Author's Note:
This Prologue takes place about 15 years after the end of the normal timeline in the Dragonball Z series… The actual fic happens about another 15 years after that, but like I said, this is just the prologue…

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The figure scurried amongst the shadows of Western City, holding the gaping wound on his arm. He was powered down now… they shouldn't be able to find him… He slid to a halt, nearly falling over backwards from the inertia. Searchlights…

Seeing only one option, he looked up, leaping above the city street and on top of the apartment complex he had been standing next to.

"GO!" Goku shouted, turning to look at Trunks and Gohan. "Get as far away as you can!" He and Vegeta powered up, racing towards the multitudes…

Attempting to push the memory from his mind, he stood up, sprinting across the rooftop, trying to stay low. In the distance, the firefight was still continuing, with Earth's airforce trying futilely to repress the threat that had so quickly overtaken them. Fires burned across the city, illuminating the young man's face as he fought with determination to press on. His wife was dead, his twin sons left alone…

Before he could do anything about it, the government had taken them, placing them in an orphanage along with the thousands of other parentless children. More had been popping up as of late, a result of the devastating attacks that Earth had been receiving. His first priority was to get to them, and Gohan's son, and then escape with one of Capsule Corps.' space shuttles. It was the only way…

Trunks gasped, nodding in shock and turning to run. "Gohan, come on!" he cried, taking a hold of the man. "We have to get out of here!"

"No," Gohan simply stated. "I'm not going to let these two die alone."

"You'll die, Gohan!"

"So be it." He erupted into hissing bolts of electricity, and leaped forward to join his father in the battle…

Trunks cursed, wishing that he could push the memory away. Right now, he needed to focus, and later he could mourn. Piccolo should already be waiting at Capsule Corp…

The visitors had arrived with seemingly non-hostile intentions, with the Z warriors watching the meetings from afar. They called themselves the Galactics, a race of people with glowing yellow eyes, and hauntingly blue skin. From the moment that Trunks had seen them, he did not like them. Neither had any of them for that matter. There was something about the aliens so reminiscent of Frieza, or Cell… That driving urge to conquer and infiltrate. If only they had done something sooner…

Before the chaos could be remedied, it was too late. The Galactics turned out to be a race of warriors, much like the saiyajin, whose only goal was to destroy Vegeta. While out on his own mission to find Goku during his disappearance after their fight with Frieza, the saiyajin prince had destroyed many planets, hoping to kill his rival during the process. One of these planets had unknowingly held the heir to the Galactic throne…

Unfortunately for them, the Galactics were a patient, calculating, and unbelievably powerful race. For the past 25 years, they had been preparing for the moment where they could come and deliver vengeance. Apparently, not only did they want revenge, but more power for themselves. Earth's many military and commercial trading outposts in space had been building up for many years, and had reported several simultaneous strikes to their spaceports, and planets, all being completely over run by these matchless aliens… Goten was undoubtedly on one of these, having decided to try his hand at making money in the free trade of the stars… Trunks wondered if he was still alive.

Within recent years, the universe had become a vast market, with free travel between interplanetary systems. Capsule Corp. was a manufacturing powerhouse, and had become the center for space travel in its many branches, now an enterprise across the galaxy.

The lilac-haired saiyajin could make out the building in the distance. He gasped, noticing the swarm of Centurions barreling towards it. They rushed right past him, nearly throwing him over from their sheer speed and size.

Along with the Galactics had come the Centurions, the enormous robotic soldiers…

"What the hell is that?!" Vegeta shouted, leaping backwards to fire a blast of ki into his attacker's face. The Z warriors grouped together, sliding to a halt in the center of the Galactic armies. They had been busy fighting both the army, and the generals, beings with freakishly high power levels, that just wouldn't go away. They were well-bred fighters, and their techniques were simply amazing…

"What?" Goku asked, looking around.

"That!" Vegeta pointed forward, looking on in astonishment. The robotic construction stood over thirty feet tall, resembling a Galactic, sporting golden armor. It was flying towards the warriors…

"No!!" Trunks shouted, firing up into the second super-saiyajin form. Piccolo could not take on 3 Centurions alone… They began to fire a torrent of artificial ki blasts down onto the structure of Capsule Corp., decimating it as they did so. A lone shuttle launched from within, escaping through the flames and wreckage. It fired several rounds of pulser shots, tearing the arms off of one of the gargantuan fighters. Piccolo…

Just as expected, the Namek was not very experienced with flight. He ejected from the ship, as it went careening through a nearby building. The concrete tower toppled over as a result, crashing down to the Earth below. Trunks hoped that the shuttle would be alright. These newer prototype models were allowed a plethora of damage.

He flew onto the scene, clubbing his fists to slam one of the Centurions in its back. It flipped forward viciously, breaking through the pavement to fall into the subway system. Steam and fire gushed forth from the opening, pouring into the night sky. That wouldn't hold it off for long…

The saiyajin turned his head just in time to see one of the attackers swat Piccolo through the air, sending him through an already devastated building. He was back in no time, his fists raised in preparation…

If there was one thing to admire about Piccolo, it was that he never gave up. The Namekian shouted in fury, firing a powerful wave of ki against his foe, throwing it from its feet to crash into the fiery remains of Capsule Corp. In the distance, Trunks could see more of the robotic monstrosities on their way…

"Piccolo! We have to go!" Just then, a hand lunged forth from the smoke, sending a blast of ki into the Namek's side, causing him to cry out in pain. He was sent bouncing across the ground, slamming into the shuttle's hull coincidentally. This was not good.

Trunks flew down to him hurriedly, turning to look over his shoulder in desperation. They were closing in, and fast. Several more explosions of ki were being fired off all around him as he raced to find his friend. He landed at his side, turning his right arm behind him to throw several blindly placed balls of ki towards his pursuers. Piccolo was standing groggily, blood pouring from his lip.

"Piccolo, get in the shuttle," the saiyajin ordered him.

"We'll never have enough time to get off the ground and get away from here," Piccolo countered.

"I'll hold them off. Go!" Trunks turned again, shouting in anger as he launched a hail of ki towards the approaching Centurions.

"But what about the kids?!" Piccolo shouted over the deafening explosions. From the opposite direction, several large ki's were coming, and fast. Trunks gritted his teeth, cursing in frustration.

"Just leave!" Tears were streaming down his face now, as the rumble of the walking Centurions grew ever closer… "Leave Earth!"

"But-"

"Go! The kids should be fine where they are for now…" Piccolo grunted, not too fond of the sudden plan. Trunks groaned. He wasn't that up for it, either, but it was the only way. Trying to get to the kids now would only possibly alert the Galactics as to who they really were, and they would certainly be killed. "Just promise me this," Trunks turned, staring into the elder's face. "You will return, and you will make them strong enough to defeat these monsters!"

Piccolo nodded, and climbed inside of the spacecraft. Just then, a blast of ki came sailing towards them. Trunks whipped around, deflecting it into the sky with his forearm. It burst in the vault of heavens with an ironically beautiful radiance, a sharp contrast to the ugliness of what was happening below.

The super-saiyajin leaped from the ground, hearing the sounds of the jet engines roaring into existence behind him. The shuttle departed, shooting off into the stars, as the Centurions tried to take it down from the ground. Trunks soon distracted them, powering up to fire several blasts of ki towards them. One of them exploded instantly, but the other two were not as unfortunate as their partner. They evaded the blasts, countering with some of their own. Two more Centurions joined the mix now, closing in on Trunks from the other side. He did his best to avoid the onslaught of power coming his way, but to no avail. A metallic fist soon caught him in the back, thrusting him away wildly to the concrete earth. He slammed into it painfully, turning to look up at the engineered soldiers that were standing above him.

"I'm counting on you, Piccolo," the young saiyajin whispered, lowering his head in defeat. Trunks' last memory was of the giants lifting their arms, charging balls of ki from their palms…

And then he was gone.