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Chapter 10. Calm Before The Storm.

Once in a while the saiyans took some time off. They usually used this time to either sleep, prepare food or eat. Right now Gohan was cutting vegetables into little pieces. He didn't mind helping Nappa prepare the food. Lately he realized he didn't mind spending extra time with his comrades at all. When he was younger he tended to seek out his room for some quiet and solitude but these days he preferred company. He wasn't sure why or when this preference changed but it did.

The young warrior looked up when Turles and Raditz noisily entered in the room. They were holding an official looking suit as they approached the others. "Half-breed!" Raditz called as they walked closer. "Look what we found?"

Gohan briefly stopped cutting vegetables to look at the suit. "It's a uniform?" He asked before looking up at them.

"It looks like the suits you used to wear on planet earth." Turles responded as he pushed the suit closer to the half-saiyan.

Gohan pressed his lips together disapprovingly before turning back to his task. "So?"

"So…" Turles easily pulled the chair backwards with Gohan still on it. The man placed the suit against Gohan's front. "Try it on. I bet it will look smashing on you. Just like the suit on the photo!"

The half-saiyan rolled his eyes before snatching the suit out of the man's hands. Gohan proceeded to toss it away and he scraped his chair back to the table. While Raditz went after the suit, Gohan continued his task of cutting vegetables.

Turles crossed his arms over each other as he gave Gohan a disapproving glare, which the half-saiyan casually ignored. Turles suddenly gasped. "I know!" He stated cheerfully. "I'll grab the picture and remind you of how smashing you look in a suit."

"Go right ahead." Gohan muttered without even looking up.

Turles looked taken aback by Gohan's lack of enthusiasm but then nodded and headed for the living quarters. Vegeta leaned back on his seat as he studied the young warrior. "You're in a good mood." He stated.

"Handing out beatings will do that to a person." Gohan responded meekly. For days now Gohan transformed to a super saiyan only to take on the others one by one. He easily defeated them, beating them all until they had to use a rejuvenation tank and then patiently waiting for them to come back for round two. This constant reinforcement of his own strength made Gohan feel a teensy tiny bit cocky.

"It's good for the mind, isn't it?" Vegeta asked in response. Gohan looked up only to meet Vegeta's dark eyes. The half-saiyan realized that he used to be afraid of meeting Vegeta's gaze. The man's eyes were so intense he often gave the impression he was looking right into one's soul. Then again, the man tended to tap into people's mind when they weren't paying attention so that impression might actually be true.

Gohan returned Vegeta's smile. "Exactly." He stated. He was no longer afraid of meeting Vegeta's eyes. He was no longer afraid of them at all. The smallest briefest flutter of fear that he might have experienced a year ago when confronting his comrades was not even there right now.

"I wonder if we're doing enough though." Vegeta muttered as he lowered his gaze to his notes. The man tended to keep notes on his own trainings and these days he was also making diagrams and schemas for the others. "We're not making progress."

"You're all getting stronger." Gohan responded, frowning. He was actually worrying about the same thing. His comrades were all way past the strength level Gohan was on when he went through his first transformation but none of them transformed yet.

"It's not enough." Vegeta said as he slowly shook his head. "Strength isn't everything. We're missing something else." The man looked up. "You transformed because Justin was in mortal danger. Your father transformed because he thought you were killed right in front of him." He summed up as he placed his elbows on the table and leaned on them. "It's obviously an emotional trigger."

"Too bad you guys don't have any emotions." Gohan teased as he glanced up from his chore.

Vegeta only briefly met his eyes in response but didn't give a verbal answer. "That can't be the only answer though. There has to be something else. We can't just let our survival depend on an emotional outburst, especially since we're not used to allowing our emotions to guide us."

"There must be some other way though." Nappa responded as he turned on the stove. He was cooking today. "We don't all go into a raging fit when a loved one gets hurt."

Vegeta stared at his notes. "I wouldn't know how. All the super saiyans we know transformed in a similar manner. Even that future boy transformed while throwing a tantrum."

"It's gone!" Turles called as he headed in the room. "The picture is gone!"

Vegeta raised an eyebrow and his eyes went to the half-saiyan. However Gohan was not looking at him. The half-saiyan was suddenly very interested in the vegetables in front of him. Turles noticed the same thing as he reached over and placed his hands on the table. "Okay. Spill it." He stated to the half-saiyan.

Gohan smiled innocently in response to Turles's exclamation. "Spill about what?"

"We all know who took the picture." Turles responded as he narrowed his eyes at the half-saiyan.

"Then you know more than me because I have no idea." Gohan wasn't planning on humoring Turles any time soon. The young warrior smiled in response to Turles's annoyed face.

"Do I need to tickle it out of you?" Turles threatened as he cracked his knuckles.

Gohan scoffed while he reached out to grab another vegetable. "If you want to leave this room with broken fingers; sure, go ahead." He responded easily. He was so not impressed.

"You know, it wouldn't hurt if you showed a teensy tiny bit more respect for your elders." Turles placed his hands on the table and leaned forward a bit so he could look at the half-saiyan.

Gohan looked up. "I show you guys enough respect." He responded. Vegeta snorted as an answer to the half-saiyan's response. "I do!" Gohan added, almost sounding indignant. "However, you cannot expect me to respond like an adult to such a childish threat."

"You got a point there." Vegeta added.

"Fine!" Turles exclaimed suddenly, earning the attention from the others in the room. "You leave me no choice!" The man practically jumped the half-saiyan and attacked the young warrior with the tickle torture.

Gohan dropped his knife so that he could push Turles off. However, the man managed to pull the half-saiyan along in his fall and the two crashed down on the ground, the chair falling sideways next to them. Turles wasn't done yet as he tried to pin the younger warrior down once more. Gohan wouldn't let this happen and eventually the two started wrestling noisily.

"Raditz. Would you finish the brat's chore for me? I want to start cooking soon." Nappa stated without looking up.

"Right." Raditz grabbed the chair and placed it properly on the floor before sitting down on it. The three Saiyans continued preparing the food while they ignored the wrestling match that continued on the ground.

**** Planet Earth ****

"Keep coming at me!" Katy used her thumb to wipe a trickle of blood from her chin. "Come on." She made sure she was standing steadily before motioning for Eighteen to attack her once more.

Eighteen pressed her lips together as she studied her opponent. "Maybe we should stop for today. Take some rest?" Her eyes moved from the glassy look in Katy's eyes to her trembling fists. They had been at it for hours and they had been at it hard. Katy encouraged her stronger opponent to fight at her hardest. There was no room for pity or empathy on a battlefield. Still, Eighteen was feeling quite some empathy as she studied her friend. Katy could hardly stay upright.

"No." Katy shook her head. "We have to train. I need to get stronger."

"There is still time. A little rest won't make you any weaker." Eighteen tried as she stepped closer.

Katy lowered her gaze for a moment as she clenched her fists. "No. I need to train more. I'm not just some damsel in distress. I want to be able to safe myself when Frieza gets here and there's only one way in which I can do that." She looked up at Eighteen again. "I need to train every second of every day and become stronger… Stronger than them. Stronger than Vegeta. Stronger even than Gohan."

"That might be difficult as your boyfriend is very strong." Eighteen said as she crossed her arms over each other. "I would almost say it's impossible for anyone non-saiyan to gain such an amount of strength in such a short time."

"Nothing is impossible." Katy's breathing was shallow and quick. "I don't know why but I know there is something I can do. I can do this." The young warrior powered up. "Just a little bit longer."

"Fine." Eighteen shrugged. If Katy liked getting beaten up; who was Eighteen to deny her that? The female android crouched into a fighting stance, earning a smile from Katy.

Katy followed Eighteen's example and it didn't take long for her to attack. Eighteen blocked Katy's first punch. Katy tried another attack by moving up her leg and kicking Eighteen but Eighteen blocked this kick by bending her leg and catching Katy's kick with her shin. Eighteen made an attempt to retaliate by moving her fist into an opening in Katy's defense but Katy noticed this just in time and she moved backwards to avoid it.

The problem was that Katy did not expect Eighteen to follow her and the strawberry blonde was punched back. Katy made a summersault in the air and sent a blast at Eighteen. The android quickly made her own blast and caught Katy's blast with her own energy.

Katy bit down on her lower lip as she felt Eighteen's energy pushing against hers but she refused to give in. Eighteen narrowed her eyes and pushed more energy into the blast, overtaking Katy and sending the young woman crashing into the ground of the wasteland. Eighteen waited for the dust to settle down and she made a face when she noticed Katy lying in the middle of a large crater.

"Shouldn't have taken it so far." Eighteen muttered as she lowered to the ground. The young android landed on the edge of the crater and looked down. She considered going down and helping Katy up just when her opponent got up by herself.

Katy looked devastated. Wounds, cuts and burns were covering her body. Her uniform was torn in several places, showing gaps of her burnt or wounded skin. The young warrior got up and clenched her fists.

Eighteen frowned when she felt a great power coming from the young female warrior. And it was rising. The android opened her mouth to say something when a bright flash and an explosion occurred in the crater. Eighteen was blown to the ground by a flash of energy, crashing into her and throwing her body over before she even realized what was going on.

Eighteen frowned when the wind settled and she got up. The female android looked around for a moment, wondering what just happened and she realized she couldn't feel Katy anymore. Scared that something might have happened to Katy, the female android ran to the edge of the crater and looked down. A gasp escaped from her mouth at the sight she saw in the crater.

**** The Saiyans's Ship ****

Gohan and Turles were locked in a fierce battle. The two warriors exchanged punches at high speed while flying around the training room. Gohan's teal eyes narrowed when Turles allowed an opening to appear in his defense. Such a rookie mistake when fighting a Saiyan.

Turles's only warning was the brief change in Gohan's expression before a punch landed in his stomach. The man let out a pained gasp as his body was forced to make itself small; an automatic response to the pain in his abdomen. Gohan used this to advantage and quickly put his hands together above his head before bringing them down on the middle of Turles's shoulders.

The others watched as Turles's body shot down to the ground. Vegeta crossed his arms over each before he looked up at Gohan again. The half-saiyan was patiently waiting for Turles to come back up. Turles, however, was still on the ground, trying to shake the stars out of his eyes.

"Still no match for him." Nappa commented while he watched Turles sit up.

"This automatically means we are no match for Frieza." Vegeta added as he uncrossed his arms. "Turles!" He called. "Take a rest. I'll take over."

"I can still go on." Turles responded. The man quickly stood up to show he was still able to fight but not even a second later his knees went weak and he fell to the ground again. "Or not."

Vegeta looked up at the half-saiyan. Gohan was studying him silently but he now smiled and motioned for him to come closer. Vegeta couldn't help but smile in response. Gohan was definitely in his element. He was the strongest warrior here and he continued to show that by beating every single saiyan one after another.

"He enjoys this way too much, doesn't he?" Nappa asked as he also looked up. He noticed the gesture Gohan made to the Saiyan prince and he couldn't help but be amused by it.

Vegeta glanced to his older comrade. "I fear this is a monster we personally created. We might as well reap what we sowed, right?"

"Is anyone going to challenge me or what?" Gohan called impatiently. The half-saiyan's foot was tapping on the air. "Or are you all too scared? Should I lose my transformation so that you weaklings might dare to come closer?"

Nappa whistled. "He's getting way too cocky. We should retaliate soon."

"I know." Vegeta exchanged glances with his older comrade. "We should show him just how scared we are of crossing him. Soon. Try to think something up. Meanwhile I'll give him his way for now." The man turned back to the half-saiyan and flew up to Gohan's level.

"Finally." Gohan stated in an annoyed voice. "I was growing old here."

Vegeta chuckled. "I think somebody is getting a little spoiled." He stated in an almost sweet voice.

Gohan returned the man's good mood. "Maybe a little." The half-saiyan's body sank into a fighting stance and he motioned for Vegeta to attack him. "Let's do this." The stated when Vegeta didn't move immediately.

Vegeta showed a smirk as he followed Gohan's example. The two seized each other up for a moment as they wondered what type of attack to use first when suddenly the ship's intercom made a sound.

"Hostile ship is approaching!" Raditz said through the sound system. Gohan and Vegeta both looked up, their bodies frozen for a moment as their brains registered what was just said.

A violent tremor went through the ship. Gohan and Vegeta could only see the walls and floor giving a slight vibration but Turles and Nappa were both thrown off their feet. This made the two floating Saiyans realize the tremor was more dramatic than they first thought.

Gohan glanced to Vegeta but the man was already running through the doorway. The half-saiyan bit his lip and quickly followed the Saiyan prince. Nappa and Turles were not far behind them.

"What's going on?" Vegeta demanded as he ran into the control room.

"Someone is attacking us." Raditz responded right before another tremor ran through the ship. This time Gohan was slammed into the wall by the sheer force of it. The half-saiyan quickly held out his hands to catch his fall. He heard two groans and realized both Nappa and Turles also fell victim to the tremor and were now leaning against the wall as well.

"Report." Vegeta stated as he crossed the distance to the control room.

"A ship to the south of us. It came out of nowhere." Raditz stated as he pointed up at the screen that now showed a small red dot with a blue circle around it, the blue beaming threateningly. "We've been following Frieza from a distance but this ship is coming from an entirely different direction."

"It's a trap." Gohan whispered as he studied the screen.

Before he could finish his brief sentence, a second dot appeared on the screen and yet another violent tremor ran through the ship. Gohan was prepared for it this time and he only took a step backwards. The young warrior could feel his heart beating in his chest.

"Turles. Dodge the attacks!" Vegeta was already typing away on the control panel. Turles appeared next to the Saiyan prince in a second and followed the man's example.

"Raditz. Keep an eye on the enemy and our own status. Half-breed and Nappa, try to send some blasts with the small weaponry." Three voices called a response but the last one stayed quiet. "Half-breed, I didn't hear you." Vegeta added after a second. The man kept his eyes on the screen to search for the perfect angle. "Half-breed!"

"Yes!" Gohan snapped out of it and ran to a smaller computer screen. There he sat down and activated the small weaponry. There were several small weapons. They would not do as much damage as the one Vegeta was operating but they would slow the enemy down somewhat.

Just as Gohan was sitting down, Vegeta sent the first blast towards the hostile ship. They all looked at the screen to see whether the attack would hit or not. Gohan couldn't help but smile when the attack landed on the enemy's ship. Only on their shield, but it was something.

Vegeta was already sending the next one. He didn't leave the enemy any time to retaliate as he started sending out several blasts, all in a slightly different direction in order to attack them on several places.

Gohan stopped watching the screen so that he could focus on attacking the enemy himself. A tremor ran through the ship as their shield got another load from the enemy's weaponry. Gohan ignored his panicking mind and focused on his task. He had to make the enemy pay for attacking them.

The half-saiyan zoned out the rest of the sounds in the room and he focused mainly on the small screen in front of him. There he could see exactly where to aim his own gun in order to hit the enemy. The young warrior narrowed his eyes for a moment before pressing the button to send the blast.

He didn't look to see if the attack hit but instead immediately sent another one. Another tremor went through the ship but Gohan ignored it again. The young warrior sent another blast, and another, and another. He didn't stop. He couldn't stop to even look up because if he did he would allow his mind to think… And that would only lead to panicking thoughts. And these panicking thoughts would not be useful to him right now.

The young warrior managed to continue in this way until… Yet another violent shake of the ship made Gohan finally look up. A red light beamed through the room and the female voice of the ship announced the damage that was done by the latest attack.

Gohan looked over at Vegeta. The Saiyan prince pressed his lips together. "Keep going!" He yelled at the others. "We'll not let some stupid ship shoot us down!"

The half-saiyan looked back to his screen. He ignored how the ship started trembling slightly and how the red light continued to flicker importantly. The young warrior could feel his heart beating in his chest as he focused on attacking the enemy again and again. He didn't know much about these things but he did realize they were not doing well. They were being attacked from two sides and even though Turles tried hard to dodge, the hostile ships were too fast. Their technology just seemed faster.

Suddenly, without warning, Gohan's screen went black. Gohan looked over his shoulder at the big screen and realized that was black as well. He now also realized the red light was beaming so brightly the entire room was continuously bathed in red for a moment before returning to the normal state. The robotic voice mentioned several systems that were failing, the damage everywhere was at eighty percent or higher, and finally, that their shield was completely broken down.

Vegeta was frozen for a moment before he looked down at the control panel. He typed away for a bit in order to send yet another blast but the system mentioned their weaponry was damaged too badly to send another attack.

The Saiyan prince slammed his fists down on the control panel and let out an angry groan. "Damn it!" The man growled before he looked over at the panel again, searching for something that would safe them.

"Vegeta…" Turles muttered quietly when a red blast was sent in their direction. Vegeta looked up at the windows and he also noticed the red beam rapidly coming closer.

"Hold on to something." Vegeta ordered. "We're going to land on the nearest planet."

Gohan could feel a cold sensation in his stomach when he realized what Vegeta was saying. "Land?" He responded.

Vegeta didn't say anything as he typed away on the control panel. Gohan could feel the ship starting to shake heavily. The young warrior grabbed onto the chair he was sitting on. He couldn't help but recall how he felt as a young boy, only four years old, locked up in a space ship that started to shake all around him. The fear of the ship exploding, throwing him out into the vacuum that was the universe. The young warrior closed his eyes as he hugged the chair closely as the ship shook violently. He could hear a heavy crash and the chair was almost wrenched from his grip but he could hold on to it.

A silence fell. Gohan could feel his heart beating so heavily in his chest it felt like his entire body was making small jumps at every beat.

"Is everyone alright?" Vegeta's voice made Gohan open his eyes. The young warrior slowly got up as the others all voiced their own responses. "Half-breed?" Vegeta asked when he noticed Gohan didn't respond.

"I'm fine." Gohan said. He was a little shaky but he wasn't hurt. The young warrior looked around. The red light was still flashing but now Gohan could see the outlines of a dark planet. "What happened?"

"We made an unplanned landing." Vegeta responded. The man stepped closer to the others.

"An unplanned landing? You mean a crash landing?" Gohan corrected. "Why not just call it by its name."

Vegeta looked right at him. "And that's why your glass is always half-empty instead of half-full." He countered easily. Gohan sent the man a glare but didn't respond. Vegeta didn't really mind as he looked around. "Nobody's hurt?" He asked. The others all responded that they were fine. "Good. Okay. Turles. Check the system to see if the ship is intact. Nappa, Raditz, make a quick run around the ship to make sure nothing is too broken. Don't fix anything. Just note it and we'll take care of it later."

Raditz, Turles and Nappa all went to their tasks after voicing their agreement. Gohan waited patiently for his orders while Vegeta turned back to the control panel. The man started typing away on it and different symbols and screens appeared on the large screen. The young warrior waited for one more moment before he stepped closer.

"Orders?" Gohan asked.

"Change your pants."

"Vegeta."

"You just went through one of your worst fears, half-breed. Your heart is going five-thousand miles an hour. Take a moment to calm down. I don't need you right now." Vegeta responded without looking at him.

Gohan didn't want to admit that his heart was still beating so heavily he was worried he might get a heart attack. His skin was tingling slightly and he couldn't seem to stop his hands from trembling slightly. Still, he didn't want to be a liability. He wanted to help out. Do something.

"Is there anything I can do?" Gohan asked as he stepped closer.

Vegeta glanced over his shoulder now. The man studied Gohan briefly before turning back to the control panel. "Check the communication system and try to send out a message to any friendly receiver."

"Right." Gohan was happy to have anything to do. He went back to the computer and sat down. He knew exactly how to check if the communication system was still intact. It was easy to see that it was. The problem was detecting a receiver and the real problem would be detecting a friendly receiver. There was a large possibility that the receiver would be one of Frieza's ships. The one that attacked them in the first place. If the hostile ship found out they were still alive and kicking they would probably follow the warriors to the planet they landed on. Which brought Gohan to a question:

"Where are we?" Gohan asked as he turned to Vegeta.

"Planet Iokso or Planet Mars, if you want to speak human." Vegeta responded without looking back.

"So we were almost at planet Earth?" Gohan asked. The young warrior turned to Vegeta fully.

"Almost."

"Did you know the humans are thinking about moving humans to live on this planet?" Turles said as he looked up. The man was checking the systems to make sure everything was still intact. The fact that he hadn't said anything yet was a good message.

"I do." Vegeta chuckled as he typed away on the panel. "Idiots. They can't even take proper care of their own planet. Now they want to add another one?"

"Honestly. They should be happy they have a beautiful planet of their own." Turles responded as he lowered his gaze to the screen in front of him.

Gohan pressed his lips together as he studied Turles. It wasn't the first time he realized how much his comrades missed their own planet. The planet they grew up on: Planet Vegeta. Their planet, their family and their entire lives… Gone within just one second.

The young warrior thought about his own planet. The blue skies, the green grass, the beautiful flowers in every color imaginable and he could feel a warmth rising in his chest. He knew he loved his planet and he would do anything to save it.

Gohan turned his focus back to the screen in front of him. There would be no saving planet Earth if he couldn't even get off this planet alive. The problem was that he could not find a communication line. There was no space craft close enough to receive their call of distress. Of course not; the Milky Way was practically a waste land of which everyone in the universe assumed there were no valuable planets.

Everyone except Frieza.

Gohan did notice Frieza's ship and the two ships that attacked them and caused their ship to crash. He was not going to try and communicate with those ships though. They probably assumed the Saiyans died on this planet.

"Alright." Once everyone was back in the control room, Vegeta looked at each of them and asked for their individual reports. Turles mentioned that the shields were practically non-existent and their energy supply was very low since everything went into the battle. They were now recharging, using the energy given out by the sun of this solar system. Raditz and Nappa gave a brief description of everything that was broken but they were both pleased to inform that no walls or machines were destroyed. Lastly, Gohan told the others that he could find no other ship than Frieza's three ships to communicate with.

Vegeta blew out a sigh. "Okay. All in all, we have enough food and water to last us three months. The oxygen room is intact so we have an unlimited supply of oxygen. The sun is shining brightly enough here so we also have a proper supply of energy. The only problem is that we have to wait until the engines are fully charged before we can find out whether or not we can still fly. That's going to take at least twenty-four hours."

Gohan placed his head in his hand as he realized what was being said. Twenty-four hours would give Frieza more than enough time to attack planet Earth. They would arrive there way too late… If they could even leave this planet. What if they were stuck here? No space ship came to this area of the Northern Quatrain. Nobody was going to find them here.

The group decided to wash up, change their clothing and get something to eat. They were all silent as they showered and dressed. They were silent as they heated up packs with instant noodles and they also ate in silence.

"Vegeta." Gohan said once they were all done eating. They had been sitting in silence for a couple of minutes before Gohan broke it. "What are we going to do if the engines don't work anymore?"

Vegeta didn't answer straight away. He considered Gohan's question for a moment. "There are several options. The most appealing one is the universal phone we received on planet Earth. We can call that annoying human woman and have her sent Katy to us in a ship. I'm not sure if we are close enough to use the phone though and we might not have enough energy..." Vegeta slowly stopped talking and went completely silent.

Gohan realized why Vegeta did so. A sound. It was brief and very still but every Saiyan on the ship heard it. Gohan's body went cold for yet another time as he realized what the sound meant.

The ship gave a sudden violent jerk and the Saiyans were all thrown off their seats by it. Metallic sounds occurred all around them as they could feel something smashing into their ship.

The Saiyans all waited silently for what was going to happen next. And they didn't have to wait long as suddenly the screen in their room flickered on.

"Knock knock."

**** DBZ **** DBZ ****

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