Blizzard's Outpost - Part 2

It had been a couple of weeks since Zuqetta had met Blizzard, and her training had proceeded accordingly; if not also intermittently. Zuqetta didn't worry much about the infrequency of the training; just like with Azoth, she understood that Blizzard was a busy man with a great deal of issues on his plate. If anything, she found a bit more respect for him in the fact that he was able to take any time away from his work at all to train her personally now and then. During each session he was strict, but not over bearing; he gave a great deal of praise when needed, as well as harsh criticism when deserved. She still hadn't a clue as to why the old Arcosian soldier had decided to train her so diligently, but she wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to learn more whenever she was called.

Over the days, in between training, Zuqetta had taken to visiting the Lychee Sector multiple times; only returning to the Outpost whenever she had been notified over her scouter. She trained on her own personal time during these down periods, before making the decision to finally return to the Sadala Capitol. Considering how long it had been since Taori had taken the throne, Zuqetta found herself wondering if the state of the city had finally improved. While Rosemary's disappearance may have left the city in burning shambles due to the effects of her mind manipulation wearing off, Taori had no such power as far as Zuqetta knew. All he would need to had done was flaunt his power and bring about order; the 'Saiyan Way' of course, a simple matter for one so traditional as Taori. In spite of the time that had passed however, and with the new indoctrination of Cheri as Tuffle Chancellor, there hadn't been a single nugget of news from the capitol city of the Saiyans.

Was there still rioting and looting? Were her kin still needlessly fighting amongst themselves? Would she arrive at the city and find the whole place burned to the ground??

These questions and more plagued her thoughts, and were what prompted her to make the trip back to Sadala. Her worries for what she would find slowed her journey however; while flight would have allowed her to make the trip in a matter of hours, she instead chose to walk, extending the trip to days. She had met a good many on her journey, and was finally nearing her destination; until a transmission to her scouter halted her advance.

A subordinate of Blizzard had called for her, expressing Blizzards request for Zuqetta to return to the outpost. There didn't seem to be any urgency; yet still, Zuqetta treated it as such. Her worries of what she would find when she returned to Sadala had caused her a great deal of hesitation on returning; so she was willing to take ANY distraction so long as it delayed her return.

"Message received, tell the Major I'll be there with haste!" Zuqetta would say excitedly into her scouter before taking off into the sky.

As she flew upwards, she could see the gates of Sadala far off in the distance upon the steadily growing horizon. It was not yet time to return, and with a sigh of relief, she would turn her back to the city and blast off through the air back in the direction of the Outpost.

As she flew, she wondered what knew tricks awaited her during her training this time around. She'd learned to fight fire with fire, deigning to repel oncoming attacks with overpowering attacks of her own when applicable. She'd also learned to fine tune her senses to the energy of those around her, giving her the ability to react almost instinctively to attacks, even when she couldn't see them coming. Her own personal energy manipulation had to be where she found the greatest improvement however, as she quickly realized that using her ki to materialize such a massive sword was a great expenditure of energy for little return value. Still, while the fundamentals that one could write in a book had been grounded in her mind, she knew she would still need a great deal of training before she could implement the things she'd learned in battle with any proper efficiency.

It didn't take too long before she was upon the gate of the outpost; and while flying in would have been a simple matter, she would instead follow procedure and ensure that the stationed guard could do his duty and confirm her identity. She'd gotten to know a good deal of people at the outpost, though it always felt like more people knew about here than she knew about others. As she walked through the gates and made her way to Blizzards command building, she would be greeted by a great many; assailed by a plethora of 'hellos' and 'good days'. All things she would give back in return, only stopping to correct any of the lower ranked recruits and soldiers that decided to salute her as their greeting. While she may have trained under Blizzard, she was no soldier, and didn't intend to be; she didn't want any authority styled gestures towards her, casual and friendly greetings were more than enough.

"Blizzard!" Zuqetta would call out upon entering the command center, startling a few of the posted soldiers who went about their duties, "Hehe, where ya at old man!?" She'd yell out as she quickly skipped her way to the back of the room before taking a seat upon the absolutely ENORMOUS chair placed behind an almost equally, ridiculously large desk.

So large was the seat, that the teenage Zuqetta looked more like a toddler as she sat upon it; finding the desk before her far to tall for her to even prop her legs up on top of it. Instead, she would sit upon her knees on the seat and lean atop the edge of the desk as she waited for Blizzard to return. As expected, the sight of the tiny Zuqetta upon the Arcosian Major's seat would elicit some reactions from the soldiers in the room, but none that would be deemed as rude or hostile. Unlike the other Arcosians and Saiyans posted here, Blizzard was obviously of a MUCH larger stature than the average individual; he couldn't be expected to transform to his smaller size EVERY time he wanted to simply sit down after all!

While she waited, Zuqetta would gaze about the room with a bit of excitement; it was always enjoyable to be at the outpost, even if she had no intention of joining any military. The command center was huge, and the room she sat in towered. There were several desks and Arcosian tech computer panels with solders going about their different tasks; though Zuqetta had no idea what those tasks were. Doors lined the walls, leading to different facets of the facility; with two even larger doors positioned to the left and right of Blizzards desk which rested at the back of the large room. Zuqetta knew that one of the doors led down a hall and to the training area where she ad Blizzard had first sparred; but she had no idea where the second door led to, only that she wasn't allowed to enter.

The most interesting piece however was the absolutely MASSIVE war table that lay in the center of the room; constantly projecting a holographic image of areas of Plant at the users discretion. Buttons were upon Blizzards desk that could change the displayed location, but were a bit too far for Zuqetta to reach unless she chose to climb onto the table like an actual child. She enjoyed the holograms of the war table, as they allowed her to see different locations without needed to actually visit. The thought of checking up on Sadala crossed her mind; but she would quickly ignore the notion. Instead, she would just enjoyed the currently displayed image of the Planet itself while she waited for Blizzard to arrive.

The outpost seemed to be constantly changing as the days went by since her first visit, making it almost seem like a small town rather than just an outpost. Was Blizzard thinking of living on Plant from now on or something? It seemed like a downgrade to move from Arcose to Plant if that was the case, but Zuqetta wouldn't have mind. If Blizzard came to live here, then maybe Azoth would too; a thought that made Zuqetta grin as she laid her head upon her arms on the desk. Things weren't exactly 'normal' per say, but it was nice to know that all the people she respected and/or cared about were all in one place nearby.

She wished things could remain so peaceful...

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