[Namek] Defense of the Ancients

[Kaden]

“Well, I have to hand it to you,” Kaden shook his head as he and Sophia stepped from their ship. “When you do something, you do it all the way.”

“Well you know me.”

The hustle and bustle of the Namekian starport was appropriate given the gravity of the situation. As Kaden cast his gaze around the shifting crowds, he wondered why the invasion had no hit him harder. Both he and Sophia had signed up on Earth and had shortly been shipped off and in all the time spent between then and setting foot on Namek, Kaden had not really questioned his participation in fighting off an invasion.

It struck him as odd, given the frustration that lesser events had given him. There were some serious doubts that still floated through the recesses of his mind from Friend or Foe and being captured by Gamer, but none of that seemed to be factoring into his enrolling in a resistance. As he cast a glance to the girl at his side, he couldn’t help but think she were the reason. She always seemed to make their situation seem bright

With that thought in mind, Kaden couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt for selfishly saying they should travel to Namek. He still had business on the planet and though he was willing to take both of them to another planet in pursuit of that, he hadn’t actually said anything to Sophia about it. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the girl, he was simply too unsure of it to start talking to other people about it.

“Any idea what we’re supposed to do now?” Kaden asked his partner as his mind continued its endless internal monologue.

“I guess we… report for duty? That’s a thing, right?” Sophia scanned the spaceport, looking for something to magically tell them where they needed to be. Fortunately, she found it. “How about we start over there?”

“You mean the big sign that says ‘recruits this way’? Genius.”

“Well… wait. Maybe we go that way?”

Frowning, Sophia pointed to another sign that instructed any recruits with combat experience to go in another direction. A third and fourth sign took “warriors” and “troops” in more directions. As the duo strolled towards the exit of the spaceport, they encountered more and more signs, all of which seemed to say something different. Finally Sophia spotted a large “information” sign. Tugged on Kaden, she directed him towards a desk with a dozen uniformed attendants answering questions and handing out pamphlets.

“We don’t need information,” the courier countered. “Let’s just go be warriors. That sounds way better than being a ‘troop.’”

“Don’t want to stop and ask for directions? Really?” The ex-priestess shook her head and clicked her tongue. “I wasn’t expecting you to be so cliché.”

Mouth agape, Kaden searched for an appropriate response. When none came, he simply shut his mouth, shot the girl a mock glare, and made his way to the information desk. There was a bit of a line, but it moved quickly with most of the attendants simply pointing someone towards one of the various signs throughout the area. When Kaden and Sophia’s turn arrived, they found themselves being attended to by a diminutive, yet powerfully built human man.

“What do you need?” he started.

“Information, actually,” the courier tried to be amiable, but it didn’t play.

“Great. A smartass. What information do you need?”

“Well… we’re not really sure where we’re supposed to go,” Kaden clarified, indicating himself and Sophia as he spoke.

“Are you stupid? There are signs everywhere. Next!”

“Ah… I…” Kaden tried to collect his thoughts as the person behind him tried to step forward from the line. The courier continued speaking before he could be pushed aside. “The signs. Right. That’s kind of the problem.”

“Reading’s your problem? Can’t help you there, son. And I thought I said next.”

“No!” Slamming his hand on the information desk, Kaden fought the urge to raise his voice. The sound of Sophia’s stifled laughter behind him didn’t help. “Look. We need… there are a lot of signs and none of them are particularly helpful. We don’t know if we’re ‘warriors’ or ‘recruits’ or ‘troops’ or… whatever else you may have signs for.”

“The hell didn’t you just say so?” Shaking his head, the small man pulled a scouter from under the desk and fastened it to his head. He quickly inspected Sophia, then Kaden. The courier had to stop himself from grinning too broadly when the little man rechecked his powerlevel twice. “Well… it looks like you two are warriors. Follow the signs.”

“Thank you,” Kaden nodded and proceeded to walk away as quickly as possible. “There,” he turned to Sophia once they were out of earshot from the information desk. “I asked for directions. Happy?” Instead of responding, the girl simply stifled another laugh at his expense.

As the two of them followed the indicated direction, Kaden couldn’t help but read aloud a pamphlet he had grabbed from the information desk. The Namekians, it seemed, were a long-lived species that were generally peaceful. They naturally stayed in small villages, working the land and living with nature. The pamphlet called those who were able to help defend these peaceful aliens, some whom had been alive longer than humans could even imagine.

“Welcome to the militia.”