[4] The Ghost Town

[Orion]

"Ideas?" Orion repeated.

"You know, ideas," Kaden added redundantly. "Plans? Strategies? In case the bad guys come?"

The one eyed saiyan folded his arms over his chest and lightly snorted. "You two? With me?"

"I fail to see the humour," Piper returned.

"We'll improvise." Orion turned his head away from the two humans, staring down the dusty road. "We've got our very own enemy radar here, so we'll know that they're coming long before they can capitalise on our position, no matter if they know where we are or not."

"Not to question your tactics," Kaden started, despite the fact that the start of his sentence would be contradicted heavily by the following statement, "but those guys aren't exactly playing around, and we weren't raised in guerrilla warfare situations."

Orion returned his attention to the blonde haired human. "That's exactly why we're improvising. You two don't have the necessary requirements to perform a successful strategy against these hunters."

"I disagree," Piper rebutted. Every time her voice was raised in defiance to the elder saiyan, it grew stronger, as if every word Orion spoke agitated her just a little more. "We aren't idiots. I know how to handle a weapon. There's no reason why we can't --"

"It wasn't a discussion, woman," Orion snapped. Her determination reminded him far too much of a female saiyan. "These people ambushed us and stole my profits."

"Profits?" Piper seethed. Her grip involuntarily tightened around the rifle she found inside.

"Easy," Kaden cooed. He looked to the saiyan. "Can't you speak a little more, you know, tactfully?"

"Hmpf. My point is, these people are professionals. I've lived in war my entire life. You two don't have what it takes."

"But surely there must be something you have in mind?" Kaden prodded, seemingly unafraid of stirring the resilient warrior. "We aren't going to be sitting ducks."

"Exactly," Piper chimed in. "We don't need the giant scorpions to remind us that plans are better than no plans at all."

Orion attempted to stifle his anger. It wasn't because they were wrong; on the contrary, they were quite right. Waiting for death against an elite team of gun toting mercenaries was what would happen if they had no game plan for when they finally turned up. But Orion was formulating plans of his own; ones that involved Kaden and Piper ... but they didn't need to know the details.

Two hundred thousand zeni each. With both Dimitri and Zena captured or dead, Orion had lost his quarry. They were gone, and so were his hopes of walking away from this televised freak show with enough money to make himself invisible. Yet, Sebastian's offer still sung sweet words in his mind. Kill Kaden and Piper, and make four hundred thousand zeni. That's twice as much as he would've gotten for his previous hostages, and even then, he had to split the reward with Ares. With him also missing in action, Orion was free to wallow in the prize money, all to himself.

The saiyan's muscles tensed. As natural as it was for his mind to wander down that path, he knew that it would be something he would partly regret for the rest of his life.

"I think you're a good guy, Orion."

"You're right... I don't know you. But I do trust you."

"When it comes down it, when a decision needs to be made, I trust you to do what's right."

He clenched his fist. Kaden's words connected with a part of Orion that he wished was buried. It was a sense he had since he was young, a sense that most saiyans would ridicule him for, a sense that even the most scholarly of the warrior race could never learn nor understand. It was a sense of justice, of moral truth and freedom. Although he had no problem murdering others that threatened his life, or even stood in the way of something he wanted, there was more to him.

Kaden's take on killing was foreign and, for the most part, perplexing. He seemed to show concern for those that would cause him harm, or far more likely, death. Orion's moral justice never encompassed such a strange ideal, and it never would. But, Orion did know about honour, and about comradeship. The veteran fighter's blood boiled at the idea of turning in a teammate, someone who he could trust his life to, or someone who would trust their lives to him. His career as saiyan squad leader instilled in him these virtues that were already so poignant within him.

"When it comes down it, when a decision needs to be made, I trust you to do what's right."

Could he bring himself to turn on this team, even if it meant forfeiting a fortune in zeni? Would he sacrifice the last scrap of what made him different to every other saiyan in the galaxy, of the ideals that set him free of the slavery of the Cold Dynasty? Even though those ideals caused so much death and destruction, he always thought they were worth upholding at any cost.

Now, a broken shell of a man, those traits were pushed down deep, only occasionally reminding Orion that they were indeed still there, but nowhere near strong enough to interject in his decision making. Yet, in this Kaden ...

For the first time after Piper had replied in thinly veiled hostility to Orion, he smirked.

"You're right," he conceded, unfolding his arms. "We need to have a battle plan. Although you two might not be elite saiyan warriors, you can follow direction."

Piper tried to shield her amazement. Kaden, although surprised also, almost knew Orion's tune would ultimately change.

"So, what's the plan?" Kaden asked.

Orion lifted an arm and pointed it backwards, still looking to his two teammates. "My motto has always been: the best defense is a good offense."

Without another word, Orion's palm ignited with brilliant cobalt energy. A ki orb the size of a basketball erupted from his hand, soaring into the dilapidated building across the road. It collided with a loud boom, engulfing the decaying wooden structure in blazing light. When the dust settled, all that remained was smoldering debris.

"What the hell was that?!" Piper boomed.

"I'm not waiting for these morons to hunt us down," Orion informed. "If they knew where our jeep was on that desolate road, then they just heard that explosion. They'll come to us. That's when we strike."