YO! I'm back. Finally. After all that time. I never really took a break from this story. I've been busy planning out this arc and have managed to write the first three chapters. All of which are backstories to the main characters in this arc. Guida, Talia, and Niku are the main characters of this arc. You may think it doesn't have much relevance in this story, but it has huge relevance. You will find that out as the arc goes on.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this, the first of the backstory chapters!

Arc VI: Prelude to Darkness

Chapter 24: Who We Are – Part One

Noca and Vegeta boarded their ship and flew off, leaving Talia and Niku standing on the platform. Talia shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked up and watched them fly on. Niku turned to walk away, but stopped and glanced back to Talia.

"Come on," He said, ushering her along. Talia turned and nodded, following as they boarded their ship and also took off from the platform. The two of them walked in and sat down in the control room. Talia took her seat at the back and Niku sat in the front central seat next to Airen. The robot turned and looked to Guida.

"Where to now, sir?" He asked. Niku turned around as well. Guida nodded and walked over to a central table. He pressed a button and a holographic map appeared. Guida pointed at the red spot that was blinking on the map.

"That's where we're going," Guida said, looking up at Airen. Talia stood up and slowly walked over. Guida looked over to the young girl as she stepped up to the table and took a breath. "You ok?"

Talia looked up and quickly nodded. Guida sniffed lightly and turned back to the map. Niku pressed a button and it zoomed the map into a planetary system.

"So that's where he'll be..." Niku muttered. He cracked his knuckles and turned around. "Then what are we waiting for, let's go!"

Niku dropped back into his seat and started to punch in the coordinates. Guida looked over to him and then nodded to Airen. The robot took his seat next to Niku and the ship started to move away from the planet. Talia sat back in her chair and looked over as Guida sat in his larger chair in the middle. He glanced to her one last time.

"Don't worry, we'll finally achieve what it was we set out to do. We will find him… and he will pay," Guida said. He faced forward and looked out into space. "Airen, punch it, let's go."

Airen hit a button and their ship blasted into hyperspace. Where were they going? What was it they were planning to do? And why? To find out, we'll have to first go back in time a little. To keep this easier, we'll stick to Earth's Age system. So, let's go to early Age 795. The same year that Freeza returned to life.

Early Age 795 – Planet Arechi in the Sutak System

Four soldiers clad in Cold Empire uniforms walked towards a town in the middle of a desert. The two in the centre were about the same height, they were fairly tall. One was bulky and muscular while the other was thin. They seemed to be allies. The other two were similar in height, just average for typical adults. One of them had a head shaped like a stretched egg and his skin was a very pale colour. He had black eyes and was wearing a scouter that covered both. He had no hair and his head was pretty wrinkled, but he didn't appear old.

The other average height fighter had a stereotypical alien shaped head and two large eyes, but the pupils weren't too big. He wasn't wearing a scouter and his skin colour was a light grey. The thin tall fighter had long black hair, tied into a ponytail that dropped down to his lower back. He also had a black moustache and bushy eyebrows. His skin colour was red, dark red. His eyes were yellow. The last of these Cold Empire soldiers… was Niku.

The four soldiers entered the town and started to look around at the small aliens that occupied it. Some of them cowered away from the soldiers. Parents drew their children inside. Some started to bring food up to the them and offered stuff. Niku grabbed some fruit from one of the men and nodded to him. The other tall soldier simply swatted the food away and continued walking.

"That's uncalled for, Akar," Niku said quietly turning to look at his ally. Akar simply chuckled and turned to his friend. He placed a hand on his shoulder guard and tugged on it slightly.

"Lighten up, Nik," Akar told his friend, "We're soldiers, we can do what we want."

Niku smirked and shook his head. He also pulled his arm away from Akar and walked on ahead a little more, leaving Akar with the other two soldiers. Their names are Rian (The typical alien looking one) and Hawi (The stretched egg).

Akar held a hand up to stop the other two and they watched as Niku walked on alone. He looked around at the buildings, as if looking for something. Akar watched this, but he then turned back to the other two.

"You guys, keep an eye on the perimeter. We don't want any problems occurring," Akar ordered, but not in a commanding way. These guys were clearly all friends. The two of them nodded and took off to search around. Akar walked up to Niku.

"Are we certain this is the place?" Niku asked, as he looked around the area. "There's nothing here…"

"Hey, it's what Sorbet said, right?" Akar replied, shrugging his shoulders. Niku shook his head and walked past his friend. Akar chuckled. "Why are you so serious all of a sudden?"

"I don't like this… it's not the kind of mission Sorbet usually gives us," Niku said as he looked at the people, now going by their everyday business, while keeping an eye on the two soldiers. "There's nothing here…"

"It's not about what the planet has, plus that's what we're here to do," Akar reiterated it, his smile fading. "But I'm not happy about it either."

Niku looked to his friend and sighed. He walked on through the town, heading towards the largest building. Akar watched him and backed towards the entrance they walked through. This small town was one of the biggest settlements on the planet. It was essentially a barren wasteland and they had no defences against big enemies.

Niku came to the foot of the largest building, which must have only been three floors, and wasn't very wide. The solider shook his head against before walking up the small steps towards the door. He stopped before walking in and reiterated the point he made earlier…

"There's nothing here…"

Niku entered the building. Akar turned his back on the town and faced out of the entrance. Not long passed and soon Niku emerged from the building, dragging along with him someone of importance. He was yelling for the Cold Empire soldier to stop, but Niku didn't listen. Akar turned and walked to meet with Niku in the middle. The people of the town had gathered to see what was happening.

Niku dumped the man on the ground, "This is their leader," he informed Akar.

"Of the town?" Akar questioned.

"Of the planet…" Niku responded. The both looked down at him and their hardened looks had softened. They didn't feel right about this. "He's the richest of them all… they have nothing."

Akar looked up at Niku and sighed. "We have a job to do, Nik."

Niku nodded and aimed his energy gun at the small alien's head. Akar stood over the alien to make sure he didn't attempt to run away or anything. "Tell us, do you have any riches we should know of?"

The small, old alien shook his head and tried to back up, but only hit Akar's legs. He was scared and panicking. Niku bent down to be face-to-face with him.

"We're here in the name of the Cold Empire and we are going to take your planet to be sold on," Niku explained. "This is our job, don't make it harder."

The old man continued to shake his head and babble in his alien language. Niku took out his translator so he didn't have to know what the alien was saying. He was trembling slightly, but he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. The alien leader was killed and everyone in the town started panicking. Akar and Niku stood there doing nothing.

"We usually take care of armies… we're told to kill generals and captains…" Akar said, to no one in particular, "But Sorbet wants us to kill innocents?"

"This is our job... you said it yourself," Niku said, turning away and walking to the exit. Rian and Hawi landed back on the ground in front of Niku,

"What now?" Rian asked. Hawi looked over and saw the panicking people. Niku looked down at his allies.

"You know what happens now, Rian," Niku stated as he turned and reloaded his energy gun. Hawi took out his rifle and looked at the aliens. The men, the women… the children.

"We kill them all?" Hawi said, a questioning tone in his voice, but they all knew what had to be done. They all got their weapons out and turned to face the town… and opened fire.

It took less than an hour for the team to wipe out the town and explore every part of it. There were some mines on this planet where they collected coal that was used for power and fuel. The soldiers put the call out to their allies that the planet was safe and had no major defence systems or armies and a large Cold Empire ship came in to deal with the rest. The commander of the mission gave the four-man team their leave.

Niku, Akar, Rian and Hawi all boarded their ship and flew back to their base of operations on Freeza Planet 420. They didn't talk to each other the entire journey and once they returned they each went to their individual quarters to rest up. They had to be ready for their next mission which was to transport the riches they found on their previous mission. They were taking them to Sorbet's ship for him to add to his collection.

None of the four men slept well that night. Sure, they had killed innocent people before, but that was if they fought back. This time, their mission was primarily to kill innocents and it didn't sit well with any of them. Something would need to be done.

The next morning the quadruple woke up and got ready for their simple transport mission. There wasn't much that needed doing, any old Cold Empire soldier could do it, but apparently Sorbet wanted it to be them specifically. Akar was the pilot in the group and flew the ship, with Hawi as his co-pilot. Niku and Rian would just get to sit there and relax, they were the lucky ones.

They took off and got on their journey very quickly. None of them were in the mood for any conversation on this trip, and they just followed the route that had been plotted out on their navigation system.

While on their travels, Akar glanced down at the computer a few times and thought back to the treasures and riches they were taking to Sorbet. "Hey, Rian," Akar said, kind of looking over his shoulder at the same time. Rian came to attention, "Check out what's in the back, give me an idea of how much is there… and if it's all secure."

"Sure," Rian said with a sigh, as he stood and walked into the storage section of the ship. Hawi looked over to Akar with a questioning furrow of his brow, while Niku kept an eye forward on his long-time friend. Rian returned and dropped into his seat, "There's about twenty million credits worth, and yeah, it's all secure."

"Good," Akar muttered to himself as the ship started to move a little to the right, off of the original course.

"What are you doing?" Hawi asked, trying to keep up and eyeing up the navigation control for a second. Niku leant forward in his seat and Rian gripped on to the side nervously.

"We're going somewhere else. Sorbet doesn't need these…" Akar replied as he continued taking the ship completely off in a new direction. Niku stood up and walked forward.

"Akar, we can't… Sorbet will hunt us," Niku said, trying to talk some sense into his friend, "We'll be arrested… or worse."

Akar didn't listen. He continued to fly the ship, facing forward. Hawi let go of any controls and he stood up as well.

"Are you guys going to stop me? Hm… are you going to arrest me now?" Akar asked them all, not looking. Hawi looked to Rian and Niku and sat back in his seat, turning off the navigation system. Rian cleared his throat and relaxed into his seat. Niku looked to the two of them and was worried. Akar looked up at his friend.

"What are you going to do?" Akar asked Niku. The Solider remained standing and staring down at his friend. He wore worry on his face and had one of his fists clenched. "Are you going to stop me?"

Niku unclenched his hand and sat back in his chair.

"Good," Akar muttered again and he blasted off quicker than before. He didn't know where he was taking them, but they had to do something. They couldn't stand by any longer. Akar had finally had enough of the Cold Empire's way and he was taking a stand. He just couldn't do it without the help of his friends and true allies. He was too scared of the consequences.

Time passed on their trip and they finally reach a new planet. Akar lands the ship and tells Rian to get off, and hands him his share of the treasures. The planet is out of the Cold Empire's hands and he should be safe there. They bid their farewells and travel on again. At the next stop, Hawi gets off. The same stuff happens. Akar takes the ship on to the next location.

Akar and Niku sit on the ship together. They don't say anything for some time. Until Akar finally decides to say something.

"I'm sorry, Niku."

Niku turns to face Akar.

"I didn't mean to just drag you all along… I just had enough…" Akar explained. Niku put his hand on his friend's shoulder and looked him in the eye.

"It's ok… I understand… we were driven too far…" Niku started, "We had always been driven to do stuff we weren't always ok with, but this time was far different. I understand you making this decision, and you know I would follow you forever."

"And I you," Akar said, looking over to his friend again one more time. They soon arrived on the next planet. They took off the next share of treasures and put them down and one of them stepped off.

Akar walked out onto the surface and sighed. He turned around as Niku walked down the ramp.

"I guess this is where we part ways," Akar said. Niku walked up to his friend and they quickly hugged. They were very, very good friends. They had fought together for such a long time. This was a hard goodbye for both of them.

They pull back from the hug. Niku composed himself and walked away. He boarded the ship and took off. Akar watched as the ship left his atmosphere and smirked to himself. Niku put in the coordinates for his planet and blasted off instantly. There was no sense in dwelling on anything right now. He just needed to go.

A month passed by, Niku still had all his treasures and hadn't bothered trying to sell them on just yet. He was just living quiet for some time, hoping to be forgotten. He had hidden the ship as well. Hopefully he was safe.

That was until one day, a ship came down close to where Niku was. It was a two-man transport with some storage and living space. Niku could see the ship from his shelter, but not whoever came out of it. He grabbed his rifle, put on his clothes (just an old cloak to keep himself hidden) and walked out of the shelter. The planet he was on was quite dusty. He walked through the dust, trying his best to look through his goggles and keep attention ready for whoever had come for him.

Suddenly, a guy wearing some sort of robot helmet and a black cloak leapt towards Niku, brandishing a blade and tried to slice at Niku. The former soldier dropped to the ground and rolled back, firing his rifle forward. The black cloaked person dodged and hid behind a box. Niku was making sure to be completely at attention now.

"Who are you?" He called out.

"I'm here to kill you and take those treasures you stole," The person said back. His voice sounding quite metallic, as if through some sort of voice-changer. "I was hired by Sorbet."

Niku cursed to himself and came out of his cover, firing his weapon towards the voice. He dived behind yet another box for cover.

"I've already killed three of you, you're my last one," The person yelled out. Niku stopped for a second and started thinking back on it. Was he telling the truth? Hawi, Rian… Akar… they were all dead. Niku jumped out of cover and took off his cloak. He started walking towards this person and was firing his rifle, almost non-stop.

The black cloaked guy jumped out, dodging all of the energy from the gun and charged towards Niku, knocking his rifle out of his hand and dropping down on top of him, his sword directed towards the former soldier's neck. Niku closed his eyes, thinking he was about to die, but suddenly there was an explosion and the guy jumped off and looked up.

There was a new ship arriving and firing down on the ground, aiming at the cloaked guy. They weren't here for Niku. The soldier tried to get to his vehicle, but three more black cloaked figures with swords walked over. Niku was getting worried. One of them stood in front of Niku to stop him moving.

"I'll keep an eye on this one," One of the cloaked figures said, "You two go after Yamo Niha."

The other two cloaked figures charged off after this Yamo Niha guy, but he moved quickly, knocked them away and jumped in his own ship and flew away. Niku soon felt himself being dragged away towards another ship. He wasn't being killed… was he being rescued? Or was this going to pan out much worse? As he was finally brought on board he sat up to try and ask some questions, but was quickly knocked out.

He woke up, what seemed like hours later, and appeared to be in some prison cell. He jumped straight at the bars, but found them to be electrified and was knocked back. Someone laughed as they saw what happened, but Niku couldn't tell who it was.

"Hey! Where am I? Why am I here? Hey! Tell me!" Niku called out, but he was being ignored. He was stuck here for some time.

So that was Niku's story up to being thrown in prison. Let's move on to the next one. For this story, we go back just a little further.

What did you think? Good chapter, bad chapter? I would like to be clear on something... these backstories are meant to feel really rushed and yes, the characters may be a bit underdeveloped, but that's because their development will happen over the course of the arc. I just wanted to tell their stories. Why are they in this place and how do they come together.

But if you have anything good to say, leave a review! If you have any criticisms, leave a review, but tell me what I can do better. Tell me how I can make this a more enjoyable story for you.

Thanks for being patient with me, as always!

Next Time... Chapter 25: Who We Are - Part Two