Dragon Ball ZGX
Rated T: Blood, Cursing, Suggestive themes.
Description: The conflict between Bardock and the Elite Assassins is over, and Turles has met his end at the hands of his most trusted ally, Tundra. With the knowledge that Gine is still alive, Bardock is bound and determined to find her. But how? Without any clues, Bardock feels the search could take years. However, he receives a willing hand from an unexpected ally. The adventure continues, now.
Act 4: Reunions Saga
Chapter 39: Conflict of Interest
xXxXxXx
Capsule Corporation
A light breeze swept across the backyard of Capsule Corporation. Sheamus, the Saiyan hybrid from Age 953, had returned and was standing across the yard from Bardock and his new allies. Breathing heavily with sweat droplets gliding down his face, he stared at Bardock with intent.
"Hey, Bardock…" Sheamus said through heavy breaths.
Bardock didn't respond, he simply stared at his former comrade in silence. Standing at his sides, Gohan, Trunks, Krillin, Yamcha, and Master Roshi, who were all prepared to fight if need be. Android 18 stood quietly on her own, as she still felt like an alien to everyone else. Vegeta didn't move from the balcony. He didn't feel it was necessary, as he recognized Sheamus's ki from before.
That's the other Saiyan ki signature I felt right before the Androids showed up. Vegeta thought as he stared at the red haired Saiyan. The one that disappeared. But I've never seen a Saiyan like that before, unless he's a hybrid like Trunks and Gohan.
Krillin, standing closest to Bardock's right, leaned in close to him. "Hey, do you two know each other? What's going on?" Bardock still didn't respond.
"Bardock, I need to talk to you." Sheamus pleaded.
Bardock remained silent, then suddenly phased out, phased in right in front of Sheamus, and punched him square in the jaw. He yelled in pain and dropped like a rock. A collective gasp was shared amongst the onlookers, save for Vegeta. Sheamus started rubbing his jaw and looked up at Bardock in shock.
"What the hell are you doing back?" Bardock said angrily.
"Eyce…" Sheamus said as he got back up. "We need to kill him, Bardock. As long as he's still alive, the universe will always be in danger."
Bardock narrowed his eyes at Sheamus and scoffed. "So you lie to me, paralyze me and leave me unconscious in the middle of a field, disappear, then come back months later and act like none of that ever happened?"
Sheamus sighed and shifted his eyes away from his fellow Saiyan. "I figured you'd be upset, but I didn't think you'd be this mad."
"Why? Because of that disk you left me? Or is it that without you, I wouldn't be alive right now?" Bardock said frustratedly. He sighed forcefully and turned away from Sheamus. His allies had very confused looks on their faces, and Bardock sighed again and shook his head.
"Grandpa? What's going on?" Gohan asked, shifting his attention between Bardock and the stranger behind him.
"It's nothing to worry about, Gohan." Bardock replied.
"Bardock, please!" Sheamus called out.
Bardock scowled and partially turned back to face him. "If you want to kill him, Sheamus, then you go and do that. I have more important things to worry about."
Sheamus couldn't believe what he was hearing. "More important than the fate of your universe?"
Bardock gritted his teeth, then pointed at him. "Why the hell does Eyce matter to you so much? Don't you have your own home to protect?"
Sheamus eyes bulged slightly, then he hunched forward and became visibly distraught. "Not anymore…"
Bardock raised an eyebrow at him, then went to say something, but was stopped as he sensed two more ki signatures approaching Capsule Corp. Everyone else who could, sensed it as well, and they were both familiar to them aside from Sheamus. Mere moments later, the sources of those ki signatures arrived at the compound, and landed behind Sheamus.
"Piccolo!" Krillin exclaimed. He looked beside him and saw the person who was with him, and instantly was stricken with fear. "H...h-ey… that guy looks kinda like Frieza."
Gohan immediately got into his battle stance, as did Trunks and a petrified Yamcha. Vegeta remained on the balcony, but was now on high alert. Bardock simply stared at them curiously.
"Bardock, that's the guy that killed you, isn't it?" Krillin asked. Bardock simply nodded.
"Killed?" Sheamus said in shock as he looked at the two newest arrivals. Piccolo stood, cape slightly swaying with the breeze, and next to him, the Elite Assassin, Tundra. The sight of this new warrior made Sheamus freeze in terror.
Trunks looked over at Bardock. "You should stay back this time, Bardock. We don't need to lose you again."
"Get away, Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan yelled.
Piccolo raised his right hand in a halt gesture. "Hold it, guys. He's not here to kill anyone this time."
"What?!" Trunks exclaimed.
"Listen to your friend." Tundra said calmly. "Piccolo wouldn't be here if I planned on killing Bardock again."
The group confusedly talked amongst themselves, but Bardock stayed quiet and made eye contact with the man that ended his life during the Cell Games. He smiled at him. "Hello, Tundra."
"Bardock." Tundra said with a nod. "You look well."
"Wait, hold on." Sheamus said, visibly confused and frustrated by all of this. "So you're happier to see someone that killed you over the person that saved your life?"
Bardock glared at Sheamus and crossed his arms. "He may have killed me, but one thing Tundra hasn't done is lie to me." Sheamus could feel the venom in Bardock's tone, then sighed and crossed his arms. Bardock returned his attention to Tundra. "So, why are you here?"
"I killed Turles." Tundra said nonchalantly.
Bardock raised an eyebrow. "So, you were there. I thought I was crazy when I sensed that girl's ki and saw my brother instead."
"It may have been Quiet's rifle, but Turles took the shot." Tundra said. "I may have been working for him, but no one gets away with harming one of my own."
"What do you mean?"
"When you fought Zarian, his abilities had been enhanced by Soul Serum that he stole from Turles's lab."
Bardock started scratching his chin. "I think I remember Turles talking about something like that."
"The stones on his necklace were part of the mixture." Tundra said. "That's why he and Zarian gave off so much dark energy when you fought them. Turles found out about the theft, so I sent Zarian back to base to face punishment, but Turles's idea of punishment was torturing him to near death." Tundra sighed heavily, looked down and shook his head. "He lost an eye, and has a ton of new scars that he'll have for the rest of his life."
"I'm… sorry to hear that." Bardock said softly.
Tundra looked back up at Bardock. "After that, I went back to Turles' base with Quiet to save Zarian. We destroyed it; all of the Soul Stones, the Soul Serum research and documents, everything. The very idea of those stones existing made me sick."
"Good." Bardock said emphatically. "Just feeling that energy made me uneasy."
Tundra nodded, then started walking towards Bardock. Everyone, though they trusted Piccolo and Bardock, we're still apprehensive of him, and Krillin, Yamcha and Trunks all tensed up again. Gohan remained calm, he knew that if Piccolo wasn't worried, then he had no reason to be either.
"I came here to repay a debt, Bardock." Tundra said, stopping about three feet in front of the Saiyan.
"A debt?" Bardock said in confusion.
"For a long time, all I've done is kill for compensation. I grew numb to it years ago." Tundra said mournfully. "But then I found Zarian on Planet Paradis. And since then, I've had doubts about everything I knew."
A chill went up Bardock's spine, and he trembled for a brief moment, enticing worry from the others. Bardock waved them off however and sighed. "Bad memories… sorry." Bardock said.
"I'm well informed." Tundra replied.
Vegeta, overhearing the conversation, fell into thought. That's right, I remember reading the report on that mission when I was a kid. A true bloodbath.
"Zarian is like a son to me, Bardock." Said Tundra. "I could never bring myself to tell him the truth. But after you fought him, he asked me about what you told him, and I had no choice but to confirm everything. I was the only one he was going to believe, and it was hard for him to hear. So, thank you for that."
"I understand, Tundra. I mean, they're your 'family', right?" Bardock said, quoting what Tundra told him before he killed the Saiyan.
Tundra closed his eyes momentarily, then extended a hand forward, turning his hand up and opening up his palm. Bardock watched curiously, then, a small purple sphere appeared and expanded. Everyone grew cautious, but the sphere proved harmless as inside of it, a sheet of paper appeared.
"Before we destroyed the base, I went through Turles' computer system and I found a document you might find interesting." Tundra grabbed the paper out of the sphere, causing it to vanish, then handed it to Bardock.
Bardock began reading through the document, and soon he was consumed with disbelief. His eyes slightly widened as they went left to right, line by line. He gasped, blinked a few times, then looked behind him up at the balcony where Vegeta was quietly watching.
"Hey, Vegeta! You might want to see this!" Bardock called out. Vegeta scoffed at this, but still flew down to the ground. Bardock handed Vegeta the document, and he had a similar reaction upon reading it. On the sheet was a list of names, including the name and image of the planet itself.
"A Saiyan colony?" Said Vegeta in disbelief.
"On a planet called Vortano." Bardock added.
"That's not a planet I've ever heard of." Vegeta replied.
"I don't imagine you would've." Said Tundra. Bardock and Vegeta both looked at him curiously. Tundra approached them, creating a small huddle, and pointed out the planet's coordinates. "This indicates that the planet is in the Western Quadrant, somewhere near the edge of the known universe."
Bardock gasped as he read the names to himself. "Gine's on this planet, and it looks like your brother is too."
"Hmrph, so the little shrimp is alive." Vegeta said.
It was delayed, but miraculously, everyone in the group had the same reaction at the exact same time. "Vegeta has a brother!?" The whole group said in unison, aside from Trunks, who said "father", Android 18, who didn't care, and Sheamus and Tundra, who also didn't care.
Vegeta's cheeks flushed, then he scoffed and turned away. "Why do any of you care? I sure as hell don't."
Trunks chuckled awkwardly and looked at the ground. "Oh, father…"
Tundra redirected his attention to Bardock. "It seems as though Turles had a falling out with this Saiyan colony on Vortano long before I met him."
"Well, I can't speak for the others, but Gine is a kind hearted woman." Bardock said, making eye contact with Tundra. "If they're living peacefully, Turles wouldn't've wanted anything to do with it."
Tundra nodded in agreement. Turles never spoke of his past with Tundra, but knowing him the way he did, Tundra figured this would be the case. "Like I said, I owed you a debt. Now we're even."
Bardock looked at Tundra and shook his head. "You didn't owe me anything, Tundra."
"You've done more for me than you know whether intentional or not, Saiyan." Tundra countered.
Bardock smiled at his former enemy. "Thank you for this."
Tundra nodded at him and turned around, but turned his head back to look at him again. "By the way, the PTO ship you've been using is equipped with a hyperdrive system, right?"
Bardock nodded. "Yeah. My friend, Gummo, installed it himself, why?"
"I know you're planning on going there, but I don't want you to get your hopes up. For perspective, if I were going to Vortano, I'd have to recharge my ship's hyperdrive core 24 times. It would take me 17 months to get to Vortano."
Bardock's eyes bulged momentarily. "Space Christ, that's a long time." He then sighed and looked at the document in his hand. "Gummo told me that the hyperdrive core is almost empty. And each jump we made between here and there took about a day."
"The tech in that ship is older than mine, and if you have a basic hyperdrive installed on a ship that old and of that size, I'd say you're looking at a little over two years to get from here to there."
Bardock's face turned pale and his pupils shrunk. "Too much can happen in two years. It's been over thirty already."
Tundra sighed and looked forward, opposite the others. "I don't mean to piss on your hopes, but I figured you should know the reality of the matter."
"No, it's alright. I appreciate all of this, Tundra." Bardock said, grateful for both the document and the honesty.
"Take care." Tundra said as he started walking away.
"What'll you do now?" Bardock asked.
"Not sure. After all that's happened, the three of us have some soul searching to do, both as a group, and as individuals."
"Well, good luck, Tundra." Bardock said with a nod.
"You too."
Bardock looked down at the paper again. After everything he learned from Tundra, he was more determined than ever. But knowing it could take over two years to get from Earth to this mysterious Vortano was discouraging. Still, he knew where Gine was, and that was enough to keep him going.
Sheamus, who this whole time had just stood there and listened, decided to try and plead with Bardock again now that Tundra was leaving. "Bardock…" Bardock looked up at him, realizing that he'd pretty much forgotten he was standing there. Sheamus sighed defeatedly, but was still going to try. "Look, I get it. I'm sorry I lied to you, I'm sorry I kept my life a secret, but I had my reasons. But I'm begging you, for the safety of your world, for the safety of the universe. Eyce needs to be eliminated."
Bardock scoffed at this and rolled his eyes. He was about to retort negatively again, but Tundra hadn't taken off yet and was still within earshot of them. Before Bardock could even form a response, Tundra turned his head back and glared at both the red haired stranger and Bardock.
"Leave Eyce alone." Tundra said deeply.
This took everyone by surprise. Bardock was aware that they knew each other from their fight, but not the extent of their relationship. As for everyone else, they grew weary as they knew who Eyce was through Bardock. Sheamus looked over at Tundra and scowled.
"Look, I don't know who you are other than you and Bardock have some strange history." Sheamus said, now entirely annoyed at the whole situation. "But Eyce is a murderous psychopath, and he needs to die."
"You even attempt to go after him, and I'll kill you without a second thought." Tundra said with a bone-chilling tone.
Sheamus turned his body toward the assassin and started walking towards him. "What? Do you plan on destroying the universe with him? Is this just a ploy so no one suspects you?"
Tundra turned around, now annoyed that this stranger had the audacity to step up to him and call him out on things he didn't understand. Bardock stepped forward too, fully aware that this situation could become very dangerous in a matter of moments. However, before Tundra or Bardock could get another word out…
"All of you SHUT UP!" Bulma yelled angrily, halting all three parties. Bardock, Sheamus and Tundra all looked over at Bulma, who was now red in the face with a deep scowl. She was walking over to the three of them furiously. "I didn't mind all the interruptions when you were just talking. But if the three of you are gonna argue and get into a brawl, you can all get off my property!"
Bardock and Sheamus both looked at Bulma awkwardly, and Tundra just remained silent. Bardock sighed, then looked at Sheamus and Tundra. "Since this is going to be an issue, why don't we meet up somewhere later on and get this thing resolved?"
"Fine by me." Tundra said. He turned away again and looked up at the sky. "I landed my ship in a wasteland a ways east of here. We'll meet there."
Bardock nodded. "That's fine."
Tundra then took off and disappeared into the sky. Sheamus looked at Bardock and shook his head. "Bardock, please listen to me."
"We'll talk later, Sheamus. Just go." Bardock quickly replied.
Sheamus was taken aback by Bardock's continued dismissal of him, but nodded in defeat, then too took off. Bardock sighed and turned to Bulma, who was looking at him menacingly.
"Hey, don't look at me! Piccolo's the one that brought Tundra here." He said in an attempt to divert her anger. Piccolo's face flushed with embarrassment, accompanied by a scowl directed at Bardock.
"You're as much of a trouble magnet as Goku, sheesh!" Bulma said before turning away and walking back into the group of people.
Bardock looked at everyone; Gohan, Trunks, Vegeta, Master Roshi, Yamcha, Krillin, everyone. He sighed and shook his head. "I know you're gonna have questions, but save it for now. I don't want to say anything until I resolve that mess."
"Fine." Vegeta said in annoyance. He walked up to Bardock and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket. "But I'm going with you. I want to know everything."
"I am too." Trunks added. "I don't like where this is going."
"Guys, this has nothing to do with you." Bardock said defensively, but the others weren't having it.
"No, grandpa. I have to agree with Vegeta and Trunks." Gohan said, approaching him and Vegeta. "I'm going too. If anything happens that could put Earth in danger, that could put my mom and the baby in danger, then I want to be there to stop it."
Bardock looked down at his grandson and admired how mature he was. He'd grown so much in the short time he knew him, and he understood his feelings. "Alright, you win. But let me do the talking."
xXxXxXx
Gizard Wasteland: Four Hours Later
The party at Capsule Corporation continued well into the evening, but the mood was tainted with some anxiety from everything that happened between Bardock, Sheamus and Tundra. But as evening arrived, Bardock took leave along with Gohan, Trunks, Vegeta and Piccolo. It didn't take long to get to the wasteland, which was illuminated by the orange light from the setting sun. They could sense both Tundra and Sheamus' ki signatures in the wasteland, which worried Bardock. But a sigh of relief escaped him when they arrived and saw that they hadn't tried killing each other yet.
Tundra and Sheamus were both waiting on a tall plateau. Sheamus was sitting over the edge facing away from Tundra, but as Bardock's group arrived, he stood up and faced them as they landed. Tundra was already facing them, and he just stared blankly.
Bardock gave them both knowing looks. Sheamus sighed and nervously shifted his eyes between Bardock and Tundra repeatedly.
After a moment of this, Tundra cleared his throat and glared at Sheamus. "Alright, talk."
Sheamus looked at him and sighed. "Look, I know from first hand experience how sick and sadistic Eyce is. He's a threat to the entire universe, and if he isn't taken care of soon, everyone will be in danger."
Tundra narrowed his eyes at Sheamus. "Eyce isn't your concern, regardless of your history. I know him, and I know what he's become. I can tell you with full confidence that he's no longer a threat."
"You say that now, but you haven't seen what I have." Sheamus said.
"I'm an assassin, I've seen plenty."
"You don't understand!" Sheamus barked. "If Bardock trusts you, then I have no reason not to. But you have to listen to me. Eyce isn't gonna stay in hiding forever, he's going to return with a massive army and take over the universe. And no one will be able to stop him if he's allowed to get that far."
"And just how could you possibly know that, Saiyan?" Tundra said.
"I was actually starting to wonder that myself." Vegeta added, glaring at the mysterious hybrid.
Sheamus looked at Vegeta, then at Tundra again and began internally panicking. Bardock realized this and shook his head.
"There's no reason for you to keep it a secret, Sheamus." Bardock said. "Trunks did it first, do you really think time travel is worth all this beating around the bush?"
"Time travel?" Trunks exclaimed in shock.
"Bardock! Why would you say that?!" Sheamus exclaimed offendedly as he swung around to face him.
Tundra kept his cold gaze locked on Sheamus. "I don't care." He said, which immediately drew everyone's attention back to him. "Whatever happened to you in this alternate reality of yours is irrelevant. You'll leave Eyce alone."
Sheamus sighed and turned away angrily. He walked over to the edge of the plateau and looked at the evening sky. "You don't understand. But I guess now that the secret's out, I can tell you exactly what's going to happen." Sheamus knelt down and picked up a large rock, then stood up and stared at it. "My future's been ravaged by war. The whole universe has been torn apart, and Eyce is the root cause. I was supposed to travel to this year and kill him because after Frieza's empire falls apart, Eyce starts to rebuild it in secret. This goes on and on for years before the remnants of the PTO rise from the ashes. IVA, the Intergalactic Ravagers Alliance, is going to spend the next 124 years expanding and strengthening, and in Age 890, they're going to start a war with the entire universe. I was part of an army that spent years in conflict with them. We had a peace treaty for a while, but that all ended after I went home. The year in my future is 953, and IVA destroyed everything. All of my comrades, the whole army, my parents, my commander, everyone. ZGX is gone, and I'm the only one left."
Sheamus growled, then chucked the rock over the wasteland, then fired a ki blast at it and completely disintegrated it.
Everyone watched quietly, and Trunks being a time traveler himself was sympathetic, and also very curious. "Why would you go through the trouble of traveling almost two-hundred years into the past? I'd imagine the power gap between us is enormous."
Sheamus sighed, then turned to Trunks and the others. "You'd think so, but things quiet down for a long time, and everyone grows weaker as a result, so it wouldn't've made a difference. The plan was to eliminate them in this Age so that IVA would never exist. But I made a critical miscalculation and went back thirty years too early. That's why Bardock is alive. Without that error, none of you would've known I was ever here. So I spent thirty years traveling back and forth from my timeline to here, waiting for Bardock to wake up. When he did, we went after the PTO and eliminated them. But Bardock decided to let Eyce go because-"
"Let me guess, it's something that Kakarot would've done." Vegeta said, glaring at Bardock. Bardock chuckled sheepishly but didn't further acknowledge it.
"Yeah." Sheamus said with a nod. "Look, the truth is, I knew they were coming for Transeki because it happened in my timeline too, but Bardock didn't survive and Eyce was free to do what he pleased. Transeki doesn't exist in my timeline because Eyce found out their secrets, and destroyed it when he was done with them. But I couldn't risk telling anyone because I could've compromised the mission. But I suppose none of that matters now." Sheamus sighed and looked at Bardock. "Bardock, I am truly sorry, but I couldn't violate my orders. But that's why I'm so adamant about this. I want to be able to move forward knowing that there's a timeline where IVA and ZGX don't exist. I want that to change because my entire universe is in shambles. I'm the only one left, and when I go back, I'm going to die. I'm gonna fight IVA with everything I have, but I know I'm not gonna survive."
Tundra looked at him for a long few moments while rubbing a hand on his chin. Sheamus was shaken and desperate for everyone to understand. However: "I'm sorry you've been going through all of that. But it changes nothing. I won't hesitate to kill anyone that goes after Eyce." Sheamus and the others looked at him in question, but Tundra didn't budge. "I've seen him recently. As far as I can tell, he has no intentions of rebuilding the empire, considering he destroyed the PTO central hub entirely."
Sheamus looked at him in awe, then looked at Bardock. "Come on, you can't seriously be okay with this."
Bardock looked at Sheamus, and while also sympathetic, he shook his head and looked at Tundra. "I don't know what the relationship between Eyce and Tundra is, but if he says Eyce isn't a threat, then there's no need to go after him." Bardock chuckled sheepishly. "And considering he already killed me once, I don't want to make it personal."
"Bardock!" Sheamus said in disbelief.
"Like I said before, Tundra never lied to me." Bardock said.
"As much as I hate the thought of people like Frieza even existing, there's no need to bother." Vegeta added.
"There's no point in picking unnecessary fights." Piccolo said as well.
Sheamus shook his head and again turned away. Tundra knew how upset he was, and he was sympathetic, but he wasn't changing his mind. "To put your minds at ease, if Eyce becomes a threat, I'll kill him myself." Sheamus looked back at him but didn't say anything, then looked away again. Tundra then looked at Bardock. "If our business is done here, I'll be on my way."
Bardock nodded and gave him a two finger salute. "Thanks again, Tundra."
Tundra nodded, then turned around and took off. He was out of sight within moments. Bardock then looked at Sheamus and sighed, then looked behind him at his allies.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Bardock." Vegeta said scornfully.
"Well, if I'm wrong, we'll find out the hard way." Bardock said with a chuckle.
"And I will kill you for it." Vegeta said before turning around and taking off back towards West City.
Sheamus looked at Bardock and started walking over to him. "Bardock, please listen to me. I'm sorry, I really am, but-"
"Sheamus, stop." Bardock said sternly, cutting off the hybrid. "My mind's made up, and if going after him means making an enemy out of Tundra, it's your funeral. There's no reason for you to worry about Eyce. It doesn't change anything in your timeline, and this change isn't a bad thing. You need to focus on saving your timeline, not altering ours."
Sheamus sighed and dropped his head, and Bardock turned to him and placed a hand on one of his shoulders.
"Look, I need to find my wife." Bardock said. "I need to get to Vortano. But it looks like that'll take a while, and you came back to this timeline with an unattainable goal. So why not get something out of it?"
Sheamus looked up at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"You could train with me and get stronger so that you can take care of your future." Bardock said confidently. "I have my own things to deal with, but I'll help you with that."
Sheamus huffed and shook his head. "Why can't you just use the Dragon Balls to find her? Couldn't Shenron teleport you?"
"They were just used to clean up Cell's mess and revive everyone that died since the start of that whole mess." Piccolo explained. "Besides, if it's as far away as Tundra says it is, Shenron nor Porunga may have enough power, if you wanted to try New Namek."
"Ah…" Sheamus replied, feeling like an utter moron because he knew what time period he was in and still didn't register the fact the Dragon Balls were inactive.
Bardock shook his head. "If you don't think they have enough power, there's no point." He then looked at Sheamus again. "How about it?"
Sheamus sighed again and hesitantly nodded his head. "Well, if I can't change your mind, I'll accept that."
"Alright." Bardock said with a smile. He released Sheamus' shoulder and turned away. "You'll know where to find me."
Sheamus nodded, then turned and flew off. Bardock approached Piccolo and Gohan. Piccolo's arms were crossed and he was staring at him.
"Do you really think they can be trusted?" Asked the Namekian.
"I know the history is complicated, but they both have solid arguments." Said Bardock. "I don't think Eyce is a concern anymore. My focus needs to be on getting to Vortano and finding my wife."
Gohan sighed. "I'll have to convince mom to let me go with you. I want to meet my grandmother."
"Don't worry, I'll give you a hand with that." Bardock said with a smile.
"Good luck." Piccolo said dryly. Gohan and Bardock both laughed while their Namekian comrade just stood there. Then, the three of them took off.
xXxXxXx
The next day, Bardock went back to Capsule Corporation to ask Bulma if there was anything she could do to help. Two years was far longer than Bardock wanted to wait to see his wife. He didn't want to wait even a minute longer than he had to, a lot can happen in that long a time period. Bulma was happy to help, and had Bardock go get his ship. Bardock had to land the ex-PTO spacecraft in a field outside of West City because it was too big to land on Capsule Corp property. Bulma took a good look over the ship, it took her a few hours to get a proper assessment, and Bardock waited outside by the ocean the whole time. Once she was done, Bulma hunted down Bardock and told him she needed time to think about what to do next. Bardock, while understandably impatient, told her to do whatever she needed to, and he returned to Mount Paozu. Bulma hired a security crew to guard the ship.
A few days later, Bulma called Bardock and told him to meet her at the ship's location outside of West City. Bardock arrived quickly, and Bulma presented him with some information…
"Okay, so my dad and I analyzed the tech on this ship, and it's far more advanced than we could've imagined." Bulma explained, a thick notebook in hand that was solely dedicated to Bardock's dilemma. The Saiyan listened intently. "The main issues are the age and size of the ship. The size makes it slow, and for as old as it is, if you were to try and make a journey like that making primarily hyperspace jumps, it would fall apart before you even get halfway there."
"Of course." Bardock said frustratedly.
"I've come up with two practical options. And like most things, they both come with a catch."
"What do I have to lose but time, right?" Bardock said sarcastically, enticing a glare from Bulma. Bardock sighed and nodded. "Alright, shoot."
Bulma looked at Bardock's ship. "Option one, my dad and I can repair your ship so that it could withstand a round trip to Vortano. The catch with that is, if Tundra's right, the trip will still take you a little over two years, and that's just one way. You'd be looking at almost five years in space if you choose to come back."
Bardock sighed. "And?"
"Option two is a lot more complicated." Bulma said, raising a finger in an explanatory manor. "My father built spaceships for Goku and Vegeta based off of the tech used in those Saiyan space pods that Vegeta and the other Saiyans arrived here in a few years ago. So I'm thinking that, if my dad and I build a brand new ship using tech from and modeled after the tech in your ship, we could cut travel time down significantly."
A hopeful smile grew across Bardock's face, but then he realized there was still a catch, and he looked at her with worry. "So, what's the catch for this option."
"Well, building a whole new ship will take a while. And either way, I need to talk to this Gummo guy about the hyperdrive system since he's the one that installed it. If I can figure out how it works, I can figure out how to make it better, and hopefully I'll be able to cut the travel time down even further."
Bardock nodded and smiled. "Think I'll go with option two. We'll have to figure out how to talk to Gummo sense Transeki is so far away."
Luckily for Bardock, that would prove easier than he expected as his grandson was best friends with the recently appointed Guardian of Earth, Dende. Gohan asked Dende to contact the Guardian of Transeki, Takomi, so Bardock could talk to Gummo. This was as complicated as it sounds for Dende though, because he didn't know what he was looking for, and thus couldn't contact Takomi directly. However, he could contact King Kai at will if he needed to, and so that's what he did. King Kai did the favor for the young Guardian, and soon Dende and Takomi were in contact. Bulma and Gummo connected through their help, and their conversations helped Bulma understand the hyperdrive technology. Being the genius she was, Bulma was confident she'd be able to improve upon it seamlessly. The catch was a hefty one, however, as construction of the brand new "Capsule Z" ship would take roughly three months to compete.
But that was a small price Bardock was willing to pay if it meant getting to Vortano, and his wife Gine, faster. And thus, for everyone on Earth, the three month waiting period began. Meanwhile…
Planet Vortano
Under an orangish-purple morning sky sat a house in a field. A dirt path led from the house, through the field and led to a larger road to the east.
Standing outside of the house, dressed in a pink shirt, black tights, black wristbands and traditional white yellow-toed Saiyan boots, was the very woman Bardock was so determined to reunite with, Gine. Looking towards the forest with a few large brown sacks slung over her shoulder, she had a determined smile on her face.
"Better get my hunting done." Gine said. She looked back at the house and debated whether or not she should wake up Luffa and Matto. After some thought, she looked away and shook her head. "Nah, I'll let them sleep in. They can help with the delivery later."
With that, Gine took to the sky and flew towards the forest.
To Be Continued...