misterbrief | 6th Taunt

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6th Taunt | Video

[It's been a few days since Father's Day. And he got a really nice surprise from his daughter that he never thought possible. Bulla training and honing her skills and power, it really meant something to him; so he's flipping his journal open now since Luceti played a large part of it. He's not even angry this time.]

It's come to my attention that a good number of you had a hand in the gift I received over the weekend. I will say I'm impressed- the lot of you have done the impossible with my daughter Bulla and it most certainly paid off. So for that...[His voice trails off, since saying these sorts of things isn't exactly natural to him.] For that I am grateful. I know a good portion of the time we are safe inside this barrier, but you must understand that I worry for her safety regardless.

So I suppose this is the part where I ask something else not so specific. The gift I received was for your Earthling holiday Father's Day. I've never put much stock in such things, but this last weekend certainly has changed my mind about it a little. Is this something you also observe in your own worlds? And if so, what is it that you've done or would do that you would consider worthy of your father?

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[There you go reminding him. He had just managed to formulate his thoughts and was working on a game plan at that point. Cliff glanced sideways at Vegeta and took another sip.]

I ain't a coward, man. But I'm also not gonna let people die if I can help it. That question...it ain't something I can answer out of context. You deal with a few hundred good men and women on a ship, all of them close enough to almost be a second family, and you might get my point a little. When they've all got your trust and respect...

[Another sip. He didn't want to talk about this stuff to people that weren't involved.]

Well. You've gotta make the best decisions for everyone. You're not the only one who counts when everyone looks to you for answers.

[It was the closest he was going to come to admitting that he was the man who founded Quark, the notorious 'terrorist' group that aided everyone-- feddie and non-feddie alike. It was the closest he was going to come to admitting that he was still respected as being on the level of Captain with his crew, even though he officially passed the baton.

Another sip. Dammit, Vegeta...]

I'm not gonna give up on anyone so easy because anyone you can trust is someone worth protecting, but I'm also not gonna sacrifice everyone else in the crew and their families back home. It ain't an easy decision to make either, but someone's gotta...or else, no one would trust eachother anymore.

[He glances up from his own drink. So, Cliff wasn't so different from the goody-two shoes he knew from home, but at least he was sensible, that's what Vegeta at least got from that.]

I think I get your point just fine. [He downs the rest of his own drink, ordering another.] Then you would. You would destroy one person to save the many. I hope you're not one to sit on it until the last second to get the job done, at least. [If that says anything at all it's that he agrees with that decision. Something he almost had to do once.]

[Cliff glanced back, quietly nursing his own. He never considered himself to be a goody-two shoes-- just a guy who didn't like following someone else's orders. He lived up to his word as much as he was able while Quark grew in size...and then they became a notable enough threat, notable enough for some Federation officers to take issue with.]

I'd do it as soon as I knew there was no choice. I don't like giving up one bit, but there's too much at stake now. There's too many people, a few reasons that just keep getting bigger... and somedays it'd be nice to just punch the clock and be done with it.

But, that's not something you can do. There's no clock to punch. But, that ain't a such a bad thing in the long run.

[He drained his glass and ordered another, mulling over the inevitable fact that, whenever this muck with other dimensions and being 'deleted' was done, he'd end up taking the reigns back. Quark was big, and he had a hunch that it would get bigger. It was a bit much for a young woman to handle, especially when she deserves a chance to just live like a regular person.]

Edited 2013-07-13 00:32 (UTC)

[Smiling inwardly, he can see where Cliff was coming from, entrusted now with a world of his own to protect without Kakarot's help- but secretly, he wouldn't want to 'punch the clock' either. He had the blood of a warrior and the battles were too exciting.]

Of course it's not. It leaves enough of a fire to keep yourself from becoming soft in times of peace. And sentimentality will only get you killed in the end. [He'd experienced that again all too recently. Luck had kept him alive and he knew it. Lucky Kakarot hadn't died like Vegeta thought he did. Lucky his friend been there to save his ass one last time, the Prince throwing himself at an all-powerful dragon with only one arm functional and going in on determination and adrenaline alone. One last ditch effort to save everyone instead of getting off the planet.

A really stupid, sentimental decision. A decision he doesn't regret; but one he can't afford anymore.]

[Again with the sentimentality on Vegeta's end. He never did understand such a focus on it, because having an emotional base in his decisions was what kept his drive aflame. But even emotions had to be tempered by rationality, a lesson that was a long and hard one for a hot head like him to learn.]

I dunno if it's much a thing about going soft, seeing as there's no break back home. It's a matter of doing what's right by me-- and, I dunno about you? But I don't like following orders that I don't like.

I also do what I feel is right, and if that means making the hard decision then that's what I'll do. I don't take orders from anyone. And in the rare case that I do there better be a good reason behind it. You see, I'm the brains behind the operation at home.

...And the leader now, as of a few hours before I arrived here. [His expression is hard. But a small part of him missed that idiot, and he hated feeling that.]

[They were alike in a few ways on that point, although Cliff still hesitated to admit that. There was information that was inconsequential, information that was important, and information that only made life more complicated. Every affair regarding Quark fit into the third option, in Cliff's mind.

People didn't need to know, not really. He also had his own priorities.]

...I see.

[He could sympathize, on a level, although he had a hunch that Vegeta was speaking on the scale of worlds.]

Alright. [It was time to switch the conversation up.] Tell me something, what would you do in the situation you gave me?

What you're really asking me is do I have a decent combat sense. The answer is simple. If someone has to die in order to save the universe, then they will perish. And if I have to do it by my hand, then so be it. I've already almost had to do it once, and I'll have no qualms following through with it if the situation arises again.

But you realize that in turn if I have to die, then I'm fine with that too. It's not as if that hasn't already happened either. [He takes his drink and slams the rest of it down, turning away from Cliff.]

[Universal scale.

Once more, Vegeta was talking about problems on an entirely different level-- one that he was only just starting to comprehend, with what he last remembered from home. Fayt had told him that their entire universe was at stake, and he trusted Fayt. He trusted the young man enough to know that, when he said they won, that they actually won.

It was just a little ways ahead of his own memories.

He drank some more as well, distracting himself with the cool bitterness of the ale.]

...sheesh. That must be one helluva life, since you keep talking about saving the universe. I dunno about anything on that level either, and anything I do ain't gonna be that huge.

But...I can agree. If there's a choice between me and the rest of the crew, I'd make the obvious choice. Anyone with responsibility would.

I can think of at least five different planets that were annihilated over fifteen years ago that we weren't able to save in time. And I don't mean just the population was wiped out. I mean the planet became dust.

I was stuck on a planet trillions of miles away and on another plane with only minutes to figure out how to stop that pink blob from destroying any more. Be thankful you don't have to deal with that. [He sounds bitter, and with good reason. He doesn't even want to get into the shit that happened recently. Cliff might not even believe him, and part of it? He's embarrassed to even mention.]

...

Pink...blob?

[He upturns his glass and chugs, imagining a giant wad of demonic chewing gum. Were he the religious sort, he might even say it was ungodly.

The beer made more sense.]

Is that really all you just got out of that? 'Pink blob'? [He gives Cliff a pretty hard glare. He doesn't know why he bothers with anyone sometimes.]

[Cliff thunked his glass down onto the wooden bar and looked at Vegeta without any jest.]

Actually. It was the part about the pink blob destroying things. You were serious?

No, I very much enjoy joking around about the fate of the universe. Of course I was serious. The darned thing regenerated and- [As serious as Cliff is being now, he's more than positive he'd at least giggle at the candy thing. That part was embarrassing enough so he thinks he'll just leave that out for the time being-] and had a good amount of the same level of energy attacks that you saw out on the draft. Except there was no restraint with that freak. He'd blow up the planet and himself, regenerate, then move to the next.

[The level of gravity in Vegeta's tone called to mind the Executioners and their Proclaimers that were flooding his galaxy, bringing with them wave upon wave of destruction under orders of something beyond their ability to understand. The energy output of the creatures' attacks threw every sensor reading out of whack, and there was no way to stop them in their world...

A more religious man would have described it as divine wrath. Cliff just saw it as someone else that needed punching-- even if that someone else was on a different plane entirely.]

...but, it sounds like you stopped him.

[Genuinely curious about the 'how'. Being reminded of planetary deletion was a helluva thing.]

...We did. Barely, but we did. [He gets another drink, and he has to down that too. Even through that hard expression the creases of a battle-worn life show as he thinks about it again, something that really hasn't crossed his mind in years. Vegeta sits in silence, but breaks it with a crack of his neck.]

We were rewarded for our efforts with a fifteen-year long peace. I'd say it was well deserved considering the track record we were keeping before. If you're lucky you'll see the same after you take care of those irritating problems you've got back at home.

[Cliff ordered another himself, but took his at a slower pace. He was far from his limit, but he preferred to stay that way.]

Fifteen years, huh? Yeah, that is a fine reward. [It was something that Cliff could only hope for, when the madness was resolved and his memories finally synced with Fayt's. He knew that there was a peaceful end but...

He chuckled softly.]

Heh. I hope you're right about it being the same for me. These problems are pretty petty when compared to your's, but I'm not one to just watch something I don't like go down. So long as the Federation keeps up this..agh, this Imperialist thing, it's gonna last a while.

[Provided that there was still a Federation when all was said and done. These talks with Vegeta got Cliff wondering about whether his situation really was more similar to the Saiyan's than he realized.]

As I've already told you in the past, it's going to last a while until something or someone dismantles it. And since you've given me the idea that it's not possible yet, you're just going to have to deal with it and bide your time until the perfect opportunity arises.

We didn't see the liberation of our universe for over two centuries. So don't be surprised if you don't live to see the end of it. [Vegeta doesn't know how dangerous the Federation was, but it sounded a lot like the Planet Trade Organization, except in how it was run.]

[Two centuries. If he remembered his history classes right, two hundred years tended to be close to the breaking point for any static civilization whether it was a republic or an empire. Klausians, like himself, have only been active on the intergalactic level for around a hundred or so, and the Federation has been putting pressure on the government to join since the outset. It wasn't terrible-- yet. Recent events threw their actions and war into stark perspective, but he had no idea how the resolution would look.

It might be a road to peace, lit by the dreams of people like himself and paved with the determination of the generations to come. It might be such a fragmented mess that anarchy reigned.

He couldn't even hazard a guess about the outcome.]

Given how history goes, I'd be surprised if I did see some progress. But, that's no reason not to try. I don't want them [Fayt and Maria] to clean up any of my messes. It'll be hard-- being popular has some big drawbacks.

[He downs another drink and shrugs.] The only progress we saw was quickly disposed of when it was discovered. [There was a certain underlying tone of bitterness in that sentence.] Our victory came out of the blue. Perhaps the same will become of your own universe. Just don't leave yourself as a mess on the ground to be cleaned up and I'm sure it will be just fine.

I've found that being 'popular' has more merits than drawbacks. But, it entirely depends on what sort of popular you're getting at. I won't say I suffered much being as well-known as I was. In fact it was quite satisfying. There's a certain amount of pleasure in watching ants quiver in your presence. Heh, but those were the old days.

Aah-- The 'popular' I'm talking is less the 'shake in your boots' kind and more the 'hey, why hasn't this guy shut up' kind. [He sipped from his glass, mulling things over.]

It just kinda happened by a process of elimination too. They were annoyed enough and Quark was convenient enough.

[He lifted his shoulders in a shrug and took another sip. Their worlds really were pretty different.]

Sounds like you didn't destroy enough of the enemy for them to realize exactly who they were dealing with. [He's drinking more, which is probably really bad for him at this point. He might be telling Cliff things that might not paint such a good portrait of the Saiyan Prince. And there was a lot of negatives to the guy. But then, Cliff did see Vegeta's ruthlessness during the draft. He thinks about that, before continuing on.]

Kill enough of them off and they'll learn not to cross paths with you. But that's not your style, now is it? You'd rather leave them alive! Well. Heh. [He downs yet another drink.] Why exactly is that anyway? Do you think they'll change?

[Cliff had indeed seen the depths of Vegeta's ruthlessness, and wasn't terribly surprised by the turn in the conversation. Prior ones on this topic had danced around the same themes, but he had never seen Vegeta speak so passionately about it.]

It's politics. [He drank more, feeling the familiar lucidity that a few beers gives a man.] You don't just go around killing people-- that'll be a good way to get yourself on the galaxy's top ten most wanted list.

Perhaps you should just blow up their entire base of operations. Let's see them rebuild from that. Make sure all their leaders are inside when you do it, then take control of the situation from there. It'll make for a good fireworks show, wouldn't you say? [He downs another drink. He'd lost count of how many he's had already, but it takes a lot to get a Saiyan drunk. He's getting there, though.]

Then who's list are you going to be on after that anyhow? Maybe the galaxy's top ten most feared. It's a much better list to be on.

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