Chapter 26. The competition
The large black spaceship was tucked away within a ring of high mountains. From above Akane witnessed the confused rummaging of the Saiyajin warriors as they began to emerge from the smooth spiderlike object. They obviously had no idea what was going on.
She descended and touched ground with Vegeta at her side, Turles and Kaito right behind them grinning broadly. More Saiyajins emerged and several men repeated the concerned question: "Where is the Captain?"
"At ease men." Akane spoke loosely.
They all stopped dead in their tracks upon finding the four of them standing there and many sighed in relief, hollering her title with a firm salute. Then a gasp of bewilderment rippled through the crowd as eyes started to fall on Vegeta at Akane's side.
"Is that the Prince?" A female wondered in a hushed voice and others echoed this while nudging the warrior closest by.
"No, it's the King!" A tall man in the back hollered. "Hail King Vegeta!"
"Hail!" Some repeated, though most were still examining Vegeta thoroughly from were they stood, noting that though he looked like the King, there were differences. His hair, for one, was black in stead of brown and he also missed the beard. But this Prince was not the young man they had expected to find, no matter his youthful looks.
Akane took in the familiar faces and she felt her heart swell with gladness. She couldn't even care about the failed wishes anymore. Her men were back and even if Vegetasei could never be restored, they could all start anew and rebuild their empire by colonising a planet. In any case their race would not die out.
"Captain!" A raw voice shouted from the throng of Saiyajins and a sturdy looking man of old age pushed his way through the excitedly muttering warriors around him. "Explain what the hell is going on here!"
Akane watched how the Air Marshal of the Marauder S-4 made his way over to her, the look on his weathered face rapidly shifting from perplexed to composed and back so often it seemed he was on the verge of losing his mind. His poor old heart might just fail him at this. Still he didn't look half as feeble as Akane remembered him. The shock had jolted the old man back to life.
"Ser." She gave him a quick salute.
Before she could answer his question the Air Marshal fell to his knee with a startled gasp and exclaimed: "My Prince, you have returned."
Behind him all the warriors, now strengthened in their presumption, followed his example immediately and bowed down in respect. Akane smirked at the glint of pride in Vegeta's dark eyes as he witnessed this. Her Prince.
The Air Marshal rose staring at the four of them and scratching his spiky grey hair as he tried to comprehend the situation. "I don't understand… We were in the midst of battle. Cold had the ship taken over. Half our men were dead and here they all are, unharmed. How can this be?"
"I will explain." Akane spoke. Then she raised her voice for all Saiyajins to hear. "During our battle with Cold most of you died. Some of us he took captive and we served him for years before our Prince found us on this planet. His heir defeated Cold and freed us from him. All of you have been wished back to life by the power of something called dragonballs."
A tall sternly beautiful woman separated herself from the crowd and halted at the Air Marshal's side. The Marauder S-4's Ardian threw Akane a sharp glare up and down. "How is this possible?" She hissed.
Akane felt the familiar good-natured rivalry flame up in all seriousness between her and the dark Ardian and she loved it. Judging from the woman's nasty grin she did so too.
"It is not important how, Ruirdo." Akane snapped. "Be thankful that I decided to wish you back along with my men. I could've just as easily left you to rot in hell and I should have since your poor judgement led us to our defeat."
Ruirdo's mouth twitched in irritation and her brown eyes turned to slits. "It were your men that proved unable to hold their ground against Cold."
"My men fought bravely. The Marauder S-4 wouldn't even have been in the Southern region of the Iceon Galaxy if it weren't for your erroneous coordinates." Akane pointed out with a snarl.
Ruirdo snorted and changed the subject. "What in the name of the blessed Mother are you wearing? You look ridiculous."
Akane looked down on her green shirt and a haughty smirk touched her face. "It was a gift from our young princeling." She focused on the Air Marshal reverently. "Ser, if I may. I have more announcements to make."
"Go ahead, Captain." The Air Marshal replied still seeming too confused to process all that was happening.
"It pains me to say that our planet was destroyed. Frieza killed our King and blew up Vegetasei not long after Cold commandeered our ship." Akane continued.
Another gasp of shock went through the gathering of warriors. Some lamented, others shouted execrations to the address of Frieza.
Akane silenced them with a hand raised above her head. "He has paid. The heir of our Prince avenged our people by killing both him and Cold on this planet. We are currently on Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy. In a year our Prince will try once more to restore Vegetasei with the use of the dragonballs. Until then we remain here. I bid you leave the ruling race of this planet unharmed. Though undeveloped, the Earthlings are not for consumption. This is the wish of our Prince." A grin now touched her face. "Welcome back men."
A chorus of loud salutes was the answer from her men. Then many clenched a fist in the air with combative battle-cries or brotherly slapped each other on the shoulder in an exultant gesture.
The Air Marshal finally appeared to have regained his composure and turned to Vegeta with a respectful inclination of his head. "Forgive me my bluntness, Prince, but since your father is gone will you not take your place as our King?"
"When Vegetasei is restored my father will return. I shall remain Prince until he makes me King." Vegeta simply stated.
"Yes, of course." The old man agreed with another reverence. The perplexity seemed to want to return to his wrinkled face but he managed to fend it off and retain his dignity.
Akane threw a quick glance back at Kaito and Turles who were still beaming at the gathering of Saiyajins. She cleared her throat and focused on the gathering once more. "In light of past events I will place my Leading Airman Kaito and Airman First Class Turles directly beneath me in the position of Squadron Ardian."
Both Kaito and Turles let out gasps of shock and excitement. The proud grin on their faces was priceless. Akane gave them a brief smile and wanted to continue when she felt Vegeta's hand on her upper arm. He took her aside under the close attention of the crowd.
She glanced up at him questioningly as they were out of earshot and he leaned in to speak softly: "You need someone to guard you and my daughter. I want it to be them."
Akane drew her brows together. "I don't need protection from my own men."
His weighty expression left no room for debate. She sighed and nodded compliantly before returning to her men.
"In addition Kaito and Turles will receive the title of Royal Guard. Their main task will be to protect me and the Prince's daughter." Akane motioned to her stomach vaguely. She hadn't been ready to make her gravidation known to her men yet, but it was Vegeta's wish and no matter what else he was to her, he was still her Prince and his will was law.
Excitement rippled through the crowd and the beautiful Ruirdo moved in front of her once more, her mouth opened in surprise. "You…" She pointed to Akane's stomach. "You're the Prince's…"
"I am his odalisque." Akane cut her off quickly to eliminate any misconception.
A sly smile crept onto Ruirdo's face after that announcement and she put a loose hand on her narrow hip. "My, such an honourable position you have taken up. I commend you, Akane. Nice work. Naturally the Air Marshal and I shall make great haste appointing a new Captain so you can attend to other..." She clacked her tongue in feigned thoughtfulness. "Duties."
"The Captain maintains her current position." Vegeta spoke coolly before Akane had a chance to respond.
"C-Certainly, my Prince." Ruirdo stammered with a quick curtsy.
Akane saw the disappointment slip onto Ruirdo's face and let out a bark of amused laughter. "Blood Ruirdo, is causing my downfall all you care about? Kick back for a change. Enjoy life. You have been given a second chance, don't waste it on me."
Ruirdo's expression softened and her brown eyes twinkled. "Ah come on my small friend. This is what we do best. You're not going to give up on our game now that a whelp came into play, are you?"
"Not as long as you are positioned above me." Akane took the forearm afforded and answered Ruirdo's wicked smirk with one of her own.
"Very well. Congratulations on your gravidation, Captain. I am very happy for you." Ruirdo's eyes fell on Vegeta for a short moment. "And our Prince of course."
Akane's grip on the Ardian's forearm tightened ever so slightly at the inviting smile the woman threw their Prince. It took Akane much effort to keep her face unimpaired.
"I think I shall take your advise. I am going to enjoy life without wasting it on your downfall." Ruirdo's smile was provocative. "After all, the first doesn't necessarily have to rule out the second. Wouldn't you agree, Akane?"
Akane drew her forearm from the Ardian's grip and crossed her arms over her chest in an attempt to appear calm while dread rapidly rose on the inside as she realised that the return of the Marauder S-4 brought with it not only joy but also a threat she didn't have to face before: competition. Taking it up against the main woman hadn't been a real challenge but having to compete with women like Ruirdo or any other female Saiyajin of the Marauder S-4 was something entirely different. It wouldn't be long before the women threw themselves at Vegeta's feet and he surely wouldn't object to it when they did. No matter how tightly she tied him to herself, any chance she ever had of keeping him to herself was now ruined by the arrival of her crew.
Akane became suddenly painfully aware of Vegeta standing at her side. He was so close that she could feel the warmth of his body but in a way she felt him drifting away from her, moving out of her reach. Her insides contracted in distress and she longed to look up at him, see the confirmation in his eyes that he belonged to her in the way she belonged to him. She knew she would never find that in those dark eyes, he would never make her that promise, so instead she kept her stare on Ruirdo's smirking face and fought to keep herself from falling apart.
Akane forced herself to emit a carefree laugh which, to her relief, she managed to pull off quite well. She wished desperately that her voice wouldn't fail her and snarled: "We will just see about that, Ruirdo."
Ruirdo laughed just as loud. "We will indeed."