Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters

Hello again! I wanted to get started on this story right away, so I spent the last week going over the Blackmail chapters to get the history straight and proofread :D Hopefully, there won't be any mistakes left, but some always escape me.

I know that not everyone was happy with the ending, but the purpose of that final scene was to open up the mystery that will be investigated in both this story and the prequel, so please bear with me and enjoy this first chapter.

Something had not been right. When he asked his mother about it, he felt her discomfort before she told him, "Go and ask your father. It is his story to tell." That had been Trunks's first clue that something was wrong.

All he wanted to know was what Planet Vegeta and Planet Earth were like in the past. At first, Trunks had asked about Earth, considering he heard some of his classmates talking about the division between Vegeta and Earth. His mother had been reluctant to explain to him that the reason ties were cut were due to his grandfather's, his namesake's, actions. Trunks hadn't liked that, and he was starting to wonder why he'd be named after an enemy. That was when his mother told him about what would have happened and of his future counterpart that returned to the timeline to help. After that, Trunks held his name proudly, knowing that his counterpart had made a difference.

Bulma had even told him about her past, her imaginary friend and therapy, though not the name or ever in much detail, and even her about her grandfathers. She told him about the underground fighting, school, how she met his father. Trunks loved to hear the stories. It made him happy that his mother trusted him deeply enough to tell him these things. He trusted both his parents immensely, too.

That's why, when he asked about Planet Vegeta's history, his mother shutting down on him startled him. It wasn't that she was scared to tell him, but she wanted him to ask his dad. The way she said it, though, meant he probably wouldn't like everything he heard, but he needed to learn.

He needed to know. He wanted to know.

He found Vegeta in a gravity room, his mother's latest design, performing his kata smoothly while in his Super Saiyan form. Trunks was always awed by his father's other form and, to his knowledge, he was the only one who ever got to see it on a normal basis. His father traced everyone's ki, so he knew Trunks was there, yet he didn't feel the need to alter his form. Trunks patiently waited until his father finished his moves and returned to base form before he entered the training room.

Vegeta moved to guzzle down a bottle of water, panting from the overexertion. He was sort of thankful his son entered the room so that he had the excuse to interrupt himself. Had Trunks not shown up when he did, Vegeta would most likely be on the ground unconscious. He didn't like stopping himself when he was in the middle of his self-imposed session. Some old habits were hard to break.

"Is there something you need?" he asked getting right to the point.

Trunks smiled and nodded. "Mom was telling me about Earth and the other me, and I asked her about Planet Vegeta's history." He frowned when he noticed his father stiffen. "She told me to ask you because it's your story to tell."

Vegeta smirked slightly at that. He knew that Bulma took their trust serious. He was aware that she told Trunks a lot about their relationship and did not mind it. Truth be told, Vegeta knew Trunks would keep both of their secrets for life. He took honesty, trust, and honor very seriously, just like both his parents. The fact that Bulma had wanted Trunks to hear about his past from him showed that she not only wanted to protect what he didn't wish to divulge to their son, but that she accepted his past and felt that the only way to keep trust between the princes was for Vegeta to honor his bond with Trunks.

"It is a difficult topic for me to discuss," he admitted to his son meeting curious and concerned blue eyes. Just like his mother… "You may have a hard time accepting any of it. Our people lived in stark contrast to how we live now. War was a constant, and there were no alliances back then. I have no problem telling you, but the only other people to know of it in such detail were those who were there and your mother. If you struggle with any of it, tell me or your mother, and we can discuss it further, understand?"

Trunks gave a curt nod, his expression growing serious. He was prepared to learn about his people, no matter what was done in the past. Vegeta could feel the boy's determination and interest and smirked. "Well, it all started a long time ago when my great-grandfather came to power…"

The nomadic tribe of the Saiyans had been searching for their new home for months, after their planet had been destroyed by an unexplainable force. Chief Vegeta I had led his troops to victory against the last race they had encountered. The leader led full purges of the planets; however, the planets were never suitable enough for the Saiyans' appetite or power, causing them to abandon the worlds.

When they came upon a black and red planet resembling the color of blood, they decided to investigate. The planet was unlike anything they had ever seen. The gravity was intense, but comfortable to the warrior race, and the terrain looked strong enough to handle their attacks. They decided to look around and came across large cities with another humanoid race, the Tuffles. The Tuffles of Planet Plant were very welcoming preparing a large feast for their alien visitors. When Chief Vegeta told them of their home world's destruction, omitting the fact that they had purged other planets, the Tuffle king offered permanent residency for the Saiyan race. Vegeta humbly accepted, and the two races lived in harmony.

It wasn't until Chief Vegeta I's nameless mate had given birth to a son, Vegeta the Second. The boy, like his father, was ruthless. Surprisingly, though, Chief Vegeta had become comfortable with the life on Planet Plant and the friendship with the Tuffle king. Where the Saiyans were still warriors, they only had each other to fight. Vegeta the Second was unhappy with sitting at the sidelines. He wanted war and went to his father demanding the king take over the planet the same as their ancestors.

Chief Vegeta had explained to his son the benefits of forming an alliance with the Tuffles. They would have never found their home had they continued with their behavior. The Saiyan chief had accepted that the Saiyans would no longer purge. There wasn't any need despite the desire to fight. He had hoped his son would learn as he had, and to appease the rest of the race, Chief Vegeta had a stadium built so that grand tournaments could be held. On the day the Tuffles accepted the Saiyans, both races would participate and watch the tournament.

The Tuffles, at the time, hadn't minded the Saiyans' strength. In fact, they admired them. They were technologically advanced, but they knew if a strong enemy attacked that backup would be needed. It was around the time where Chief Vegeta's reign was coming to an end and the Tuffle prince went to Vegeta the Second hoping to continue their kings' friendship.

Vegeta the Second took it as an opportunity to lead the prince into a false sense of security. He promised the Saiyans' protection and even told his father the alliance would be kept intact. Meanwhile, he was training Saiyans in secret, underground, for war against the Tuffles. He wanted Planet Plant all to himself. He would give the Saiyans their glory.

The death of the chief was the worst thing that could have happened to the Saiyan and Tuffle races. The day he died, Chief Vegeta II led an assault against the Tuffle king. The ruler had been completely horrified at Vegeta's treachery, unraveled and heartbroken as the other leader took his life. The Tuffle prince begged for answers and mercy, but Chief Vegeta II ignored his pleas, decapitating the man and then going for the people.

Vegeta could feel Trunks's dismay to hear that his own great-grandfather had betrayed his friend in such a manner. His arms crossed as he waited for the boy's distress to pass, however it didn't leave him. "We can stop if you'd like. It is a very hard history to stomach, and it isn't the worst of it."

"It's not that," Trunks assured his father. "Just, why would anyone want to break an alliance? What reason did he have? Was he truly against his father's wishes, or was he afraid the Tuffles would betray him?"

"The Tuffles would not have betrayed us," Vegeta responded. "As I said, they were weak and only had their technology. Even if their technology held the Saiyans back for a while, ultimately our strength overcame. The Saiyans beat down the Tuffle rebellion once the full moon appeared. A full moon is very rare on Planet Vegeta, and at that time we transform into giant apes, the Oozaru. Our power in that state is only rivaled by, as loathe as I am to admit it, the Arcosians and the Super Saiyan."

"Is that why when the full moon was out last month, mom made me stay inside?"

Vegeta nodded. "It had been one-hundred years since that day," he explained. "That is why your grandfather mandated that all the Saiyans remain inside with the threat of incarceration. Saiyans do not do well in enclosed spaces."

The prince could tell his son wanted to ask something else, the burning curiosity consuming his consciousness. "Yes?"

"It's just that…mom mentioned…who exactly are the Arcosians?"

At the question, Vegeta's expression darkened and anger consumed him. For a moment Trunks was nervous that he had been the cause of his father's anger. Vegeta placed a hand on his shoulder assuring the boy that it was not his fault. "Your mother told you of King Cold?" Trunks nodded. "He was the King of the Arcosians. His son, Frieza…well…"

The Saiyans had returned to their mercenary life after the complete annihilation of the Tuffles. All of the Saiyans had been against the alliance with the Tuffles, happy to resume their pirating ways. The Saiyan children were trained from early ages to take life and hunt. Some were even hypnotized and sent to other planets to purge. The Saiyans would then sell the property to the highest bidder.

King Vegeta I, formerly known as Chief Vegeta II, eventually renamed Planet Plant Planet Vegeta after himself, and had a son who he also named Vegeta. Vegeta the Third inherited all of this, honoring his father's pride. Pride was always a big deal to the Saiyans, but now it was all the race cared about.

The purging lifestyle was very profitable for the warrior race, so they continued to develop their own technology to facilitate this. They were well-known throughout the universe for their brutality. Even planets who hadn't even known of other alien life caught wind, including a man on Earth who had been warned away from space travel by a race called the Nameks, a man who would one day father a Saiyan princess and destroy an alliance. It even caught the attention of Frieza, the scourge of space. He sought the Saiyans out, requesting an audience with King Vegeta II, the current Saiyan king, and offered up his resources, technology, and money. The Saiyans just wanted to prove themselves the strongest. King Vegeta accepted this deal, finding no downside.

He never realized what it would entail…

"King Vegeta," Nappa, the Saiyan general, called, his expression serious. "Frieza will be here within the week."

The king felt a rage he couldn't explain arise in him at the name of the Arcosian he had made a deal with a decade before. Since that day, their race had suffered greatly. In the beginning, the new technology and armor had made fighting and expanding their kingdom much easier. However, any planets acquired through purging teams or Saiyan children were immediately turned over to Frieza's empire, and the Arcosian's disrespect to their race was ever increasing.

"Why? All our teams are ahead of schedule accepting missions his men are too cowardly to take," the king scoffed. "There should be no reason for him to be here."

Nappa hesitated in his answer. Through the decade, the Saiyans' hatred for Frieza was growing. He would come unannounced, entering the palace like he owned it, even insulting them as far to call them uncivilized monkeys and demand to sit in their great king's throne. No one had expected the deal to turn into this farce of a treaty. The only reason the Saiyans allowed this to happen was because they knew Frieza's strength was immense, and his reputation for destroying planets was a well-known rumor. The people did not wish to risk it as long as Frieza didn't overstep his boundaries further.

"He wants to enlist Saiyans to join his army and leave on his ship," Nappa explained. "The people have been alerted, and some are willing to go. Turna, my mate, has agreed to be one enlisted."

The king thought on this and didn't like the idea of some other leader managing his troops, but Nappa was the general training them. Vegeta was surprised that Turna would be willing to go with the Arcosian, though it wasn't unexpected. Female warriors were just as strong as the men, and they could make their own separate decisions. The only connections mates had were bonds and children, but the mothers were almost never involved with the children other than giving birth, and they hardly interacted with their mates. The queen was an exception, as well as the general's mate. Turna had actually been a good friend of King Vegeta's mate, Kalina, through Nappa who had been the queen's childhood friend.

"What of Celen? Have you told him?"

Nappa looked grim. "I did not. My son is stupid enough to get himself killed. He has his mother's sharp tongue, yet my self-control when it comes to that bastard. I was hoping you would be willing to give him another duty until his teenage years are over."

King Vegeta nodded. He had no son of his own, yet, but he was certain he would be protective of the boy after he was born. Nappa had always been a decent general and wonderful advisor, and the fact that his queen had grown up with him gave him more weight with the king. "If that is what you want, I will offer him a job here in the palace. Various aliens have been wandering into our territory. I need someone to police the ship bay. Last violator killed a third-class. We need someone to do away with the filth."

"Thanks I guess," Nappa remarked knowing his son probably wouldn't like the job, but as long as he was away from Frieza, he didn't care. "He'll be here tomorrow to report."

The king nodded and shooed Nappa away. That was when his mate entered. Vegeta looked at her, appearing bored but feeling immense anger at the Arcosian tyrant. "Kalina," he greeted. "What are you doing out of bed? Did the doctor tell you what was wrong?"

Kalina nodded, holding her chest as another wave of nausea hit. "Basically," she said tauntingly, "it's your fault."

The king looked appalled by her statement. "My fault? How is you getting sick, which by the way Saiyans never get, my fault?" he snapped.

His mate only laughed, a sound he rarely got to hear. "Because your son is having a party in there," she joked, and Vegeta could feel her euphoria through the bond.

Kalina expected her mate to be thrilled that he would finally have his heir, assuming it was a boy, but instead she felt anger, disgust, and fear. "Vegeta?"

"You are to tell no one," the king ordered. "Not even Nappa or Turna. Tell your doctor to keep quiet. Frieza will be here within the week. I do not wish him to know of your condition. He may make an attempt on your life."

"Do you honestly believe he would do that?" the queen asked, terror flooding her. The king nodded, and her expression deflated, her battle readiness taking over. "Then I will keep it quiet. No one will know we are to have a child."

The king needed time to get his emotions together, so he sent his mate away. His mind couldn't fathom the fact that he was actually having a child. It was something he always needed, somewhat wanted. His son would be an extension of him and a great leader, for he would make sure to teach him the Saiyan mantra and ways. He would be as ruthless and cutthroat as his people. He would lead the Saiyans to glory once again.

Nappa's son, Celen, had reported for duty the next day, angered at his father for not giving him a choice in the matter. When Celen had heard from his mother and the other soldiers he passed by about Frieza enlisting Saiyans for his army, he was ready to sign up. It would have been his honor to prove to the Arcosian bastard that the Saiyans were not merely pawns of his. He wanted to change the alien's thinking, but instead he was placed on the taskforce at the palace. Sure, he'd get to live at the palace if he wanted, but he would be another nameless face dealing with weakling stragglers. His job was basically sanitation, cleaning up the alien filth that dared land on their planet.

He was alone on his first day, as all first-timers in the taskforce were. The king needed to see what he could do on his first day, if he had the stomach to fulfill his duty no matter what the cost.

The job was too easy. That day was around an intergalactic holiday, so many passersby decided landing on Vegeta for their pit stop was a good idea. It didn't matter to the humiliated Saiyan. He had a job to do.

After five tourists were murdered, Celen realized that the job was even more monotonous than anything else he had ever done. He was better than this job. He wanted to fight in battle, not wipe out random, most likely innocent aliens. He wanted to eliminate the bastards that truly deserved it. He hated the Colds and wanted to tell them off on more than one occasion, his father always preventing him from doing so. It was a good thing for Celen that the other Saiyans felt the same derision, for he surely would have been arrested and killed for treason.

Another ship reading alerted Celen, breaking him from his miasma of thoughts. He looked out into the distance seeing a very strange ship, one that did not look either Saiyan or Arcosian. It didn't look like any other standard ship. To be honest, it looked like a piece of junk.

Celen held out his hand forming a ki ball. He was going to take his anger out on the trash heap, but then his scouter picked up an incredibly weak ki. He had no idea why any alien species had a ki level as weak as two would be travelling by their planet. Whatever alien this species was from had balls to enter any territory of the Planet Trade Organization.

Curiosity took over, and Celen allowed the craft to land. If this alien was willing to face a Saiyan with such a pathetic power level, there had to be a reason. He would honor this weakling and listen to what he had to say, and if it was something important, he'd arrest the man for trespassing and let the king decide his fate.

When the craft landed, nothing happened. It simply landed and shut down, and no alien came to face him. Slightly irritated, Celen decided to board the horribly built craft and confront this alien.

He kept his guard up, but the low ki traced by the scouter had not moved an inch since he entered. For a moment, Celen felt uneasy by what he would find. He saw a light over by the control system and raced to check it out only to find a blonde, female, humanoid alien unconscious on the ground. The Saiyan looked around, not detecting any other lifeform with the scouter and went to check the woman out.

He lifted the girl up in his arm, one that looked not much older than himself, and shook her gently. "Woman, wake up," he ordered, though for some reason he felt panic. "You have to explain yourself. Who the hell are you?"

The woman seemed to stir at his loud calls, her dark eyes peeking as she attempted to speak. This girl stuttered the word "h-elp" and Celen's brow quirked. He had never heard the word before, though he only just started getting the hang of the new standard intergalactic language that most races supposedly knew. The girl then spoke again. "H-Help, me…please."

Celen tried to piece the words together in his mind and realized that what the stranger was asking for was assistance. His eyes narrowed and he was prepared to do away with her. He thought up a response and used the standard language to communicate it. "Why should I assist a weakling like you?" he shot back. "We don't cater to uninvited guests. Your trespassing will be your last crime."

He powered up a ki blast, the teenaged woman's eyes widening in fear as she tried to talk back. Tears appeared in her eyes making Celen internally scoff. He had never seen or met a more pathetic creature. "I beg you," the woman replied, "please, listen. I need help. I'm serving in the Galactic Patrol..."

The ki blast instantly diminished, and scared, brown eyes met Celen's startled orbs. "Galactic Patrol?" he questioned. He then chuckled. "I didn't think the Galactic Patrol travelled in such crappy ships. I think you're lying."

"I…" the woman said before a pain took over her. He hand moved to her abdomen as she cried out. It was the first time Celen noticed blood pouring out of a wound that looked like it was caused by a PTO blaster. For a moment, the cruelty left Celen and he could only pity the woman who with her weak power level went up against one of Frieza's soldiers. He knew exactly what to do to treat her wound, but he already knew his job was to eliminate her.

He knew what he had to do.

He shot a blast and it met its target, on the other side of the room. The lone security camera recording his every action was destroyed by whatever creature that had been inside the ship. He got to work, lifting the woman up and carrying her outside her ship. The Saiyan looked back to the junk pile, ready to destroy any evidence, but the woman placed her hand on his. Celen felt an instant jolt in his mind and heart, but ignored it. Instead he focused on the stranger he was risking everything for. "Hit the button on the side," she told him. "The ship will hide itself."

She passed out in his arms, and Celen was about to blast the ship. It was clear the woman was delirious in her pain. Technology like what she had suggested did not exist in the universe. He did see a button, though, and for some reason decided to humor the passed out woman. His heart stopped when the ship disappeared, only a little peg on the ground remained. He looked over to the sleeping woman who was bleeding out against him. He only had one thought on his mind. Just who was this woman?

"Who was the woman?"

"Hm?" Vegeta questioned his child.

"The woman who was looking for shelter? And how did her ship go away? And, I like that Celen helped her, but why did he break his mandate? Wouldn't grandpa…the way he was then…wouldn't he have-"

Vegeta stopped him. "Boy, you are asking too many questions that I don't know the answer to myself," he admitted. "At the time, as I said, I wasn't even born yet. This was before the relationship between the Saiyans and PTO became even worse. Yes, all the Saiyans hated Frieza, but he became more and more disrespectful and entitled as the years went on, and no one could do anything about it."

Trunks sighed. "Okay, but what about the woman?"

The older prince shook his head. "To be honest, I can only recount what I was told. Nappa is the one who knows more about the woman. If you have any questions on her, he is the one you should ask. He was not pleased with his son's actions at the time, though, so tread cautiously if you do decided to ask. As for her ship, I don't know what technology was used, though there were many planets, including Earth, developing storage technology similar to it. Of course, the alliance didn't exist then, and Nappa said that woman always refused to tell where she was from. For some reason, she distrusted the Saiyans. I am not surprised, honestly. What Celen did…it was unheard of, but I am glad he did."

"Why?"

"Because that woman helped take down Frieza."