2 Months Later – Deep Space
Pikada sat at the navigational control station of the captured starship. He studied a stellar map, as he tried to locate the world described by Kakarot. Bea had wanted to leave immediately upon learning the message brought from the future by the still unnamed stranger, but Bulma had convinced him to stay long enough for her father and her to install a gravity chamber in their ship's central storage. Now a month had passed since their departure.
Bea had become very interested in the instant transmission technique that Kakarot had brought back from the planet Yardrat, but the computer on the scout ship had no listing for the world. Now they quickly approached the first world on their list of likely targets.
The green planet grew larger in the view screen. Behind Pikada a door slid open. Bea and Angel strode out, having just finished a training session in the gravity room.
Planet 5381, slated for capture by Frieza's Elites." Bea read from the display. I guess those plans have changed. Let's set her down, near a decent size city. Slow and steady, nothing that could be mistaken for hostile moves."
The ship streaked through the green atmosphere. It banked over a series of hillocks before it leveled off and headed towards the population center.
A series of lights rose from the city in the distance, and they quickly approached the ship. Soon a dozen of this world's inhabitants flew in formation with the scout ship. One of the largest of the escorts flew near the view port. He made sure that the saiyans saw him, then pointed to the ground.
Bea waved an acknowledgment and turned to Pikada. "Take her down, Pikada."
The ship's forward velocity bled off, and it settled to the turf below. The ship's ramp lowered slowly to the soft green foliage. The grass swayed back and forth as the engines shut down completely.
Bea took the long walk down the ramp, followed by Pikada. Angel was instructed to stay behind. Bea stopped at the bottom of the ramp, and crossed his arm.
"Greetings, I am Bea, this is Pikada. We are on the search for the Planet Yardrat, could you let us know if this is it?"
The being that had directed them to land stepped forward. "This is Planet Karvisi, I am group leader Millisin, of the 3rd Planetary Guard. I have been instructed to rendezvous with your ship, and speak to its occupants. Welcome to Karvisi."
"Millisin, was it?" Bea said as he bowed slightly. "Would it be possible to speak with someone about a possible shore leave and resupply for my vessel and people?"
"I am not in the position to make those decisions, however, Emperor Yarbayar has informed me that if your group didn't seem hostile to offer a seat at tonight's dinner at the palace. We don't get many visitors to our humble world these days, so He's very excited to meet some strangers."
Bea smiled broadly. "I believe I'd have a mutiny on my hands if I declined such a own offer as fresh food and air. We accept, our third member is still aboard the ship, she is also invited?"
There was a mumble amongst the men of the 3rd Planetary Guard at the mention of "She" but Millisin hushed them and turned back to Bea and Pikada.
"On our world it is taboo to have a female warrior… But you of course are not from our world, and your ways are not ours. I believe the Emperor would be understanding of this. He is wise and benevolent."
"I swear to you she will not foster an uprising among your women." Bea said with a chuckle. "One last thing, we've noticed this planet has two natural orbiting satellites, neither will be full tonight, correct?"
"Let me check…" Millisin sounded puzzled by this question. He looked at a display worn on his left wrist and manipulated some controls with his right hand. "Next full moon is in 3 cycles."
"On that day we won't be able to be outside of our ship. An effect of being Saiyan I'm afraid."
Millisin nodded, as his team once again chattered at the word "Saiyan". Again Millisin quieted them.
Pikada turned to get Angel and lock down the ship.
"You can all fly?" Millisin asked.
"Quite well actually." Bea answered. Pikada and Angel joined him, and he introduced Angel, the fighters all looked warily at her scouter. Bea tucked this away. He looked back to Millisin, and bowed again. "We are ready when you are."
"Let us go then." He floated into the sky, followed by Bea, then his troops, finished off by the Saiyans. Once they reached a decent altitude they flew off towards the tallest spire in the city.
After they had arrived at the palace, Millisin said his farewells and handed them over to one of the palace staff members.
"I am Chack, Majordomo of his Royal Majesty Yarbayar's staff. If you will follow me, I shall take you to quarters where you may rest and perform any private functions that are required by you before this evenings meal, which will be served in" He checked a chronometer on his wrist, "about two and one half of your hours."
"Thank you Majordomo, We are quite thankful for your hospitality. Please, Lead on." Bea responded, again slightly bowing, thankful that the little time he had spent in King Vegeta's palace was paying off.
Chack led them down meticulously clean corridors, floors and walls made of polished metals, doors of dark hard woods. He opened one of the doors, which slid aside with a barely audible woosh, then bowed deeply, extending an arm towards the expansive room. "I do hope this will be to your liking."
The three Saiyans were speechless at first, Pikada broke the silence. "Damn."
"Beyond our liking, Majordomo, many thanks." Bea said as he pointed to a bundle of clothing on one of the benches. "Are these perchance our dining clothes?"
"If you chose so, Master Bea, it is not required, but sometimes a meal is better enjoyed while not wearing armor."
"Indeed. Please accept our thanks." He entered the room followed by his team.
The door slid shut, Bea waited a couple of minutes then turned back to check it, and was honestly surprised when it opened immediately. "I half expect them to lock us in." Bea said more to himself than anyone.
Then to Pikada and Angel he said, "Well let's get cleaned up." He peeled his armor off and set it on what appeared to be a bed. Angel beat him and Pikada to getting undressed first, and the last he saw of her was a bare behind and a trailing tail as she disappeared into the facilities of the room.
"She must be excited for a real shower…" Pikada said, almost sounding annoyed.
Bea laughed, and crashed down onto the bed with his armor on it. "Who can blame her, the showering facilities on the ship are pretty lackluster. It'll be nice to get a hot water bath, instead of a chemical treatment… At least I hope it's hot water."
Some thirty minutes later Angel emerged in a cloud of steam, with what passed for a towel on this world around her hair. She quickly walked to where the black bundles of clothes lay, and chose the one that looked most like it would fit her.
Pikada hopped up, and stripped his jumpsuit off. He walked unhurriedly into the room and closed the door.
Angel stepped around to show off the new outfit to Bea, black silken wide-legged pants, with a blouse made of the same material tucked in, a white belt of similar fabric was cinched around her waist, and a long black sleeveless tunic in a different embossed fabric hung down past her knees. She twirled like a kid, making Bea grin. The Karvisians had even included a place for her tail to through. That was an impressively quick bit of alteration.
"You look good, Angel. Maybe they'll let us keep these when we leave."
"I hope so, Bulma said when we get back to Earth that she'd like to take me 'out on the town', whatever that means."
"I believe it's the Earthian equivalent to a celebration feast."
The two made chitchat for another 15 minutes, then the door opened again, and Pikada stepped out, dripping wet, and enveloped by steam, his longish black hair hung loosely around his shoulders, and he carried his towel in his hands.
Bea sat up, and went into the washing room himself.
There was a polished metal mirror, down which drips of water raced to a brushed metal sink. He found the shower, impressed at its overall size. He reached in, and turned the water on. He adjusted it to a warmer than comfortable level, and stepped in. He placed his hand under a dispenser on the wall, and a flowery smelling gel filled it. He scrubbed fiercely from his hair down, and then rinsed allowed the near scalding water to beat into his skin. He let this water massage continue for a few moments more, than stepped from the enclosed and began to towel off.
He stepped through the door, with a towel wrapped around his waist, and proceeded to dress in the borrowed clothing. The loose billowy clothing felt odd after years of wearing mostly his Saiyan battle armor's jumpsuit. He stretched and flexed, getting a feel for the movement allowed. Once satisfied that he could reasonably fight in the outfit, he sat back on his bed. By the chron in the room the Majordomo would likely return with in 45 minutes.
He had his people gather around, and laid out the ground rules for the dinner.
"No idle talking until we get a feel for the customs. No eating like that clown Kakarot, we need to come off as civilized. No killing the servers. I'm looking at you on that one Pikada. If they offer us alcohol, allow yourself only a couple of servings, we need to stay sharp. If they get to telling war stories, leave out the bits about us taking planets and selling them to Frieza. That's the past and we don't live like that anymore. Keep alert for tips about where to find Yardrat. And have fun."
"Have fun? None of that sounds at all fun, Bea." Pikada argued.
"It makes sense though, Pikada." Angel replied. "Besides, I noticed the way they looked at me and my scouter. I don't want to get them further off kilter."
"Besides, some manners wouldn't hurt you, Pikada."
The shorter Saiyan simply extended a single finger at Bea.
The time passed with idle talk, and they all jumped slightly as the Majordomo rang the alert buzzer in their room.
Bea opened the door, welcoming the the alien in. He politely refused and explained that he didn't have time, that the walk to the dining hall was quite long. He led the way.
He sat them all together at a long wooden table, upon which sat trenchers full of exotic food.
Bea's mouth watered. After a month of canned meals and "Cup-O-Ramen" this spread was nearly heaven.
Pikada started to reach out, but Angel intercepted his hand. "Not yet." She whispered.
There was a flurry of movement near the head of the table as four people dressed identical to the dozen that had met them earlier, walked out, a single extravagantly dressed person at the center of the formation. One of them stepped forward to pull out a chair, at the same time everyone else in the hall stood up, the Saiyan's taking only a moment more than the rest.
The well dressed man sat, as the guard pushed the chair back in. He stepped back behind the chair into formation with his three compatriots.
"Please, Please, sit." The presumptive emperor made a sweeping motion with both hands.
At once they all sat. Servers went around and filled plates with the various courses, setting them down in front of everyone. Pikada for once waited until the Emperor began to eat before he started eating at a barely controlled tempo.
"I am Emperor Yarbayar, I see we have visitors. Saiyans rom what I hear."
Bea stood and bowed at the waist. "Yes, Emperor, I am Bea, leader of this group, This is Pikada, and Angel. We thank you greatly for your hospitality."
"It was brought to my attention that one of you are a female, and that she was wearing a…" He pause and waited for a guard to whisper into his ear, "a, ah yes, a scouter." He looked directly into Bea's eyes. "An instrument of Lord Frieza, I am told."
'Well, shit.' Bea thought to himself. "Yes, sir. We were once employeed by Frieza, as were most members of our race. We, hmmm, terminated our contract after we learned of some of his misdeeds."
"Misdeeds, indeed. So where's your former employer now?"
"What very little was left of him is in an unmarked grave, rotting away on a planet called Earth." Bea answered matter-of-factly.
"Frieza is dead?" The Emperor exclaimed, and the table fell away into a dead silence.
Pikada held up a bone, stripped nearly clean of meat. "As dead as this drumstick, your royalness."
"Did you kill him?"
"No, we didn't." Bea replied.
"We were ready to fight him, Emperor, but a stronger fighter took him out." Angel spoke up.
"This is interesting." The emperor went back to his meal for a moment.
Bea suddenly felt very worried.
"Something is troubling you Emperor?"
"You see, we've been harassed by Frieza's forward forces. We've been told that we could agree to surrender, or be destroyed. We are supposed to get our visitors back today." He stood, and pointed an accusing finger at the trio of Saiyans. "Are you telling me you are not Frieza's men?"
"We've got to get new uniforms…" Pikada muttered around a bite of something that resembled earth fish.
"No, we're mercenaries if we're anything. Like I told Millisin, we're looking for Planet Yardrat, I wish to ask them for a bit of training."
An orderly wearing the same uniform as the guards ran in, and whispered something to the Emperor, who looked strickened.
"We'll here's your chance to be mercenaries, I will fill your vessel's supplies, and give you directions to get closer to Yardrat, on the condition that help us with a… Problem. My servant here tells me that two small pod ships have entered our atmosphere, and will be landing outside the city in moments. If these are Frieza's men, will you help us?"
"We'll kill the leftovers of Frieza's army for free. The rest is just a bonus." Bea pushed away from the table, the long tails of his garment swirled behind him as he and the rest of the Guild walked away.
"I can feel them," he said to his friends, "Not very strong. At least compared to us."
"They could be withholding power." Replied Angel.
"They might have transformations." Added Pikada.
"And we know sometimes power level isn't everything in a brawl." Bea said thoughtfully.
They went to the tallest spire of the palace. In the distance two streaks blazed a white smokey trail through the sky. They came so close over the top of the city that windows shattered and rained down upon the its citizens.
The pods were definitely Frieza's design. Bea nodded as the ground shook from their impact a couple of miles off. "Well, let's go great them shall we."
They flew off together, energy erupted around them as they accelerated. The three dropped to the ground between the two smoking craters. The pod hatches opened, and one being stepped out from each.
One pod held a short whip thin being with yellow flecked orange skin. He had a flat face with arms that were quite a bit longer in proportion to his legs. A full coverage scouter covered his eyes and ears.
From the other pod emerged a man with skin as black and slick as onyx, with vibrant blue tufts of hair that exploded upwards and formed a horseshoe of hair on its head. He stood almost twice as tall as his counterpart, and had a thick sinewy musculature. A scouter covered the left eye, while it's right eye was a blazing red. They both looked around, their eyes locking on the trio of Saiyans.
"Sobath, look! A welcoming committee." The short one yipped excitedly.
"I wonder if they've come to accept our offer, Zindo."
"I hope not, I'd love to trash this planet."
They hovered upwards towards the Saiyans and landed in front of them.
"Does the Emperor accept Lord Frieza's offer?"
"What kind of offer does Frieza make from the grave, I wonder." Bea said with a smirk.
"How do they talk to him in hell, that's what I wonder." Angel taunted.
"Maybe they just have't spoke to him in a while, maybe we can help reunite them." Pikada finished
"Imbeciles, Lord Frieza is unbeatable, you are simply trying to talk a big game." Zindo answered.
"I think you know better. Normally I'd offer you a chance to leave. But since you're clearly part of the army that destroyed our home world, I'm afraid that you'll have to settle for being destroyed."
"Zindo, their tails! They're Saiyans!"
"Indeed we are. I'd make formal introductions, but you'll not be alive long enough to need our names." Bea clenched his fist at his side. His ki erupted around him, the white tendrils of energy first flowed into a whirlwind, and then into a steady flame like sheet of power. He pointed a single finger at Sobath. "You first, shiny."
The fighter watched as scouter erupted upwards, to blazingly high level.
"Must be a trick, that power is nearly as high as Lord Frieza's." A black and grey fog or an aura erupted around Sobath. "I'll teach you to play tricks on an Elite Warrior."
Bea detected a surge of his opponent's energy, then the alien faded away.
"What the…" Bea quickly turned his head to the right, just In time to catch a haymaker to the face. His opponent faded again. This time he felt the telltale tickle of his opponent's energy trailing to his other side. Bea threw a hook, which impacted solidly with the creatures chest. A shock of pain ran the length of Bea's arm, and his hand when numb from the impact. He threw his other arm in front of his face, and caught the next punch that was aimed at him. Bea countered and kicked out to the front, and felt another excruciating pain. He shot upwards, leaving the ground far behind. He then turn and flew. He flipped onto his back and used his ability to sense the enemy as he rocketed in.
"Cha, Cha, Cha, Cha, Cha, Cha…" He pumped ki blast towards the warrior. His pursuit halted, and when the dust had cleared, He lowered his onyx arms, which showed a series of scuffs and cracks from blocking the attacks.
Sobath faded again, the movement so fast that an after image stayed, and a ghost like image of him appeared in two places at once. He drove his left fist into Bea's solar plexus, then bought the right hand around, knife blading into his kidney.
Bea gasped in pain, and he now wished very much that he would have worn his armor.
Two more punches blasted into his stomach, then another slammed into his jaw from below. He felt as though he was being pummeled into rocks.
Rocks…
The scratches and scuffs… His opponent was partly living rock…
Something latched onto his his boots with a crushing grip, He felt himself being spun twice, then he was released straight towards the ground.
He righted himself in mid plummet, He held both hands in front of him, his right hand rested on top of his left, the pinky and thumb of the right hand interlocked with those of the left. Bea focused his energy inward, and in his left palm a yellow ball of energy appeared. Purple tinged lightning crackled around the energy sphere. As Bea focused over the tips of his fingers at the other fighter he pushed more energy into the palm of his hand.
"Sleeting Inferno Wave!" Bea screamed. The ball of energy blasted away, trailing an energy beam back to his palms.
Sobath braced himself as he prepared to deflect the blast. He crossed his arms in front of himself.
This was exactly what Bea had hoped for. He ripped his hands away from each other. The Purple energy split away to the left, the yellow to the right. The two beams swirled around an invisible center, and as Bea motioned, they split further apart before heading directly for each other. Both beams drilled into Sobath's torso, one to each side. Bea quickly collapsed his open palms, the tips of his fingers and thumb almost touched. The beams narrowed, their power concentrated to a fine point.
Sobath's natural armor began to glow, cherry red which quickly head towards magnesium white. It began to melt away. Bea continued the attack, the beams serpentining around before rushing away and back to their target.
The rocky carapace failed, and Sobath screamed in pain.
Bea faded. He appeared to the left side of the warrior. He quickly examined the soft scorched flesh behind the rock hard armor, then he punched through it, he felt innards smash with the blow. Sobath coughed blood, thick and vile, unto Bea's shoulder.
Bea open his hand, then rotated it slightly. He made a fist and pulled it out, entrails came with it.
Sobath's eyes went wider. His mouth open and closed, but no words escaped.
Bea slammed his arm back in, he angled up through the diaphragm, and grasped what was likely Sobath's heart.
Sobath gazed at Bea with dying eyes. Below Pikada had grabbed Zindo to keep him from interfering.
Bea's nose nearly touched Sobath's. "You could have fled. You knew that Frieza was dead. But you decided to try and take this planet."
Sobath started to slump, and Bea gave his heart a few pumps to keep his blood going.
"We too owe a heavy debt for our actions. But until my time comes, I swear I'll kill people like you at every chance." A few more pumps, "stay with me, life is oh so short, especially yours, enjoy what you have." Another couple of pumps. "Sobath, you squandered your chance to escape and live a long life, you chose to continue the reign of Frieza, and I, as a Saiyan, and a now resident of Earth can't allow your life to continue. Good riddance to you." Bea crushed the beating heart, then he let the body slide free. Sobath spasmed violently once and then went limp. Bea extended his bloody hand, and Sobath disappeared in a brilliant flash of energy.
He looked down to where Zindo struggled in Pikada's grip. Gently he settled to the ground.
"He's yours Pikada."
Pikada smiled a very genuine smile.
"I was really hoping you'd say that."
He released Zindo and struck him in the back with an open palm. The scrawny being was sent soaring.
Pikada planted his feet like a sprinter preparing for a race, and with a blast of energy he launched himself forward.
Zindo dug his long fingers into the ground and turned to face Pikada. Pikada threw a savage right handed punch, which set Zindo tumbling head over feet. Pikada never wavered from his path and made contact again with a kick. Zindo soared upwards.
Pikada skidded to a halt, and launched a flurry of ki blast up towards Zindo.
The fighter righted himself as the blasts all missed him and continued into the heavens.
"All of that power, and you missed?" He sneered mockingly." This should be easier than I thought."
"Didn't miss…" He clenched his fist and swung them down in one motion. "Heavenly Hellfire!"
Zindo turned his face up just in time to catch dozens of blasts at once. He turned back in a tumble. Pikada soared upward and caught him with a ki charged uppercut. Punch after punch collided with Zindo, and each one sent him higher into the planet's atmosphere.
Below them the details of the ground vanished beneath high banks of clouds. Zindo suddenly felt his motion stop. Pikada had grabbed his ankle to stop him.
Zindo looked stunned, his full width scouter was cracked, shards of its transparent material were imbedded around his left eye. He flexed his his long arms mindlessly, and tried to focus on Pikada.
Pikada smiled at him with all the friendliness of a shark.
"Looking a little rough there buddy. Having a bad day at work?" He said as he grabbed Zindo by the armor. He reached out and plucked the scouter free from the warrior's face, he then dropped it, where it plummeted quickly out of sight. Zindo blinked, thin clear blood oozing from the the cuts on his face. "Don't you worry though, it's quitting time. Your shift is over."
Pikada glanced down. "I figure we're about ten miles up. What I'm going to do to you, is spin you around about a dozen times, to you know, pick up momentum. Then I'm going to throw you down to the ground. It won't take long, you'll be going pretty fast, and if you don't die on impact, I'm sure the ground shattering energy wave I throw at you as you fall will do the the trick. Any questions?"
Zindo stared at him, as though he finally realized where he was. He surprised Pikada by opening his mouth to speak. Pikada looked directly into his eyes. Which flashed from an obsidian black, to a milky white. "Yes." Came the reply through shattered stumps of teeth. "Will you please Freeze."
Pikada suddenly stiffened, his head felt as though an Oozaru had just went trampling through it. He lost the control of his muscles, and they all locked up stiffly, then just as suddenly released. His energy failed him and he started to fall to the planet. Long sinewy fingers wrapped around his long black hair.
Pikada hung like a rag doll, ten miles aloft, powerless to move. Zindo spat a gob of tooth shards and nearly clear blood into his face.
"What I'm going to do…" He said between heaving breathes. "Is spin you around by your hair, about a dozen times. Momentum building. Then I'm going to throw your limp monkey ass into the that planet. Don't worry, you'll be going pretty quick, and if the sudden stop doesn't kill you, the explosion from the planet being destroyed by my hands will do the trick."
He started to spin
"Something is wrong, Bea." Angel stared upwards, knowing that she couldn't see the battle at this distance.
"Pikada's power just dipped. Whoa! He's moving fast now!"
She pointed excitedly, "There, look!" A spot appeared above, moving closer at a high enough speed that plasma was generated by the descent. With a burst of energy she flew towards the burning trail.
Bea felt a sudden rise in concentrated power. Nearby Angel and Pikada slammed into the ground, her energy and body absorbing most of the impact. Bea launched into the sky.
"I hope I'm not too late!"
Zindo held a shaking hand in front of him. A maelstrom of crimson power had built up at the palm. "World Burner!". With a brilliant flash energy, the churning orb flew towards the planet of Karvisi.
Bea flew at a near panic, he knew his life was likely measured in seconds, but the Kavisian people had been kind to them. He would do everything in his power to protect them, and his people. He looked inwards for the rage that might put him into that strange fighting power, but a nagging fear in his mind seemed to have shut the door on the that power.
Ahead of him the energy orb drew closer, it's power so great that even this high up, the ground below shook and the lakes and oceans sloshed over their banks.
Bea braced himself and extended his arms palms out. The Orb made contact, and the last thought that passed through Bea's mind before the mind and body crushing pain over took him, was that he had really wanted to learn instant transmission…