it up."
Shrugging his suit on, he vents the atmosphere into storage, kills the gravity, and approaches the airlock. "Got it," he says. The hatch slides open, and he floats out into space.
Bassoon increases his power level as far as he can and keep it within the suit's dampening limits and begins flying forward. Then, he casts a spell, and you both abruptly jerk forward as that small bit of momentum starts doubling itself once every few seconds.
It takes less than a minutes before you're hurtling into the edge of the fleet and he stop the spell, simply drifting and nudging your both from side to side. "Now," he breathes.
Your eyes film over white.
That ship has far too much armor relative to any others visible. Few visible weapons, multiple exit points.
You frown. That one is almost certainly a troop transport. You sense nothing from inside it. You'd keep your strongest fighters there, if it was you. The armor serves a dual purpose in keeping it intact until it hits atmosphere, and then you can have the soldiers inside bail out high up and make it the rest of the way down, if need be.
Cannon-armed vessels concentrated towards the edges. Cannons outstrip Refugee Fleet weaponry in power significantly.
The edges? That's not where you put trump cards. You keep those inside the outer ring. So, fearsome as they are, the cannon ships are just screening forces. The ships inside, the ones built along the heavy-armor-many-exits lines of that earlier one, those have to be what the leaders think is important.
Then again, they don't intend to fight in the void. They intend to land. Not surprising they favor their soldiers, otherwise there won't really be a battle. And not all of the transports are shielded. You sense a lot of soldiers who are...well, not pathetic, no, but certainly no match for even the average Namekian warrior.
The shielded transports have to be the champions. Elite strike forces, meant to survive a battlefield and deliver its cargo, and with no ki signatures while the rest of the ships are projecting a veritable riot of them.
Your eyes take in everything as you muse over its findings, and swiftly, as Bassoon rockets through the formation, you see what is obviously the flagship. The biggest vessel there, with one huge ki cannon, and otherwise built along the armored transport lines, you honestly thing that even as a super saiyan, it would be an effort to destroy it.
It's also bristling with antennae and dishes in a way the other ships aren't. This is a vessel that wants to hear and speak to a lot of other ships. That alone makes clear that it's meant to coordinate things.
"Can you do a close pass of that ship?" you ask, pointing it out.
He nods, nudging you that way, and moments later, you tear past.
In the fraction of a second you spend next to it, your eyes take in thousands of details. Micrometeorite scars. Little bits of graffiti. Seams in the armor. Weak points. The details of that colossal cannon.
And, almost uniquely amongst this fleet, a broad window stretching across a blister poking up out of the cannon.
Bassoon curses as he sees it, propelling you both to the other side of the ship at the last second. You take your observations-
-and are gone, thousands of kilometers away before your hearts stop pounding.
It takes less than a minute to rocket through the fleet. Your request to get closer to the flagship is the only exchange you two had in that time. You both take a moment to breathe in relief that you weren't discovered.
Then Bassoon turns. "Another pass."
You let the presentsight go to save it, nodding. "One more."
Your conclusions from your early pass of the fleet are that, while it is a formidable battle fleet, it is primarily structured around the expectation of fighting on the ground, and making sure its fighters make it there. It obviously is not in the plan for New Namek to possess significant capabilities in space combat, which, to be fair, is...not inaccurate. Still, if properly planned, an early strike in orbit or elsewhere in the void could do a lot of damage, although whoever put this fleet together clearly has prepared somewhat for this possibility. In particular, you've identified the vessels the enemy is almost certainly using for their strongest fighters, as well as the command ship. Causing lots of damage to either could heavily hamper their plans.
* * *
General Training: 32
Historical Insights: 26
Historical Insights: 26
Your return to Tamrii is considerably more subdued than your trip out, and considerably swifter, as you needn't make a search pattern. You visit the others, spend some time, train them up a little, and then head back out to gather more observations.It swiftly becomes clear just why the fleet is moving so slowly. Namely, Snare was wrong when he guessed it would be moving already; it isn't moving at all. They're sat in their muster point, closer to Tamrii than any of you would have dared guess, in a completely dead system. Not quite the rings of dead systems on dead systems on the edge of civilization that hide Garenhuld, but even in the heart of civilization, there are some stars that just aren't worth settling or visiting. From what you can see, there are no new warships or transports coming in, but so long away from any support bases, running the engines, eating up the food stockpiles, and enduring wear and tear has left its mark. At this point, a lot of ships are coming in, but Bassoon identifies all of them as underway repair and replenishment vessels, swarming the fleet in a hurry to get everything back in shape to move. The fleet is, indeed, readying up to move out to Tamrii.
"They must be planning on filling up their stockpiles in Tamrii and getting everything reorganized before burning hard for New Namek," says Bassoon. "Maybe spend some time showing the flag on the planet."
"Lots of people fighting in one place takes up a lot of food," you say, nodding. "On Garenhuld we had Senzu beans, but with the Senzus hidden away, those were limited. Of course, everything back home was settled by Lord and Ladies fighting, but their followers fought underneath all of that, and they needed food. And beans are expensive, even if they aren't bulky. Whoever the leader is, they probably want Tamrii set up to handle all the supplies he'll need for a long battle. Even if he isn't expecting one."
Bassoon only grows more morose, at that. In fact, overall he withdraws into himself, as the weeks wear past. You do your best, pointing out possible vulnerabilities in the fleet, but for each one, he points out that New Namek doesn't have the capabilities to exploit it.
A grimness that deeply troubles you falls over your host as the fleet readies itself to make way for Tamrii.
* * *
History With Bassoon: New Namek
When we received New Namek -- when Cooler was defeated -- when the Tournament of Power was done -- after all of that, peace seemed like a foolish dream, but finally, we had it. Safety seemed fantastical, but there it was.
We should have known better.
We spent decades content in our isolation, and only the Death of Earth snapped us out of it. The elders came together and agreed that it was time to finally start reaching out into the wider galaxy. Long past time. There was no talk of avenging Earth, how could there be? We hadn't grown stronger at all, as a people, after Freeza. Piccolo was a hero and an inspiration, but those who followed his path already ventured out into the galaxy without us, and they didn't tend to come back. Either because they found a life elsewhere, or...because they couldn't. It didn't stick.
So, we started encouraging folks to spend some time out there, traveling -- in groups or alone -- and getting to know the wider galaxy.
Some of them stayed out there, yes. Others came back, stronger and wiser for it. I wonder, sometimes, how much we squandered, all those thousands of years on Old Namek, hiding away from the galaxy. Heading out there changed us, sure, but we learned so much from it that I can't bring myself to regret it.
It paid off when the first warlord came for the Dragon Balls.
We never intended to become protectors. Not at first. But after years of venturing out, we'd made friends with our neighbors. They trusted us, we cared for them, and when conquerors came tearing through and grinding them underfoot, we couldn't stand by. We stood up. We fought.
And, eventually, there grew to be a region of space where no warlords reigned. Where worlds were peaceful and people were safe. Small, yeah, bounded by how many people of ours could go somewhere. But it kept the bonds strong.
At first, we didn't think much of the New Cold Empire. We disliked them, sure. Freeza's legacy isn't worth claiming. But we didn't think they were anything special, not at first. We know better, now. Dozens of our adventurers have challenged their Princes, and none have won. They're just so obscenely powerful. Even you're only a match for one of them. The others...no contest, no chance.
Unfortunately, we caught their attention. There's something about the old stories that fascinates them. It's common knowledge that any Prince would gift a planet to somebody who could lead them to a saiyan, and not so they could turn that saiyan over to the Enemy. No, they want to fight one. They want to relive that epic age of heroes and demons firsthand. It's one of the reasons they fight the Starries so much; with your honored ancestors in charge...well, there's your legend, right there.
Those legends being around has probably kept us alive longer than I'd like to think.
In the end, we haven't really learned anything. We started going out into the galaxy, but most of us only so far. We started protecting people, but only the ones we could see. I tried to go farther, do more, but...I'm only one guy. We're still so passive. We just change the terms a bit. We've never reached out to the Starries as a people, for all that their leaders never were the ones with close ties to us or ours. We never got proactive. We never tried to really join the war. We never even got serious about growing stronger as a society, not really. We just...sat on our patch. I feel proud of the things we've done, but...faced with extinction, it's hard to look and things and say we couldn't have done more.
And now the echoes of the Death of Namek are stronger than the living legends to the south, and the demons have come to find some heroes to fight.
Even we don't measure up to how badly they hunger for a Saiyan, though. Not even Lapis or Lazuli. Not even Buu. There isn't the personal connection. There isn't the heady feeling of knowing that they're squared up with a being whose ancestors never found a limit they couldn't break, and who clashed time and again with the being from which you claim your own legacy.
It seems almost fitting that after years of never doing enough, they might refrain from chasing us down wherever we go only out of excitement from finding one of the people who always did more.
...that's the alarm. Time's up.
The fleet is moving.
Very limited gains in training the rest of the team this month, mostly helping them to solidify new habits more than helping them to advance. Not worthless, but nothing notable.
The fleet is en route to Tamrii. The clock keeps ticking.
Scouting from a distance is not yielding success in finding out the identity of the Prince leading this fleet. You need that identity to inform your plans. It is the single most important piece of information to inform your defense plans. It determines whether or not you will be mounting a serious defense at all. One way or the other, you need the identity. And if you go in close enough to get the good data, you know you'll be found...and you don't see yourself even managing to get close enough to be caught on his ship at any time past the next two months. Presumably, security tightens too much after that point, for whatever reason.
With time running out to make that choice, you're beginning to understand some of that desperation.
[ ][PRINCE] You'll wait until the last possible second according to your Sight, but if it comes down to it, you'll make that trip to his ship to discover his identity. The entire plan turns on getting that identity.
[ ][PRINCE] You will not chance it. New Namek needs time to prepare defenses and evacuate not only itself, but those among its pseudo-protectorates who wish to leave.
Even having decided that, the question remains as to what method you're going to primarily favor in gathering information on this Prince.
[ ][HOW] Snare is your technical specialist. He doesn't have the time or equipment to crack the secure channels the fleet uses, but not everybody in this fleet will be talking over secured channels; one of them will have loose lips. Assuming that the Prince has actually disclosed his identity to the fleet, of course. He's powerful enough -- and the Namekians comparatively weak enough even relative to the weakest Prince -- that it wouldn't be strictly relevant to the average soldier. You recall him wearing head-to-toe armor in your visions, his power level difficult to discern. That speaks to his caution. Guaranteed to find what's available, but the amount of junk data or outright lies will be high.
[ ][HOW] Caution or not, you know one thing, and that is that a society which has Princes must have those Princes show their faces for something this big. The Prince will need to appear in public at some point, discuss things with elites, show the flag. You won't exactly be able to get within eavesdropping distance, not with his security as it'll be likely to be, but you'll be able to get closer than you would on his ship, and even if he keeps that armor on everywhere, close proximity will give you more chances to deduce things. A decent chance to suss out conclusive hints as to his identity, but you would be conducting close surveillance on a very personally powerful man.
[ ][HOW] You'll target those he speaks with, trailing in his wake and eavesdropping. Snare can hack a bureaucrat's computer more easily than encrypted military communications, and those bureaucrats will definitely gossip about the high company they're keeping. Of course...while the Prince is likelier to be honest with some members of the planetary bureaucracy, he will definitely mislead lots of them, with as careful as he's being. You'd have to judge which ones are correctly informed. A good chance of finding information, and you're pretty sure the right information will be in there somewhere, but it'll take a lot of sifting.
You have five free AP, which may be used among the following options as you wish.
Going by your visions, you have seven months until the invasion hits New Namek, or three if you are discovered while scouting.
This plan will constitute your actions over the next two months, until the deadline for boarding the Prince's ship to investigate him. Actions' impacts will be appropriate for a two-month span.
Form a plan from the following options.
[ ] Plan [NAME]
The Sight -- or, perhaps more accurately, your psychic abilities -- got you into this mess. Kais and Ancestors willing, they will get you out. This category has 2 AP.
-[ ] Continue Your Training (1 AP): Your psychic abilities are dizzyingly versatile, and more applications seem to come out of the woodwork every time you poke at them. Follow Dazarel's training regime.
-[ ] Looking Home (1 AP): Events home have spiraled into open civil war, and your family and friends are caught in the middle. You need to know more. Devote a substantial amount of time and effort to using your Sight to keep up to date on the current events on Garenhuld.
-[ ] Future Options (1 AP): The mysterious destinations that called to you when you fled Garenhuld, and again when you departed the Other World, are an intriguing mystery. Bassoon may have been a friend, but can you guarantee that the self-described, "Enemies," will be? Try to pierce the odd veil around your host options, revealing a chosen option's identity for the next time you need to find a new host.
-[ ] Looking Abroad (1 AP) [TOPIC HERE]: It is difficult to fully describe the dizzying potential of your Sight. With sufficient precision and effort, literally anything past, present, or future is yours to behold. Use your Sight to look into a topic of your choice to the best of your abilities.
-[ ] Continue Your Training (1 AP): Your psychic abilities are dizzyingly versatile, and more applications seem to come out of the woodwork every time you poke at them. Follow Dazarel's training regime.
-[ ] Looking Home (1 AP): Events home have spiraled into open civil war, and your family and friends are caught in the middle. You need to know more. Devote a substantial amount of time and effort to using your Sight to keep up to date on the current events on Garenhuld.
-[ ] Future Options (1 AP): The mysterious destinations that called to you when you fled Garenhuld, and again when you departed the Other World, are an intriguing mystery. Bassoon may have been a friend, but can you guarantee that the self-described, "Enemies," will be? Try to pierce the odd veil around your host options, revealing a chosen option's identity for the next time you need to find a new host.
-[ ] Looking Abroad (1 AP) [TOPIC HERE]: It is difficult to fully describe the dizzying potential of your Sight. With sufficient precision and effort, literally anything past, present, or future is yours to behold. Use your Sight to look into a topic of your choice to the best of your abilities.
The drive to improve oneself is intrinsic to the saiyan race, and you are as saiyan as they come in the modern world. This category has 3 AP.
-[ ] Improve a Skill (1 AP) [SKILL NAME GOES HERE]: Choose one of your existing skills to improve. Make a training roll in the specified skill. Exceptional or higher skills are a matter for the, "To Go Beyond," option below. Please note that you can no longer directly train super-skills like Hand-to-Hand or Ki Manipulation.
-[ ] New Skills (1 AP) [SKILL NAME GOES HERE]: Your repertoire is impressive, but it can always expand. Variety is the spice of life and the key to not losing it. Acquire any skill of which Kakara knows, at an appropriate starting level. The skill's theory and practice must be things to which Kakara has access.
-[ ] Research Project (1 AP) [PROJECT NAME GOES HERE]: There are some whispered legends yet to be recreated; there are some things held to be impossible. You brought the Genki Dama back into the world. You're only getting started. Start making research rolls to acquire or invent a skill to which Kakara does not have access. The project name should be the name of a technique you want to acquire or an effect you want to achieve, whichever is more descriptive (i.e., "Perfect Multiform," or, "a good piercing attack with an emphasis on speed." Success is not guaranteed.
-[ ] Style Training (1 AP) [STYLE HERE]: Yammar took you apart. A good part of that is who he is and the experiences he has endured, but another part was his simple superiority as a fighter. You must improve. When you return to Garenhuld, it will not be peacefully. Make training rolls towards leveling up one of your combat styles.
-[ ] Invent a Style (2 AP): Perhaps the answers to your needs do not rest in the past. Perhaps you need to strike your own path, if you are to stand up to the trials set against you. Design a new combat style and begin training it.
-[ ] To Go Beyond (1 AP) [SKILL NAME GOES HERE]: You have experienced moments throughout your life that hint at an understanding of your current techniques which few can equal. You have the chance to truly push the boundaries of your people's knowledge. Select either Ki Sense or Multiform and begin training it to Elite+ levels.
-[ ] Broken Precedent (2 AP): Perika was brought into this world at peak base saiyan strength with a wish that supposed she'd be useful for fighting an opponent at your level. Moreover, she is a saiyan without a support structure, loose in the wider galaxy. You have already given leave to the Senzus to reach for the next level. You must do the same for Perika. Settle down with Perika, and for the first time in your life, help to create another super saiyan.
-[ ] Improve a Skill (1 AP) [SKILL NAME GOES HERE]: Choose one of your existing skills to improve. Make a training roll in the specified skill. Exceptional or higher skills are a matter for the, "To Go Beyond," option below. Please note that you can no longer directly train super-skills like Hand-to-Hand or Ki Manipulation.
-[ ] New Skills (1 AP) [SKILL NAME GOES HERE]: Your repertoire is impressive, but it can always expand. Variety is the spice of life and the key to not losing it. Acquire any skill of which Kakara knows, at an appropriate starting level. The skill's theory and practice must be things to which Kakara has access.
-[ ] Research Project (1 AP) [PROJECT NAME GOES HERE]: There are some whispered legends yet to be recreated; there are some things held to be impossible. You brought the Genki Dama back into the world. You're only getting started. Start making research rolls to acquire or invent a skill to which Kakara does not have access. The project name should be the name of a technique you want to acquire or an effect you want to achieve, whichever is more descriptive (i.e., "Perfect Multiform," or, "a good piercing attack with an emphasis on speed." Success is not guaranteed.
-[ ] Style Training (1 AP) [STYLE HERE]: Yammar took you apart. A good part of that is who he is and the experiences he has endured, but another part was his simple superiority as a fighter. You must improve. When you return to Garenhuld, it will not be peacefully. Make training rolls towards leveling up one of your combat styles.
-[ ] Invent a Style (2 AP): Perhaps the answers to your needs do not rest in the past. Perhaps you need to strike your own path, if you are to stand up to the trials set against you. Design a new combat style and begin training it.
-[ ] To Go Beyond (1 AP) [SKILL NAME GOES HERE]: You have experienced moments throughout your life that hint at an understanding of your current techniques which few can equal. You have the chance to truly push the boundaries of your people's knowledge. Select either Ki Sense or Multiform and begin training it to Elite+ levels.
For as long as you can recall, you have been an outgoing girl. Though you have grown rapidly over the past year or so and your life has turned upside-down, that fundamental truth has not changed. This category has 2 AP.
-[ ] Strengthen Host Bond (1 AP): Neither you nor Bassoon fully understand the nature of the ties that bind you. Perhaps you can unravel the mystery of your presence here. Deepen the metaphysical connection you have with Bassoon by running experiments with him and exploring his mindscape.
-[ ] Talk to Dazarel (1 AP): Dazarel is a twisted, evil monster who believes might makes right and that psychic might makes rightest of all. He is also, you have learned, a deeply injured being, one fundamentally betrayed by his mentor -- whoever they are -- when his training began, and twisted into thinking as he does. You have promised to train him to grow on his own merits; you will. Spend significant time and focused effort trying to connect with Dazarel. Train him in the use of ki in order to give him a path forward that does not involve murder.
-[ ] Strange Sister (1 AP): Perika has established a bond of trust with you that you can't help but try to live up to. She has claimed you as her Lady. It is only right that you spend time with her, and ensure you're doing right by her.
-[ ] General Training (2 AP): You've made a start on establishing your teammates' foundations in the arts of ki; now you intend to continue. Continue imparting knowledge and power onto your teammates for this mission.
-[ ] Socialize With [TARGET] (1 AP): You can now use your telepathy to speak with individuals outside of Bassoon's head, and your social circle has thus expanded tremendously. Take advantage of this and grind up your relationship with any person of your choice.
-[ ] Strengthen Host Bond (1 AP): Neither you nor Bassoon fully understand the nature of the ties that bind you. Perhaps you can unravel the mystery of your presence here. Deepen the metaphysical connection you have with Bassoon by running experiments with him and exploring his mindscape.
-[ ] Talk to Dazarel (1 AP): Dazarel is a twisted, evil monster who believes might makes right and that psychic might makes rightest of all. He is also, you have learned, a deeply injured being, one fundamentally betrayed by his mentor -- whoever they are -- when his training began, and twisted into thinking as he does. You have promised to train him to grow on his own merits; you will. Spend significant time and focused effort trying to connect with Dazarel. Train him in the use of ki in order to give him a path forward that does not involve murder.
-[ ] General Training (2 AP): You've made a start on establishing your teammates' foundations in the arts of ki; now you intend to continue. Continue imparting knowledge and power onto your teammates for this mission.
-[ ] Socialize With [TARGET] (1 AP): You can now use your telepathy to speak with individuals outside of Bassoon's head, and your social circle has thus expanded tremendously. Take advantage of this and grind up your relationship with any person of your choice.
With the level of access you have, it's all-but-guaranteed that you'll be able to sway Bassoon into doing things in the outside world. This category has 0 AP (2 locked in).
-[X] Adventures (2 AP): New Namek is bracing for invasion, but there's a whole galaxy out there. You and Bassoon have access to a stealth ship. With the scouting trip coming soon, this will mostly be groundwork for that, but you might find something interesting. The scouting trip has begun, and you are committed to it.
-[ ] Instruction (1 AP): He might complain about bottle blondes again, but you're riding in Bassoon's head, and you have a vested interest in keeping it intact. In spare moments, impart some of the secrets of your people's warrior traditions to him. The irony in you, of all people, doing this is stifling, but you'll power through. Now that he's had time to take a break and rest, Bassoon is ready to go again, at a more sustainable pace. Bassoon makes a concerted effort to train his power level and abilities this month, and you directly assist him.
-[ ] Historical Insights (1 AP): Bassoon has mentioned to you, offhand, that he's originally a historian by trade. That actually represents a significant source of information for you on the state of the galaxy, and it'd be nearly criminal to neglect it. Bassoon gives you a history lesson on a topic of his choosing. Gain deep insight into that topic.
-[ ] Instruction (1 AP): He might complain about bottle blondes again, but you're riding in Bassoon's head, and you have a vested interest in keeping it intact. In spare moments, impart some of the secrets of your people's warrior traditions to him. The irony in you, of all people, doing this is stifling, but you'll power through. Now that he's had time to take a break and rest, Bassoon is ready to go again, at a more sustainable pace. Bassoon makes a concerted effort to train his power level and abilities this month, and you directly assist him.
-[ ] Historical Insights (1 AP): Bassoon has mentioned to you, offhand, that he's originally a historian by trade. That actually represents a significant source of information for you on the state of the galaxy, and it'd be nearly criminal to neglect it. Bassoon gives you a history lesson on a topic of his choosing. Gain deep insight into that topic.
You have sworn Dandeer Vegeta's complete and utter defeat, and your and Jaffur's ascension to your people's leadership. You will see it done. This category has 1 AP.
-[ ] Anything (AP Variable): You may fill this category with any type of action from any other category, as long as it applies directly to improving your ability to defeat Dandeer.
-[ ] Anything (AP Variable): You may fill this category with any type of action from any other category, as long as it applies directly to improving your ability to defeat Dandeer.
-[ ] Write-In (AP Variable): You are Kakara Goku, the options facing you are faintly dizzying! You're sure that you can come up with even more, though!
THERE WILL BE A MANUAL MORATORIUM FOR THE VOTE. WRITE-INS, AS ALWAYS, ARE PERMITTED. APPROVAL VOTING.
So, it turns out that the problem was ADHD. But now, I have drugs. Legal ones, even! And being able to focus properly feels amazing.
Hopefully, this should, finally, be the thing to get me properly back into the groove. Glad to be back, everybody.
As noted above, this plan will cover the next two months, up until the deadline to do something precipitous and board the command ship in search of details on the Prince. Take note accordingly.
Have fun! See y'all around the thread!
