(Author's Note:

This story begins in the time before Planet Vegeta's destruction at the hand of Lord Frieza. The Original Characters are based upon those from a Chat Room RPG game based on the events of Dragon Ball Z.

I hope you enjoy this retelling.)

Chapter 1. The Saiyans Mercenaries Guild

Bea sat at the rough stone table, staring thoughtfully into a polished earthen mug. Steam rose from amber liquid into the cool air of the dark tavern in which he sat. He stood taller than your average Saiyan, The King would have came no higher than chest, but he was still shorter than General Nappa. His reddish hair tumbled down his back past his tail. He wore a pointed goat t, that swept down past the top of his chest armor. He glanced up from his drink and looked across at the raven haired Saiyan that sat across from him. He also sipped the same liquid, a distilled spirit from off world, brought when Lord Frieza first came to open relations with the Saiyans.

"I don't trust it, Pikada." Bea said gruffly, glancing around the tavern for prying eyes and attentive ears.

"You don't trust much wha' has to do with the Royal Family, Bea." He noticed the slight tightening of the larger man's eyes, "Not that I blame you for that. I know that history."

"Yeah, but this, this is different, It's one thing trading, this new technology we've gotten is great, the armor and scouters themselves are worth that trouble. And hiring Saiyan's to help pad Frieza's forces, that's a great way for our young warriors to stretch their legs, but King Vegeta's plan to force us to all fight for Frieza, to make our scientist work directly for him, to make our growers fill his pantry's and our manufacturers to fill his warehouses . I don't like it."

"Are you sure that your feelings for the King aren't clouding your judgement, Bea?" Pikada flipped his chest length hair back over his shoulders, looking at his friend, preparing to judge the emotion that would be playing over his face.

Bea had at one time been a member of the Royale Guard, a very young, very junior member, but he had scored high enough to join brass ring.

Those days quickly passed though, and he was drummed out in disgrace after refusing a direct order from the King while on a mission.

12 Years Earlier

The King and twenty of his guard, including a 12 year old Bea stood on the burning surface of Planet Wizcian, the newest planet taken for Lord Frieza with the aid of the Saiyans. They had all killed many of the residents of the planet, destroying much of the infrastructure as they went. They had stumbled across a young survivor, probably the equivalent of a two year old. She sobbed and babbled, clutching a soft toy of twisted fabric and knots to her tattered clothes.

King Vegeta looked over his men, and then turned to Bea. The edges of his mouth formed a hard smile. "Kill that."

Bea turned to the sobbing form, and raised a hand. Energy Manipulation had come very naturally to him, and was likely the reason he had made the Royal Guard. He turned his right palm up, and an ultraviolet orb of light energy danced into existence. He stared at the young alien, clearly a threat to no one…

Killing an enemy who was a danger was one thing, slaying the innocent didn't seem honorable, or a thing of pride. Bea decided that this was a test by the King. The King wouldn't want one of his own Guard to be without honor.

The orb faded, the name of the attack died on Bea's tongue. He looked at King Vegeta, and bowed deeply. "I cannot, My Lord, She is no threat, there is no honor in her death"

King Vegeta's smile instantly faded. He pointed a single finger at the child, a beam pierced where her heart would have been if she was Saiyan. Bea went cold inside, realizing his blunder moments before pain and agony ripped through his body. The pain may have lasted seconds or years, he wasn't sure when the embrace of unconsciousness took him.

He awoke covered in the ash of the dead, his left arm broken, twisted at a unnatural angle. His right leg wouldn't hold his weight, and most would have stayed there to die, but Bea pulled himself together just enough to hover into the air. He flew towards where he thought his pod had landed.

He didn't remember making it to the pod, but he must have, as he woke again in space, the automated medical systems of his pod already well into repairing his broken body. He knew his time in the guard was over, but the King had allowed him to live.

Present

Bea shook his head, clearing the memory, "No Pikada, this just feels wrong. I think Frieza has the King by the tail, rumor has it that Prince Vegeta is now serving on Lord Frieza's very own ship. I just have a feeling this can't go well for us."

Pikada downed his drink, waved to the barkeeper for another, then looked back to Bea. "So what do you want to do?"

"You, Me, Angel, Tarma, Nori, we all grab our pods, and we hit it. Get as far away as possible. The five of us have been working as Soldiers of Fortune for Lord Frieza anyway, I'd rather we do it because we're choosing to, rather than being forced by the King. Round them up. If they want to stay with us, we leave the day after tomorrow, we have plenty of credits to buy supplies with and there's a whole new sector out the there for us to overrun." Bea drained his mug, and set it down. "I'll see you then, Midday, the day after tomorrow."

Four Years Later, Unknown Planet

The five companions sat around a roaring fire, the smell of roasting meat filling the air, this world was cold, but full of life, tasty life if the smells coming from the spitted shank were an indicator. So far the local fauna showed no indication of being anymore intelligent than your average animals. The last world that they had conquered had put up quite the fight, and so this one seemed like a well deserved vacation. Angel stood and dug through her belongings in her pod, removing a sealed glass jar,which she opened and sprinkled the contents across the fat drenched haunch of meat. The alien spices burned the senses, drawing impatient sniffs from the 4 male Saiyans.

Nori groaned as he stood, hoping to get a better look at the cooking meat. He was short and squat, a stark contrast to the tall curvy Angel. She gave him a stern looking, pointing back to log he had been leaning against. "Sit down. It's not done yet." He slunk to the ground, drawing a chuckle from Tarma, the most average of them.

"Come on Angel, he just wanted a little sniff."

She scoffed. "He can smell it, when it's on his plate."

Bea leaned back, looking through a few wispy clouds at the unfamiliar stars. He had his scouter over his ear, but had its screen turned off, he was more than familiar with his little bands power level.

A few more minutes went by and Angel declared the meat finished. The Friends all ate with the usual gusto of Saiyan warriors in the field. Bea kept listening to his scouter, awaiting a message from a broker, which was the safest way to sell worlds without letting King Vegeta known someone was carefully treading on his toes.

Bea had just taken another large mouthful when he choked suddenly, then spit the meat out. "Oh, Damn." He said in an awed voice.

"Did they offer more than we expected?" Asked Pikada genuinely.

Bea held up a single finger, in the universal sign for asking for a moment. A few moments ticked by, and he looked at his anxious team.

"Vegeta is gone…"

"The King is dead?" Asked Nori, sounding bewildered.

"He most likely is, the entire planet was wiped out by a meteor swarm…" Bea, a man who had helped wiped out dozens of civilizations was having trouble imagining his proud race as nothing but a footnote in history.

"We could be the last Saiyans."

A dread silence fell over the camp.