“You want to join us?” Dan raised an eyebrow at the Viltrumite woman and tossed Goku’s limp body into Ultron’s arms. “You’re certainly worth recruiting, but you’re also a risk.”
The reports on Anissa’s strength would place her very close to the top in Krypton’s forces, far above the teen Kryptonians. If he was to let someone as powerful as her join, Dan would need to be certain of her loyalty.
“I can promise, as long as you give Viltumites another option to the Coalition prison, I will always serve Krypton in my heart,” Anissa met Dan’s gaze with fiery eyes. “My people might not be as powerful as yours, but we are long lived and strong… we are worth saving!”
“I can only promise that Viltrumites who are willing to abide by the laws of the Empire will be free to join,” Dan extended a hand to Anissa and smiled. “But unless you and your people are willing to let a symbiote read your minds to confirm your loyalty, you’ll be confined to your home universe.”
“Symbiote…” Anissa hesitated, uncertainty in her gaze. “What symbiote?”
“They can read your memories, your deepest secrets,” Dan let Venom rise from his shoulder, a toothed maw that squinted at the Viltrumite with disdain. “They know you better than you know yourself the instant they merge with you, but they come with tremendous benefits.”
“They’ll know everything?” Anissa recoiled, face rigid as she kept her distance from Venom. She wrapped her arms around herself and gave an empty stare into the void. “I’ve lived a long life… I don’t know…”
“I am already aware of the history of your people,” Dan cut her off with a wave of his hand and shook his head. “The memories of the agent sent to Earth are already in my mind… bloodshed in your past is expected, it can be forgiven and atoned for.”
“But…” Anissa shivered. “I’m still not sure that sharing my thoughts is something I’m willing to do.”
“Think on it,” Dan waved for both Anissa and Ultron to follow. “Goku will be out for a day, even after we chuck him into a pod… you’ll stick close to either May, Etrigan, or myself, until he’s ready to escort you home.”
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“What is this place…” Anissa gawked around at the vast, semi-organic structures that covered the land. Mighty trees, surrounded by water. Each limb held a five year old child, eyes open and aware.
“These are the genesis fields, a combination of technologies that lets us produce a nearly limitless number of Kryptonians,” Dan smiled as a legion of drones entered the forest, tentacles extended to pluck the waiting children from the vine. “The size of the field is regulated by the planet itself, and can grow or shrink as needed.”
“So many…” Anissa shook her head. “My people struggle to grow our population, yet yours can be harvested in such numbers.”
“Ten-million in this batch, with a billion more in ten years time,” May smiled, pride in her voice as she led the way to the centre of the gathering point. Servitors washed newborns on the fly, before they were dressed and deposited into the huge circular colosseum. “After that, we’ll probably let natural reproduction take hold.”
“A billion… at ten-million you could walk all over Viltrum,” Anissa sighed as she took in the growing crowd. The ten-thousand teen Kryptonians filtered in to take their seats, closest to the front. “These thousands might even be enough…”
“Viltrum will fall, long before these younger ones can take up the fight,” Dan shook his head and motioned for the woman to take a seat beside them. “If Goku and the alliance can’t get it finished quickly, May and I will act… now stay seated, we’re about to begin.”
Dan stepped toward a projector, designed to project his hologram for all to see. He’d made a speech like this once before, to the first generation. Now he would make it for the second time, surrounded by a thousand as many Kryptonians.
“Greetings All! I am Dan-EL, Emperor of Krypton…”
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“This way, this way!” Kara waved the younger Kryptonians toward the transports, ready to move them to the capital city. The Emperor’s speech had raised the spirits of these five year old prodigies and they were almost out of control. “Tomorrow we’ll begin our first day of training, but tonight I’ll help you all find your quarters… Cal, make sure your group keeps up!”
Cal sighed and led his thousand trainees forward behind Kara’s. She dreamed of forging their units into the most skilled in the Empire, but he would settle for passing on his knowledge as best he could. It was the greatest way to honour Krypton, in his opinion.
“I’m up to join you in shooting for the stars, but we can’t neglect non-combat related subjects,” Cal caught up to Kara and put a hand on her shoulder. “They can’t be elite if they’re a bunch of uncultured barbarians…”
“Are you calling me a barbarian…” Kara turned red-tinged eyes his way and Cal raised his hands to ward away her words
“No! I’m saying that we need to stick to the plan we discussed and divide the courses up between the ten in our group,” Cal dodged Kara’s swat and smiled at his friend. “You and a few others will focus on combat training our groups, while I do magic and philosophy with a few other trainers to balance everything out.”
“I know, I know,” Kara rolled her eyes and darted forward to slug Cal on the shoulder. “A balanced approach, I get it already!”
Cal let loose another sigh and followed along. Now that the next generation was born, they would have to balance their training with active services in the galaxy. It would be less than a month before Krypton moved against the Hutts, but they had yet to receive their marching orders.
“I hope you do…” Cal darted to the side and guided a stray newborn back into their line. “We’re tasked to create more than warriors, you know?”