Next chapter is ready for your reading pleasure. Thank you for your reviews, favorites, and follows. I promise this story will begin to really move and all the set-up is necessary for everything that will come in the future.

Now, to the chapter.


Chapter 4: Training


Gine made sure she was up early, even before the suns rose. Even without Bardock's threat, she wasn't one to be late. When you had people who hated you for even existing, you did everything within your power not to give them an excuse to hate you further. And she was usually good enough to moved people from hating her to at least tolerating her existence.

As she walked the streets, it was quiet. It was almost a ghost town if it wasn't for those Saiyans out cleaning the roads and heading to work at the meat factory and communication center. The running of daily operations on Vegeta was one of the few non-combatant jobs you could get, and there was a severe shortage within the work force since non-combatant and Saiyan was almost an oxymoron.

The streets were also empty since those Saiyans back from tour usually slept late. For many, this was the first time in years that they were allowed to sleep in peaceful without the worry of being killed. For others, they slept in because they party too hard the night before.

When she reached the training center she was hours early, which was fine. She wanted some alone time and get warm up.

She took several deep breaths and started to work on her training sets.

She was no warrior, but if she wanted to survive the front lines, basic defense was paramount. It only took one lapsed for ones' life to end in a gruesome fashion. She has seen it happened more than a few times.

"I'm surprised to see you here so early," a voice spoke, gaining her attention. "Your form is fine, but you need to work on staying aware of your surroundings. If I was an enemy, you would've been dead three times over."

She turned to see Bardock standing near the entrance, watching her intensely. How long he was he there? She was usually good at sensing people.

"It's ashamed. If you weren't a reject, you could make a fairly decent fighter. Such a waste," Bardock mused.

Gine turned away from him and went back to her sets. "Sorry to disappoint you."

There was a long silence.

"Tell me, if you hate fighting so much, why bother training?" Bardock asked.

"Because I want to survive," she answered, not stopping her drills. "I may hate fighting, but I hate dying a lot more."

Bardock chuckled. "I see. No wonder you managed to keep out of trouble for this long."

"I'm no a special case. Most rejects are like me. At least...the ones who are left," Gine stated. "We fight only to keep ourselves alive and keep our comrades from killing us. We know exactly where we stand in society."

Bardock hummed. "Seems I underestimated your kind."

Gine chose to ignore him.

She didn't care for how he treated her like a different species. She was still a Saiyan, regardless if she was a reject. Just because she didn't enjoy bathing in the blood of her enemy doesn't mean she was some kind of missing link.

"So, are they many like you?" Bardock suddenly asked.

Gine stopped her sets as she thought carefully how to answer him. The last thing she needed to do was to give someone away. "Not many. Most who are born like me usually die young or are lucky enough to be banished."

"Never heard banishment be described as a good thing," Bardock mused.

"You don't live my life," Gine stated in a cold voice as she went back to training.

That ended the conversation and she was allowed to practice in peace until the others arrived. They all were sober despite all the drinking they did last night. Not too surprising. A Saiyan had to drink a lot to get smash. Even then, they could burn through a handover within a few hours.

"So, you guys managed to drag yourselves out of bed on time. There maybe hope you all yet," Bardock joked.

"Yeah well, there isn't much to do around here until we head back out," Shugesh said as he stretched his arms, several pops were heard.

"Well, you know the drill. Before we can get started, I need to get an official power reading from all of you," Bardock said.

This made Shugesh grinned as he looked towards Tora. "This time, I'm sure to beat you."

Tora returned the grin. "Huh, in your dreams. The only way you will surpass me is if I'll dead."

"Line up!" Bardock ordered.

Following their commander's ordered, they lined up shoulder-to-shoulder.

Bardock clicked on his scouter and began to scan them. "Fasha. Power level one-thousand."

"Not bad, Fasha," Tora said with a smile. "You're up by nearly four-hundred."

He scanned Borgos. "Power level, twenty-five hundred."

Borgos only grunted in response.

"Shugesh, power level twenty-nine hundred," Bardock stated as he went down the line.

Shugesh grinned. "Oh yeah, up by nearly a thousand."

"And last, but definitely least," Bardock smirked at Tora, who stuck his tongue at him. "Power level, thirty-two hundred."

Tora smirked. "Huh, not bad." He glanced at Shugesh and smirked. "Better luck next time."

Shugesh grunted. "I'll be sure to surpass you next time. So you better watch your back."

Tora laughed. "Yeah, keep dreaming. The only thing you will ever beat me in is an eating contest."

Gine was left speechless by the power levels she was hearing.

Why were they all so powerful? This was a group of lower class warriors, wasn't it? Tora should be classified as a medium class and Shugesh was only two hundred or so points short from being a medium class himself. The others weren't bad either. Fasha alone was almost as strong as the best low class Saiyan. None of these people were lower class warriors.

"Looks like we all become massively stronger," Tora said, once he finished teasing Shugesh.

Bardock smirked, obviously very proud of his crew. "Indeed. We've completely shattered our supposed 'maximum' potential."

"Bardock, you haven't rate yourself," Fasha pointed out.

Shugesh chuckled. "Yeah. Let's see how powerful our fearless leader has become."

"I'll do the honors," Tora said as he tapped on his scouter. It beeped several times. His eyes widened and let out a loud whistle when he got the results. "Wow, Bardock, you've really up your game."

Fasha looked towards her comrade. "Well, don't leave us in suspense. What is it?"

Tora put his hand down. "Bardock has a power level well over five-thousand."

Everyone was surprised to hear that, except for Borgos who gave no visible reaction.

"Over five-thousand? You're kidding!" Shugesh exclaimed in shock.

Gine was left shaking.

A power level of over five-thousand? The average elite Saiyan chosen by the king had power levels around five to six-thousand, or at least as far as rumors goes. If Bardock was really that high, he could actually become an elite if he gained the king's attention. He definitional met the threshold.

It was unheard of. She knew that a medium class Saiyan could become an elite since those were the ones who caught the king's attention. But a lower class Saiyan was lucky to be reclassified as a low class. She only knew of two who became medium class.

"Not surprising," Borgos suddenly spoke, startling her. She had forgotten that he was there again. "Bardock has been fighting and nearly getting himself killed in many battles. Naturally, he would become much stronger."

Tora snickered. "True. I can count on my hand how many battles Bardock actually walked away from."

Bardock glared at Tora.

"It will be hard for the higher ups to ignore such a high battle power," Fasha said before smiling at her commander. "Maybe you will finally be recognized."

"One can only hope," Bardock replied as he pressed something on his scouter. "Sending the power levels reports over now."

Tora did the same.

"Now, with all that out of the way, let's get to training," Bardock ordered.

For over three hours, they trained. Most were teamwork exercises made to strengthen their bonds and get Gine up to speed with everyone. In a crew, trust was essential. One wouldn't survive long if one couldn't trust the person next to them.

Despite Gine's misgivings, she was finding herself trusting the others to watch her back as Bardock mercilessly pelt them with energy blasts that could melt metal. So far, they didn't seem to know what she was, which was probably why they were even working with her. She had to keep watch if any of that changed.

"Watch yourself!" Tora warned as he knocked her out of the path of an incoming energy blast.

Shugesh charged Bardock and engaged him in combat. The bigger Saiyan put up a fierce fight, but Bardock was simply more skilled and strong. Within only a few seconds, he knocked Shugesh aside.

Fasha used that moment to attempt to kick Bardock in the head, but he easily evaded her.

"You have to use more stealth than that if you want to catch me off-guard," Bardock scolded as he viciously kicked Fasha in the stomach, knocking the air out of her.

"Move in now!" Tora ordered as he and Borgos rushed in.

Bardock was so focused on them that he missed Shugesh who suddenly kicked his legs from under him, causing him to stumble.

Within seconds, Tora and Borgos had Bardock subdued on the floor.

"Looks like we win this round," Tora teased as he sat on Bardock's chest.

Bardock grunted. "Looks like I was the one who was careless this time."

Gine wiped the sweat from her brow. "That was some nice teamwork."

"Of course it was," Fasha said. "We worked for years to harness our skills and know each other movements. I know what these guys are going to do even before they think about it and it's the same with me. We have to be this way if we want to survive."

Tora got off of Bardock's chest and helped his commander up. "Make no mistake, Gine, the only reason we became as strong as we are is because we helped each other."

Gine gave him a curious look.

"We were all born as lower class warriors. We had next to no fighting potential and were written off as worthless. Trash they called us," Tora stated. His voice dropped and he sounded almost bitter. "They bunch us together and expected us to die on the battlefield like cannon fodder. But...we refused to let ourselves be killed."

"By working together and keeping one another alive, it allowed us to become stronger and gain experience we could never have on our own," Fasha explained further. "Through our teamwork, we broke each other's individual barriers."

Gine was left speechless.

Despite Saiyans being put into crews and told to work together, individuality was king. 'True' Saiyans fought alone. A romantic notion that was nearly impossible in practice unless one was extremely powerful. Very few Saiyans could challenge an entire planet unless it was one of the frontier worlds. Only the king and some of the elites could play the lone Saiyan take over the planet card without being blasted to hell or even wiping out their teams.

"You must also remember that the enemy we fight will use any means to destroy us," Shugesh spoke. "They'll use every dirty trick in the book and more, especially those rats with those self-destruction techniques. We need one another to watch each other back just in case one of our prey gets the better of us."

Gine nodded in understanding. "Yeah. I know more than a few who got on the bad end of one of those. The most dangerous people are those who have nothing to lose."

Not that she could blame them. If there was no chance for victory and the enemy was going to kill you and your entire family regardless if you surrender, why not take as many of your murderers with you to Hell. Give them as much grief as possible so they would always remember you. That's what she would do if she were facing certain death.

"That's enough practice for today," Bardock said. "Same time tomorrow."

Everyone nodded as they began to file out of the room.

"Gine, stand behind," Bardock suddenly ordered.

Gine inwardly groaned, but kept an impartial expression.

Bardock waited until everyone left before addressing her. "I want to give you some private lessons."

This surprised her. "Why?"

"I want to be ensure that you're ready when we head back into the field," Bardock answered. "As I said before, you're only as strong as your weakest link. You're the weakest, so I need make sure you're at least capable."

Gine's eye twitched. "Why would you care? If I die in battle, you won't have to deal with my dead weight."

Bardock folded his arms. "True, but I know that's exactly what those guys want."

Her eyes widened in shock.

"Despite how I may look, I'm not dumb, nor am I naive," Bardock said, amused by her reaction. "Those monkeys at the top didn't send you to my team to pissed me off like I originally through. They did it so you will get killed since we're the team who are willingly take highly dangerous missions on the front lines. A softy like you will die on your first assignment."

Gine stared at him. He didn't have to say it that bluntly. But...he was even more insightful than she thought. He's just full of surprises.

"Must be tough," he said with an air sympathy. "So many people want you dead because you're a reject. A relic from a past we all want to forget."

Gine turned her head. "As I asked before, why do you care? Rather I live or die is no concern of yours."

"Simple, I don't want you to die because if I do, I'll be given those guys what they want," Bardock said before grinning. "What better way to pissed those uppity elites off than keeping a reject they want dead alive." His grinned got bigger. "It'll drive them crazy."

Gine chuckled, but there was no humor behind it. "So, that's why. You're concern about me because you want to thumb your nose at the higher ups. I shouldn't have expected any less."

"Exactly," Bardock said.

Either he didn't hear her sarcasm or he didn't care. She bet it was the latter.

"I have mix feelings. Being kept alive just so my commander can stroke his own ego doesn't sit well with me," Gine stated before giving a deep sigh. "At the same time, if my commander having an oversize ego keeps me alive, who am I to criticize."

Bardock smirked when he heard that. "You maybe a softy, but you're a still a Saiyan at heart."

She almost wanted to say that she always been a Saiyan at heart regardless what others thought of her. A desire to massacre shouldn't be want made a Saiyan a Saiyan.

But she knew not to speak such things. Bardock may be a radical in his own way, but he was still very much a typical Saiyan. He lived for battle and bloodlust. The only real different between him and other Saiyans was his ambition. His desired to be more than what the tests told him he would be, while most Saiyans were content with whatever class they were placed in.

Rather she liked it or not, she had to stay on his good side. She may have scrapped by in small conflicts here and there on her other crews, but she would be eating alive on the front lines. It was only by a wing and a pray that she survived that one time at the front. She doubted she would get that lucky again.

She inwardly sighed in resignation.

"Let's get to work," Bardock ordered. "By the time I'm finished with you. I'll bump your power level to three-fifty."

It was going to be a long month.


Bardock nearly collapsed into his chair in exhaustion. He stretched his sore muscles as he took in his surroundings.

The apartment was small with only a bedroom and a living area, but that was common for a lower class fighter. One didn't need a lot of space when you were away for years at a time and was hardly home even when on the planet. It suited his needs.

And it was an upgrade from those crowded holes they used to live in when the Truffles still existed. Although he was born after the Truffle War ended, he saw their old living areas. He didn't see how the Saiyans could take living so closed to each other. Must have driven them crazy.

He closed his eyes and sighed.

It's been a long month, but it was almost over. By tomorrow morning, they would finally be heading off on their next assignment. It was about time, too. The boredom of this world was beginning to get to him. There was simply nothing to do here besides train and get drunk. He didn't see how some could spend their entire lives on the planet. If it was him, he would have killed himself years ago.

But he couldn't begrudge those who chose to stay on the planet. They were the ones who made sure everyone was feed by going out into the unforgiving wilderness to hunt and prepare food. Given how much they could eat, it couldn't be an easy job.

At the same time, it wasn't his problem. He was a warrior and a warrior needed to fight. He tended to become extreme cranky when he didn't fight for a long time. Training and sparring didn't count since he couldn't kill the person he was battling. Especially since he has been training Gine.

Bardock's eyes narrowed at the mentioned of that name.

Fighting Gine was like sparring with a kid. He had to always hold back to make sure he didn't accidently kill her. It's been a long time since had someone so...fragile on his crew. He was beginning to wonder if he could keep alive.

Gine had absolutely no talent for battle whatsoever. She didn't have the killing intent or cruelty needed to be a warrior. The only thing she was good for was acting as a distraction since she was hard to hit. Speed certainly wasn't one of her weaknesses. He had never met someone so physically weak, yet so fast that he could barely keep up.

He sighed again.

Maybe he could use her as a scout or someone to draw the enemy's attention from the rest of the crew. Putting her on the front lines with them would certainly led to her death. Either that or he had to stay away from high-risk missions and just do the trash jobs until she leaves.

Damn it all.

Not only did those stuck up higher-class monkeys refused to acknowledge the success of him and his crew, but they also stick them with a reject just so they could get her off their hands. If they despised the rejects so much, why force them into the army to begin with? They could do something more useful like staying on the planet to hunt, prepare food, or even worked in the medical field so they didn't have to depend on Frieza's doctors to patched them up.

Annoyingly Gine couldn't do those things, at least not yet. A Saiyan, unless under special exception, had to serve at least twenty-five years as part of the Saiyan Army before they could even considered retiring from the battlefield. And even then, you couldn't leave unless the commander said so.

Needless to say, very few Saiyans ever made it to retirement.

It was a stupid law since most Saiyans wouldn't retire even if given the option. Many like him planned to die on the battlefield, not stay put until they die of old age. What a lousy, disgusting way to go.

Gine, on the other hand, would be of great used if she remained on Planet Vegeta. They needed more Saiyans on the planet to keep up with the daily running, which was completely understaffed, and it was an utter waste to send people like Gine to their deaths.

…Well, there's no point in complaining. Gine only had to serve two more years and he would definition recommend her for retirement. He had no loved for rejects, but there was no point keeping dead weight longer than needed. It would also work as good, petty revenge against those elites.

Well, that was enough thinking about her.

He reached for his computer and checked on what their next assignment was. Hopefully it was a place with heavy fighting. With the Frieza Force rapidly expanding into new territories, even the supposed dead jobs have been interesting lately.

After several minutes of reading, he gave a wolfish grin. Looked like they would be seeing some heavy action soon. They've been assigned to purge Planet Cornera in the Delta Galaxy. That was about a three weeks' travel from here.

He heard that was a difficult region. Most of the inhabitants knew how to used energy attacks and were somewhat technically advance. They also knew that Frieza had his eye on them for quiet some time, so they would be prepared for an invasion.

Perfect. Finally some excitement. He didn't know how his crew got such an assignment, but he really didn't care. He just hoped Gine was ready for some heavy action.

He blinked.

Why the hell did his thoughts go back to Gine? He never cared if a new member got to see a lot of action on their first assignment. Sure, he hadn't had a new member in years, but that's hardly the point. Gine was a Saiyan. She could take care of herself.

He's been around her for too long. It seemed almost every other thought in his mind was about her lately. It was starting to get on his nerves.

He turned off his computer and decided to head for bed. They would be leaving in a few hours and even though they would be in suspending sleep throughout the trip, it wasn't the same as real sleep. He was going to enjoy his time sleeping in a real bed while he could.


Frieza stared out into the void of space through the glass window of his room. He sat comfortably in his hover chair as the soft hums of his space ship reached his ears. He barely paid attention to his underling who read out the latest reports on his ever-expanding empire.

"And we have recently taking Planet Tota. We are in the process of converting it into Planet Frieza No. 52."

Frieza hummed in disinterest.

"My lord, is something bothering you?" the soldier asked in his most humble voice. He knew he had to trend carefully otherwise he risked angering his lord. If he did that, he was as good as dead. To say that his lord's temper could be volatile at times was an understatement. Many men lost their lives just for walking in on his lord when he was in a particularly bad mood.

Frieza didn't speak.

The soldier mentally went back and forward about whether he should pressed the issue. If Lord Frieza was in deep thought, it was best to give his leave.

"I have been hearing some disturbing rumors lately," Frieza suddenly spoke, startling his underling.

"Rumors, sire?" the soldier questioned.

"There are rumors going around lately about a suppose prophecy. A prophecy that speaks of my demise and the fall of my empire," Frieza stated, not turning his eyes from the window.

"Sounds like a superstitious fairytale," the soldier answered, carefully trying to gauged his lord's response. "Something natives make up to give themselves hope since they know they will meet their end by your hand, my lord. A force such of yourself has no equal in the universe outside of your father."

"I would agree, but this feels...different. And even if these are falsehoods, I despise that anyone would have the nerve to speak about my suppose demise," Frieza said as he turned his hover chair towards his underling. His normally cold red eyes were blazing with fury. "I want you to find the source of these rumors."

"Sire?" the soldier questioned.

"If the people spreading these lies are doing so to give hope to others, what better way to crush their spirits then by destroying the source of that hope," Frieza said before smiling. "We will make an example out of them."

The soldier returned the smile. "I see. Good forward thinking as usual, my lord. I will have our scouts on it immediately. We will make those fools regret ever uttering such blasphemy against you."

Frieza turned his hover chair away from his underling. "But enough about that. There is another pressing issue that needs to be dealt with. Namely, the Saiyans."

This got the soldier's attention. "The Saiyans, sir?"

"I have been getting reports that they have been becoming quite powerful lately. The one that stands out the most is the report from Planet Bean," Frieza stated.

"Ah, that fiasco," the soldier said in disgust. "We wouldn't have needed the Saiyans if our scouts hadn't so badly mucked up the intel. But they have been dealt with."

"That does not change the fact that a small group of Saiyans succeeded where the Frieza Force failed. That tells me one or two things. One, that the Frieza Force's standards have severely decline or two, the Saiyan's forces have grown so powerful that they rival those of my own army," Frieza said in a low voice.

The soldier hummed in thought. "It is possible that our standards have been slipping lately. We've been expanded so much over the last few years that we've been allowing almost anyone with even remote fighting talent to join our ranks. We can have Zarbon and Dodoria personally look into this matter."

"While you do that, keep your eyes on the Saiyans. They are not to be trusted," Frieza spoke in a deceitful calm voice.

The soldier thought carefully about what he was going to say. He was putting his life on the line for a bunch of monkeys, but he felt it needed to be spoken. "Sire, the Saiyans are hardly any danger to you and they have been serving us loyally for over two decades. Even if they did get it into their minds to rebel, you can wipe them out with wave of your finger."

Frieza stared at him from the side of his eye and he feared that his life would end at that very moment. "That maybe true, but it is always best to side with caution on such things. The Saiyans are a prideful and somewhat stupid species who dislike others given them orders, especially their king. But I suppose that is to be expected from them. At the end of the day, the Saiyans are still little more than overgrown monkeys." He turned his eyes back towards the window. "For their sake, however, I do hope they smarting up. Despite their shortcomings, they do have true fighting talent. Some of the best I have ever seen."

The soldier smirked. "And you always have a soft spot for talent, my lord."

Frieza laughed, somewhat lighting the mood. "I liked to think of myself as a collector of sorts. Being force to destroy such unique fighting talent is like being force to burn a one of a kind piece of art. Finding and harnessing truly great warriors in this universe is like finding a blue star. I want to avoid destroying such wonderful talent if possible."

"I understand completely, my lord," the soldier bowed. "I will make the necessary arrangements."

With that, he left the room, leaving his lord to his thoughts.


Our favorite tyrant finally makes his official appearance in the story. Did I ever mention that I love writing Frieza. There is just something about him that makes his dialog and thoughts fun to write. There is nothing like getting into the mind of a truly evil person and seeing how they tick. Outside of Frieza we also get some real development between Gine and Bardock. This has been the hardest part for me since I don't normally write romance and I am trying to make their progression feel natural.

Next chapter, we get into some real action, so stay tune.