He kept quiet as he crept around the bunker, trying not to wake anyone else. As he got closer to the opening, he felt a twinge of nervousness and excitement, all of his planning, all of his stress, blood, sweat, and tears over the last month had been leading up to this.
The hatch opened with ease and he was immediately faced with darkness. The sky was filled with stars, as the moon made its way down, almost out of sight from the planet's surface. He turned his face towards the east. A small glint of light could barely be seen, the sun was starting its assent up. He turned and found an abandoned log. It would do for now.
He sat down and watched in silence, as dawn came upon him. He barely heard the soft sound of being followed. He didn't even give her a glance as she sat down next to him. Her presence was no longer seen as annoying, rather she kept him calm. It seemed as if his nervousness disappeared when she was around.
"Are you ready for this?" She said, not looking at him, just staring at the sky and watching the sunrise.
He smirked to himself as he rested his hand against hers. He felt her jump slightly, but that didn't matter. He wasn't an idiot, her interest started to catch his eye around a week ago, that and she was useful. He should reward her for her help after all.
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and watched as a mixed bag of emotions crossed her face. Some looked happy, but others looked slightly perturbed.
"You look concerned. Is there something wrong?" He asked, not really caring, but wondering why she wasn't happier with her prize.
Her face turned and her eyes found his. "I worry about my people. Your father will probably use them as shields."
He cocked his head to the side. "What?"
She sighed. "When the real fighting begins, my people will most likely be sent out first. They will be used to use up the energy on our fighters before the real fight can begin."
He looked away. "Your kind are not made for the battlefield. They will perish either in battle or they will meet a more gruesome end." She gave him a frightened look, but he would not lie to her. "With the absence of food, the elites and my father will turn a blind eye and consume what they can to survive. It won't matter that they are innocent. All lives will be far game. I wouldn't put cannibalism passed them."
His face turned back to watch her face plunge into deep shock. "But that..that's"
"What else will they do with their dead when the time comes? Better to survive than to die when a food source is available." He said with utter certainty.
Her shock became disgust. "It's better to die than become a monster!"
"Better to live another day as a monster than to die for nothing." He said calmly. She looked away from him, sadness still edged into her face. He sighed. "I refuse to die. My people will refuse to die. If given a way to survive we will, no matter what the cost."
She nodded, still not looking at him.
"Now come on, we need to get ready."
Kakarot tossed and turned most of the night, watching the Saiyan Prince sleep soundly. He wondered if he would have a problem after he left. So much so that he jumped out of bed a whole hour before he knew that the prince would rise.
He made his way to the kitchen. No one was up yet, which was fine with him. He didn't mind this time to himself.
As he reached the fridge, he heard a slight rustle. Only to find Gohan putting his things together. It didn't look like much, just a small pack. He guessed that it had some clothes and a couple of knick-knacks.
Gohan didn't even turn around. "Are you excited about our trip?"
He still didn't know what to feel. Was he excited to be training or nervous over Vegeta's reaction, either emotion was vying for the top spot in his mind.
"You don't need to be so uneasy." Gohan said, with his back still turned to him. The man was placing some odd looking orange thing into his bag.
"How can you?" He started, startled to have himself exposed so easily.
"Your fears, they echo through your ki. Your every being is on edge, when there really isn't any reason to be. Calm yourself, it's the first step to concurring your fears and overcoming your faults." Gohan said, still riffling through his things.
Gohan made it sound so easy. Like he could just be calm in an instant, but it just wasn't that easy.
Just as he was about to say something, Vegeta appeared behind him, looking rather smug. "Heading out old man?"
Gohan nodded, but didn't turn back to face him.
"Bulma said you would be leaving. The old pervert is gone as well. When did he run off?" Vegeta looked suspiciously at the old man.
"He left last night. Had to get back to his island. There, that seems to be everything." Gohan threw the backpack onto his back and waited.
Vegeta looked at him confused, his eyebrow quirking up. "What are you waiting for? Did you want to speak with Bulma or the harpy girl? They're probably still asleep."
Gohan remained quiet, Kakarot knew what he wanted. He was the one that needed to say it.
"Vegeta." He looked down at the floor as the princes gaze fell on him.
"Kakarot, I'm trying to talk with the old man, wait your turn."
Vegeta turned his gaze back on Gohan, but he had had enough. "I'm going with Gohan." He said as he lifted his head up.
Vegeta's gaze turned back to him confused. "What are you talking about? Bulma is making a machine for us to train, there is no time for foolishness right now."
"You can train in there. I'm going with Gohan." He said a lot firmer then he thought he could.
Vegeta looked flabbergasted. "Kakarot, we will talk about this later."
"No, I'm doing this now. You have the power you need, can't I just do something for myself…for once." He didn't mean for the sadness to creep into his voice, but it did. "Raditz, my parent, and you have held my hand for far too long. Its time I did this for myself."
Vegeta looked angry, but then turned his back to him. "Do what you want, but don't expect me to come crawling after you. If you are not back in time for the ship to leave, I will leave you here."
He knew it was a threat, but it wasn't that much of a deterrent. "I understand."
He watched Vegeta's body stiffen. The other had expected him to cave. The prince said nothing more as he turned and faced Gohan.
"Are you ready, Goku?" The man gave him a gentle smile.
"Yes, but I don't have anything to pack." He said walking forward.
"Don't worry about it. There will be plenty of supplies where we are going." They headed to the exit of the bunker, he could feel the prince's eyes on his back as he made his way up the exit. "Don't worry about him, Vegeta. He has much to learn and this is the only way."
The prince grumbled. "Just make sure that he is back on time and what do you mean the only wa…?"
But Gohan shut the hatch before Vegeta could finish his sentence. Kakarot gave him a questioning glance. As the man made to whistle.
"Gohan, what are you doing?" He asked.
Just then a small cloud came down from the sky. "You can fly right? I think this while let us travel faster." The old man said jumping on the cloud and watching it climb into the sky before heading off towards the mountains.
He didn't question the old man, flying off after him.
They were gathered together. It was time to set their plan into motion. Tarble had organized them into 3 groups. One that would take out the water supply, one that would cause a distraction, and one that would put the chip into place. He would be in the latter. He had also placed a captain to be in charge of each team.
Raditz's father Bardock had volunteered for the attack team, much to the discomfort of his wife and son, but he would not deny the man. They needed all hands to do their part and Bardock was a fighter.
Raditz himself was to be stationed back at the bunker. Not only to start on a new project but to keep tabs on their movements, also just in case something went wrong. Parle was in charge of their radio transmissions, as the night before she unveiled some new scouters which used a lower frequency. They were lighter than the old scouters were and there was less to them. Instead of a small poly glass screen, it relayed a hologram, which was far safer.
As he looked over at a screen, he knew it was time. He gave the two other teams a nod and watched as they flew off.
He signaled to his own team and gave a nod to those back left behind. He was scooped up into the arms of a strange Saiyan who was balding and they were gone. The bunker and his home over the last month fading in the distance.
But he had no time to think about that. The chip was enclosed in a small metal box in his pocket. They didn't have that far of a fly to the former hub of a city. Even from this far away, he could see the devastation of his former home. Many of the homes had been blasted open, most likely from the second and third class Saiyans that had sided with his father. They were probably given nothing for their loyalty and now were forced to scavenge like animals.
Just as he predicted the streets were barren, most likely due to the fact that they were fighting the oncoming attack. Not that it would do them any good. He let out a chuckle at the thought.
Ahead, he could barely make out the main hanger. It looked deserted. He gave his team the signal and they slowly made their descent. Being careful just in case.
As they reached the ground, he took another look around them. Checking for any signs of life.
The hanger looked pretty dirty at the moment. That was probably due to the lack of people in the area. Looking over some of the platforms, he noticed that a couple of ships must have just finished a drop off. He smirked to himself. This meant that it the elites would go another month before they ran out of food. Then the real waiting war could begin.
He walked forward at a brisk pace. Getting over to the main computer. He had already promised Raditz that he would check on his little girlfriend, so he started navigating the computer that he had used so many times in the past. Nothing had changed, no one had thought to go through the system at all. Heck the mainframe password was the same thing that his brother picked out years ago. Typing in the word "pride" unlocked everything, giving him the information of his enemy at his fingertips. He would have to make the system stronger in the future. Next time, he would pick the password.
Finding information on Onna wasn't that hard, her father's name was at the top of the data files, much like all elites.
He scanned the page and a small smile came to his lips. He would remember this information for later. Raditz had no need to fear anything. Her father had left the planet before the start of the war, taking his entire family. They had not returned either. He guessed that they were looking for a heart on the black market then. Not the best place to look, but if it worked it would put his friend at ease.
Next, he took the chip from his pocket, as he knelt down. He had to install it right into the mainframe. Good thing he brought some tools. He removed the network of screws and found the wires all tangled in a mess. Much to his delight, he was able to weave around the wires to the port he needed. As soon as it was installed. He backed away.
"The system should restart in about an hour. After that it will crash the entire network, putting an end with all communications to the outside world." He said reattaching the side panel.
The others gave him a quick nod, as they began towards the exit. If anything this had gone well….too well….
A couple of his group started celebrating, giving each other fist bumps and high fives.
"Do not lower your guard. This went far too easy to be celebrating." He warned the others.
As they reached the door, he froze. This smell. He knew it. Sulfur. Someone had set of a bomb or was going to set off one.
"Get down!" He fell to his feet as the loud crash came over them. The world around him faded in and out. Everything going black, as the blast took out his hearing, making it go in and out. With a final look up, he saw an outline. A cropping of hair that looked so familiar that he could not mistake it for anyone else.
"Well, well, well, I'm rather impressed with you. But I hate to say it son, playtime is over."
To Be Continued….
Author's Note
Runs under a desk to hide from angry fangirls. Please don't kill me, Tarble is not dead. He's just been captured by his father. If this happened to Tarble, I wonder what happened to the rest of the teams. Also it looks like Vegeta and Kakarot are on edge with each other on earth. That and Kakarot is about to start his training, as is Vegeta.
So what will happen next? Will Kakarot master what Gohan and Roshi want to teach him? Is Bardock's team okay? Will Vegeta learn to control the Super Saiyan power now that he has it? Will Raditz be able to lead the resistance in Tarble's absence? Will Tarble escape his father's clutches? Will I ever shut up?
I guess you'll have to read to find out. Don't forget to leave a review and give me some feedback.
