Chapter 4: Exodus
Destruction. Senseless, unfounded, and unmitigated destruction. It surrounded me on all sides like an all-encompassing weight that seemed to be squeezing the life from my being. The smoldering ruins of my kin's homes seemed to add an other-worldly haze that seemed to befuddle my mind. Wandering around aimlessly through the smoke and portrait of carnage I found myself trapped in, it seemed to me that there was no way this nightmare could be real.
It had come without warning: the invasion. Like a cyclone that forms and suddenly wipes out the harvest, the invasion was unpredictable and violent. In an instant, a large group of ki signatures that belonged to my brethren had been erased, leaving a gaping hole in my mind. Their presences were gone, never to return. It was a strange feeling, having something you had been able to feel and grasp onto suddenly yanked away from you. It's cliché, but you really don't appreciate something until it's gone, and now that the emptiness caused by my people's death is gnawing in the back of my consciousness I can't help but remember how…comfortable it was knowing that they were there. Now? All I could feel was a vast emptiness where my kin used to be and that is all that will ever be there now.
There was only one thought in my head as the lights of my brothers' spirits were snuffed out of existence. Why had these…murderers come? What could they possibly hope to gain from this unwarranted slaughter? We were a simple, agricultural culture. We did not possess great wealth, or even the resources to obtain wealth. Nor did we have access to sophisticated technology or even really great minds to produce anything that could possibly be beneficial to these foreigners. It was clear that they didn't want to enslave us and simply use us for menial tasks of physical labor. They massacred anyone they seemed to stumble upon.
In the back of my mind though, I knew what they had come for. Our artifacts. The symbols of our past glory, before the Great Storm. Before that cataclysm, our people had been sought from all over the universe because of their unprecedented knowledge and wisdom. We were renowned throughout the galaxy and we even possessed some of the more advanced technology of the day. That all changed, though, after the Storm. An extinction event if there ever was one. Not even the plant life was able to escape its destructive power, and our once beautiful planet was reduced to nothing more than a barren wasteland with a population of one. But with the new Father of our people, we managed to claw back from the brink of extinction, and we are finally managing to bring back the planet to its former beauty. The Grand Elder had created the Dragon Balls in order to represent the goal we were striving for, to remind of us of the virtues that we must strive to exemplify. Wisdom. Patience. Righteousness. Understanding. Kindness. Respect. Mercy. These qualities were what defined the Namekians of old and it is what each of us strived for now. That's what the seven artifacts meant to us; it wasn't the fact that when gathered all together the almighty dragon, Porunga, would appear and grant the person that had awakened him 3 wishes. They were a representation of our previous civilization and a beacon of hope for what we hoped to become.
Of course, these narrow-minded intruders could not possibly comprehend what those 7 orange globes meant to us. They can only see them as mere tools for them to gain more power, something that will reward their own selfish desires. As is the case with all things driven by greed, a path of destruction followed after them as the invaders did anything within their power to grasp the orbs in their claws. They massacred their way to the prize they so desperately sought, and as a result my people were murdered by the dozens. Now…only two of us remained.
In a way, this sudden invasion was like the Great Storm. This calamity is even more devastating to us than even that horrific event, though. Unlike that freak incident of nature, this heinous crime was committed by other sentient beings. Even if our race did somehow survive this tragedy, how could we ever go back to believing in the ideals that defined our race? If anything, this event has proven to me that the universe is not the same way it once was. Kindness has been replaced with cruelty. Compassion has been deposed by hatred and heartlessness. Instead of things being about the greater good, it seemed these conquerors were only driven by what was best for them. Their morals had been so corrupted that they viewed the annihilation of an entire species as an acceptable method to obtain their goals.
Our people were founded on the basis that all people were good and that we should strive to be the most virtuous of them all. Were we simply naïve? Are people inherently evil? Is that why the Grand Elder set up our society to be isolated from the rest of space after we had begun to recover from the Great Storm? Our ideals seem to have been cast away by the rest of the universe. How tainted are the hearts of the other beings of the galaxy now? Are these ruthless scoundrels the exception or the consensus? It didn't really matter, though, because whether we were one of the last societies that valued themselves as being virtuous or simply one of thousands, there was now one less of those civilizations left in the universe.
That much was clear to me as my knees fell to the ground, my brain not even registering the sound of their connection with the ground or even the slight pain I felt from the fall. No, there was only a numbness that seemed to fill my entire being as I stared at the horrific sight before me.
Lying motionless before me were the mangled, mutilated bodies of two of the younglings of our race. Their tiny, fragile forms were completely torn to shreds by what seemed to have been ki blasts that ripped through their chests. Hot tears began to slowly drip down my cheeks as my hand lightly grazed across one of their bodies, and a painful realization dawned on me. They had been slain by ki blasts while they were attempting to flee. They had not even faced their murderer; he had been too cowardly to even give them that tiny shred of dignity.
A tremor shook the terrain as my fist slammed angrily against the ground. What kind of monster butchered mere children, even when they were running away? Not even the innocence of children was sacred to these…animals. Did their greed know no bounds? Were these the true actions that our artifacts brought out in people? The worst of them, that they were willing to slaughter even children just to gain the power of the Eternal Dragon.
It didn't really matter, though, in the end. It was much more of a crime that these sprouts had been cut down before they even had a chance to reach their prime. Regardless of how or why they were killed, they were gone. It seemed that not even younglings could avoid becoming casualties in this slaughter. The sight of these two slain children seemed to be a terrible omen to me. Telling me that our race was simply doomed this time, and unlike after the Great Storm, there would be no recovery this time. It was truly the extinction event for us.
Forcing myself to stand, I began the solemn process of burying my fallen kin. They at least deserved some respect in death, even if they had not received it when they had been slain. There were several small explosions as I carved out graves with beams of ki from my eyes. After finishing my work, there now were five holes in the middle of the village's square and I set about the mindless task of carefully placing each of the dead into his new resting place.
My body seemed to act on its own volition as my mind seemed to be filled with air while I carefully picked up the lifeless form of one of the younglings. Not even time seemed to pass as one by one the bodies of my brethren where laid to rest. After completing the task, I stood absentmindedly above the graves unsure of what to do next. Should some final words be said before they were given to the ground forever? I couldn't help but feel grossly inadequate for the task. This was more of the Grand Elder's area of expertise since he was the wisest of our race, but it seemed that now this duty had been left to me. There weren't really any other options now.
Unsure of what to say however, I decided that it was best to wait until after they had been fully buried to say the final rites. It would give me some time to decide what would be adequate enough to say. Many potential ideas swirled around in my head as I used my hands to scoop dirt to cover my kin's corpses. Again, it seemed as if my spirit had been transported to another reality. Nothing seemed real. The dirt in my hands. The obliterated village surrounding me. The corpses beneath me. It was all so surreal, but as the final plod of dirt was placed onto the last mound it was as if reality came crashing back down on me. This nightmare was no nightmare at all; it was simply reality.
"Rest in peace, brothers," I muttered aloud over the five graves. "I apologize. I wasn't here when you required my assistance. I…failed you all."
A lump formed in my throat as my eyes tried to bore holes into the freshly dug crypts. It took me awhile to regain the capability to speak, as a torrent of emotions seemed to overcome me in that moment. It was as if all the emotions I should have felt while actually seeing the dead Elders and younglings carelessly left to rot in the open suddenly hit me like a tidal wave. Sorrow, Despair, Disgust, and finally…Anger. That was the one that suddenly consumed the core of my being as my fists clenched and my teeth grinded together.
"I swear, though," I began as my own blood began to stream from my palms as I prepared to make my oath. "I vow to avenge you. Not just the five of you, but all of our murdered brethren that were massacred by these devils. No rest shall be given to me until this vow is fulfilled; this I swear to you all."
My voice echoed through the empty hamlet as if it was traveling to all the homes and informing them of my promise. In my mind, I could picture the reverberations of my voice being carried throughout the entire planet. Giving comfort to all of the dead souls that were so brutally killed. Letting them know that they would be avenged and that justice would be brought to the people responsible.
Turning away from the newly created graveyard, my heart began to pull on me to return to my post. While it had been the Grand Elder who had sent me here, I had not put up much resistance to remain at his side. Ever since the invasion had begun, a desire to confront the foreigners had burned deep inside of me. As the strongest member of the Warrior Clan, was it not my responsibility not only to protect the Grand Elder but also all of the other vulnerable members of our race? Unrest had overcome me as I stood watch over the leader of our people until finally he gave me leave to come to Elder Moori's village.
Now, though, it was time to return to my true duty. If we were the last two surviving Nameks, there was hope as long as Grand Elder Guru still lived. He had led our people through one great tragedy; there was no doubt in my mind that he could lead us through yet another if I could just prevent him from being butchered by these monsters. It was up to me to keep the hope of our race alive. I would not fail.
As I prepared to blast into the sky to head back to the Grand Elder's home, though, something suddenly caught my eye. A bright glow appeared in my peripheral vision. Turning to confront it, surprise grabbed hold of me when the white aura of energy that I had spotted began to nose-dive out of the sky directly towards my position. Expecting the worst, my body tightened as I braced myself for a potential battle with one of the invaders.
"Bring it on," I growled, as the aura grew larger as it moved closer towards me.
To my surprise, however, the warrior that the translucent blaze belonged to did not stop his flight in front of me. No, instead he went sailing overhead in an out-of-control spiral and crashed into one of the homes behind me. Whipping my head around to try and keep an eye on my opponent, I was met with an explosion of dirt and debris along with a loud bang as one of my people's building erupted upon collision with the invader.
Almost in a daze, my body quickly made its way to the crash site. A stunning site met me there after making my way through the smoke. Inside of a small crater lay a short man with spiky, black hair wearing the same armor as the rest of the invaders that had assaulted our planet. This one's armor was cracked and splintered, though. He was also clearly unconscious.
A dozen questions quickly entered through my mind as my gaze resided on the broken and battered warrior. Who was he? Where did he come from? Had he been one of the people to attack our villages? Had it been another Namekian that had put him into this state?
No. I knew the answer to that one. This man's ki signature had been much too high for any other member of the Warrior Clan to be able to defeat him, much less leave him in his current state.
That simply brought up even more questions that required answers. If a Namekian hadn't done this much damage to him, then who did? Was he with the other invaders or was he some sort of rebel or deserter? Did he sympathize with our plight or simply despise his superiors? Despite all of these questions though, there was one that seemed to override all other in my mind.
What do I do with him?
Do I leave him here? If that was my course of action, then he more than likely would die here. Simply one more death that this place would see. But would that be justified? He was wearing the attire of the invaders. It was quite possible that he could have been responsible for some of the deaths that occurred in this village and in the others. Did he deserve to die?
No. There was no evidence that would condemn him to death. There were not enough facts for me to be able to judge what his fate would be at that moment. I'm not wise enough to make such decisions. There was one, though, that was. The Grand Elder would know what should be done with this alien. He would know what the best course of action was.
Slinging the foreigner over my shoulder, my own aura sprung to life as I took to the sky. It was time to head back to my home and see what the Grand Elder wished me to do. Were we to attempt to strike back against the invaders? Flee so that we could live to fight another day? Or simply wait for the end to come and find us like it had the rest of our race? I had a feeling that the last choice had the greatest probability of occurring. I knew one thing, though: many of the invaders would fall at my hands before I succumbed to death's cold embrace.
Panic. It had thrown my mind into chaos as it slowly spread its poison through my entire being. All of my thoughts had been transformed into those of worry for the well-being of the Grand Elder as my body quickly moved through the door of his home. The body of the blacked-out foreigner was tossed carelessly to the floor without even a single thought as I quickly moved to the platform that would allow me access to the second level of the building.
What had thrown me into such a panic? It was thought that I had failed in my duty to protect the Grand Elder. That my desire to fight against the invaders had caused me to forsake my assigned task for the possibility of gaining some vengeance against the murderers of my kin had allowed our race's only hope to be killed as well.
The flight back from Moori's village had been quiet. My mind was still preoccupied with the humanoid that was my passenger and what his story possibly was. Those thoughts had managed to keep me entertained the entire trip back to the spire. So much so that I hadn't even been able to sense it until I came into view of the Grand Elder's home.
My heart had stopped in that instance. Right at the moment when my eyes had seen another blazing aura off in the distance…flying in the other direction.
Panic had immediately seized hold of me and my velocity accelerated rapidly as I rushed to check on the Grand Elder. Immediately my senses had reached out to the see if the Grand Elder's life force was still present and it was. It was extremely faint, though, and I was unsure of whether he was slowly dying from an intruder's attack or if he was simply weak from the encounter. I didn't know, which only drove me to arrive faster.
Then my intention had been turned towards the aura that was quickly fading over the horizon. It was dark and powerful. A quick estimate showed that he was in similar terms of power as the man on my back. This was someone the Grand Elder would not have been able to even attempt to resist if forced into battle. Even if he hadn't been sickly, there was no way he would have been able to stave off this invader for long.
Guilt had then begun to also pervade through my soul. It was my fault that Guru had been thrown into this situation. If I had been there, this trespasser would have been dealt with quickly. His power was nothing when compared to mine. I would have crushed him. However, my desire to run off and abandon my primary responsibility had allowed this heathen to waltz in do who knows what to the Grand Elder. And it was all because of my irresponsibility and impatience.
Now I was here, scrambling through the Grand Elder's home in a panicked frenzy as my body rushed to the platform. To my surprise, there was a giant hole in the ceiling above me. Clearly, it had been created by a ki blast. Impatient, ignorant fool! That barbarian! Instead of simply using the platform that would easily take him to where the Grand Elder resided, he couldn't wait that long. No, he had to make a grand, violent entrance and obliterated the floor! These invaders disgusted me.
Since the platform had been destroyed by the brute's blast, I was forced to fly through the hole to reach the Grand Elder. Setting down at the edge of the cavity, my spirit was put to rest—somewhat—as my eyes set sight on my charge. He seemed to be unharmed, slightly tired, but nothing that seemed to be life threatening.
"Nail," said the Grand Elder in his low, soothing voice. Just the sound of him speaking my name seemed to put me at ease. As if all of the horrors that I had just seen and anxiety that had overcome me meant nothing anymore. "I see that you have returned from your expedition. Did you manage to find any survivors?"
"No, Grand Elder," I admitted as my knee hit the floor and my head bowed before my leader. "There were no survivors from the attack on Elder Moori's village."
"As I feared," Guru said as he shifted his giant form slightly. It appeared he was somewhat agitated by something. "I have my suspicions that none of my children except for you remained, Nail."
"I had the same fear, Grand Elder. I just don't want to believe it," I confessed. Suddenly, my brain began to work again and my concerns arose once again. That's right! Wasn't there just an invader here? Why was the Grand Elder pretending like nothing had occurred here!?
"Grand Elder, are you harmed?" I asked. "I noticed the invader leaving here as I made my way back. Do you wish me to pursue him?"
"No, I am not hurt. Thank you for your concern, Nail. Also, there is no reason for you pursue Zarbon. It is not necessary. Besides, he is probably too far gone now for you to be able to catch him in time."
A puzzled expression formed on my face as I lifted my head to look at the Grand Elder. It was then that I noticed the glaring absence of one certain shiny orb that usually resided above Guru's head.
"Where is the One-Star Dragon Ball!?" I exclaimed as my body leapt to its feet. "Did the intruder steal it? If so, why do you wish for me not to try and regain possession of it? If they have the ball that resided here, than they more than likely have possession of all seven!"
"Calm yourself, Nail," instructed the Grand Elder, motioning with his hand to tell me to settle down. However, I ignored him and continued on my tirade.
"This is my fault entirely. I should have never left you here by yourself. Of course someone would be able to find this place eventually, and I left you here unprotected! I've failed you, Guru! I… I'm sorry."
"You haven't failed me, my child," said the Grand Elder before sighing somewhat. "If you recall, it was I that sent you away."
"I should have refused, though!" I shouted before both of my knees slammed to the floor and I bowed at the older Namek's feet. "It's my responsibility to protect you, and because of my selfish desire, I allowed you to be here vulnerable while an enemy came and stole the Dragon Ball from us."
"My child, you did exactly as I desired you to. There is no reason for you to apologize. For you see, I knew that the invader was moving in this direction and that it was only a matter of time until he discovered me here."
My head turned up and my expression once again transformed into one of puzzlement as my eyes bore into the stoic face of the Grand Elder. He seemed completely at ease, like everything was all right with one of the people responsible for the destruction of our family walking into his home. From what he said and how he looked now, if anything, he simply seemed disappointed. Not in me, though, but in the intruder.
"What are you saying, Guru?"
The Father of my race sighed before answering my question. "I knew that Zarbon—yes, that was the intruder's name—was coming here. I welcomed his coming and I sent you away so that you would not stop him. I knew that you would not understand my plan and you would never accept it."
"What are you talking about, Grand Elder?" I desperately pleaded. Confusion was all that I felt as my charge admitted that he didn't wish for me to protect him.
"I was hoping that he would kill me during his attempt to steal the Dragon Ball," Guru stated flatly.
I was stunned into silence from the eldest Namek's proclamation. Crawling backwards in stunned disbelief I was shocked to see that the Grand Elder was completely serious. He had wanted this invader to murder him. But why? Had he given up all hope? Did even he belief there was no hope for our race? That this was truly the end for us?!
"Why?" I croaked. "Don't you realize that you're the last hope for us, Grand Elder?! You survived the Great Storm! You managed to lead our people through that calamity! Why do you to dash our people's hopes for a new beginning now? Have you really given up!?"
"I'm sorry, Nail, but I'm afraid I am not capable of leading our people through this tragedy," admitted Guru. "As you know, I am not well. I would only guess that I have a few more days to live. It is inevitable. I would not have been able to weather this storm. You know this to be true."
"Yes, but why die now!" I exclaimed as I jumped to my feet as anger began to fill my being. "We still need you, Grand Elder! You can't abandon us yet!"
"Nail, it is because of me that these invaders are here. They arrived here for the Dragon Balls that I created. My hope was that the intruder would kill me as he attempted to take the Dragon Ball. Since I am the creator of the Dragon Balls, they would become inert upon my death, and I would be able to deny the sadistic leader of these aliens from gaining his wish for immortality. It was the very least that I could do. My people would not die in vain simply for a mad man to gain the power to torment the universe for eternity. I would not allow that."
Silence hung over the two of us as the Grand Elder finished his explanation and I found myself incapable of speech. It made sense to me now, even though I disagreed with the Elder's plan. He simply wanted the same thing as me: to resist against the invaders… it was just in his own idealistic way.
"I see that this Zarbon didn't kill you, though," I said. "I understand why you would wish to deny this monster his wish, but why not simply wait until you died of natural causes? You said yourself that your time was drawing near."
"Indeed, but by then it would too late. Even with your impressive fighting ability, Nail, you would not have stood a chance against this Frieza character. His power is truly impressive from what I have sensed and seen in Zarbon's memories. He would have eventually found us and ripped the Dragon Ball from us and been able to gain his wish before I died naturally. I did not wish for that to happen."
"As you noted, though, the intruder did not slay me during his theft of the Dragon Ball. I underestimated his cruelty there. He wished for me to die with the knowledge that I had failed to protect my people and to suffer until I died naturally. However, I did manage to gain much of Zarbon's knowledge for when we touched I gained access to all of his memories. Using his own thoughts against him, I managed to persuade him so that he would rebel and use the Dragon Balls for his own selfish reasons."
"Why would you do that, Grand Elder? Why would it be better for this villain—and not this Frieza—to gain the power of Porunga? It seems to me that the universe would suffer from both of these men having that kind of power in their grasp."
"Indeed, Nail. Neither Zarbon nor Frieza deserve or should have immortality. However, if both of them are vying for the wishes, than it will take both of them longer to be able to gain possession of all seven and use the wishes since they will thwart each other's attempts to summon Porunga. It should be enough to stall for us to make our next move."
My ears perked up at the Grand Elder's words and I moved closer in anticipation. I was anxious to hear what the wise Elder Namek's plan was. "What is our strategy, Grand Elder? What are we stalling for?"
He did not speak for several moments, and I could feel myself unconsciously leaning forward as I waited for the Grand Elder to reveal to me his master plan. Finally, with a heave of his massive form, Guru spoke.
"I wish to merge with you Nail."
The eldest Namek paused for a moment as he looked down at me. I was completely frozen. My mouth wouldn't move and my muscles weren't responding. The suggestion was just so…startling. All of my life, I had heard of the forbidden technique of our people. The one that was to never be used under any circumstances. Along with the lesson had been the story of the Super Nameks who had used the merging ritual to gain power; however, they had been corrupted by a thirst for power that was unnatural for the Nameks. They had been banished from the planet and ever since then the ritual had been taboo. For Guru to suggest such a thing when he himself was the one that had witnessed what had happened because of the use of the technique was just…unheard of. It was beyond comprehension.
"Guru…" I muttered as I tried to shake off my shock. "That technique, though. It is forbidden."
"Yes, I realize that," he calmly stated. "However, it is the only option left to us in order to thwart Frieza's plan and ensure that he does not receive his wish. If I merge with you, then the Dragon Balls will become inert and no one will ever be able to use their power for evil again."
"But…your consciousness will cease to exist," I stated as my eyes attempted to hold back tears and my voice cracked. "If I agree, then you'll be gone forever."
"No, not entirely. I will continue to live on through you, my child," said Guru with a warm smile. "Now come closer; I sense that not much time will remain for us after we complete the ritual."
Hesitantly, I inched towards the form of the eldest Namek. My mind was still screaming at me to not allow the Grand Elder to sacrifice himself in this manner, but it seemed my body had decided to obey my father's command. Slowly, I raised my hand and placed it upon his chest as a stream of tears began to flow from my eyes.
"Do not be sad, my child," he stated, still smiling at me. Encouraging me to go through with the unthinkable. "This is for the best. There is one thing that I would ask of you before we begin. Please, allow the Saiyan that you brought here with you the chance to redeem himself."
"What do you mean?" I asked, not quite comprehending exactly what the Grand Elder was talking about.
"You will understand in a moment," was all that he would say for an answer. "Now, let us begin."
As Guru finished speaking, a bright white light suddenly seemed to explode from my palm and consume the entire room in its rays. My eyes perceived nothing other than the light and I was forced to close my eyes as it threatened to blind me. As I closed my eyes, though, I felt something brush against my consciousness. Upon further examination, I discovered that this unknown presence had the same exact feel as the Grand Elder's energy signature.
A feeling of warmth and comfort overtook me. As if Guru were encouraging me to take the next step and embrace his presence into my own mind. With some hesitation still, I opened the barriers to my mind and was suddenly overwhelmed by a flood of an immeasurable amount of memories and knowledge that Guru possessed in his mind.
It was incredible the sheer amount of information that was suddenly at my disposal. All of the knowledge that the Grand Elder had collected during his time on Namek was suddenly racing before my inner eye and being absorbed into my consciousness. All of these new techniques and abilities that I had never even considered before suddenly seemed painfully obvious to me as they were revealed to me by Guru's vast bank of information.
Then poured in all of the memories of the Grand Elder. They flashed before my eyes in mere nano-seconds and yet somehow I was able to memorize and know everything that had occurred in them. I saw the time before the Great Storm, how Namek had looked back then. It was so beautiful; no words could be used to describe the scenic images shown to me by the Grand Elder. If I were ever to use the wishes from Porunga, it was clear to me what it would be. All three would be to live in that world which Guru's memories showed to me.
Then I bore witness to his struggling for survival during the time of the Great Storm. Stories had told of how absolutely devastating it had been, but none of them did it justice in the end. It was terrible beyond description and my heart yearned for the Grand Elder in ways in which it had never before. It had been incredibly lonely for him, being the only survivor of this terrible calamity. Even I was not sure if my willpower would have been enough to endure through such an ordeal.
After the Great Storm had passed, the images of Guru's slow rebuilding of our civilization were shown to me. Even I, his loyal bodyguard, had not been able to fully comprehend what it had taken for him to mold our people and planet into what it had been today. It was unbelievable how much strength he had shown as he struggled all alone to give birth to all the Nameks that I had ever known and attempted to restore our planet to its former glory. If I was able to harness a fraction of his strength, than there was no doubt in my mind that our people would be avenged.
'I implore you not to allow yourself to be consumed by such thoughts.'
Startled, I opened my eyes to find myself standing in what seemed to be a pure white room. Looking around, all I could see was white in every direction. Was this some sort of different dimension of existence? It was definitely no place that I had ever been to before.
'No, this is simply your inner mind, Nail. It is also where my conscious is now residing.'
Turning my head, I was shocked to see the form of Guru standing before. Not in his old and weary form, but in the form that I had seen in the memories that were presented before me. He was tall; in fact, he was the tallest Namekian I had ever seen before, and his entire body seemed to be made of muscle. He was the epitome of strength.
"What do you mean, Guru? What thoughts?" I questioned, but even as the words left my mouth it seemed as if his image was fading and my eyes suddenly snapped open.
Blinking several times, my eyes revealed the ceiling of the Grand Elder's home to me. Shaking my head and sitting up, I discovered that my body was lying on the floor before Guru's old chair. However, the familiar sight seemed to be very discomforting now without the presence of the Grand Elder himself there. His physical form seemed to have disappeared as his mind entered into my own.
Suddenly, a dark energy suddenly seemed to spike dramatically. I leapt to my feet upon the feeling, and using the memories that had just been passed to me, it was easy to deduce that this ki signature belonging to the Arcosian, Frieza. It was indeed terrible and powerful, even more so than I could feel in the memories that I had seen from both Guru and Zarbon.
There was no hope of victory against this kind of foe, at least for the moment. Again accessing memories from the Grand Elder's life, my body drifted into the empty throne and my fingers danced across the armrest causing a panel to suddenly appear.
It had been revealed to me that during the Great Storm, the Elder Nameks then had created spaceships in order to attempt to allow the younglings to escape the terrible event that would more than likely cause them their lives. Only one of these ships had been able to take off before the Storm had hit, though, stranding all of the other spacecraft on the planet. Only the Son of Katas had managed to escape the terrible tragedy and now again only one Namek was going to escape from a devastating event to our people.
However, that did not mean that none of the other spaceships had survived the Storm. No, in fact the Grand Elder's had survived and he had even used it to model the homes that all of the Namekians had lived in to this day. He, however, had continued to live in the spaceship that still remained on the launch site where he was scheduled to flee into space. It had been a reminder to Guru about the past and also a last resort in case a craft capable of space-travel was ever needed again. It was already on the launch pad and was primed for takeoff. All that was needed was for the ship to be turned on and for the password for lift off to be stated aloud…
"Piccolo!" I shouted and upon the pronunciation of the name the engines of the craft sprung to life. The pull of gravity on my body was enormous as the ship tore through the atmosphere of the planet as my exodus from my home began. I wasn't sure of where I was going but that didn't matter at the moment. Only one thing was now in my mind. The desire to see my home world for the last time.
Stepping down from the pilot's chair, I floated up to peer out of the window that was directly in front of me. Looking out of the porthole, a snarl escaped from my lips as I looked down. Already it was beginning. Frieza's wrath was being demonstrated at full force as large explosions began to dot the green surface of Namek staining it with red. He must have realized that his plan for immortality had been thwarted.
Anger rose up in me, and I gnashed my teeth together as I witnessed the slow destruction of my home. Frieza would pay for this. I would honor my oath to my fallen kin. No rest would be given to me until justice had been survived. It was my purpose…as the Last Namekian.
"Why?"
My ears pricked up at the sound of another voice and I turned my head to see the Saiyan weakly stagger below me before he collapsed to the floor. It had seemed he had finally woken up and managed to make his way upstairs.
Slowly descending, I landed only a few feet from the struggling Saiyan. Forcing his head up, the flame-haired man managed to stare into my own eyes with his onyx orbs and angrily mutter:
"Why did you save me? Why didn't you let me die?"
A blank expression came over me as I bent down so that my face was eye level with the man. Looking into his eyes, those unfeeling eyes, I understood what the Grand Elder had told me right before the ritual. It would be difficult, but I would do my best to fulfill my father's final request. A snarl formed on the Saiyan's face as I calmly said…
"Because you're going to be my guide on the path that leads to Frieza's destruction, Saiyan."
Thanks for reading the newest chapter of Zarbon's Rebellion! As you may have noticed, this was the first chapter that was not written from Zarbon's perspective. There will be several chapters that are in this manner that will help expand on things that Zarbon was not present for. For example, this chapter explained why the Dragon Balls went inert and showed that both Nail and Vegeta are still alive. Alright now question time!
Q: (Various comments about Guru feeling OOC)
A: Yes, I was a little concerned about that aspect. However, if you notice when Frieza shows up at his home in the show he is much more curt and brash with him then he is with the Earthlings and other Nameks. Hopefully this chapter provided a lot of insight into Guru's character. However, if you still have some questions about Guru than feel free to ask them. I'll be happy to answer them!
Q: It seems Zarbon looked over needing speak Namekian, though he has little reason to believe he would need to speak it.
A: Not really a question, but it is something I want to talk about. Yes, he didn't actually know that he would need to speak Namekian to actually get his wishes. The Namekian he murdered didn't fully trust him, and he knew that even if he did give Zarbon the password if he didn't keep him alive he wouldn't get any wishes anyways. Zarbon's not nearly as smart as he believes at times.
Q: It's becoming clear that your setting up a story where the protagonist is at least morally ambiguous. My question though is how you intend to keep people interested in Zarbon if they aren't supposed to be rooting for him. Do you want people personally to root for Zarbon winning his little rebellion (cough tantrum). And if not, what kind of reaction do you think is appropriate?
A: Yes, Zarbon is defiantly not going to be your typical "hero" in a story. My goal is to simply have people so intrigued in exactly HOW Zarbon is going to pull this off that it will keep them reading. Also, I believe that Zarbon has a very unique personality that I'm hoping readers will gravitate towards and make sort of a "likeable" character I guess you could say. A lot of people love bad boys, so I'm hoping people will sort of like to read about villains going up against villains. Zarbon can also be seen as the lesser of two evils when compared to Frieza so that's another thing that he has going for him.
Q: As a fan of using otherwise underutilized or (speaking a bit tongue in cheek) irrelevant characters, do you plan on Zarbon having other pivotal allies with the exception of Vegeta that have gotten very little screen time in DBZ? If so, will they be running on their own selfish agenda's or are they more ideologues that are more devoted to seeing the Arcosians fall under any terms. Or maybe none of these things.
A: Well, I believe this chapter helped answer one of your questions here with Nail clearly being set up for a bigger role in this universe. And he defiantly has a different agenda and ideology than Zarbon does. You know me though Phoenix, I can't help but use underutilized characters! Expect to see more in the future and there will be all sorts of motives involved in the story!
Q: While it is nice seeing Guru doing something, where's Nail? I kind of thought it would fit more if he was the one to stop him than the old man. The Grand Elder feeling pity? I guess someone has to do that since I know I won't for Zarbon since he was killing everyone. Zarbon is smarting up again and realizing that rebellion is pointless, but I have a feeling Guru is going to convince him otherwise. Though why is he doing this? Doesn't Guru realize that Zarbon is just going to kill his people if he does in fact get the wish? So why is he trying to convince Zarbon to get the wish himself? Or is there something that only Guru knows about that he noticed inside of the blue guy?
A: I believe all of these questions where pretty much answered by this chapter, Kaiser. If you're still wondering about some of them, then feel free to ask!
Q: I was a little confused about why the Dragon Balls are stone now? I thought that Zarbon didn't kill guru?
A: Well here's your answer! Chapter 4!
Again, thanks for reading guys. You guys are the best readers I could ever ask for. Also, unfortunately my usual Beta-Reader for the story, pointer39, has been sick lately so he was unable to edit this chapter. Fortunately, another one of my friends agreed to so shout out to LucifVegeta for doing a great job feeling in. Thanks for the help!
Q: (Various Comments wondering what will happen next along with statements having no idea what's going to happen next or how Zarbon can pull off a Rebellion.)
A: Glad to know I'm doing my job well! Guess you'll just have to see next chapter! I promise to get it out quickly!