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Dragon Ball: After the End

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I'd like to have everything lined up before I go to sleep, so go ahead and take a second round of rolls per person if you like. We have nine and need to get fifteen, so six more.
 
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Sweet Baby Kami That's A Lot of Training
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    • [X] Plan Deathbybunnies - General Training
    -[X] Sight (2 AP)
    --[X] Continue Your Training (1 AP)
    --[X] Looking Abroad (1 AP) [Tien Style]: Utilize our Sight to view Tien himself and/or historical Masters of Tien Style, to supplement our own Style Training (Free AP)
    -[X] Training (3 + 3 AP)
    --[X] Improve a Skill (1 AP) [Dodonpa]
    --[X] Improve a Skill (1 AP) [Kikoho]
    --[X] Improve a Skill (1 AP) [Crowd Fighting]
    --[X] Style Training (1 AP) [Tien Style] (Free AP)
    --[X] To Go Beyond (1 AP) [Perfect Multiform] (Free AP)
    --[X] To Go Beyond (1 AP) [Ki Sense - All Is One] (Free AP)
    -[X] Social (2 + 2 AP)
    --[X] Strengthen Host Bond (1 AP)
    --[X] Talk to Dazarel (1 AP)
    --[X] General Training (2 AP)
    -[X] The Outside World (1 Free AP)
    --[X] Instruction (Free AP)
    -[X] A Cause (1 AP)
    --[X] Improve a Skill (1 AP) [Genki Dama]

    [X][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.
    [X][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.

    [X] Perika has developed a personal technique around which the nucleus of her own style is beginning to form.

    Sweet Baby Kami That's A Lot of Training



    ​
    "Hey, Scion?" asks Snare, the tech specialist watching his fellow adventurers sweating and swearing through their exercises as he sips water from his perch on the pilot seat.

    'Yeah?' you reply, glancing over to him.

    "Why are you like this?" he asks.

    'Hey!' you reply, scowling.

    "Seconded," groans Bugle.

    "Getting curious," grunts Lyre.

    Flute just lays on his back, staring up at the ceiling. "I want to die," he says in a calm tone of voice.

    'Seriously?' you say, dismayed. 'Bassoon?'

    Your host pauses in the middle of a push-up, arms shaking. "...sorry," he gasps, starting another.

    'Whiners,' you grumble. 'I did it! You all can too!'

    Lyre drops out of his stance, halfway collapsing down to the ground. "Okay, there's the line." He faces Bassoon, and you. "Scion. Kakara. Scary lady who can vaporize planets with a backhand. You have done nothing, for the past few months, but train."

    You blush, glad that only Bassoon can see. 'That's not true! I've...uh...talked...to you all?'

    "Yes," interjects Flute, hauling himself off the ground and sitting up. "While training. Lyre's being flippant, and exaggerating, I imagine, but he isn't entirely wrong."

    'I've used my Sight to do some research!' you offer, grimacing.

    Bassoon gasps as his arms give out and he faceplants. He speaks without bothering to lift his head. "Kakara, you're in my head, and you've been sharing your visions by default since we figured out how to do that. For practice. And training. You've been looking up historical resources on your combat style."

    You rub at the back of your head, biting your lip.

    'Um...' you dither, chuckling awkwardly. 'I've been...chatting with Dazarel?'

    They all groan at that. "Training the Genocide Dragon does not count!" yells Lyre.

    You sigh, sitting down in the grass. 'Okay, fine, I guess it's been...kind of a lot.'

    Bassoon lifts his head up from the floor, eyes narrowed.

    'Definitely a lot,' you amend. 'But, well...when else?' You spread your hands, gesturing up at the sky. 'I mean, we're all stuck here whenever- okay, hang on.' You leap up, up, up, past the point where things start to stretch and twist in weird ways, and-

    tak

    You land on the floor of Bassoon's ship, Dazarel sleeping on your shoulder. You take a breath and wrinkle your nose as the scent of sweaty Namekians. "Okay, yeah, I've been pushing hard."

    Bugle, bent over and panting, shoots her a dirty look. "Our stink is your fault, Scion."

    "Granted!" you say, raising your hands. "But look, we're stuck here anyways whenever we're not out scouting. And things are coming to a head soon, one way or the other. We're not going to have time for this for much longer, and this is the best time to do it. I...I want us to be prepared..." You duck your head, whispering, "...when the time comes."

    The silence that falls in response to that is heavy. You feel your teammates glancing back and forth for a moment before Bassoon levers himself off of the ground, cursing under his breath. "...Kakara, I understand, but this isn't going to be like with Dandeer."

    You scowl, gritting your teeth. "You're right," you snap. "It's not."

    He puts a hand on your shoulder. You stiffen, snapping your head around to stare at him. He raises his other hand. "Hey. I'm not attacking you. I understand your concerns. But I'm talking about the situation. It's different. Either it's Haila and you can beat him already, or it isn't and we have to run."

    You shrug his hand off. "I've thought that way before. I've dealt with too many surprises I wasn't counting on to do it again. I am a surprise nobody's counting on. I need to be as much of one as possible. Maybe Haila has an ally who can counter me. Maybe Haila has been holding back! I can't-" You drag yourself to a halt, taking a quick, sharp breath. "...there is too much resting on this for me to take it easy now. I don't know how to unlock my next transformation, and I'm not getting any stronger until I do. I need to be better. Last time I lost because I wasn't as good as my opponents. I can't let that happen again."

    Silence falls. You sigh, rolling your shoulders to work some tension out. "...let's just get to work. You only have another hour before your next break."

    It is at that moment, as you shift your weight, that your sleeping shoulder dragon abruptly overbalances and topples to the ground, screeching in panic as he snaps awake. Claws skitter on the floor as he scrabbles up and starts trying to run to gain momentum for flight. 'WHAT'S HAPPENING? WHY ARE WE OUT? WHY...why...?' He slowly slides to a halt, looking around at the Namekians, all of whom are staring at him with disbelief and amusement. His head droops, and he turns to you, eyes narrowed. 'I hate you.'

    You growl, pinching at the bridge of your nose. "Oh, goodie. A volunteer." You reach out and tug him into your hand with your mind. "Dazarel, show us what you've learned lately."

    He hisses in indignation, but complies, starting to go through his exercises. You fold your arms, watching impassively as your teammates get back to work on their own training.

    * * *​

    Active Reconnaissance: 84 vs. 159. Success!
    ​
    You've had to be crafty, on occasion, but only rarely stealthy, and never for this long. When it comes down it, you have to admit that your approach to solving problems you can't talk your way through is very straightforward.

    This sneaking and creeping about sits extremely poorly.

    tsew-tsew tsew tsew

    Bassoon rockets across the city at full power, concealed only by his armor as he flash-steps from cover to cover in the wake of the warlord's transport. He pulls on every ounce of magic and ki he has, moving only when the distant warriors escorting the ship down through the atmosphere are looking away, all the while having to keep behind the ship and its supporting craft so their sensors don't pick him up. It's tense. It pulls on every scrap of ability and strength in his body.

    It is so kais-damned boring.

    If you were out there, you could just teleport into position and have done, and yet you're watching Bassoon do -- well, his best, sure, but baby stuff by your personal standards. You'd rather leave it up to one of the others, but Bugle is racing around planting devices all over the city for Snare, Flute is on standby as heavy backup in case somebody gets made, and Lyre is helping Snare. Bassoon is the man on the spot.

    And he wouldn't even be doing this much if it weren't for the need to keep within a certain distance of the transport.

    "I'm losing it, Bassoon!" snaps Snare over the comm.

    Your host grits his teeth. "I'm. Trying!" he snaps. "This isn't easy!"

    "Should I have asked Flute?"

    "Oh, fuck you!" replies Bassoon. "That's cheap!"

    "He's the strongest," says Snare, sounding almost bored.

    "Yeah, barely!" says Bassoon, sounding wounded now. "I get a double dose of training from Kakara since I share my head with her! I've been catching up, believe me!"

    "I feel like I should be insulted that you're talking about me like I'm some horrible challenge," you observe, smirking.

    "Not now, Kakara!" yells Bassoon.

    "Why, what's she saying?" asks Snare.

    "Not now, Snare!" roars your host, launching himself across a block in a blur of speed.

    You open a line of telepathy with your tech specialist directly. 'How's the hacking stuff going, anyway? You in yet?'

    'I've been in,' he says. 'What do you think this involves?'

    'Dunno,' you reply, folding your hands behind your head and leaning back. 'I never got much into tech. Thought about it when I was little, never followed through. I mostly know what you'd see in movies.'

    Snare grumbles. '...probably inaccurate,' he manages with strained politeness.

    'Probably,' you admit. 'So watcha doing?'

    'I got in using the comms the ship uses to contact ground control,' replies Snare. 'I hacked that first. Bugle planted something for me. I'm just looking at stuff, now. I can only get into the navigation computer this way, though, it's all that talks directly to the comm on the ship. I don't think we're going to get an answer in here, but I'll keep looking.'

    'Damn. Okay, I'll quit distracting you,' you say. You cut the line and go back to watching as Bassoon moves across the city.

    Eventually, the transport comes to a halt, settling down in a crowded plaza of titanic size as its escorting warriors peel away with auras alight in a spectacular display, and Bassoon drops down into a more settled piece of cover on a roof, breathing hard. Down below is a sea of people, most of them the diminutive natives of Tamrii, all cheering and chanting as their Prince arrives. Security is everywhere; Bassoon has touched down not far away from one guard standing watch over the crowd. And then, you watch as a scene from your visions plays out.

    As the ramp on the ship drops, the gathered citizens go wild, leaping about as they cheer for the figure coming down the ramp. You catch a flash of bright, bright green-

    -as the Prince emerges from his ship, aura alight. The cheering is like a bomb in its intensity. You feel Bassoon flinching a bit at the volume. The Prince's armored form strides slowly down the ramp, taking his time for dramatic effect. As he nears the bottom of the ramp and steps off, his arms spread wide, beckoning for more. The crowd starts throwing...pamphlets? Yes, small pamphlets with large, blocky writing. You wordlessly grant Bassoon your Sight and nudge him. "The pamphlets-"

    "Yeah," he grunts squinting. "That's- okay, that's Galactic Standard. Blocky, amateurish."

    You peer at the unfamiliar characters and your borrowed Sight causes them to swim into sight. "What do they say?"

    "Good health, safety, victory, that sort of thing. Blessing talismans, I'll bet, I've seen stuff like this before. Has to be a local custom, no way they'd be allowed to throw things at the Prince otherwise." He settles back on his heels, sighing explosively. "Damn, that sprint was exhausting."

    Naturally, at that point, the Prince steps fully off of his transport and it starts lifting off.

    Bassoon growls quietly. "Snare, the ship is lifting off! Please tell me you have everything you need!"

    There's a slight delay. When Snare responds, it's harried. 'No can do! I'm copying data still! I need like three more minutes! Can you give me that?'

    Lyre actually responds to this. 'We can. I'm looking at the Air Traffic Control data. The transport is cleared to withdraw on the same trajectory as it arrived.'

    Bassoon sighs and prepares to rise. "Fine. Getting ready to-"

    tak

    You tense. He freezes. A figure in power armor touches down next to the nearby security officer.

    It's one of the warriors from the transport's escort. Clad head-to-toe in bone white power armor with a blood-red visor, they cut an imposing sight. From what you can see, they're humanoid, and...well, probably female, unless some other species has a different reason for that exact body shape.

    They approach the security officer and get their attention before tapping their helmet. A moment later, the two start gesturing, clearly having a conversation you can't hear.

    Bassoon hisses. "I do not want to repeat that routine so close to one of the Prince's champions," he says.

    "Me neither," you mutter, eyes fixed on the threat. "How badly do we need the data?"

    "No real way to tell," he replies. "Not unless we get it. It's probably nothing, but...maybe somebody got careless and we answer this whole thing right now."

    You bite your lip, watching the transport start to really get underway.


    What do you do?

    [ ] The data's a long shot and it isn't your primary plan, but with the possibility of ending your search immediately, you have to try. Go after the ship and hope Bassoon's experience in evading contact keeps him unnoticed.
    [ ] Don't try it. The champions are going to be a cut above, and this data was more of a bonus you could take care of during your primary mission. Settle in to watch the show.
    [ ] Dispatch Flute to do it. Snare will have to switch over to using Flute's communicator as his relay, which will cost him time, but it's not worth the risk of moving now. Of course, Flute is supposed to be the strong backup in the event of disaster.
    [ ] Write-in.

    MANUAL MORATORIUM. WRITE-INS WELCOME. APPROVAL VOTING.

    Well, yesterday I passed out as soon as dinner was over, almost literally. But I got it done today!

    Welcome back! Future updates will deal with the training outcomes as we move through this plan. For now, intelligence gathering. Have fun!
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • This seems like way too big a chance of getting caught for something that probably won't get us what we need. Especially since Bassoon's barely had a chance to catch his breath.
     
    [ ] The data's a long shot and it isn't your primary plan, but with the possibility of ending your search immediately, you have to try. Go after the ship and hope Bassoon's experience in evading contact keeps him unnoticed.
    I like this best, but it's fighting w/ "Just let things go by as normal". I feel like worst case we can just pop out and IT out, I'd guess? Might not be noticable, can do in masque etc. Feels reasonable given margin of success earlier too.
     
    Jirachi47 said:
    Feels reasonable given margin of success earlier too.
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    I'd assume that our earlier margin of success was what bought us this opportunity, but that it provides no guarantees about our ability to safely exploit it. Personally I think I'm most inclined to let it pass? IIUC, we picked the investigation option that (a) seems to have the most solid chance of finding an answer without a pile of accompanying junk and (b) has the specific drawback of the surveillance itself being risky to conduct.
     
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    PoptartProdigy said:
    I don't know how to unlock my next transformation, and I'm not getting any stronger until I do. I need to be better. Last time I lost because I wasn't as good as my opponents. I can't let that happen again."
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    Kakara, Kakara, you lost last time because you (and by you I mean we-the-voters) weren't as sneaky as your opponents. If you-we had been sneaky enough to seriously consider some of the angles we hadn't left covered, we'd have been fine.

    Whereas being 10% or 20% more dangerous in a fight... probably wouldn't have done the trick, given how things played out, unless I'm missing something.

    "Yeah, barely!" says Bassoon, sounding wounded now. "I get a double dose of training from Kakara since I share my head with her! I've been catching up, believe me!"

    "I feel like I should be insulted that you're talking about me like I'm some horrible challenge," you observe, smirking.

    "Not now, Kakara!" yells Bassoon.

    "Why, what's she saying?" asks Snare.

    "Not now, Snare!" roars your host, launching himself across a block in a blur of speed.
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    This would work so well as DBAE:Abridged content.

    Right up there with Kakara just yelling DOOOODGE inside Bassoon's head and Bassoon casually doing some awesome three-dimensional aerobatic ninja-flip to get out of the way of an attack.

    It's one of the warriors from the transport's escort. Clad head-to-toe in bone white power armor with a blood-red visor, they cut an imposing sight. From what you can see, they're humanoid, and...well, probably female, unless some other species has a different reason for that exact body shape.
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    Heh. Not out of the question, though if the species of nonhumans we've seen in Dragonball are representative... a rare possibility.

    From the sound of it, this particular armored figure may not be particularly subtly shaped, either.
     
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    I forget the details. Could we pop out, teleport Bassoon to some innocuous spot on the ship, then pop back into his mind, without using troublesome power-levels? Site-to-site relocation with no intervening interference seems pretty low-visibility to me, so unless they have relevant teleportation countermeasures...

    Of course, it would burn our ability to intervene in fights, but doing that without power-masking would be a Bad Thing anyway, so it probably isn't much loss? Have we burned through it already or can only teleport ourselves or something?

    I am accustomed to Freiza's top people being a bit, well, namek saga... so my inclination to underestimate their faculties leaves me mistrusting my estimations...
     
    Well, remember, the Namekian heroes we're working with have power levels in the tens of millions; it seems reasonable to assume that the Cold Empire prince we're dealing with has top-level goons of comparable power level.

    And because they're being written by PoptartProdigy instead of Akira Toriyama, they almost certainly aren't as big a bunch of slapstick-prone goofballs as Dodoria, Zarbon, and the Ginyu Force were.
     
    Aunty Shi Ping said:
    I forget the details. Could we pop out, teleport Bassoon to some innocuous spot on the ship, then pop back into his mind, without using troublesome power-levels? Site-to-site relocation with no intervening interference seems pretty low-visibility to me, so unless they have relevant teleportation countermeasures...

    Of course, it would burn our ability to intervene in fights, but doing that without power-masking would be a Bad Thing anyway, so it probably isn't much loss? Have we burned through it already or can only teleport ourselves or something?

    I am accustomed to Freiza's top people being a bit, well, namek saga... so my inclination to underestimate their faculties leaves me mistrusting my estimations...
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    You could, but teleporting onto the ship, blind, is immensely risky in terms of getting caught.

    The Empire employs very personally formidable soldiers, with power levels having risen considerably since the show's era. The team all have power levels in the tens of millions and they do not want to take the fight implied by a Prince's personal guard while on a stealth mission.
    Axeor the dark said:
    How do we compare to the others in the people in space by the way I'm not new just I mostly lurk quest I like
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    Skills are hard to quantify, but in terms of power, then depending on which Prince this is, you're either the most dangerous thing for months in any direction, or the second most.
     
    Simon_Jester said:
    Well, remember, the Namekian heroes we're working with have power levels in the tens of millions; it seems reasonable to assume that the Cold Empire prince we're dealing with has top-level goons of comparable power level.

    And because they're being written by PoptartProdigy instead of Akira Toriyama, they almost certainly aren't as big a bunch of slapstick-prone goofballs as Dodoria, Zarbon, and the Ginyu Force were.
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    On the flip side we have a Pretty One here. We just need a Big Dumb one and One With Weird Powers…..
     
    Axeor the dark said:
    How do we compare to the others in the people in space by the way I'm not new just I mostly lurk quest I like
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    as a Full Power Super Saiyan (FPSSJ), we're kind of a big deal. There ARE bigger deals around, though.

    All but one of the Frost Demon princes are stronger than us. We don't know if any of them have servants/champions stronger than us, but it's possible.

    There's also Android 17, 18 and Buu somewhere else in the Galaxy.

    There's the other super saiyans back home. in particular Yammar (if he's still alive), Jaffur and probably Berra. I think we're stronger than grandma Apra though, and I'm not sure about Vegeta Vegeta, lord of clan Vegeta and House Vegeta, descendant of Vegeta.

    and then, of course, there's the Enemy, and everyone in the afterlife.


    We literally CAN'T get stronger at this point, at least in terms of raw power. We just can get more skilled. And we can't use our full power openly because it might be sensed by the Enemy, or someone reporting to him.

    When using Spirit Saiyan our strength varies a lot depending on how many (and how strong) people are gifting Ki to us. Against Dazarel we hit 300 billions, roughly 300 times our current max strength... and, to put that into perspective, thanks to information from a roleplaying thread that shares setting/system with this quest, I can tell you that the ABSOLUTE MAX a ssj3 can reach is somewhere around 100 billions in this system. to go beyond that you need either ssj4 or god ki... or something else, if something else is possible.
     
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