Chapter Twenty-One: Planet Vegeta's Destruction And The Meatians' Hegira

Steak wiped his brow, and patted Ham's shoulder. Veal continued to
cling to her father, as her father ran his free hand through her lavender hair.

Natala gave Steak a glass of fresh ice water, which Steak accepted gratefully. Even though Princess Natala was married, and of another species, Steak thought that she was the most beautiful woman in the room, even more so than Princess Gracina, usually considered to be one of the Clan of Chloe beauties. He considered Prince Raakon to be very fortunate to have such a beautiful, kind woman to be his wife. Natala reminded Steak of his own deceased wife, Poultry. Steak thirstily drank the water; it had been many weeks since he had drank clean, pure water. Veal laid her head in her father's lap, as Ham stared out the window into the beautiful, clear Astorian sky. It was twilight, and Ham could see the outlines of five of Astoria's other moons. He could already see the planet Astoria itself, a large pink and white beauty that engulfed nearly half of the sky. Astoria was like a large jewel, illuminating the velvet, diamond-studded sky.

"It is beautiful here, Father," he whispered.

Steak nodded. "Yes, Ham, it is. I hope that we will be able to
stay."

Raakon spoke, "That is up to our grandmother, but I don't see why
she wouldn't. After all, Meatians are among our allies and friends."

Tayla interrupted then, "Steak, you said that Frieza's men killing
the elite Saiyans was not the 'worst of it.' What did you mean by that? What
is the worst of it then?" She was eager to know how the story ended.

Gracina admonished Tayla gently, "Tayla, give Steak time to collect
himself, please. I'm sure that he will finish when he's ready."

Steak took a last swallow of water. "I am ready; I just needed a
drink, that's all." He straightened himself up and took a deep breath. "Well,
anyway, it does get worse. Frieza's ship was headed towards planet Vegeta.
Dodoria started bragging that he had wiped out all of the Saiyans on our planet
until a strange, handsome young man with green hair and skin laughed and pointed
out a surprise to all of us. Balair and a couple of lower-level henchmen were
holding Ham and I captive. They had tied us to poles in Lord Frieza's throne
room, and we would eventually be forced to watch all of the action."

"Balair laughed and spat seeds from the fruit that he had been
eating at us. He told us that Frieza was going to put on a good show for
everyone. Frieza started commenting on planet Vegeta, saying that she was as
beautiful as a blood ruby. Dodoria then asked the handsome man with green hair
exactly what the 'surprise' was."

"The green-haired man's name was Zarbon, and he mocked Dodoria,
saying that Dodoria had missed killing Bardock. Zarbon showed Dodoria, Balair,
and Frieza the Saiyan space pod heading back to planet Vegeta. We all could
sense Bardock's ki, although it had been weaker than before. Dodoria must have
hurt Bardock pretty badly, although there was no real way to tell, since we
could not see his body."

"Frieza sneered at Dodoria and told him that maybe that would teach
him to be more through with his work. Dodoria was furious that he had not
killed Bardock, and he begged Frieza, telling him that he would take care of
Bardock immediately. Frieza told him to shut up, and that he would deal with
Bardock and the rest of the Saiyans himself. Frieza said something about no
longer being concerned with the 'bee' (Bardock), and that he was going for the
'hive' (planet Vegeta). Zarbon asked him, if he was going to destroy all of
planet Vegeta, and Frieza said yes."

"'The only way to destroy the weeds is to get them at their roots,'
he had said exactly. Ham and I trembled then, for we knew instinctively that
planet Vegeta was doomed, even though the race of Saiyans was one of the
strongest forces in the universe, as far as we knew. We assumed that Bardock
was going home to warn his people of the coming doom. We never knew if he had a
chance to tell them the truth."

"Before Frieza could do anything to Vegeta, a dark blue,
alligator-like woman came in. She had a rough voice, and she wore the armor of
one of Frieza's elite officers. She told Frieza that Prince Vegeta and Princess
Journa had been sent away on a smaller ship off of the mother ship. This little
ship would take the royal Saiyan children to Planet Frieza Number Twenty-Five.
Frieza told her that was good, and he didn't particularly want the children to
see their planet's destruction."

"'You're actually considering someone else's feelings for a change?'
the alligator-woman had jeered at him. Frieza had given the woman a look that
could destroy the entire Rosetta Galaxy. Oh, it was the dirtiest look I had
ever seen on anyone!"

"'Do not be impertinent with me, Jaden,' he had told her. 'I am not
doing this out of consideration for their feelings; I am doing this only so that
they will not try to rebel against me later.' When planet Vegeta is destroyed,
we will tell them that a meteor destroyed their planet."

"Jaden had given him her ugliest look and left. She said not a word
to us, but I could feel her intense hatred for Frieza-"

Steak had stopped mid-sentence when he saw Tayla put up her small
hand. "Pardon me, but if this Jaden hates Frieza, why would she work for him
anyway?"

Steak answered her sadly, "Half of Frieza's henchmen or henchwomen
are not working for him of his or her own free will. This half consists of
fighters who were either blackmailed or threatened into working for him. Some
of them were also bought as slaves and brought into his forces, such as the
beautiful Chestra was. Chestra had told us that Frieza had purchased her from a
distant planet where she had been a slave. She had quickly worked her way up to
Mid-Elite; well, actually, she had started as a recruit, but was quickly
inducted into Frieza's elite forces. I believe that she told me that Diamonique
was a Mid-Elite Officer as well, and both she and Diamonique were being
considered for promotion into Top Elite."

"Anyway, to get back on the subject, I will skip ahead to three
hours later when Bardock reentered space, without a spacesuit or a ship. We saw
him flying through space towards Frieza's mother ship, obviously intending to
destroy him. Frieza sent out most of his best men, except for his Top and
Mid-Elite officers into space to fight him. Ham and I counted them at being
anywhere between two hundred and six hundred men, all sent to fight one lone
soldier. But that one lone man shoved past his way through all of them easily,
until there was a whole cluster of fighters clinging around him in space. He
pushed them all aside in his quest to destroy Frieza."

"Frieza decided that he had enough, and he told Zarbon to open the
escape hatch, so that he could confront Bardock himself. Zarbon protested, but
Frieza became more furious than ever, so Zarbon caved in and released his master
into space."

"Ham and I turned up our hearing, and we heard Bardock's voice,
telling the other minions in space that Frieza had lived long enough, in fact
too long for his taste. After a few more harsh words, we watched through the
window, as Bardock released a small ki ball and threw it at Frieza.
Unfortunately, Bardock's brave attempt would fail, because Frieza would release
a larger ki ball. We later learned that he had been able to do this with just
one finger-"

"ONE FINGER?" all the Astorians attending Steak and his family
shrieked in horror. Natala trembled, and Gracina and Tayla tightened their
embrace around each other. Raakon and Trenton balled up their fists, and
finally Raakon punched a hole in the damask-covered wall, creating a hole a
couple of feet deep. His face was red, and Natala left Steak to go calm her
normally even-tempered husband down. She took him into her arms and rubbed his
back.

"Frieza's ki ball grew and grew until it was the size of Chloe
itself, and he threw the ball towards Frieza. We were horrified to watch the
ball scorch and devour Bardock and the other minions of Frieza. Even the elite
officers in the room were stunned and dismayed. Bardock stood in front of the
ball, as if he were hoping he'd be strong enough to hold the ki back away from
his planet, but of course he did not succeed. The ki ball traveled slowly
towards planet Vegeta, engulfing and burning everyone and everything it came in
contact with."

"Planet Vegeta struggled to hold on and withstand the blast, but
Frieza's attack was too strong for her to manage. Ham and I saw the cracks
forming all over the planet, as the planet started to fall apart. Finally,
Planet Vegeta lost her grip on life, and she exploded, pieces of her and her
people flying all over the galaxy. Her moons had been burned away as well."

"I will never forget Frieza's horrible, raspy laughter, as he
callously watched the dying planet that he had so ruthlessly and heartlessly
destroyed. He laughed and joked about what a great show it was. He did not
have a shred of pity for Vegeta's people, or a bit of remorse for what he had
just done. Even though the Saiyans did us great harm and obliterated most of
our people, Ham and I were near tears for the innocents that must have died
there. And all because Frieza feared the Saiyans' tremendous power. As far as
I know, Prince Vegeta and Princess Journa are now the only survivors of the
Saiyan race."

Tayla's eyes widened, and the other Astorians didn't know whether to
celebrate the Saiyans' horrific end, or pity their senseless, untimely departure
from life.

Natala said in a small, sad voice, "We cannot truly be glad that the
Saiyans are gone, for if Frieza could eliminate them so easily, then he could do
the same to us. We are no safer now than we were before."

Raakon added mournfully, "I'm afraid you're right, dear; Frieza has
become much more powerful. It is a pity that the Saiyans had not been willing
to make peace and ally with us, for together both races might have stood a
chance against him. Now there are only two Saiyan children left, and what could
they do alone?"

That means poor Queen Muriella is now dead too, Raakon thought
sadly.

After ten minutes of somber silence, Gracina asked softly, "How was
it that you and your children were able to escape, Steak?"

Steak took a deep breath once more. "We barely managed to, and
actually we received help from an unexpected source. Later that same day that
planet Vegeta had been destroyed, Ham and I had been put back in our cell with
Veal, and Jaden had came to our prison. Jaden wakened all of us and ordered us
to come with her immediately, including Veal."

"We had no choice, but to obey her, of course. She escorted us down
to the launching docks on the mother ship. Chestra was there, standing next to
a small spaceship, and she told us to climb inside."

"'Wait a minute,' I cried, "'where are you taking us?'"

"Jaden jeered, 'We are not taking you anywhere. You are leaving
this ship; in other words, you can go back home to your planet, or wherever you
think that you can find asylum. But if you are recaptured and mention that
Chestra or I helped you, we will kill all three of you, got it?" She seized my
throat and shook me by my neck to make sure that I fully understood.

"'Yes,' I had stammered, 'but why are you helping us?'"

"'Because I'm tired of Frieza's bullcrap, okay? He's a self-serving
traitorous monster! He screwed the Saiyans over the same way he did my people
and me many years ago. Not that I care much for the Saiyans, but it's wrong to
betray someone the way that Frieza did. You don't screw over your best people!
He never keeps his word to anyone. And Chestra is only helping you because she
knows what it is like to be someone else's slave and prisoner."

"'Why don't you come with us then, if you don't like Frieza?'" Veal
had asked her."

"Chestra told her gently that she and Jaden were Frieza's elite
officers, and that she and Jaden would never make it far before Frieza had them
recaptured or destroyed. She also briefly mentioned that Zarbon was her mate,
and she did not want to leave him."

"They loaded all three of us into the spaceship, and we were
launched out into space without another word. We don't know to this day what
became of Jaden and Chestra, but we will always be grateful to them for helping
us. We landed on planet Dijon shortly during our hegira-"

Tayla interrupted before Gracina could stop her. "What's a hegira?"

Steak told her, "A hegira is a journey to escape from a dangerous
place or person in order to find a safer one. Leaving our planet and Frieza's
ship has been our hegira. On Dijon, we sought asylum, but the leaders there
only granted it to us temporarily, just long enough to recover and refresh
ourselves. The Dijonese people told us that your planet would be a safer planet
to seek permanent asylum from because you Astorians were strong enough to stand
up to Frieza and his forces, and they weren't. The Dijonese were friendly to
us, but they told us up front that they could not shelter us for long and risk
Frieza's wrath coming down upon them. They gave us extra food and supplies and
told us how to reach your planet; very few of us Meatians had ever been to
Astoria. And so two months, after leaving Dijon, here we are." Steak closed
his eyes; he was very tired.

The Astorians and the Meatians noticed two very familiar ki levels
that had just entered the room.

Shalila and Dirkan.