[Voice, locked to residents] --EMERGENCY--EMERGENCY--EMERGENCY--EMERGENCY--

[malnosso]

[At 2:15AM, the journals suddenly blare out an alarm, followed by this message.]

EMERGENCY. EMERGENCY. This is an emergency.

The following occupants of the Luceti enclosure must report to the teleporters in twenty minutes. You are required as reinforcements in Region 13. Bring all necessary armaments with you. You will be teleported directly into combat.

Anyone who fails to comply will be forcibly escorted to the teleporters by droids.

This is not a drill. I repeat: this is not a drill. You have twenty minutes.

[The message repeats twice more, the alarm continuing until the twenty minutes has elapsed. No questions will be answered.]

Comments

[skyleopardess]

[Yoruichi supposes she shouldn't be surprised--anyone can be pulled into a draft, after all. Bulla looks a bit anxious, and a far cry from the bubbly, friendly kid who'd greeted Yoruichi upon arrival.]

[Yoruichi can hardly blame her. So she gives her a faint grin, hoping to put her at ease somewhat, at least for a few minutes.]

Hey, kiddo. It's good to see you.

[Even if it's not good to see her there, about to be pulled into what sounds like a nasty bit of fighting.]

[fashionably_strong]

Are you all ready for the Draft? I've trained in the Battle Dome against the Third Party...but it's still not the same as the real deal.

[The real deal gave her nightmares after her last encounter. The nightmares eventually went away when her injuries healed and she got stronger. But now they're fresh in her mind, along with her memories of that incident.]

I should tell you while I've got the chance - aim for their wings. Theirs are just as vulnerable as ours, only they're bigger.

[skyleopardess]

[She shrugs, letting out a small sigh.]

I'm as ready as I'm going to be, I guess.

[With twenty minutes notice, it's almost impossible to prepare. She hopes they only drafted people with the experience to react to surprise conditions.]

Good to know, I appreciate it. So you've been in a draft before?

[fashionably_strong]

[Bulla shakes her head.]

No. My father has, but I haven't. I fought the Third Party once when they invaded Luceti. This guy named Zompano messed with everyone's memories and made us all forget we had powers or that we'd ever lived anywhere but Luceti...then when the effects of his powers started wearing off and our memories started to come back, the Third Party attacked and tried to kill everyone.

[Fortunately, the powers came back a little faster, although memory of how to control them properly wasn't there.]

They're fanatic cultists who want every last person in Luceti dead. No one's ever been able to reason with them.

[skyleopardess]

[Yoruichi's eyes widen a bit; the enemy having that kind of power is disturbing, to say the least. The short notice of the draft already suggests things have gone bad, and information like this only supports that. Still, she'd rather know than not.]

Well, I'm starting to see why they woke us up in the middle of the night. Have we ever been told why they want us all dead?

[Not that it ultimately matters--she's not the type to fight for no reason, or to enjoy killing people. But if they're trying to kill her, and all the civilians back in Luceti...well. That's more than enough reason to not just fight, but to cripple them to where they can't try this again anytime soon.]

[fashionably_strong]

Supposedly it's for some sort of sacrifice. I don't really get why, but I know that they'd kill all of us and the people in the other enclosures given the chance.

[Bulla doesn't like the idea of killing, but she's at peace with the idea that sometimes it's necessary.]

They're basically lunatics. Powerful ones.

[skyleopardess]

Those are always messy to fight.

[They often have no sense of self-preservation, which can make them dangerous even when they're outclassed in fighting strength and ability.]

Do you have someone to watch your back, Bulla? I'm not saying you can't handle yourself, but it's always good to have someone there in a fight.

[Especially if you're new to the ugliness of drawn out battle conditions like Yoruichi suspects they're heading into.]

[fashionably_strong]

[Bulla nods.]

I didn't get the chance to look at the full list to see how many I know that were drafted, but my father was drafted too and he's an experienced warrior.

[She has a great deal of faith in him, although it's no longer the naive and idealistic view of a little girl idolizing her daddy's strength. When they were still recovering their powers and didn't know what was going on that time, it had fallen to her to protect him instead. It's a reminder that while he's much stronger than her, that she can't just sit back and assume he'll take care of everything.]

He's extremely strong.

[skyleopardess]

[She smiles in return; it may not be blind faith, but there's still something endearing about a child's belief in her father's strength. While her own father had been necessarily distant due to the demands of his station, Yoruichi can remember feeling much the same way once.]

Good. I think I'd have hated fighting with my dad, but I'd have eventually had to admit I was grateful for his help.

[Because she'd been gifted, but hadn't had anything on his additional centuries of experience.]

You've got a better attitude about it than I would have at your age.

[fashionably_strong]

He's one of the strongest people I know. He's fought against people who've destroyed planets and come out on top in the end. Dad's a survivor. If I can get even half as strong as him one day, I'll consider it quite an achievement.

[She's spent so much of her life ignoring her natural gifts as a half-saiyan, or utilizing them just for personal recreation. She doesn't regret most of her life choices, although she does regret how little she used to train.]

I got something that made me a lot stronger than I used to be...or I guess I always had the potential for it and just unlocked it recently. I'm really hoping I won't have to use it, though.

[skyleopardess]

[Well, that gets a bit of an eyebrow raise. Destroying whole planets? Sounds like those two have nothing to worry about, then.]

Oh yeah? Most people can't wait to use new techniques...or is it something else?

[fashionably_strong]

It's...a transformation. It makes me fifty times more powerful, but it burns off a lot of energy and I haven't trained with it enough to know my own strength or my limits.

[And that's not even getting into the issues with how it's initially unlocked.]

It's more of a last resort than anything.

[skyleopardess]

Haaaah. I see what you mean. Battlefield conditions aren't ideal for trying out that sort of thing.

[Like bankai or shunko, it sounds like something best honed in relative safety. But depending on what they wound up facing out there, that might not be a luxury Bulla has.]

Tell you what, though--when we get back, let me know if you need help practicing. We can always use the Battle Dome.

[fashionably_strong]

I'd like that. It'll have to wait until after Father's Day, though. If I'm not forced to transform here, I want to surprise Dad with it.

[Because the shops are limited here. While it's a gift with no monetary value, she knows it's one that would actually mean something to him, too.]

He'll be able to sense my energy if I transform anywhere inside of the enclosure.