Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z or Jaco the Galactic Patrolman. This is a nonprofit story.

*Very sorry for the delays. I do have a computer now. Next chapter is almost done as well so it should actually be out soon. I had some blood sugar issues while writing the last part of this. My brain does weird things when like that.*

'word' = thoughts

Chapter 25: Friend or Foe

Vegeta flicked his fingers over the buttons, turning off the communication screen. His brow furrowed in thought for a moment before he spun on his heel and marched back to the bed. Grabbing a one of the large protruding arms, he gave a quick yank and jerked Goku out from under the covers and onto the floor.

As his head impacted the floor, Goku came awake with a start. Rubbing at the sore spot, he looked up into the scowling face of the Prince. "Ow Vegeta! What did you do that for?"

Giving a derisive snort, Vegeta turned and grabbed Gohan in a similar manner, tossing the boy at his father instead of to the floor.

When both were awake, he crossed his arms in irritation. "We've had a change in plans. Noni decided to take the Patrol out at their source. We've increased our speed and will be arriving before our so called 'escort'. Personally, I'd rather not land at their little space port and be ambushed by forces from both sides. So hurry up and get dressed. I want everyone wearing their battle suits. It's most likely that Noni's forces will be wearing similar outfits and they may mistake us for being one of their own."

Goku rubbed his chin in thought for a moment then spoke up. "So if we need to get on the planet without anyone being suspicious, why don't we just send out a distress signal? Then we can just land where ever we want to."

Three pairs of eyes stared at him in shock for a moment. Goku grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Well that's what happened when I crashed the Ginyu pod after the fight on Namek. Well except for I really did have an emergency then. But they understood it was an emergency and didn't get upset about it."

Vegeta raised an eyebrow before shaking his head in disbelief. "With how you act most of the time, I sometimes forget that you have a brain in there. Then you go and actually use it for tactics when I'm not expecting it."

He looked over his shoulder at Raditz. "You heard your brother. It's a brilliant idea and well worth a shot. Implement it. Then I want everyone dressed. We won't have time for anything else."

A loud rumbling echoed throughout the small ship. It was answered by other less loud rumblings.

Vegeta sighed. "Fine. The faster we get dressed means that we might have time to eat something before we land."

As they quickly threw on clothing and armor, the Prince gave Raditz a speculative look. "So how long really until we make landfall?"

The long haired Saiyan gave him a wry grin. "I figured we didn't want the Patrol to have any idea just how fast we can really go. You know, in case we want to make a fast exit instead of wiping them out. I don't trust them and things might go sour. We should be there about ten minutes before Noni. Plenty of time for us to get into position to take out his little army. If everyone evacuated the city right away, there should be very few deaths that aren't aggressors. Well at least until the Patrolmen on the planet figure out that we are there and decide to be idiots."

Vegeta gave a dark chuckle. "We both know how likely that scenario is. We'll see how this plays out."

o-o-o-o-o

Alarms blared throughout the halls of the massive complex and a voice called for General Quarters over the speakers. Galactic Patrolmen rushed about preparing for the impending attack.

Pale faced, many of the Patrolmen swallowed nervously past the lump that fear that threatened to close off their throats. Finding their battle stations, they met each other's eyes with worry. Every one of them knew that their chances of beating back the enemy were slim at best. They had all heard the rumors of what Noni did to anyone that he did allow to survive, and none of them wanted to live through that. They would go down fighting, or they would grant the last mercy to each other.

Down the hall and in the main audience chambers, the Galactic King's advisors were pleading with the monarch.

"Please, sire. You must leave while there still is a chance!" One of the advisors wailed as he grabbed ahold of the king's tentacles.

The cephalopod gently removed his appendage from the advisor's grip and laid it on the male's shoulder in an attempt to calm him. "As King I will not abandon my people and flee into exile. It is dishonorable. Granted I never expected Noni to attack here and force us into a last stand, but I suppose that was an oversight on my part. We seem to be the last thing standing between him and total domination of the universe."

A fish-like Patrolman standing off to the side tapped a stylus on a computer tablet a few times before looking up. "Attempts to escape via ship would have been useless anyway. The small craft that launched just after Noni's ship entered our system was mercilessly blown to bits as it attempted to flee. He apparently does not want any escaping him. By my calculations, the best course of action would be to retreat outside of the city with the civilian population."

Several advisors scowled at the Patrolman before one spoke up in disgust. "So you expect our King to act like a coward because your numbers say it's best?"

The fin on the Patrolman's head laid back as he shrugged and tapped a few more times on his tablet. "Every other scenario I've ran through has had a zero percent chance of survival."

The King gave him an odd look. "I don't see how dying outside the city versus here in my chambers will make much of a difference in the outcome."

Tapping a few buttons the Patrolman brought up a small holographic projection of the system radar. "Getting outside of the city will buy more time before they find you."

With a webbed hand he tapped a large blinking dot on one side that was drawing ever closer to the planet. "This is Noni's ship."

Moving his finger over he tapped a small dot moving towards the planet from nearly the opposite direction. "This dot here is broadcasting a signal identifying it as Igneous Squad's ship. They were not expected to return for at least a week. I would have assumed that they failed in their mission except for one fact."

He moved his finger closer to the planet and tapped another dot. "This ship has an unknown identification. It's moving along the exact course of our Patrol ship indicating a common point of origin. They are simply travelling faster at this moment and may very well make it here right before Noni does."

The Patrolman looked over at the King as he turned off the projection. "That is why you should leave. That might just be the aid you send Igneous Squad to find. Leaving will buy some time before Noni's forces find you. It's a very small chance, but it's the only one there is."

The King closed his eyes and rubbed at his brow with tentacle before speaking. "Very well. We shall relocate to outside of the city."

The advisor next to him gave a cry of relief and latched on to him again, pulling him from the chambers. "Hurry, sire! We don't have any time to waste."

o-o-o-o-o

On Noni's vessel, the weapons arrays were trained on the two small spacecraft approaching the planet. Gunners grinned maliciously as their fingers twitched over the controls. One turned to look back at their commander. "Shall we fire upon them now, Emperor?"

The yellow being gave a snort from his throne. "No, let them come. The unknown ship is transmitting distress. It's likely that the Patrol ship was escorting them to what they thought was safety. I want them to feel fear when they realize that the Patrol can't protect them and that they are trapped on a planet with me. Let the Patrol ship come as well. They are nothing, only a few more flies that will need swatting."

o-o-o-o-o

The four Saiyans leaned back in their seats as the capsule ship burrowed into the planet's thick atmosphere. The craft shook violently at the speed of re-entry.

Raditz stared at the unusually quiet communications panel. The only sound coming from it was the constant beep of the Patrol warn off signal. No one from the planet had hailed them to question their purpose.

Carefully piloting the fast moving ship, Vegeta brought it to the outskirts of the metropolis surrounding the spaceport. Only when they neared ground and warning klaxon started blaring did the Prince apply reverse thrusters to slow their decent. The ship came to jerky rest with a heavy thud and was shrouded in the dirt and smoke kicked up by an unorthodox landing.

As everyone stood from their seats, Goku looked at Vegeta with a raised eyebrow. "You didn't use landing thrusters. The ones you used are for maneuvering in space."

The Prince gave him half a shrug. "Use your brain again. We're supposed to be a ship in distress. I figured we should look the part. So I brought us in hot and landed us hard. Hopefully they should think we crashed."

As the Saiyans stepped down the ramp and into the lingering dust cloud, they took in their surroundings. A pale red sun cast odd shadows over the purple vegetation behind them. Before them lay a large grey city surrounded by metallic walls. Peoples of many different species could be seen pouring from the gates in the distance.

Vegeta encapsulated the ship and tucked it in safely under his breast plate. Having carried out many a purging mission in his servitude under Frieza, the scene of chaos before him was quite familiar. He felt the battle lust begin to burn in his veins and knew Raditz would be feeling the same.

He looked over each of his fellow Saiyans before speaking in a serious voice. "We will spread out and work individually. Keep your power suppressed as much as possible. They will be using scouters and one of us lighting up as a high number would bring them en masse. They will be easier to take out in the smaller groups they naturally split into. If you do get in trouble, forget that and power up as far as you can so the rest of us know to get to you. I want to save our race, not have us die off in doing this."

Raditz crossed his arms over his chest. "One thing that may also help us. I had the misfortune to be stuck with this bastard several times on Frieza's orders. Noni is into the pomp and ceremony. Unlike Frieza, he always likes to come in at the planet's docks if possible. He feels he's making a grand entrance that way. We can probably just find a spot out in the streets and ambush them as they come by."

A haunted look crossed the Saiyan's face before he turned away from the others. "Noni was one of Zarbon's lackeys for a long time. I want to help end his pathetic little life. There's a few things I'd really like to pay him back for."

Goku laid a hand on his brother's shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze.

Shaking off the memories, Raditz returned the gesture.

Gohan took a step and lifted into the air. "Can we go now? I'm kind of excited to fight all these guys."

Vegeta gave a snort and waved his hand. "Patience boy. It's a Saiyan thing. I can assure you we all feel the same way. But yes we can go."

After several minutes of skirting the prying eyes of the city's fleeing residents, the small group of Saiyans found themselves across from the spaceport entrance. A steadily increasing rumbling from overhead drew their attention upwards.

Gohan gave half a shudder and leaned in against the leg of the nearest adult. 'Crapbaskets! That chi feels insanely strong and it's so dark!'

He gave a small shake of his head to clear it before looking up into the serious face of his father. "Is that the guy we need to defeat? He feels worse than Frieza."

Goku gave his head a nod. "Yeah, it looks like it. This might be a tough fight."

Voice tense and low, Vegeta finally spoke up. "His race gets stronger by killing and ingesting each other to absorb their power. He's obviously been doing some feasting."

Shaking visibly, Raditz clenched and unclenched his fists. "Noni had a habit of going after any member of his race he could find. When he finally surpassed Zarbon in power, Frieza started getting worried and decided to have him killed. Apparently word got to Noni before any action could be taken and he fled with one of the ships and his squad. With how immense that feels, I doubt there is any one else left of his race."

Looking around the area, Goku bit at his lip. "I want to take them on right here. There is plenty of space. But I think there might be too many of them to make it quick. I can also feel too many people still in the city."

Vegeta gave a snort. "They put to much faith in their Patrol saving them."

He looked down the empty streets surrounding them. "We should back off to about mid city. Once the low level scum has been eliminated we can work out what to do with the rest of the problem. Try not to kill anyone else and if you see that talking octopus they call King, make sure he doesn't die."

Turning on their heels, the Saiyans split off and disappeared into the maze of streets.

Behind them the huge space ship came to a rumbling landing at the docks.

o-o-o-o-o

Gohan crouched half concealed in the shadows of a building doorway and watched as numerous figures rushed by him and down the street. Some were dressed in the black and white of the Patrolmen and carried weapons. Others were obviously civilians. His senses were on high alert as he felt several chis much greater than the average approaching him. His fists tightened as he heard a scream in the distance, but he held his position. An ambush would prevent the enemy from securing living shields before he could destroy them.

In a few minutes, the amount of people running began to thin out and he could tell the enemy was almost upon him. The corner of his lips twitched into a smirk of anticipation.

He was so caught up in sensing out his targets, that he had tuned out everyone moving past in front of him as unimportant. They weren't the enemy and it wasn't like they could actually harm him.

A sharp, high pitched voice calling out at him drew his attention back to his surroundings. "Boy! What do you even think you're doing?!"

He looked up to see an older, green skinned female with lavender hair place her hands on her hips and glare at him. "Quit your hiding in there and back in line with the rest of them!"

She motioned over her shoulder to where a couple dozen children of various ages and races were making their way down the street. As children do, few stopped to observe the interaction.

Gohan stared at her in disbelief for a long moment before lifting his lip up in a snarl. "What the hell are you still doing here? Were you to stupid to get children out of the city and to safety at the first warning?"

As the rest of the children in her charge stopped and watched this boy who dared to talk back to their teacher, the female puffed up her chest in fury. She stepped closer and shoved a finger under the Saiyan's nose. "Don't you talk to me like that little boy! If we were still at the learning center I'd be giving you the punishment you rightly deserve."

Gohan scoffed and carefully pushed her away and towards the direction everyone else had fled. "I'm not one of your damn kids. Get the hell out of here while you still can."

The female opened her mouth to speak again but a sinister chuckle interrupted her impending tirade. She turned to stare wide eyed at the approaching band of fighters.

The obvious leader of the group, a lizardman, flicked his tongue across his scaly snout before chuckling again as he glanced towards his companions. "Well, well, well. Looky here boys. Seems like we found some nice young flesh to serve as new slaves for Emperor Noni. Perhaps he'll let us indulge in them first if we're lucky. I always did like them young. I'll just dispose of the female and then we can round them up."

He raised his hand and let out a blast towards the now terrified female. Her green skin paled to a sickly grey as she shrieked in dread at her impending doom.

Reacting almost without thought, Gohan reached out a hand and batted the blast into the sky. Every set of eyes turned to stare at him in awe.

A look of fury crossed the lizardman's face for a moment. Then he calmly pressed the button on the scouter he wore. "Hmm. A power level of only 15. I don't know how you managed to do that when you're so weak, brat, but you're going to wish you hadn't when I'm done with you."

Gohan smirked arrogantly at the lizard and crossed his arms. He turned his head slightly to address the female he had just saved. "Take the children and get out of here. Now."

The lizarman hissed in displeasure as he moved to fire another blast. "I don't think so!"

There was a flash of something and then his scaly arm dropped weakly to his side. He looked down at where Gohan was now standing in front of him, and pulling back a fist. Seeing the green ichor dripping from the boy's arm and hand, his eyes wandered to the hole now gracing his chest. Breath rattling, he fell to his knees stuttering. "How? I..didn't even see you move."

Gohan flicked the sticky fluid from his hand and snapped his head towards the other fighters who stood motionless, staring at him in disbelief. His eyes hardening, he then zanzokened between the rest of the enemies.

As their bodies fell lifeless, he reached out his senses searching for the next target. Flicking his tail wildly in anticipation, he lifted off the ground in that direction.

Another feminine scream echoed from behind him and he turned to see what might have sneaked past him. The female was now cowering in even more fear than before as she shoved wide eyed and terrified children behind her. She raised a shaky hand and pointed at him while trying to scramble away. She only managed to utter one word through her trembling lips. "Saiyan!"

Gohan gave her a sneer of contempt. "Of course. I save you and I'm the monster."

Turning his back to them, he continued his hunt.

o-o-o-o-o

Tights sat at the kitchen table warily staring into the pair of blue eyes sitting across from her.

*crunch*

Every now and then the sound of bone being crushed by teeth caused her to flinch involuntarily.

*crunch*

Bulma gave a sigh and set down the spoon she had been using to feed Goten. She looked over at Trunks who was happily sitting in his highchair gnawing on a bone.

Noticing her looking at him, Trunks gave his mother a wide smile before resuming his snack.

*crunch*

Out of the corner of her eye, Bulma saw her sister flinch again. She turned fully to face her. "Stop that. He's not going to eat you. You've been here two weeks, you should be used to their eating habits by now."

Tights gave a shudder. The unbelievable amount of food that the toddler and infant could put away continued to destroy her appetite. She was seriously rethinking her plans to stay with her family.

*crunch*

Shaking her head, the blonde looked back at her sister. "I'm sorry, it's just. I don't know. I mean you give them bones like they are some sort of dogs. I thought babies had to have milk and little kids needed soft foods."

Bulma shrugged and picked back up the spoon as Goten began to whine. After shoveling several more scoops into his mouth to quiet him, she spoke again. "They are different than human babies. They need more minerals and protein. In ways their bodies are a lot more primitive even if their minds are really advanced."

Tights gave a look over at the Goten who was trying to reach the bowl so he could shove his face in it. "They don't seem anything like humans to me. Some of the stuff that the Patrol taught me about them..."

"Stop!" Bulma raised a hand. "You really need to forget everything that the Patrol said about Saiyans. It's all wild speculation meant to cause fear. Trunks over there shares the same blood as you. Unless you think you're evil, you need to quit thinking that of him."

Tights hung her head at the chastisement. A thought rushed through her head and she looked up again. "I still don't see how that is even possible. Are the kids mules?"

Bulma shook her head. "Looking at their genes they don't appear to be. Out of curiosity I've taken DNA samples from all the adults and the children. I do a new sample to compare after anything unusual happens to them. It's been rather intriguing. I will say that Saiyan and human DNA seems to be almost fully compatible. The bodies of the halfbreeds can change under specific circumstances. Gohan may have had a human mother, but he is fully Saiyan now."

She looked her sister in the eyes. "You studied enough biology. You know what it means when you get fertile males from what was thought to be a different species."

Tights gave a sharp intake of breath then eyed her nephew in a new light. "So they were humans, or humans were them. I wonder what happened to cause such changes."

With a sigh, Bulma looked at her sister. "You need to know that Dad and Mom and I will do everything we can to make sure that the Saiyans survive. One of the Kais, the gods in the Otherworld placed them under our care. When we asked Kami, our planet's guardian, about it he was very startled. As a rule Kais do not interfere with mortals. Even less so for the higher up ones. Kami thinks the Saiyans belong to that Kai."

Lifting her glass to her lips, Tights almost choked at her sisters words. "So the Saiyans were supposed to be some celestial warriors or something? Something really went wrong somewhere then. They've killed off a lot of species."

Bulma nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Frieza happened. The Saiyans were aggressive and hired themselves out as mercenaries to weaker races for much of what is known of their history. I know first hand how even the most pure hearted like Goku love to fight. Their race was enslaved under threat of annihilation if they didn't serve the Kolds. Then Frieza decided to eliminate them anyway, leaving just four survivors. We have the three living ones."

Pursing her lips, Tights mulled over her thoughts. "So you're breeding a new line of Saiyans. Doesn't it bother you to be used like that?"

Bulma went rigid in anger. "I am not being used! I married Vegeta because I actually like the guy. He may be a jerk but he's the only guy who stands up to me. In shows me he cares for me. We got together and I was pregnant with Trunks well before he got the wild idea to save his race..."

She trailed off and paused in thought. "Actually, it was when he and Gohan came back from space that he was really protective of the kids. Damn that Saiyan. He learned something when he was out there and didn't tell me."

Here eyes widened. "Dammit! He really did and Gohan knows it too. The boy has slipped up and started to say things a few times and Vegeta always silenced him. I'm going to have some words with those two when they get back."

Tights held up both hands in defense as Bulma turned angry eyes to her. "Ok, so you're not being used. I just hope you don't expect me to help them repopulate their species."

Bulma let out a huge laugh. "No. Goku has been family since he was a kid. Raditz being his actual brother by blood makes him family, too, I guess. Besides. I see how you and Yamcha have been making goo goo eyes at each other. It's like watching two teenagers with crushes for the first time."

Face flaming in embarrassment, Tights turned away from her sister and focused on Trunks. The boy gave her a smirk reminiscent of his father then resumed his chewing.

*crunch crunch*