Angel opened her eyes, she had her arms cradled around Pikada, who slowly seemed to be gaining control back of his body.
Everything was cast is a hellish glow, fiery shadows danced around. The World Burner attack inched closer to the surface, but Bea was somehow slowing it down, if not holding it back.
Pikada blinked. He tensed suddenly. "I'll destroy that fucker!"
Angel let go, and pushed him up, she continued to rest in the crater, waiting for her wind to come back. Pikada looked back at her. "Thanks, Angel. You saved me there. Can you feel Bea? His energy is jumping all over the place…" He looked up at the blast, and at the speck that was silhouetted at its center. "Shit. No way he can survive that. I'll rip that Zindo fucker into pieces." He set his feet, and his energy surged. He felt Bea's energy dip. Bea had been his best friend for years, his only friend for a lot of those. Pikada felt something snap deep inside his subconscious. His aura flare, burning white with yellow streaks. With an eruption of rock and dust he flew upward, his powered doubled.
Angel stood up as the transformation took place. Pikada's black hair seemed to glow red in the torrent of energy, his eyes glossed over so completely that his pupils seemed to disappear. She was sent tumbling when he launched himself into the sky
Bea became suddenly conscious of his situation. He could feel his flesh begin to blister from the ferocity of the attack. He could tell from the pressure that he'd lost nearly a mile of altitude. He hadn't had time to formulate a good defense, and was being pushed back because of if it, time had no meaning now though. He tried to concentrate through the pain induced haze. The orb flared harder against him, and the pain overwhelmed him again.
Everything went dark.
Bea suddenly found himself floating in a crystal blue nothingness. A familiar voice behind him spoke.
"What do you think you're doing?"
He turned, and found himself looking down into his own eyes, from a much younger time. His younger self was dressed in royal armor, and looked at him sternly.
Bea stood shocked. "What?"
"What are you doing? Are you going to let this planet be destroyed? All these people?"
"What choice to do I have. This attack is immense. I didn't even have time to use a counter attack to slow it down. I think I'm probably dying."
"You are."
"Then what…"
"You once gave up the chance to be a Royal Guard. To protect one innocent child. Even though that child still died, you had the fortitude to stand up to the King of the Saiyans."
"I'm spent, absolutely exhausted. I might already be dead, this could be my minds last trick on me."
"And if it isn't?"
"Then I'm still powerless to stop this!"
"You've seen the might of our race, somewhere inside of you is the power to save this planet."
"I think I've slowed this attack down enough for Pikada and Angel to take out Zindo and his attack."
"You're making excuses to die."
"With all of the killing you grow up to do, maybe I deserve death."
"You can make a difference, protect the weak and innocent. You know that when your body gives up, that blast is going to rip this world apart. No survivors, that includes Angel and Pikada. That includes millions of people just living lives."
"What can I do though?"
"Unleash the birthright of your ancestors."
"How?"
"Simple." The younger Bea smiled, and faded away like smoke in a breeze.
Bea opened his eyes. He sensed Pikada zoom past him, headed directly for Zindo. In his mind's eye he saw him and Angel torn apart by the blast.
And somewhere deep inside Bea's soul, something shattered. It was as if a small glass vial holding immense power had been dropped to land on a hard steel floor.
Bea screamed. The Internal pain overrode that from the outside.
He felt his muscle explode, tightening like steel bands. Though the energies from Zindo's attack merged with his flesh, they went from feeling blistering to almost cool. Bea felt his power level jump, so high and fast that he couldn't even get an idea of how high it was. A deep thrumming filled his ears, His aura blasting away in golden waves. His red hair flowed up, golden energy flashing through it. His black pupils radiated teal. With one last horribly explosive and painful flare, the transformation was complete.
Bea had become a Super Saiyan.
He pushed back against the blast, yellow waves of energy pulsing from both palms.
At the same time Pikada stuck Zindo causing his control of the blast to waver.
Bea swung his arms away, the blast being redirected into space. Below on the planet the tremors faded.
Pikada pummeled Zindo's face, taking great care no to look him in the eyes. A series of short jabs finished the job of breaking the alien's teeth loose.
Bea flashed in front of Zindo. Pikada turned and stared at his friend.
"Shit." He said as he threw an elbow into Zindo's arm, grinning as he felt the Warriors bone shatter under his attack. "I like the new hairdo, Bea."
"Thanks. It's going to take some getting used to. So what happened earlier. You seemed to have this pretty well in hand."
A flurry of punches and kicks came from Pikada, each contacting with Zindo's torso. Pikada answered, "Well I was explaining to him that I was going to spin him around, then throw him the ground, then finish him with a blast wave. But the sneaky bastard had a trick up his armor, seems he can make someone lose control of their body momentarily..." He accented each syllable of the word momentarily with solid punches, alternating left and right. Zindo was beginning to wear down. "A little trick wth his eyes, I'm guessing."
Bea floated with his arms crossed, watching Pikada pummel the former solider of Frieza. His golden hair stood up in the front before it fell down his back, his golden goat-t had split in the center and fluttered around in the golden energy. His teal eyes narrowed. "His eyes, really?" He extended his left hand, then his index and middle fingers together. "Allow me one moment then, Pikada."
Pikada heldhis next attack. Zindo slumped in the air. He turned to look at Bea.
Who immediately blinded him with a razor thin beam of golden energy.
Zindo was suddenly lost in his own mind. He screamed in horror grasping at his face with his one good hand. Pikada moved to grab him by the ankles.
He began to spin and count. "One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, and Twelve."
He released the blinded terrified alien towards a small archipelago, which thankfully was totally uninhabited from what he could tell. Zindo was released with a resounding snap, immediately breaking the sound barrier. He impacted a few seconds later, throwing rock and debris high into the air, causing the island that he impacted on the shatter, and the ocean to froth.
Bea and Pikada moved into the position over the islands. Bea to Pikada's left. Bea extended his right arm, palm out and open, Pikada held his left arm the same way. Their torn clothing fluttered as each of them form a golden sphere in the open palms. A flash of energy exploded from each of them.
Zindo couldn't see, He tried to find his feet, but he knew his back was broken. He felt rocks patter down around him. He could hear the crashes of debris and the roaring of the ocean. Then he heard a terrifying sound, like the universe being ripped open. The combined energy waves washed over him, and he heard and felt nothing again.
The ocean steamed as it filled the crater left by the attacks. Bea and Pikada turned, and headed back to Angel.
Bea felt the power slip away, his features returned to normal. He slumped to one knee. "You guys are going to have to help me back to the palace." He fell forward to the ground.
Angel and Pikada scooped him up, and together they flew towards the palace, where the Emperor awaited them.
They flew low so that they could inspect the damage done, a lot of the smaller buildings seemed to be damaged, but Pikada didn't sense any folks in them. As the Palace's spires came to view, they were relieved to see that besides some missing windows nothing looked that bad.
Once in the palace, they Emperor wished to see them immediately, but Pikada pressed the importance of getting Bea and himself some medical attention. While the Emperor's doctors examined them, Angel went to get cleaned up, and changed again.
She entered the medical was, where Pikada was already up and walking. Bea floated in a tank of fluid similar to the medical tank on the scout ship.
She sat on an available chair, and asked, "So… What happened?"
Pikada recalled the transformation, and the fight. Angel sat riveted.
The Emperor sent notice via a courier that the next formal meal was cancelled, since he was busy organizing rebuilding efforts.
Bea's pod released him around dawn the next morning. He gingerly stretched out, rotating his arms around, and dipping his neck from side to side.
The Emperor invited them to his study for a quick breakfast.
"Bea, Pikada, Angel. Thank you so much. We thought we were finished for sure. The fierceness of that last attack caused damaged across the entire planet. Are you well?"
"Well enough, Emperor, a bit sore and tired myself. Zindo was far stronger than he let on. It was he who nearly destroyed the planet. I'm glad we managed to stop it." Bea's eyes dropped to the floor. "How many dead and injured?"
"So far, around a million reported as injured, only a few thousand dead though, mostly in building collapses and marine accidents. It's a tragic number, but far better than billions dead and the planet destroyed. But…"
"Let me guess." Angel spoke up. "You appreciate our help, but some of your populace blame us for the deaths?"
"That is about the full extent of it." He smiled at the female warrior. "Please don't think poorly of my people, they're peaceful, and not used to this type of life."
"We can go, Emperor. We understand. Hopefully if we ever come back this way, they'll see it in them to forgive us."
"There is the matter of of our Deal, Bea." He motioned for a servant to bring a thick bundle. "Here are ten sets of our clothing for each of you, you do seem to enjoy our dining robes." Angel smiled at this, Bea nodded, and Pikada sat, eating a type of bread, smothered in crushed fruit.
"Your ship is not damaged. There are crates of supplies already there." He handed Bea a data chip. "We do not trade directly with the Yardrats, but the Symlonians do, and we in turn trade with them. This will give navigational data to get there. They might be in need of your services also."
He stood and clasped Bea and Angel on the shoulders. "Go well friends, you've done a great dead today, and I will see to it that your memory isn't tarnished here. But I must ask that you go directly, as my people may see it as trouble if you stay." He then reached over and put his hand on Pikada's shoulder. "Fear not, there are many crates with norzellberry jam waiting to be loaded on tho your vessel."
"Good, this is delicious, thanks Emperor Yarbarbay."
"Yarbayar, actually, but you are most welcome." He stood and left the room, and the Saiyans followed Millisin to their ship.
The 3rd guard helped them load their ship. Bea uploaded the navigation data, then went to Millisin, with a capsule in his hand. "It's not much, But there is enough armor here to outfit your team. It is well designed, absorbs some physical damage, disperses some energy damage. I hope you guys never need to use it, but if you do, I hope it helps." Bea pushed the button, and threw the capsule, which popped open into a set of racks with SMG armor hung from them. He showed Millisin where the collapsing button was, and the armor racks popped back into their capsule. The two warrior clasped wrist, and Bea turned to walk up his ship's gangplank.
Pikada and Angel said their goodbyes, and joined him.
Bea fired up the engines and the scout ship lifted off. The computer forecasted a two and a half month trip. He set the course, turned to his compatriots. He told them of his vision, and then said, "Two days rest, then we start training in the gravity room, hard. I think the power of a super Saiyan is locked away in each of us. We might need it when the Androids show up on Earth."
Bea retired to his bunk, and fell asleep, while the ship soared towards their next goal.
After a couple days of rest, the trio drew lots to decide who'd train first.
Angel won and stepped into the room. After setting the parameters she set the gravity for 100x and hit the start button.
Suddenly her head swam as the intense gravity tried to pool her blood into her legs, her Saiyan physiology quickly compensated, and the first drone buzzed out. She'd set the program for defense, and the drone had immediately started firing low power beams at her. It started at about one per second, the laser would deflected as she moved her arms around to block them. After every twenty blocks, the speed would increase. An hour into the training she was easily blocking dozens of blasts per second. Two hours in she was blocking most of the 100 beams per second. The gravity made her sweat, but she was glad to be getting stronger. Her muscles ached, and more and more of the beams made their way through her defenses. She stopped the training at the two and a half hour mark. She exited panting, soaked in sweat, with dozens of tiny scorch marks on her training clothes.
Pikada waited for her and he'd thrown her a towel as she came out. He went in after her, and followed the same regiment, though fewer beams hit his body, their numbers were still remarkably close.
Bea entered, and turned the gravity up to 500. His body creaked from the sudden influx of gravity. He fought to keep his feet, his hands bunched at his sides. He concentrated, and let out a yell.
In a flash of golden light he made his transformation. Due to a mirror in the chamber he saw himself in this state for the first time. He stood tall and straight, the gravity suddenly felt as if it was returned to the gravity of his home world.
The drones buzzed out. He had set the controls to start at the 100 per second mark, but the beams seemed almost slow to his current state.
He continued to the 500 per second mark, and block most effortlessly.
Then he felt a lurch inside of his mind. His transformation faded away, and hundreds of lasers stung into him. His knees collapsed in the 500x gravity. The computer detected this and shut the program down.
He got to his feet, and walked out, where Pikada and Angel met him. "That was awesome!" Angel said excitedly.
"Pretty impressive, Bea. I'm going to have to learn that trick."
"I'd like to eat, then sleep if you don't mind guys. That whole super Saiyan thing takes it right out of you." He slipped off to his cabin.
He watched the video of his training. He had managed to maintain the form for 12 minutes. Probably not enough for a full fight, but enough to finish one, or to get away from one.
It was hard to believe that he was watching himself, he couldn't follow his own movements, though part of that likely was due to the quality of the recording system.
This training cycle continued for the three of them for the next two and a half months, by the end of it, Bea could maintain the super Saiyan form for over an hour. Angel had reached nearly the same level as Pikada, who had managed to grow stronger than Bea was when they'd left Earth. All in all they were far different people than less than a half year ago.
They entered the orbit of Planet Symlon. Right away the trio noticed something amiss. The computer locked them onto a landing course, but as they descended into the atmosphere various sensors on their ship started to come to life.
"Increased radiation at spots. A lot of coded communications. Open communication sounds mostly like calls for help, no entertainment signals." Angel looked up. "Bea, I think we just landed smack dab in a war zone!"
It had been a while since they had seen a conflict between two planet side forces. Most interplanetary civilizations were united under a single flag, and those that weren't typically blew themselves to hell eventually.
"Yarbayar said he traded with these people, he had to know about this. I imagine our landing spot was predetermined by him also." Bea stood and stepped to the viewport. A spaceport was becoming visible in the distance.
One of the communications screens flared to life. "This is Symlon Military command to Saiyan Vessel. We have been in communications with Emperor Yarbayar, and you are cleared to land. The route has been auto updated to your vessel's computer. You will be met by a representative of the government, and taken to a shelter once your ship is properly attended too. Welcome to Symlon."
A few minutes later the ramp had opened, and Bea and the rest had made introductions around. He had suggested since this was and active war zone that they take what they'd need from the ship, and have it return to a high orbit. They had removed three of the pods, which were loaded onto a waiting truck. They were shuffled onboard another truck, and their little convoy drove away.
After a lot of backtracking, they went off road. After bnother 30 minutes of driving through forested areas, they slowed slightly, and appeared to drive directly into the side of a mountain.
Everyone's vision swam slightly as they passed through the hologram our other day m, quickly the road in the mountain went from a flat drive to a steep grade. A series of switchbacks and ramps awaited them. Finally the trucks came to a stop, and the Saiyans got out of the truck. A short but fairly plain humanoid greater them.
"I am General Alloyo, Leader of the Symlon people, and their military. As you can tell we have a few minor issues going on. Emperor Yarbayar, impressed on me your groups usefulness. And the fact that you're seeking out the Yardrats. We have a small job for you, and if you choose to accept it, we will gladly give you directions to their planet."
"I am Bea, leader of the Saiyans Mercenaries Guild, this is Pikada, and Angel. What happens if we decline your gracious offer?"
"You will be free to continue your search. We are not the type of people to hold others against their will, not that we could with you."
"What is your situation?"
"If you'll follow me to our briefing chambers, I'll gladly explain."
The walked down the corridor, and entered a spacious room full of charts and maps.
The General motioned for them to sit, and then turned on a holographic projector.
A Namekian appeared.
"This is 'King Lorpt' the leader of an alien invasion force that is currently running wild over the opposite hemisphere of our planet. Our weapons aren't very effective against them. We've even used our atomic weapons on them, which did effectively kill some, but we can't ruin our world to save it."
The hologram shifted to a wide view of a battlefield. Entire platoons of the Symlonians Warriors were shown to be devastated by a couple of the Namekians. Energy bullets and laser beams were all effectively blocked, then the return fire of Ki blast showed the defenders being destroyed, before the holo-camera was enveloped. .
"So here is our proposition for your team…"