Space
December 20, A762

Raditz and Goku pressed upon each other's hands. There was a white line on the ground in the chamber. Both Saiyans poured sweat as they tried to push themselves over the line, but they were too equally matched. Despite his height and weight advantage, Raditz was completely unable to get his brother to bend or break. With a breath and a heave, Raditz twisted his arms and made another heave, and this time actually got Goku to slide back a bit.

"I have you now!" Raditz declared.

"Hello boys!" a voice called in their heads, causing the brothers to lose balance, and they both fell onto the ground.

"King Kai? What is it, we're training!" Raditz growled.

"Of course you are," King Kai grunted, "I just wanted to call in and let you know that I've got some guests."

"Huh? Guests?" Goku asked, sitting up.

"Yup! Four of them. They really trounced your record on Snake Way, too, Goku. You've got some hefty competition!" King Kai said.

"Uh...Well, good luck to them, if they're going to train," Goku said. Raditz groaned.

"Kakarot, think about this for a moment: Who has recently died who we expect to come back to life, and would benefit from King Kai's training?" Raditz asked. Goku stared at him for a moment.

"...Well it wasn't you…"

Raditz facepalmed.

"Yeah, just put your hand on my shoulder," King Kai said.

"Hey, Kakarot. Sorry I didn't get the chance to meet you on Earth. I guess I got a bit ahead of myself," a voice Goku didn't recognize said.

"Oh, hello, uh…"

"Meys! You made it to King Kai's?" Raditz said.

"Yup! We met Earth's guardian after we died. Come on, guys, say hi to Kakarot," Meys said.

"Hey Goku," Yamcha said.

"Oh! Yamcha! Duh, of course it's you! How you doing?"

"Oh, well, you know. Dead…"

"Oh. Right."

"But hey! We're all here for King Kai's training! Meys, Piccolo, Yajirobe, and I!" Yamcha said.

"Wait, Yajirobe's there? I didn't even know he died!" Goku said.

"That was a cheap shot by your buddy!" Yajirobe growled.

"Well, don't you worry, guys. We're on our way to Namek. I know it'll be super dangerous, but we'll get it done!" Goku said.

"Wait, why is it dangerous on Namek?" Yamcha asked.

"Lord Freeza is there, also hunting for the Dragon Balls," Raditz said.

"WHAT? Did you say Freeza? No, no, no, Goku, Raditz, you cannot go near him!" King Kai bellowed.

"Don't you think we know that, King Kai? I've grown up my whole life knowing the monster I worked for was the same one that slaughtered my people! We're going to get you back to life, but I'm not letting Freeza go unscathed," Raditz vowed.

"Raditz, you cannot fight Freeza! Promise me you'll-DAMMIT RADITZ STOP RECITING TECHNICAL MANUALS AT ME!" King Kai bellowed.

"Don't worry, King Kai. We're all training, together. We'll be strong enough to take on Freeza. Like mom says: Together."

"No, Goku, please! Don't!"

"King Kai, you taught us Kaioken for a reason. We beat Vegeta. I know Freeza is a lot stronger. But we've got to try. Otherwise, everyone's just going to keep being afraid. And if we fail, there will be someone else. But we can't give up. Our priority is still the Dragon Balls. Once we have them, we'll have layers of chances. So train up, everyone! I'm counting on you!" Goku said.

"You've got it, Goku!" Yamcha said.

"When we're all alive and back on Earth, Kakarot, you and I are going to test the Kaioken against each other, hear me?" Meys said.

"I'm looking forward to it," Goku said.

"Tell Brussa I said hello. And...Tell her I said sorry," Meys said.

"I will."

"Oh, and Goku, tell your mother, at least from me, no hard feelings," Yamcha added, "Just so long as you get us and the others back to Earth in one piece."

"I will. See you soon, Yamcha."

"You too, Goku."

There was a knock at their chamber door. Raditz pushed his brother off of him, and opened it; Brussa was there with a serious look.

"What's going on? Aren't you training with Chi Chi?" Raditz asked.

"We've got a situation. We might be in for a fight."

"What kind of fight?" Goku asked.

"The kind where we're disintegrated in the void of space," Brussa said, "We just bumped into a Freeza Force battleship, and they're demanding we identify ourselves. Come on."

"Aw, man, we just got to fifty times gravity, too!" Goku groaned. At the command console, Gine had an orange alien on the line.

"I repeat, unidentified attack pod, identify yourself, or be destroyed!" the alien demanded.

"I haven't responded yet, but they've got us locked on. Any ideas, Raditz?" Gine asked.

"I say we let them take us into their hangar, and then we take over their ship! A Battleship is way faster than our ship!" Brussa said.

"Oh, I like that idea," Goku admitted.

"Yeah, well, what do we say to get them-hold on," Gine held up a finger, and sent a non-visual message, "Freeza Force battleship, please stand by, uh, technical difficulties."

"Well there we go. Say we've taken damage, and we're on our way for repairs. What's the closest base?" Brussa asked, checking the astromap, "Freeza Planet 79. Aw, damn, we just passed it, too! Maybe say our navigation is on the fritz?"

"That might work," Gine nodded, and turned to her boys, "Get ready to fight out way out the main door."

"You got it, mom!" Goku said, racing Raditz to the main door.

"Chi Chi! Gohan! Battlestations!" Gine called over the PA.

"Ready?" Brussa asked. Gine nodded.

"Attention Freeza Force Battleship. We have taken damage, and are on our way to Freeza Planet 79 for medical attention and repairs," Gine said. There was a silence.

"What model is your vessel? It doesn't match any of our records."

"Uh, experimental. Top secret stuff. You're to, uh, tractor our vessel into a secure hangar and drop us off at Freeza Planet 79 immediately. Code...Uh...TH-11-3X8-Bravo," Gine said, trying to remember the code that Bardock used for his black ops.

There was silence again.

"It's an older code, but it checks out," the other officer was heard muttering. Another pause.

"Shut down your engines, and prepare to board our vessel through a hangar."

Gine let out a sigh of relief. Brussa slowed and cut the engines of their ship. A moment later, the ship shook, and they were brought in with the tractor beam. All six inhabitants took positions near the drop ramp to the vessel, waiting for the process to finish.

"Come out with your weapons down and your hands up!" a voice called. Raditz struck the emergency open button, forcing the door to open suddenly. All six warriors burst out of the ship, taking a different target and handily snatching their weapons or striking them unconscious. Within moments, the goons were dealt with, and the hangar was dealt with.

"Your deception hasn't fooled us! You won't get your grubby hands back on this vessel! Down with Freeza! For the revolution! For the Saiyan race!" someone on the PA declared.

"Wait a minute," Raditz picked up one of the soldiers, "Mother, do you see this?"

"That's the symbol of the Saiyan Royal house," she said. The same symbol was painted on the door of the hangar.

"Your wretched tyrant has caused me enough suffering!" the voice called out over the PA. The hangar door opened, and a Saiyan stood there, wearing dark blue battle armor and a red scouter. The Saiyan Royal symbol was painted on his chest.

He otherwise looked nearly identical to Goku, aside from a bit of extra bulk, and the fact he was covered in scars.

"Bardock?" Gine gasped. The Saiyan fired Ki blasts, forcing them to take cover.

"Do you know this guy, mom?" Brussa asked.

"No, but he looks just like Bardock!"

"Well right now he's pissing me off!" Raditz said. Goku, however, jumped over his cover, attracting the Saiyan's fire, which Goku deftly dodged by running up and along the wall, before jumping off and landing his fist on the Saiyan's face, knocking him out.

"Captain! Damn you!" more soldiers had arrived, and were aiming blasters. Goku held up the 'captain', pulled the Scouter off his face, and tossed it to Raditz.

"Stand down! We have your Captain! Put down your weapons, or we'll execute him!" Raditz threatened.

"What? No we won't!" Goku said, "I've already beaten him!"

"Well they don't need to hear that!" Raditz snarled.

"We're not with Freeza!" Brussa waved her arms to them, and pointed to their ship, "This is a misunderstanding! See? No Freeza symbols!"

The soldiers hesitated.

"Let the Captain go!" one of the soldiers said. Goku dropped him.

"Hold on a minute! These guys are Saiyans!" another soldier said.

"What? Oh man you're right, they have tails! Some of them, do, anyway!"

"That one looks just like the Captain!"

"What's going on?"

"Ugh! My head!" the captain groaned, "What happened?"

"Hey, man, sorry about that. You were shooting at us something fierce, so I had to knock you out," Goku said to him, and he offered his hand to him, "My name's Goku, what's yours?"

"Uh...Captain Turles…" he took Goku's hand, and stood, "You're...Not killing me?"

"Nope! This was a big ole mix-up!" Goku laughed, "Sorry about that!"

"You look...Just like me," Turles rubbed at his head, "Are you Bardock?"

"Huh? No, that's my dad. I was going to ask you why you looked just like me!"

"Well, that's a long story. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. You're damn strong, Goku."

"Hey, thanks! We've been training up a storm in the gravity chamber!"

"Why don't you all join me for a meal," Turles gestured, "While I get some ice on this bump."

Goku started to follow him.

"Are we seriously just going to follow him?" Chi Chi asked.

"Well maybe they have some fresh food. Premade meals can only go so far," Raditz said.

"I'll say! And if he tries anything, I can kick his butt!" Brussa said, following Goku. Chi Chi sighed, and followed, with Gohan at her side.

"Have I mentioned how much I like your hair, Gohan? It's almost like mine!" Raditz said.

"Thanks, Uncle Raditz!"

Turles led them to the Captain's Quarters, which were sparse, despite their size. It was clear this room was meant to impress and intimidate, with its circular design, view of the stars, and even a throne for the captain. A table had been brought in with some chairs, and was covered with papers. There was a mat on the floor in the corner. A second table with a couple more chairs was folded up against a wall. Turles unfolded them, and called for a Yeoman to bring food for seven on the PA. Turles pressed an ice pack against his head.

"Okay. So, I'm Captain Turles. This is our Battleship. We just hijacked it this morning, so there's only so much we've got ready. I didn't know there were other Saiyan escapees."

"Escapees? No, we're coming from Ear-" Goku started, but Chi Chi jabbed him in the chest with her elbow.

"We're from somewhere else. Survivors of the attack on Planet Vegeta," Chi Chi said.

"Oh, really? I thought it was just the other abductees and myself," Turles said.

"Abductees?" Gine asked, her eyes widening.

"Yeah. Freeza didn't get all the Saiyans. His people have been experimenting on us for years. Torture, vivisection, genetic manipulation. In my case, cloning," Turles said.

"Cloning?" Gine gasped. Turles nodded.

"My 'father' is a low-class warrior named Bardock. Before Freeza decided to destroy Vegeta, me and my Crusher Corps were used for black-ops missions. They were recording my progress throughout my career. But afterward, the Ginyu Force hunted me down, killed my men, and I've been Doctor Kikono's plaything ever since."

Gine held her hands to her mouth, while the others just gawked at him. Turles looked between them.

"...What?"

"My name is Raditz. Son of Bardock. This is my brother, Kakarot, also the son of Bardock. And...This is our mother, Gine," Raditz said. Turles lowered the ice pack from his head.

"...Oh."

"Excuse me," Gine stood and stepped out of the quarters. Chi Chi walked after her. Turles couldn't help but watch them leave.

"I guess this makes for a bit of a family reunion then, huh?" Turles sighed, "What are the odds, huh? I'm going to be honest, six high power levels in what looked like a weird attack pod, we thought you were the Ginyu Force. I thought our rebellion was over before we even reached Namek."

"Okay, that's weird, because we're also going to Namek," Brussa said.

"Well if your objective is to kill Freeza, it's not that weird, because that's what we're on our way to do. See, this ship has a planet-cracker cannon. Built in secret by King Cold, in case the Freeza Force needed to blow up a planet without high-class warriors," Turles explained, "But Freeza forbade such weapons, because they could incidentally be used to kill him. So, when Freeza Planet 79 had a revolt from its prisoners, the King had this baby sent to put it down, since Freeza's nowhere near us.

"Now, while Vegeta, who started the damn riot, may have taken off, they didn't expect me, and they didn't have a power level over ten thousand on this ship. And since Doctor Kikono decided I was his guinea pig to test the limits of the Zenkai and Saiyan biology, I was able to take it from them without much trouble. You, though…"

Turles re-applied the ice pack.

"You're something else."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Goku rubbed his neck.

"Pff, I'm almost as tough as Kakarot and Raditz!" Brussa insisted.

"We can't let you destroy Namek," Gohan said. Turles looked down to him.

"Why not?"

"Because our friends are there! And there's Namekians who live there! We need to collect the Dragon Balls, and bring our friends back to life!" Gohan said. Turles scowled.

"So the rumors of the Dragon Balls are true? They're real?" Turles asked. Goku nodded.

"Yeah, we have them back on-uh, where we're from. We're on our way to bring back some friends of ours, and maybe beat Freeza while we're at it," Goku said.

"With a punch like yours, you just might," Turles chuckled, "If I had gotten the damn Tree of Might, I could have bidden my time, and built up my power. But the Ginyu Force destroyed it, and my opportunity to surpass Freeza."

"There's plenty of chances to get stronger! There's always someone stronger. You just have to train and get better! Never stop improving!" Goku said.

"Turles?" Gine called out, returning with Chi Chi, "I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay. This is weird for all of us."

"Besides, Turles, do you really want to kill Freeza with a weapon?" Raditz asked, "We should show him the might of the Saiyan race."

"Together," Gine said.

Turles considered, and inhaled.

"No. I'll give you a chance. But if I think it's going south, I'm blasting Namek, with Freeza on it. That's not to say I won't help. We'll help you out. But Freeza dies, no matter what, and no matter the cost," Turles vowed.

"Then Gohan and I are staying on the ship. We're not getting into a battlefield," Chi Chi insisted.

"That's not a good idea," Gine said, "First of all, you and Gohan are some of the most powerful fighters in the Galaxy, alongside us. We're going to need you. Second, Freeza and his men are going to attack this ship once it gets there. It's more likely to be captured or destroyed than it is to blow up Namek. It's actually safer on Namek, with Freeza, than it is up here, because Freeza's fleet can still outgun it."

Turles re-adjusted the ice pack, and nodded, "As much as I hate to admit it, she's right. Everyone on board has accepted that this is probably a suicide mission. The longer we wait once we get there, the more of a chance we'll be defeated."

"Then we've got a time limit: Get the Dragon Balls, and defeat Freeza!" Raditz declared, "How long until we get to Namek?"

Turles shrugged, "About eighteen hours."

"Kakarot, do you think we can beat a hundred times gravity in under a day?"

Goku punched his palm, "I think we can try!"

"A hundred times gravity? What are you talking about?" Turles asked.

"After food," Brussa announced as the Yeoman presented them with a fully cooked meal, and the Saiyans started to dig in.