Chapter 1: Exodus
(Age 730, Tuffle Home World / future Planet Vegeta)
"Preposterous!" the man said in absolute disbelief as they walked. Two commanders and a marshal of the planet's army followed behind a single man.
The man in front was small in stature (as all members of his race were). He wore a pair of thin rimmed glasses and had a flowing unbuttoned lab coat. His eyes were an absolutely radiant shade of blue, and he had the gleam of a calm, cheerful, and wise man. His hair was slicked up, spikey, and colored a dark shade of violet. He may have looked young at a first glance, but he, as well as the other men present, were at least a century in age.
"Come on, Calahan!" the man chuckled as he looked to a commander over his shoulder, "Throw me a bone, would you? I'm trying to help."
"We've followed him this far and he's never steered us wrong", the marshal said to Calahan, "If he called us here on such a short notice, he must see our state as dire."
"Potentially dire", the scientist turned around to face them, walking backwards for a short ways.
"Cray, for ten years, we've been fighting this war," Commander Venn sighed, "and the saiyans grow stronger with every fight. But we were strengthened at a much faster rate. Their forces are cornered with no hope for escape and their surrender is inevitable. Your plan would be meaningless."
"I'd rather be ready for the worst case scenario than be sorry in the afterlife", Cray smiled weakly, "And what you're saying right now only proves my point. The saiyans are a very driven and passionate race to say the least. But I've seen over time that it's not just their appetite for action that makes them strong, it's their emotions. Anger, joy, fear, any of those on a high enough level will make them stronger and drastically more willing to fight. An emotional saiyan is a dangerous saiyan. For instance, in the way they're cornered right now, they'll grow desperate. They might even come back strong enough to overrun us. They've only sent out their omegas recently, and even they suddenly have the power to destroy several mechs each. The big ones are most likely regaining their strength. We may have them trapped for now, but it isn't out of the question that they'll return with a vengeance."
"Well he isn't wrong", the Marshal muttered to the other two before speaking up, "What are you suggesting?"
"Assuming that they invade, what's the first thing they'll go after?" Cray asked, but when no one responded he answered, "Our children. The saiyans have made it very clear that they want us wiped off the face of this planet, if not the universe, so they'll undoubtedly go for the next generation before wiping the rest of us out."
"And where in the world do you plan on hiding them then?" Victor asked.
"Oh no! Heaven forbid, not in this world, that's too risky! The only way we can safely hide our children is to send them off world. The saiyan race is still a long way from space travel, I assure you. That is why I present to you Project: Exodus." They entered into a large chamber containing a small ship with three rockets shaped like a small jet.
"I present to you, the Cosmos 4.0. It comes with a cryogenic sleep capsule, is capable of automatically maneuvering through asteroid fields and also includes flying instructional program for when they're old enough to learn."
"Hold up!" Venn stopped him, "Why would they need to fly? By the time we find them again the war will have ended?"
All was silent until Cray sighed, "A…precautionary measure. Under normal circumstances we would find them and bring them home after the war. But think about the long term if there was no home, and no one to bring them home. Suppose that the worst happened and…the saiyans won the war."
"But they won't!" Venn snapped.
"Well imagine that they did", Cray snapped back calmly, "and we were unprepared. If we sit around and expect to win this war, then chances are that our race could die out completely. If we're going to survive as a race, our children's futures must be secured, on or off of this world."
"But we…"
"Enough!" the Marshal silenced the commander, "I'm afraid that he's right. Mr. Cray, how long until such a feat is possible?"
"I've only made two pods", he smiled weakly, "With your permission, we need to start mass producing more, enough for every infant to avoid the war. I'll let you take the second pod and the blueprints to begin construction on your mark."
"Very well. And the original pod?" the marshal asked. A happy giggle could be heard from the side of the room.
"That my friends is where my son comes into play", Cray, smiled as he led the men to a side room. Inside was a little baby, playing around with the toys he fixed.
"Since when did you have a son?" Venn asked.
"As of three months ago", Cray began to perk up, "but he's an ingenious child even at his age. Every day, he takes apart those toys to the last bolt and puts them right back together, as though he's running a mechanical checkup. And watch this."
Cray then pulled out a Hardlight tablet and selected a video of a saiyan warrior in combat. The child would drop what he was doing and watch with interest. The saiyan then charged up a flickering ball of energy and let it fly on the battlefield.
The child giggled in innocent amazement at the light show and spread his hands. A bright violet ball the size of a marble flicker to life. It began to grow slowly, but with little effort at all.
"He….he has their power?" Calahan watched in amazement.
"Not exactly", Cray specified, "All creatures, even Tuffles, have this power, this Ki. Saiyans just force it out with their brute strength and they are exceedingly good at it. Jojo might not have their strength, but he has the natural affinity for controlling it. It's like opening a door with a key as opposed to busting it down."
The ball in the baby's hands was now the size of a cantaloupe, and the baby was enjoying it. Then all of a sudden, his nose twitched twice and….
"KA-CHOO!"
BOOM!
The baby sneezed and the ball exploded! Cray and the officers were knocked back, and they quickly got back on their feet to check on the source of the blast.
Once the smoke cleared, there was baby Jojo, lying down with a slightly ash streaked face and his hair blown back. His eyes were wide in absolute surprise for a few seconds, until finally he giggled and laughed in sheer joy!
The marshal sighed, "That was too close. Is that normal for him?"
"Nope", Cray shook his head smiling, "The sneeze explosion was a first. But he's done that at least a dozen times, and only does it when he sees the saiyans do something of the like."
"Very well", the Marshal stepped forward, "I am now convinced that Project Exodus must be put into motion, starting with your son. Should something happen to us, he may be able to lead the remaining Tuffle race into a new age. We'll also encrypt blueprints of our technology into the pods, so as to ensure their success of we should fail."
"I cannot thank you enough", Cray shook his hand before one of the pods dematerialized into a computer chip, which was given to the marshal, "Everything you need has been encrypted into this chip."
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Several hours later, night fell. Daedalus Cray and his wife, Irma, were busy in the lab with Jojo playing happily on the side.
"How's the pod?" he asked her while he looked at a sample of saiyan blood under a microscope.
"Almost done", she said as she worked, "Look, take a break from this for just a minute. Tonight is special."
"A mere celestial phenomenon is still nothing in comparison to what we have to finish. What we do here will either make or break us", he sighed.
"At least come and spend a few more minutes with Jojo", she hugged him from behind, kissing his cheek.
"I guess you have a point", he chuckled quietly. They walked over to Jojo who was playing with a toy spaceship, flying it around and trying to imitate the sound of a jet engine. Cray smiled as he held a spherical device in his hand and showed it to his son. Jojo's eyes brightened as he looked to his parents. At the same time, a holographic ball formed around them for about three seconds before retreating to the glowing sphere that floated in Cray's palm. The glow died and the marble sized ball grew to the size of a baseball. Inside was a 3D picture of that exact scene, like a snow globe. Jojo took it and pressed a button so it shrank back to its former self.
"Jojo," Daedalus said after turning on a recorder, "Not but a few months old and you show your future potential. I know you'll make us proud. In fact you've already made your mother and me proud to have you as a son. I cannot stress that enough."
"Let's go", Irma told him, "It's starting in a few moments!"
"You go out to the balcony first", Daedalus said going over to the microscope, "I'll catch up with you." He peered into the microscope lense to see the individual blood cells recovered from a saiyan not long ago. The saiyans they captured hardly even put up a fight. In fact, they practically let themselves be captured.
But as he looked, a bright light shined through the window, and Daedalus looked up to see the full moon. It came once every eight years.
Then he looked back into the lens. Then suddenly, the blood cells began to grow rapidly before splitting into hundreds more! Cray looked at it again in shock before he put two and two together and put his hand over it, blocking the moonlight. Sure enough, the cells stopped growing and their energy levels died down.
"Computer, analyze the sample! Quickly!" he said as he looked at the screen. Moments later, the computer spoke.
"It appears that the cells are multiplying to over a hundred fold of their normal size and number, and possess simian properties. A similar mutation is expected from all saiyans exposed to the full moon's light."
At the same time, a roar pierced the air as a gargantuan form sprung from the prison cells, followed by several others.
"It's a trap! Alert the marshal! We're under attack!" Daedalus said.
"What's happening?!" Irma ran in in terror.
"The saiyans weren't gathering strength this whole time! They were waiting for the full moon when their power is strongest!" Daedalus said.
"What do we do then?! Can we stop them?!" Irma began to open the weapons locker. But Daedalus put his hand on her shoulder.
"No….we can't stop them in this state. But there is still one thing we can do. Get Jojo to his pod! Hurry!" he said as Irma scooped up the child and made a run for his pod. At the same time, Daedalus began to gather everything up while recording a final message.
"Jojo, this will be the last message. By the time you get this, there is a strong possibility that none of us will be alive. The war has taken a turn for the worst, and with the timeframe we've had, I regret to say that Project Exodus has failed on the larger scale. But we still have a chance. We have only enough time to send you to safety. Should you ever have the means to, you must not return to your home world to try and find us! And no matter what you do, do not ever fight the saiyans! If you find yourself confronted but one, run! The survival of the Tuffle race is in your hands now, and we cannot afford to lose you!" he returned to the pod with a collapsible scouter and a Hard Light tablet, placing both in the storage compartment. Irma finally came in carrying Jojo, her eyes full of tears as they place him in his cradle.
"Jojo, in the timeframe of the world we're sending you to, this catastrophe occurred in Age 730. In the unlikely chance that we survive, we will try to find you. We will not abandon you, and only death will stop us from bringing you home once this is over!"
Outside of the building, one of the saiyan apes turned and began to stomp their way.
"But should we fail," Daedalus said to his son, "you will be the last of the Tuffles. But no matter what happens, you'll be our second chance, our saving grace. And above all, remember that you had a mother and a father from beyond the stars you loved you."
The giant ape began to charge a beam as Daedalus hit the big red button to launch the Cosmos 4.0 into the air.
"Come on!" Daedalus pulled Irma into a jet which took off before the building collapsed, "If we're going down, we go down fighting!"
(End of Chapter 1)
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HEYO! Beowulf here!
I honestly can't believe I didn't do a Dragonball fanfic yet! And now's as good a time as any to start.
But for now, this is something of a prologue. I still have yet to make an actual story behind this. But it occurred to me that if Goku escaped his race's annihilation, maybe a tuffle did too?
If you think I should go with it and you like where this is going, or if you want to lend some advice, let me know.
This is Beowulf and the OC Crew signing out!