Rise of the G-Fighters
Lake Superior
Disclaimer: I don't not own
Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z,
or Dragon Ball GT. They are all
properties of Akira Toriyama,
Funimation, and Toei Animation.
This is a non-profit, fan-based story.
Please enjoy and support the official
released materials of the Dragon Ball
franchise.
Chapter 6: Christening the ship!
Bardock's vision?!
It had been a week since the battle on Fungun. Froze was back up and about, and was training non-stop. Ever since the bio-gem had shattered and healed back up, he had been feeling stronger than ever. The training of course, was physical sparring only, as most ki techniques he and Bardock possessed would probably blow up the ship. When not training, he had taken time to get to know the crew. Ranch was particularly interesting.
He had sparred with her a few times and already she had revealed herself to be an incredible fighter. She was capable of holding her own against him and carrying on a casual conversation at the same time. Apparently the girl was a first cousin of Salza; the top warrior of Cooler's armored squadron. She was far gentler than her cousin. She loved fighting, but for fun, not life-or-death. "So why are you on this squadron?" Froze had asked. "My family's been impressed soldiers of the Cold family for generations." Ranch had replied. It figured those bastards would force a peace-loving girl like Ranch to fight. He wondered how many generations this had gone on. It was sad, really.
Bardock and Froze had spent time exchanging stories and building an actual friendship. According to Bardock, Frieza had personally blown up Planet Vegeta (And while astounding most crew on the ship, Froze thought it was a pretty "Frieza-ish thing to do), and that Frieza's attack had somehow sent him backwards in time. When Froze had asked how, Bardock simply shrugged and gave him a "Hell-If-I-Know" look. Bardock then gave him the rest of the story, how he defeated Lord Chilled, became a "Super Saiyan," and was returned to the present on Planet Fungun. When Froze asked how he came back, Bardock shrugged again and gave him the same look.
Bardock had taken charge of the ship and the first thing he had done- after being healed, of course, was raid the ship's artillery for a newer model of armor. He chose the same color scheme as his old set with a blue undersuit and blue-green mix battle vest sans the pads. And, after scrounging around a bit, he managed to find armored red gauntlets and boots from a model earlier to his.
"What's with the mix and match?" Froze asked, looking on as Bardock tied his headband back up.
"I'm not wearing some simple gloves and boots that don't offer any protection. This 'improved' armor actually seems less effective in terms of defense." The saiyan then noticed something he hadn't really thought of before, and now he felt it deserved a comment, "Froze, you're not wearing any clothes."
The arcosian perked an eyebrow at the comment. Indecency standards didn't really apply to his race. Their "naughty bits" were stored internally until they were needed. Bardock did have a point, though. It was a bit awkward being the only naked person on the ship. "Fine…" Froze consented, pulling on a purple jumpsuit resembling some kind of overalls. The lack of sleeves allowed his wide, natural shoulder pads room and let him retain his full range of arm movement.
Froze wasn't going to lie, it felt weird wearing clothes. He and Bardock strode back out onto the bridge, drawing many eyes as crew members gazed at Froze's state of dress. The arcosian actually felt more than a tad awkward, especially when he had to tear the back to let out his tail. Hopefully eyes would be off him this evening. According to Ranch, it was the weekly music night on the ship. 'I guess even bloodthirsty soldiers need a break once in a while' thought the arcosian.
Everyone was lying about in the ship's lounge. It was a wide room with a bar, plenty of tables, and a small stage that currently had its curtains closed. Laughter and cursing carried through the air in the relaxing light. Froze and Bardock looked about and took a seat at a table where some soldiers were playing cards. The soldiers turned their heads to the two fighters and dealt them in. Froze didn't play much, but he knew this game. Race around the board getting by getting points earned through pairs, triplets, and sets adding to fifteen. Froze lost a few times, but he quickly learned the nuances of the game (Not to mention the "tells" of his opponents) and started pulling several wins. He was revealing his winning hand when the curtain on stage unexpectedly pulled open. All heads in the room rotated to the stage to see the band let out an upbeat, jazzy tune. The heads turned back away like they were disappointed. Bardock and Froze wondered why, but returned to the game, pausing every once in a while to give applause after a number.
It was about an hour later that the musicians stopped. Then one of them stood up and spoke to the audience. "Now for the moment you have all been waiting for!" He declared to the soldiers, whose enthusiasm had skyrocketed, "I bring you your favorite singer and mine, Ranch!"
Bardock sputtered on his drink and Froze took a moment to process. Had they heard that right? It turns out that indeed they had when Ranch strode on stage in a green dress. She snapped her fingers and the band started up a new song, this one more soothing and blues-like. Her voice danced in the song's lyrics and she had everyone's full attention. After two or three numbers, Ranch bowed and left the stage to everyone's applause. Froze turned his attention back to the game and laid down another winning hand, but nobody was really paying attention. They were all talking about Ranch's performance.
"What do you think, Frost Demon?" A soldier asked the arcosian, giving him a little nudge, "Ranch was really just recruited for this. She ain't that strong, but she had to do something for the Cold Family. So they hired her for this."
"She's… Certainly a strong singer…" Froze replied, a little unnerved by the soldier's invasion of his personal space.
"Ain't one soldier on this ship who hasn't wanted to kiss that gal!" The soldier laughed, "Believe, you two'll be no exception!"
Froze looked out on the passing planets and stars from the ship's large viewing window. He hadn't been able to sleep and so he came out here to do thinking. As he was, his strength was dwarfed by so many other fighters. He hadn't cared before that he couldn't transform, but his sense of helplessness at the hands of a Super Saiyan and Gradol still lingered.
"You can't sleep either, huh?" Questioned a voice from behind him. Froze turned to see Ranch striding up beside him in her pajamas; sheesh this was going to get awkward. "Sorry if this bothers you. It just kinda calms me to look out into space. You okay?"
"No," Froze replied, "I'm still thinking about Fungun. I was so weak and I can't get stronger without transforming. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm actually trying to find a way to increase my strength by breaking my bio-gems." He looked at her, "I need to be stronger. An arcosian that's weak is no arcosian at all."
Ranch just looked away from the glass to gaze at the short warrior, "You shouldn't obey standards of the people who exiled you. Why do you care so much?" Froze looked at her. He actually didn't know why.
"But look at me." The yellow-haired Brench continued, breaking her eye contact and looking to the ground, "I'm such a hypocrite, still caring what the other soldiers think of my strength. I know that my family's bloodthirsty. They pretty much disowned me for being too soft. But I still want to see my mom and dad…" She appeared ready to cry. Froze knew that they were alike and, knowing himself, could tell she didn't like people seeing her cry.
"You looked nice tonight," the arcosian complimented, looking away so she didn't see him blush.
"Thanks…" Ranch muttered, a small smile returning to her face, "So, I was thinking the ship needed a real name." she stated, looking back out the window, "It's not exactly PTO property anymore and 'Unit 724' doesn't really give it any love. Did you have any ideas?"
Froze thought for a moment, "I can't come up with anything right now," He told her, "But I'll let you know if I think of something."
Ranch had a little lightbulb moment, "I think I heard Bardock in the training area on my way here. Let's go see him! I'm sure he'll have a name!" Before Froze could reply, the young Brench had grabbed his arm and was dragging him down the hall.
"Ka…. Me..." Bardock chanted as he cupped his palms, then motioned his arms and joined them at his side, "Ha… Me…" A small ki sphere charged between his palms, "HA!" He reached out and launched a weak, blue energy beam that didn't even reach an arm's length in front of him. "Dammit." The saiyan muttered in frustration, "Still not right. I thought I had it that time." He had decided to try and learn a technique he had seen his son Kakarot apply in his visions. The Kamehameha. He almost had it. One more try and he'd be done for the night.
"Ka… Me…" the saiyan chanted once more, focusing his ki, "Ha… Me…" He followed the motions, cupping his hands, "HA!" This time the beam was strong and struck the target dead-on. When the smoke cleared, the target was wrecked!
That's when Bardock heard the door slide open and hurried footsteps dash into the room. He swiveled around and saw Froze and Brench, the latter wearing pajamas and the former being nude as usual.
"I just felt a huge spike in ki," Froze commented, "What happened?"
"I was just testing a new techni-" Bardock's sentence was cut off as a throbbing pain struck his head. It felt like his soul was being torn from his body as the image before his eyes warped to a location unknown. 'No… I thought these powers were gone…' The saiyan thought as he gazed upon the scene playing out before him.
Froze, Ranch, Bardock, and a slew of other strange warriors stood in space before what looked like the entire Planet Trade Organization. They looked tired, damaged. One of them, a tall man with a mowhawk, spoke up. His words were muffled. The group then charged forward, massive ki flowed from all of them as they let loose their true powers.
Bardock snapped back to reality. He was lying on the ground with Froze and Ranch hovering over him.
"Is he alright?" Came Ranch's nervous voice.
"He's fine." Froze replied, "He told me he was given the ability to see the future by the last Kanassan. It's odd he'd have a vision now, though. He told me he hadn't experienced any in a long- Oh, he's awake." The two made room for Bardock to sit back up.
"I don't know why I saw what I did…" Bardock sighed, drawing a weird look from the other two as he stood up, "But I know that we'll be fighting the Planet Trade." At this the two other warriors simply gave him weird looks, "We won't be doing it alone, though… We had assembled a team of fighters that was incredibly powerful."
"You can't be serious." Froze retorted, "The whole Planet Trade?"
Bardock explained his vision to his friends, describing as best he could the other warriors he had seen. They took it in a tad hesitantly, but they believed him. Bardock was feeling pretty exhausted after the vision and decided to turn in for the night.
"Wait!" Ranch called out before he left the room, "We came here to ask you if you had an idea for the name of the ship. It was pointless to ask. All three warriors were thinking the same thing. Without meaning to, they all spoke one word simultaneously,
"The Rebel."
A/N: Bardock has seen what will become the G-Fighters. As every Dragonball fan could probably deduce who the fighters are from even the most brief descriptions, I only gave you one of them. You'll have to wait and find out who the rest are. Now, for a reader question.
Q: I have to admit, the end of the fight was a bit of a let down. It was nice that Ranch finally stood up for herself, but to kill Gradol (Especially after he had transformed) with one attack after so much trouble that Bardock and Froze had been having leaves things a little lackluster. Unless of course, she is stronger than Bardock or Froze. (Cosmic Cannon)
A: Sorry for the disappointment. In my head, such a long fight and having damaged armor left Gradol in a vunerable state. Your power level isn't going to save you from a cheap shot. I also meant to introduce Ranch properly. I myself am not actually pleased with my own writing and in the future I'm probably going to rewrite the fic.
Anyhow, until next time!
