Capítulo 9: Chapter 9: Border patrol
I woke to a shuddering. My attack ball was blinking and frankly having a full-on seizure. It was apparently doing something, but I hadn't a clue what it was doing. I looked out my porthole and saw a massive ship blocking my view. Well, then… Just as I was considering popping the hatch and going to town on the ship my attack ball bleeps.
"Attention unidentified vessel! You have been caught breaching the Republic of Organized Nations border! You and your vessel are being brought aboard a patrol vessel for inspection!"
I was, flummoxed… Lost, confused. I had been caught by space border patrol and I wasn't sure how to feel about that. I could just blow them up, but I was oddly curious what would happen. Which meant I just sat back and watched everything happen as I was pulled into the ship's hangar. I put on my scouter for the hell of it before I exited. I expected lines of soldiers, or perhaps an armed contingent, I got a tired looking lizard-gecko-man-thing.
He, because I was certain he was a male gave me a dead eyed stare. I wasn't sure if he was that dead to the world or if it was just the way he looked, but when I stepped down onto the hangar floor he just gave me an odd look before looking at a tablet in his hand.
"Name?"
Uh… okay? "Rettas?"
"Right… Human?" Then pauses as he sees my tail unfurl from around my waist. "Simian?" He tests.
"Saiyan."
"Right, okay… Huh, no record of your species." He shrugs and continues fiddling with the tablet before looking at me again.
"Are you aware your vessel is not registered?"
"Registered?"
"Yes, all space faring vessels need to be registered with the DSV. I assume that means your vehicle isn't registered?"
"Uh, no it isn't." Where was this going exactly?
"Of course, may I ask where you got your vessel from?"
"My homeworld."
"Name?"
"Planet Vegeta?"
"What's it made of?"
"Plot Armor."
He pauses at that.
"How strong is this… Plot Armor?"
"As strong as Plot needs it to be."
He looks like he's going to argue, but just shrugs. "Aight."
"Mode of travel?"
"Acceleration?"
"No wormhole tech? or going through subspace?"
"Nope, it just accelerates."
A few minutes later…
"Ah, what's your ships name?"
"Attack Ball?"
A few taps later…
"I registered your Attack Ball in the RON database, now, are you a licensed driver?"
"I need a license to drive my own spaceship?"
"Yes…" He says exasperatedly but doesn't complain anymore then that as he fills out more paperwork.
"Mind following me?" And without me even getting the chance to reply he starts walking away. I look around confused and follow behind. The hallways are all metal, people moving around, guards likely of various different species. They give me strange looks I can't quite place…
I follow him to a large room that's in the belly of the ship. A massive circular portal looking thing sits in the center.
"Since you are technically an illegal citizen, we are supposed to keep you impounded, but due to our incompetent officials we don't have the funding for that, so we'll be dropping you off at the nearest border planet. The planet in question has a designation, but no name since nobody can decide on a name."
"What's the name?" I ask after he goes quiet. "Everyone just calls it, That Shithole… or whatever." He catches my not so impressed look.
"It's not near the center of the republic so nobody cares, hell, even we don't care."
"And what happens to my ship?"
"It will be dropped off at an impound lot on the planet run by the border patrol. Once you get proper licensing and pay the fees incurred for your illegal border crossing, we will release the ship back to you. Also, if you pay off your debt, you'll be allowed to apply for citizenship with the assistance of at least one citizen acting as a guarantor. Any questions?"
I had so many…
"Well, uh, first. If I were say, able to blow up a planet or had similar powers, or say could shoot lasers out of my eyes and such how would that change?"
He looks unamused. "First, are you armed? I highly doubt you are in your… current state of dress." My current state of dress? I look down, oh… Right… My suit was pretty much gone leaving only a small strip of cloth sticking to my chest like a small tube top. I was showing quite a bit of boob too. My lower part looks more like small booty shorts, or perhaps biker shorts? Frankly I was showing a lot of skin.
I didn't feel shy though, no, not as I looked at my rippling frame, my perfect abdominal muscles that could grate cheese on. Slim, filled with power, but not ugly muscular. More like a masterwork marble statue. David's got nothing on me as I ripple my muscles in a mesmerizing wave.
"Ahem…" Ah right.
"You got clothes I can use right?" I wasn't sure if walking around this wouldn't cause me problems. "I can arrange that." He tells me as he once more messes with his tablet.
"Anyway, seeing as you don't have any weapons on you and the fact what you said is incredibly absurd. Even if you could there isn't much we could do honestly. Racism laws dictate we can't lock you up just because of what you could do… Just… please don't? yes?"
"I can do that." He nods.
"I just need you to sign here and confirm the amount…" He hands the tablet over, just as another alien walks in with a chest. I looked over the contractual terms and honestly, I couldn't read past the second paragraph. I just went ahead and signed with the knowledge I could zap them all if they tried to cheat me. I took a glance at the amount.
"Is this amount a lot?" I ask as I hand back the tablet. "For your crimes? Not really. You got off easily due to your spacecraft being so small and not breaking any of RON laws."
I nod along, deciding to walk to the chest as he looks over the tablet where the other alien sits. They look like a slug like thing.
"These the clothes?" I ask the strange, slug like alien.
"Sure, thing little lady." It looks at me, staring into my soul with its beady eyes. Okay… I open the chest and pick out some clothes with little trouble. A shirt a tad bit too tight going over the remains of my suit with a band logo on it. It barely even reaches down to cover my stomach, but I found I didn't care. An open front cropped jacket which fit nicely, a pair of short shorts and well… I hardly looked much better, but at least it didn't look like I was wearing just underwear. I also had my boots, still pristine, somehow?
The border agent lizard-gecko-man-thing gave me glassy eyes look before looking back to the portal thing.
"We should be above one of the planet's space elevators. Just stand in the center of the ring and we'll release you on the planet. Oh, and we'll be sending your information to your data device."
Must mean my scouter… I take a step before something he said earlier rings in my mind.
"Oh, and do you see humans often? I find it odd you thought I was one at first."
"Humans are fairly common, nobody knows how they keep getting off earth, but well, they find a way." I nod to this, internally considering the information about earth.
"Does nobody go to earth? Or off?"
"Earth is… weird. Nobody touches it unless they have too. Even then they won't do so. That's about all I know about that subject. Know anyone from earth?"
"Not really, just curious."
"That's fine… And if I didn't mention it before, good luck. A lot of us in the border patrol wish we could do more, but we don't have the budget to better deal with illegal crossings like yours."
"It's no problem, I was thinking I'd just blow you all up if this turned into something stupid."
"Mm… Thanks for not doing that." He says with a strange hissing sigh. Frankly I was taking this as a tourist opportunity really. The bureaucracy wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, thanks to loose border policies I guess? He also didn't seem too concerned with me killing them, but I wasn't sure if it was due to how exhausted he was or if he was just use to that shit.
I hear a series of clanks as I stand in the center of the circle. I feel weightless as my feet leave the ground. The circle below my feet opens with a grinding sound, opening into a massive circular tube. I stare below and suddenly find myself going down at a rapid, but comfortable place.
I look up and see the ship, then look around and see another couple of these long tubes leading into the atmosphere. Some are open, some have massive stations at their top like caps. Below that sits an expansive cityscape. It looked to be night, near pitch black save for the glaring lights of the buildings. As I went further down, I began to see more and more of the streets.
The streets so well-lit like it was daylight out, people moving around laughing and talking. Strangely clean streets and the odd vehicle floating around. It looked both busy and not. Almost idyllic? I thought it would stop on street level, but apparently it didn't. Instead, the elevator shuddered as I hit ground level as if deciding if I belonged before plummeting down.
The idyllic cityscape gave way to an almost nightmarish underground city. Ghastly lights glowed everywhere, the air smelled of pollution and had yellow-ish fog that drifted up into massive vents on the ceiling of the cavern. The streets below looked less like streets and more like countless buildings mashed together into a puzzle-esque shape.
The change was drastic and severe. I slammed down on the ground floor into a terminal area. The area was packed filled with people as I looked at all the strange monitors and terminals with foreign letters everywhere. The sheer quantity of aliens of beings both like and unlike humans makes my mind race as I try to process all that I was seeing.
"Oi, clear the landing pad!" A guard wearing ratty equipment yells at me, and I move at his command almost unconsciously before I feel a sting. I listened? The fucker!? I turn to glare at the guy, but he just stands in his spot staring into space… Somehow that just makes me depressed. I take a breath in, ignoring the growing sensation of fear and indecision flooding me.
There were too many people. I had to find a corner to squat in because the ground was all sticky, and no chairs were around. I saw bolts in the ground, like chairs had been there, but they clearly weren't anymore. Vandalism likely.
I took the moment to breathe in and out. I ignored the stench as I buried my feelings and checked my scouter. My pod was somewhere on the planet. A few button presses later and I found its location on a map of the planet. I fiddle with it more and find that my scouter acted as a convenient translator for text. Meaning I could actually read the text on all the different monitors.
It was like an overpacked dirty airport terminal. I stand shakily and begin to walk, almost over conscious of all the people around me. The sounds and noises reminding me, forcing me back to the old me, old habits not quite dead rearing their ugly heads. I try to stay calm, my head bowed, acutely aware of the drifting glances on my body. I felt… self-conscious?
It made me feel sick to my stomach. Worthless, weak. And my blood hated it, almost roaring in my ear. I found myself pausing in the center of the crowd. Feeling the people flow around me. My breathing was heavy as the frustration and fear tried to force itself out in the only outlet I had, violence.
As I was preparing to massacre something, anyone, I felt a body hit me .I blink and see a massive reptile thing fall over.
"Fucking bitch!" I blink and see the alien near twice my size laying on the ground, just from walking into me. I hardly felt it… Suddenly, the frenzy fades as I grin.
"Got a problem you piece of shit?" I taunted him, no, I wasn't the old me. I was a planet busting motherfucka! I could paste everyone here just by moving too fast. Why should I care about them? I was a literal fucking god compared to these morons!
Something in my look must have spooked the reptile alien as he apologizes and scoots around me, even bumping into other people as he moves. I laugh, letting my voice hang in the air. Suddenly, I felt the crowd no longer pushing on me, instead pushing away from me. Eyes looked at me in fear as I walked.
They felt it. Even as I contained my power they knew; they knew I was a predator. A beast they should not cross. It was exciting, my sadistic urges began to surface as I purposely moved to and fro, just to watch the crowd shuffle and move to avoid me. It was entertaining, but I had business to attend to and I wasn't going to waste my time chasing around blobs of people. I had shit to do.
I exit the terminal and come out to, well, a shithole in all the worst ways possible. The buildings were all packed together, alleys in the form of streets ranged from being wide enough for a car to barely fitting a single person. Many of the streets went under buildings that could be best described as shanty complexes. Water dripped and flowed; putrid garbage decorated the streets and smelled of blood and rotting meat. The people walked with heavy coats and masks, eyes weary and watching.
It smelled horrific, but something in the air sent my senses tingling. Like I was in a jungle, my more primal blood crying out. Crying out for me to claim this jungle as my own. My eyes raked horizon, the massive lit up cavern above lined with the massive vents. The sound buried under the mass of moving bodies and sounds of people living their lives. From the smallest of steps, to chattering and even the sounds of procreation in the wind…
This place truly was a shithole. Standing above it all were massive towers, some stopping near the top of the cavern, a backdrop of yellowed mist hanging around them as they glistened and gleamed. Some were like blades thrust into the planet's crust as they punched up and likely through. With a mild effort my mind ran through, combing through the land and earth.
The planet was near mined completely through. The planet hollowed and colonized, whereas the top was made into the holdings of the rich and famous. The interior of the planet was hardened and supported; I could sense from here I was standing the countless machines used to help the planet to keep its gravitational field. This planet was like a corpse that was stuffed and mounted.
There was no spirit, no soul. Only an empty gaping void as it maintained its function like the living dead. I didn't dare to try and read minds, just from the brief sweep I'd probably collapse and probably find myself relieved of my organs. I could sense the hungry eyes on me, the appraising glances. Fools that couldn't listen to their instincts.
I walked along the alleyways, my destination unknown. I walked for the sake of it, more or less looking for a proper target I suppose. A lucky break, an encounter of sorts. I had a method, a way I could better understand this planet. More of a direct mind reading a very intrusive method. I just needed a good target. Unfortunately, nobody stepped up to the plate.
My stomach began to growl as I passed people, the lights above dimming, perhaps to simulate the changing of night and day. The dark misty streets growing almost perilously dark as lights along the street turned on, or more commonly failed to turn on. Some flickered only to die, whereas some obvious locations just didn't turn on.
I wasn't sure what the deal was really, nor was I certain how the day was decided here. But I could sense people making their ways home, almost fleeing as if the darkness was something to fear. I could sense the groups of people moving almost like pack predators as they took up locations throughout the city. Maybe I would finally have my encounter?
The moment I thought that I could hear noises. Noises like a scuffle.
Status de energia semanal
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Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder