Episode 1 - Nira

She looked upon the fierce beast of a man before her. He stood at least seven feet tall, maybe taller, and was coated head to toe in solid muscle. His soulless, black eyes, his sadistic grin, his deep, disheartening chuckle all paralyzed her with fear. For the first time in a long time, she feared for her life. She looked around the field at all her friends, none of which were moving, but all of which were bruised and bloodied, and back to him, swallowing the lump which had formed in her throat.

"I'm going to die...." she choked, trembling as she lowered into a defensive stance. He began to approach her, growing ever larger as he neared her. "I'm going to die...." she whispered, watching the monster advance. She clenched her fists, her eyes closed, and she couldn't help but scream. "I'M GOING TO DIE!"

"NIRA!" Her eyes snapped open. The man had stopped, now frowning, his eyes shifting from side to side.

That voice.., she thought, it's so familiar.

"NIRA!" She looked around, just as her enemy was now doing. "Don't quit!"

Wh-who?, her eyes caught a glimpse of gold as it barreled into the man in front of her, sending him toppling backwards a good distance midair before skidding to a halt. A smaller man stood in front of her instead, his back turned. He was just a little taller than her it seemed. He wore a black tank top, baggy black pants, and brown leather boots. His long, blonde hair glowed with the presence of a golden aura. He looked back at her with both seriousness and friendliness. His smile gave her both chills and calmed her. Somehow he looked familiar, but she couldn't recall ever meeting a boy like this before. As she approached him, he shook his head and took to the sky, maintaining his smile.

"Welcome back, Nira. We've missed you..." were the last words he said before he faded into the clouds. Nira tried to take flight after him but for some reason she couldn't leave the ground.

"Wait!" she called, "Who are you?" Not looking where she was going, Nira tripped over the big guy's body, planting her face into the hard soil.

"Wait!" Nira called, sitting up quickly. She froze her movements as she looked around. She was in her room, in her bed. She sighed heavily as she fell back onto her pillow. "A....dream," she muttered, "Only a dream."

A chime came from her left side as her door slid open. A feminine voice, slightly tomboyish followed a fairly attractive woman into the room. She had a rich shade of violet colored hair, blue eyes, and despite a scar on her right cheek, looked almost exactly like Nira.

"Awake finally? Had us worried for a while there. I for one didn't think you were going to survive, but there's a fighter in you after all." she said, crossing her arms and smiling.

"Nice to see you too, mother." Nira said, slipping out of bed and stretching. She noticed quite a bit of her joints popped, indicating she had been out of it a while. "While we're on that subject, how long was I out?" Nira's mother raised an eyebrow and continued her grin.

"One week. Not including the time you spent in the tanks. I'm impressed with you. A lesser fighter would have been obliterated by Dodoria's Maximum Buster." she explained, catching a rather shocked expression from Nira.

"Dodoria? I survived one of his most powerful attacks?" Nira was rather surprised, as she herself had seen Dodoria wipe out entire platoons with that attack. Not only that, but their remains were almost completely blown to dust, if that. "I can't believe that. I would have died if he really used that attack."

"Believe it or not, Nira," her mother said, shifting from one side to the other as she leaned back against the wall. "Kid, I know it's hard to believe, and believe me I have a hard time believing it, but when you sparred with Dodoria, you to the surprise of everyone kept up with him. Then he started fighting dirty. You can probably guess what happened from there." She sighed, closing her eyes and standing up straight. "Look, kiddo, I got an assignment to take care of. I just wanted to check up on you and see if you finally came to," she said, smiling slightly as traces of tears began to form in her eyes. "God I'm pathetic," Nira heard her whisper as she turned her back to her. "We thought we'd lost you, but somehow, you remained in one piece. You were rushed to the medical ward. No pulse, no brain activity, but I demanded you be put in the tanks anyways. I told those coats that I'd bash their skulls to powder if they didn't do what I said," she laughed a little, as did Nira.

"We had no response for days. Then suddenly, your brain exploded into work. No one can explain it, but shortly after that, all your vitals slowly returned to normal, and once you were healed, you were withdrawn and brought here. You're the talk of Planet Vegeta now, Nira. 'The Saiyan who cheated Death' is what they're calling you. Nice name, huh?" Nira held her head, sitting on the edge of her bed as she took all this information in. She couldn't remember a thing about the spar with Dodoria, or the attack which should have killed her. She tried to curl her tail around her waist, but when she did, she realized something her mother had failed to mention. Her tail was gone.

"M-my tail!" Nira stammered, reaching behind her to feel around the base of her spine, and sure enough there was only the scar tissue from where her tail had once resided. Her mother tensed up, shaking her head as she let out another heavy sigh.

"Oh yeah," she said, "your tail... Well, you as a body were in one piece, but your tail, it was only attached by a couple strands of skin. They couldn't save your tail.." she placed her hand on Nira's head. "You're alive, that's all that matters. Your tail is only a small part of you. And hey, you're still young, so maybe it'll grow back." Her mother's reassuring words comforted Nira as she smiled softly and nodded.

"Yeah. Maybe it'll grow back," Nira said. Her eyes narrowed, focused on her mother, who raised an eyebrow. "Hey mother, wasn't there a place you had to be?" Her face sunk as she suddenly froze, her eyes wide.

"Crap! I forgot!" she said loudly, waving her arms around as she made for the door. "Bye, Nira! I'll be back soon as I can!"

"Okay mother, have a good mission! Break some heads!" Nira shouted after her mother, laughing as she listened to the fast paced boot clicks of her mother racing out of their housing quarters. Nira continued to laugh for some time before settling down to think about what she had just learned, not to mention the dream. She could've sworn it was real. It felt real; the fear, the pain, even the environment. She could feel the wind in her hair, the ground under her boots, and even the odor of the sweaty behemoth of a man she had been face to face with. As she thought about it her head began to hurt, so she focused on something simpler; she focused on the boy who had saved her from a terrible fate. He was powerful, and he looked at her as if she had been his best friend.

Welcome back? she thought, her finger pressed against her lips, exactly what did that mean?

Interlude 1.1

"Sire!" A fat, pink alien spouted, bowing behind a floating throne. Two black horns could be seen poking out from each side of the throne. A sigh came from the throne as a white and pink colored alien turned around, facing the fat one.

"Yes, Dodoria, what is it?" the horned alien said in a calm, cool voice. His words carried a bitterness to which Dodoria tensed up at before proceeding.

"Lord Frieza, my inspection of the Saiyans was carried out just as asked. All of those I checked over are of no threat to you." A sigh is heard as Frieza closed his eyes and lowered his head.

"Is that all? I see.." He was motionless, besides the slight up and down motion his throne made as it hovered, Frieza merely sat without even so much as a twitch as Dodoria stood there, slightly trembling.

"W-well..I did encounter some resistance." he continued, Frieza's eyes reopening slightly at these words. Clearing his throat, Dodoria maintained a calm complexion as he continued with his report. "Well, a young Saiyan female stepped up and challenged me to a duel. Of course, I had to see what she could do, since you asked me to check up on their current power levels. I also wanted to keep sharp."

"Go on.." Frieza mumbled, bringing his elbows up onto his knees and leaning forward, resting his chin on his hands as he interlocked his fingers.

"Well, I've got to hand it to her. The girl was spirited, and quick. She could keep up with my attacks quite well. Her defense was excellent, though I had the upper hand in strength, of course." Dodoria said, pounding his right fist into his left palm. "But as I was saying, she was quite the fighter. Almost got me good a few times," he admitted, shrugging slightly as he shifted around.

"So... what happened to this Saiyan of advanced Dexterity?" Frieza asked, his eyes locked onto Dodoria, his face carrying almost no emotion.

"Well I... She, she got me good," he said, "caught me with an uppercut right in the jaw. And I have to say, that little bitch could pack a punch. She was definitely more powerful than my scouter was letting on. I couldn't take any chances.. I powered up my Buster, and I hit her dead on with it. She remained intact, but her vitals hit zero. She's no longer a threat," he assured. Frieza nodded, shaking his head as he turned his throne around, eyes once again closed.

"Dodoria," he began,"it appears you've carried out your assignment all the way this time, and did it well. You showed them who was in charge, and took out the ones who resisted that. Therefore, I won't kill you for your insubordination."

"Wha-?" Dodoria began to ask.

"Don't interrupt me, Dodoria," warned Frieza, waving his finger, his voice slightly raised, "I assigned you to check the Saiyans' power levels, that's true, but I also told you not to kill them. That's one less slave to do our will, and by your description, she was quite a capable fighter as well. Did you even think about the use she could have been to us?" Dodoria was taken aback by this sudden lecture, stammering as he trembled. Frieza turned his throne to face him. "But as you said, she challenged you, and you accepted. She stood against you, knowing full well that you were one of my elite fighters. She probably wouldn't have been of any use to us for very long anyways," he said, sighing.

"Dodoria, this issue with the Saiyans is growing ever so slightly each day. Those rogue Saiyans that took the Kanassan planet, King Vegeta's growing impatience, and this girl who stood against you. Dodoria, I believe it's time we put the Saiyans back in their proper place."

"What do you mean, my lord?" Dodoria asked, cocking his head slightly.

"I want you to take one of the elite squads to Planet Meat. I've assigned Bardock's crew to exterminate the planet's inhabitants. We're going to teach these Saiyans they need to learn their place." Frieza grinned, his eyes narrowing slightly as he gazed upon Planet Vegeta. A light chuckle escaped his lips, slowly growing into a full on laugh as cold as ice. Dodoria grinned, bowing before Frieza once more before departing. Frieza continued to laugh, his voice seeming to echo thoughout his ship, and even through the vaccum of space itself.

Nira sat up after a quick nap to an unbearable pain in her gut. This pain was explained shortly after by the very audible squeal of her empty stomach. "Need...food," she moaned, making her way to her closet. She quickly got dressed, slipping into her armor, and made her way out of the house. She was instantly greeted with several good smells, all coming from the mess hall just down the walkway. As if driven by an unseen force, Nira went from being doubled over from hunger to becoming a blur as her legs carried her into the mess hall, which was currently filled with Saiyans all grabbing a meal.

She raced into the line and waited patiently for food. A group of tough looking Saiyans got into the line behind her, all talking about their last mission. She overheard them talking about Kanassa, and how one of their guys suffered a blow that knocked him completely unconscious, even now he was recovering. She paid even more attention and turned slightly red as one of them began talking about her, knowing as much because he mentioned her not having a tail.

"Wonder what happened.. it's not an easy task to cut off a Saiyan's tail," one of them said.

"Well ask her, why don't ya? Then again if I lost mine I'd probably be a bit sensitive on the matter," said a more feminine voice. Nira turned redder and redder till eventually a tap on her shoulder broke her from her trance. She turned to face them, and now got a better look. One Saiyan had a blue tinted set of armor, a hardened face, and a friendly smile. He looked to be the leader of their group. The one behind him, the tallest, was a balding man who was already munching on a before dinner snack. To the right, a woman with short hair and a smug grin stood, and to the right, a short, pudgy Saiyan stood, he sported a thin mustache, and a fresh scar on his cheek. The presumed leader was the one who spoke first.

"Oh hi, allow me to inroduce myself. I'm Tora, these are my squad mates Borgos," he pointed to the big one, who waved,"Shugesh," he named as he pointed to the pudgy short one,"and Fasha." He pointed to the woman, who maintained her grin as she thrust her hand out towards Nira, who took her hand nervously.

"Pleased to meet you." Fasha said as she shook Nira's hand. Nira looked at all of them, then down towards the floor slightly.

"What can I help you with?" Nira asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked back up at them. Once again, Tora was the one who spoke first.

"Well, if you would, could you tell us how you came to lose your tail?" he explained, being polite rather than demanding she explain. Nira opened her mouth to speak again, but she was cut off by her stomach's cries for attention.

"C-can we talk about this over food? I haven't eaten in a while and it's starting to get to me." Nira shuffled around, looking down the line and noticing they were next in line to getting their meals.

"Sure thing! We could use a mealtime story, right guys?" Tora said, grinning as he looked to his comrades, all of which nodded.

"Long as I get my dinner," Borgos muttered, getting an elbow from Fasha right in the gut. He heaved as the wind was knocked clean out of him.

"You'll get a double helping of fist to face if you don't show some damn restraint!" hissed Fasha. She turned to Nira and smiled, "The big lug. I know we're bottomless pits usually, but he just does not know when to stop, even when he's full he's eating." she said. They all laughed except for Borgos, even Nira, and as they got their meal, Nira felt as if she had been somehow initiated into their merry bunch. They all sat together; Nira was set inbetween Tora and Fasha while the other two sat on the other side of the table, and they all dug in, Nira eating twice as fast because of how hungry she was. Even Borgos stared in awe as Nira downed her whole tray in less than three minutes. As she finished, she glanced around to see them all staring at her.

"What? I was hungry.." she said, shrugging as she paid attention to her drink now. "Now, you wanted to know about my tail, right?" Tora cleared his throat and shook off his slight bemusement.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah I was.. we were wondering.. What happened?" he asked. All eyes were on her now. She hated the spotlight, but then not many Saiyans had their tails taken away. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, relaxing and trying to form the words.

"Okay," she began,"well I was foolish, and challenged the wrong guy to a match. That guy, was none other than Dodoria." At this, all attention was on her, Borgos even stopped eating. "I was actually doing very well, according to some people. I was faster than him, and I was actually wearing him down.."

"You went toe to toe with Dodoria? A little thing like you? Unbelievable!" Shugesh commented.

"Yeah. I mean, not even we as a group have taken that death wish on." Fasha chimed in.

"Go on, please," Tora said, handing Nira some of his dinner, which she gratefully scarfed down with much gratitude.

"Well," she continued," I don't remember much from the fight, but I was told that Dodoria, of course, decided to fight dirty. He took cheap shots, brought me down to the ground, and then.." Nira closed her eyes, slightly trembling as she tried to say it. "He nearly killed me with one of his power attacks. His Maximum Buster technique..." All of them gasped.

"Ridiculous!" spouted Shugesh

"How could...you're just a kid!" Tora said, outraged. Nira shrugged slightly.

"I don't know why he did it. He just did. No one knows how I survived though, but I did, barely. I spent the last month or so in recovery, and I was in really bad shape. They said I actually was dead for a while." She shook her head, Fasha patted her on the back.

"Girl, you're a hell of a fighter if you could survive something like that, and even come back from the dead. I bet you got quite the power boost from it too." Nira perked up at this; she hadn't even thought about the power spike she would have gotten from suffering a near-fatal injury. The others finished eating and Nira was left in an unsettling silence until such time. Fasha shook her head and continued. "You're quite the girl, it seems. Not only were you able to face off against Dodoria and live, but you survived one of his more powerful attacks."

Nira blushed and shrugged. "I guess. I never really thought about it, you know? I mean sure, I stood up to him, but he overpowered me. I nearly died once, and I'm a little reluctant to charge right into a rematch."

A reptillian creature approached the table, he was small and purple, with a long snout and pointed teeth. "Excuse me, would you happen to be Bardocks squad?" he asked.

"Yes, what is it?" Tora asked, he had a hint of bitterness in his voice. Looking closer at the reptillian man Nira could see why; he beared the symbol of the Kold Empire on his armor. Nira narrowed her eyes slightly as he cleared his throat.

"Ahem, Lord Frieza himself has granted a job that he feels, in light of your recent accomplishments, are quite capable of executing. Your new assignment is planet Meat, and you're to finish this assignment as soon as possible. In fact, Lord Frieza suggests you leave by tonight. That is all." The reptilian bowed and turned away, turning the corner and disappearing.

"Did you guys hear that?" Tora said, "Frieza himself has assigned us a job. Looks like we finally got his attention." Cheers of excitement echoed around the table, Nira also gave a cheer, congratulating them and wishing them luck on their job. Tora and Fasha grinned, making Nira wonder. Soon her question was answered.

"Oh you're coming with us." Tora said,"we could use a fighter like you to fill in for Bardock."

"Yeah," said Fasha, "and besides. You just spent a month out of the game. We're going to make sure you don't get rusty." Nira smiled and nodded, joining even more in the celebration.

"Drinks all around guys! We're going to pound those meatheads." Shugesh called out.

"I can't wait to get back in the game. To Meat!" Nira said, holding up a glass, the others held up their glasses as well, then they all hit them together, all at once calling. "To Meat!"