Chapter Nine
Dosetsu was starting to feel as though nearly dying had become a habit. His thoughts had wandered to a host of topics while he floated helplessly in yet another recuperative tank, but his penchant for just barely scraping by had started to worry him. He probably should have been thankful, but that was a difficult thing to be. The way his body ached didn't help.
The saiyan peered through the greyish glass of the tank, the angle at which the pod was positioned near the wall making it difficult for him to see. There was a table a few paces away with what appeared to be his gear, as well as fresh combat garments and food.
Dosetsu longed to be on the other side of the glass, exploring whatever unique tastes they'd decided to share with him, but at the moment he was sedated. Apparently they didn't trust him enough to leave him unattended without some sort of security measures, so they'd given him an immobilizing serum. It was understandable. Saiyans weren't known for being particularly well mannered.
Movement on the far side of the room caught his attention, though he could just barely make it out from his position. One of the aliens that had rescued him was tampering with a display screen.
"Let me out."
The creature spun on it's heel at the sound of his voice and scurried towards where he was being kept, looking him up and down. The saiyan couldn't really tell the two apart, so he wasn't sure which one it was he was speaking to.
"I'm healed and the drug is wearing off. Let me out."
He had no reason to be angry with the two, they'd saved him, so he kept his tone even, though he'd be forced to admit he was becoming too familiar with the inside of recuperation tanks.
"No can do."
The alien wandered towards the food on the table and took some for itself, chewing it hurriedly as it continued it's frantic pace around the room, glancing at displays and searching for something in different containers. Dosetsu thought for a moment. He would be hard pressed to force his way out of the tank at this point, and even if he did he'd be nearly immobile. Talking seemed best, at least for the moment.
"Why? What reason is there to keep me in here? You saved me, I won't hurt you."
The alien stopped at this and turned towards him.
"Are you sure? Your record doesn't exactly inspire confidence, Dosetsu. Or rather, Low Class Soldier Three Three Nine Two."
Dosetsu went quiet at the sound of his identification numbers If they had access to that kind of information, they had to be working for the Planet Trade. That was less than ideal. The creature approached the tank and looked up at him, it's diminutive stature dwarfed in comparison to the saiyan's.
"Exiled for treason against the throne, as well as against the Planet Trade Organization. And on top of that you kill a high ranking officer. You don't seem very loyal."
The alien seemed to be enjoying this exchange, as one sided as it was, so Dosetsu decided to let it have it's moment. He'd crush it's throat as soon as he could move again and that would be that.
"I'm sure by now you believe that my friend and I are members of the PTO."
The Saiyan replied with a blank stare.
"I'd like to say, as you come up with ways in your head to kill me, that this is not the case."
"That so?"
The creature nodded, before holding a portable display up to the front of the tank. The display showed a profile similar to that of Dosetsu's, though with no military record attached. The Saiyan skimmed through the information quickly before returning his attention to the creature, his desire to kill it only slightly diminished.
"So you're a separatist."
"Yes."
Dosetsu fought against his restraints at this response, the drug having worn off enough to allow him free movement. Keel stepped back reflexively, putting the table between himself and the saiyan. The glass of the regeneration pod shattered, as did the couplings that had held the man's wrists. He dropped to the floor, stepping through the mess of recuperation fluid and glass shards as he stared down the alien.
"I was banished… because of YOU!"
Dosetsu grabbed Keel by the throat and pinned him against the wall, his grip tightening with each passing moment.
"I was banished from my home… had my pride torn away from me… because of YOU."
The Saiyan tossed the alien to the side, it's body skittering across tables before it crashed into the wall. Dosetsu began to stretch his body, his muscles stiff from so much time spent in stasis. Keel slowly picked himself up, eyeing Dosetsu warily.
"There is no banishment without the separatists. No banishment if you bastards don't exist."
"You were falsely accused?"
Dosetsu eyed the creature dangerously, prompting Keel to shrink behind a counter.
"Don't think you're safe. The only reason you aren't dead is because you aren't the first name on my list."
Keel continued to watch the saiyan closely as Dosetsu began to dress himself.
"Why did you drug me if you weren't going to keep up the dose?"
The alien peaked his head out a bit more before speaking.
"Because it's not a drug, it's an accelerant. It speeds up the healing process. One of the side effects just happens to be temporary paralysis."
Dosetsu nodded as he pulled a gloves down over his hands.
"What do you know about my banishment?"
"Are you going to kill me?"
The Saiyan eyed him again before shaking his head. He instead began to eat the food that had been laid out, his arms folded as he ate.
"I don't know that much, but Unyan knows quite a bit. She keeps a finger on the pulse of the city, and if anything separatist related pops up she learns everything she can about it. She's on look out, I guess you could say.
Dosetsu continued to eat while staring at the creature, apparently waiting for more information.
"I.. uh… I think it'd be better if you asked her. I'll go get her."
"No. You'll take me to her."
Keel swallowed hard and then nodded. He was starting to think that they had made a mistake taking the saiyan in. Eating him was becoming an increasingly unrealistic dream. He motioned for Dosetsu to follow and trekked down a hallway that led into a house style area. The creature opened a door to an adjoining room. Through the door the Saiyan could see the surprised look of Unyan who hadn't seemed to have heard the commotion they made.
"So.. uh.. you're healed?" She asked feebly.
"What do you know about my banishment?"
Keel motioned for the Saiyan to follow him through the door, and soon the three were sitting around a largish table with several platters of food laid out in front of them. Dosetsu made up for lost time as he waited for the two to collect their thoughts, their bickering punctuated by the saiyan's loud chewing.
"Well?"
The two were thrown from their private conversation as Dosetsu spoke up, his voice a steely boom in comparison to their own. Keel glanced to his friend, waiting for her to answer the saiyan sitting before them. He hoped, for their sakes, she didn't make him wait long.
Uynan sighed and turned towards the Saiyan, her eyes sweeping over him, trying to gauge him. He was powerful, there was no doubt, but temperament was equally important. If he was prone to anger, as many saiyans were, they could be in a great deal of trouble.
"You were bait."
The saiyan continued to stare at the creature, prompting her to continue.
"A better way of putting it is you were framed, and then used as bait."
Unyan glanced at Keel before returning her attention to Dosetsu, reassuring herself she had backup if the saiyan snapped.
"Planet Trade tech, especially Planet Trade technology operated by a saiyan, is extremely easy to gain access to remotely."
She eyed the saiyan to make sure he was following before continuing.
"The Jox't Separi aren't fools. They knew the PTO had caught on to their operations on Vegeta."
"Separi?" Dosetsu asked. He felt as though he'd heard the phrase before.
"What the separatists refer to themselves as. The Joxuatan Separatists, or Jox't Separi."
"What's Joxuatan?"
"A neighboring system filled with PTO detractors. You work for a very unpopular group."
Dosetsu didn't doubt it. As much as he enjoyed clearing planets, his enjoyment didn't blind him to the fact that he was creating thousands of refugees. He just didn't care.
"What do they have to do with me?"
"Like I said, the Separi aren't fools. They knew the PTO had started following their movements, so they decided to throw them off by hacking into PTO communications and feeding them false chatter."
"So..?"
"So your scouter was linked to fake Separi communications. The Planet Trade detects them, you get banished."
The saiyan mulled over this for a moment.
"What makes me bait?"
Unyan stared at her hands, her greenish talons offset by the gray of her flesh. This, she hoped, went as smoothly as the rest.
"We're separatists, but we are not Separi. We support their cause, but we are not a part of them. We do work for them, but we are separate."
Dosetsu nodded.
"There are many like us, independent parties that support the Separi in various ways. "
Unyan cleared her throat, glancing to Keel again. He nodded.
"The Separi put out a contract to plant fake communications. The terms didn't specify any saiyan in particular, just that a saiyan device be the one targeted. Normally Keel and I handle contracts like that, especially this close to the capital. Before we could respond, another independant party accepted the contract."
Unyan stood up from her chair and walked to the far side of the room, taking in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Keel glanced back and forth between the saiyan and his companion, not sure who to watch more closely.
"The party that took the contract was the one to target you specifically. After the contract was taken so quickly I was curious, so I did a bit of digging. It turned out the one to take it was an underground survivor from the Tuffle wars, a Tsufurujin scientist."
Dosetsu's eyes widened a bit at this. It was widely accepted that the Tsufurujins had been completely killed off. The only time he'd ever seen one was when it'd already stopped breathing.
"This tsufurujin did his research on you, and on who you associated with. He chose you because he knew if you were banished that a high ranking officer would be the one to throw you out."
The saiyan felt a cold creeping up the back of his neck as he listened, the reality of the situation becoming clearer.
"No.."
"As a tsufurujin he has more than enough reason for revenge. The Separi contract simply served as a catalyst. It gave him the idea to take not one saiyan out, but two. When Itonami escorted you out of the capital, he already had a trap prepared. As soon as you leave he springs the trap and kills her. All that was left for him to do was sit back and watch them pin the blame on the perfect scapegoat; you."
Dosetsu stood, his face a mask of calm.
"What.. Is this Tuffle's name?"
Keel looked to Unyan, and then back to Dosetsu. The way saiyan reacted was worrisome, considering how he acted when angry before. This wasn't the same at all. Keel felt cold from the saiyan.
Unyan turned and met the saiyan's eyes, his facade of calm having the opposite effect on her.
"H-His name.. is.."
Beamed.
Yo. I'm back, finally. I know I said that the updates would start coming more regularly, and they obviously haven't. The holidays kinda got in the way of that, and on top of that I've been in the process of moving. I still intend to continue the story, I just can't promise how often the story will be updated. Sorry:/ Anyway, here's the new chapter. Hopefully you all enjoy.