Empire
Chapter 26: Ire
Vegeta's pod landed in the snow-covered terrain of Hadrian 9. Kakarrot and Raditz landed not too far from him. Each pod had created a large, deep crater. Kakarrot was the first to exit his small, cramped pod. He had a scouter over his right eye.
Kakarrot was not the typical Saiyan. Like every Saiyan, he did enjoy a good fight. But, he did not enjoy slaughtering enemies. He had only ever killed in self-defense and in order to protect his ward, Vegeta. Not once had he enjoyed it or done it with a smile on his face. Raditz was a firm believer that his brother had been dropped on his head as a baby. Kakarrot turned his head as said Saiyan stepped up next to him.
"This place is fucking freezing. Does it ever warm up here?" Raditz asked. He too wore a scouter over his right eye. A gust of glacial wind was his answer. "I suppose we should go meet up with Vegeta."
"Yeah," Kakarrot said idly.
Vegeta was removing his cape from his armor when the brothers landed near his pod. He did not look up at them or even acknowledge their presence as they approached. Vegeta threw his cape back in the pod and stepped away from it. The pod closed. He finally looked up at his subordinates. His scouter was firmly over his right eye.
"Three hours," he said. Raditz and Kakarrot exchanged confused glances.
"Sire?" they asked while looking back at Vegeta. Vegeta crossed his arms.
"There is no one on this planet of significant fighting proficiency. It is only a medium-populated planet. Three hours should be all that we need," he said over the howling wind.
"To what?" Kakarrot asked.
"Eradicate every living being." Vegeta glared at him coldly. "In three hours, I leave with or without you," he said.
"Vegeta, I just can't..."
Vegeta shot a thin blast at Kakarrot. It scraped his left cheek, drawing blood almost as an afterthought. Kakarrot put a hand to his face and wiped the blood away. He looked down at his bloodied glove and then back up at his prince. Raditz looked nervously between the two. Usually, Kakarrot was the only one who could get away with questioning Vegeta's decisions on the battlefield; that was not the case today. Vegeta lowered his arm slowly, his scowl strangely deep.
"I'm not having this discussion with you again, Kakarrot. This is your job for the time being. In three hours, this planet had better be dead. That's an order. If not, next time, I won't miss," Vegeta said.
A long moment of silence passed between the three Saiyans. The only noise was the wailing of the wind. Kakarrot took a deep breath and released it.
"Yes, Vegeta," he ground out after the tense moment of deafening silence. Vegeta inclined his head slightly. They synchronized the timers on their scouters and turned away from each other. Vegeta was the one who took off first, flying as fast as he could to the nearest signals of life.
It was not that he was uncomfortable with killing; Vegeta had killed his fair share in battles. Vegeta-sei was no stranger when it came to conflicts in war. It was just that he was not too keen on the fact that he had to kill people that he had promised to protect. Mentally cursing his providence, Vegeta came to a stop high above the first village.
The inhabitants of Hadrian 9 resembled giants. They were not too bright, but they could sense when something was amiss. Despite their size, their fighting potential was relatively weak in comparison to the Saiyans. This was the reason they had joined the Saiyan Empire. It was better to be protected by them than to fight with them.
As Vegeta hovered in a transcendent manner over the village, he could see some men shoveling snow. There was a group of large children playing with some sort of ball. Women were carrying baskets of odd-looking foods. It appeared to be a normal day in a normal town. Furrowing his eyebrows, Vegeta held out his right hand. A small blue ball of energy began forming. It grew until it was the size of melon.
Right before Vegeta released the ball, one of the children looked up at him. Their eyes met for an instant and Vegeta saw her big, blue eyes. He faltered for only a moment, lowering his hand slightly. The child's eyes widened in fear. Then, Vegeta blinked and let the ball fly.
Bulma sat up in a cold sweat. Her blue hair was sticking to her face. For some reason, she felt as if she had been running a marathon. She caught her breath and looked around her newest dwelling. She let out a long, depressing sigh and lay back down.
When she had arrived on Frieza Planet 1, she and her techs had been immediately shown the lab in what appeared to be some sort of space station. Frieza's scientists had already expressed their displeasure for her and her crew by acting as if they did not exist. They never helped, bumped into them on purpose, and never listened to anything Bulma said. While talking amongst themselves, Bulma heard them refer to the Saiyans as "monkeys." Although she did not have "seniority," she did have "superiority." She was technically the department's head. They would learn to respect her and the techs one way or another.
Bulma never was far from the lab, either. She figured Frieza had planned that. She lived in the apartment right above it. As far as she knew, it was always dark on Planet 1. The only way she ever knew it was "day" was when the shutters opened up on the windows in the apartment she had. It was a decent sized apartment, but still was a far cry from the luxury of Vegeta-sei.
Might as well get dressed since I'm up. I'll just go work on something in the lab until the mess hall opens up, Bulma thought while sitting up. After a shower in her cubicle of a bathroom, Bulma dressed in her "new" attire: a white spandex minidress, a white lab coat, and white boots. She pinned her hair up in a bun and looked in the small mirror.
"I'm so tired on spandex. I'm surprised they don't all chafe in this stuff," Bulma muttered as she left the apartment, locking the door behind her.
In the lab, Bulma pulled out the blueprints she had been deciphering for Frieza. She had been deciphering them for a several days now. It was hard work decoding something she drew up when she was 16. Now that she was older, she was seeing a lot of mistakes in the overall design of the weapon. A small smile came to her lips.
"If this is for Frieza, I could just leave all the flaws in and hope he fries..." she mumbled as she wrote. "But what if he decides to put it on Vegeta instead and just use him as a weapon?" She stopped writing.
Bulma had grown increasingly more and more worried for Vegeta. Whenever she was in the mess hall, she tried to listen in on tidbits of information. All she ever heard was "Saiyan this" and "Saiyan that." None of Frieza's men seemed to know names. It was obvious that they were jealous and hated the Saiyans, though. In her mind, Bulma began counting.
"Fourteen days since I was taken captive by Frieza. Eleven days since I've seen Vegeta." Bulma sighed and leaned forward on the table. She was exceptionally lonely. "I wonder what Cheech is doing..."
Chichi sat next to Mieke's bed in the queen's suite. The queen was heavily bandaged and also heavily sedated. Crenia was sitting next to Chichi, staring blankly at Mieke. Chichi looked away from Mieke and down at her abdomen. She placed a hand on it.
"I can't believe I'm actually pregnant," she whispered. Crenia looked at Chichi. "I wish Kakarrot was here to share it with me. I wish Bulma was here, too."
"I'm confident that your son will see his father," Crenia said. Chichi looked up at her.
"Son? How do you know it will be a boy?" she asked. Crenia smirked.
"From the way he made his presence known," she said. Chichi raised and eyebrow and nodded.
"I haven't many pregnant Saiyan women." Chichi looked at the ceiling. "In fact, I haven't seen any. Why is that?" she asked.
"Saiyan women are warriors first and women second. That's all I'll say on that. You'll have to make a choice in three months, though," Crenia said. Chichi looked back at her.
"Why?"
"You'll find out in three months." Crenia went back to gazing at the queen. Chichi continued to wonder about Crenia's enigmatic response for a few minutes more before turning away from her.
Huh... I wonder what she's talking about, she thought.
Bulma made her way through the noisy mess hall. She was carrying a tray of some sort of food. She had managed to make due with whatever Frieza's soldiers ate. As long as she did not have to be in Frieza's presence, she was fine. The only thing she had a problem with was the constant ogling and catcalls of the soldiers.
Bulma spotted an empty table and made a bee-line for it. She totally missed the solid body on her left. She stumbled forward while juggling her tray. Before she fell completely on her face, an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her upright. Bulma sighed relief. The arm immediately let her go. Bulma turned to thank her savior.
"Thank you. I'm sorry that I didn't see you standing there," she said as she was turning. Her eyes widened when she looked at the taller man. He was obviously a Saiyan from his dark hair and demeanor. But what got her most was that he looked exactly like Kakarrot. "Ka-Ka-Kakarrot?" she whispered. The Saiyan shook his head.
"No. I'm Turles, a cousin of his. You must be that human princess we keep hearing about," he said. He sounded nothing like Kakarrot; where Kakarrot sounded kind and gentle, Turles sounded hard and unpleasant. Bulma could only nod. Then she stepped closer to him.
"Um, do you know anything about Kakarrot?" she asked. Wherever Kakarrot was, Vegeta was sure to be. She did not want to make it seem obvious that she was searching for the prince. Turles just raised an eyebrow.
"The last I heard, he was out at Hadrian Nine. He should be heading here with Prince Vegeta and Raditz next. Why?" he asked, looking at her suspiciously. Bulma shook her head and tightened her grip on her tray.
"No reason. I just wanted to know. A friend of mine might be worrying about him. They're kind of clo..."
"I see you're starting to make friends, princess," a voice said from behind her. Bulma rolled her eyes. Turles looked over Bulma's head. Bulma turned around and saw Zarbon standing over her. He was looking down over her in his usual patronizing manner. "I do wish you'd consider being MY friend," he said.
"Thanks, but no thanks, Zarbon. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to enjoy my breakfast ALONE." Bulma turned her head to look at Turles. "It was nice speaking with you, Turles. I shall not forget this kindness." Bulma walked off over to her table.
Turles watched Zarbon as he stared at Bulma. Something told him that he should keep an eye out for the princess. He knew she could be important later on. He barely noticed Zarbon turning back to face him.
"Why are you just standing here? Go be useful or something," he said loudly. Turles frowned and walked off.
Kakarrot was the first one back to the pods. He looked up at the sky of Hadrian 9. It was red and clouded with the smoke of fire. The young Saiyan was tired and had never felt worse in his life. He looked up as the timer went off on his scouter. As it did, Raditz and Vegeta landed in front of him. Raditz wore the same expression he did. Vegeta looked like he always did: impassive. The prince removed his scouter and walked over to his pod.
"Where do we go from here, Vegeta?" Raditz asked.
"Set a course for Frieza Planet One," Vegeta said plainly.
"The headquarters? Why not Vegeta-sei?" Kakarrot asked. Vegeta looked at him.
"If I go back to Vegeta-sei right now, there will be one less Saiyan in the universe." Vegeta opened his pod. "Get in your pods. We're leaving now," he said. Kakarrot and Raditz nodded, flying out of Vegeta's crater.
Vegeta sat down in his pod roughly. He pulled his legs in and folded his arms. He was pissed. He did not want to go to Planet 1. He wanted to go back to his home planet so that he could kill his father and take the throne. But, he would not do something so reckless at the moment. He would bide his time.
Yes. I'll bide my time. Like a ticking time bomb, I'll bide my time, Vegeta thought as his pod took off. The sleeping gas filled the pod and he was instantly asleep with thoughts of the ways he could make his father suffer.
Bulma finished the large blueprint off just as Frieza came in the lab. All of his scientists stopped what they were doing to look at him. They bowed in respect. The Saiyans and Bulma just stared at him. Frieza sauntered over to Bulma, a wicked smile on his face.
"I haven't seen you in a while, Bulma," he said. Bulma shrugged nonchalantly.
"I suppose that's a good thing for me. It's allowed me to get work done," she said. Frieza chuckled slightly.
"You and Vegeta have an awful habit of talking to me anyway you please. I actually came to give you some good news. Now I'm not so sure I want to let you know what it is. Unless," Frieza looked down at her blueprint, "you have something good to show me."
Bulma stared at him for a moment. What could he possibly have to tell her? The greatest news he could give her is that he is freeing both her and Vegeta.
Fat chance, she thought.
"This is the blueprint for that weapon. I finished decoding it and made some modifications to it. I made the original when I was sixteen, so it had a lot of flaws. Now that I'm older, I can make it stronger," Bulma said. Frieza smirked at her. He put a finger under her chin.
"Good girl." He stepped around her. "I came to tell you that your prince is coming back from his first mission for me. He completed it rather quickly. It was the fastest purging anyone's every done. Three hours is a record," Frieza said. He glanced at Bulma's face. He chuckled. She was looking at him in bafflement.
"Purging?" she asked hoarsely. Frieza nodded.
"Yes, princess. Vegeta and his two bodyguards went to Hadrian Nine and exterminated those large behemoth-like creatures that live there. I think I'll make that planet some sort of resort area. It has snow year-round, you know," Frieza said lackadaisically. He looked off into space as if he was imagining something.
Bulma just stared at him with disbelieving eyes. How could someone be this evil? She turned and looked at the Saiyans. They all looked angry, like they knew something she did not. Bulma glared back at Frieza. He was now looking back at her.
"Where is Hadrian Nine, Frieza? Is it part of your territory?" she asked.
"Of course not. It's on the outskirts of the Saiyan Empire. I passed it on my way to Vegeta-sei. It has great potential to be a vacation spot. Those giants were just in the way. I had to get ri..."
"You forced Vegeta to kill people he was sworn to protect?" Bulma yelled. Frieza's grin grew wider. "You're a monster!" she yelled.
"So they say, princess. So they say." Frieza turned to leave. "I suppose I'll leave you to your work. I expect results soon or I'll have Zarbon start using that lovely little collar on you."
Bulma resisted the urge to throw a tool after Frieza and took a few deep breaths. She had to bring it all into perspective that Vegeta was now a mass-murderer. Well, technically he was one before that from all the wars he had fought in, but that was different. He did not go about intentionally killing for selfish gain. He killed to protect.
"Kamala?" Bulma whispered. Her assistant stepped up to her side. "When the prince arrives, meet him at the docking bay. Tell him where I am," she said. Kamala nodded. Bulma looked down at the blueprint. Unfortunately, she had to get started on the abominable creation.
Why did I create something like this? Damnit! Now I hate being so fucking intelligent, she thought.
Five days later, three pods arrived at the space station on Planet 1. Several of Frieza's men met the surly prince and his bodyguards at the docking bay. One look from Vegeta told them that he was not in the mood and they immediately avoided eye contact. The only person who did not shy away from Vegeta was meek Kamala. She swallowed and walked directly up to Vegeta. She kept her head lowered.
"Your highness, may I have a word with you?" she asked so quickly that Vegeta had a hard time making sense of her words. When he got the gist of them he raised an eyebrow. He did not feel like talking, knowing he had to converse with Frieza in a few minutes. But something told him to hear the girl out.
"Speak," Vegeta said. "And raise your head. I can't understand you if you talk to the floor." Kamala obeyed, but avoided eye contact.
"Yes, sire. Um, Princess Bulma is in an apartment over the lab," she said quietly. With that, she bowed, turned on her heel, and left as fast as her legs could carry her.
Vegeta stared after the girl. Bulma had obviously sent the girl to tell him that; she was a Saiyan after all. He blinked out of his stupor and continued to walk inside the station with Kakarrot and Raditz. Zarbon was waiting for him. Vegeta's frown deepened.
"The prince has returned," Zarbon said.
"What do you want?" Vegeta asked.
"Frieza wants to see you immediately." Zarbon looked at Kakarrot and Raditz. "Just you," he said. Raditz and Kakarrot looked down at Vegeta. Vegeta held a hand up and followed Zarbon off.
Frieza was staring out over his dominion through an observation deck when Zarbon and Vegeta entered. Zarbon stayed behind as Vegeta approached the small alien with his arms crossed. All sorts of bloodthirsty thoughts crossed Vegeta's mind. He had to mentally shake his head to control his anger when Frieza turned around to face him.
"So much rage in those eyes, Vegeta. Do I really make you that angry?" Frieza asked. Vegeta stared blankly at Frieza for a moment.
"Is that a rhetorical question?" he asked. Frieza only chuckled and shook his finger.
"You and the princess truly are two of a kind. I called you here because I wanted to commend you on such a wonderful job. No one has ever purged a planet so thoroughly in such a short amount of time. And with only three of you? You Saiyans truly are astounding in your power," he said.
Vegeta just stood in silence. He did not want to feel proud of anything he had accomplished thus far. The only thing that would make him proud would be getting rid of the piece of trash that stood before him. He just continued to glare impassively at Frieza, wondering when his little speech would end.
"I will not send you on another mission for about a week or so, so enjoy this time off. Perhaps you should entertain your dear princess. I believe she is lonely," Frieza said snidely. Vegeta narrowed his eyes. He turned around and left the room silently, leaving Zarbon and Frieza alone. Zarbon looked at Frieza.
"Is he always that irritated?" he asked. Frieza sighed.
"Who knows with those monkeys? They all always look like they have some sort of pain in them," he said.
"Will you still go ahead with the master plan once the princess finishes that weapon?" Zarbon asked. Frieza looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Most likely. But, I suppose I could keep a few of them alive. Vegeta most of all. His power is far too great to let it go to waste. One Saiyan is not a problem. A planet of Saiyans causes a major dilemma. I cannot have that in MY universe," he said. Zarbon nodded.
The shutters had been closed for hours. Bulma was dozing when she heard a sharp knock on the door of her apartment. She sat up a quickly as it jerked her awake. She had been working on something. She immediately hid it in the desk of her room. She was on her way to the door when the knocking grew louder and harder. It sounded as if the person was trying to break through it.
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Bulma yelled. She unlocked the door and pushed the button to slide it open. "Geez! Who is at my door in the mi..." Bulma stopped when she saw who it was.
Vegeta stood in the darkness of the hallway. He stepped in the room silently. Bulma stepped to the side to let him in. She shut the door. Vegeta turned and faced her. He grabbed her and pulled her to the light. He looked her over as if he was looking for injuries of some sort.
"Vegeta, what are you doing? I'm fine," Bulma said. Vegeta turned her around to look in her in the face again. Bulma stared him in the eyes. "Hey," she whispered. Vegeta said nothing and just continued to stare at her. For five minutes, all he did was stare at her.
"You were calling me," he said suddenly. Bulma blinked out of her daze.
"On Frieza's ship? Yes, I was. You couldn't see me. I could see you, though. Frieza thought it was hilarious, the bastard," Bulma mumbled. She stepped away from him. Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "I heard about Hadrian Nine," she whispered.
Vegeta had figured that she would eventually find out about what his missions actually consisted of. He had not figured it would be this soon, though. He had wanted to tell her himself. He could only guess that Frieza or Zarbon had told her just to frighten her. The way she was looking at him now spoke volumes.
They did their job well, Vegeta thought dismally.
"What about it?" Vegeta asked. Bulma frowned.
"You just killed millions of innocent people and all you can say is 'What about it?'" she asked.
"I did what I had to do. Would you have preferred I refuse and die? Or perhaps maybe Frieza would've killed you or destroyed my planet. Who knows? He has so many options available to him," Vegeta said coldly.
Bulma relaxed her shoulders a bit. She had never really thought about it that way before. Vegeta really did not have a choice in the matter. She had forgotten that Frieza was holding the strings of their lives. She looked over at Vegeta as he went over to sit on her bed.
"I'm sorry, Vegeta. I didn't realize..."
"Just drop it, woman." He looked at her again. "What is that thing on your neck?" he asked. Bulma touched the collar.
"An electric collar. Remember when we were taken hostage? Well, Zarbon put another one on me to 'keep me in line.' He uses every so often to make himself feel good." Bulma sat down behind Vegeta. Vegeta was staring at her. Fury was in his eyes. "Don't do anything, Vegeta. I have a plan for us," Bulma said. She scooted closer to him.
"What, woman?" Vegeta asked.
"Do you still have the gravity room capsule?" Bulma asked. Vegeta reached under his armor and pulled it out. Bulma smiled. She looked in his eyes. "Train, Vegeta. You, Raditz, and Kakarrot train every spare moment you get. Tell your soldiers to do the same. I need you to be strong for what I'm going to do," she said.
"And what's that?" Vegeta asked, his curiosity growing. Bulma smirked.
"Frieza doesn't know of my capsule technology. I plan on keeping it that way. While I'm creating his little weapon for him, I'm also making something to aide me in my escape. Frieza does not realize how clever I really am."
"What are you getting at, woman? You're still not making any..."
"My techs and I managed to bug this entire space station. So, I've heard some interesting conversations. The most interesting one came earlier today after you left your little meeting with Frieza," Bulma said. She took a deep breath. "I think he plans on destroying your planet, killing every Saiyan and keeping only a few of you alive."
If Vegeta's ire had not already reached it's peak, it had now. He moved like he was about to stand, but Bulma held him in place. She looked in his eyes.
"No. Not yet, Vegeta. We'll do this together. Right now, Frieza needs all the Saiyans. When the time is right, I will let you know. You may not be able to kill Frieza then, but you will be able gain control of your planet. When I'm free, I'll go to my planet and take the throne," she said. Vegeta took a deep breath and looked slyly at her.
"What will you do about that weakling of yours?"
"He's not MINE. And I haven't really thought about it. He cannot declare me dead, so he cannot do anything in terms of taking my place. The delegation won't have that if Krillyn and Roshi have anything to do with it." Bulma released Vegeta and lay back on the bed. "Hold me, Vegeta," she said.
"What?" Vegeta asked, looking down on her. Bulma sat up quickly and pulled him down to her.
"Just hold me."
"Only if you answer this question," he said.
"What?"
"Have you screamed lately?" he asked. Bulma raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"No. Why would I..."
"Then I think it's high time you did," Vegeta said evilly. Bulma giggled as Vegeta's lips captured hers.