Over his lifetime, Athren had experienced countless battles and victory more times than he could count. Planet after planet, he deployed and accomplished his missions. Wiping out the weak life and claiming the planet in the name of the saiyan race. Most of the time, there wasn't much of a struggle, most of the time it was nearly effortless but the last two planets? They had been completely different.

The deployment on Namek was tough, but Athren managed to hold his own and pull through but the remainder of his squad there had been completely wiped out. He was under the impression that the Namekian race meddled in magic more than fighting but that intel couldn't have been more wrong. The Namekian's had more passive individuals than fighters but a few of those fighters made up for their lack of fighting numbers. They had been able to match him, blow for blow and even push him to the edge and force him to transform into his evolved state.

While the battle for Namek was hard fought, Athren came out on top with some other saiyans and only obtained some minor injuries. Nothing had been too serious, nothing that was life threatening. The worst part from this trip, was the fact that he no longer had a squad and he knew exactly what that would mean. He'd be assigned somewhere else for the chances of the Saiyan Empire putting more numbers to replenish his squad was rather low. If anything, Athren would go with a squad that lost a member.

After being assigned to a new squad, Athren took some time to try to get to know them. While bonding with them seemed more like a chore, they had some solid hitters on it and he honestly couldn't complain. Personality wise, there really wasn't anything that he could clash with as they all had very similar goals and wants. Fighting wise and tactical wise, he often found himself coming to a different conclusion than the others. He was a stubborn saiyan, he wanted to do things his way. Whether it had been his pride or simply the fact that he believed his way could have provided more entertainment or a chances of success, he'd often push that to them and if they disagreed, break off and do his own thing anyway.

The battle of Cereal was a completely different situation from even that of the events that took place on planet namek. It had seemed for one moment, the squad and himself had been killing Cerealians and destroying their cities and then all hell broke loose. Somehow they got divided, split up and forced to fight their own battles. Athren had been overwhelmed so quickly by a power house of a warrior that he didn't even have time to focus on where his squad was at for he was far too busy fighting for his life. While the battle itself went rather quickly, Athren felt like it took a lifetime to finish. He had never experienced that much pressure before. He had never been forced back into a corner to that degree. It was the first time in his life that he was truly fighting to live, every ounce of his power simply just trying to avoid the next fatal blow that his Cerealian opponent had fired his way. His offensives were proven useless again and again, and he knew that wouldn't changed. He tapped into his demon transformation and still struggled to stay alive.

It was a battle that opened his eyes, it brought him to the brink of death. He was even ready to accept his death, he was willing to die right then and there but he was going to make the Cerealian earn that kill. He wasn't going to fold or just roll over because he knew he was outclassed, he was going to give it is all until the very end. he was a saiyan warrior after all, he wouldn't go down easily.
Of course the battle continued on, eventually concluding with Athren's defeat. He narrowly managed to survive, in fact it took his most powerful attack just to numb the blow of the incoming attack to a point he could survive but when the attack hit his chest it was lights out.

He wouldn't be able to carry on the invasion anymore, there wouldn't be anymore fighting for Athren on Cereal. He wouldn't be able to assist his crew or be there to finish capturing the planet. Athren's body would lay in the dirt in a crater until the planet was conquered. It wouldn't be until another squad of saiyan warriors would find him and put him in a pod and ship him back home.
For the journey, he remained completely unconscious, there wasn't any signs of him waking up anytime soon. His body was battered and broken. He was drained of his stamina, energy and Ki and just didn't have any fuel left in his system. He was essentially in a coma.

With the pod landing on Vegeta, he was immediately rushed to the medical bay. They stripped him down and put him in one of the most advanced healing pods available to get him back up to health faster. While the saiyan race often not caring for their low class warriors, the battle of Namek had put an extra caution to simply dismissing warriors. The Namekian's had given the saiyans a eye opener and now with Cereal? They didn't want to just toss saiyans aside if they could help it. Even those deemed as low class were essential to conquering the universe. There had still been plenty more battles to take part in, countless more planets. They would need as many numbers as they could get.

With the Kings eyes now settling on Earth, there was another battle brewing. While Athren wasn't aware of it yet due to his current state but the King already had intentions. The Earth was hosting an intergalactic tournament, a battle royale where members of any and all races could join. Braccus had it in his head that we wanted to display saiyan might, he wanted a saiyan warrior to win the tournament and he wanted the saiyan race to display what they were truly capable of. Athren knew that when he found out about this, he was going to sign up. How could he say no? It would've been another good battle to test his abilities and the risk of death was low, he could take it easy and perfect his craft instead of forcing himself out of a corner. It was almost like it was a win win for him. Hell, he'd even get to rough up some Earthlings and blow off some steam. Though, surely this was going to lead to more. Surely, an invasion force would land on Earth and it would be under the exact same threat as Namek and Cereal before it. Unless the Earth had some incredible hidden warriors, it would fall faster then the pervious planets did. It didn't help the Earth's chances that the saiyan race was had member that were breaking barriers, they continued to push to new and higher levels of power. While their numbers may have been reduced, power levels continued to increase for the survivors of the invading forces.

The next battle was already being set, and there wasn't anything Athren could do about it at this point in time. Even if he wanted to argue, he couldn't. It wasn't his place, nor was it the time. He didn't have the rank of the Kings trust. Hell, he couldn't even discuss anything with his crew. He had been unconcious, submerged in the healing tank and surrounded by it's liquid. It covered all his wounds as an oxygen mask connected to his face and allowed him to breath safely.

This truly was not a state that a saiyan wanted to be in. While he was lucky to survive the battle that he had found himself in, he would've much rather been able to walk it off and heal on his own terms. He'd hate being forced into a temporary confinement, a machine to rectify his failures and heal his body. It was a blow that cut deep into his pride, that would infurate him, annoy him, frustrate him beyond belief but through all those feelings, through all those thoughts after he would wake up, it would provide him with a positive, a bright light at the end of the tunnel.

While a defeat like this would wound ones pride, it also served as motivation. Once Athren woke up and truly got to register what had happened, he was going to made a mad push to prevent this from happening again. His training would continue but be much more frequent and harder than before. His intentions would sharpen and his purpose would hold true. There wasn't a chance in hell he'd just allow this to happen without trying to rectify it further than just the healing chamber could. While the chamber could heal his wounds, it couldn't heal his pride. That was something that he'd have to do himself. He'd need to defeat stronger fighters, become one of the strongest, outclass the elites and carry his squad to victory. It wouldn't be easy and it wouldn't come fast, but in time Athren would know he could accomplish this. He'd even find a way to master his transformations, he'd learn to understand them and harness their powers to the complete fullest.

On the journey to rectify his defeat and become powerful, he knew that there would be plenty of those around that would discourage him, claim he was a low class incapable of achieving his power. They would even likely throw his defeat in his face when they challenged him in a fight.
There was plenty of Saiyan's that would look down on the Cerealian race and while most of them were far below the power of the average saiyan, there were few that Athren would even call warriors. Those warriors, above average in power. Their accuracy deadly and any mistake would be punished with a painful blow. Those who weren't there would never understand, those who didn't face down such an opponent would never have an idea of what a cerealian could actually be capable of. If Athren were to compare, the Cerealian he fought was likely equal to a saiyan with a power level above twenty five thousand. Something that seemed to be extremely rare these days. The Cerealian himself didn't have quite that high of a power level, but it was the closest comparison Athren would've been able to make as a grand majority of the Cerealians had a power level of five to one hundred, according to the scouter that got broken in the fight.

Whether or not they would've believed it, most of the saiyans would fall to the exact same cerealian that Athren did. Of course they wouldn't get to experience it as the cerealians were now brought to the brink of extinction. It was likely that those who survived and escaped would hide. Few might go for revenge but the chances of them growing strong enough to handle the average saiyan was low.

Athren would remain in the healing pod for just over a day. His wounds were rather extensive and would take time to heal completely and truth be told, his body would require the rest. Whether he liked it or not, it was going to be the best thing for him. Even after his body was fully healed and he found himself out of this medical chamber, some downtime likely wouldn't hurt. He'd need to come to terms with the loss and deal with it mentally. It wasn't like it was going to take it's toll on him, but it surely would scratch the surface and leave some sort of discomfort. He was going to need to train, build up some confident again, get a victory against someone.

Essentially, what he was going to need to do was break his losing streak. He was going to have to counter the negativity with some positive outcomes in order to change this around. He knew he wasn't a bad fighter, he had talent and the experience. It would just be his luck that all his opponents lately were significantly stronger than he was. It wasn't an easy thing to swallow, but Athren knew that he would need to increase his power level significantly. If he was going to keep meeting opponents of such a high caliber, he knew that he was also going to need to improve his techniques. He needed more counters, more defensive options and a hell of a lot more offensive options. He wanted to be prepared to handle almost every situation and throughout his lifetime, he had experienced plenty of different techniques and transformations. He would go forward as he trained, selecting and developing techniques to counter the ones that he struggled to face.

All of this, would come to him when he awoke and he'd likely begin to train more seriously than ever before. There was nothing that could stop him and motivation would be high. Hell, it was likely that he wouldn't have ever been this motivated in his life before. He would be tired of taking such a beating, tired of losing and struggling when he shouldn't. He was a saiyan warrior after all, he was a member of the stronger race in this universe and it was time that he rose to the title of his race and proved it to himself what he was really worth. He didn't give a shit what the others would say in the long run, while he might get tired of hearing it, he wasn't going to allow them to continue talking smack forever. A loss was a loss but that wouldn't determine who he was or even his fate, that was all within his own control. His fate, was in his own control and he'd swear to change the outcome. He wasn't going to go down again, not to some Cerealian, not to a Namekian and certainly not to an Earthling.

Athren had the potential to become the strongest in the universe and while that was not his ultimate goal, he was going to train like it was. He would start competing with himself every single day in order to prevent another defeat, every day he'd become better than he was the day before. This was going to be his time. No longer would he sit in the shadows of doubt laid upon the low class warriors, he would rise up and shatter all expectations, all judgement and he'd do that all for himself. He was going to put himself in the position that nobody would dare speak down to him, a position that all would respect of fear him for what he was capable of.

While the healing chamber itself wasn't the ideal place for Athren to be, he was stuck in there for about another day and with that, he would get plenty of rest. Though, his body twitched every now and then and from an outside perspective, from the view of somebody looking into his pod and observing him. They might've assumed that Athren had been dreaming or having some sort of vision and if they did assume that, they'd be right. It wasn't something of a dream, nor a nightmare but a vision into something demonic. It was something Athren never would've experienced before but what it was, would've felt more real than ever. A voice echoed through his head, speaking to him as if they were right next to him in person.

"The time has almost come for you to take your place at my side, to unleash devastation upon the universe, to conquer everything in my name."

Athren would see a jolt of lighting as a vision followed. A dark rift opening up on the surface of Planet Vegeta as an army of demonic looking creatures poured through it and began an invasion. Of course, the saiyan race itself would try to meet this threat on the planet but ultimately they wouldn't be prepared. The Death and destruction that followed, would lead to hundreds of corpses littering the battlefield with losses on both sides as the invading force of demons pushed towards the Royal Palace. The invading force slaughtering anything that got in its way, children, women and men. They didn't care for occupations, whether the saiyan be a simple butcher or an elite warrior. It almost mirrored what Athren had spent his entire life doing, going to different planets and killing off countless innocents in order to conquer the planet and Athren was very much the same as these demons. He killed children, women and men of all sorts. He didn't care about their occupation or their lives. The only thing Athren cared about in those moments was the mission and he had to complete it. It wasn't something he really ever questioned, it was just something that had to be done and he was the one to do it.

It was part of being a saiyan. Their warrior culture had been one to conquer and kill. They claimed planets and sold them off for profit. It was how it was in the past and simply how it was always going to be. There wasn't anything that could change that. Even in the case of a new King or Queen being put into power, it simply wouldn't be possible. The race as a whole depended on the planet trade and the warriors themselves where bloodthirsty. It was what they knew that there wasn't a chance in hell they'd give up fighting to go into a peaceful occupation in order to make a living. The fought, they killed and they conquered and nothing was ever going to change that no matter how hard they tried.

The visions Athren were having had felt like it was so much more than just a dream, it felt like he was really there. Even the perspective of this vision was through the eyes of somebody present for this invasion. It had felt no different than watching the saiyan race push through towards the cities of Cereal, or the villages of Namek. As this invasion went on, more and more saiyan warriors fell to the numbers coming through the rift. The rift itself seemed to be some kind of portal to a location Athren had never seen before, he couldn't even match it to a location he heard about and he was completely unaware what any of this meant. Was this some kind of a warning? Was he having a dream of the future or was this just something he shouldn't even think twice about once he woke up? What he knew, was that it didn't make sense.

In this vision, Vegeta City had been reached. The demons numbers continued to flood through the rift and support the fight as the battle began to spread throughout the entire planet. If it were described in one word, it would be chaos. The saiyan race as a whole united against this one massive threat to their future. Power Balls began to light up the sky all over the Planet as the race itself began to transform into the mighty Oozaru to meet this enemy and while initially this power was enough to allow them to hold the line, to form defensive positions, it would also work against them as too many saiyan warriors hadn't mastered their Oozaru forms. The saiyan races defensive positions began to fall due to the overwhelming numbers that endlessly poured through the rift. It was the largest army that Athren would've ever seen, even if it only be a vision. The numbers pouring through weren't just in the thousands but in the tens of thousands, the numbers seemed to be endless and one by one, the mighty Oozarus would find themselves falling, being cut down by endless hordes of demons as they continued their march towards the palace.

If this was a warning and was something to come, no amount of training could prepare any race for such an invasion. The way it came out of nowhere with no warning. A simple rift in the landscape, a technique perhaps that allowed such transportation. Without warning, a true resistance wouldn't be able to be formed. You'd essentially just get scattered saiyans everywhere trying there best to hold the front lines. As he remained in the chamber, his heart rate increased ever so slightly and his body twitched once more. This vision was actually having an effect on him.

The battle continued on, Vegeta city began to burn and crumble as more and more saiyan corpses littered the battlefield. At this rate, there was little to no hope. There was no chance to recover and the saiyan race would suffer the same fate as the Cerealians before them. They'd face the exact same thing they had done to so many races before them and even the mighty warrior race would be unable to accept their fate. Even though his body wasn't able to respond, Athren's thoughts were roaming wild. This wasn't something that he ever experienced before. This vision had been beyond him, even beyond his understanding. It almost felt like it was forced into his mind by an external force, as if something or someone wanted him to have this vision.

The death and destruction might've not even been the worst part of it all. Athren couldn't help but feel like he'd want to be in a situation like that. The fighting, the challenge, the overall experience of it. It was something that would make any saiyan warriors blood rush through their veins, to drive their excitement. Every single warrior wanted to fight, they wanted a battle. The only downside of this was their home planet was at stake. Yet the amount of targets to slaughter was highly encouraging. It was a dream battle, a place where Athren couldn't help but feel like he belonged. It would be a battle that solidified the strong from the weak and if the saiyans did win, the weak would surely parish while the strong survived. What better way to truly outshine everybody else and prove to yourself that you are where you belong.

Of course the slaughter wouldn't stop as the corpses continued to fall and litter the path to the palace. The demon race pushing towards to throne. Likely, they were after the head of the King. This was a strategy that even the saiyan race had used from time to time and it worked. Often if you could remove the leader, the enemy force would become disorganized and become easier to deal with. Without leadership, the grunts would often panic and flee and become easy targets to pick off.

This dream, this vision ultimately felt so real that Athren felt like this was really happening. It was like he was right there on this battlefield watching countless that he knew get slaughtered. It got to the point that there had been so many demons on the planet that even the elites didn't stand a chance. They would simply just get piled up on with so many numbers that they wouldn't even get a chance to defeat a single enemy. This would continue all the way to the throne room as the flood of demons didn't stop coming out of the portal. Ultimately, an army of this size would've taken forever to gather up and organize. Whomever was capable of this kind of thing, whoever the leader was must've been strong, determined and a very influential person. Though it wasn't long that Athren's vision faded briefly and everything went to black. When his vision came back, he was now in the throne room. It was a room he had been in very few times, but he recognized it instantly.

What was in the throne room? The King sat dead on his throne and at his own feet laid his squad. Ryoko, Pars, both dead with holes in their chest. It seemed as if they were sliced up pretty good, almost as if Ki claws had ripped them apart too. Whatever had killed them was brutal, vicious and seemed to be out for blood. Though as the vision continued, his gaze lowered and he saw two bloody hands. They were covered in the blood of his squad and he saw the hands had been wearing finger less gloves with a red arm band on each arm and it was at this moment that he realized that the entire thing had been from his perspective, that he was part of this invading force and clearly highly ranking within it.

It was in this moment that Athren's heart rate spiked, his breathing got incredibly heavy through the oxygen mask that had been connected to him. It caused an alarm to go off on the exterior of his pod as a red blinking light flickered to indicate where the pod was that was getting the reason.

"It's pod number 117!" Shouted one of the medical officers as two of them began rushing over. They were going to assess the situation and see what could be done to assist Athren to try to bring him back to a calm and stable state. Though once they reached the pod, Athren's power level increased as his eyes opened, he unintentionally blew out the glass holding in all the liquid as it flooded out and onto the floor. As for the medical officers, they had wound up on their ass covered in the liquid. Their faces were full of shock and surprise, they didn't expect Athren to be awake for another few days but his physical wounds had been healed from the looks of it and he was clearly ready to go.

Now being awake, Athren gripped the oxygen mask and stepped outside the pod. It was good to be back on his feet. His ocean blue eyes looked down at his nude body to examine himself. There wasn't even a scratch left. His eyes would then go down to the officers that were on the ground.

With the two officers getting up to their feet, they two examined Athren. Initially from first glance, he did seem like he was completely healed but they had to be absolutely sure before releasing him back into the public. "We didn't expect you to be awake so soon, it's nothing short of a miracle that you recovered so fast!" One of them exclaimed as they walked around him in a small circle and looked for wounds. "How do you feel? Do you have any sore muscles, headaches, aches in your chest?" One asked.

Athren stood there, his posture strong and tall as his eyes followed the one circling him to a small degree.
"I don't think I could feel any better." He stated, his breathing slowly returning to normal after he woke up from what he would now deem as nothing but a nightmare. It would've been the first nightmare he ever had, but he hoped it would be the last. "I'm hoping that you have some clothing stored around here?" Athren asked.

"Of course we do, I'll be right back." The lower ranking officer stated before running off. The higher ranking one remained and continued to examine Athren. She even pulled a device from her pocket and began scanning Athren's body. "You do seem to be in peak condition health wise and I'm not getting any strange readings from any of your vitals." She paused before putting the device back in her pocket. "It's good to see you standing, soldier."

Athren nodded. "Yeah, I didn't exactly think I'd be back on my feet." He paused for a moment before explaining. "I thought for sure I was dead." While this was true, he didn't just roll over and die. So while the defeat was a blow to his pride, he did fight it out until the very end and that was what saved him after all. "I'm all cleared?" He asked casually. It was obvious that he didn't want to stand around and wait. He wanted to move along and go investigate. After all, he had questions and he knew that these two wouldn't have the answers. He assumed it was a few days after Cereal at minimum and he wanted to know the fate of the battle and the fate of his crew because if he nearly died, there was a chance they might've suffered the same fate or worse.

"You're cleared." She stated as the other finally returned with the clothing and handed it over. It was nothing more than a simple pair of white boots with the blue stretchy saiyan battle suit. "It isn't much but it'll get you to where you're going at least."

Athren nodded and accepted the clothing. He quickly put on the jumpsuit and the boots and began making his way to the exit. First line of business, he was going to head to his room and get out of this terrible outfit and into something that was more 'him'. He had his style, and while the saiyan jumpsuit was designed in mind for expansion for the Oozaru, he much rather preferred loose fitting clothing. It made him feel like that was a lot more freedom of movement and it surely allowed for more air to flow close to his body. Though on his way to the door as he passed all the pods, he came to a rather unexpected sight. It was one that caught his attention and even answered one of the seemly infinite amounts of questions he had. With his ocean blue eyes resting on what he saw, Athren would approach before speaking. He had a minute.

Given that he had time, he was going to stay a moment for what he saw did indeed answer at least half of one of his questions. The question was simple, how did his squad fair out on Cereal? He hadn't even known at this moment whether or not the saiyan race had won the battle for Cereal and given the status of a few of the Cerealian warriors, he had ever right to question this. They had warriors that surpassed most saiyans and that was a rarity. What he saw, was Pars within another healing pod. It wasn't far off from Athren's and it was rather lucky that Athren had managed to spot him. After all, he was in quite a rush to get out of these clothes and into his own and he was planning on going to the best spot for information. His favorite pub, often held conversations and stories of battles recently completed. Plus, it would serve a good place for Athren to have a drink.

Standing there in his awful blue colored attire, Athren crossed his arms and glared into the pod. His eyes rested on Pars face as he has in the same state that Athren was previously. He took a moment of silence, gathering his thoughts and his words before he spoke. He figured Pars wouldn't be able to hear him but he could at least send him some kind of best wishes. They might've been saiyans but they were on the same squad and if Athren would want any other saiyan to succeed, it'd be his own teammates. He sighed and turned his back, even resting his back against the pod as he started speaking casually.

"I know we haven't exactly been the best team. Our coordination isn't exactly anything to brag about and I know we don't always see eye to eye, but I hope you're out of this pod soon and back on your feet because once you're out of there, we've got some training to do. We can't take another defeat like that, we're better than that." After a short moment and another brief silence. Athren would stand up straight and start walking back to the main exit of the medical area. "I'll see you soon."

With that, Athren was off. He left the building entirely and took to the air. The closet location that he had a spare set of his clothes was a locker at the Central Stadium. While he didn't venture there often anymore, Athren used to be a regular. Even with just being a low class, he had managed to provide the crowd with a very high entertainment value. He had been a regular there since he was young as it was a good way to train against stronger opponents and that's where Athren seemed to thrive the most. Fighting a live target who was actually fighting their heart out trained somebody to deal with real world battle scenarios and the consquences of your own actions should you make a mistake or get too cocky.

Arriving at the arena, Athren made his way to the locker he had and he scanned his hand and opened it up. Luckily for him, not a lot of warriors were here frequently enough to require a locker so his stuff was still in there. Though he wished he would've had a spare scouter, everything else was there. Quickly, he changed out of his blue attire and those terrible boots to his own clothing. The loose black pants, the sleeveless black shirt, the orange armor, the gloves, the wrist bands, all of it. He had it on very quickly and headed out for the pub. Though he couldn't help but hope that there'd be somebody there he knew to have a drink with. Otherwise, he'd just be making small talk hoping to get the answers that he desired. He assumed that they won, given Pars was back on Vegeta but he couldn't be certain. There was a very small chance of a saiyan retreat, especially after the power house that nearly killed Athren.
He flew through the skies of Vegeta, his ocean blue eyes looking down and observing all the saiyan activity. There hadn't seem to be any panic or signs of emergency, everything had seemed to be operating as per normal. It was another small sign that the saiyans had won. Athren had assumed if they had lost, there would be more supplies being routed to the docks, more soldier activity running around, but the vibes he was seeing was certainly after a successful invasion. He didn't see any haste or panic in anybody's actions, and everybody was taking their time. He couldn't help but give a small little smile.

Landing in front of his favorite pub in Vegeta City, Athren made his way through the automatic sliding door and observed the crowd. It was very huge for the middle of the day, another indication of a saiyan victory. It was common that after a planet had been invaded that the saiyans would gather and celebrate with drinks and food. He walked through the crowd, making his way to the main bar.
"I'll get my usual." He asked of the bartender. He was obviously here frequently enough that they knew his order. The bartender today was a smaller saiyan woman named Cress. She had given up fighting a long time ago after some serious injuries, she now served her people by serving them refreshments.

"Of course Athren!" She stated right back, grabbing a mug and taking it to the tap. As she filled it up slowly, she couldn't help but make small talk. "I heard that you had it pretty rough on Cereal, but I'm happy to see you back to full health!" She exclaimed happily. She too didn't like her customers never coming back. She much preferred them showing up alive and well for refreshments and spreading their grand stories of victory to her. It surely passed the time and made her think and reflect on her own time as a warrior. She couldn't deny that it was something she missed, after all she was a saiyan but her injuries had now held her back from fufilling that warrior standard.

Athren couldn't help but roll his eyes, his gaze meeting the black eyes of Cress. "You heard about that pretty quickly, didn't you?" Athren asked, thinking about who could've spilt his story. "Let me guess, Celric has been in. Hasn't he?" He was Athren's childhood rival, a saiyan he deemed a friend. Surely, one that would investigate Athren's results as soon as possible.

Cress smiled and nodded. "Yeah, It was Celric. He's here now actually! Back corner, away from the crowd where he always sits." Cress walked back over, leaning against the bar after sliding Athren his beverage. "And don't worry, this ones on the house." She gave him a playful wink. "So, was Celric telling the truth or just telling tall tales again?"

Athren let out a small sigh, he couldn't even hold it back. He was hardly an hour out of his medical pod and he was already having to talk about his defeat. It stung, but he couldn't help but think that it was going to be used as motivation for him to get stronger, to never let it happen again. He was a warrior after all, it was what drove him to be better. "Unfortunately, this isn't one of those tall tales. All I can say is, I have no idea how a Cerealian could be so powerful but I didn't go down easy. I made that bastard earn it." Athren paused a moment, taking in the noise of the bar briefly. It was filled with celebration. "But If I had to guess, by the sound of all this celebration and laughter. That Cerealian's dead."

Cress nodded her head with another big smile. "Likely, We had claimed the planet by midnight. Casualties were more than expected but still rather low. From the sound of it, that Cerealian wasn't going to flee or retreat so somebody probably got him for you."

It was at this point Athren took a sip from his brew. "Yeah, I don't see him fleeing either. He also did seem pretty firm on trying to take as many of us to hell with him as he could." He paused for a moment. "Still, I wish I could've been the one to kill him." Athren had meant every word, he would've taken such joy in managing to kill an opponent that strong. Though he couldn't help but wonder, was it an Oozaru that got him or was there a saiyan warrior on planet that was on a completely different level? Either way, he couldn't change the past. "I'll be back up for another drink shortly, I'm going to go see Celric."

Cress smiled. "Don't bother, I'll just bring you two another round in ten minutes or so! Celric's been here all day and I've been over there too many times to count."

Athren turned and started walking away, his tone raising just enough for Cress to still hear him clearly. "Appreciate it, Cress."
On his way to the back corner of the room Athren would navigate the crowd. Hearing bits and pieces of the battle on Cereal. Some stories of defeat and others of triumph. It seems that Athren's squad wasn't the only squad to take a hard hit. While it didn't make Athren feel better, at least they weren't the only ones to get cut down. Those Cerealians, such an unexpected race to develop that kind of power. It might've not been many of them but it was surely enough to make the saiyans feel it. Regardless, it was a problem of the past for they wouldn't have to deal with their kind again. They were brought to the brink, survivors likely fled to distant planets simply to get away from the warriors that slaughtered them.

Finally getting to the back corner of the pub, Athren's eyes rested on his Friend Celric. He was drinking plenty, empty mugs covered his table as he was laughing and talking with another groups of saiyans. When Celric glanced over to see Athren, a large smile crossed his face as he raised his mug to the sky. "Athren! Good to see you're alive and well! "

Athren closed the distance, sliding throught he group of standing saiyans Celric was talking to and sitting across from him in the booth. "Good to know you're still spreading stories. I haven't been out of the healing pod for an hour and I've already hard about my loss." Athren gave Celric a cold glare. Not that it truly mattered, Athren was simply just giving Celric a hard time about it. His defeat was going to get around one way or another, at least to the saiyans that knew him best and Celric just so happened to be one of those saiyans.

"Oh! You should be grateful I even decided to check up on you. Surely, I was the only one!" He laughed loudly, his voice clashing with the rest of the noise within the pub. "But now that you're awake, I want to know all the details about what happened. He had to be really strong, Right?!" While it was easy to assume that Athren had been beaten by a Cerealian, it was impossible to truly know the story without being there. Only Athren would know this story. He had somehow managed to have his fight in an excluded area. Though this might've just been in Athren's head. He had been so focused on the battle at hand that nothing outside of the fight mattered or even registered to him. For all he knew he had spectators but to him, there was only one thing that mattered and that was survival. He locked in, he focused and he tried his best to survive. Though he didn't manage to win, he managed to survive and that was surely a plus.

Athren took a drink from his mug, his shoulders shrugging rather casually. "He wasn't like anybody else I've ever faced." He paused, thinking about how to word this and tell this story clearly. "You know I've been in my fair share of fights, you know I've faced opponents far stronger than me. Hell, You even know how I can increase my power without transforming into the great ape but this guy? I couldn't even put a scratch on him with my power increased. He was the strongest warrior I ever faced." He told the story truly and honestly, Athren wasn't a liar, at least not to people he knew or the ones that mattered. "I hadn't experienced anything like it and I've got to admit, it was exactly where I needed to be." The thrill of the fight drove his words, even through a loss Athren was excited to have been there.

Celric leaned in, listening to Athren's story closely. Though he couldn't help but blurt out something rather goofy. "And you didn't think of transforming into a great ape!? Surely, that would've beat him!" While Celric was absolutely right, there was a big reason Athren couldn't do that. Of course, Celric thought that the great ape transformation was the ultimate trump card for a saiyan and while it normally was, there was one thing it required that Athren didn't have. Athren didn't have the time. Looking at the power ball simply would've taken too much time as it would've taken his focus off the fight and the Cerealian was far too ruthless to give Athren a pause like that. Not only did looking at the false moon require time but transforming into the great ape itself did too. There would've been far too many opportunities for the Cerealian to blast Athren down in an instant if Athren would've made this attempt and in a way, he was glad he wasn't tempted by it. As a last resort, most saiyans would've tried it any maybe Athren wouldn't have been no different. Sure, there was a small chance it could've worked provided the opportunity but it was far too risky.

Athren didn't know the power ball technique and at least at the time, there wasn't any power balls in the sky nearby for him to look at and he couldn't help but believe that he wouldn't have had a chance to transform. It took longer to change into the great ape form than it did for Athren to simply power up into whatever the hell power he had. He couldn't help but assume that the Cerealian would've taken his shot while Athren was defenseless and he would've been dead for sure. "Hell, I don't know the power ball technique and I highly doubt the Cerealian would've given me the time to change. He was out for blood. He had that look in his eyes, his tone, his actions. He wanted revenge, the only thing that mattered to him at that point was taking as many of us with him as he could. He knew the planet was lost."

Celric nodded, he completely understood where Athren was coming from and it all did make sense. "You know, that does make sense and I suppose he did what any one would do if Vegeta was about to fall and we knew it was just a matter of time. Kill as many of them as you can. It's what I'd do and I'd bet it's what you'd do too, given the chance." Celric took another sip of his drink as he was enjoying the casual conversation with Athren.

Athren nodded, taking another sip of his drink as well. "Well, when faced with a situation like that there really wasn't much else do to. There wasn't a chance in hell he was going to make it off that planet, he was in the thick of that fight. Once he was done with me, any direction he went would've put him face to face with another group of saiyans." Athren downed the rest of his mug, resting it down on the table after with a light thud. "Though, I do have some questions. You hear about what happened to my squad? I saw Pars in a healing pod too. You got any details there?"

Celric couldn't help but shake his head before finishing his drink and resting the mug down. "Unfortunately, I don't have any more details than I had with your situation. It's easy to say, some Cerealian beat him. Maybe it was the same guy that got you, or maybe it was another one. Regardless, some of those guys must've packed one hell of a punch."

Athren nodded his head, he assumed as much but he had to ask. It was worth a try to get the information out of him even if he didn't have any more than Athren. "It's a safe bet and I figured you wouldn't know much more than I did, but it doesn't hurt to ask. He shouldn't be in the healing chamber much longer either. Maybe a day or two." He replied.

It was at this point that Cress had walked over, in her right hand was a fresh brew and in her left hand was a fresh brew. She placed them both down on the table and slid them to each of the guys. "And a round for my favorite customers." She smiled. "Am I opening up a tab for you, Athren?"

Before Athren had a chance to speak, Celric had beat him to the punch. "Put this one on my own tab, I think he deserves a few free ones after losing to a Cerealian. Don't you?" Of course with this, Athren gave him another dirty stare down and Celric couldn't help but smile.

Cress on the other hand was pleasant about it, dismissing the playfull jab rather easily. "I'd say he deserves one for being on the line of duty, You know considering he was actually there! Not just drinking in this place!" Just like that, Celric gave Cress a dirty stare and it was all coming around full circle. Of course, none of them were actually annoyed with each other, this was just their normal interactions outside of a fight or a spar. They were a rather close group for saiyans, they had known each other for years and this type of banter had been completely expected. "But, I've got to get back to the bar!" She smiled and left.

Athren couldn't help but chuckle as he looked back to Celric. "Ouch, So what were you doing anyway? Didn't get deployed?"
He was actually rather curious about this. It wasn't like Celric to miss out on such an invasion but maybe he had different orders, or maybe his squad was simply on reserve? After all, the Saiyan Empire wasn't going to throw everything at Cereal. The King was being more cautious with his decisions after the battle of Namek, while that fight wasn't as hard as the one on Cereal, it was still a bit of an eye opener for the king.

Celric sighed. "Personally, I would've loved to be there but my group was set on reserve. So, I just idled around here and waited for you to clean up on Cereal." He stated, taking another drink from his mug.

Athren nodded. "Well, you would've been killed so it's a good thing you didn't go." Athren paused, taking another drink from his glass before moving onto yet another question. "Any chance you heard anything about Ryoko?" While he wasn't checking healing pods, he didn't see her on the way out, nor had he heard any word from her. There was no messages left behind, nothing. Of course, his scouter was broken so his main point of contact wasn't exactly an option. He still had wanted answers though, she was his squad leader and surely she had some sort of a debrief to give after that all went down. Not only that, if she wasn't alive he wanted to know. Either somebody was going to get promoted to squad leader or they were once again going to bring somebody new in. Either way, he needed some damn answers.

Celric shrugged his shoulders, almost as if it wasn't a big deal. Yet he had a way to slide his words out as to take another jab at Athren. "Unlike the rest of her squad, Ryoko made it out with few injuries. She had a rough time by the looks of it but fared out far better than the rest of you. She came through a while ago, Hell I even think she went to check on you." He paused a moment, taking another big sip of his drink. "She headed out, don't know where." He shrugged once more.

Athren nodded his head. It was good his squad leader survive. He really didn't want to have to get used to a new one or another new member of the squad. Getting to know people was exhausting and he wasn't exactly one of the most social saiyans. He had his small circle and his squad and that's essentially how he wanted to keep it. Letting the odd person in every now and then wasn't something that was an issue but lately, it just seemed to be too frequently. With his entire former squad dying on Namek, it left him open to meeting too many new saiyans far too quickly and quite frankly, he hated it. They all had to adjust to each other, all had conflicting personalities and times and fighting together could be a chore too, especially if fighting styles clashed. "Well, I'm glad she made it. One less thing to worry about, though I should probably go find her soon and check in."

Celric nodded his head, he had to agree. Being a squad leader wasn't something that was easy, especially for saiyans and Celric knew she had her hands full with this squad. Especially with Athren. In the battlefield, he was as stubborn as they came and he fought in his own way. It was going to be hard to reel him in if she had different plans when a strong opponent came along. "She's got her hands full with you but I don't blame you for wanting to check in. It isn't easy losing a fight as a saiyan but having your whole squad take a loss? That's another level."

Athren nodded, as he agreed. "Yeah, You're not wrong.." He couldn't help but think of what state she was in. He assumed she would've been filled with doubt and annoyance. He didn't know how bad she got it on the planet, but it seemed she fared out better. She wasn't in a healing chamber, so that was good on her. He only hoped that she got a chance to rain some hell down on Cerealians. "I'm sure she'll be fine though, it's probably nothing major to worry about."

With the time passing, the two saiyans continued to catch up and having a few more drinks. Cress would continue to put the brews on Celric's tab and Athren simply enjoyed the moment of peace and the free refreshments. He knew after he left this bar, there wouldn't be too much time to relax for he had goals set in his mind and he had some thinking to do about that vision. As much as he wanted to dismiss it and write it off as nothing, he had questions about it. It had felt too real to just be a dream and the voice that echoed in his head, that wasn't something he could've made up on the spot. He didn't know where he'd go for answers, he didn't know if there would ever be any answers for that, but he knew he had to try.

Other than that, Athren's training was going to spike. He was going to work every day at becoming stronger, honing his techniques and becoming a better warrior. This squad had taken a big loss and he wanted to be the change, he wanted to turn it around and start putting them on the winning side of the battles. After all, it's what every saiyan warrior wanted. They wanted to fight, they wanted to win, they wanted to prove to themselves that they were stronger. In Athren's case, he wanted to prove that he was better than he was the day before. He wanted to be better for himself, he wasn't often one to compare himself to his opponent like that.
He would have a lot of work to do, but all of it was going to be for him.

"Alright, I'm going to go find Ryo. I've got a feeling there might be a little bit of damage control to be done. I might've lost my fight on Cereal, but her entire squad lost the battle. That isn't something easy to walk away from." He said this to Celric as he made his way to the door, his right hand giving a small wave with his thumb and pointer finger extended.

Celric raised his mug with a smirk, "I'll see you around Athren! One of these days, we'll have to get back into the stadium and see who's the strongest!"

Athren couldn't help but smirk. "For sure."

Finally leaving the pub after having a few rounds, Athren once again took to the skies and heading out to where he suspected Ryoko was going to be hanging out. She had spoken of the spring before and how she liked them and luckily for him, it was a location close to his house. He didn't know what state he'd find her in, but it was something he'd deal with one way or another. He just hoped she wasn't going to be in a rough mood. After all, her squad did just take a big loss.

On the flight, he couldn't help but reflect on what had happened on Cereal. It was something that wouldn't escape his mind so easily. His mind running through different scenarios that could've changed the outcome, that could've given him an advantage or and edge, yet everything he thought about seemed as if it would've failed. It didn't matter if Athren would've had more techniques or even went into the great ape, every single scenario would've wound up the same. He would've been killed before he could transform or he would've been overpowered just the same with more techniques. The simple answer was, he was going to need to increase his power level and there was a few ways to do that. He needed to spar and train, though it was time that he improved his chances.

It was time he started to look into training equipment. One of the Namekian's he found removed heavy weighted clothing, this was something that he was going to try. It seemed effective. He could wear those at all times and everything he did would be amplified simply by the weights press down against him. He had also heard about a more expensive technology that created artifical gravity, this was also on the list but he knew for that he'd need a more suitable home or a bigger ship. Those were things he couldn't afford right now and for as little time as he spent at home, it was likely going to be the ship, that way he could take his training gear with him at all times.

With power increasing on his priority list, Athren knew that along with that he would need new techniques. While new techniques wouldn't have changed the results of the planet Cereal, they might be able to help him in the future and he already had some ideas. A ki shield, Ki claws, Rapid movement, cutting techniques, peircing techniques. He needed to expand his list drastically, he needed to be prepared for anything that could possibly be sent his way. He had slacked for far too long and it was time to really focus on himself. He needed to invest in himself now if he wanted to survive, he had a hunch that the Cereal he fought was the first of many powerful individuals he'd have to face down alone. While Athren was a part of the squad, they all had their saiyan pride. They didn't believe in grouping up on a single fighter, they didn't believe in cheap shots, it wasn't there way and it likely never would be. Athren needed to be able to win these fights alone and for himself, he had to prove to himself that he was better. His thoughts would be the only one that mattered and even though he just took a loss, he was going to stand up straight with his head held high.

All of this training would start tomorrow. For now, his plan was simple. He was going to discuss things with Ryoko and see where she was at, though little did he know there would be news of a tournament coming his way. This would also be motivation for him to train. He wasn't going to lose to an Earthling, the hell with that. Come tomorrow, his training routine would begin and he would put his absolute best into it. Preparing for everything in his future to come.

Tonight, tonight was about damage control and rest. He didn't need to push himself hard tonight, instead he could bond with Ryoko a little further, rest his body, rest his mind and try to accept everything that went wrong. Tomorrow was a new day that he could start fresh, put everything behind him and focus on what was ahead. He knew he was in for a lifetime of battles, a lifetime of conquering planets, one night of peace wouldn't hurt in the slightest.

Nearing the Kiwi Springs, Athren focused back on the task at hand. Finding Ryoko.

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Word Count: 10,000.
[Might format and make pretty in the future]