>>5341358“Good luck.” you tell her telepathically. “Give 'em hell kiddo.”
“Be safe.” he tells her. “We'll find somewhere to lay low and avoid drawing attention to ourselves until we locate the anti-aircraft cannons that shot down our ship. Then we'll take them out.”
“They're gonna regret attacking our home world!” she replies, then ends the mental link as her golden form blasts down out of the air, flying down to land on the roof of the fortress. You watch from a distance as she cuts a hole in the roof with her sword, and dives inside. Once she's out of sight, Raditz turns to the two of you and gestures.
“Come on, let's head down to the observation room.” he replies, taking off in the opposite direction of the fortress. Caulifla looks from him to it confused, then looks to you. You just shrug, and as you start following him, she does the same. The three of you fly through the city streets, and after a few seconds you realize that it is no city at all. The mechanical parts have simply been grafted to the stone ruins of another civilization, one no doubt destroyed by either your kin or someone else in the PTO before Vox bought the planet. As you have this realization, Raditz suddenly stops and drops down out of the air, landing beside what looks like one of the Vox transport ships. It has been covered in decorations like the one that attacked your planet and look closer to the 'ancient' aesthetic that these machines have. But as the three of you land, a loading door on the side opens, revealing a half-dozen of Tanya's elite soldiers as they form ranks on either side of the ramp.
“General Karn. Caulifla. This is an unexpected surprise.” comes the young girl's voice from inside the ship and after a moment you see her emerging from the shadows. And she's clearly ready for war. She has a pair of rifles on her back, pistols on both hips, and is carrying the same long rifle she'd used against Kars in her hands as she walks down the ramp. “But a pleasant one. With you here, I won't have to worry as much about holding back.”
Her last sentence was directed at Caulifla, who's still holding that piece of the machine she'd caught. Only now that it has cooled off, you realize that it isn't just a gear. But a tiny machine, with its own arms, legs, and head.
“Wait, you're gonna fight big sis?” Caulifla asks her, brows furrowed in confusion. “I thought she was gonna be fighting these big machines?”
“She will, but they're just the warmup.” Tanya replies, gesturing to the machine your daughter is holding. “They're no more a threat to her, if she pays attention and fights seriously, than that one in your hand is to you. So, once she's battled the dragon, it'll be my turn.”
cont
