Dragonball: Insurgent
Heart of Darkness

"Quickness is the essence of war."

-Sun Tzu

In darkest recesses of space there exists threats that are beyond comprehension. Most being are unaware of what truly awaits them in the void of the cosmos, and often by the tie they find out it is too late. Large swathes of universe are owned by what is known as the Planet Trade Organization; the personal playground of the planet brokers known as the Cold family. Within their service, these overlords control vast armies made up of a myriad of species. These slaves, for despite any notion of agency they are just that, serve their master's with a frightful devotion. The galactic enforcers of the Planet Trade Organization carry out their orders with brutal efficiency, and more than one world has fallen in fire. Those species that will not fall in line are simply exterminated, entire civilizations wiped from existence on a whim by one of the members of the Cold family or one of their elite operatives. For hundreds of years the universe has been held by the throat by this seemingly impossible war machine.

Counted among their number of soldiers is a race known as the Saiyans. A proud warrior race, the Saiyans are regarded by many of the galaxy's citizens as a race not to be trifled with. With above average power levels and a frightening transformation, the Saiyans have rightfully earned this reputation. Whether through luck or providence, these once mighty warriors have been rendered all but extinct. Their numbers dwindle to almost laughable levels, their home planet destroyed by a meteor at the apex of their civilization. Most species would see the loss of their home planet and the majority of their breeding population as an insurmountable blow to their species. To the Saiyans however, whether through madness or bravery, such things are of little importance. For the warriors that remain, life is largely the same. The Saiyans that work under the Cold family still conquer and sell worlds at a frightening rate.

One of these warriors will set into motion events that will alter the landscape of the universe forever; a low-class Saiyan who the universe would have quickly forgotten about were it not for the reputation of his species. A warrior that many thought would amount to nothing will set of a chain of events that will have dire consequences for the remaining Saiyans as well as his masters. That Saiyan's name is Raditz, son of the hero Bardock.

Above an unknown World, Age 761

"Warning, warning," A synthesized voice blares through the intercom of the small attack ball, waking its sole occupant, "Oxygen reserves are extremely low. Recommended action, land in nearest Grade 1 or above planet."

Rousing from his sleep, Raditz wearily looks over the flashing lights indicating that his small ship had, in fact, struck a leak in its oxygen reserves. The navi-computer was already in the process of calculating a possible landing spot on a nearby planet that had some form of oxygen in its atmosphere. Raditz scowls at this turn of events, more annoyed that his mission to Earth was being delayed by shoddy technical work on the part of the engineers that built this pod. Despite being some one of the strongest races in the universe, the Saiyans are unable to survive in the vacuum of space. Some of their more gifted warriors knew techniques which could delay the process, but even they would be hard-pressed to last longer than a few minutes at most. With this in mind, Raditz begins working on trying to steer the ship towards the planet his navi-computer is directing him towards. The small green planet, according to the computer, was a world still largely unsettled.

"What a damned waste of time," Raditz mutters under his breath as his ship begins to move towards the primeval world, "Just my luck that Vegeta would send me on a mission like this, sure let's send Raditz to do all of our dirty work. If the planet didn't have my brother on it then I would have told him to just forget it."

"Warning, warning. Oxygen reserves are extremely…"

"Shut up already," Raditz tells the computer as he turns off the warning message, "I'm going to have to have a little talk with the engineers when I get back to base. Hopefully Kakarot will know where I can find some supplies, that is if he hasn't already leveled the entire planet."

The thought of his little brother wiping out helpless alien villagers brings a smile to Raditz's face as his attack pod slowly descends onto the planet's surface. Opening up his ship's latch, Raditz flies outsides and examines his surroundings. The air is breathable, if a bit on the humid side. All around his appears to be forest, thick dangerous looking jungle that goes on for miles in every direction. A familiar sensation comes over him as he realizes that planet has the same level of gravity that the old Planet Vegeta had.

Considering the gravity, it's amazing that these trees are able to grow as tall as they are," Raditz thinks to himself as he rests on top of one of the canopies. A smirk comes across his face as he looks around, A planet with this many resources would go for a pretty high price I should mark it and clear it with Kakarot on our way back. I wonder how he'll mange at this level of gravity.

Curiosity overtaking the warrior, Raditz turns on his scouter to examine the planet. Unsurprisingly, there appears to be a lack of powerful beings on this planet. In fact, Raditz's scouter does not pick up any advanced lifeforms. Animals do not show up on his scouter normally, as they tend to lack some of the components that give sentients the ability to harness energy. Satisfied, Raditz turns off the scouter and reclines on the soft branches. The freedom to stretch his legs after two months in that tiny capsule feels like heaven to the Saiyan, and he allows himself to simply watch the green clouds floating by overhead. Something about the planet feels surreal, and a strange aroma begins to fill his nostrils.

Wait, that smell wasn't there before," Raditz thinks as he leaps into the air. As he does the tree that he had been laying on suddenly opens up, the canopy giving way to a cavern of sharp teeth and pool of acid. Despite his years of combat, Raditz can still feel his heart pumping as he watches the tree close its mouth and return to its previous state. Had I laid there any longer, I could have been killed. It's time to leave this planet.

As Raditz descends and begins walking towards his ship, his scouter once again comes to life. To his right, hidden the darkness of the jungle is a being with a power level of 209. Smiling to himself, Raditz slows his pace, taking serval wrong turns through the forest. As he expected, the being continues to trail him through the thicket. At times Raditz can faintly hear the crunching of leaves or the movement of branches. He pauses as if to check his armor, the excitement of a possible battle causing him to laugh quietly under his breath.

Three pebbles come racing towards him, with the Saiyan easily catching them all. Turning to face his stalker, Raditz activates his scouter to track its movements. The hunter had already moved to his left, and Raditz follows suite with an energy blast. The purple attack burns through the jungle like wildfire, leaving a crater in the ground where it had landed. His scouter, however, tells him that his attacker is still very much alive. Now amused, Raditz waits for the next attack.

Even if this being attack me, its power level is far too low to make any difference, Raditz thinks to himself with a sneer, What a wonderful way to warm-up before I meet with Kakarot.

Raditz does not have to wait long for his attacker to make its next move, as three blue colored gourds roll up to his feet. Realizing what they are too late, Raditz can only cover his nose as a foul smelling orange fog is released from the gourds. The intensity of the odor makes the Saiyan's eyes water. Coughing a sputtering, he barely notices the force pushing against his abdomen. Something humanoid had kicked his stomach, but through the foul fog he is unable to make out little more than a shape. He tries to grab the phantom, but whatever it is leaps out of the way and back into the jungle before Raditz can get a hand on it.

"Ok, enough games!" Raditz yells at the hunter, releasing his ki in an invisible wave of energy to disperse the fog. Anger wells up inside him as the Saiyan looks for what has been attacking him the whole time, "Come on out you little worm. Face the wrath of the almighty Saiyan race!"

The hunter responds by throwing another two gourds at Raditz, but these are vaporized well before they have a chance to make contact with Raditz's senses.

"Is that all you can do?" The Saiyan taunts, "I'll give you to the count of three to come out and beg for mercy. If you do, I'll make sure your death is quick!"

More stones are thrown, and Raditz responds by throwing another volley of energy into the jungle. A gasp of pain pleases Raditz. He continues to fire into the thicket, following the hunter with his scouter. The hunter's power level raises ever so slightly the more Raditz lays on the pressure with his energy blasts, and Raditz basks in the fear that he must be putting into the unsuspecting hunter's head. He stops himself though, looking at the fires that are beginning to spread around him.

"Consider that a taste of what you'll experience if you continue to bother a Saiyan warrior," Raditz yells into the wilderness, "Come out now, get your death over with quickly. Three."

When the hunter does not answer, Raditz begins to gather his energy, his purple aura expanding and causing the entire jungle to quiver under the weight of his awesome power, "Two."

Still the hunter does not reply, and Raditz can see it fleeing the area on his scouter. Not able to stomach the idea of being humiliated by such a weak creature, Raditz slowly rises into the air.

"One! Time to die!" Raditz yells out to his attacker.

In a flash, he speeds through the air towards the fleeing hunter. In a moment he is over top of him, whatever had attacked him clearly lacked the ability to fly. He crashes down on top of the hunter, crushing it with the heel of his boot. The unfortunate creature that had made a fool out of him had only enough to time to look upwards and face the Saiyan warrior. In a single motion Raditz has the creature pinned, unable to move beneath his awesome strength. There is nothing his attacker can do, and Raditz takes pleasure in pressing ever so slightly harder into the fleshy stomach of his attacker. Upon looking down though, the Saiyan warrior takes an audible breath. He had expected some kind of exotic looking alien creature, something that would reflect the strange world he is on. His shock causes him to step away from his target.

"That's…that's not possible," Raditz says, his eyes going wide as he looks over his conquered enemy. Anger wells up inside of him as he picks up the defeated hunter by the throat. The urge to crush the hunter's neck nearly overwhelms him, but Raditz staves of his bloodlust just enough to let the hunter offer some explanation. "Do you think this is some kind of joke?! Are you mocking me? Such a crime is unforgiveable after what's happened to my people!"

The hunter, who Raditz can now see is nothing more than a boy of thirteen, only smiles at the warrior. In death's embrace, the hunter finds a way to relax and the monkey tail sticking out from his behind goes limp. His dark eyes are more amused than frightened, though this expression is largely hidden by locks of wild brown hair.

"What's…wrong," The boy struggles to say, "Never seen a Saiyan before?"

AN: Hey guys, it's me the author. And I would like to welcome you to Dragonball: Insurgent. Hopefully this chapter was a decent introduction to what will (hopefully) be a long series re-telling of the Dragon Ball Z story. What does that mean? Well I suppose you'll have to read the next chapter on Thursday in order to find out! Please leave a review, I love criticism!

Power Levels:

Raditz - 1,500

The Hunter - 209