Ash and Dust

"Needs to change, huh?" That was dangerous. Worrying, maybe. Saiyans weren't the only warrior race among the stars, and while Jango didn't necessarily subscribe to their dogma, using it as justification for invasion when plenty of them were innocent from Lottus' shadow was a slippery slope. Gandigan spoke of justice. Was it so truly just to subjugate two peoples under your rule because you found their culture repulsive? Jango wasn't the one to be making moral calls here - she was a violent thief. Hired muscle. "I can understand the drive to want to keep the Saiyans in line, but inherit the debt? That seems harsh. Beyond the known Super Saiyans causing trouble, what has the average joe gotten up to on Plant? If anything, Taori should be tracked down and made to pay that debt himself instead of pawning it off to his former subjects."

Gandigan lowered himself to a level she could work with. Two curved orange energy blades formed in each hand, the Cerealian holding them loosely to her sides. "Alright then. This won't cut any limbs off, but they'll sting like hell if they hit." With quicker speed than her appearance would betray, Jango worked to deflect Gandigan's rapid strikes with a flurry of her own, his fists meeting the flat of her blades. "Not bad, but try THIS!"

She'd break the stalemate with a surge of energy, attempting to shove Gandigan off her before lunging forward with her swords crossed, aiming to slash him across his chest! Jango's weapons, as she said, wouldn't cut or draw blood - ectoplasm? - but instead elicit a strong shock of energy!

"He had to have been bluffing," Jango murmured to herself, keeping a steady eye on Gandigan as he took her attack with no resistance. A sign that he intended to counterattack. "I... Ticoga would claim to want justice and achieve it by committing the same atrocity as the man he vilifies?" It didn't make SENSE. Plant wasn't the only planet that produced evil people, Lottus just happened to be powerful! Namekians, Earthlings, ARCOSIANS? They all had the potential to do just as much if not more damage than one bloody Super Saiyan.

"They'll resent it," She said finally. "No matter the intent. And when Saiyans resent things they don't let it go. Unless you have some way of controlling the planet that doesn't place an obvious Mazoku puppet in power, they'll resist." The Daimyo's energy wave was met with a layer of reinforced Ki around Jango's arms, the defense just barely breaking and leaving the woman with a stinging pain.

She growled as she chased down Gandigan, intent on keeping the battle as close quarters as she possibly could. A single curved blade lashed out, attempting to find purchase along the Namekian's arm. "But presumably, you have a plan for that already, don't you? I wouldn't expect anything less at this point!"

Ruling by proxy still meant Plant would be a puppet state. Even if Gira stood alone and claimed the throne, her affiliation with Gandigan as an underling was PUBLIC knowledge. "Hmm." She didn't like it. "Last time the monarch won it by their own hand and tried forcibly drifting policy in favor of non-Saiyans, it still didn't end too well. You know Amara? The 'Fleeting Queen', they call her. Many still believe she was a Tuffle spy sent to undermine the Saiyans due to her policies geared toward peace and unity with the Tuffles."

And lest they not forget: "And, while I'm not trying to figure it out myself, the whole concept of ruling over a people 'for their own good' sounds VERY Arcosian. I'm willing to bet Plant is still sore from Arcose's last ruler, Azoth. He preached peace and unity much the same as Amara eventually did, and was willing to achieve that by inserting himself into the front lines to protect the people. The people did not like him very much." She couldn't even begin to fathom the UPROAR that would come when the Mazoku settled on Plant. "I can understand wanting a legacy, but isn't Namek your ancestral home? What makes a barren world full of potentially hostile insurgents appealing?"

Her question was, hilariously, met by Gandigan's leg in her stomach. The Cerealian wheezed, stumbling and giving her opponent a free window to land a crashing blow to the side of her head. Jango would stumble back for a moment, giving Gandigan a moment's respite.

For the good of. Jango's grip on her weapons tightly as she heard the words, reminded of the Empire. Her home had long since been destroyed by a group of Saiyans under a previous Arcosian regime, and she'd spent her entire life strike with poverty before deciding to fight back. To steal, to plunder, to take contracts. Every cent she could afford to send was carefully laundered and gifted to the Cerealians still alive. By every right SHE should be righteously furious with the Saiyans and their warlike ways... yet Jango couldn't find the strength in her heart to condemn the proud people into a existence of servitude under a foreign invader's rule.

Once the Saiyans were dealt with, what's next? Will another evil being like Lottus arise, and will THEIR species be damned for the sins of one? How much conquering and bandying would it take for this method to truly make the world a safer place? "Your words hold conviction." Good. At least Gandigan wasn't acting in hesitation. "But I never got something answered... why colonize when you have a home? A good home at that." All her fleeting cuts and shallow victories dimmed as Gandigan finally countered with an immensely powerful attack.

Immediately she knew that blocking it was out of the question, the woman roaring defiantly as she faced the energy wave head on! A surge of Ki and adrenaline kept her standing, the Cerealian's mouth torn in a snarl as she thrust her hand out in response. An array of thin, piercing beams shot from each finger and her thumb, aiming to puncture Gandigan across his body and limbs.

She had no proper response. To be blunt, Jango was understandably ignorant when it came to the cultural divides of Mazoku to the rest of Namek. She may have seen a Namekian, but they saw themselves as different enough that they needed to elect their own leader. The woman's brow furrowed. Even so. Wanting to go to war and tame a warrior race to settle their planet... it was about glory just as much as it was justice. Gandigan might not be quite as righteous as he seemingly projected. "Careful when leaving the shadow, lest the sun burn you..." She murmured. Her sect of Cerealians were not the 'main' species. They were an offshoot, formed from colonization efforts.

"Heh, well, people always say I'm way too curious for my line of work-" She'd catch Gandigan's elbow with her jaw, head snapping back. The pirate responded with an uppercut, attempting to send Gandigan off his feet. "I'm a mercenary yes," She'd run her jaw, flesh still singed and raw from the beam. "But I'm also a person. I won't participate in atrocities for any amount of money, and I need to know the type of person you are... So I can judge if this should be a simple contract between business associates, or potentially something more."

"Don't misconstrue. If I felt that way I'd have left already. What you want is ... dangerous, but unlike the Arcosians you haven't threatened total genocide as a solution. That being said I will never condone that as the only way for a people - my own were almost wiped out BECAUSE of our eyes. Men, women, children, all leading normal lives, killed because they were potentially dangerous. Do you get where I'm coming from?" They felt they had to act, but what was it they were acting against? The vague threat of 'the Saiyans'? "As long as you promise to treat them like PEOPLE, I'll have no complaints.

He had CLAWS? Jango suppressed her surprise, reforming one of her blades to deflect the Daimyō's attack with. "Sheesh. Maybe they're right, I give too much of a damn for my own good sometimes." Her left sword flashed, aiming for a shallow cut along Gandigan's leg. For as much damage as she was racking up, Jango knew it was only a matter of time before that famous Namekian regeneration kicked in. By that metric it was possible that Jango was much further behind Gandigan in this space than she'd like to admit.

"Apathy isn't unique to them," She'd point out. "Agreeing with or praising Lottus' actions is one thing, but being indifferent to his crimes... any Earthling or Konatsian you'd ask on the street would have quite the same response: most don't care about horrors unless it threatens them directly. I know the Saiyans have a bloody history, and a culture of war, but..." But what? Jango wasn't quite sure herself. The pirate grumbled. "I'm not sure. I don't have an easy solution for world leave. If I did I'd be a politician instead of hired muscle." Were the Saiyans deserving of her immense empathy?

"Why is it always my ja-" He hit her jaw. Jango stumbled back, breath coming heavier now. For a moment she'd relax, sucking in a lungful of air. "Ha. You're tough. Even when you're holding back... I can tell you have the upper hand." She was skilled, but her bag of tricks was small and refined - not expansive. "How am I holding up to you?" Definitely not the most intense battle of his life, or... afterlife. Lottus saw to that. If Jango wanted a good contract she'd need to prove herself capable during this spar, she still needed the money.