Prologue

Planet Vegeta

Kohlra was not having the most pleasant week.

His return from Planet Giboshi was a success, but it was five months later than he had predicted. What was supposed to be a week-long invasion of a fairly peaceful planet ended up turning into a war against a technologically advanced and painstakingly stubborn alien race that didn't know when to give up. They didn't stand a chance against him individually, of course, but they often grouped up and hid behind heavily armored structures that were a pain to get into. Not to mention the aircrafts they constantly had trying to shoot him down, to discourage him from flying. Again, none of their weapons did much damage to him, but it was hard to clear a planet when every living being was doing their best to annoy him to death. He absolutely loved a good fight, but this wasn't a good fight. It was boring. And tedious.

And who was to blame for this? None other than intelligence. He knew there was incompetence in the system, but this took the cake. 'Minimal resistance expected' they said. He snorted at the thought.

Somehow, this still wasn't his most pressing matter. There was the looming threat of war. To the majority of the Saiyans, things may have seemed as normal as always, but the talk among the higher class Saiyans revealed the true state of affairs. Kohlra was only a middle class Saiyan, but he served well and people liked that, so he had friends. There were constant whispers that King Vegeta was planning to wage war against Frieza.

Frieza. The man who represented everything Kohlra hated. He hated that the Saiyans didn't see it either, they were so blinded by fear that they couldn't see how pathetic they had become. If he had the chance, he'd rip Frieza's heart out with his own hands, and crush it between his palms.

But of course that was just a fantasy, forever out of reach. He had never seen Frieza in person, but he knew that his power was unfathomably strong. If a man such as King Vegeta wouldn't dare to strike back at Frieza for this long… he knew his chances were non-existent. If King Vegeta did wage a war though, Kohlra understood how devastating this would be for the Saiyans. And that's what he was afraid of.

A couple weeks ago, Frieza ordered every Saiyan to return back to Planet Vegeta, regardless if they were on a mission. Kohlra had never heard an order like this before. Along with the whispers of war that had surely travelled to Frieza's ears, he was wary of the possibility of an attack.

That's why he told Kail to ignore the order. His eldest son was confused at first, but he wouldn't ignore his father. He told Kail to go as far away from the planet as possible, and await his next word. At least if something happened, their bloodline would be preserved. As long as his family was safe, and there was someone to continue to strengthen the bloodline, he could die peacefully. He clawed his way from a low class Saiyan to a mid class Saiyan on his own, and his sons would not fail him. They would grow even stronger than him, and become the way the true Saiyans of old were. His sons would not be pawns of Frieza, Vegeta, or anyone else.

That left him with the most painful part of his plan. His youngest son. The five year old was no stronger than he was at the same age, but he could tell how much potential the boy had that a scouter just couldn't pick up on. This was the part of the plan that his wife had the most trouble of going through. It took days of convincing Mizuna that they had to send Maiz away for his own safety. A war with Frieza would be catastrophic for the Saiyans, and the sad truth was that there was nothing they could do to protect Maiz.

Mizuna had reverse engineered attack balls more times than she'd seen actual combat. She knew everything there was about the technology, and if you asked her, more than the creators. She may have been a low class Saiyan, but she was easily the most brilliant out of anyone on the planet when it came to technology. It was easy for her to remove the tracking off the stolen unit, and program a new authorized launch for their child. She never ceased to amazon Kohlra, even after all their time together. There was something about her, since the moment they started sparring, that he knew he'd never be able to let go.

And now they stood together, watching their child stumble into the room in the early hours of the morning. Kohlra saw the hastily wiped tears in Mizuna's eyes, but he said nothing. He had to be unyielding.

"Maiz, come here."

The boy was dressed in his battle armor from head to toe, and his tail was dragging slowly behind him.

Kohlra got down to one knee, and turned his son's face upwards. Kohlra could admit, he didn't look like the average Saiyan. His complexion was darker, nearly brown, and his eyes were a distinctive light brown color, as were his mother's eyes. His hair, however, was as typical as a Saiyan's could get. It grew stiffly upwards in most areas, but relaxed a little in front; and of course it was just a jet black as his own. Even at Maiz's young age, his hair had grown wildly.

The boy opened his eyes more alert at his father's touch. Kohlra felt the deep feelings that he struggled to keep down bubbling towards the surface, but he stifled them again.

"Son, this is very important. We're sending you to another planet, it's called 'Earth'."

Kohlra had found the planet from another acquaintance of his, Bardock. Bardock confided that he sent his own son to Earth because he suspected something worse than a war might be coming for the Saiyans. If he was wrong, Earth was home to virtually no threats- the child would be unharmed and they could bring him back. Kohlra didn't tell Bardock that he planned to do the same thing, but what he didn't know could never hurt him.

Maiz tilted his head, confusion in his eyes. He couldn't speak full sentences yet, but it seemed like he was trying to understand.

Kohlra smiled. Despite the way his superiors criticized his 'softness' for his family, he loved his son. He wanted to throw his feelings away, he wanted to care only about becoming strong enough to kill anything that dared to call him soft, but looking in his son's face, he couldn't deny it.

He grabbed his son by the hand and led him towards the next room. One glance backward and he could see Mizuna following them, droplets of tears creeping down her eyes. He couldn't bear to watch her hurt any longer.

The room was large, and a sea of white. The walls, the floor, the ceiling- you name it. The technology in the room, on the other hand, was all grey. Consoles, tanks filled with various liquids, jumbles of cables strewn across the floor all seemed to be some variation of grey. Kohlra hated this room. Whoever designed it seemed to do it purely to make his eyes ache. When they reached the attack ball on the far end of the room, he lifted Maiz up and set him on the cushions inside. Mizuna had slightly redesigned the interior to make it more comfortable, mainly replacing the large, uncomfortable seat with fairly soft cushions that were stacked in a small nest shape.

Mizuna gently moved her husband aside, and draped a blanket over Maiz. Kohlra barely kept his mouth closed. As ridiculous as he thought it was, he knew this wasn't the time to argue.

Her eyes now openly flowing with tears, she kissed her son's forehead, and stepped back from the attack ball as if she was moving against a massive force. The pain in her eyes showed how much resolve it took her to step away.

Kohlra ran his hand across her back lightly, and leaned over the attack ball. His son's face was still confused, but he looked sad. His mother's tears had given away the mood of the situation.

"Remember, son. Grow strong and train hard. Be strong for the ones who can't be. We'll see you again soon."

It was one of the hardest feats in his life, to close that door. It was a simple button. He'd killed warriors, Saiyans, unimaginable creatures. But that button felt like the biggest monster he'd ever faced. It struck a fear and sadness in his heart that not even a thousand Freizas could bring on.

His wife moved before him. Slowly, she grabbed the remote control off of the console next to the attack ball, and clicked the button. The door swung closed abruptly.

The parents looked down at their son for the last time through the small window of the attack ball, and his mother smiled. She couldn't see his face clearly, but it looked like he was smiling too. Then, she clicked another button, and the attack ball swiveled, then shot out of the it's holding area in a flash. The process was so fast they couldn't even see the panel for the hatch doors opening and closing.

Tears were streaming down Mizuna's face freely again. Kohlra embraced her in a warm hug.

"I lost both of them," she said through sobs. "I lost both of my sons."

"This will be better for him. If everything goes well, we'll see him again. And things will go well," he assured her, stroking her hair.

He wondered if she knew that he was lying. He didn't have the most hope that things would go well. But she must know, she was too smart not to understand.

But if they died, at least his family would live on.