No way back
The next day early in the morning Gine woke up to the alarm of her scouter, a strange feeling stirring in her stomach. As she sat up on the bed and put the device over her ear, she immediately remembered why she felt so nervous.
Her first mission on her new crew. The screen on her scouter showed that the launch was scheduled in exactly three hours. Just enough for her to eat,get ready and fly to the base from where they would all take off.
Everything was still covered in night's darkness when the nervous warrior finally walked outside. Nothing but the sound of a small energyburst was heard when she lifted off of the ground and flew to her destination.
As predicted, Gine arrived at the base shortly before take off. Only one person was already standing outside by the spacepods. Even from a short distance, his spikey hair stood out, so there was no mistaking who it was. As soon as Gine noticed, her cheeks already flushed pink.
"So you decided to show up..." Bardock started, without even taking the effort to face her.
Gine was surprised. Didn't he notice how she had prepared for this ? "Yes, ofcourse...Why wouldn't I, Captain. I've trained very hard for this day."
"The others are already waiting in their some reason they were convinced you wouldn't show today. But I noticed how hard you worked. Still, I'm not convinced you're fully ready." The stern captain said as he finally turned towards her. Gine started blushing even harder at that remark. Not because she was shy or anything. She was annoyed. How did he even dare to taunt her like that ? After all the hours and effort she had put into her training ? "And why is that ?"
"First of all, you seem insecure. And second..." He looked her up and down as he seemed to search for something more to say. "You're slouching."
"I'm not insecure, I'm just a little nerv- Hey I'm not slouching !" Gine defended herself, but straightened her shoulders none the less.
Instead of embarassing her even further, Bardock turned around again and with the words "It's time to go" he got in his pod. As soon as the pod-door had shut, he started pressing buttons and the pod went backwards down a long tunnel for the launch.
Gine followed his example. Her pod also closed as soon as she sat down and she felt it move backwards. A cold computer voice started reciting :
"Initiating launching sequence. Lift-off in ten, nine, eight,..."
"No going back now..." Gine thought to herself as she closed her eyes. Launching was always a bit scary.
"three, two, one." The moment the computer reached that last number, six Saiyan space pods shot out into deep space, spinning around because of the impact of the launch for the first few seconds.
A few minutes later another voiced sounded. This time it was Bardock, through the intercom.
"We're headed towards a planet called Layrilia. The Layrilians are supposed to be a peaceful race, They shouldn't pose that big of a threat to us. They do on the other hand have warrior clans, who tend to be quite strong so we should be on our toes. Also, there's no moon on planet Layrilia so if we need to transform, we're gonna have to use a projection."
A few seconds of silence followed as all team members let that info sink in.
"That was all, I'll see you guys when we get there."
When Bardock finished his briefing, Gine pressed a large round, pink button and the air inside the pod quickly changed. It had been filled with a kind of sleeping gas, which brought its passenger in a cryogenic sleep.
As she dosed off, Gine felt her nerves ease and her mind went blank.
It seemed only minutes later that that same cold computer started talking again. "Wake up Gine, start mission...Wake up Gine, start mission..."
It kept repeating itself until Gine finally woke up and got out of her pod. With one click on the button of the remote control, it closed. As soon as Gine was sure the area was clear, she took off into the sky. She was immediately aware of the low gravity this planet had, feeling almost as light as a feather when she moved around. "Good," she thought, "that will surely come in handy."
Her teammates hadn't stayed around to wait for her to wake up but it didn't take her long before she found them. The sound of explosions and screams made it clear where they had started their assault. The nearest city was already turned halfway into ruins when Gine arrived. Down below on the streets, people were running and screaming in terror.
"Saiyans !"
"The Saiyans are attacking !"
"Help, somebody help !"
"Run ! Flee !"
With slight hesitation Gine decided to land, this was no time to turn back.
"It's another one !"
"This one 's smaller, get her !"
Before Gine could even react, ten to fifteen civilians were all over her. Try as she might, she couldn't move a muscle.
The struggle went on for minutes, until suddenly all the hands who held her tightly let go. They were blown away one by one, by blue energy blasts. It was Bardock who had come to Gine's rescue.
"Try to keep up, rookie !"
"I am !" The moment she got free, Gine had started fighting back, punching and kicking at whoever was still surrounding her. To be honest, she wasn't doing half bad. No way that these guys were gonna ruin this chance for her. Screaming and growling she fought like a lion against the last three men thatwere surrounding her. The adrenaline that had started rushing through her blood the moment she felt she had the upper hand, was changing the way she usually behaved. This feeling was new to her. That glorious feeling of fighting...Winning... The true Saiyan inside her was speaking.
One by one she defeated her opponents, until only one remained, and this one was going to meet his demise now too. She had gotten him to his knees and lunged at him, grabbing his throat and pushing him down to the ground on his back.
One fist still in the air, ready to punch, she looked her victim in the eye and saw something...Something most Saiyans are insensitive to. Dispair.
Her rage seeped away and her strength slowly left her fingers. Letting go of the man, the now confused Saiyan warrior slowly took a step back and looked around. Around them were people running, the same dispair in their eyes as the man in front of her. Wounded men, trying to hide from certain death. Women screaming, children crying out for their parents... Was this really what she wanted to do with her life ?
"Why..." she mumbled.
Gine didn't get the time to overthink her sudden realisation. "AAAH !"
A sharp pain in her thy made her fall to her knee. The man she had just let go had taken advantage of her not paying attention and stabbed her leg with a pocketknife. He was getting closer to strike again as Gine looked at him in disbelief. She had spared him...
Another sudden energy blast blew the man away rigt when he was about to strike again. "DO I REALLY HAVE TO KEEP SAVING YOUR STUPID ASS ? GET UP!" It was Bardock again.
Gine tried, but as soon as she put weight on her leg, the pain got worse, almost making her fall again. With a limp she went over to her captain.
"We have to stop, Bardock, this is wrong...Look at what we're doing. We're killing innocent people..."
"You'll die too if you don't keep fighting !" Saying that, he turned away from her and started fighting again.
"Isn't that what you want ? You said I'd be on my own if I didn't keep up!"
That caught him of guard, or so it seemed. He got hit in the cheek by one of the soldiers he was fighting. Luckily, he quickly recovered. "We need every member of the team !"
Clenching her fists, Gine tried to stand firmly now. "I won't fight anymore ! This is wrong and you know it !"
"Then you leave me no choice !" With those words, Bardock took his remote from his pocket and pressed a few buttons. When he finished, a flash of light lit up the sky and a large white orb formed. "It'll be over soon now..."
Not having the time to realise what Bardock had done, Gine automatically looked up at the projection of the full moon.
Her heart started pounding harder and faster, her breathing got heavier. She felt her skin stretch while large canines formed in her mouth. She knew what was happening and there was no stopping it.
With one eardrum-ripping collective roar, six mighty Oozaru continued their assault on the now defenseless people of planet Layrilia.