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>>5730099
“Peppa, if you don’t mind going over this one more time…” 19 requests of you as you all are gathered at a Galactic Patrol station, Raditz standing beside a Tech-Tech-looking Patroller. Videl, Pantea, and Maple are all beside you, while 16 stands next to 19, Giru resting on her shoulder.

“Okay, so, we’ll be meeting up with two individuals of note from the PTO that have looked into this potential rogue metallic planet, primarily to see if it can be used as a bit of a peace offering to the remnant Machine Mutants, with Videl being the face of that offering when it’s made.” you nod to your friend. “It’s also mostly a fact-finding mission. We don’t know much more than the bare minimum of it beyond location and vague physical features.” you add, with Raditz having the viewscreen everyone is in front of display exactly that.

“The planet has been determined to be larger than Earth by a significant margin, with what may be a large canyon bisecting the surface.” he adds in. “The PTO representatives should be here soon, once they are, we should be on our way.”

And as if on cue, the door to the area opens up, revealing two people in PTO armor escorted by a pair of taller Patrollers in armor like Jiya’s. The first of the pair is a small, yellow alien with a oval-shaped head, large eyes, and small antennae, in a black and green set of armor with a sort of green dress flowing down from the armor’s chestplate. Beside him is a taller and older orange alien, about mom’s height, in similar green and black armor, though lacking the dress part and instead having a pair of tight green leggings with a few pouches added to them, a Scouter and small wool cap on his head.

“Ra- er, I guess it is Patroller Raditz now, isn’t it?” the yellow alien remarks curiously. “In any case, I am Kikono, Chief Scientist of the Kuriza Force and one of the scientific heads of the Planet Trade Organization. This is my assistant, Lemo,” He gestures to the orange alien. “A veteran of the PTO, former Rear Guard, and current member of our Engineering Corps.”

He salutes, Raditz nodding in acknowledgement. “I assume you’ve been briefed on everything?”

“But of course. We have all the scanning equipment we’ll need to make a proper survey of the world, both at a distance and up close, should it prove reasonable to set foot upon it.” he acknowledges.

>A. Chief Scientist, huh? What kinds of stuff have you worked on, if you don’t mind my asking?
>B. It looks like you guys packed kinda light, what all have you brought?
>C. Should we give ‘em some proper introductions, mom?
>D. We all ready to head off, then? Let’s get going!
>E. Something else?

>>5730100

>C.
>A.
>E. What kind of food are we packing? We got Saiyans in here.

>>5730100
>C. Should we give ‘em some proper introductions, mom?

>>5730100
>A. Chief Scientist, huh? What kinds of stuff have you worked on, if you don’t mind my asking?
>E. Something else?
"Got any theories on this planet's history? I'm really curious about the big canyon."

>>5730100
Support
>>5730105
>>5730106
>>5730107

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>>5730100
“Should we give them some proper introductions, mom?” you ask with a bit of a grin.

She grins right back, turning to face the two newcomers. “Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong.” she begins with the universal greeting, doing a number of small hand signs in sync with it. “Name’s Maple Son-Mahogany, one of Earth’s former Martial Arts Champions, one of the last legacies of the Tuffles, faster than lightning, defender of Truth, Justice, and the planet Plant way!” Aaaaaaand she poses flamboyantly. You spot out of the corner of your eye, Jaco giving her a proud thumb’s up.

You though, you cross your arms confidently. “And I am Son Peppa, limit breaker, current Champion of Earth and daughter of two of its mightiest champions, a Saiyan, a Tuffle, and most importantly an Earthling that will stand against the worst the universe has to offer.”

Kikono blinks. “…I uh, see.” He looks around the room. “Any… others that need to introduce themselves?” You again notice out of the corner of your eye, Jaco trying to encourage Irico to do the same, only for Raditz to slowly shake his head no.

“No.” 16 states bluntly.

“I am yet to find a proper pose that can bring the kind of energy to conversations that Maple can.” 19 remarks neutrally. You… aren’t sure if that’s a joke or not. Mom at least thinks she’s being genuine, given the look on her face.

Lemo, while keeping a more professional demeanor, does kinda smile for a moment. Kikono rubs his forehead, mumbling, “I can see why the… Ginyus speak fondly of you, Miss Maple.” He then clears his throat. “In any case, I am… pleased to work with you all, Patrollers and Earthlings.”

“So, if you are the Chief Scientist for the Kuriza Force, what all have you worked on? If you don’t mind my asking, that is.” you inquire.

“My works are quite extensive.” he begins proudly. “Back during King Cold’s time, I engineered a number of upgrades to the old Battle Scopes, and perfected the reverse-engineering of the Scouters of-” He holds his tongue with an awkward pause, recalling who exactly he’s in the presence of. Mom even raises an eyebrow at him. “…Ahem. I am also responsible for many of the updated versions of Battle Armor, finding new chemical and mechanical structures to reinforce both durability and elasticity where needed, various autonomous drones and vehicles used in construction, exploration, security, and even medical fields, and some of my proudest achievements have been the numerous iterations of the spaceships used by the Kuriza Force, and the PTO at large.” He smirks and shrugs his shoulders. “Of course, that is but the tip of the iceberg.”

(cont.)

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>>5730181
“Oh, so you’re like my mom and grandpa.” Pantea notes. “A multidisciplinary engineer and scientist with a number of groundbreaking inventions. Have you managed to work out miniaturization tech too?”

That seems to deflate the air of importance he’s trying to build up around himself, taking note of the Capsule Corp. badge on her shoulder. “…We have not been able to successfully reverse-engineer Capsule technology, no.”

“Doesn’t mean we’re opposed to using it.” Lemo finally speaks up, pulling out one from one of his pouches. “Lot of them were bought by the Force for storing provisions and supplies. All above the board, of course.”

“Yes, well, let’s be on our way…” Kikono tries to urge you all to head out with him, grumbling a bit.

As you walk, Lemo’s comment reminds you of something. “Say, did we pack enough grub for this trip? I got some snacks of my own stored away, but there’s a chance we might be there for a while.” you ask Maple.

“Yep! Suno even got some precooked meals for us, which we’ve got in our own capsules. Picked ‘em up before we left.” She then nudges Raditz in the side with her elbow. “She even told me she got you one of your favorites packed away. Buttered dino steak with grilled onions and roots.”

His face lights up for a brief moment with a mix of joy and hunger that you empathize with. He quickly tries to shake it off and return to a more stern and professional expression. “Y-yes, well, I’ll be sure to thank her greatly when I’m home again.”

Mom giggles, then turns back to you. “But yeah, plenty of meats, veggies, fruits, heck even enough fried rice to feed an army.”

Lemo looks back with a slight smile. “I do have to admit, the way Capsules can store meals is a massive improvement over the MREs the force used to send us with. Done some cooking myself when on mission, to help keep morale up.”

“During my time, they expected Vegeta, Nappa, and myself to ‘forage for ourselves’ more often than not. Rare we were given anything more than nutrient bars and the like.” Raditz shudders. “Food shouldn’t taste like medicine.”

“The Galactic Patrol opts for things being balanced between efficiency and comfort, though plenty of us are given some extra stipends for local foods.” Irico adds in. “A few really good noodle places I can recommend.”

(cont.)

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>>5730182
The four of them start discussing foods, even Videl starting to add to the conversation, while 16, 19, and Giru stick a bit closer to Kikono. As tempted as you are to add your own input, you decide to approach him as well. “So, do you have any ideas on the history of this rogue planet might be, Mr. Kikono? Theories? Because there are things like the canyon bisecting the world. visible from even long-range scans, that have certainly piqued my own curiosity.”

He is just a bit annoyed, but he brings up a datapad to humor you. “My current theory is that it was a ecumenopolis ejected from its home system in a dramatic cataclysm, perhaps the same one that caused the notable physical feature you just mentioned. It could have been sent adrift the equivalent of thousands, likely millions of cycles prior, given its current position. The cataclysm could be natural or unnatural in nature, the result of a gamma ray burst or massive impact, or even intentional destruction. We do have evidence of certain ancient beings causing untold chaos in the deep past, such as the ancient being Majin Buu.”

That catches you by surprise, but upon considering it, it does make sense. “That could explain why it remained effectively hidden for so long. It also likely means any civilization on it is long-dead…” you note sadly. You know the Machine Mutants likely won’t care about building on top of an ancient graveyard, especially given the true nature of M2, but… still leaves a bit of a sour taste in your mouth.

“Giru-Giru, accumulated damage from eons of interstellar and intergalactic travel could present problems for any organic and mechanical life forms reaching the surface. Radiation shielding highly recommended if no suitable magnetic field exists, along with space suits capable of surviving in case of minimal atmosphere.”

“My barriers should be able to withstand any cosmic rays if they present a problem.” 19 notes. “16 likewise has sufficient shielding to protect himself.”

Kikono looks again at the datapad, frowning slightly. “Yes, well, we have prepared for occasions such as that.”

All of you reach the docking bay, approaching the spaceship previously used on the Black Star Dragon Ball hunt. Not that far away is a smaller and sleeker craft that Kikono and Lemo head towards. “At full speed, we should be within high orbit range of our target planet in about an hour.” Maple announces. “Irico will be joining us on our ship, and Kikono and Lemo’s vessel will be leaving ahead of us. Anyone have any questions before we get things started?”

>A. Nope! All good here! Let’s go!
>B. Should one of us stick with them, just in case they run into trouble?
>C. Uncle Raditz, was this all the Patrol could offer you? Kinda figured Mr. Jaco over there would tag along
>D. Something else?

>>5730183
>D. Something else?
"Hypothetically, if this planet is actually some ancient superweapon from some long forgotten precursor race, what's the protocol?"

>Transformers, Star Wars, Halo, Mass Effect, etc. etc. we have science fiction full of such things and if you count the Big Gete Star we've encountered something like that before.

>>5730183
Hit votes

>B.
And support.

Also support this >>5730185

>>5730183

Voting B, and supporting
>>5730185
...but make it more a more general concern about dangerous unlikely-but-precedented anomolies.

>>5730190
>>5730201
sure

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>>5730183
“Two things, actually.” you speak up. “First, should one of us stick with them just in case they run into trouble along the way? Not doubting anyone’s abilities, just want to take all precautions we can for this.”

16 actually speaks up. “If necessary, 19 or myself can accompany them. We do not require much in the way of resources, and as established we can provide some form or protection through barriers.”

Kikono raises an eyebrow, but then shrugs. “Very well. That’s an acceptable arrangement.”

“Second, and it’s more a hypothetical, but do we have a protocol if this turns out to be like… some kind of derelict superweapon from some forgotten race? I mean I know most of us Earthlings have seen or heard about Star Wars at this point, ‘that’s no moon’ and all.”

“Good question.” Pantea remarks in agreement. “I mean, we should probably still try to study it regardless, but what about you guys?”

“While… highly unlikely,” the yellow alien begins, sounding more like he’s trying to convince himself of that fact than dismiss it, “Standard protocol for the PTO would be careful surveys, assessment of capabilities, locating flaws, damage, and weakpoints, doing everything within reason to prevent activation, and… er, as additional Kuriza Force policy, quantifying if it is ‘cool’ or not.”

“If it presents any clear dangers, it’s Galactic Patrol policy to do whatever is possible to disable it, too.” Irico speaks up. “Hopefully, with most everyone here being among the strongest people in the universe, that shouldn’t pose too much a problem.”

“Also it should go without saying, but if it IS some form of ancient weapon, bringing the Machine Mutants over wouldn’t be a smart move.” Maple finally adds in. “So, we all ready?” Everyone gives nods and vocalizations of agreement. “Then let’s get this mission started!”

>DRAGON BALL TUFFLE QUEST KAI #51… Paused.
>Twitter account is @KatoQm, will have status updates there
>Got some questions for the QM? Suggestions? Throw them at ask.fm/QMKato and I’ll try to answer them as best I can

All right folks, that’s all for tonight! We’ll be back tomorrow ~6:30 pm PST. Did y’all have fun? Stay safe out there!

>>5730183
>>5730185 +1

>>5730214
Good to be back boss

>>5730214
Pretty sweet return. Thank you QM!

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>>5730223
>>5730303
Thanks guys! Glad to be running again!

Speaking of which, we are back!

>>5730214
The trip there is relatively uneventful for the most part, though as you get within half an astronomical unit of the planet, both ships pick up anomalous debris. Metallic asteroids, a small debris field that stretches in the direction of the planet itself. Thankfully none present any danger to any of you, the ships can avoid them just fine, but Pantea finds something peculiar about them…

“Why does it only extend this far…?” she thinks aloud, rubbing her chin.

“What do you mean?” Videl questions.

“Doesn’t it support Kikono’s theory? That the planet was ejected from its place of origin somehow?” you ask.

“Normally, yes, but the cutoff seems… abrupt.” she points out. “Giru, can you confirm through any scans?”

“Giru, Giru. No significant debris located beyond the 0.5 AU range, with even the smallest detectable ones, those larger than 20 meters, located within 0.1984917 light-years.”

Videl still doesn’t seem to catch the implication there. “What’s that mean, then?”

“An ejected planet traveling at any appreciable speed would have a much longer debris trail like this. It should be measurable in parsecs, at the very least, not astronomical units.” Pantea explains. “Especially if it were as ancient as it’s theorized…”

Maple is next to speak up. “Giru, can we make any solid estimation on the planet’s relative speed? At least based on the direction from the debris field to the planet itself.”

“Giru, Giru. Current estimates would put it between 0.01% and 0.15% c.”

Irico catches on to what you’re all discussing. “That’s… much too slow.”

“It could be the result of a more recent impact.” Kikono comments over the comms. “But that is still an unusual development. Something large striking this world recently as to leave a debris trail like this...”

(cont.)

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>>5730747
https://youtu.be/ZLsX9WUdYnU

“We have visual.” 19 finally states, drawing attention to the viewscreen.

And there it is. A large, metallic world with a giant gash through the center of it… though there are other features that long-range scans didn’t initially pick up. Most notably, a ring system, one that might be the result of the recent impact, but it is bizarrely perpendicular to the bisecting gash. In addition, there are some smaller moons made of similar metallic substances to the planet itself, though “smaller” is probably relative, given the size readings of the world.

“It’s… nearly the size of Neptune!” Pantea exclaims.

“It also has remnants of an atmosphere still present. Thin, but non-toxic to most life forms present.” 19 adds. “Average surface gravity would appear to only be 2.7 times that of Earth’s, though significantly variable based on the significant physical discrepancies across the surface.”

“We will be entering orbit shortly.” Lemo lets you all know over comms. “The big guy here will be the first to let you know if something’s up.”

>A. Sense for any Ki signatures. Maybe this world isn’t as dead as it appears…
>B. Should we help with the scans? There looks like there’s a LOT of planet to cover, after all…
>C. Maybe we should check on those moons. If they’re like the planet, they could give some answers without needing to set foot there directly
>D. Something else?

>>5730748
>A. Sense for any Ki signatures. Maybe this world isn’t as dead as it appears…
>C. Maybe we should check on those moons. If they’re like the planet, they could give some answers without needing to set foot there directly

>>5730748
>A. Sense for any Ki signatures. Maybe this world isn’t as dead as it appears…
>B. Should we help with the scans? There looks like there’s a LOT of planet to cover, after all…
Scouters on everyone, let's look for artificial power signatures. Check for anything that might be dormant.
>C. Maybe we should check on those moons. If they’re like the planet, they could give some answers without needing to set foot there directly
>D. Something else?
"Why do I feel like we should've brought Yamcha?"

>>5730748
>A & C.

>>5730748
Hit supports >>5730753

And I shall too, and these write-ins >>5730755

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>>5730748
You rub the side of your head, commenting, “Lot of planet to cover. Maybe we should have gotten some extra help. Like Yamcha or somethin’.”

“Don’t know if dad would be the best choice here.” Pantea says as she looks over more and more of the data, scrolling through it and trying to absorb as much as possible, as quickly as possible.

“Yeah, guess so. Hm… scouters probably can help with this… hey, mom, can’t they sense any mechanical energy sources?” you ask. “Might be worth a shot, especially if there are things down there that are dormant.” You yourself try sensing out any life forms you can, just in case, as your ship enters high orbit as well. And… you do sense out there are some relatively weak Ki signatures out there, though ones unlike those you’ve felt before. They feel initially similar to animal life, but at the same time, giving off a feeling closer to that of… the Machine Mutants. Yet nothing like the corrupted animals you encountered before. For a lack of a better term, they seem almost… natural? Giving off stronger Ki signatures than most Earth fauna, to be sure, but akin to them to a degree.

In other places though, you can feel much stronger beings. Ones that don’t seem quite as active, though, yet not quite “asleep.” More like they’re in some form of stasis or torpor. These ones feel… significantly more hostile, though. There’s a malice to their energy that’s just bubbling under the surface, waiting for them to wake up. They don’t feel like an immediate threat, at the very least, but you don’t quite like it regardless. There are also some things that feel much stronger deeper down, but attempting to feel it out gives you the more startling and unsettling revelation. One that looks like it’s shared among most everyone there.

Maple is the first to say it. “…If I’m not mistaken, in spite of the damage to it, it feels like there’s a lot of Ki coming from deeper inside the world. Or rather… as part of it.”

“Like Rildo.” Raditz states grimly.

Mom taps her Scouter again, a frown on her face. “Maybe not quite the same, there’s not quite a presence like his that we can feel out, and it just feels… off, somehow.”

“Giru, Giru. Likelihood of a being sharing similar characteristics to General Rildo arising independently of the Machne Mutants is low, but not impossible.” the little robot announces.

“It may not be wise to attempt landing on the world just yet.” 19 states. “Not until more information can be gathered.”

You nod. “Yeah… maybe though, we can take a closer look on those moons? They seem to be made of similar materials, and… I can kinda sense some life forms on them.”

“Fair enough. I’ll pass along what we’re doing to Kikono, Lemo, and 16…” Pantea states, having the ship travel out of high orbit.

(cont.)

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>>5730837
Scans of the two closest and main moons reveal them to indeed be made of similar material, though likely heavily damaged by whatever the debris field trailing form the world. There are three others further out, though they seem to lack any significant presences on them, in spite of one of them possessing an odd shape, some large structures, almost looking like “horns” protruding from it. All of them show traits of ecumenopolises, though the two largest seem to be the most “developed” of the group, for lack of a better term. A number of weaker ki signatures can be detected on one, though they number in the dozens, maybe hundreds at most, while the second largest seems to have some stronger Ki signatures residing on it, closer to some of the ones deeper in the main planet.

“...Hey, maybe this is just me being paranoid,” Videl speaks up, “But, if there are some kinds of people around here… don’t you think they’d have noticed us by now? Maybe even attempted to make contact?”

“A big ‘if’ there.” Raditz replies to her. “While there’s definitely ‘life’ in these parts, there’s no telling if it’s intelligent or not.”

“Earthlings, I believe I have developed a new theory on this world based on the preliminary scans… as well as some remarks you’ve made on these open comms.” Kikono addresses you all, sounding nervous. “I believe the cause of the great rift bisecting the world is… indeed the result of some cataclysm. But given the debris trail and the nature of the damage to this planet, my current hypothesis is that it is not the result of a natural collision, or even something attacking it.”

“Wait, then what could cause something like that?” Irico questions.

There’s a foreboding and almost disbelieving tone in his next few words. “...It would be more consistent with something coming OUT of the planet.”

You turn to the screen displaying this metallic world. “You mean to tell us you think there was some… giant creature that escaped from it?”

“I wouldn’t be saying it if I didn’t have evidence to back it up.” he confirms, though you can tell he doesn’t WANT to be saying such a thing.

>A. Maybe we should try landing somewhere on it. It’s got a breathable atmosphere after all, right?
>B. Let’s regroup on the largest moon, maybe that can provide us with more information
>C. You know, maybe WE should attempt to contact them. Find what might be any remaining intelligent life and make ourselves known? We could even offer help
>D. Something else?

That said,

>DRAGON BALL TUFFLE QUEST KAI #51… Paused.
>Twitter account is @KatoQm, will have status updates there
>Got some questions for the QM? Suggestions? Throw them at ask.fm/QMKato and I’ll try to answer them as best I can

All right folks, that’s all for tonight! We’ll be back tomorrow ~6:30 pm PST, vote open until then. Did y’all have fun? Thank you all for playing, and stay safe out there!

>>5730839
>B. Let’s regroup on the largest moon, maybe that can provide us with more information

>>5730839
>A. Maybe we should try landing somewhere on it. It’s got a breathable atmosphere after all, right?
Man this is pretty fun. It really is good to be back!

>>5730839
>A. Maybe we should try landing somewhere on it. It’s got a breathable atmosphere after all, right?
Of course we shouldn't assume it will stay breathable.

Also
>B.

We should bring up >C as well, but let's not do it just yet.

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>>5730839
OH!

oh no.

>B. Let’s regroup on the largest moon, maybe that can provide us with more information
>C. You know, maybe WE should attempt to contact them. Find what might be any remaining intelligent life and make ourselves known? We could even offer help
>D. Something else?
"Kikono what sort of creature grows out of a planet? Is there anything on record?"

>>5730839
>A. Maybe we should try landing somewhere on it. It’s got a breathable atmosphere after all, right?

>>5730839
Hit supports >>5730847

And I support >>5730846

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>>5730847
>what sort of creature grows out of a planet?

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Sorry about that, small thing came up, but we're back now!

>>5730839
“Hmm… maybe we should regroup on one of those moons, if we can get somewhere with a breathable atmosphere…” you comment.

“Not a bad call. Lot of unknowns on that planet still.” Videl says with a nod.

“Yeah. And… maybe we can contact someone, or wait for them to contact us, on a slightly less chaotic bit of scenery.” You look over at the main planet itself. “…Assuming there’s anyone out there, still.”

“I recommend the larger moon, then.” Irico speaks up. “It’s close enough to the planet that it’d be detectable for friendly first contact, but give us some warning if any hostile forces from the planet show up.”

“Kikono, you get all that?” Maple asks.

“Indeed. We’ve even been able to pick a solid landing location.” he informs, coordinates showing up on the viewscreen.

“Acknowledged. Setting down on this plaza area here.”

Both ships make their way there, and along the way, you ask, “Mr. Kikono, sir, you mentioned you think something escaped or erupted from that planet. But… are there any records of such a creature?”

“Not so much ‘records’ as ‘theories’ and circumstantial evidence. As well as mythological references to destroyer gods and the like.” he replies. “The leading theory is a long-lived planetary parasite once existed in ages past that caused untold devastation, though it likely died out thousands of cycles ago.”

“‘Planetary parasite’ are not words that inspire much confidence.” Videl remarks grimly. She then glances at you and asks, “...Does any of that ‘circumstantial evidence’ pertain to a certain planet called ‘Eros’ by any chance?”

There’s a pause, followed by a surprised, “Well… one of them, at least…”

Everyone but Irico look around at one another nervously. “…You think something similar happened here?” Maple asks.

“It’s at least a possibility.” she says.

“Don’t know if the timeline matches up, but…” Pantea shakes her head. “Too many hypotheticals at the moment, we need more information.”

(cont.)

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>>5731632
Landing on the specified plaza, 19 and Giru are able to confirm a similar thin, but breathable atmosphere present, and slightly lower gravity than Earth. Most of you head out, taking in the sights. It certainly looks city-like, but the architecture looks to be made for much larger individuals. There are signs and weird designs around the area, even what might be the wrecks of some vehicles, but no people.

19 and Giru head towards one of the nearby buildings, Giru scanning the signs outside them, while Pantea heads over to Kikono and Lemo, who seem to be attempting to analyze some of the odd symbols present on some debris. Mom’s searching things with her Scouter, while Raditz and Irico are going over the plaza to get a read on it.

>A. Try to sense for Ki, maybe you’ll spot something nearby
>B. See what 19 and Giru are able to find, might be able to help them
>C. Maybe Pantea, Kikono, and Lemo could use some help
>D. What are you able to detect, mom? Scouter picking up any anomalies?
>E. Stick with Raditz and Irico for the moment, they might need some help securing the perimeter
>F. Something else?

>>5731635
Glad you could make it, Kato.
>A. Try to sense for Ki, maybe you’ll spot something nearby

>>5731635
>A. Try to sense for Ki, maybe you’ll spot something nearby
>F. Something else?
Go into ki stealth mode so nothing can pick us up first.

>>5731635
>B. See what 19 and Giru are able to find, might be able to help them
>F. Go into ki stealth mode so nothing can pick us up first.

>>5731635
Hit votes:

>A.
>D.
>F. See if we can *smell* anything off about this place.

Support, and support this F.
>>5731640
>>5731642

>>5731640
Sounds reasonable. Whatever is here that could sense ki has likely sensed it with the group we arrived with, but going stealth mode among them all should make us less suspicious.

>>5731635
>A. Try to sense for Ki, maybe you’ll spot something nearby
>E. Stick with Raditz and Irico for the moment, they might need some help securing the perimeter

>>5731668
I actually worry that trying to hide our presence after we've been detected might make us more suspicious

>>5731707
Well, they might not pick up our scent if we take care to avoid air vents.

>>5731707
Perhaps a compromise then. We wait and ask the others to go into stealth mode?

>>5731711
No, thanks.

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>>5731635
You lower your Ki as you start to sense around, sticking by Maple for the time being. Well… there ARE some Ki signatures off in the distance, and… hey, some weaker ones kinda headed your way! You look in the direction of that energy, and… huh. Birds? Giant birds? You squint a bit, and while they do LOOK like birds, they’re mechanical, with small turbines under their wings, and even what look like jets on their backs. Sizes vary, but all of them easily dwarf any natural avian fauna on Earth, closer in the size to pterosaurs or even small aircraft. They do feel like the Machine Mutants, but once again, there’s a more… “natural” feel to them. Okay, that at least confirms for sure there’s LIFE here. Still sensing things out, you can get the sense of something a good deal stronger than those life forms, and… it does seem to be moving, though not exactly towards you all. Not yet, at least.

“Picking anything up, mom? Anomalies or the like?”

“Possibly. I think you’ve sensed it too, right?” she replies as she noticed you following the robot birds from before. “Scouter did sort of pick up an artificial power source, but it’s more… harmonized with what ‘natural’ energy they possess.”

You point in the direction of the stronger energy source you sensed. “If there’s any intelligent life still here, I’d bet it’s detected us already. And it might be choosing to observe for now, waiting for us to make the first move.”

Maple nods, leaning a bit closer. “Dropping your Ki was a smart move, it might have detected us all as a group, but wouldn’t know us individually. You might be able to get closer to it without causing it to raise its guard.”

“Figure I SHOULD do that right now?”

She shakes her head. “Not yet. Keep watch, see if it actually attempts to move towards us first.”

(cont.)

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>>5731751
“Got it.” You start walk over to 19 and Giru, but as you do, you focus on your sense of smell, too. While you didn’t really take note of it at first, with most of the scents tending towards metallic and dusty and just the slightest hint of ozone, there is a curious… fish oil-like scent? Glancing in the direction of where it’s strongest, you notice a small puddle of some kind of fluid underneath the remnants of a large alien vehicle. Approaching, you see that the puddle is the result of a leak from some it… yet this becomes significantly more ominous as the hole the leak is coming from looks like it was torn, almost… bitten, open? If you were to guess, you might even say it looks like something delivered by some large predator.

That’s… not good. Clear implication is that something might try to go after vehicles for their fuel, or something. ‘Ghost Pepper to Momma Bird. Someone should keep an eye on the ships, just in case any of the wildlife here attempts to use them as new chewtoys. Over.’

‘Copy that, Ghost Pepper. Just-’

The stronger Ki signature you felt before is on the move. Not quite headed towards you all just yet, but it IS trying to get closer, circling over in a different direction, and then stopping. You and Maple share a glance, then a nod, and you sneak off in the thing’s direction. Crossing elevated streets and tall buildings, you get to an area near the edge of a ruined section of the city, a crater in the distance. Flying low and keeping to stealth, you finally catch glimpse of the thing you’d been sensing.

A mechanical life form like the birds you saw just a bit ago, but with black, almost bat-like wings attached to a black, purple, and silver body, four sturdy legs with very large claws on them, head with prominent “ears” of a sort that lean into the bat-like wings, but the noticeable tail almost bringing it closer to that of a… dragon, kinda. It first slowly walks on four legs, but then leans up onto two and places its left front limb on the side of a building. Its head tilts with curiosity in the direction of the landing site, and it brings its other limb close to it, tapping its chin with one of its claws. It… vocalizes something, but the vocalization comes off more like a series of beeps and static rather than any words as you can recognize.

Still. This bat-dragon-bot thing is showing clear intelligence, but nothing resembling malice, at least not initially. Do you risk attempting to contact it yourself? Or just relay everything back to Maple? Or… maybe you can keep yourself hidden and observe some more, see what it’s planning.

(cont.)

>>5731753
>A. First contact. Mom’s taught you the Universal Greeting, after all
>B. Give a report on what you found, let mom decide how to handle a delicate situation like this
>C. Keep observing, you still don’t know how to gauge this thing’s intentions just yet
>D. Something else?

That said,

>DRAGON BALL TUFFLE QUEST KAI #51… Paused.
>Twitter account is @KatoQm, will have status updates there
>Got some questions for the QM? Suggestions? Throw them at ask.fm/QMKato and I’ll try to answer them as best I can

All right folks, that’s all for tonight! We’ll be back tomorrow ~6:30 pm PST, vote open until then. Thanks for playing! Did y’all have fun? Stay safe out there!

>>5731754
>C. Keep observing, you still don’t know how to gauge this thing’s intentions just yet

>>5731754
>C. Keep observing, you still don’t know how to gauge this thing’s intentions just yet

>>5731753
>C. Keep observing, you still don’t know how to gauge this thing’s intentions just yet
>D. Something else?
lets DRAW IT! - but be mindful of our surroundings

>>5731754

>C.
>D. See if we can determine any of its abilities from its body and movements.

>>5731753
>D. Let's see, robot with three claws on each hand just chirped at us... See if your goggles have a TTS option for "Trinary," then run that against translations of all known alien languages.

>>5731753
>A. First contact. Mom’s taught you the Universal Greeting, after all
Unless it has a name that isn't something like DRGN-2187, I wish to name it "Chohazard."

>>5731754
>C.
And support these write-ins
>>5731827
>>5731834
>>5731910

>>5731827
Multiforming would make this work

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All righty, we are back!

>>5731754
You keep to observing the thing for now, trying to see if you can better understand its intentions, maybe even some of its strengths and capabilities. The bat-dragon-bot takes a few cautious steps on two legs, tilting its head back and forth, the ears on it swiveling slightly, as you do everything you can to stay stealthy, even holding your breath for a moment. It seems to still not notice or actively ignore you, ears pointing forward, now standing tall with its arms crossed, making more beeping and static vocalizations. As it stands at full height, you get a better sense of scale of it, with it close to matching the height of the large building entrances you’d seen previously, easily standing a good 5, maybe 6 meters in height. Okay, that does make it more likely to be an actual inhabitant instead of wildlife. Could try to record some vocalizations with your goggles for translation later, but you’ll wait for just a bit longer.

You also think to sketch it, getting out some scratch paper as quietly as you can and making a quick little drawing, putting in what details you think are relevant. Kinda hoping it has a name and isn’t like, DRGN-2187 or something. Hmm… you’ll call it, for now, “Chohazard.” Putting that name on your little sketch, finally it does something other than observe… by first raising its Ki slightly, enough to be clearly detectable, before lowering its energy again. It then places a small object on the ground, which springs to life as a little monoeye’d crawling drone thing, before it gets on all fours again and dashes a short distance away. You do your best to follow while still keeping to stealth, finding it… hanging upside-down inside one of the ruined buildings.

‘We all sensed that, Ghost Pepper. What’s it doing now? Over.’

‘Trying to draw someone’s attention, from the look of things. It’s this… bat-dragon-bot thing that’s showing clear signs of intelligence, but hasn’t vocalized anything close to languages we can understand. Over.’

‘Giru and 19 seem to think they have a lead in that regard. The basis for the written language might be some kind of… hexadecimal code, with very precise repeating symbols, and maybe an underlying binary basis for that code. Over.’

You look at “Chohazard” again, which is looking still at the little drone it left behind. Hmm… maybe it’s trying to use it as basis for first contact?

>A. Approach the drone and make it look like you were coming in from the direction of everyone, see how it reacts from that
>B. Think Giru might be able to send it a message? That might work better, let it know we’re working alongside something closer to itself?
>C. Teleport back, see if it notices you as you do that
>C. Stealth mode down, let it know you’re here
>D. Multi-Form to try and do a couple different things at once
>E. Something else?

>>5732212
>B. Think Giru might be able to send it a message? That might work better, let it know we’re working alongside something closer to itself?

>>5732212
Hit votes:

>A.
>E. Give it the ol universal.

>>5732212
>>5732219
>>E. Give it the ol universal.
Supporting!
https://youtu.be/XP_ZivuN6iY

>>5732219
support!

Spoilers for the makai tournament https://youtu.be/8ndBoc6R8_A

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>>5732212
‘Gonna attempt to make first contact, Momma Bird. Ghost Pepper out.’

‘Keep in touch and stay safe. We might head your way in a bit. Over and out.”

You move away, keeping to stealth, and head in the direction of the drone, making it seem like you flew over from the main group. Finally raising up your Ki a bit, it does seem to take notice of you. All right, this is it. You land right in front of the drone thing, tilting your head in faux surprise and looking around to make it seem like you were expecting something else. The drone stares at you expectantly.

You clear your throat. “Ahem. Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep ni-ni-bong.” you attempt with the absolute best you can manage, using the hand signs mom used previously, to the best of your ability.

The drone is taken aback, but looks you over with genuine curiosity, and… it speaks! “Tî akt’asalb abjatļud.”

You blink. “Pardon?” Those were… words, you think, but you’ve never heard them before.

“Ah, you speak Basic, organic.” the drone clarifies, now speaking in a formal, kinda masculine, though definitely synthesized voice. “A true surprise. I detected your group’s arrival, but was unsure of your intentions.” It moves around you, a soft noise emanating from it as it seems to be scanning you. “Smaller than most I have records on. Significant energy levels present. No augementations detected, no external weaponry, merely equipment. Highly irregular. No outwardly hostile signs present.”

“Um… who am I speaking to at this time, if you don’t mind my inquiry?” you ask, subtly keeping your guard up. It’s not identified you as Tuffle or Saiyan like Giru did, so clearly not related to the Machine Mutants.

The drone stops in front of you. “You may refer to me as Rabaht.” It pauses, the monoeye getting close to your face. “Your designation, organic?”

>A. I’m Son Peppa, of Earth
>B. Are you the only one around here, or are there others like you?
>C. …I don’t blame you for being cautious, but I can still sense your energy over there. You can come out, I mean no harm
>D. What happened here?
>E. Something else?

>>5732297
>A. The Insanely Tuff Peppa, from Earth! Eto, what did you call this place?
>D. What happened here?

>>5732297
Hit vote

>A.
>C.

>>5732212
>A.

>>5732322
Woops looked at the wrong post.

Meant >>5732297
>A.

And maybe wait a bit for response, then >C.

>>5732297
>>5732304
>A.
>C
>D.
>E.
"Could you take us to your leaders please? We come in peace." Vulcan salute on it.

>>5732328
Sure, support

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But how do you say "We come in peace" when the very words are an act of war?

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>>5732328
>Vulcan salute on it.
Hm, Star Trek reference. ...a thought occurs to me, that we may have chosen the wrong get-up.

>>5732297
>. I’m Son Peppa, of Earth
>B. Are you the only one around here, or are there others like you?
>C. …I don’t blame you for being cautious, but I can still sense your energy over there. You can come out, I mean no harm
>D. What happened here?

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>>5732297
“I am Son Peppa, of Earth.” you answer calmly.

“Earth…?” he repeats in ever so slight confusion. “That is not a location I am familiar with.” Rabaht states firmly, and in a quieter voice you hear, “Odd name for a planet…”

He… doesn’t know about Earth? Okay, fair, not EVERY alien race would, but does strike you as slightly odd. You close your eyes for a moment and make it look like you’re focusing, then glance in the direction you know he’s hiding in. “Hey, listen, I don’t blame you for being cautious, but I can still kinda sense your energy over there. You can come out, I mean no harm, and my group comes in peace.” Okay what’s that one hand sigh you’ve seen on sci-fi parodies before…?

Rabaht drops down, moving towards you on all fours first, cautious and careful, his ears swiveling forward as his head tilts a bit. “As suspected, you are capable of sensing life energy. Not a common ability among organics lacking augmentations.”

That he keeps using the word “augmentation” like that implies most organics he’s aware of ARE altered in such a way. Which… you can’t say you’ve seen a lot of, in your previous space adventures. But it’s not like you know EVERY kind of alien race out there. “Um… what happened here? If you don’t mind my asking. Are you the guy in charge, or is there someone else?”

“I was one among many, once.” He stands on two legs again, bringing one arm to his chest and giving a slightly modest bow. “Senator Rabaht was my proper title, young organic. These days that title has little power. Though you surprise me by asking what happened here, it should be a known quantity.”

The drone makes its way back to him as you look to him in confusion. “Er… no, it isn’t, sir.”

(cont.)

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>>5732450
https://youtu.be/UDisDEKHaGs

“The Eruption of the Astrabellua?” he states as if trying to jog your memory. “The Space Police should have sent warnings to any who approach.”

Your confusion only grows. “Space Police? You mean the Galactic Patrol? No, they haven’t said anything. They barely have any information on what this place even is. That’s why we’re here in the first place, we have two of them with us on a scouting mission.”

While you’re not sure you can read the expression on his mechanical face that well, he seems almost bewildered by that response. “Most unusual… I would wish to speak with these representatives of the Space Police as soon as possible.” He paces around slowly, tapping his chin again. “It has not been more than three Stellar Cycles since the Cataclysm, either.”

“I’m sorry, sir. We have little to no information on this moon, the planet, or any other moons that orbit it. We don’t even know their names.”

He stares at you silently, genuinely disbelieving of what you just said for a moment. It passes, and he shakes his head. He begins to slowly walk in the direction of everyone else, motioning for you to follow. “Use your communication device so we do not have to repeat ourselves. If what you are saying is true, then there are problems beyond even vile Nigrissi’s machinations.” You don’t recognize that name, but you give a slow nod and walk with him, making sure everyone can hear as you tap your goggles to put them on speaker mode. “Organics, members of the Space Police, and other life forms with them, I am Rabaht. I have made contact with your envoy, Son Peppa. The moon you currently are on is Cachou, the planet it orbits is Varak. I am headed towards your position near Zelten Plaza with your envoy.”

There’s a beat of silence, and then Irico’s voice comes out of your goggles. “Er… Rabaht, this is Irico of the Galactic Patrol,” He emphasizes the name and pauses to make sure it registers, “We are here on behalf of a joint scouting mission with the Planet Trade Organization, the Patrol, and our respective Earthling allies. These worlds are a relative unknown to us, but since you are capable of understanding us, we may be able to better understand what all… this is.”

“Your envoy showed no understanding of the Eruption of the Astrabellua, Varak’s most recent Cataclysm.” Rabaht begins. “And based on that, I would assume none among your number do either.”

“Your assumption is correct.” 19’s voice confirms. “Are you willing to share that with us?”

“Yes. It began approximately three Stellar Cycles ago…”

(cont.)

>>5732453
>DRAGON BALL TUFFLE QUEST KAI #51… Paused.
>Twitter account is @KatoQm, will have status updates there
>Got some questions for the QM? Suggestions? Throw them at ask.fm/QMKato and I’ll try to answer them as best I can

All right folks, that’s all for tonight! We’ll be back tomorrow ~6:30 pm PST. Thanks for playing! Did y’all have fun? Stay safe out there!

>>5732455
Having fun! I was thinking Rabaht looks kinda like a rabbit, albeit one with wings, and he has those eggs out hunting and all. Silly name.

Can you call Nigrissi something else, please?

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https://dragonball.fandom.com/wiki/Nigrissi
>it's a canon name even

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Okay, we are back!

>>5732453
“Our society, once advanced, enlightened, and powerful, had fallen into disarray. Many dissatisfied with the status quo, their reasons righteous, heinous, or even merely chaotic, had pushed against authority, rumblings of war on the horizons. One individual, Viga, sought to accelerate this, and in doing so managed to gain contact with one of the most notorious mad scientists in the universe.” A hologram is projected from the drone, displaying an odd alien. A fishlike head with a wide mouth, long green eyes, and pointed ears, with a couple blue mechanical bits of detailing adorning the top. Skin was the color of a greyish-purple, though it seemed almost more like carapace. Rabaht stops his story for a moment, looking to you, almost expecting you to display recognition of this individual. When you don’t, he continues, “Nigrissi was tasked with giving Viga the power to dominate our worlds, with his ambitions likely stretching beyond even that. The mad scientist shared in such ambitions, and delved into ancient history until he found reference to things even the Kais feared.”

Okay finally a word you can recognize. And if this was something the Kais feared… “Was this thing a ‘Majin’, by any chance?”

Rabaht turns his head again, tilting it slightly. “No. Never had it been described as such, though I am surprised an organic knows of that term.”

“We… clearly have much to catch up on, but, continue.” You rub the side of your head. Hoo boy.

(cont.)

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>>5733122
https://youtu.be/exv52T2mPpc

“They went by many names, Wild Stars, Wandering Lights, Tyrant Comets, Ker-Tarn, but our world knew them by the name Astrabellua. Terrible creatures once locked away by the ancestors of our people, deep inside Varak.” The hologram shifts, now showing the planet the moon orbits, but in a much more complete state… for only a few short moments, as cracks on the surface show. And… something pops out of each crack, these… you’d guess “techno-organic”-looking creatures, each letting out blasts of energy across the planet. It almost looks like a war breaks out between the inhabitants of the world and these monsters. Finally, a number of noticeably larger ones break out of the planet… causing the massive rift you’d seen on approach.

“That’s… awful. Didn’t anyone try to stop those two before these monsters were unleashed?” you ask. Getting some major flashbacks to the likes of Gero and Baby at this point...

“Once it was clear what the mad scientist wanted to do, there were attempts, but it was too little, too late. The most that could be done was notifying the Space Police and all worlds within reach that such terrors were free… and in the case of many, pray that the Kais and other Gods had a way to stop them.” Rabaht looks up. “You encountered none of them as you approached this world, correct?”

“None whatsoever.” you confirm.

“Perhaps those prayers were answered.” he says in a tone that almost sounds hopeful.

The two of you reach the group, a number of sympathetic looks on the faces of a few people. Irico approaches first, giving a salute. “Everything came over loud and clear, sir. I… am sorry about what happened to your world.”

“Do you believe it is still inhabited?” Kikono questions, approaching next. “That, in spite of the devastation, there are still significant populations like… yourself, on your world?”

“It is entirely possible. I cannot give any solid numbers on remaining populations, but it would not surprise me if many were able to survive the initial onslaught, even three Stellar Cycles after the cataclysm.” Rabaht states solemnly.

“Hm… so much for this being a simple surveying mission…” Kikono sighs.

>A. We were able to detect a number of large energy signatures still on Varak. It might be them… but it also might be something less pleasant
>B. Okay, you’ve mentioned Kais and Gods, you’re aware of Majins, what exactly do you know about them? And how might these Astrabellua differ?
>C. You’re not alone HERE though, right? There have to be others on this moon like you. Maybe you can contact some of them?
>D. Gotta let ‘em know the other reason why you came here. Tell ‘em about the Machine Mutants
>E. Something else?

>>5733131
Hit votes:

>E. Before all that, can we figure out Stellar Cycles in relation to our own timekeeping? Something is weird about how this lines up.

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>>5733131
The fusion of Nigrissi and Viga? Virissi.

>B. Okay, you’ve mentioned Kais and Gods, you’re aware of Majins, what exactly do you know about them? And how might these Astrabellua differ?

>>5733131
>A. We were able to detect a number of large energy signatures still on Varak. It might be them… but it also might be something less pleasant
>B. Okay, you’ve mentioned Kais and Gods, you’re aware of Majins, what exactly do you know about them? And how might these Astrabellua differ?
>C. You’re not alone HERE though, right? There have to be others on this moon like you. Maybe you can contact some of them?
>D. Gotta let ‘em know the other reason why you came here. Tell ‘em about the Machine Mutants
>E. Something else?

"What's your race called by chance Rabaht and you said you were a senator. What party did you belong too?" We need the info for our sketchbook

>>5733131

>B. Okay, you’ve mentioned Kais and Gods, you’re aware of Majins, what exactly do you know about them? And how might these Astrabellua differ?

>E. From the topic of Kais, bring up what we know about dimensions and timelines. See of comparing notes on that leads to any insights on what is going on.

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Would Makai/Ashura fall under Shadow or Disorder?

>>5733148
Forgot to add: Since he's describing what seems like a different reality, we should consider it not being the same as our own. Or maybe it's time travel-ey.

>>5733153
Fair enough, though three stellar cycles could mean three rotations or revolutions of a spiral galaxy without further context.

>>5733148
>>5733153
Support as well

>>5733153
>Or maybe it's time travel-ey.
Actually, that's a fair assumption from the hologram showing Lavos, though it would mean someone from his time or planet had traveled to ours to put that concept in a video game, kinda like with Tapion and the Hero of Time.

>>5733131
>. We were able to detect a number of large energy signatures still on Varak. It might be them… but it also might be something less pleasant
>B. Okay, you’ve mentioned Kais and Gods, you’re aware of Majins, what exactly do you know about them? And how might these Astrabellua differ?
>D. Gotta let ‘em know the other reason why you came here. Tell ‘em about the Machine Mutants

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Welp, gonna call it a night, thanks for running.

I figure the Astrabellua are most likely not the Old Gods, though it is fun to think about and burrowing deep within a planet matches their MO.

I wonder if beings like these choose planets by detecting if they were given the spark of life by a Supreme Kai, a world soul? Is Blue Aurum a byproduct of this? Perhaps this "Azurite" is a resource that blazes blue with the power to grant wishes, and was given the form of the Azure Dragon...

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>>5733131
“Before we get to any of this, I do have to know… how long is one of your Stellar Cycles compared to our units of time?” you ask. “It could mean something vastly different from what we might be familiar with. Izzy told me about the stuff on Z’S and how Nazar measured time differently, once.”

Maple snaps her fingers. “Ah! Good point, Peppa. Here, let’s get the basics down first…” She taps on her Scouter, which makes a small beeping noise for a couple seconds.

Rabaht takes a moment, then nods. “As expected…. Very well, the equivalent of one of our Stellar Cycles, the average time our world once orbited our star, would line up close to that of 228.125 of your Solar Cycles, or days.”

“That’s almost twice the length of a Namekian year…” mom notes.

“Wait, that’s not even two years!” Pantea says in surprise, and you give a nod of agreement with.

“Giru, Giru, equivalent to 22 Earth Months, 15 days, 16 hours, and 14 minutes.” the little robot announces.

Rabaht looks over Giru curiously. “A Micron? No... you’re different…”

“Still, something like that happening just under two years prior is… it isn’t possible here!” Pantea exclaims. “Even if this world is in intergalactic space at present, SOMEONE would have noticed what you’re describing!”

(cont.)

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>>5733279
“You don’t believe his story?” Kikono questions with a raised eyebrow.

“I am no deceiver.” Rabaht states bluntly.

“Okay, hold up, not saying you are. Let’s… try to focus on a different point of commonality.” You walk over to Giru, the little guy floating near your shoulder. “Rabaht, you mentioned Kais and Gods and you even recognized the term ‘Majin,’ but most of what you’ve told us doesn’t line up with anything we’re familiar with. I don’t think these come from any intent to deceive us, but we should try to keep to a common ground.”

“That’s true. Rabaht, if you’re aware of the Gods, then tell me, did your planet have a Kami? A guardian deity or god that helped watch over the world, even help guide souls to the afterlife?” Maple questions.

“It is presumed so, yes.” he confirms. “It may be possible it still does, though I do not know who such a being is personally.” There’s an implication there that he suspects mom DOES, which… true, a lot of you know her, but still.

“A standard religious practice among many races.” Kikono remarks, adding in a soft, quiet voice that’s more him thinking aloud, “Curious that it carries over with your kind…”

“To your prior note, Son Peppa, the Kais and even Supreme Kai are decently well-documented by my people.” He crosses his arms again. “Nigrissi even considered himself something of a ‘rival’ to them, believing his augmentations to many species and even personal creations were the peer of any life they could foster into existence. Though that feeling was demonstrably born more from arrogance than malice.”

“Sounds to me like he’s almost the inverse of Babidi and Bibidi…” your mother says as she rubs her chin in thought. “Oh! Er, the Supreme Kai’s name! Do you know it?”

His arms lower. “…Of course?” He’s genuinely bewildered she’s even asked that question. “Great Lord of Lords Eyre.”

A number of your group look at him in stunned silence. “Eyre?” Pantea repeats.

Videl glances at her. “Wait… do we know the names of the others?” she questions quietly. “The old guy especially…”

Okay. You think you’ve got enough evidence to ask this, then. “...Rabaht, are your people familiar with the concepts of time travel and multiple timelines?”

If his face were dynamic, you think you’d have seen his eyes widen at that question. He leans down on one knee, getting his face closer to you. “That you are asking with such strong confidence shows you know of these concepts beyond just hypotheticals. How is it you’re aware of these things?” His tone seems a little more upset now, not quite angry but more… nervous.

“Long, long story…” You back up just a bit, raising your hands slightly to show you’re not trying to upset him. “But it’s happened to us before. We’ve had time travelers visit us.”

(cont.)

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>>5733280
He looks down at his clawed hands, shaking his head. “What has he done…?” the alien machine asks. His head lifts up, and before you know it he’s leaped into the air and started to fly a bit, his wings stretching out wider to help facilitate it. He then yells angrily towards Varak, the planet looking like a scarred crescent just above the horizon, “VIGA YOU MANIAC! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU’VE DONE?!”

You fly up towards him, Raditz, Irico, and Pantea following. “Hey, hey, take it easy…!” you try to plead.

Pantea though gets in closer before his angry accusations grow hysterical, placing a hand on his large shoulder. “It’s okay, listen-”

“IT IS NOT!” he yells, trying to get her hand off him with a swipe of his hand. Raditz blocks it and keeps the machine’s arm there, though she still lets go regardless. Upon seeing all of you surrounding him, it actually is enough get him to stop and calm himself. “…I apologize. That is not how one of my prestige should act.” His shoulders slump a bit, and Pantea places her hand on one again. “…Viga’s actions, the mad scientist awakening the Astrabellua, may have thrown us all into the deep past…”

Now that’s new. “Assuming that means they have abilities different than those of Majins, then? How ARE they different, anyway? How would they be able to send you… into the deep past, like you’re guessing?”

“They possess the ability to warp spacetime around them.” he answers. “Most cannot use it to any significant degree beyond what their instinct allows… but a multitude of them awakening all at once? Trying to flee off into space?”

“That’d be enough to cause some massive problems…” Pantea finishes, looking at him sympathetically.

Irico exhales deeply. “It’s Galactic Patrol policy to not tolerate time travel, because of the extreme dangers they present, not even getting into the issues surrounding temporal paradoxes.”

“The Space Police possess a similar policy.” Rabaht says with a nod.

“That being said I can’t exactly arrest a whole planet, much less the moons around it too. Raditz here kinda tried with the former…” He points his thumb at your uncle.

(cont.)

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>>5733282
“Eh…” He waves his hand in a so-so motion. “Less direct ‘arresting’ and more ‘attempted to subdue’ if you want the technical term used in official reports.”

The alien robot stares at him. “...What.”

“Um…” You rub the back of your neck. Better give ‘em a short version. “That’s actually related to why we came here in the first place. A race of beings called the Machine Mutants claimed that world as one of their own, M2, with the core of it being one of them called General Rildo. He essentially was the planet… and he was also a warmonger in service to a tyrant, attacking other worlds and trying to gain power for the Machine Mutants, even gain access to powerful artifacts that would have made them unstoppable. A lot of us standing here today fought against them and stopped them… I myself ending up dooming M2 to destruction.”

“From the sound of things, you did the universe a great service.”

“The Machine Mutants aren’t gone, though. And I wanted to find some way to give a peace offering to them, to try and push them into a new direction beyond following the orders of a now-gone tyrant.” You sigh and shake your head. “But that’s much more complicated now. Even with the devastation to Varak aside, we were able to detect energy signatures on the planet while we were still in orbit. We don’t know if they’re all friendlies, but I don’t think many would be pleased with an alien force arriving on their doorstep for colonization.”

Now completely calmed, Rabaht crosses his arms again. “You seek some form of agreement and appeasement, but cannot do either with so many unknowns.”

>A. Can you help us, then? At the very least in trying to better understand the situation in the area, even negotiate
>B. Do you have any contacts on this moon that you could work with, in this regard? The more the merrier, I’d say
>C. We actually have one of them with us here, our ally Giru, though he was exiled from his people for helping us…
>D. Something else?

That said, once more,

>DRAGON BALL TUFFLE QUEST KAI #51… Paused.
>Twitter account is @KatoQm, will have status updates there
>Got some questions for the QM? Suggestions? Throw them at ask.fm/QMKato and I’ll try to answer them as best I can

All right folks, that’s all for tonight! We’ll be back tomorrow ~6:30 pm PST, vote open until then! Thanks for playing! Did y’all have fun? Stay safe out there!

>>5733283
>A. Can you help us, then? At the very least in trying to better understand the situation in the area, even negotiate

>B. Do you have any contacts on this moon that you could work with, in this regard? The more the merrier, I’d say

>D. Something else?
Could try to find Viga and Nigrissi. bring them to justice!

>>5733283
>>5733286
+1

>>5733283
>A. Can you help us, then? At the very least in trying to better understand the situation in the area, even negotiate.


Present it as something to consider later, rather than agree to now. He and his past-future experiences can offer a unique perspective for them, to say the least.

>C. We actually have one of them with us here, our ally Giru, though he was exiled from his people for helping us…

Seems like important context to bring along with >A.

>>5733286
Seconding this >D. make sure he knows wed be doing that regardless, and not as a negotiation tactic.

I'm not against >B but I don't think it needs to be all at once.

>>5733283
>>5733334 +1

>>5733283
>C. "We actually have one of them with us here, our ally Giru, though he was exiled from his people for helping us…"
>D. Wait, hold up. In response to hearing your admission of destroying a race's homeworld, Rabaht said "Sounds like they got what was coming to them." ...you don't feel like making any deals with this person, excuse yourself back to the ship and discuss this with the group.

>>5733455
I vote against this D.

>>5733283
Hit supports:

>>5733332
>>5733334

>>5733470
Same.

>>5733283
>A. Can you help us, then? At the very least in trying to better understand the situation in the area, even negotiate
>C. We actually have one of them with us here, our ally Giru, though he was exiled from his people for helping us…

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All righty, we are back!

>>5733283
“Can you help us, then? At least in trying to better understand the area, or even attempt negotiations, if you’re up to it.” you ask. “Not like, as an immediate thing, but something to consider down the line.”

“My aid may be limited.” he says bluntly. “But I will offer it, especially if it means assessing the damage done by the two renegade maniacs responsible for all this.”

“Hey, speaking of, maybe we can help you bring them to justice!” you declare with a little pump of your fist into the air. “They’re up to no good still, and have to be stopped before they ruin any other worlds.”

Irico smiles approvingly. “Raditz and I could make the arrest official. We’re not about to let people like them run free across the galaxy.”

“Sadly that does not seem possible at the moment. They were last spotted attempting to gain control of one of the Astrabellua.” he says with clear regret. “If they are still alive, they are most likely still in our timeline of origin.”

Your uncle frowns. “Damn. Well, was worth a shot.”

You all fly back down, and you think to mention, “Oh, right, Giru here…” The little robot floats near your head, “The one you called a… ‘Micron’, was it? Well, he’s actually one of the Machine Mutants… though one exiled by his people because of his choice to help us over side with the others.”

“Giru, Giru, a decision that has not once been regretted!” he beeps happily.

Rabaht leans in a bit closer, then nods slowly. “I see… malleable structure, likely the result of nanomachines…” He stands up on two legs again. “Are the others like him in construction?”

“Yeah. It’d proven to be a bit of a pain in the ass, too.” Videl confirms.

“Well then, how should we go about this? There’s plenty more moon to cover.” Kikono notes. “But there’s also so much more of that world to look into, and we have someone who can help guide us at this point. That said, we also might need to break into smaller teams to cover more ground…”

“We do have two ships, and plenty of folks that can get people out of trouble, should it arise.” Maple points out. “But it also might be better to stick together just in case trouble DOES arise.”

(cont.)

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>>5733823
“Say, there any other contacts on this moon you’re aware of, Rabaht?” you question.

“I have been able to detect at least 12 other individuals with energy readings similar to his across the surface.” 19 points out as she looks up at him as well.

“My allies have been in communication with me ever since I approached all of you. I have delivered the details of our first contact to them. Some are more wary of your intentions than others.” he responds. “Two others are willing to offer assistance, as I have, if you request it.”

Well, that’s something, at least. Still…

>A. I think we should stick together, even with some additional help
>B. Two more guides means three groups, that should be enough to cover a decent amount of ground in a reasonable amount of time
>C. Think you can introduce all of us? Might help ease tensions
>D. Should stay here, on this moon, for the time being
>E. Let’s head down to Varak, need to survey the damage done and if there are any ways to fix it
>F. Something else?

Write-ins encouraged!

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>>5733823
>“Are the others like him in construction?”
Hmm...

>“Yeah. It’d proven to be a bit of a pain in the ass, too.” Videl confirms.
Why does Videl hate Giru?

>>5733824
>A & C.
>F. Ask if there's anything we can do (or not do) to help ease the concerns of his allies.

>>5733824
>F. 3 out of 13 doesn't win a vote. Let us know when you've all settled on a course, Senator.
>E. Let’s head down to Varak, need to survey the damage done and if there are any ways to fix it
>G. Remove our goggles, monkey mode.

>>5733824
>C. Think you can introduce all of us? Might help ease tensions
>D. Should stay here, on this moon, for the time being
>F. Something else?
Ask if they know about equivalent exchange and if Rabaht would be inclined to E.E. Can we trade techniques with an inorganic?

>>5733843
Voting against, I don't feel like doing that.

>>5733838
Good idea!

>>5733824
Supporting!

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Wait a sec, what if he isn't completely inorganic?

>>5733824
>C.
>B.
>D.
>>5733843
This F.

>>5733824
Support

>>5733838
>>5733858

>>5733861
Voting against, pick one to support and stick with it.

>>5733824
>B. Two more guides means three groups, that should be enough to cover a decent amount of ground in a reasonable amount of time

>>5733836
I think that comment was more about how the machine mutants being made from nanobots resulted in the Silver Goo situation that traumatized her

>>5733900
Sounds legit. Wish Kato could clarify.

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>>5733824
“I think we should still stick together while we’re on this moon, but maybe work out at least three teams should we need to split up.” you tell everyone. “With two of your allies helping, that’d make it work.”

“Very well.” he says with a nod.

“And hey, maybe you could introduce us to the others? Or maybe there’s something we can do to help smooth over the unease your other allies have.”

“I can get the aforementioned two to meet with you, at the very least.” Rabaht taps his chin again. “Hmm… cooperation already will give a better impression to them, but if there is something more…” He pauses, ears moving as if hearing something. “Hm. That might work.”

“What might?” Videl asks.

“A suggestion from one of my allies, Eagalia.” His little drone displays a hologram again. “During the Cataclysm, several civilian ships crashed on the moons during escape attempts. We have reason to believe many occupants survived the crashes, though, as we had found some and helped them into more sheltered areas.”

Just then, a bunch of you sense two more presences approaching. Looking in their direction, you notice what looks like another of those robot birds you’d seen when you landed… though it’s a bit different in color. Predominantly a silvery-white, with a bit of red and blue detailing. Near it you see a… giant flying lion?! No, it’s… got large mechanical wings, horns on its head, a longer neck, and a long tail, ending in what you think might be a cannon weapon. Primarily an even mix of black and red and gold in color, the gold most prominent across its mechanical mane. You guess it’s more a robot… manticore? Woah okay it’s even bigger than the bird. The two land close to Rabaht, the larger of the two bigger than even your ship.

“A-a-are these two your allies?” Kikono questions nervously, and you spot him hiding behind Raditz, while Giru leaps behind you, shaking as he pokes his large monoeye out from over your shoulder.

https://youtu.be/PkP2577miZU

“Yes. This is Eagalia, former Air Commander, former Chief of Security Forces, and current Primal Guardian. She led the charge against Viga when his forces launched their first attacks.” Rabaht introduces, motioning a clawed hand to the robot bird lady.

“Greetings, organics.” she acknowledges with a slight tilt of her avian head. Her voice is calm and welcoming, but focused.

He motions to the other, larger robot. “And this is Bravyj, a-”

(cont.)

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>>5733976
“Noble warrior-philosopher, accomplished author, learned scholar, respected educator, and skilled leader.” the robot-manticore interrupts in self-introduction, his voice surprisingly eloquent for something so large and imposing.

Rabaht facepalms. “…A bit of an egotist, as well.”

“Do not fear, organics! I mean you no harm, for I am well aware of how delicate non-augmented organics can be.” he announces, ignoring the bat-dragon-bot’s comment. “I shall take extra care around you lot.”

“...Getting Jaco vibes from this guy.” Irico mumbles under his breath, causing Raditz to snicker slightly. Still, it’s enough to get Kikono and Giru to stop cowering.

“We’re not as delicate as we look.” Videl tells him with a slight glare.

“Getting back on point.” Eagalia draws attention to herself. “This is something that should benefit both of our groups. We can work as teams to look for further survivors still locked in stasis while you all attempt your surveying of this moon. It will also help convince the rest of allies that your intentions are as you claim.”

“I see. A form of Equivalent Exchange.” Maple remarks with a bit of a smile.

“Oh? This concept sounds intriguing. Please, do explain what you mean by that.” Bravyj requests.

“In essence, it’s a philosophical concept the late teacher of my brother and I instilled in us, as a way to share and develop skills to help deepen bonds and grow. Mostly it’s used in a context of martial arts, but it can work in broader contexts.” your mom tells the large robot.

“Oho! Fascinating, fascinating. Perhaps we should engage in dialogue on this subject once we have the chance.” He almost seems giddy with the prospect.

“It… is still primarily used within the context of martial arts by most of us, though.” you add, looking to Rabaht. “We’d share how we could perform certain skills with one another, then see if we can develop our own spins on them.” Heh. Spins. “Not sure it would quite work the same for you guys, though…”

“Knowledge is knowledge, and knowledge is power. Even if it cannot be replicated immediately, it can still be used to further one’s greatest inner power. Their mind.” the robot-manticore states in a tone that brings to mind some of your school teachers back home.

“So, how shall we do this? Splitting into teams, right? Each of us take a group of you to look for survivors?” Eagalia asks.

“It is a logical choice.” Kikono comments.

(cont.)

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>>5733984
>A. If you don’t mind, I’d like to be on your team then, Eagalia
>B. Rabaht, you okay with me sticking with you for the time being?
>C. Should go with Bravyj, might get ‘em to ease up on the ego a bit
>D. Someone does still need to stay with the ships…
>E. Something else?

That said, yet again,

>DRAGON BALL TUFFLE QUEST KAI #51… Paused.
>Twitter account is @KatoQm, will have status updates there
>Got some questions for the QM? Suggestions? Throw them at ask.fm/QMKato and I’ll try to answer them as best I can

All right folks, that’s all for tonight! We’ll be back tomorrow ~4:30 pm PST, vote open until then! Thanks for playing! Did y’all have fun? Stay safe out there!

>>5733985
>C. Should go with Bravyj, might get ‘em to ease up on the ego a bit

Sabat's using the Armstrong voice for this guy in my head

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>>5733984
>“...Getting Jaco vibes from this guy.” Irico mumbles under his breath, causing Raditz to snicker slightly. Still, it’s enough to get Kikono and Giru to stop cowering.
>"We’re not as delicate as we look.” Videl tells him with a slight glare.
Why does Videl hate Irico?

>>5734072
Videl is talking about Bravyj

>>5733985
>C. Should go with Bravyj, though refrain from getting him to ease up on the ego. It makes him him.

>>5733985
Hit vote:

>A.

>>5733985
>C. Should go with Bravyj, might get ‘em to ease up on the ego a bit
>Or at least understand each other a bit better.

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Okay, we are back!

>>5733985
“Well, if it’s all right with you, Bravyj, I’ll stick with you.” you state. “Videl is right though, we’re much tougher than we look.”

“A bold statement!” he responds in an amused tone. “I shall see if your actions can back it up.”

“I’m sticking with you then, Peppa.” Raditz states adamantly. “Much as he reminds me of a certain coworker, I can probably tolerate enough to get this job done.”

The robo-manticore seems to chuckle, almost. “It shall be a pleasure working with you then, Space Policeman.”

“Galactic Patroller.” Raditz corrects.

“Yes, that.” he waves one limb a little dismissively.

“I shall be part of your team as well, then.” 19 adds. “Giru and I have already made headway into analyzing what text and language we can find. An ‘accomplished author’ and ‘learned scholar’ should prove more than enough in bettering our understanding.”

You notice Bravyj’s mouth sorta grin, in as much as the strange robot lion face can. “Oho! An excellent suggestion! I have many texts I can share with you if you-”

“Please try to keep your focus on search and rescue first and foremost.” Eagalia interrupts. “They don’t need you to try to download your entire bibliography onto their systems.”

“That only happened twice!” he protests. “And in both cases it proved quite enlightening to those involved!”

“I can understand her point, though.” 19 says. “Large files can come later.”

Bravyj sighs dramatically. “Very well…”

“I think I’ll stick with you then, Eagalia.” Maple tells the robo-bird-lady. “Kikono, Lemo, you guys should pick a team too.”

“I… think I’ll stick with, erhm, Rabaht, then.” the little yellow alien states, still a bit unnerved by the largest of the robots.

“Sure. Big guy, you with us still?” Lemo asks 16.

“Affirmative.” he replies bluntly.

(cont.)

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>>5734663
The rest of the teams divide up. Mom, Irico, and Videl with Eagalia, while 16, Kikono, and Lemo are with Rabaht, and you, Raditz, and 19 with Bravyj. Pantea and Giru opt to stay behind and keep watch on the ships, with Pantea reasoning that it’d be easier for someone to teleport back to them if they could sense a strong Ki signature. With the teams decided upon, Eagalia is the first to lift off, declaring, “All right people, let’s fly!”

You head off in different directions, taking a bit of a leisurely flyby of the area. “You have any idea where some of these crashed ships might be?” Raditz questions.

“Multiple leads, but individuals will be harder to detect, as they’d be locked in stasis for safety reasons.” he answers. “To put it in more organic terms, it would be akin to torpor, reducing rates of bodily activity to conserve energy and protect vital functions.”

“The PTO has devices like that.” your uncle remarks. “Helps keep long trips through space more manageable, especially in Space Pods.”

“Should there be noticeable energy signatures, still?” 19 asks.

“Not nearly as high as the ones you’ve likely detected thus far, however!” He raises one limb dramatically. “There would be a key tell of a number of low energy sources grouped together. Subtle, but if you keep sensors attuned to them, there’s a high chance of that being what we’re looking for.”

>A. Try to sense for just that, that description should be enough
>B. What if there’s just one or two in one place? Should we still try to see if there are people in need of rescuing?
>C. What if we sense any larger energy signatures? Ones that are clearly active?
>D. Something else?

>>5734665
>A. Try to sense for just that, that description should be enough

>B. What if there’s just one or two in one place? Should we still try to see if there are people in need of rescuing?

>D. Ask if there's anything to be aware of that might give a false positive. Like... robot flora? Or something.

>>5734665
>A. Try to sense for just that, that description should be enough
>D. Hey Brah, can you list all the slurs in your language so I can know what not to say?

>>5734665
Hit supports >>5734673
And same.

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Rolled 10, 11, 2 = 23 (3d20)

Okay! Roll me 3d20, best of three! DC is 16 for all!

Rolled 8, 10, 14 = 32 (3d20)

>>5734766

Rolled 14, 18, 6 = 38 (3d20)

>>5734766

Rolled 7, 6, 2 = 15 (3d20)

>>5734766

Rolled 12, 17, 11 = 40 (3d20)

>>5734770
>>5734780
>>5734786
Passed one!

Rolled 5, 18, 8 = 31 (3d20)

>>5734791
And writing...

Well, seems we're in company!

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Rolled 15, 8, 4, 19, 15 = 61 (5d20)

>>5734665
“Are there any things that that we should be aware of that might cause any false positives?” you ask. “Like, groups of robot fauna or even flora or something?”

“Good question, little organic!” Bravyj replies. “I can understand why such signals may be confusing to you, as you are likely unfamiliar with any subtle differences in flow. But fear not! For though subtle, once you are familiar, you are sure to pick up on those differences in no time, with my help.”

“Those being?” your uncle asks, eyes narrowed.

“Any local ‘fauna’ as you would understand them would still be more active, moving to follow programming or directives. Their own stasis states would also be giving significantly weaker signals. And ‘flora’ as you might understand them would instead be directing that energy towards something, either their own growth, or towards systems using them for extra power generation. Autotrophic organisms, after all, have ways of energy generation/conversion that takes from freer, surrounding sources, usually in passive or semi-passive manners.” he lectures.

“Would it be correct to compare such flora to living solar panels, then?” 19 inquires.

“Aha, indeed! Very good!” he praises, even giving her the gentlest of pats on the head. She is ever so slightly annoyed by that.

“Okay, okay, that makes sense. A cluster of low energy signatures all in one place, but not too low, and not active or transferring that energy.” you sum up. “What about if there are only a one or two individuals, though? Might that be mistaken for a false negative?”

“A trickier distinction to make, but one that is possible with time. Hence why you should focus on larger groups to start, that will familiarize yourself with the right signals to detect.” the robot-manticore replies.

“Okay, here goes…” You close your eyes and focus, with Videl and Raditz doing the same, 19 scanning carefully.

You… do start to pick up something, and Videl seems to as well, the two of you opening your eyes again and heading in that direction. But when you get there… it’s a flock of those robot birds again. All of them glance up at the two of you in confusion, letting out beeping sounds as they do. When you and Videl stay hovering there, they start to beep louder, some flapping their wings and snapping their beaks in warning.

“Okay, okay, sorry!” Videl exclaims, raising her hands and floating back a bit, and you do the same. You go back to sensing for energy signatures, though Videl does end up questioning Bravyj, “Hey, um… I don’t mean to offend or anything, but why does Eagalia look so similar to those things?”

“Videl!” Raditz exclaims, breaking concentration. “You can’t just ASK someone why they look that way!”

“S-sorry!” she says with a slight flinch.

(cont.)

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Rolled 19, 18, 17, 17, 11 = 82 (5d20)

>>5734919
“Aha, it is okay. Organics such as yourselves are likely unfamiliar with our race’s abilities.” Bravyj’s tone doesn’t sound offended, so guess she didn’t commit any alien faux-pas. “Most of us possess the ability to change forms. Usually for purposes of travel, able to cover longer distances under shorter amounts of time than our base or combat forms. Eagalia’s preference ended up being something with more aerial mobility.”

Raditz again stops trying to sense out survivors and opens his eyes, raising an eyebrow. “…Well, that sounds… vaguely familiar.” He then goes back to trying to sense energy.

…You make a mental note to show off your own transformations later, but keep trying to sense some out. You do get two more things that register close to what Bravyj describes, but the second seems like it’s transferring energy slowly from one place to another. The first though… Raditz and 19 pick up on it too. The three of you fly forward, and you notice a bit of a crater with debris of collapsed buildings on it… but underneath those, you spot it. A ship!

Bravyj sets down with all of you, seeming quite pleased. “Well done! It does appear to be exactly what we’re looking for.”

“Got a way in?” Raditz questions.

“Main hatch should be over here…” He points out, walking a bit of a ways over, noticing some debris blocking it. “Does not appear to be damaged, but it will take a moment to-” He notices as Raditz walks to the debris. “Ah, you should stay back, organic, I do not wish for you to harm yourself trying to get in-”

“Hup!” Your uncle lifts one of the bigger chunks, flies up, and then sets it down a bit away. “Hah! Little heavier than it looked, but nothing more than a couple tons.”

19 is next, carefully sliding some away, and you move in to hold up a section before it falls down, allowing Videl to get the last big chunk from blocking the door. “Yeah, couple tons at most. Lifted heavier than that.”

(cont.)

The rest of the teams divide up. Mom, Irico, and Videl with Eagalia, and you, Raditz, and 19 with Bravyj.
>You head off in different directions, taking a bit of a leisurely flyby of the area.
???

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Rolled 19, 16, 7 = 42 (3d20)

>>5734920
The robot-manticore is definitely surprised. “…Well. That is… quite impressive. Ahem!” Videl smirks just a bit, and all of you look towards a what’s clearly a large door. Bravyj taps on a console near it, and it slides open. Inside, you notice it’s build for individuals within Rabaht and Eagalia’s size range, needing most of you to float up a bit to get a good look at everything, while Bravyj sorta needs to just poke his head in. It’s actually not that that large a ship, comparatively. An empty cockpit, equally empty navigation room, engines, storage, what are probably crew quarters, and most important of all, a room with four large pods that you can sense the lifeforce of a number of individuals inside from. Ones similar to that of the three others you’ve met here recently.

“Found what we’re looking for, organics?”

>A. Affirmative! How do you want us to get ‘em out of here?
>B. The internals of the ship don’t look too damaged, all things considered. Should we try to free it from the rubble?
>C. Check in with the other teams, see if there’s been anything happening on their ends
>D. Something else?

>>5734922
Why did Videl ditch Eagalia?

>>5734923
Slight mixup. It's fine, meant for her to be on this team.

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>>5734924
Videl has been acting very erratic lately! Well, alright then.

>>5734922
>A. Affirmative! How do you want us to get ‘em out of here?

>>5734922
>A. Affirmative! How do you want us to get ‘em out of here?

>B. The internals of the ship don’t look too damaged, all things considered. Should we try to free it from the rubble?

Make >A is the priority, and only act on >B after the people in the pods are secured.

>>5734922
>A.
>B.

>>5734922
>>5734926 +1

>>5734922
Support >>5734926

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Rolled 11, 8, 14 = 33 (3d20)

Okay! Roll me 2d20 this time, best of three! DC is 12 for both!

Rolled 4, 3 = 7 (2d20)

>>5734941

Rolled 19, 19 = 38 (2d20)

>>5734941

>>5734946
Nice!

Rolled 19, 17 = 36 (2d20)

>>5734941

Rolled 7, 6, 8 = 21 (3d20)

>>5734943
>>5734947
>>5734948
And passed both! Great job! Sadly I need to get some rest, but we'll be back tomorrow ~6:30 pm PST. Thank you all for playing, stay safe, and see ya then!

>>5734949
See you at 8:30 cst then.

Rolled 6, 11, 20 = 37 (3d20)

>>5734949
And one more before I sleep...

>>5734951
mozzeltov

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Okay, we are back!

>>5734922
“Affirmative! How do you want us to get ‘em out of there?”

“The pods you see should be relatively self-contained, not hooked up to the ship’s systems beyond the bare minimum for diagnostics. Better to protect those inside in case of power surges or systems failures. This means they can safely be removed from the ship proper, but to do so you must take care to properly release the manual security locks on them. Two on the bottom sides, two on the top sides, but please take care that you do not let them fall once released. It could deal minor damage to those inside, as well potentially squish you organics.”

Raditz rolls his eyes at that comment. “Right… well, everyone take one, let’s get these out of here.” He starts to get the bottom locks undone, then goes to the top ones… and the pod leans forward, with him failing to get a good grip on it. “Woah hey! HEY! NGH!” 19 manages to not only undo the locks on hers properly, but even catch the one Raditz unhooked, setting it down safely. “…Thank you, 19.”

She looks over the pod, then nods. “There is no detectable damage.”

“Good, good! Just bring them outside the ship for the moment, then I can get them loaded for transport.” Bravyj states confidently.

You and Videl bot manage to get the ones you two were assigned, and thankfully there are no further problems with them. “They all seem to be fine, still.” you note, placing your hands on your hips. “They all look good to you, Bravyj?”

“Indeed! Life signs are stable, and while some have suffered minor injuries in the crash, it’s nothing a medical professional can’t buff out. Should wait until we can get them to one before awakening them, though.”

“Makes sense to me.” Videl acknowledges.

You though look over the ship one more time. “You know, the internals didn’t seem too damaged, all things considered, and while it’s pretty decently rubble-covered, it’s probably salvageable. Now that we’ve got those inside it to safety, should we try to salvage this shuttle too?”

He seems to smile again, at least as best he can. “An excellent idea! While it might be a bit large to bring with us, freeing it and storing it in a safer place will allow for potential repairs, later. Let’s get to it!”

All of you start clearing rubble, and as you do, you sense mom’s group and 16’s group have stopped searching too. Looks like they’ve also found survivors. Great! …And you sense something strong approaching mom’s group. Potentially less great. Her Ki signature spikes up… as does Eagalia’s, by quite a bit. They aren’t saying anything yet, probably got this handled, but…

>A. Check with them, just in case
>B. Try to get a better idea on what’s going after them, keep sensing it out
>C. Hey, just so we’re on the same page, are there any things we should know about in regards to, y’know, potential enemies or threats on this moon?
>D. Something else?

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>>5735695
>D. Eagalia seems pretty strong. Surprised you didn't go with them Videl, usually you're all for the birds- you're really into birds, I mean.
>C. Hey, just so we’re on the same page, are there any things we should know about in regards to, y’know, potential enemies or threats on this moon?
>E. You just had a terrible thought. "H-hey, Bravyj? Are their manticores on this planet? I uh, heard they could shoot spikes from their tails..."

>>5735695
>B. Try to get a better idea on what’s going after them, keep sensing it out
>C. Hey, just so we’re on the same page, are there any things we should know about in regards to, y’know, potential enemies or threats on this moon?
>D. Something else?
"Hey Bravyji, wanna see something cool?"
MULTI-FORM. Peppa Alpha can continue dealing with the ship, Peppa Beta can go provide back-up.

>>5735695
>B. Try to get a better idea on what’s going after them, keep sensing it out

>D. Ask Bravyji if he also detects what we're sensing, see if he can give more detailed info.
Serves the purpose of C but without hypotheticals.

>>5735707
>>5735712
Hey, equivalent exchange, I support you and vice versa?

>>5735695
Support

>>5735721
>>5735712
But let's not jump in immediately, observe first.

Also Hit supports >>5735721

>>5735726
Voting against
>Support
>>5735721
>>5735712
>But let's not jump in immediately, observe first.

Keep it to one post you're supporting, please.

>>5735712
peppa beta scouts in ki stealth mode while peppa alpha relays what they find

>>5735738
You could always ask Maple what she's dealing with.

>>5735738
Support!

>>5735743
You're changing from >>5735726 then?

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Rolled 18, 19, 15 = 52 (3d20)

Okay, roll me 3d20 this time, best of three! DC is 13 for all!

Rolled 8, 18, 12 = 38 (3d20)

>>5735746

Rolled 20, 17, 7 = 44 (3d20)

>>5735746

Rolled 4, 3, 4 = 11 (3d20)

>>5735746

Rolled 16, 20, 19 = 55 (3d20)

>>5735747
>>5735748
>>5735749
Passed the first two! Writing...

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>>5735751
>Rolled 16, 20, 19

Goodnight, looking forward to catching up in the morning. I really wish these sessions could start on time.

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>>5735695
You keep sensing out what’s going on over there… but you also get an idea! “Hey Bravyj, wanna see something cool?” He gives an initially confused look, but when you use multi-form to send out a copy of yourself, he’s genuinely shocked.

“Wh-? How…?” The robot-manticore questions. “…Wait, your energy is lower now… oh, fascinating! So you organics have the ability to duplicate yourselves by by splitting energy…? What an interesting ability! Do all of you possess something akin to it?”

“It’s more a technique she ended up picking up.” Raditz answers. “Some of our allies have also picked up that skill, especially those under the Crane School.”

“There a reason you’re doing this, Peppa?” Videl asks.

Your copy heads off, then you point out, “There’s something going on over in that direction.” you point out towards mom’s team. “Gonna check it out, just in case.” Crossing your arms, you add, “Bet you’re sensing it too, Bravyj. You got an idea on what that might be?”

“Hmm… it could be a few things, but given the type of energy it’s giving off, it is very likely it’s one of the remnants of Shokun Vzryvala’s experiments.” he answers. “Eagalia’s fought off legions of them before, it shouldn’t be too-” He stops himself, then with slight concern, asks, “…One of your own is fighting alongside her?”

“That’d be my mom, Maple, yeah.” you confirm. “She’s handled way tougher things before.” Your copy meanwhile has lowered her Ki and is making her way through some of the ruined buildings and streets and structures, carefully hiding to get a better look.

That doesn’t dissuade his concerns as much as you’d hoped. “Hmmmn… well, if she is following Eagalia’s direction, she should be fine…”

“We require further context. Who is Shokun Vzryvala? What experiments would these be? And why would it be a problem that Maple is fighting one of them?” 19 inquires.

“He was one of Viga’s allies, an amoral madman of a scientist driven by his own twisted ideas of logic and ‘progress’ to concoct horrific experiments to bring forth the ‘next step in evolution.’ He had an… odd ‘appreciation’ of organics, often seeing it as his duty to ‘improve’ them, force unethical augmentations upon them to ‘accelerate the evolutionary process’ with them. Many alien lives were lost at his hands. Little wonder, Nigrissi once took a liking to him as well…” Bravyj shakes his head. “Thankfully, he was vanquished a short while before the Cataclysm. But many of his experiments managed to escape in his final downfall. The one over there feels similar to some of the ‘Metal Beasts’, as he termed them. Creatures that use esoteric energy sources and nanomachines to attempt self-propagation and self-evolution, especially on organic life.”

(cont.)

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>>5735817
That sends a chill down your spine. “The… the Machine Mutants seemed to try something similar, under the direction of Dr. Myu…”

As he explains this, Peppa Beta becomes immediately nervous of any puddles of silvery liquid, keeping a sharp eye out for anything like what he’s describing. Ugh, just when you thought you done with this crap… But thankfully, you do make it to where you hear the sounds of battle. You first notice Irico moving away a one of the pods you’d seen in the ship, over to a collection of two others. Next, you spot mom up in the air, taking a defensive stance next to… Eagalia, but in a much more humanoid state than before. Her head is mostly a smoky black color, with rolden eyes and a sort of faceplate covering where her mouth would be, what looks like a diadem with small horns adorning the top of her head. The bird wings are still present, though now they’re spread out from a more humanoid torso, predominantly red with a white and gold center. Arms white save for blue forearms, but with the jet engines you’d seen previously now adorning the shoulders and kinda elongated, and her fists glowing with noticeable, substantial amounts of power… genuine Ki, it seems. And finally… you see the thing they’re fighting, a sort of mix of robotic insect and amphiptere, massive wings, beetle-like head, long and tapering serpentine body, with clawed limbs coming out of its torso.

Thankfully, it hasn’t noticed you, so you’re free to watch. You… do get an odd sensation in the air, though. Not something you can say you’re very familiar with, and not quite like the rancid smell of the Black Water Mist or Aquma, but… odd.

“Are you sure you’re holding up okay, Maple?” Eagalia asks.

“Yeah. It hasn’t been the first time I’ve dealt with this stuff. I know what to do.” she responds grimly. “Let’s deal with this quickly. Irico, make sure you keep your distance! The gas still might affect you!”

“Understood!”

You blink. Gas…? …Wait. Waaaait a second. Maple starts to use telekinesis to pull in some… purple substance from the air, and the thing you guess is the ‘Metal Beast’ lets out a bizarre, mechanical roar that leaks more of the substance your mom’s pulling from the air. Eagalia brings both her hands together and thrusts them forward, releasing a powerful Ki blast on it, striking the torso hard enough to knock it back slightly. Beams erupt from its limbs as it attempts to fly forward, but Eagalia swerves around it with ease and grace, forming large Ki blades from her hands and slashing at where she struck its torso, tearing it open and revealing what’s likely the machine’s core. It’s… beating almost like a heart, but each beat seems to shift and morph small faces across its surface.

(cont.)

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>>5735819
“PHANTOM SHOTGUN!” Maple thrusts her fist forward and punches it into the substance, which super-charges it almost like her Spirit Bit gates do. The blast bores right through the Metal Beast’s open chest cavity, leaving nothing but a hole remaining. “Core destroyed!”

The monster then begins to fall apart, with Eagalia firing at each large chunk as it falls, your mom doing the same to the smaller ones. There’s one that falls close to where you’re hiding, and it starts to change shape into a weird worm-like creature with a cyclopean eye at the center of its front part… and a few smaller eyes sprouting from the sides of it irregularly. They take notice of you, and the thing starts to slither away right before you can try to blast it. Thankfully, Eagalia notices it and shoots a beam down at it, destroying that bit for good too.

Well, so much for staging some cool last minute entry and telling them they missed a spot. You stand up a bit, mom noticing you and giving a wave. “Hey Peppa, things go well on your end?”

“Yeah, not as exciting as what the two of you got up to though.” you reply. You look back down at where Eagalia blasted the thing, frowning a bit. “…Mom, when you mentioned a ‘gas’ just now…”

Maple frowns as well, giving a nod. “Looks like Ghost Dad wasn’t the only one insane enough to experiment with it. Guess even in this time, some madmen will try to make use of Destron Gas.”

>DRAGON BALL TUFFLE QUEST KAI #51… Paused.
>Twitter account is @KatoQm, will have status updates there
>Got some questions for the QM? Suggestions? Throw them at ask.fm/QMKato and I’ll try to answer them as best I can

All right folks, that’s all for tonight! We’ll be back tomorrow ~6:30 pm PST! Thanks for playing! Did y’all have fun? Stay safe out there!

>>5735820
>Destron Gas
Be honest. How long were you waiting to make that connection, Kato?

>>5735819
>Thankfully, it hasn’t noticed you, so you’re free to watch. You… do get an odd sensation in the air, though. Not something you can say you’re very familiar with, and not quite like the rancid smell of the Black Water Mist or Aquma, but… odd.
Raditz would probably be way better at smelling things, being a full saiyan.

>Irico, make sure you keep your distance! The gas still might affect you!”
Oh hey, Irico does have a nose. Nostrils.

Duuuuude, Krillin should have been the MVP during Raichi times!

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Ey, new Touhou just dropped.

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>>5735821
Tournament of Power.

>>5735933
People still have to breathe.

And okay, we're back!

>>5735820
“How?” is the first question that comes to mind. “How’d something like THAT end up here?”

“While we never were sure of the source of it, there was always the suspicion that Shokun Vzryvala managed to find a way of self-propagating that energy through the Metal Beasts through assimilation of organic life forms.” Eagalia explains. Now that you’ve got a clearer view, you notice her mouthplate moves as she talks. Heh, that’s neat. “You still haven’t given me the details on how you are familiar with it, Mrs. Maple.”

“Well, I told you about ‘Ghost Dad,’ right? He engineered my brother and I to be effectively immune to its effects. When he finally attacked Earth, he used it to spread chaos across the planet. Not only did it weaken most organic life, it also allowed the spirits of the dead to persist in the living realm. We were able to destroy the machines producing it and eventually put an end to him. My kids, my daughter Peppa here,” She gives a wave in your direction, “And my son Gohan, along with my niece Izumi, both of them back home on Earth, are all likewise immune to the effects of Destron Gas.”

The robot lady’s arms cross. “Engineered for revenge, but rejecting that and forging your own path to protect your adoptive home. I can certainly respect that.”

“It’s still a MASSIVE coincidence that someone was able to not just discover, but weaponize it, even if you’re all form another timeline.” you point out.

Eagalia nods at you. “It is. And I hope it is just that, a coincidence, because the implications outside of that…”

“Aren’t pleasant ones.” mom finishes.

You sigh and rub the side of your head. Could have gone the rest of your life without more of Raichi’s garbage haunting you. Irico calls out to get everyone’s attention. “Hey! Now that you’re all done over there, we should get these people to safety!”

>A. Here, let me help with that!
>B. Do you think there’ll be more of those Metal Beasts on the planet itself?
>C. Say, Bravyj did mention that you folks had different forms, Eagalia. Would I be right to assume this is one of them?
>D. Something else?

>>5736371
>A. Here, let me help with that!
>B. Do you think there’ll be more of those Metal Beasts on the planet itself?
>C. Say, Bravyj did mention that you folks had different forms, Eagalia. Would I be right to assume this is one of them?
>D. Something else?
"Weird question but do your kind have 'mutants', not like those metal beasts but folks with abnormal powers. Mom calls them 'Wild Cards'."

>>5736371
Hit vote
>A & B.

>>5736371
>A. Here, let me help with that!
>>5736388
Supporting the write-in. I think Maple and Acer are the Tuffle version of Space Marines tho.

>>5736371
>>5736388 +1

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>>5736371
“Here, lemme help you with that!” you call back to Irico, taking one of the pods. Mom takes another, as Eagalia transforms back into her bird form to get the last.

“We’ll get these looked over by medics. Thank you, organics, you’ve saved lives today.” Eagalia tells you all proudly.

Everyone takes off, with the group back with Peppa Alpha doing the same, and you can sense Rabaht’s group flying in the same direction as well. As you head off, both your Alpha and Beta selves move a bit closer to your robot hosts, asking them similar questions. “Do you think there will be more of those Metal Beast things back on the main planet itself?”

“Almost certainly.” Eagalia confirms. “I’ve faced plenty of them before, but the Cataclysm presented both the prime opportunity for many of them to escape into dark corners across the world and even the surrounding moons. Thankfully, they’d also not be spreading to any significant degree, and very few would be in larger forms like we just faced. Too energy-intensive, and with almost no organic life to attempt to assimilate into.”

“I estimate a few dozen specimens still on the loose on Varak itself. It would still present a danger, but most of our kind would be able to hold them off in their weaker states.” Bravyj remarks. “I would not recommend any organics approach them, though if you and your mother are indeed immune to their Destron energy, that does present a bit of an exception. It is quite the curious that such a trait can be passed on genetically, though. An induced, rather than natural, mutation that renders something so harmful to organic life effectively inert isn’t what I would expect to be passed along to offspring by design. Then again, I am by no means an authority on any forms of ancient, non-augmented organics.”

“Probably just a bit of luck, there.” you reply with a bit of a shrug of your shoulders. “Say, are those among your kind that are like that? With some kind of induced or natural immunity to what’s normally intensely harmful? Or how about other oddities like that?”

“Oh quite a few, quite a few indeed!” Bravyj confirms. “Not to any large population number, mind you, but still enough to be noticeable and notable. Some were forged through less ethical means for purposes of turning them into weapons, but many exhibit inherent exceptional abilities all on their own. Often termed ‘Outliers’ due to them having abilities beyond what might be expected of them. I actually have written a number of articles on this subject.”

(cont.)

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>>5736512
19 looks to him with intrigue. “You have?”

“Absolutely! In fact, I can send a few dozen of them to you, Number 19. It would surely help fill some gaps in understanding-”

“Bravyj, focus. Cultural exchanges can come after we’ve made sure these people are all right.” Eagalia reminds him sternly.

“Sounds a bit similar to your ‘Wild Card’ thing, mom.” you tell Maple.

She shakes her head. “Not… exactly. That status is more in relation to being able to change predicted outcomes. Affecting and changing fate, in a sense. While things like immunity to Destron Gas certainly play a part in it, it’s not the defining characteristic.”

“I can’t say I’ve ever put much stock in things like fate and destiny.” Irico adds in. “Too deterministic, especially in a universe as messy as this. If there is such a concrete thing, we probably all are ‘Wild Cards’ in our own right to some degree.”

“It is a curious concept, though. I cannot say there are many that would quite fit that description.” Eagalia tells you and mom.

“Though it might not be entirely unheard of.” Bravyj adds. “Prophecy and mysticism aside, there existed a school of thought at the Hexa-Polity University of Science and Mathematics that large-scale trends could be predicted within reasonably small error ranges through precise mathematical formulas. Not so much individual actions, it couldn’t tell you if you were to win a lottery, but demographic trajectories.”

“...Should I be surprised they have lotteries too?” Videl asks Raditz.

“Nope. Pretty common among many societies. PTO even sometimes used that system for certain planets it couldn’t auction off at price ranges they originally wanted.” he responds.

“However, even within that school of thought existed those who held to certain variables could derail those large-scale predictions, often individuals, though not always those with grand ambitions. Why, there is even a (likely apocryphal) account used to support this theory that Viga’s start to villainy can be traced to a bar fight he got dragged into, which began with one individual spilling someone’s drinks while trying to ask for a crazy straw.”

“The fact that you not only have bar fights, but even crazy straws, implies a lot.” Videl adds with a slight smirk.

Raditz laughs. “Hah! No surprise there, either. Getting inebrieated is another near-constant among the universe.”

“And the straws?” 19 asks.

“They’re novel and funny.”

(cont.)

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>>5736513
As all groups close in on one another, heading towards where you sensed the other large Ki signatures, you decide to ask next, “Say, Eagalia, Bravyj had mentioned that your people have different transformations. Am I right to assume that more, er, humanoid form you were in while fighting that Metal Beast with was one of them?”

Her avian head nods in confirmation. “Indeed. While I can still fight reasonably well in this state, my base state is better suited to it. I can channel my energy in it with more efficiency and ease, as well as use certain weaponry with greater dexterity.”

As she answers, you notice you’re all headed towards a much more pristine and intact area of the moon, with a rather important-looking building being the place you sense the other people at.

>A. While it’s probably not quite the same, a lot of us have our own kinds of transformations. We should compare ‘em some time!
>B. Given that name, would I be correct in assuming that’s the form you start off with? And you acquire this alternate form later?
>C. Are they all ‘humanoid’, or do some have more varied shapes they change into?
>D. Do you have any forms beyond it? Stronger ones in case of stronger enemies?
>E. Something else?

And once more,
>DRAGON BALL TUFFLE QUEST KAI #51… Paused.
>Twitter account is @KatoQm, will have status updates there
>Got some questions for the QM? Suggestions? Throw them at ask.fm/QMKato and I’ll try to answer them as best I can

All right folks, that’s all for tonight! We’ll be back tomorrow ~6:30 pm PST, vote open until then! Thanks for playing! Did y’all have fun? Stay safe out there!

>>5736514
>B. Given that name, would I be correct in assuming that’s the form you start off with? And you acquire this alternate form later?
>D. Do you have any forms beyond it? Stronger ones in case of stronger enemies?
>A. While it’s probably not quite the same, a lot of us have our own kinds of transformations. We should compare ‘em some time!

>>5736514
>B. Given that name, would I be correct in assuming that’s the form you start off with? And you acquire this alternate form later?

>D. Do you have any forms beyond it? Stronger ones in case of stronger enemies?

>A. While it’s probably not quite the same, a lot of us have our own kinds of transformations. We should compare ‘em some time!

>E. Something else?
"Can you become other things like vehicles, space-ships, or other types of mechs?"

>>5736514
>B. Do you think there’ll be more of those Metal Beasts on the planet itself?
We're asking too much about her race's capabilities. Maybe if they were asking us about our transformations, what we ate, and our grooming habits, as well as the combined history of Plant and Earth, we could ask them about those things, but they're not asking us, so we don't have to either.

>>5736514
>>5736657
Ah, my bad, copy and pasted the wrong B. Still, I do wish to get a move on to fighting these metal beasts.
>E. Refrain from asking her rabbit food questions and comparing transformations, instead ask for what needs doing around here and volunteer.

>>5736714
Ehhh, I'm being a dick. Nevermind.

>>5736514
Hit supports >>5736630
And same

>>5736514
>>5736540
>>5736630
Supporting

>>5736514
I don't feel these choices are worth our time.

I think they're all reasonable things to ask, and Peppa should bring them up in conversation. So much so, one has to wonder: why are they a vote?

Here are the options, paraphrased:
A. Commit time later to query about transformation
B. Query about transformation
C. Query about transformation
D. Query about transformation
E. Write-in

The only option of these which could have consequences is A. There could be some situations where asking someone a specific question could affect the involved parties in that moment, but all these about transformations isn't likely to produce anything more than wasted time asking when we're going to see them in action soon. (...right? We are, right?)

Please, I wish that choices you present to us in the future will be forks in the road we will have to determine which way on.

>>5737155
No.

>>5736630
+1

>>5737165
based

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Apologies for the delay again, problem came up in the middle of writing, but we're back!

>>5736514
“So, given that name, I’d assume that’s the form you start out with, and you acquire an alternate form later in life?” you ask.

“That’s correct.” Eagalia confirms. “Some take to certain alternate modes than others, though.”

“So, can you take on as many different transformations as you want?” Irico asks.

“Most can only take on one or two. It takes phenomenal amounts of concentration, spiritual control, and training.” she answers.

“Oh! So do you have forms beyond that one?” you ask, letting just a bit of excitement into your voice.

“I have managed two additional ones.” she confirms. “Though the focus in both is to increase power to different degrees.”

And you’re grinning. “A lot of us have transformations like that, actually. We should compare, some time.”

Even with her mostly stoic avian face, you notice a bit of a smirk appear on it. “Perhaps we should, when we have the time.”

Everyone finally reaches the destination you were headed towards. Outside, there’s a tall and stoic-looking robot with a large, serrated sword, his hands resting on its crossguard of it, two very large… engines or cannons or something adorning his back. It… kinda looks like he turns into some kind of robot dinosaur? That’s cool. You notices his eyes narrow and a scowl form on his face, but he gives a slow nod as your three guides approach.

“Looks like you were successful.” he comments as he notices the pods you all are carrying. “Very well. But! Organics!” He brings his sword up slightly and then brings it down to get everyone’s attention. “Be on your absolute best behavior. Or else.”

“Yessir.” Kikono replies with a nervous gulp, cowering behind 16. Lemo and Irico force themselves to keep stern faces, but even they sweat just a bit.

Your group though just give a simple, respectful nod, and carry in the pods without really showing any of you are all that intimidated. The dinosaur-guy does raise an eyebrow at that, but goes back to scowling as you pass. Inside, you’re directed over to what look like two more stoutly built robots, one with details that seem almost elephantine, save for the form having two trunks instead of one, while the other looks like he turns into the cross between a rhino and ceratopsian dinosaur. They do seem wary of all of you, but focus on the more important tasks at hand.

“I take it they’re your medical staff here?” Videl asks.

“Indeed! Rohatty and Khrapovyk are skilled doctors. They should be able to resuscitate those in stasis in no time.” Bravyj confirms.

“More to the point, this should convince the others of your good intentions.” Eagalia comments. “Come, let’s make sure those here understand that clearly.”

(cont.)

Everything okay Kato?

>>5737376
>greatdome
Mecha- oh wait, that's not where the dome of the rock is

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>>5737377
It's fine now, promise!

>>5737376
As all of you walk, you notice three other robot folks in their alternate modes, a bulky arachnid that oddly seems to have vehicle parts on him, a robo-shark that’s moving through the air like it’s water, even one that looks a bit like a mole thing. Glancing up at your hosts, you ask, “Say, are you did mention that your people can take on one or two different forms, but can you take like, vehicle, or space ship, or other mechanical forms too?”

“Indeed!” the robot-manticore replies. “In truth, this is my base state. My alternate form is that of a space-capable transport. All the easier to head between Varak and the moons with reference material, after all.”

“So if you need, you could get people from this moon to the planet with some allies in tow?” 19 questions.

He nods. “Quite so! I had done the reverse recently, extracting some folks off the planet to bring them to the greater safety of this moon.”

(cont.)

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>>5737393
At last, you manage to reach two robots stationed on elevated platforms. One looks surprisingly humanoid, a robot lady a bit smaller than the others with a sort of crown adorning her head, green wires hanging from the top of her head almost like hair, and most surprisingly of all, robes that bare striking resemblance to the outfit you’d seen the Supreme Kai and Kibito wear. That catches everyone’s attention, especially mom’s. Next to her, is a purple robot… rabbit? Wait, no, it has both horns and wings, too. Winged… jackalope-bot thing.

“Eagalia has informed me of your deeds thus far, organics. You may call me Zevana.” The lady speaks in a formal tone that kinda reminds you of Trip, and her following statement explains why, “I am the current Guardian, or Kami as you’ve referred to prior, of Cachou. You may make your case.”

Kikono gulps, but clears his throat and steps forward. “Madam Zevana, I am Kikono of the Planet Trade Organization. I am here with my allies in the Galactic Patrol and these Earthlings on its behalf on a mission of survey and research, though this has been derailed slightly. Our scans had very minimal information on the planet this moon orbits, much less the moons themselves. We initially believed them to be vacant, though clearly we were wrong in that regard. It is remarkably intact, all things considered, and...” He looks over to you, as if prompting you.

You nod and speak up next, more confidently. “The reason we’re out here is because of the Machine Mutants, and our attempts to ease relations with them, because we thought we’d be able to get them a new home. This has changed. Both because of the world still being occupied, and the harm done to it. I don’t know if you would appreciate new neighbors like them, and I’m not sure how they’d take to a world that’s suffering damage like this. Plus, based on what we’d heard in our recent encounters, there may still be threats down there.”

“There are.” she confirms. “What do you plan to do now, then?”

>A. We head down there and stop ‘em. We’re more than capable of handling them, especially with any help your people wish to offer
>B. Well… I guess I’d like to know if you WOULD be willing to host them here, even if as a short-term agreement
>C. Rabaht mentioned earlier that Varak likely did, and potentially still does, have a Kami down there. Can you confirm if that’s the case or not?
>D. You’re likely aware of the fact that you may have been temporally displaced, too. Do you require help on handling that?
>E. Something else?

>>5737400
>E. Guardians report to the Kai. Have you spoken with King Kai recently?

>>5737400
>A. We head down there and stop ‘em. We’re more than capable of handling them, especially with any help your people wish to offer
With your permission of course, we aren't trying to intrude on the affairs of this world merely extending our hand in aid for those that need it.
>B. Well… I guess I’d like to know if you WOULD be willing to host them here, even if as a short-term agreement
If not that's fine, we got other possible worlds to survey but we would still like to assist you.

>>5737400
>A & D.

>E. The Machine Mutants may be looking for a home, but they are also a new species in a universe populated mostly by organics. We want to help but we're also the ones they were most in conflict with. It might be good for them if they have people to talk to that isn't as... like us.

>>5737414
Supporting a variant of this, we shouldn't expect her to have already talked to him but should still suggest it. And maybe help get the ball rolling if necessary.

>>5737400
Support
>>5737419
>>5737434
>>5737436

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>>5737400
>>5737414
>D. You’re likely aware of the fact that you may have been temporally displaced, too. Do you require help on handling that?
For this next part, affect our best new york accent,
>F. Y'know, the Time Patrol, or Temporal Police as you may know them, have a way of making anomalies disappear, y'know? Sooooo, we wouldn't want word of this world of illegal- sorry, displaced immigrants, to spread upwind to the Kais and the Supreme Kai of Time, you catch my drift? And since we're in an accommodating mood, we can have the Machine Mutants stay for a while, kapeesh?

>>5737434
Also also, they *really* need a new name, and they sure as hell won't take our suggestions on the topic.

>>5737442
How about the Primaris Machines? Much more potential for branding.

>>5737446
I think if they kept "Machines" in the name they would want to keep te MM alliteration..Not sure what works with it though.

>>5737451
Primaris is the most optimal of options, optically obvious of course.

>>5737439
>>5737400
On further review, F is too evil.

>>5737451
Mavericks could work.

>>5737400
Hit vote:

>E. "Whatever you and the people of this place need to recover from this crisis. This is your place, not ours."
Support

>>5737463
Voting against, no people owns a planet.

>>5737400
>A. We head down there and stop ‘em. We’re more than capable of handling them, especially with any help your people wish to offer
>C. Rabaht mentioned earlier that Varak likely did, and potentially still does, have a Kami down there. Can you confirm if that’s the case or not?
>D. You’re likely aware of the fact that you may have been temporally displaced, too. Do you require help on handling that?

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>>5737436
Thanks for the support Exen.

>>5737400
Retiring, thanks for running. As little as my approval is worth to you, the questions we were given this post were a lot more impactful, thanks.

Hey, you do kickstarters ever? Obojima looks cool, 5e setting, seems like you'd like it.

Anyway, goodnight.

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>>5737400
“First and foremost? We head down there and stop them. Most of us have faced threats like that once before and come out on top, and with any of your people helping, we’d be done with it in no time.” you declare with determination. “With your permission, of course. We want to offer aid, but it isn’t our world, so it isn’t exactly our call to make.”

Videl punches her palm and grins. “Even so, I’m ready. Just say the word.”

She looks to the both of you with a stoic expression. “Is that all you wish?”

“Well…” You rub the back of your neck. “No, not all. I’d like to know if you would be willing to host the Machine Mutants, even if for a short time. I don’t say this because I expect you to do so, we do have other places we can look into to try and smooth over relations with them, but… well, are you?”

“You ask much of us, organic.” the winged jackalope-bot speaks up, his voice surprisingly gruff, stern, and blunt. Honestly kinds reminds you of that Kibito guy. “From what information we have been given, information Rabaht forwarded to us, these Machine Mutants are not a peaceful race. Us harboring their kind, even if they are kept under close watch, presents a threat to our people. It almost sounds as you are attempting to unload one of your own problems onto us.”

“At ease, Tsyklon.” Zevana cautions calmly. “While I understand you have the best of intentions, he does bring up a valid point.”

“Then perhaps you can send an envoy?” Kikono brings up, the attention of the machines all on him. He gulps again, but continues, “That is, we could set up a meeting with a representative of theirs to find some common ground. Allow you to express those concerns directly rather than through proxy.”

You nod in agreement. “Yeah, that could work. And… look, the Machine Mutants may be looking for a home, but they are also a new species in a universe populated mostly by organics. We want to help but we’re also the ones they were most in conflict with. It might be good for them if they have people to talk to that are… closer to them than people like us.”

(cont.)

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>>5737524
“A reasonable argument.” Rabaht adds. “Even if they have been hostile towards organics, I would guess they are currently in disarray because of their defeat. Extending a helping hand could be just what they need to begin forging a new path. That one among their number has chosen peace with organics rather than continued hostilities shows it is possible.”

Looking up at the big purple bat-dragon, you smile appreciatively at that. And it seems like the additional vote of confidence you need. Zevana gives a slow nod. “Very well. That arrangement would work best.” The rabbit next to her grumbles in disapproval, but says nothing further. “Is there anything else you wish to add?”

“Oh, uh, one thing!” you speak up with a wave of your hand. “Given the theorizing that’s been done so far, you’ve probably heard you’ve likely been temporally displaced, too. Do you require any assistance in dealing with that? Maybe we can get King Kai involved in something like this…”

She seems intrigued by the suggestion. “While usual connections to the Kais above have been severed, an attempt to contact King Kai through other means may prove fruitful. However, given that you apparently do not recognize the Great Lord of Lords Eyre as Supreme Kai, we may be so far back that King Kai is not the one we recognize either.”

“He likes jokes.” Maple interjects. “Trying something funny will absolutely catch his attention.”

She blinks, taken slightly aback at that. “...Very much not like our King Kai, then. Regardless, that shall be taken into consideration. It may however be beyond even your power to send us back into our original timeline, for the time being. At this point, we are likely stuck here, and will remain as such for the foreseeable future.” Zevana smiles slightly, still. “Your offer is appreciated, though.”

“So, what next?” Raditz asks.

“We shall take some time to prepare. Once ready, we shall offer you locations for potential threats still on Varak, as well as places where civilians may still be in danger. From there, you may handle them as you wish.” She bows her head a bit. “Good fortunes to you, organics.”

>DRAGON BALL TUFFLE QUEST KAI #51… Paused.
>Twitter account is @KatoQm, will have status updates there
>Got some questions for the QM? Suggestions? Throw them at ask.fm/QMKato and I’ll try to answer them as best I can

All right folks, that’s all for tonight! We’ll be back tomorrow ~6:30 pm PST! Thanks for playing! Did y’all have fun? Stay safe out there!

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>>5737525
>Trying something funny will absolutely catch his attention.”
what have we wrought

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Wait a minute... there's a mystery to untangle here, with a bunch of clues presented.

Okay, so Videl likes birds, it makes sense that she would pick Eagalia's group to go with. However, she instead chose to go with Bravyj, even with his lustrous bluster rubbing off on her the wrong way, him dubbing her fragile and her (internally) dubbing the manticore a prick, so it was an unlikely grouping, yet it happened all the same.

So why would Videl choose to go with Bravyj instead of Eagalia? It could be that someone was on Eagalia's team who she didn't feel comfortable being around. Eagalia seems in sync with Videl's personality, so not her. Irico... has had no interactions with Videl. They met today, and unlike her father, she has no qualms with spacemen that we know of.

That leaves... Maple.

Maple's great. There's no lack of positive qualities within her, and the people who hate having her around are grumps. Videl can give a mean look, but she's only like that half the time. She's not like that around Maple unless Maple does a bad joke that anyone would go "Maple..." and shouts "Maple no!" with the rest of the crowd. Maple saved Videl's mom, after all.

So, it's not a personal distaste that Videl feels towards Maple, it could just be being uncomfortable. What reason would Videl have to be uncomfortable, especially around Maple?

Well, let's the consider the circumstances prior to this chapter, they were on a spaceship headed to the Galactic Patrol station. So that means on the way over, all of Peppa's party was in close quarters. And on a spaceship, everyone can hear you.

So, with the newly widowed Maple likely having been overheard by others trying to sleep, that could be a reason why they would now feel awkward around her.

But, night terrors aside, there could be another reason why Videl opted out of going with Maple and Eagalia. That reason is...

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>>5738096
...they are so fucking cute together, holy shi~it!

https://youtu.be/qUqM2IaHjhE

>"We can work as teams. It will also help convince the rest of our allies that your intentions are as you claim.”
>“I see. A form of Equivalent Exchange.” Maple remarks with a bit of a smile.
Maple smiling up at Eagalia for suggesting a team up.

>“I think I’ll stick with you then, Eagalia.” Maple tells the robo-bird-lady.
Volunteering to stick with her.

>With the teams decided upon, Eagalia is the first to lift off, declaring, “All right people, let’s fly!”
Eagalia shows initiative, and a take-charge attitude, also seen when reining in her teammates when they get too eccentric, traits which complement Maple well.

>He stops himself, then with slight concern, asks, “…One of your own is fighting alongside her?”
>“That’d be my mom, Maple, yeah.” you confirm.
Fighting side by side against danger.

>Next, you spot mom up in the air, taking a defensive stance next to… Eagalia, but in a much more humanoid state than before.
Covering each others' back, and oh hello, that humanoid form! Diamonds, sparks!

>“Are you sure you’re holding up okay, Maple?” Eagalia asks.
Ohhh!

>Eagalia tearing it open and revealing what’s likely the machine’s core. It’s… beating almost like a heart.
>Maple thrusts her fist forward and punches through the Metal Beast’s open chest cavity, leaving nothing but a hole remaining.
Eagalia opening its heart and then Maple thrusting her fist straight through its cavity, they're so in sync, sigh...

>The monster then begins to fall apart, with Eagalia firing at each large chunk as it falls, your mom doing the same to the smaller ones.
Cleaning up trash together~
>Thankfully, Eagalia notices the worm-like creature and shoots a beam down at it, destroying that bit for good too.
Babe, you missed a spot! Hahahaha!

>“You still haven’t given me the details on how you are familiar with it, Mrs. Maple.”
Maple brought up that she was married to Eagalia. Eagalia uses Mrs. Maple when she refers to Maple in conversation to remind the both of them of this.

>“Well, I told you about ‘Ghost Dad,’ right?
Maple has been sharing stories of her childhood with this bird.

>"My kids, my daughter Peppa here,” She gives a wave in your direction
>The robot lady’s arms cross.
...oh shit.
>"(...) to protect your (adoptive) home. I can certainly respect that.”
Oh shit, our family life is in the way of the two of them exploring this!

>Eagalia nods at you. “It is. And I hope it is just that, a coincidence, because the implications outside of that…”
>“Aren’t pleasant ones.” mom finishes.
THEY'RE FINISHING EACH OTHER'S SENTENCES, OH MY GAWD!

>"we probably all are ‘Wild Cards’ in our own right to some degree.”
>“It is a curious concept, though. I cannot say there are many that would quite fit that description.” Eagalia tells you and mom.
In response to someone saying anyone can change their fate, Eagalia disagrees, while looking at Maple and her daughter.

...hnnngh!

>kato slipped a doomed yuri subplot past us
I kneel