Past, Present, Future?
„The History of the Saya-jin,
is not well recorded. Of course
that is mainly due to the
destruction of their home world.
what little we know today
comes directly from the King
himself."
- Modern History of the Galaxy
/ Earth Defender's Space Ship, In Space /
"Mh, well I'm glad you're all OK." Vegetto mused, his gaze fixed on the screen where an image of Trunks was shown, static distorting the man's features from time to time. At this range, communication was not that good, but well enough for this message to carry through.
"Is he still sleeping then?"
Trunks nodded, looking beside him for a moment.
"He hasn't spoken about it yet, but you can notice a change in him. It's difficult to describe, but it's…its something you feel. His chi is still the same, but it's not. I know this makes little sense, but I can't describe it otherwise."
Vegetto nodded again and inclined his head. He knew what Trunks was talking about. He had felt it when Gohan's rage had exploded. There was indeed a change. It was not the same man in some ways, not the same Gohan that had set out from Earth. Of course, Vegetto had known then and there that he would have to change in order to survive this war, but he hadn't thought it would happen so soon into the conflict and it troubled him a little.
"Well, keep me updated. What are your plans now?" he asked finally.
"Well, Gohan asked us, before he went to sleep, to set course for another planet in Tarisian space. He intends to continue the efforts, but be more careful about it. That also means it will take longer to get results, but at least we won't risk more than we have to." He shuddered slightly and Vegetto thought he knew what the sudden discomfort was about.
"All right." he said. "Proceed then. Ask Gohan to contact me as soon as there is anything new to report."
Trunks nodded on the screen and a moment later, the image dissolved and was replaced by static. Vegetto leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head and stared up at the ceiling for a moment.
"Arrival on the next battlefield?" he asked.
"Less than 12 hours." Kavri responded from the bridge's centre seat where he had remained while Vegetto had spoken to Trunks.
"Taris is approximately 14 hours behind us, so we have enough to time to prepare. I've already mapped the more likely occasions for ambushes", he continued as Vegetto stood up and wandered to his side, looking at the screen where Kavri had now pulled up the map of the planet they were about to visit.
"Hmmm…Ice World, eh?" Vegetto chuckled softly. "The kid's all have to dress warmly, or their mothers will have my head."
Kavri looked at him a moment, then chuckled as well, shaking his head.
"In any case, judging from their performance last time, they will do very well on this world."
He once again looked at the monitor, and then back to Vegetto, who gazed into nothingness thoughtfully. At that moment Ssiti walked onto the bridge. Kavri turned slightly, his gaze warming considerably as he laid eyes on his wife. She smiled a soft little smile as she approached the two warriors, coming to a halt beside her husband and putting a hand on his arm.
"They are all as ready as can be I would say." She said, looking to Vegetto.
He remained quiet for a moment, then seemed to snap out of his reverie and turned to look at Ssiti quietly. Kavri's wife had, since she had come on board, become something of a counsellor, ship administrator, Operations officer and mother for everyone involved. She had taken naturally to all those things, being there for people when they needed someone, operating the ship when they were in travel, coordinating their fighting efforts, and still found time to be a good mother-figure for Arisa as well. Speaking of witch, the shy Sayan girl had entered with Ssiti, but again, she was so good at not being noticed that Vegetto, not alert as he was, only now noticed her small but powerful frame.
Arisa had warmed up considerably and Ssiti had told Vegetto that she thought her to be ready for training soon. That was good, since they would need every fighting hand they could muster and since they didn't have the Room of Spirit and Time here, they would have to do with normal training. Of course, Arisa was a special case, in that she was already cybernetically and genetically altered to be stronger, tougher and generally more powerful than normal Saya-jin. That would give her an edge if and when she would see combat, but Vegetto was reluctant to let her enter the fighting too soon. She was one of the few female Saya-jin left alive and if his plan to restore the Sayan race was to succeed they would need every female they could get.
"Thank you Ssiti." he finally said and smiled a soft smile. "It's good to know they are in such good hands with you."
Kavri smiled a soft smile at that. He knew of course that this, particularly the motherly part, was everything Ssiti had wanted and could not have gotten on her home world. Her race and Sayan's couldn't produce offspring, and yet Kavri knew, that despite her deep love for him, she had longed for a child for a considerable time now. He was glad she could find her fulfilment in this, being a mother for Arisa and for everyone who needed her.
"Is that our destination?" she asked, pointing at the monitor where the blue world now was clearly visible.
"Yes." Vegetto nodded lightly and got up.
"Doesn't look very inviting." Arisa commented quietly, which ellicited a short, surprised look from Kavri and Vegetto, but Ssiti smiled and nodded.
"And we'll make sure that Taris and his goons will think the same once they arrive."
Once again they were divided into pairs and sent off to the locations around the world where they would wait for the right time to strike, to ambush their pursuers. Vegetto and Kavri had only made one change and now Videl and C18 were out together, while Bra was along with Goten. So they had sent the fighters out early, allowing them time to prepare for the coming fight.
Vegetto and Kavri remained in the ship for the time being, watching the progress of the teams in the command center. Once again, they would intervene where necessary, but otherwise leave the young ones to fight for themselves.
"They are coming." Kavri said quietly as the ship of Taris approached and quickly descended through the atmosphere, landing on the other side of the planet. A good thing for them and after all, they could use all the good things they could lay their hands on.
"Will he change his tactics?" Vegetto asked.
Kavri shook his head and chuckled faintly.
"If I'm any judge, he will still believe the fault lies with the 1st Circle alone and he will persuade them to believe the same. He'll be furious and they will fear his fury. The only thing he might change is that he possibly will go along with the others sooner this time."
Vegetto nodded.
"We'll keep a close eye on him. If he gets too close to any of the others, we need to redirect them so they can avoid him."
Kavri nodded in agreement. As he did, Ssiti calmly announced that their enemies were now leaving their ship and spreading out over the planets surface. She had dutifully tagged Taris' marker on the map already. It didn't take long for the first battle to break out.
"C18 and Videl." Ssiti said quietly. "Engaged with a group of 6 Soldiers and Thiroan."
After a short pause, she spoke again.
"Corrected readings coming in. It's Thiroan plus Garida!"
Kavri spun on his heels, ready to leap out already, but Vegetto put a hand on his shoulder.
"No…I'll manage this. You keep track of things here and warn me if the King makes a move."
Kavri nodded while Ssiti already spoke quiet instructions to C18 into her headset.
C18 was hurled backward by the impact of an energy sphere exploding directly in front of her. She whirled to a halt, cursing beneath her breath. Apparently the enemy had shifted tactics and apart from 6 soldiers, her and Videl were up against two 1st Circle warriors. She briefly looked to the side, seeing the eerie red glow that signalled Videl who was trying to hold off the six soldiers at once.
Her brief flick of attention almost cost her dearly as she realized that one of the 1st Circles, Thiroan if she remembered correctly came at her with immense speed. She swayed to the side, avoiding a harsh kick and immediately was put into the defense, unable to do anything besides protecting herself from the vast flurry of strikes which came at her mercilessly.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw the other, the female one approach, almost lazily. She knew this one for the energy thief, so her energy attacks would be useless, but the woman drew power together now, obviously using C18's situation to try and blast her.
She never got the chance.
C18 didn't see exactly what happened, but one moment the woman was forming a sphere of bright white energy, the next she was flung forward by a considerable force, all energy dissipating. Videl?
Thiroan obviously noticed the distraction as well and allowed it to distract him in turn. C18 used that moment and drove her foot forward. One harsh kick connected and others followed swiftly. She couldn't do much damage, but at least he was on the defense for the moment.
A blinding flash of bright golden light and the man was torn from in front of her, tossed aside by the impact of a huge energy sphere, seemingly coming out of nowhere. The next moment, Vegetto hovered calmly beside C18.
"I thought you could use some help against two of those." He said with a wink.
C18 raised a brow, but then nodded, feeling how she had already exhausted herself just fighting against these two for such a brief time.
"Vegetto, King incoming. He'll be there any moment!" C18 heard Kavri's voice from Vegetto's headset. The tall warrior nodded to C18 and winked, almost playfully.
"Go help Videl against those 6. I'll take care of the rest."
A part of her wanted to protest against being sent away, but she knew Videl needed help and she also knew she couldn't really help Vegetto. She hesitated only a moment, but then nodded, dashing away towards Videl as quick as she could.
"Now I have you." Taris said with a self-satisfied smirk.
"Your pathetic bunch is still caught up with my warriors and I know you would never leave any one of them behind. You'll stay as long as there is fighting and I can promise you there will be lots of fighting."
Vegetto remained calm, speaking to Kavri via their link.
"Kavri, recall all fighters. We have to leave sooner than we thought. Prepare for emergency jump."
"That won't help you!" the King spat. "You've insulted me often enough. It's time you pay!"
This time he didn't waste any ore words and rushed forward. Vegetto was ready, meeting the King in mid-air. Where their arms met, a thunderous boom spread out to all sides and power crackled through the air, lancing off in arcs of lightning in all directions. For a moment, the two were locked like this, fierce turquoise gazing into burning red.
They separated again, only to meet a millisecond later, this time in a flurry of fists and feet, striking, blocking, dodging, countering. One moment they fought, the next one of them would leap back, sending a salvo of energy at the opponent. Furious explosions covered the sky, echoes of these fighters clashing resounded for miles and miles. The ground trembled even though they were high in the air. This time, there was no holding back for Vegetto.
Kavri ground his teeth as he watched their progress. They were to slow, burn them all. The pairs returned the fastest way possible and Ssiti saw to it that they would all arrive at the same time. But that would still be a few minutes away. A few minutes too much, considering Vegetto's situation. Already he had taken several harsh blows by the King and had barely succeeded in bloodying the King.
"2 Minutes!" Ssiti announced.
"I'll go and help!" Kavri said and stormed towards the door. He didn't even hear Ssiti's protest, the first she had ever made to him like that.
Vegetto cursed only beneath his breath as he crossed his arms in front of him to block an incoming flurry of energy missiles. Strength drained out of him. He knew that was in part the doing of that energy leech still around, but a good bit also came from the sheer ferocity of the fight against Taris. Thiroan apparently did not dare to intervene, but Garida had no such qualms. She sucked his energy away and he felt himself grow weaker with every passing second. Already several wounds were visible on his body, bleeding freely.
Taris came at him again and he barely managed to keep his defense up now.
"Already over? Already so weak. You disappoint me!" he snarled and slammed his fist straight into Vegetto's gut. He doubled over, then groaned as Taris elbow smashed into his back, slamming him down into the ground, rocks splitting beneath him. Taris launched himself up and pointed a hand at him. Vegetto got up weakly onto one knee, coughing up blood.
Damn energy leech. Without her he could have lasted longer.
That's not the way a Sayan thinks! His mind raged at him.
He snarled, looking up and threw his hands up, summoning his energies to throw a stream at Taris just as he released his own wave of energy. The two rays collided between them and for a moment the world around them was all ablaze with the energy released. But Taris was not subject to en energy thief and thus, his powerful beam pushed back Vegetto's own gradually but surely.
"Launch in progress, we're on our way!" Ssiti's voice echoed in his ear and a soft smile played over his features.
"Got you again…" he muttered as he faltered and the energy faded from his hands. The last thing he heard was Taris' triumphant cry. The last thing he saw, was a silhouette against the incoming energy.
/ Earth Defender Ship – Medical /
Jari had come to the medical bay as soon as she had had a brief nap aftr her own injuries had been treated, light as they had been. She had been worried sick, but now that she looked into the medical tank, she knew Vegetto would be up in no time. Ssiti had commented on the good progress he was making so quickly, with a sidelong glance at Kavri who just shrugged and grinned faintly.
But since then, three days ago, Jari had refused to leave the medical bay. She was half devastated when she had seen how broken and battered he had been after the fight. She had heard from Kavri, the one who had gotten Vegetto out of there, just in time, that his quick defeat had been largely due to the neregy leeching woman who had helped Taris, without him even realizing it. She cursed lightly, imagining Taris now looking so smug. Then again, maybe Kavri saving Vegetto had wiped that smug grin away just as quick as it would have come.
Why exactly she spent every waking hor here, she didn't know. She just felt a tight connection to Vegetto, probably because he had been the one to give her hope again. He had been the one to take her in, train her in ways she had thought impossible. She felt attached to him and it was a good feeling. Like she felt attached to Chira, but different. Chira was wonderful and she enjoyed every minute the two of them spent sparring, talking, laughing or playing. But with Vegetto it was something different.
Exactly what it was, she didn't know, but she was sure it would all sort itself out anyway. For now, she was determined to remain here in this room, until Vegetto would wake up.
It was then that she noticed the hectic flickering of lights on the monitoring console.
Vegetto dreamt.
Suspended in the thick blue-green liquid of the medi-tank, his powerful body hung motionless, his eyes pressed close. The wounds he had suffered in the fight against Taris had all but healed already, but his spirit was not yet ready to wake up.
Before his minds eye, he could see the vast landscapes, rocky and barren now, then covered with rich green grass and towering trees, that he instinctively knew to be his home, Vegeta-sei. Although even Vegeta's memory of Vegeta-sei was different, Vegetto knew for a fact, this must be the home world of the Sayan race.
He saw the vicious creatures roaming the plains or prowling the forests, predators hunting for prey. He saw the first Saya-jin, hunting, fighting the predators for survival. He saw dozens, hundreds die for just enough to survive and continue. He saw them change from the crude savages that barely survived, to strong, formidable hunters, predators in their own right.
He watched as they began to build cities, conquer the world that had given birth to them, rejoice in the fighting until no beast could offer a challenge. He watched still as they found ways to manipulate the chi in their bodies, watched as they struggled to reach the stars, to find new challenges.
He was present at their first, meeting with Freezer, the killing of their King, the forcing into service. He saw his people decay into killing machines on the leash of that monster, their annihilation of entire species and slowly their turn to rejoicing in that.
He saw the spark of rebellion in Vegeta's mind, saw Bardock's defiance, witnessed again Kakarott growing into the first Super-Sayajin and his defeat of Freezer.
The images changed faster now, the androids, Cell, Boo, the stages of the Saya-jin, the past, present and then…
The images collapsed in his mind, exploding into thousands of bright shards and then formed the new image of a Great Monkey, but this one with golden fur, bristling with charged power.
His mind tumbled into the abyss of rage that erupted from his people's turbulent past and he had to fight hard to hold onto the pieces of his own mind, his sanity, to remain focussed on the here and now.
The image bristled, energy seeming to seep into it from the strength of his thoughts, his combined mind fighting to keep in control as the giant monkey rampaged through his head.
Slowly, the struggle ceased and the energy flowed into the monkey's form. The shape began to change, becoming smaller. A searing light erupted from the shape, blinding Vegetto for a moment.
When the light receded, he could make out the image of a man, himself, but changed. Silver-white fur bristled on the figures upper body, the remaining visible skin dark, burnt by an unmerciful sun. Black hair with a blueish tint was a spiky mass on his head, framing hard-set features, his own, but wilder, with narrowed, golden eyes surrounded by a thin, silvery line.
Realization struck Vegetto as he looked into the eyes of that Vegetto. They had been blind not to see it. Of course, how could they have suspected, nothing had ever told of anything like this. For every stage of the Super Sayan transformation, the changes had been more drastic. First only a change of colour, then the increase of hair and vanishing of eyebrows. Every level had taken them further away from their original appearance, but not further away from the 'original'. In truth, the path of the Super Saya-jin was a path backwards, a path back to the True Saya-jin.
This was what they had once been. His heart raced with joy at the realization. He could feel the untainted power of his ancestry now, the unstained power of that true, original form and he ached to truly immerse himself in it. This was his destiny and the destiny of every Saya-jin still alive.
"His readings are going off the scale. Something is happening, but I cant make any sense of it. His medical readouts are OK and everything indicates he is asleep, but there's too much activity in his brain." Ssiti was at the monitoring station. Jari had alarmed them of the fluctuations only moments earlier, though why Jari had been here, Kavri still didn't know. Well, now they didn't have just fluctuations. Everything was going haywire. He stood beside Ssiti, watching the medi-tank with a mixed expression of worry and awe.
"The power levels are surging. If this keeps up, he'll blow the ship to bits, and us right along with it. There's no way the tank could contain this much power."
"He wouldn't do that!" Jari exclaimed, though her features betrayed her worries as she stared at the tank anxiously.
Light flared from every small crack in the medi-tank suddenly, the floor beneath them, the entire ship began to rumble.
"This is insane!" Kavri gasped. "No one can hold so much power without burning to cinders if he tries to contain it. We have to get him out of here before he releases it!"
But he knew they couldn't and even if there had been a way, it was too late now. The light of power now filled the entire room, blinding them all. It was only seconds before the inevitable would happen.
Time seemed to freeze then, everything suspended all of a sudden. Kavri saw a shape appear in the bright light, but found a blackness creeping into his mind that slowly but surely overwhelmed him until he felt nothingness up close.
Around him were the charred remains of the medi-tank. He felt a brief wave of panic, realizing that he had unwillingly released all his power and felt sure that this must have destroyed everything around him and everyone. But the medical bay was otherwise unharmed, although eerily silence. Still fighting to fully wake from his dream, his vision, he glanced around, seeing Ssiti, Kavri and Jari standing in the room, motionless, not moving an inch and all of them looking rather shocked and afraid. They were bathed in a strange, blue glow and Vegetto felt a moment of puzzlement flow over him before his gaze settled on the last figure in the room, the obvious reason for this situation. The Kaioshin stood in front of him, smiling his ever serene smile.
"You would have created quite a mess here Vegetto."
That forced a sheepish grin onto his features, a habit of Goku which was hard to get rid of. Then again, he didn't really want to get rid of that.
"Ah, but I see you arrived in time to prevent it."
The Kaioshin chuckled and shrugged.
"Contain is the better term for it. I had years to prepare myself for such an occasion. Who could know where it would finally happen?"
Vegetto blinked, then inclined his head, studying the Kaioshin closely.
"You KNEW this would happen?" he asked.
"I hoped. When I gave you the Potara's, the immediate goal was of course, to defeat Boo, yet the long-term goal was to prepare you, the Saya-jin for this."
Vegetto was slightly confused about these words, until he glanced down himself and only now realized that he no longer appeared as the person he was, but as that man in his vision. However, this only added to his confusion, and as though the Kaioshin sensed that, he continued.
"The Kaioshin have, since time beginning, watched the mortals. It is our duty to try and keep a certain balance in all things and we only ever acted when that balance was in danger. It has been known to us that at one point, a war would come that could ultimately ruin the balance." He sighed softly and shook his head.
"Don't you think it a bit strange that, always when you successfully vanquished evil, a new evil would be born, more powerful than the last? The universe, you see, is all about balance and it doesn't like one side growing too powerful like that. There is a counter for everything, everything has a good and a bad side. So, when one side does win the upper hand, the other must grow stronger to counter that."
Vegetto took a moment to ponder this, watching the Kaioshin thoughtfully.
"So Freezer, Cell, they were all part of this balance? You, or your counterpart are responsible for all these beings?"
The Kaioshin shook his head slightly.
"It's not as easy as that and not all of them have something to do with this. The war of which I spoke earlier only began when the balance was truly upset, when one side went too far. Think, Vegetto, at which point did your struggle stop being one for your world and become a struggle for the survival of the universe as a whole?"
"Boo…" Vegetto muttered quietly and the Kaioshin nodded.
"Some of you mortals meddle too much, always have been, but it has never been worse than this. At one point in history we had a similar situation, but Broly was merely a Saya-jin with an exceptional power level. However, some of you mortals created Boo and in doing that, they upset the balance terribly and this couldn't be easily corrected. Although Boo was destroyed, the seeds of this evil act remain and the other side has gained too much power, hence this situation. That is the second reason why I gave you the Potara's."
"But why me?" Vegetto asked. "All right, Goku and Vegeta were strong, but I can't imagine that was your only reason, especially not if you had us in mind for something else."
"Because you are the strongest survivors of a race that was among the strongest of the universe. They were, in their glory days, a powerful tool to right the balance and before they tumbled into decadence, they were the front-line warriors of Balance, regardless of the side."
"Tools?" Vegetto asked, not keeping the edge out of his words.
"That is simply a term Vegetto. You must understand that Balance is something greater, something larger than you or me, or a world, or a galaxy. It is the essence of everything and for it, I, too am just a tool. A figure on the chess-board if you will. In any case, I gave you the Potara's so that you could find back to the strength your people once possessed, to your roots and now you have. With you, the other Saya-jin will once again find their true selves."
Even though Vegetto was still unsettled that Sayans had been a tool in the past, before Freezer, he felt a jolt of pride, thinking of his race restored to what they had been. To their full strength.
"And you came here just to tell me this?" he asked after a moment.
"That, and to give you another set of Potara's."
The Kaioshin extended a hand in which two of the earrings lay which had called Vegetto into being.
"Even with the danger at hand I don't know if I would want anyone to suffer as I an my families have." he said slowly.
"I know what you mean, but it might prove vital to success. The enemy has another weapon, one he hasn't revealed yet. You can guess who it is, you have already once used her against him, but that will only make her a more deadly adversary. Maybe you will do without the Potara's, but it would be better to have them, just in case."
Vegetto hesitated for another moment, but then took the Potara's quietly, staring at them for a long while.
"I don't know if I should thank you or hate you for what you did and for what you are still doing." he said, his gaze returning to the Kaioshin.
"I shouldn't care, but to be honest with you I tried to help you to the best of my abilities and within the limits of my position. I tried to do what I had to without causing more pain than necessary. I might not have succeeded in your eyes, for which I am truly sorry, but I, like you, am a slave to destiny and can only do what I have to."
Vegetto nodded slightly, his hand closing around the Potara's.
"I believe you Kaioshin. And for what help you gave us, I am grateful."
The Kaioshin smiled softly and nodded lightly. He looked around, then back to Vegetto once more.
"I hope it all turns out better than you or I think…" he said quietly before he vanished on the spot.
Vegetto only had a short moment of quiet to contemplate the words of the Kaioshin. Then time unfroze and Ssiti, Kavri and Jari all stared at him. They looked confused, still worried, but relieved at the same time. Once more, he looked down at himself, then up again, his gaze flicking to Kavri.
"Would you fetch me a pair of pants, please?"