X Chapter 15 X
Warning: Language, Violence,
The sun's harsh rays melted away the snow, leaving the ground bare aside from hibernating grass... Cooler's massive flagship stood in the barren field...
The long-haired saiyaness came in fast and low, landing behind a hill. She crawled to the top and peaked over the summit. The ship's ramp was wide open, just as they had left it. No soldiers were left to guard it, and no one else was standing guard outside. Her mouth stretched into a smile. Like candy from a baby. With gusto, she leapt over the hill and dashed up the ramp, entering the belly of the beast.
Her footsteps echoed endlessly through the metal halls. Aside, all was quiet as a mouse. The lack of noise bothered Komatsuna. It's too quiet... Where is all the staff? A sudden clanging of metal on metal spooked her. The source of the noise came from the nearby dining hall. She poked her head through the door and scanned the long room. The lights were off and the place was seemingly empty until she spotted a pair of white boots under one of the tables.
True to her 'shoot first, ask later' nature, the saiyaness shot a weak blast at the table, obliterating it. A green-skinned woman in Cooler force armor appeared from the smoke, screaming and running out the other exit. Komatsuna flipped on the lights, and several more staff members erupted from their hiding places, yelling and knocking the chairs and tables over.
Her many years as a cutthroat mercenary motivated her. She cut down many as they fled, blasting them in the back; they were only staff, too weak to resist. A few escaped down the hall and into the bowels of the ship. Going from room to room, she showed no mercy to her former shipmates. Screams followed by blasts and hard thuds rang through the ship. Her face was blank throughout it all.
When Komatsuna came to her squad's old quarters, she casually walked through the automatic doors. She passed by the bunks to a series of large, metal safes. Punching in a code, she opened the thick door to reveal a hefty stash of credits, the intergalactic currency. A big grin stretched across her face. "Come to mommy." She bagged the silver cylinders and put them in her armor. Just as she was about to leave, her eyes settled on another safe.
Tarro was very cautious and anti-social. He never opened his safe in front of the others, and went to great lengths to ignore its very existence in conversation. Unknown to him, however, Komatsuna had one night been watching from a closet on the other side of the room. She watched him punch in the code and take something out, though she never saw what it was.
Today was the day she would find out. She punched in the code of 8769 and swung the door open. An obscene amount of credits filled the safe, some spilling out onto the floor. Her eyes bulged and she drooled when she saw how loaded Tarro was. An oddity in the pile of money made her stop. "What the fuck!" The saiyaness fell back from the safe, recognizing the out of place object.
A skull sat among Tarro's private fortune. Though bewildered, she came closer, then picked it up. By its features, it clearly belonged to a saiyan, and a young one at that. It had obvious signs of trauma; fractures presented themselves on the left temple. Solemnly, she placed it back among the piles of riches and closed the door. Tarro… Who is this?
After a moment of silence, a new determination filled her. The saiyaness ripped the safe from its moorings with her super strength. She walked through the halls with it and out of the ship. Using her ki, she blasted a large hole in the ground, then threw the safe into the bottom. She turned back to the ship.
Many hours went by. After looting and scrapping every last bit she could, Komatsuna had filled the hole up completely. Everything from food, to clothing, and tools was stacked high outside. She eyed the haul she had made, proud of her work. "There's enough here to start a new saiyan empire!" The long-haired saiyaness daydreamed about being crowned queen of the saiyans for her efforts; she would have servants, a palace, and a throne of ivory! "Oh, I can see it now!" Creating a plume of dust, she took off for the others.
The saiyan camp was also devoid of snow; it too was melted away by the sun...
Everyone was still crammed in Ginge's house. They peered through the windows at the gloomy landscape beyond. Celle and Veeda had fallen asleep together on Ginge's bed. When everyone began shouting, they woke up. Celle hopped on her feet and shoved everyone at a window away. Her eyes made out a long haired saiyan woman in odd armor standing in the middle of camp.
She recognized the woman and ran out of the house to confront her. A few older children followed her. Komatsuna scoffed at Celle's display; she had taken a battle stance. "Don't have a cow. I'm not here to fight." Celle was quick to reply. "Where is that guy? He's supposed to bring back Pinach and Iseber." Iseber's death replayed in Komatsuna's head, as did Pinach's departure. She cringed. Her eyes scanned Celle's worried face before she delivered the blow. "I have news... It's not easy to say, but... Pinach isn't coming back."
Tears welled up in Celle's eyes. "W-what?" Komatsuna said nothing and looked away. Celle could barely say the next words. "What about Iseber? Where is he?" The saiyaness sheepishly grinned at her. "The namek-... That guy is bringing him soon." Celle briefly smiled before giving back in to tears. One of the older boys put their hand on her shoulder and began leading her back inside. The rest followed them, leaving Komatsuna alone outside.
After a few minutes of thinking, she walked inside the house. Many pairs of eyes glared hostilely at her as she stepped onto the bedroom threshold. She glanced over the motley pack of children. The long-haired saiyaness towered above most of them by a foot, her muscular frame seemed hulking in comparison. The younger children cowered as she moved her hand to her chest to pull something out. It was a rations bar.
She unwrapped it and bit into the chewy brown contents. Silence permeated through the room as Komatsuna ate. Before she finished the last bite, a loud growl could be heard. She stopped and looked down at the source. The little boy she had tossed was hiding behind an older boy's legs. His stomach growled loudly again. She laughed cheerfully and bent down. He cowered, completely hiding himself.
After a time spent shivering, he peaked around the legs. He saw that the woman was holding the morsel out for him to take. Without hesitation and drawing protest from his seniors, the small saiyan boy snatched the ration from Komatsuna's white gloved hands. The food was down his gullet before his boy-shield could take it. "Spit it out, Arlic!" the older boy said. A wide grin formed on Arlic's small face. He looked straight at Komatsuna who was grinning back.
She turned to Celle and the others, giving them a look of charm. "I have more, but we have to go get it." Stomach growls roared from some in the group; it had been a while since they had a good meal. Slowly, everyone looked to Celle, the de facto leader in Ginge's absence, for approval. The messy-haired girl moved her bangs and wiped her tears away. She nodded and got up. Komatsuna led her and a few eldest out of the house. They took off once outside.
A short flight later, and they arrived at the flagship. Aside from the corpses from last night's battle, the place looked abandoned. Celle and the others momentarily forgot about their distrust of Komatsuna when they saw the giant stack of supplies and tools. They rushed up to the pile and started sifting through the contents. The long-haired mercenary stood back with her arms crossed, smirking. She let them have their moment before snapping them back to reality.
"Alright, that's enough. Let's start hauling this stuff back to your camp." The others obeyed her without question, each picking up a load to take back. Celle shot a side glance at her when she saw how quickly the boys had warmed up to the saiyaness. They were chatting, at least attempting to, asking about various tools and gadgets they had never seen before. Celle scowled and quipped to the boys, who were standing around Komatsuna. "I could use some friggin' help guys!"
A big palette lay on the ground on which the saiyans were stacking the supplies. Carrying a huge storage box full of electronics, Celle passed by the ship's ramp on her way to the palette. When she did, her gaze wandered to the vast empty interior of the ship. Her feet stopped. I wonder if there's more goodies inside. She glanced back at Komatsuna, who was directing the others. She placed the box down and walked up the ramp and into the ship.
Her white and gold boots clanged against the steel floor. All was quiet inside... too quiet. The messy-haired girl timidly explored the creepy, dark ship. Her travels brought her to the bridge. The automatic doors opened, startling her. Eventually, she made her way in. The place was empty except for command terminals which flickered with indecipherable data. Something else spooked her, a robotic, female voice. "Unknown lifeform in the bridge. Cease movement."
Celle stood in the middle of the room, looking all about the dark place. She called out. "Hello? Who's there?" A pause followed before the computer responded. "Unknown female, you stand aboard Lord Cooler's flagship. You do not have authorization to be in here. Please vacate immediately." Cooler's name rang a bell in Celle's head. She retorted. "Cooler? He's dead! We killed him! Now where are you?!" All around her, the command terminals flashed intensely with random data. Finally, the computer responded. "Casualty report sent... Lord Cooler status: KIA…"
Celle had no idea what was happening. Suddenly, she was grabbed from behind and pinned to a wall. "YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" Komatsuna twisted her arm hard, causing her to wince. She struggled to get free. "Let go of me!" The saiyaness pushed harder and hissed in her ear. "Do you have any idea what you've done?! You've killed us all!" Fear took over and Celle froze up. Komatsuna's face became cold. She pressed a button on the wall and the overhead lights came on, illuminating the room.
She took Celle's head and forced her to look left, into the room's corner. In that corner, stacked high, was a pile of corpses of various races. Each of them had punctures through the chest created by both blasts and fists. Their colorful blood formed a 'rainbow' on the floor. Not desensitized by adrenaline, Celle began gagging. Komatsuna let her fall to the ground.
"This is what you've doomed us to. We're all dead!" Celle composed herself and stood up. She shot a hostile glare at the mercenary. "Why did you do this to them?" This question angered Komatsuna greatly. "Why? You want to know why?!... Why the fuck do you care?!" Celle snarled. "I can tell that none of these guys could even touch you. Why did you kill them?"
The saiyaness couldn't believe her ears. This little imp really had the gall to question her actions after all that she witnessed the past night. "It's time you see the real world." She grabbed Celle by the arm and dragged her out and down the hall. Celle was brought to the dining hall and tossed inside. "Look around! This is what awaits us in a few months' time!" Corpses lay scattered about the cluttered room, all with holes in their chests like before.
Celle turned to yell at the long-haired saiyaness, but was met with a backhand smack. She staggered back, then wiped the blood from her mouth. Komatsuna's eyes were laser focused on one of the corpses at their feet. Celle looked down and saw a blaster holstered on their belt. She scanned the room and noticed that the rest of them had blasters as well. Komatsuna spoke to her in a grave voice. "Each and every single person on this ship has killed someone in cold blood. Just because they couldn't kill me, doesn't mean they didn't want to. Niceties and sentimental hogwash meant nothing to these people. They were paid killers... and so were we, the saiyans."
Far away, in a distant galaxy... On a blue-green fortress world designated 'Freeza 79'...
The massive, white command post towered high over the green landscape. A canyon ran along its flank. Nearby planets were visible in the dark sky. On the tallest tower was a large antenna that stretched many yards into the sky. Inside the tower was a room filled with monitors and other electronic equipment. Staff in their Freeza force armor casually walked about, tending to their daily duties.
On a large screen on the middle of the wall, an urgent message appeared. The array commander, a large orange lizardman, barked orders. "It's from Lord Cooler's flagship! Decrypt that message immediately!" The staff hurried to their stations and got to work. Gradually, the letters on screen unscrambled and revealed the dreaded news: Casualty Report. Lord Cooler status... KIA.
All noise stopped in the communications center. The staff just looked at each other, unable to process the news. Finally, a red dwarf-man hopped from his seat and began cheering. He cheered until he realized that no one was joining him. He turned around to see the commander pointing a blaster right in his face. The commander pulled the trigger and splattered the red dwarf's brains all over his station. Everyone stared nervously at the commander. When he looked around, they turned away and got back to work.
Freeza sipped on a glass of fine red in his private study. The walls were lined with books and hunting trophies. A collection of pickled saiyan tails and preserved heads occupied one of the many great shelves. Those were Freeza's favorites in his collection and he admired them everyday.
A buzzer notified Freeza of a visitor outside. The pinkish ice demon pressed a button, and the automatic door opened. The orange commander from communications, stepped through and approached Freeza. He knelt and bowed his head. Freeza addressed his visitor, swishing his wine glass. "Ah, Commander Oraange. I trust you have an adequate reason to interrupt my private time?"
The communications officer answered his lord. "Yes, of course my lord. It's your brother... We've just received an emergency broadcast that he's been slain while visiting an uncharted system designated xupg-0934-08." He fearfully raised his head, awaiting Freeza's response. The tyrant sipped his wine and twirled the glass some more. Oraange gulped. Freeza's cold expression turned rather jovial. "Slain is he? That's wonderful!"
Oraange was stunned by this response, thinking now that his emperor was quite mad. "B-but sir? Aren't we going to do something about it? Surely your father will be furious when he learns of his son's demise?" Freeza's cold red eyes locked with Oraange's as a wicked grin spread on his face. "Oh I'm sure of it. But my father won't waste the manpower nor the time looking for a killer from some rock in the middle of kai knows where. Not for such a miserable fool like Cooler, who was always too proud for his own good. It's quite the boon actually!"
The orange lizardman gulped once more and nodded. Freeza beckoned for him to dismiss himself. "If that's all you have for me, you may go." Oraange hesitated, then bowed and excused himself from the study. Freeza spun around in his hoverchair, turning back to his saiyan trophies. A troubling thought crossed his mind. Could it be… the super saiyan? ... No. I killed them all, all except for Vegeta, Nappa, Raditz, and those low-class baboons that travelled with... Shit.
Ginyu and his team were off on a mission. Their target was a yellow sphere of a world inhabited by sentient plant-men who possessed anomalous power. The natives blended in with the local, yellow foliage, ambushing the regular Freeza force soldiers that attempted to take the planet just days earlier.
Jeice's scouter picked up a transmission; an urgent message from Lord Freeza. He signaled for Burter and Recoome to cease bantering. "Yes, Lord Freeza... Of course... Understood, me lord." More natives jumped from the trees, sensing their time to strike. They stood several feet taller than even Burter. Recoome balled his fist and rammed it through three of them, skewering them. He yelled and released his power, vaporizing them. The rest turned and ran, while Recoome, Guldo, and Burter shot them in the back, laughing as they did so.
Captain Ginyu appeared overhead and descended toward his men. He saw Jeice plugging his ear to listen while the other three laughed loudly. "Settle down!... Jeice. What is it?" The red lieutenant stood at attention and saluted the captain. "Capt'n, sir! I just received an emergency recall order! Lord Freeza wants us to return at once!" This surprised the captain. "He wants us back already? But we just arrived an hour ago! Are you sure, Jeice?" Jeice confirmed. "Yes, capt'n!"
Ginyu turned to his men, who were patiently waiting for his orders. "You heard him! We're packing up this operation!" They all groaned in disappointment. Ginyu snapped at them. "Hey! Don't give me that!" He considered the trip and how long it took to get there. "Cheer up, gentlemen! We'll give em' one for the road!" Their faces lit up and the team each took a position in a star formation. Facing outwards, they all fired a blast. The blasts landed and detonated, destroying hundreds of square miles of jungle and taking many thousands of lives. All five Ginyu force members laughed on their flight back to the pods.