Post by Hikaru on Mar 21, 2019 22:32:09 GMT
Lusku, and elderly namekian, frowned at the sky. His wrinkled brow was furrowed into even deeper lines of worry. There was to be a Meteor shower mid-1st morning. The village had been informed that the astronomers had estimated that the debris would burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere, but Lusku wasn’t so sure…
He had a bad feeling deep in his gut. He had learned to trust that feelings. No… something wasn’t right. The meteors seemed a little too close for comfort, burning brightly across the green Namek sky.
“Helio, gather the people. Have them stay indoors through 1st and 2nd day…” Lusku said quietly to the grizzled Namekian warrior who was his aid and bodyguard.
“Sir?” Helio asked, his voice tinged with mild concern.
“It’s probably nothing. But just in case there is trouble with the meteor shower, I want everyone indoors,” Lusku explained without diverting his gaze from the sky, and the speckles of flaming rocks that drew ever closer.
“Yes, sir,” Helio bowed lightly, then turned and swiftly moved to spread the word among the villagers. Elder Lusku was very wise, and Helio trusted him completely. If the man was worried, then it was best to be cautious…
Hikaru helped the village prepare for the coming storm: Flying back elderly farmers to their homes quicker than they would have been able to, spreading the news to people farther from the village, helping seal up homes, and make protective shelters for young Ajisa trees.
Hikaru worked all throughout what would have been the equivalent of the evening for her. All the while the meteor shower grew closer with no sign of the promised dissipation in the atmosphere.
It looked like Lusku’s prediction that the meteors would push through the atmosphere would be coming true. This meant they could be dealing with anything from a light showering of stone particles and dust; to colossal boulders crushing everything in sight.
While everyone hoped for the former, they prepared for the latter…
Finally, the rocks began to push through the atmosphere and caught aflame. The few people who weren’t hunkered down looked up in amazement at the lights in the sky. They were like fireworks. Deadly, deadly fireworks. And they weren’t stopping.
“This is bad…” Mollau muttered nervously next to Hikaru.
She and the healer were standing outside the house of healing, looking at the falling balls of flame. The old Namekian’s face was creasing deeper in concern. His mouth a grim line.
“Maybe we should have evacuated instead. These are too large. People are definitely going to get hurt. Or, Guru Forbid, killed,” Mollau said quietly, “The meteors are too big. They won’t crumble before they fall.”
Hikaru starred up unflinchingly at the sky and the oncoming rain of fire. She thought of Gastro and Pado. Of the young children of the village. She thought of her teacher, her friend, Mollau.
Hikaru turned and looked at at the man next to her.
Then her lips tightened in a determined line.
“Then something will need to make them smaller…” Hikaru whispered.
“What??” Mollau turned to the human, then gasped and covered his face as he was blasted by the wind pressure of her suddenly taking to the skies, “HIKARU!!”
He watched her rapidly shrinking form aghast. He knew she was reckless! She wasn’t careful of her own well being. But this was too much, even for her. She could be killed!
“Damnit,” Mollau hustled off to the elder’s home. He may not be able to chase after Hikaru, but maybe he could send her aid. Maybe if she had some back up… they would all pull through this.
Mollau pushed open the door to the Elder’s home. The smattering of people there jumped in shock at Mollau’s sudden intrusion, and some muttered irritably.
“Sir,” Mollau gasped, needing a moment to catch his breath. While he wasn’t old, he just didn't have the stamina he used to.
“Mollau, what is it?” Lusku frowned in concern.
“Hikaru is flying to the meteor shower. She got it in her head that she could try and break the stones into smaller pieces before they reach the village to mitigate the damage!” Mollau cried out, and pointed out the door, “She’s going to get herself killed if she doesn’t have help. Please! Send some of the warriors after her to assist!”
The small assembly of people traded glances and then began to mutter together rapidly. Mollau gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to rush them. Every second they debated like this, Hikaru spent another second out there alone.
Since her tumultuous arrival in the village, Hikaru had since earned her place as one of the community. She assisted in a lot of the construction, helped Mollau in the clinic, and just generally became a well known face. Even if she hadn’t become a member of their own little village, the Namekians still wouldn’t leave her to die. Even if she was rushing off on her own.
“Helios, gather 4 of your best warriors and go after Hikaru. See if all of you will be enough to destroy the meteors. Assess the situation. You have my permission to gather more reinforcements,” Lusku’s grip tightened on his staff, “We had been debating whether to attempt evacuation, or to weather out this disaster. No one had been insane enough to consider… fighting a meteor shower! But… perhaps it might work.”
“Hrrm…” Helios grunted and then moved to the door. He looked up at the sky, and already saw small flashes of distant explosions, “Fuck. It really is a suicide mission… especially on her own. I’ll see what the warrior clan and I can do.”
Helios gave a small bow to Lusku and the other elders before blasting off without a moment to waste. He moved as quickly as he could to the militia barracks. The warriors cycled through shifts of duty, and those on shift stayed in the barracks.
Helios was running when he landed and he pushed open the door with a crash, “Who is on duty?!?”
Several warriors jostled to attention, and called out their names. Helios nodded, they weren’t the best of the best. But they were all tried and true warriors. People he trusted and would be proud to fight with.
“We’re going out,” Helios pointed skyward, “We’re going to smash those rocks before they have a chance to destroy the village.”
A few of the warriors blinked, and looked between themselves. But then they quickly gave Helios resolved nods. They were warriors, sworn to protect their people.
Helios nodded in approval, then turned and took to the sky, leading the others in the assault.
As Hikaru blasted towards the meteors she looked to her wrist, and clicked a button on her watch. She immediately felt the weight lift off her body as her armor replaced her weighted clothing. In mid flight Hikaru twisted and stretched him limbs, adjusting to the lighter weight.
With a firm nod, Hikaru then checked her pocket for the energy crystal she had packed away. It was still charged with ki. Good. She was going to need everything she had for this.
Everything.
Hikaru grunted as she pushed past the initial first layer of the meteor shower. Instead plowing straight into the mass of it. Smaller debris pelted her, the burning pieces of rock stinging her, larger ones battering her.
But what she focused her real attention on, was the largest pieces. The huge boulders. The ones that threatened to smash her new home to pieces.
Hikaru charged her ki, hair rising up slightly as a white aura encased her body, and infused her strength. She felt the adrenaline course through her body, rushing like a river through her veins.
Bolstered by this power… Hikaru set to work.
She laid about her with powered ki blasts, aiming for the larger boulders. The blasts cracked them apart into more manageable pieces that Hikaru was able to fly into with a vicious kick that shattered them completely.
When the pieces shattered, they exploded outward, forcing Hikaru to cover her face with her arms, less the debris wound her severely. This constant barrage on top of her strikes and attacks was just another level of exhausting. It wasn’t long before her face was covered in knicks and scratches. Blood trickling into her eyes and down her chin.
And still she fought on...
The roaring of the fire had long since deafened Hikaru. The noise was all encompassing, drowning out everything else. It even drowned out her own thoughts, erasing words and language from her very mind. She couldn’t think!
Not that she would be able to even if she wasn’t so deafened from the roar. She had no time to think. No, she had to just be. To move. To fight.
To survive.
Hikaru blasted mercilessly around her. She needed to take a break from physically destroying the rocks with kicks and punches. Her body ached, so she needed to rely on her ki for a bit. Just to make up some of the difference.
Her armor was showing signs of wear and tear, but it was still holding strong. Hikaru had to admire the Red Ribbon Intergalactic market, and its CEO Jack Cyprus, for their commendable work. She doubted if her PTO armor would have held up nearly as well. And she needed every bit of protection she could get.
A large boulder, the size of a car she would have seen driving around Katas Market, shrieked towards her. Hikaru charged her ki, and then flew off, dodging it as it passed. Then she gathered the power into her arms and held it. She charged it for a few seconds, seconds that felt like hours in this hell storm, and then unleashed a half-dozen large blasts that punched through and shattered the boulder into smaller pieces. Hikaru turned away, confident that those pieces would burn up.
Only to come face to face with another rock crashing into her.
“Kugh!” Hikaru choked out in shocked pain as the large boulder pushed her down. She gritted her teeth against the pain of the fire burning into her armor, burning through to her. Then she powered up and sent a ki blast forward from her entire body. A blast like that wasn’t an efficient use of ki, and it would have terrible range, but it was perfect for blasting apart the meteor that had been pushing her towards the Namek floor.
The meteor blasted apart in an explosion of sparks, flame, and ki that pushed out all the other debris in a bubble around Hikaru. She thankfully caught her breath in the reprieve this small bubble gave her. She channeled some ki through her hand, and healed the cuts on her face, then wiped away the blood there. Hikaru then looked down at her armor, and saw it slowly repairing itself. She blinked in surprise, not knowing it could do that…
But she didn’t have the time to admire the nanite technology that made this possible. Her small reprieve was over, and she was back in the center of the meteor swarm. She had been doing well, none of the larger boulders, the ones that could destroy a home and kill someone, hadn’t gotten past her. She had needed to let most other rocks past. There was no way she could have cleared them all. No way in hell. But at least the ones she was forced to let go would only do some property damage and not kill anyone… hopefully.
Hikaru analyzed the pattern of the falling meteors, and then began firing ki blasts again, focusing on the largest and fastest moving ones. She wished she knew a more efficient way of blowing them away. A more widespread attack. Her Sniper Beam’s precision was the opposite of what she needed right now. But it was pointless to wish for things to be different. No. She had to focus on what she could do now.
So Hikaru kept up her attack. One powered ki blast after another, each one aimed carefully to shatter the bigger boulders into more manageable pieces. Then when she felt her ki stores depleted, she pressed forward the attack with flying kicks, and crossed forearm strikes. The physical attacks were harder on her body and armor. Her earlier healing was rendered pointless as her face became gashed and cut all over again.
It seemed the meteors were never ending. A ceaseless barrage of fire and stone. Thousands of chunks of space debris against only one of her. And she was quickly running out of stamina. The meteor shower was wearing her away with an endless war of attrition. It may have seemed a pointless endeavor, but Hikaru refused to give up. Every boulder destroyed was potentially a life saved.
Hikaru felt dizzy from the exertion and her head swayed slightly. She closed her eyes and gave her head a viscous shake to clear it. When she opened her eyes, another rock was barreling down at her at full speed. She wouldn’t be able to dodge it in time, and she didn’t have enough ki in her to do the full body blast she had done before. Hikaru’s mind rapidly tried to think of something, anything she could do-
A large energy wave slammed into the rock and tore through it without stopping. It blew apart, scattering around Hikaru in a smaller blast of shrapnel. Hikaru covered her face against it, then turned to look in the direction the attack at come from.
“You’re a foolish woman to attempt this on your own!” Helio shouted at her over the roar of the flames and rocks, “Brave! But foolish!”
The other warriors that had come with him were already setting about clearing a space to grant Hikaru some breathing room. The work was much more manageable with the increased numbers. It was still by no means and easy task. But it made a massive difference.
Hikaru gave Helio a small and weary smile. That wasn’t the first time she had heard that, or other condemnations much like it. It mostly wouldn’t be the last. Either way she was glad to see him and the other warriors. Hikaru finally had enough time to reach for the Energy Crystal she had brought with her. She clenched it in her fist and took a deep breath. The ki inside flowed forth and into her, bolstering her reserves again.
It was like new life had been breathed in her. While Hikaru refused to show her pain and suffering on her face, her body still betrayed signs. Her skin, while already a very pale shade, had turned ashen from her exertion. Her body movements had been sluggish and she seemed to barely able to hold herself up. With the infusion of energy, she stood straighter, and the gray tint to her skin faded back to the normal pale human skin tone.
Hikaru stashed the crystal back into one of the pockets of her coat, and then quickly looked around her to reassess the situation. With the other warriors clearing the immediate area she was able to pull back towards the ground to look up at the entirety of the meteor shower. It was a tremendous difference. For the first time Hikaru felt that they would be able to pull this off, and clear the entire sky.
Hikaru blasted back up toward Helio and shouted to be heard over the storm, “Where do you need me?!”
Helio looked at her almost perplexed, “You’ve taken the lead on this! We’ll follow you!”
While Hikaru was more accustomed to taking orders as a soldier, that didn’t mean she didn’t know how to lead. She had been apart of smaller teams, and had even been given charge of minor foot soldiers. So, she began commanding them without a moment’s hesitation.
“We need to prioritize on the largest meteors first,” Hikaru pointed out several of them, “Teams of two, to watch each others backs. Spread out in three directions.”
Hikaru pointed out where each team would go, giving further instruction in closer detail while they still had time before the small space the warriors had bought them. Once explained, Helio nodded in affirmation and sped to deliver the message to the other warriors. Hikaru, once again, gave a small mental thanks at his timely arrival.
Then it was time to get back to work.
Now with back up, it was possible for each member to pull back and catch their breath when they needed to. That small break made a enormous difference in stamina. Hikaru was able to pace herself much better this way. She was less desperate in her attacks and could destroy obstacles in a more efficient manner, rather than blow away whatever she saw.
The team of fighters systematically cleared through the sky, but there still seemed to be more meteors waiting. How much more could there possibly be? Hikaru flew to Helio and shouted to him over the roar of the fire.
“I’m going up to scout ahead,” she said, “We need to know how many are left!!”
Helio nodded, “Go! We’ll hold here!”
Hikaru gave a small salute, a habit left from the PTO, then blasted further skyward.
The human woman zipped through debris like a hummingbird. She dodged and weaved through the chaos. Hikaru had her arms crossed in front of her face, one over her forehead the other over her mouth and jaw, to protect her eyes. She couldn’t believe how wild this storm was. Who in their right mind thought that something like this would clear up harmlessly in the atmosphere?
Hikaru pushed through the last layer of debris and then pulled up short. A small gasp of shock escaping her over what she beheld.
The largest meteor of the shower. Something more than large enough to destroy the village and the surrounding area. There was no way this could have gone unnoticed. No way that anyone could have mistaken that this would burn away. No, this may as well have been a missile sent to destroy the village. This was no accident or mistake.
This had been orchestrated.
Hikaru’s mind rapidly tried to think of how anyone could launch such a large swath of rocks towards Namek and make it look like a meteor shower, much less precisely aim the shower at a specific point on the planet. Who would even bother going through such roundabout methods? Why not just… blow the land away?
Hikaru had no idea, and she didn’t have the time to try and figure it out. All she could do was face the challenge that was right in front of her. And that challenge was a meteor about the size of a large house hurtling straight for her, and her friends beyond.
She immediately turned around, and blasted back through the meteor swarm to get to Helio and the other warriors. Hikaru dodged through the rocks even faster than before. They had no time to waste. If they were going to destroy this meteor, they needed to do it before it got any closer to the ground. Otherwise the explosion would damage everything and make this entire exercise pointless.
“Everyone!!” she signaled to him, and the others. The warriors moved to her side without a wasted moment. Whatever alarmed the usually stoic Hikaru must be something important.
She pointed back towards the meteor shower and the hidden disaster that waited beyond, “There is a meteor beyond. Larger than all the other. Larger than the Elder’s Home,” She said to emphasize just how serious this problem was.
The group of Namekians gasped and looked between each other in distress. Helio was the only one who seemed to keep his focus. He clenched his hands into tight fists and gritted his teeth, “There is no time to evacuate the people! And even if we did, they wouldn’t be able to get far enough away from a crash like that!”
“How could the astronomers have been so wrong?!” One of the warriors screamed in anger, “How could they have missed this!?”
Hikaru knew that this wasn’t the time to tell them her theory that this had somehow been planned. That their village was under a more direct attack. It would only distract them, and they needed every minute they could get. She shouted again to not only be heard over the roar of the storm, but also over the anger of the warriors.
“We need to destroy it!”
They all stopped and stared at her in shock.
“She’s right,” Helio agreed, “It’s our only chance!”
“But Helio!” one of the shorter warriors argued, “How can we possibly destroy something that massive?!”
“We hit it with everything we got Gellick!! What other choice have we have?! It’s either this, or give up and let the village die!” Helio snarled straight into Gellick’s face. The smaller Namekian swallowed deeply. But gave a firm nod.
“Let’s go,” Hikaru called forth, and then lead the party up through the burning storm of debris, and up to their target. The gargantuan meteor coming toward their home.
When they pulled up close enough to see the size of the meteor the Namekian warriors around Hikaru gasped so loud she could hear them over the storm. It hit them just how massive this boulder was, and just how dire the circumstances were… They needed to stop it or everyone would die.
“Alright, on the count of three, everyone let loose everything you have!” Helio screamed, and held a hand to his forehead, channeling his ki.
The other warriors shouted their affirmative, and then began to cry out ferociously as they charged ki for each of their signature moves. The strength of the accumulated power, pulsed out brightly, shoving back the meteors around them in a bubble. The light of their ki energy flaring to a pulsing brightness. A shining beacon.
Thousands of feet below them, on the surface of planet Namek, the villagers could see the flare of ki in the sky. The combined might of the warriors was strong enough to shine in the eternal daylight of the Namekian skies. They shone like a secondary sun in the sky. A stalwart resistance against destruction. Below the villagers sent their thoughts to the warriors, as though they too, could provide strength for their champions.
Lusku had his old head craned back. He squinted against the light that burned at his eyes, but he refused to look away. He needed to witness this to the end. It was the only thing the Elder could do for his warriors and his village.
“Alright everyone!” Helio roared, “GO!”
At the word everyone unleashed their various ki attacks. The different ki beams, drills, and lasers of various colors slammed into the Meteor. They crashed against it, but didn’t punch through. They didn’t halt the meteor’s progress, but they slowed it considerably.
The surface of the meteor bore cracks and signs of damage from the combined attack, but it still hadn’t halted. The attacks couldn’t quite push through to the core and beyond to shatter the boulder. Instead they just pressed hard against the stone, cracking and smashing against its surface.
“Don’t give up everyone!” Helio snarled, “Keep going!”
The other warriors nodded and then screamed in another roar of defiance against the meteor. They pushed more ki into their attacks, the various powers smashing harder into the meteor like a great hammer blow. Another surface layer cracked off from the meteor, the various ki blasts disintegrating it.
Hikaru gritted her teeth so hard, she thought that they might crack inside her mouth. She poured every last bit of herself into the attack, and still the meteor kept coming. It was looming against them, even as another layer disintegrated.
‘We need a little more time…’ Hikaru thought with dismay. They could destroy this thing. But it would crash down on them and the village before that happened. They wouldn’t be able to shatter through the layers of the meteor in time. They needed to push it back, but they were already doing everything they could to attack it already…
‘If only we could just stop it…’ she growled to herself in frustration. Her ki blast was the weakest amongst the gathered warriors. She hadn’t developed a technique suited for this! Her Sniper Beam was too small, too thin! If only she could do more… Hikaru mentally flashed through all her options, all her moves. All her techniques…
She remembered, not too long ago, of when she had encountered this exact situation. That smaller meteor that had slammed against her. The one that she couldn’t push back or avoid. She had blown it away with a full bodied ki blast. It had worked… Even though it had exhausted the last of her reserves…
It. Had. Worked.
“Helio!” Hikaru cried out to the Namekian and then met his eyes, “Whatever you do, don’t stop!”
Then she canceled her ki blast and flew ahead.
“Wha- HIKARU!” Helio called after in, but couldn’t chase without also canceling his own attack.
She flew directly to the meteor, ignoring the cries of the others behind her, and then she slammed against it with her body infused with every last drop of ki that she had in her veins. She could feel her armor and clothes burning away. She knew her skin would follow shortly once her ki ran out. But she didn’t care. She couldn’t let this meteor fall.
Hikaru pushed against the meteor will all her strength and actually managed to halt its progress. The ki blasts were centered on a point above her, and she could feel their intensity and heat above her. Every layer of stone cracked away would shatter and cut her with the debris. She didn’t care. After all the time she spent in this hell storm, she had grown accustomed to the shards of stone slicing through her like she was made of paper.
She ignored the pain, and kept pushing. She had learned to ignore pain her entire life. This was just another example. Broken bones. Burns. Gashes. Gorings. Piercings. It was all just pain. And she had long since learned not to care about it.
Hikaru’s gloves burned away, finally exposing her palms to the burning surface of the stone. Her flesh sizzled like meat on a cooking fire. She couldn’t afford to flinch away from it. So she ignored her body’s instinct to pull back. To protect itself from damage.
Her hooded coat burned away next, exposing her armor plating and pants to the meteor’s surface. She could count on this holding just a little longer than the reinforced cloth of her gloves and coat. But not for much longer.
There was a deafening crack above her, and she felt the meteor shift. Hikaru managed to lift her head enough to see a massive piece of the meteor break away and disintegrate. The largest they had managed to destroy yet. Her heart leaped in joy! It was working! They could do this! She just needed to last a little longer.
Hikaru closed her eyes and pushed even harder against the meteor, reinvigorated by the knowledge that they were making progress. Her ki seemed to glow inside her skin, bolstering it against the meteor’s fire, and giving her the strength to push back against it’s crushing weight. They could do this. They could DO THIS!
She felt the last of the armor burn away across her chest, and her thighs. The skin on her legs and chest began to sizzle, much like her hands previously had. She didn’t about think about just how ruined her palms must be… She didn’t think about anything at all.
Hikaru blocked out all thought. Blocked out the pain. The fear. The ‘what if we fail?’ She blocked it all, and only focused on keeping her ki pumping through her body, and pressing this meteor back. She ignored how the reserve inside her was dwindling. Dwindling to embers…
She felt like she was dwindling away as well. Her very sense of self being burned away like her body and ki. But… she needed… to hold on… until…
The meteor exploded.
Hikaru was sent flying along with the shattered debris of the meteor. She spun through the air limply. She couldn’t move, much less try to fly. Hikaru had nothing left inside her. She didn’t care. The meteor was destroyed. Everyone would be safe. Hikaru just barely managed to grin before she gave in to the dark.
Hikaru’s mind barely managed to surface from the darkness. She only managed to think, “I’m alive...” before the overwhelming pain surged over her, and drowned her sense of self. Hikaru retreated into the safety of unconsciousness.
Hikaru wasn’t sure how often she repeated this process, or for how long she drifted like this. It was all beyond her current mental capability. Hikaru could only hold the most basic of thoughts before the pain overwhelmed it and forced her back into just the simplest of animalistic states. To hide from the pain and gather its strength.
Each time she surfaced, she came back a little stronger. A little more aware. She once had even been able to open her eyes blearily, and briefly see Mollau standing over her. His hands soothing away her pain, before she had to drift away again. He must be working so hard to save her. Just like when they first met. Mollau had told Hikaru once, that he never wanted to see her in such a state again. Hikaru was sure he never imagined he’d have to see her like this. The healer was probably going to scold the hell out of her for this stupid stunt when she finally woke up completely.
Hikaru looked forward to it.
Total Word Count: 5060
1,157 Words Weighted
Heavy Training Weights: +75% PL
3,909 Words Unweighted
Wealthy: +10% Zenni
Training for:
[SP-1] Last Stand
Hikaru refuses to die, she focuses every last shred of her will power to survive against all odds.
Once per thread Hikaru survives with 1% health against an attack that would knock Hikaru’s health down to 0..
Meteor Shower
There's a meteor shower predicted tonight. It's supposed to be a particularly heavy one with large chunks of debris. While most people are evacuating to safety, you have other plans. Moving, dodging, and destroying huge flaming chunks of burning space junk sounds like an exciting training regimen.
+10% Zeni gains, +20% PL gains
Chance for +20% on PL gains
15 or above/D20
5K WC Limit
He had a bad feeling deep in his gut. He had learned to trust that feelings. No… something wasn’t right. The meteors seemed a little too close for comfort, burning brightly across the green Namek sky.
“Helio, gather the people. Have them stay indoors through 1st and 2nd day…” Lusku said quietly to the grizzled Namekian warrior who was his aid and bodyguard.
“Sir?” Helio asked, his voice tinged with mild concern.
“It’s probably nothing. But just in case there is trouble with the meteor shower, I want everyone indoors,” Lusku explained without diverting his gaze from the sky, and the speckles of flaming rocks that drew ever closer.
“Yes, sir,” Helio bowed lightly, then turned and swiftly moved to spread the word among the villagers. Elder Lusku was very wise, and Helio trusted him completely. If the man was worried, then it was best to be cautious…
Hikaru helped the village prepare for the coming storm: Flying back elderly farmers to their homes quicker than they would have been able to, spreading the news to people farther from the village, helping seal up homes, and make protective shelters for young Ajisa trees.
Hikaru worked all throughout what would have been the equivalent of the evening for her. All the while the meteor shower grew closer with no sign of the promised dissipation in the atmosphere.
It looked like Lusku’s prediction that the meteors would push through the atmosphere would be coming true. This meant they could be dealing with anything from a light showering of stone particles and dust; to colossal boulders crushing everything in sight.
While everyone hoped for the former, they prepared for the latter…
Finally, the rocks began to push through the atmosphere and caught aflame. The few people who weren’t hunkered down looked up in amazement at the lights in the sky. They were like fireworks. Deadly, deadly fireworks. And they weren’t stopping.
“This is bad…” Mollau muttered nervously next to Hikaru.
She and the healer were standing outside the house of healing, looking at the falling balls of flame. The old Namekian’s face was creasing deeper in concern. His mouth a grim line.
“Maybe we should have evacuated instead. These are too large. People are definitely going to get hurt. Or, Guru Forbid, killed,” Mollau said quietly, “The meteors are too big. They won’t crumble before they fall.”
Hikaru starred up unflinchingly at the sky and the oncoming rain of fire. She thought of Gastro and Pado. Of the young children of the village. She thought of her teacher, her friend, Mollau.
Hikaru turned and looked at at the man next to her.
Then her lips tightened in a determined line.
“Then something will need to make them smaller…” Hikaru whispered.
“What??” Mollau turned to the human, then gasped and covered his face as he was blasted by the wind pressure of her suddenly taking to the skies, “HIKARU!!”
He watched her rapidly shrinking form aghast. He knew she was reckless! She wasn’t careful of her own well being. But this was too much, even for her. She could be killed!
“Damnit,” Mollau hustled off to the elder’s home. He may not be able to chase after Hikaru, but maybe he could send her aid. Maybe if she had some back up… they would all pull through this.
Mollau pushed open the door to the Elder’s home. The smattering of people there jumped in shock at Mollau’s sudden intrusion, and some muttered irritably.
“Sir,” Mollau gasped, needing a moment to catch his breath. While he wasn’t old, he just didn't have the stamina he used to.
“Mollau, what is it?” Lusku frowned in concern.
“Hikaru is flying to the meteor shower. She got it in her head that she could try and break the stones into smaller pieces before they reach the village to mitigate the damage!” Mollau cried out, and pointed out the door, “She’s going to get herself killed if she doesn’t have help. Please! Send some of the warriors after her to assist!”
The small assembly of people traded glances and then began to mutter together rapidly. Mollau gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to rush them. Every second they debated like this, Hikaru spent another second out there alone.
Since her tumultuous arrival in the village, Hikaru had since earned her place as one of the community. She assisted in a lot of the construction, helped Mollau in the clinic, and just generally became a well known face. Even if she hadn’t become a member of their own little village, the Namekians still wouldn’t leave her to die. Even if she was rushing off on her own.
“Helios, gather 4 of your best warriors and go after Hikaru. See if all of you will be enough to destroy the meteors. Assess the situation. You have my permission to gather more reinforcements,” Lusku’s grip tightened on his staff, “We had been debating whether to attempt evacuation, or to weather out this disaster. No one had been insane enough to consider… fighting a meteor shower! But… perhaps it might work.”
“Hrrm…” Helios grunted and then moved to the door. He looked up at the sky, and already saw small flashes of distant explosions, “Fuck. It really is a suicide mission… especially on her own. I’ll see what the warrior clan and I can do.”
Helios gave a small bow to Lusku and the other elders before blasting off without a moment to waste. He moved as quickly as he could to the militia barracks. The warriors cycled through shifts of duty, and those on shift stayed in the barracks.
Helios was running when he landed and he pushed open the door with a crash, “Who is on duty?!?”
Several warriors jostled to attention, and called out their names. Helios nodded, they weren’t the best of the best. But they were all tried and true warriors. People he trusted and would be proud to fight with.
“We’re going out,” Helios pointed skyward, “We’re going to smash those rocks before they have a chance to destroy the village.”
A few of the warriors blinked, and looked between themselves. But then they quickly gave Helios resolved nods. They were warriors, sworn to protect their people.
Helios nodded in approval, then turned and took to the sky, leading the others in the assault.
As Hikaru blasted towards the meteors she looked to her wrist, and clicked a button on her watch. She immediately felt the weight lift off her body as her armor replaced her weighted clothing. In mid flight Hikaru twisted and stretched him limbs, adjusting to the lighter weight.
With a firm nod, Hikaru then checked her pocket for the energy crystal she had packed away. It was still charged with ki. Good. She was going to need everything she had for this.
Everything.
Hikaru grunted as she pushed past the initial first layer of the meteor shower. Instead plowing straight into the mass of it. Smaller debris pelted her, the burning pieces of rock stinging her, larger ones battering her.
But what she focused her real attention on, was the largest pieces. The huge boulders. The ones that threatened to smash her new home to pieces.
Hikaru charged her ki, hair rising up slightly as a white aura encased her body, and infused her strength. She felt the adrenaline course through her body, rushing like a river through her veins.
Bolstered by this power… Hikaru set to work.
She laid about her with powered ki blasts, aiming for the larger boulders. The blasts cracked them apart into more manageable pieces that Hikaru was able to fly into with a vicious kick that shattered them completely.
When the pieces shattered, they exploded outward, forcing Hikaru to cover her face with her arms, less the debris wound her severely. This constant barrage on top of her strikes and attacks was just another level of exhausting. It wasn’t long before her face was covered in knicks and scratches. Blood trickling into her eyes and down her chin.
And still she fought on...
The roaring of the fire had long since deafened Hikaru. The noise was all encompassing, drowning out everything else. It even drowned out her own thoughts, erasing words and language from her very mind. She couldn’t think!
Not that she would be able to even if she wasn’t so deafened from the roar. She had no time to think. No, she had to just be. To move. To fight.
To survive.
Hikaru blasted mercilessly around her. She needed to take a break from physically destroying the rocks with kicks and punches. Her body ached, so she needed to rely on her ki for a bit. Just to make up some of the difference.
Her armor was showing signs of wear and tear, but it was still holding strong. Hikaru had to admire the Red Ribbon Intergalactic market, and its CEO Jack Cyprus, for their commendable work. She doubted if her PTO armor would have held up nearly as well. And she needed every bit of protection she could get.
A large boulder, the size of a car she would have seen driving around Katas Market, shrieked towards her. Hikaru charged her ki, and then flew off, dodging it as it passed. Then she gathered the power into her arms and held it. She charged it for a few seconds, seconds that felt like hours in this hell storm, and then unleashed a half-dozen large blasts that punched through and shattered the boulder into smaller pieces. Hikaru turned away, confident that those pieces would burn up.
Only to come face to face with another rock crashing into her.
“Kugh!” Hikaru choked out in shocked pain as the large boulder pushed her down. She gritted her teeth against the pain of the fire burning into her armor, burning through to her. Then she powered up and sent a ki blast forward from her entire body. A blast like that wasn’t an efficient use of ki, and it would have terrible range, but it was perfect for blasting apart the meteor that had been pushing her towards the Namek floor.
The meteor blasted apart in an explosion of sparks, flame, and ki that pushed out all the other debris in a bubble around Hikaru. She thankfully caught her breath in the reprieve this small bubble gave her. She channeled some ki through her hand, and healed the cuts on her face, then wiped away the blood there. Hikaru then looked down at her armor, and saw it slowly repairing itself. She blinked in surprise, not knowing it could do that…
But she didn’t have the time to admire the nanite technology that made this possible. Her small reprieve was over, and she was back in the center of the meteor swarm. She had been doing well, none of the larger boulders, the ones that could destroy a home and kill someone, hadn’t gotten past her. She had needed to let most other rocks past. There was no way she could have cleared them all. No way in hell. But at least the ones she was forced to let go would only do some property damage and not kill anyone… hopefully.
Hikaru analyzed the pattern of the falling meteors, and then began firing ki blasts again, focusing on the largest and fastest moving ones. She wished she knew a more efficient way of blowing them away. A more widespread attack. Her Sniper Beam’s precision was the opposite of what she needed right now. But it was pointless to wish for things to be different. No. She had to focus on what she could do now.
So Hikaru kept up her attack. One powered ki blast after another, each one aimed carefully to shatter the bigger boulders into more manageable pieces. Then when she felt her ki stores depleted, she pressed forward the attack with flying kicks, and crossed forearm strikes. The physical attacks were harder on her body and armor. Her earlier healing was rendered pointless as her face became gashed and cut all over again.
It seemed the meteors were never ending. A ceaseless barrage of fire and stone. Thousands of chunks of space debris against only one of her. And she was quickly running out of stamina. The meteor shower was wearing her away with an endless war of attrition. It may have seemed a pointless endeavor, but Hikaru refused to give up. Every boulder destroyed was potentially a life saved.
Hikaru felt dizzy from the exertion and her head swayed slightly. She closed her eyes and gave her head a viscous shake to clear it. When she opened her eyes, another rock was barreling down at her at full speed. She wouldn’t be able to dodge it in time, and she didn’t have enough ki in her to do the full body blast she had done before. Hikaru’s mind rapidly tried to think of something, anything she could do-
A large energy wave slammed into the rock and tore through it without stopping. It blew apart, scattering around Hikaru in a smaller blast of shrapnel. Hikaru covered her face against it, then turned to look in the direction the attack at come from.
“You’re a foolish woman to attempt this on your own!” Helio shouted at her over the roar of the flames and rocks, “Brave! But foolish!”
The other warriors that had come with him were already setting about clearing a space to grant Hikaru some breathing room. The work was much more manageable with the increased numbers. It was still by no means and easy task. But it made a massive difference.
Hikaru gave Helio a small and weary smile. That wasn’t the first time she had heard that, or other condemnations much like it. It mostly wouldn’t be the last. Either way she was glad to see him and the other warriors. Hikaru finally had enough time to reach for the Energy Crystal she had brought with her. She clenched it in her fist and took a deep breath. The ki inside flowed forth and into her, bolstering her reserves again.
It was like new life had been breathed in her. While Hikaru refused to show her pain and suffering on her face, her body still betrayed signs. Her skin, while already a very pale shade, had turned ashen from her exertion. Her body movements had been sluggish and she seemed to barely able to hold herself up. With the infusion of energy, she stood straighter, and the gray tint to her skin faded back to the normal pale human skin tone.
Hikaru stashed the crystal back into one of the pockets of her coat, and then quickly looked around her to reassess the situation. With the other warriors clearing the immediate area she was able to pull back towards the ground to look up at the entirety of the meteor shower. It was a tremendous difference. For the first time Hikaru felt that they would be able to pull this off, and clear the entire sky.
Hikaru blasted back up toward Helio and shouted to be heard over the storm, “Where do you need me?!”
Helio looked at her almost perplexed, “You’ve taken the lead on this! We’ll follow you!”
While Hikaru was more accustomed to taking orders as a soldier, that didn’t mean she didn’t know how to lead. She had been apart of smaller teams, and had even been given charge of minor foot soldiers. So, she began commanding them without a moment’s hesitation.
“We need to prioritize on the largest meteors first,” Hikaru pointed out several of them, “Teams of two, to watch each others backs. Spread out in three directions.”
Hikaru pointed out where each team would go, giving further instruction in closer detail while they still had time before the small space the warriors had bought them. Once explained, Helio nodded in affirmation and sped to deliver the message to the other warriors. Hikaru, once again, gave a small mental thanks at his timely arrival.
Then it was time to get back to work.
Now with back up, it was possible for each member to pull back and catch their breath when they needed to. That small break made a enormous difference in stamina. Hikaru was able to pace herself much better this way. She was less desperate in her attacks and could destroy obstacles in a more efficient manner, rather than blow away whatever she saw.
The team of fighters systematically cleared through the sky, but there still seemed to be more meteors waiting. How much more could there possibly be? Hikaru flew to Helio and shouted to him over the roar of the fire.
“I’m going up to scout ahead,” she said, “We need to know how many are left!!”
Helio nodded, “Go! We’ll hold here!”
Hikaru gave a small salute, a habit left from the PTO, then blasted further skyward.
The human woman zipped through debris like a hummingbird. She dodged and weaved through the chaos. Hikaru had her arms crossed in front of her face, one over her forehead the other over her mouth and jaw, to protect her eyes. She couldn’t believe how wild this storm was. Who in their right mind thought that something like this would clear up harmlessly in the atmosphere?
Hikaru pushed through the last layer of debris and then pulled up short. A small gasp of shock escaping her over what she beheld.
The largest meteor of the shower. Something more than large enough to destroy the village and the surrounding area. There was no way this could have gone unnoticed. No way that anyone could have mistaken that this would burn away. No, this may as well have been a missile sent to destroy the village. This was no accident or mistake.
This had been orchestrated.
Hikaru’s mind rapidly tried to think of how anyone could launch such a large swath of rocks towards Namek and make it look like a meteor shower, much less precisely aim the shower at a specific point on the planet. Who would even bother going through such roundabout methods? Why not just… blow the land away?
Hikaru had no idea, and she didn’t have the time to try and figure it out. All she could do was face the challenge that was right in front of her. And that challenge was a meteor about the size of a large house hurtling straight for her, and her friends beyond.
She immediately turned around, and blasted back through the meteor swarm to get to Helio and the other warriors. Hikaru dodged through the rocks even faster than before. They had no time to waste. If they were going to destroy this meteor, they needed to do it before it got any closer to the ground. Otherwise the explosion would damage everything and make this entire exercise pointless.
“Everyone!!” she signaled to him, and the others. The warriors moved to her side without a wasted moment. Whatever alarmed the usually stoic Hikaru must be something important.
She pointed back towards the meteor shower and the hidden disaster that waited beyond, “There is a meteor beyond. Larger than all the other. Larger than the Elder’s Home,” She said to emphasize just how serious this problem was.
The group of Namekians gasped and looked between each other in distress. Helio was the only one who seemed to keep his focus. He clenched his hands into tight fists and gritted his teeth, “There is no time to evacuate the people! And even if we did, they wouldn’t be able to get far enough away from a crash like that!”
“How could the astronomers have been so wrong?!” One of the warriors screamed in anger, “How could they have missed this!?”
Hikaru knew that this wasn’t the time to tell them her theory that this had somehow been planned. That their village was under a more direct attack. It would only distract them, and they needed every minute they could get. She shouted again to not only be heard over the roar of the storm, but also over the anger of the warriors.
“We need to destroy it!”
They all stopped and stared at her in shock.
“She’s right,” Helio agreed, “It’s our only chance!”
“But Helio!” one of the shorter warriors argued, “How can we possibly destroy something that massive?!”
“We hit it with everything we got Gellick!! What other choice have we have?! It’s either this, or give up and let the village die!” Helio snarled straight into Gellick’s face. The smaller Namekian swallowed deeply. But gave a firm nod.
“Let’s go,” Hikaru called forth, and then lead the party up through the burning storm of debris, and up to their target. The gargantuan meteor coming toward their home.
When they pulled up close enough to see the size of the meteor the Namekian warriors around Hikaru gasped so loud she could hear them over the storm. It hit them just how massive this boulder was, and just how dire the circumstances were… They needed to stop it or everyone would die.
“Alright, on the count of three, everyone let loose everything you have!” Helio screamed, and held a hand to his forehead, channeling his ki.
The other warriors shouted their affirmative, and then began to cry out ferociously as they charged ki for each of their signature moves. The strength of the accumulated power, pulsed out brightly, shoving back the meteors around them in a bubble. The light of their ki energy flaring to a pulsing brightness. A shining beacon.
Thousands of feet below them, on the surface of planet Namek, the villagers could see the flare of ki in the sky. The combined might of the warriors was strong enough to shine in the eternal daylight of the Namekian skies. They shone like a secondary sun in the sky. A stalwart resistance against destruction. Below the villagers sent their thoughts to the warriors, as though they too, could provide strength for their champions.
Lusku had his old head craned back. He squinted against the light that burned at his eyes, but he refused to look away. He needed to witness this to the end. It was the only thing the Elder could do for his warriors and his village.
“Alright everyone!” Helio roared, “GO!”
At the word everyone unleashed their various ki attacks. The different ki beams, drills, and lasers of various colors slammed into the Meteor. They crashed against it, but didn’t punch through. They didn’t halt the meteor’s progress, but they slowed it considerably.
The surface of the meteor bore cracks and signs of damage from the combined attack, but it still hadn’t halted. The attacks couldn’t quite push through to the core and beyond to shatter the boulder. Instead they just pressed hard against the stone, cracking and smashing against its surface.
“Don’t give up everyone!” Helio snarled, “Keep going!”
The other warriors nodded and then screamed in another roar of defiance against the meteor. They pushed more ki into their attacks, the various powers smashing harder into the meteor like a great hammer blow. Another surface layer cracked off from the meteor, the various ki blasts disintegrating it.
Hikaru gritted her teeth so hard, she thought that they might crack inside her mouth. She poured every last bit of herself into the attack, and still the meteor kept coming. It was looming against them, even as another layer disintegrated.
‘We need a little more time…’ Hikaru thought with dismay. They could destroy this thing. But it would crash down on them and the village before that happened. They wouldn’t be able to shatter through the layers of the meteor in time. They needed to push it back, but they were already doing everything they could to attack it already…
‘If only we could just stop it…’ she growled to herself in frustration. Her ki blast was the weakest amongst the gathered warriors. She hadn’t developed a technique suited for this! Her Sniper Beam was too small, too thin! If only she could do more… Hikaru mentally flashed through all her options, all her moves. All her techniques…
She remembered, not too long ago, of when she had encountered this exact situation. That smaller meteor that had slammed against her. The one that she couldn’t push back or avoid. She had blown it away with a full bodied ki blast. It had worked… Even though it had exhausted the last of her reserves…
It. Had. Worked.
“Helio!” Hikaru cried out to the Namekian and then met his eyes, “Whatever you do, don’t stop!”
Then she canceled her ki blast and flew ahead.
“Wha- HIKARU!” Helio called after in, but couldn’t chase without also canceling his own attack.
She flew directly to the meteor, ignoring the cries of the others behind her, and then she slammed against it with her body infused with every last drop of ki that she had in her veins. She could feel her armor and clothes burning away. She knew her skin would follow shortly once her ki ran out. But she didn’t care. She couldn’t let this meteor fall.
Hikaru pushed against the meteor will all her strength and actually managed to halt its progress. The ki blasts were centered on a point above her, and she could feel their intensity and heat above her. Every layer of stone cracked away would shatter and cut her with the debris. She didn’t care. After all the time she spent in this hell storm, she had grown accustomed to the shards of stone slicing through her like she was made of paper.
She ignored the pain, and kept pushing. She had learned to ignore pain her entire life. This was just another example. Broken bones. Burns. Gashes. Gorings. Piercings. It was all just pain. And she had long since learned not to care about it.
Hikaru’s gloves burned away, finally exposing her palms to the burning surface of the stone. Her flesh sizzled like meat on a cooking fire. She couldn’t afford to flinch away from it. So she ignored her body’s instinct to pull back. To protect itself from damage.
Her hooded coat burned away next, exposing her armor plating and pants to the meteor’s surface. She could count on this holding just a little longer than the reinforced cloth of her gloves and coat. But not for much longer.
There was a deafening crack above her, and she felt the meteor shift. Hikaru managed to lift her head enough to see a massive piece of the meteor break away and disintegrate. The largest they had managed to destroy yet. Her heart leaped in joy! It was working! They could do this! She just needed to last a little longer.
Hikaru closed her eyes and pushed even harder against the meteor, reinvigorated by the knowledge that they were making progress. Her ki seemed to glow inside her skin, bolstering it against the meteor’s fire, and giving her the strength to push back against it’s crushing weight. They could do this. They could DO THIS!
She felt the last of the armor burn away across her chest, and her thighs. The skin on her legs and chest began to sizzle, much like her hands previously had. She didn’t about think about just how ruined her palms must be… She didn’t think about anything at all.
Hikaru blocked out all thought. Blocked out the pain. The fear. The ‘what if we fail?’ She blocked it all, and only focused on keeping her ki pumping through her body, and pressing this meteor back. She ignored how the reserve inside her was dwindling. Dwindling to embers…
She felt like she was dwindling away as well. Her very sense of self being burned away like her body and ki. But… she needed… to hold on… until…
The meteor exploded.
Hikaru was sent flying along with the shattered debris of the meteor. She spun through the air limply. She couldn’t move, much less try to fly. Hikaru had nothing left inside her. She didn’t care. The meteor was destroyed. Everyone would be safe. Hikaru just barely managed to grin before she gave in to the dark.
Hikaru’s mind barely managed to surface from the darkness. She only managed to think, “I’m alive...” before the overwhelming pain surged over her, and drowned her sense of self. Hikaru retreated into the safety of unconsciousness.
Hikaru wasn’t sure how often she repeated this process, or for how long she drifted like this. It was all beyond her current mental capability. Hikaru could only hold the most basic of thoughts before the pain overwhelmed it and forced her back into just the simplest of animalistic states. To hide from the pain and gather its strength.
Each time she surfaced, she came back a little stronger. A little more aware. She once had even been able to open her eyes blearily, and briefly see Mollau standing over her. His hands soothing away her pain, before she had to drift away again. He must be working so hard to save her. Just like when they first met. Mollau had told Hikaru once, that he never wanted to see her in such a state again. Hikaru was sure he never imagined he’d have to see her like this. The healer was probably going to scold the hell out of her for this stupid stunt when she finally woke up completely.
Hikaru looked forward to it.
Total Word Count: 5060
1,157 Words Weighted
Heavy Training Weights: +75% PL
3,909 Words Unweighted
Wealthy: +10% Zenni
Training for:
[SP-1] Last Stand
Hikaru refuses to die, she focuses every last shred of her will power to survive against all odds.
Once per thread Hikaru survives with 1% health against an attack that would knock Hikaru’s health down to 0..
Meteor Shower
There's a meteor shower predicted tonight. It's supposed to be a particularly heavy one with large chunks of debris. While most people are evacuating to safety, you have other plans. Moving, dodging, and destroying huge flaming chunks of burning space junk sounds like an exciting training regimen.
+10% Zeni gains, +20% PL gains
Chance for +20% on PL gains
15 or above/D20
5K WC Limit
