The New Age Empire v2: Book 2

Wednesday, December 21st

~Chapter 15: The Masters of Death~

"We are now entering the Aglarian system and will be approaching the planet in half an hour. I detect hostile life in this solar system so be on the lookout." Don always informed them of important things. Vegeta had just woken up, though, so most of that went completely over his head.

"Can you repeat that?" he asked with a yawn. He hadn't gotten much sleep. Sharing a room with two other people was beyond hard. Since Kallen was the only female she got an entire room to herself. He had been forced to share with Jas and Taura (who refused to be seperated from the other). Goten merely shared a bed with his father. Jas could snore louder than even Goku and Vegeta swore it created vibrations that shook the entire room.

"We're nearing Agalar and there might be people who want to kill us around. Keep watch."

"Can you do a scan and return to me all lifeforms besides us and where they're located?"

"Done. Lifeforms detected on a planet ten minutes away from Agalar. They seem to be a race of aliens that are the most hostile I have ever seen." Then he fell silent for a brief moment. "Oh my."

"That doesn't sound like a good 'oh my'. Is that a good 'oh my'?" Vegeta was wide-awake now, eyes riveted to the view of a redish planet.

"That was a bad 'oh my'. Definitely a bad 'oh my'. Bulma told me of the recent war you had on Chikyuu with the Kamoku-jin."

"Hai. If I ever get my hands on one of them..." He trailed off, clearly angry just by remembering.

"You just may have a chance." Don said. "Because that other planet, the sister one of Agalar, is the Kamoku-jin homeworld."

He was at a loss for words. The only thing that came from his mouth was a phrase that had been uttered mere moments beforehand. "Oh my."

"Yes. Exactly."

"Send wake-up calls to all three rooms. We need a meeting and we need one A.S.A.P."

A few minutes later sleepy crew members made their way onto the bridge. The only one awake was Kallen who seemed to be very nervous about something. But she had been that way for a few days, ever since they began to make their way toward their destination. She sat next to Vegeta to keep an eye on the camera screens and noticed that there seemed to be a constant patrol around both planets. Don had slowed the slip so that they were almsot still to give everyone time to come up with a plan.

"I say we go in, kick some alien ass, maybe blow up the planet, and move on to Agalar." Vegeta was all for revenge. "People died because of those bastards."

"Planet destruction is a little rash," Goku told him. Even after his *very* painful death he was still reluctant to kill them all off. "How about we try to talk to them instead?"

Both demi-saiyans groaned, loudly. "Come on Tousan!" Goten said. "You can't give everyone a second chance. Look at Frieza. You gave him a chance, he tried to kill you. Look at Raditz! You gave *him* a chance and he tried to kill niichan."

"I gave Vegeta a second chance and he reformed," Goku pointed out.

"That's one case out of many. Those are not good odds."

"We will be entering Kamoku-jin airspace in five minutes," Don informed them. "What do you want me to do?"

"How fast can this ship possibly go?" Taura asked, forming a plan in his mind. "We would have to be fast enough without using the hyperdrive to completely pass them and land on Agalar. Once there I'm sure you can fight them. It's a little too risky in outerspace with the vacuum, freezing cold temperatures, and lack of oxygen. Especially since there are so many of them."

"Good idea!" Vegeta said with great enthusiasm. "Goku-san, can you and Goten help me fight them? Maybe use a lot of ki blasts to destroy their ships in the atmosphere."

"What will we do?" Taura asked him.

"You three get to stay here."

"There's a problem. A sort of big problem." Kallen spoke up quietly. "It's about the trials."

"Yes?"

"After everyone was asleep last night I contact the Sorcerer's Ruling Council since everything about Agalar is clearly magic related. I found out what the trials are."

Everyone looked interested. "Yes? What are they?" Goten asked.

"There are only two. The first is to go retrieve whatever you have lost to the spirits. I'm guessing that's the missing part of Jas' soul."

"So you're saying we have to go to Hell?" Goten's eyes grew wide. "That is not a place I would like to visit. Has anyone here been there before?"

"Um, I guess I can say me." Goku said, looking very uncomfortable. "I mean, I didn't originally get sent there. I made it to Heaven but I visited Vegeta after he died trying to kill Majin Buu. It was not a happy experience."

"The second trial," Kallen said before the talk could go any further. "is to seal the rift on Agalar. It has been there for centuries and was written into the original document. The Aglarians never thought they would be killed off."

"That's it," Taura muttered unhappily. "We're screwed."

"We could not seal it," Jas told them. "It's impossible."

"Maybe not. Did your Death Chaser group ever go into a rift?"

Jas gave Goten a look of shock. "Of course not. We just fought them back. To do anything else is a sign of madness."

"There you have it. How do you know you can't seal it if you've never gone to Hell?"

"Jas needs to go along because it's his soul we retrieving." Kallen pointed out. "But I don't think he has to be there for the sealing."

"I want to be there," Jas said softly. "I feel as if I'm supposed to be."

"So this is to be a group outing. Great!" Vegeta grinned. "I'll bring the food. Goten can bring the sodas."

The three non-Chikyuu-jin looked confused while Goten and Goku just shook their heads at his silliness.

"Don, maximum output. Take this ship to the the fastest speed without using the hyperdrive. We're going in."

"Speed increased to one-hundred percent. We will be reaching maximum output in ten seconds. Approximate time until we land on Agalar has been reduced from eight minutes to one point five. At this speed we should be able to break through the Kamoku-jin patrols with minimal damage from their weapons.

"We're gonna make it! We're gonna make it!" Goten cheered. He was cut short when the ships moved to circle them so that they wouldn't be able to get through unless they wanted to seriously mess up their ship. He groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

"I will quote Taura now," he said. "We are screwed."

"No we are not!" Vegeta grabbed the controls for the first time since the journey began and punched in a few commands. "Don, put cameras three through five online. One and two I don't need. Keep the main window centered on the direction that I'm taking and activate both of guns. Taura and Kallen, you can handle them right?"

"Yes!" Both said in unison.

"Good. Get on it."

"What about me?" Goten asked him. "I can handle it!"

"Gomen nasai, Goten, but your skills suck." The other's young man's face fell. "Just stay here with the other two and don't say a word if you want to survive this."

Leaning over the controls, Vegeta grabbed both joysticks and barely managed to dodge several volleys of enemy fire. Ever since the first battle with Ankan, he had been memorizing the instruction manual to the ship. Actually it was just a collection of commands and things both Bulma, Gohan, and the rest of the scientists who had a hand in the project had compiled. It was very helpful in increasing his understanding of the ship's functions though.

There was a gap in the line where one of Vegeta's missles had impacted and then blown up a ship. By tilting the ship a full one-hundred and eighty degrees he manage to fit between two Kamoku-jin ships. Their fire came completely from the front so they had to do a three-sixty to fire upon them again.

"Switch the main window onto the back so that I can blow some of 'em up. Full speed ahead towards Agalar."

The planet grew larger and larger in the window as they drew nearer. Soon the four crew members in the cabin were able to make out an almost barren wasteland when a large dust cloud that appeared to be a storm. Soon they were descending into the atmosphere and taking pressure from the reentry. The Kamoku-jin fire had also stopped completely.

"You did it!" Goten cheered, resisting the urge to hug him. Vegeta, panting because he forgot to breath during most of the mini-battle, smiled weakly and nodded towards the planet they touched down on.

"We're finally on Agalar," he said. "I'm so- What the Hell is that?!"

"What?" Kallen asked as she entered onto the bridge.

Vegeta pointed at two blips on the radar. "There seem to be two other ships here."

"We know one is probably Ankan," Goku frowned. "Who's the other one?"

Quite suddenly everyone heard a high-pitched beeping sound and it seemed to be coming from outside. Kallen, with a frown on her face, disappeared from the bridge all-together.

Vegeta gave an order. "Locate Kallen with the camera and use the entire screen."

"Done."

"Hey guys, there's something on the hull here." She said. "Yep. It looks like a tracking device."

"Do you think it belongs to whoever that second ship belongs to?" Goten asked.

"It's a high possibility. We didn't hear it before so they must be close for it to react like this. I need somebody who can fly to come up here and get it off. You'll probably want to destroy it as well."

"Do you see any Kamoku-jin coming down?"

"No and that scares me. It's like they have people hiding down here or something."

"There are no Kamoku-jin ships anywhere near this planet. They have all gone back to their own." Don displayed it on the screen. "There isn't a Kamoku-jin ship within five-hundred kilometers of Agalar."

"I don't like the sound of that," Vegeta muttered as he got to this feet. "I'm going outside and get this trial over with. All those coming with me let's go."

***

They trudged through the hot desert trying to find the Aglarian rift. Don was guarding the ship and all of their belongings while the crew members looked as if they were about to pass out from heat exposure. As it was Vegeta was just about naked because he had majority of his clothing trailing behind in his right hand.

Kallen stopped and fell down to the sand. At first they thought she was about to pass out but Goten noticed a look on concentration on her face. They all waited a minute and then she spoke.

"There was a great magic done on this exact spot," she pursed her lips. "It's a ward to keep out someone or a group of someones. Can I cast a spell to see exactly what?"

"Go ahead," Vegeta collapsed onto the sand. "I need a break *and* some water. Give it to me, Goten."

"Hell no!" He hugged the huge container of water to his chest. "You'll just drink it all."

"Goten," he father said in a stern tone. It wasn't one he had heard very often. Goten reluctantly handed him the water just as Kallen finished her spell.

The ground began to glow with a yellowish light for about two feet in diameter. Blueish runes also appeared around edge of the circle as well as a pentagram with a rune at each point as well as in the center. She nodded and her face broke out into a smile.

"This is why the Kamoku-jin didn't follow us down here," she said. "If any one of their people come even an inch within in the atmosphere, they'll die. This rune here, " she pointed to the center, "denotes how far it extends to. The ones at each point are the scientific properties that make the kamoku-jin what they are and the runes around the edge of the circle outline exactly what's supposed to happen if they enter the atmosphere. At least we're sure now that there are no Kamoku-jin hiding out on this planet. Alive anyway."

"On to the rift then," Vegeta sighed. "It's the only thing that we can do now."

Onward they trudged; Goten whining, Vegeta complaining of a sunburn, and Goku secretly eyeing the water bottle. Over hills and through valleys they walked on and it was now two hours later. Taura kept rubbing the sweat from his eyes while both Goten and Goku were seeing imaginary culinary delights in the air. Finally they went over one last mountain of sand and came upon the edge of a rainforest.

"Shade!" Goten shouted as he ran for the trees. Everyone took off after him and soon they were speeding between trees and other green plants.

"I smell water," Goku announced. It had been twenty minutes since their supply had run out. A clearing snuck upon them quite suddenly and Goten, who was in the lead, came to a complete stop.

"Guys," he said, "we are *definitely* not alone."

From the east came the man that appeared on their viewscreen along with at least fifteen of his fellow do-badders. He smirked at them and displayed the ring on his finger, the very same one that had been stolen from their ship.

"I would ask how you made it to this planet, but I know of your artificial intelligence. It probably archived the map beforehand."

"You bastard!" Vegeta shouted. "One Don is *not* an it, two you're going to pay for stealing something that belongs to the Royal Empire of Chikyuu."

He sneered. "Never heard of it."

Any further banter died on their lips as the third arrived on the scene from the west. Several people in black robes (that looked ridiculous considering how hot it was)and wooden sandals stopped a few feet from the center of the very large clearing. All of their faces were shrouded in shadow so no one could tell whether they were male or female. The one in front kneeled onto the ground and a split-second later the rest followed. Vegeta couldn't resist saying something about them.

"Who are you guys supposed to be? Grim Reapers in training?"

Not a word was uttered from the strange group as if they hadn't heard a word.

In the center, due north by all three parties, were the Magical Springs of Agalar. There were seven shallow wells, each enclosed by stone on all but one side, but there was not a drop of water in them. Behind the Springs, north from Vegeta and the other's direction, was a stone temple. A path led up between two sets of springs and to the foot of the stairs.

Jas took walked forward, completely ignoring the magical springs, and stopped right before he climbed the stairs.

"It is in here," he said, eyes filled with a different emotion than what they usually were. "The rift is in this temple."

"Great! Last one there is a stinky Ankan!" Vegeta took off at a run for the entrance to the temple. It took the King of Thieves a few moments to process that insult but when he did, it wasn't pretty. He ran after Vegeta, spitting curses, and waving his katana about his head. His men and Vegeta's crew eyed each other for a moment and then followed a second later. Since the stairs could only fit so many people on them, two of Ankan's thieves were pushed into the empty wells that usually housed the magical water. As soon as their bodies hit the stone bottom, they decayed into dust and blew away on the wind. Everyone stopped to watch it happen and there was silence until Kallen broke it.

"I wouldn't recommend that you touch those springs at the moment. That looks like a horrible way to die."

"Gee, Kallen," Goten said sarcastically. "I wouldn't have figured that out if you hadn't said anything."

"GIVE ME THAT BACK NOW!" Vegeta's deep voice shouted from inside the temple. They heard Ankan growl and then the 'chink' of metal hitting stone. The remaining members of both parties finally made it up the stairs and disappeared into the temple. They had all forgotten the third group.

"Spirits of the five elements guide us on our journey." The lead man in black prayed. A few minutes later he rose to his feet and removed his robe in one firm tug of his hand. Of course the others did the same. They all wore leather armor and had katanas at their sides as well as a bow and arrows on their backs. The leader man also had poisioned darts in a pouch at his other hip so they would be close by.

"Those who do not believe will never triumph." The leader said in a firm voice. "We shall complete the trials."

Raising his right fist, he began to march into the temple. The other warrior priests were right behind him.