Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z.

Dozens of spheres rocketed through the depths of space, trailing a blaze of white light behind them. Within, lights turned on, awakening their passengers and alerting them that they were nearing their destination; a marble-blue planet with a great swath of ice covering its northern hemisphere.

The pods plummeted through the world's atmosphere, losing no speed. Instead, it was quite the opposite. They accelerated, smashing into the planet's crust with ferocious force, kicking up an explosion of dust and debris with their impacts.

From his place atop his royal palace, Kuriza watched three drop down into the city below. He narrowed his eyes, the device attached to the bulbous ear on the side of his head beeping as it detected ki readings emanating from them and displaying them on its screen, sitting over his left eye.

10,000… 5000… 8000… Small powers. Are they trying to insult me?

Tapping a three-toed foot on the palace, he rose into the air. His tail lashed but once before he vanished from view, the world dissolving into a blur of colors before returning to normal. A squid-faced creature decked out in RIT battle-armor—long, golden shoulder guards with a white torso covering—was already emerging from its pod. Kuriza raised a finger and took aim as energy built up at the tip.

Squid-face died with a hole in his head, oozing blue blood.

"Didn't even know what hit him," Kuriza smirked before a beep from his scouter warned him of an attack. He turned casually, not in the least bit concerned despite the fact that one of the two remaining powers—the one registering 10,000 Units—had just doubled in strength. He had no reason to worry.

I am my father's son, he thought idly as a shadow fell over him. Looking up, he saw a towering red dragon dressed in the same battle armor as Squid-face charging toward him, scales shining in the light of the sun. Kuriza merely repeated the same action as before, and within short order the dragon fell, gasping and choking on blood. Behind him was another Squid-face, frozen in fear at the speed of which Kuriza had dealt with his comrades. His expression cold, Kuriza took aim once more.

"There were three things my father refused to tolerate when he was alive," he told the second Squid-face. "Cowardice, bad haircuts, and military insurrection." His dark-brown eyes narrowed. "You don't even have hair."

A flash of light and a scream later, and Kuriza was alone once more. Lowering his arm, he gave the corpse a disgusted look.

"The least you could have done was try to entertain me…"

He dealt with the remaining invaders the same way, one by one. None had a chance.

Fools, he thought upon returning to his palace. My power level is in the millions. None of them come even close to approaching a tenth of what I am. In this war, few can match me.

He wanted to feel good about that; to be confident in his strength. Deep down however, he knew better. Looking up toward the blue sky, shrouding the deep blackness of space, he ground his teeth together, knowing what was coming. This was only the first, a warning of what was to come. The one who sent this attack wanted him to know.

He felt the scar that ran down the side of his face twinge in pain. His opponent believed in playing games such as this.

He's coming…

###

Cold War: SaiyaGene-13

A Dragon Ball Z story by Crazyeight

Chapter: 1

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The orb-shaped robot hovered up to Sprou and tapped him lightly on the head. The black-haired youth, human-like in appearance, grunted and turned over in his bunk, burying himself deeper in his blanket, emblazoned with the symbol of a blue spike on a field of star-filled space. The orb-bots electronic eyes changed from green to red as if in annoyance, but before it could do anything else, a tall shadow approached from the side.

"Not responding is he?" asked the figure in a feminine voice in amusement. "You must be newly assigned. Here. Let me show you how it's…done!"

On the last word, the figure's hand whipped out and dove under the blanket. Sprou's eyes flew open as every part of his body seized up.

"Got your tail…" teased the figure. Sprou's eyes widened in horror in recognition. He had only a second to digest this before he was abruptly ripped out of his bed and thrown against his locker with ferocious—though gentle for her—force. He slammed into the locker brutally and fell to the floor with a cry of pain. One that was quickly silenced as soon as his assailant's foot struck the floor mere inches away from his face. Mustering his courage, he followed the foot up to its leg and finally found its owner. A tall woman with striking features, black hair tied back into a ponytail and dark eyes, and a small but noticeable X-shaped scar running along her cheek. She wore an RIT battle vest with a white torso. A number barely hidden by her shoulder guard, thirteen, marked her arm, twin to the one he had as well.

"Sqash…" he groaned with despair. Smirking, she folded her arms beneath her breasts.

"In the flesh," she said, whipping a brown-furred tail around her waist. "Are you going to sleep all day Sprou? You know you have training today. Do I have to drag you to the training room again?"

"No!" His own said appendage reacted at the memory from the last time that happened and quickly belted itself around his waist. He scrambled to his feet to discourage the notion. "I'm up, I'm up. I'm…" He glanced down at himself and flushed deeply. "…not presentable."

"Dress quickly then," Sqash ordered, still amused.

###

Fortunately for Sprou he didn't need to be dragged.

"Your opponent will be a single Saibaman," spoke the hover-orb as it followed him and Sqash through the corridor.

"Great," Sprou muttered, fingering the hem of his battle-armor—a more basic design than Sqash's, lacking her shoulder guards. "This is going to be fun."

"It should be," Sqash said. Reaching up to the scouter attached to her head, she pressed a button. "Your power level can finally match just one of them. You should be able to have an even fight. Maybe this time you won't be half dead and I won't need to intervene to keep it from killing you."

"I'm still not looking forward to it."

Sqash snorted derisively. "You have no spirit. It's no wonder you're so weak. You'll never be able to serve our great lord and creator if you cannot be strong. If you're not careful, you'll end up just like the elevens."

Sprou wanted to shudder at the reminder but managed to repress it. On this ship…in this universe, only the strong survived. The elevens—their predecessors—failed to be strong, so they were cast aside.

He didn't want to be like them.

They came to a halt in front of the main entrance to the training room and Sqash stepped to the side. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward, the doors opening with a sigh, and closing behind him.

"Do you think he'll die this time?" asked a man approaching. "Or will you bail him out again?"

Sqash scowled at him before looking back at the door. His hair was large and mane-like, much like his beard. Like Sqash, he wore battle-armor with shoulder guards, though with a black torso instead of white.

Like Sqash, he bore a brown-furred tail and his arm was marked with the number thirteen.

"If he dies here, Pota, then that'll be the end for him. Our lord and creator won't allow him to live if he cannot conquer the Saibaman this time. He will be cast aside like all the rest."

Pota chortled. "I'm going to love watching this."

Closing her eyes, Sqash gave a light laugh. "Me too."

###

Sprou's heartbeat was already erratic when he stopped in the center of the room. He was filled with dread, but also hope.

I'm strong enough, he told himself. Sqash said so when she scanned me. All I have to do is defeat it, and life goes on.

He raised his fists, his nails biting into his palms as he scanned the room. It was dome-shaped, with two doors standing opposite to each other. The one in front of him would be where the Saibaman would come from. He took a shaky breath. In spite of Sqash's scan, he couldn't help but be filled with dread all the same. To date he had yet to defeat a Saibaman in combat. Always…always they would beat him down and Sqash would jump in to save him from getting killed. Saibamen were notoriously savage by nature and did not hesitate to do their utmost to destroy their opponent. Even in training, for only the strongest survived.

By rights, he should have been dead and cast aside a long time ago.

The door before him slid open with a whisper and from it emerged the dreaded Saibaman. Its cruel eyes took only a second to look the room over before focusing on him, grinning maliciously. The creature wasn't particularly intelligent in spite of its large, bulbous skull, throbbing with veins. They were bred to be killers through and through, single-minded in their purpose.

Today, he was this one's purpose. Kill or be killed.

With an animal-like growl, the Saibaman rushed Sprou. He blinked and in the next second the creature was right there in front of him, throwing a punch. Sprou barely caught it in time, countering with a punch of his own. The Saibaman took the hit and fell to the side, rolling back up to its feet. Blood trickled down from its mouth, but it didn't take any notice. All its attention was on Sprou and nothing else. Again it charged, this time its head splitting open and firing a stream steaming liquid that Sprou knew was composed of a highly corrosive acid. He quickly leapt into the air and fired a flurry of energy blasts at the Saibaman. The blasts struck their target and exploded, causing it to screech and howl in pain. Not wanting to lose the advantage, Sprou continued to fire, aiming at its knees, forcing it to collapse to the floor.

It then looked up at him and grinned.

Wha…? Sprou thought a split second before one his attacks passed through the Saibaman, exploding harmlessly behind it. Shit! An after-image! It…

Green arms and legs wrapped themselves around him from behind and locked themselves together. Sprou cursed himself, his realization having come too late. Light glowed around the creature as it prepared its most powerful technique; a suicide move that turned its own body into a bomb, taking itself and its target down.

No! Adrenaline surging through him, Sprou's muscles swelled, ki surging through him like a storm and he tore himself free, causing Saibaman blood to splash against the wall. Sprou dove forward as the cultivated life form glowed for a brief second before detonating. The force of the blast slammed into Sprou's back, sending him crashing to the ground, the back of his armor and hair afire. He rolled along the ground, quickly extinguishing it. Struggling to his feet—Kami, his muscles burned from that last move!—he looked around, taking in the remains of his opponent, scattered as they were and smoldering. The Saibaman was dead, albeit not by his hand, but in the end he stood.

Did that mean he won?

A voice came over the intercom. It was Sqash.

"Training session is over, Sprou. Report to the med-bay immediately."

Holding one arm, Sprou found himself laughing lightly. That was about as close he was going to get to an answer from his superior. Uncoiling his tail and letting it relax, he shuffled his way over to the exit. He wondered if his training sessions would get easier from here on out.

I sure hope so, he thought exiting the room.

"And so emerges the triumphant warrior," rumbled Pota's voice upon emerging. Turning, he glowered at the beast of a man. Pota laughed, a low beastial rumble that caused him to seethe all the more. He pulled one hand into a tight fist and his tail rose up aggressively. The taste of battle still ran through his veins, setting his anger afire. Pota saw. What was more, he desired to stoke it.

"Don't look like that. You get to live a little bit longer. At least until Kuriza gets his hands on you. You should be glad. It's not every day that a runt such as yourself gets to bloody his hands." Folding his arms together, he sneered at the youth. "Ah, but you're so weak that you'd probably end up dying from just the landing in an Attack Ball…"

"Enough!" Sqash smashed a fist into the wall, causing a mess of cracks to spread across its surface like a spider web. "Sprou. Med bay." She stabbed a hand in its direction. "Now."

Something about Sqash's aura caused Sprou's rising anger to ebb and die quickly. His tail drooping again, he quickly made off, leaving the two behind.

Pota glowered at Sqash. "You know, if you keep babying him like this, he'll never get stronger." He thought back to how she looked when she saw the Saibaman pull its suicide attack on the youngling, how she shook with rage in her attempt to restrain herself from bursting into the training room to save him. "You're the reason why he's stayed so weak for so long. I almost can't believe that you're in our unit. You're not Saiyan enough."

Sqash glared at him for a moment before her face took on a savage, predatory grin. "I think it's time for you to remember which of us is stronger," she said indicating the training room with a nod of her head. "Step inside and I'll show you who's Saiyan enough…"

Pota cracked his knuckles. His power level had gone up since they last fought. Oh, he'd still lose, but she'd get a surprise or two out of him. "Don't mind if I do," he smiled.

###

A/N: I've never written a Dragon Ball Z fanfic before and in my long years on this site never expected to. But I've had this idea in my head for a while now and since it wouldn't leave me alone I decided to start something and see where it goes. I have no idea whether or how long I'll go with this story, or if any of the main canon characters will make an appearance (due to the timeline that I have, it's unlikely). Due to my inexperience with the franchise, any and all help regarding grammar, style, plot progression, etc…will be much appreciated.

To my followers, I haven't quit 'A Story for Suzie', and to expect an update soon. :P

Until next time.

-Crazyeight

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